Difference between revisions 3823069 and 3834200 on simplewiki

{{simple|date=January 2012}}
:''This article is about the best-known WWE championship, one that is currentlywas once defended only on the [[WWE Raw|Raw]] [[WWE Brand Extension|brand]] of [[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]]. ForWE]]. For the newer WWE top championship, once defended only on [[WWE SmackDown|SmackDown]]'s top championship, see [[World Heavyweight Championship (WWE)]].''
{{Infobox championship
|image=WWE Championship.jpg
|caption=The WWE Championship belt <br /> (April 11, 2005 – August 20, 2006; September 18, 2006 – present)
|championshipname=WWE Championship
|currentholder=[[CM Punk]]
|won=November 20, 2011
|promotion=[[World Wrestling Entertainment]]
(contracted; show full)
* WWF/E "Undisputed" World Championship}}
|pastlookimages= [[File:WWF Championship 1998 - 2002.jpg|50px|The WWF Championship of the Attitude Era]]<br />[[File:WWF Undisputed Championship.jpg|50px|The first look of the WWF Undisputed Championship]]<br />
}}
The '''World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Championship''' is a [[professional wrestling]] [[World Heavyweight Championship|world]] [[championship (professional wrestling)|championship]] in [[W
orld Wrestling EntertainmentWE]]. It is the original world title of WWE. Currently, it is, and is largely considered the highest  -ranked championshiping title in WWE. For a little more than two years (April 2009 to August 2011), it was defended only on the [[WWE Raw|Raw]] [[WWE Brand Extension|brand]]. It is also largely considered the highes, but can now be defended at ranked title in the WWE, as it's been around the longesy WWE event.

==History==
===Origin===
 
The WWE World Championship was introduced in 1963 with Buddy Rogers becoming the inaugural world champion on April 29. However, its origin is attributed to events that began in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), a promotion with various subsidiaries. In the 1950s, Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC) was a subsidiary to the NWA and by 1963, CWC executives held a controlling stake over NWA operations. During this time, Buddy Rogers held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship(contracted; show full)ambiguity and a dispute in WWE over the presence of two WWE Championships. On the July 29, 2011 episode of SmackDown new WWE COO Triple H announced that CM Punk's claim to the WWE Championship was legitimate, meaning "there were two WWE champions."[12] At the subsequent SummerSlam pay-per-view, Punk defeated Cena to solidify his claim on the title, only to lose the title moments later to Alberto Del Rio, who opportunistically cashed in his Money in the Bank contract after Kevin Nash attacked
.

On August 29, 2011, all WWE TV programming became so-called "Supershows" that feature wrestlers from both ''Raw'' and ''SmackDown''. This means that the WWE Championship can now be defended at any WWE event.

== Custom belt designs ==
Special custom belts have been created to match the gimmicks of some champions:

*"Superstar" Billy Graham (red leather strap)
*The Ultimate Warrior (white, blue, and purple leather straps)
*Sgt. Slaughter (purple leather strap, changed to original black strap after defeating The Ultimate Warrior)
(contracted; show full)[[pt:WWE Championship]]
[[ro:WWE Championship]]
[[ru:Чемпион WWE]]
[[fi:WWE Championship]]
[[th:ผู้ชนะเลิศดับเบิลยูดับเบิลยูอี]]
[[tr:WWE Championship]]
[[uk:Чемпіонство WWE]]
[[vi:WWE Championship]]