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57-619: The championship was established in 2000, changing its name eight years later to reflect the status of undisputed championship that the National Wrestling Alliance recognized following a controversial "unification" match where (another title born with the NWA as sanctioning body) the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship was purportedly on the line. When reintroduced in 2018, this distinction had been dropped from

114-740: A TLC match and unified the titles. Subsequently, the World Heavyweight Championship was retired and the WWE Championship was renamed the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and retained its lineage. Like the WWE Undisputed Championship, the WWE World Heavyweight Championship was represented by the belts of its two predecessors until a singular belt design was commissioned in August 2014. In June 2016,

171-403: A "Book End" attempt, scoring a pinfall victory. On February 14, 2009, the promotion held a special event named "Noche de Campeónes". In this card, Cotto defended the championship against Samoa Joe . During the final stages of the fight, Noel Rodríguez intervened, injuring the referee. Both wrestlers continued performing, with Cotto scoring a pinfall victory after reverting a finisher and receiving

228-531: A desire to further expand, the promotion was essentially divided in what became known as the WWE Brand Extension . This resulted in WWE's two main programs, Raw and SmackDown , becoming distinct brands, acting as complementing promotions under WWE. The WWE Undisputed Championship was then consequently shared between both brands and soon conflict began brewing over the title. In late August 2002, after becoming

285-474: A former member of the IWA's ring crew and Hardcore Champion . The contenders were to be elected by Savio Vega and Miguel Pérez, with the former choosing Monster Pain as his representative. Hours later, the return of the IWA was teased as part of World Wrestling League 's (up to that point the promotion's spiritual successor) version of Juicio Final. However, internal differences within the interpromotional event lead to

342-486: A four-way match. On its part, IWA Florida received its own version of the Heavyweight Championship (which kept the original design minus minor alterations and not making a claim of "world" status) which longtime rival headliner Carly Colón appropriated following a match with Mechawolf 450 as part of Histeria Boricua 2019. The crowning of a new champion became part of the return tour's main storyline. First in

399-403: A meeting in which the former noted his interest in the accolade, later informing Ferno of this stance. Shane Sewell was the first contender announced, but resigned his place to Mr. Big, betting that he still remained loyal to the IWA. Former champions Ricky Banderas and Apolo were announced as the other two. Ultimately, Ferno acknowledged that the decision would be problematic and refused to elect

456-418: A member, allowing Rivera to choose Electro in his stead. As the youngest of the group the latter would emerge victorious, continuing the IWA's philosophy of building a "new generation" with the collaboration of veterans. After CWA World Heavyweight Champion Noel Rodríguez made an appearance and issued a challenge at Vendetta, Electro had a defense against him in that promotion's Sabotaje event. After being given

513-457: A mercenary role for the faction and requested the reassurance that he would not be joining his old IWA team of Los Rabiosos, only to receive a demand for a title shot in exchange for allegiance. Savio Vega was noted to be skeptical of allowing Puro Macho a chance to gather influence within the promotion, but was reassured by Rivera that the ambitions would create irreparable damage. Meanwhile, members of Puro Macho Electro and Khriz "The Chosen" held

570-438: A no contest. This marked the first instance that the two major champions worked together while holding full recognitions by both promotions. At Summer Attitude 2011, Chris Angel defeated Hiram Tua to become the first undefeated Undisputed World Champion. He went on to defeat all contenders, one of them being Cotto, who was subsequently fired by Pérez after questioning his involvement in a match between both. This event launched

627-407: A number of defenses that aired in events without public. On July 31, 2021, former Caribbean Heavyweight Champion and Major League Wrestling (MLW) regular Richard Holliday made his debut for IWA-PR by defeating Mr. Big for the World Heavyweight Championship. After some titles changes, Fernando Tonos reveal he got in his power a book property of Victor Quiñones with "work plans" using it to create

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684-609: A number of unrelated media. In early 2015, while Vega was part of La Radio PR's Más Allá del Ring show, the title made appearances as part of the studio's decore along the Intercontinental and World Tag Team Championships. In autumn, the IWA Undisputed World Heavyweight Championship was taken to New York during Amaro Productions' La Guerra 2 event. In an interview published on October 22, 2015, wrestling journalist Joel Torres reunited Ricky Banderas with

741-506: A segment where Savio Vega noted that it was his dream to restage the ambienance of October 28, 2000. This led to Director of Talent Relations, Dennis Rivera, granting the Puro Macho stable leader, Manny Ferno, the opportunity to elect only one of its members for a place in the titular match (intending to create division in retribution for the WWL feud). The latter would meet with Mr. Big, who had served

798-655: A storyline between the IWA and the Extreme Wrestling Organization, the largest independent company and de facto third main promotion in Puerto Rico. On December 17, 2011, Cotto won the EWO Championship, only to be interrupted by Pérez. This was in response to a previous confrontation between both, that occurred following an unrelated charity card. After defending the title at Tierra de Nadie 2012, Pérez once again reclaimed his contract. At Histeria Boricua, Angel

855-545: A three-way match. This was part of the "Juicio Final 2009" card. On May 29, 2009, Bravo defended the IWA and DWE championships in Panama , defeating El Cuervo as part of a Revolution X-Treme Wrestling card. On November 1, 2009, Bravo and the incumbent WWC Universal Heavyweight Champion, Shane Sewell, performed in a DWE event, with the DWE Dominican National Championship being held up after the creative team booked

912-603: A world championship. When the AWA folded in 1991 with Larry Zbyszko as their final champion, one of the last major world titles was gone. Meanwhile, the NWA became less prevalent during the Monday night television ratings war that engrossed the WWF and WCW during the 1990s. ECW shut down in 2001 with Rhino as their last champion, seemingly leaving the group of prominent world championships down to two, and with WCW's subsequent fall and purchase by

969-594: The National Wrestling Association's World Heavyweight Championship on July 10, 1948, from Wild Bill Longson . In light of having unified three of the major world heavyweight championships of his time (as well as numerous other lesser-prestige titles) and defeating the reigning AWA World Heavyweight Champion in a non-title match (a major title that was abandoned soon after), Thesz became the Undisputed Champion for some time. From that point onward,

1026-653: The Pan-African flag ) and the words "World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion", and "IWA" prominently at the crown. The interior set of side plaques depict wrestlers grappling and the outside set is dominated by another, single-circle, world map. All of the secondary plates are crowned by the corporate acronym. The piece was crafted and designed by Reggie Parks, who had manufactured titles for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now known as WWE ) and other international companies. Its original colors included light-blue on

1083-620: The SmackDown Tag Team Championship held by The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) and the Raw Tag Team Championship held by RK-Bro ( Randy Orton and Riddle ) were unified. The winners of the match, The Usos, were then referred to as the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions . Although WWE billed the match as a championship unification, both titles have maintained their individual lineages. They lost

1140-486: The WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship and award it to the number one contender who at the moment was Miguel "Biggie Size" Maldonado. On December 30, the Universal Heavyweight Championship was declared vacant following the events where he was declared the champion following Hall's absence to Lockout . The commission's decision was announced during the company's holiday recess and Maldonado retained

1197-421: The championship belt in custody. On January 6, 2008, Jack Meléndez who had been managing La Rabia, the stable where he performed abandoned the company citing differences with the company's personnel. Following Meléndez's exit from the company the stable abandoned the company no-showing the a special event scheduled for January 6, 2008. On January 6, Maldonado appeared in the IWA's Histeria Boricua event, with

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1254-614: The Day 2 of WrestleMania XL, Cody Rhodes won the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship against Roman Reigns therefore being referred and reverted simply as Undisputed WWE Championship without the name “Universal” ending Reigns’ 4-year reign as champion. However, the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship lineage continues. Joe Bravo (wrestler) Too Many Requests If you report this error to

1311-534: The IWA Undisputed World Unified Heavyweight Championship began becoming involved in several inter-promotional "champion vs. champion" contests. The first of these took place on January 6, 2009, where Carlos "Chicano" Cotto was booked to defend the title against Total Nonstop Action Wrestling 's Legends Champion , Booker T . The contest was part of an annual event titled "Histeria Boricua". The conclusion came when Cotto inverted

1368-482: The IWA's personnel had replaced the belt with Revolution X-Treme Wrestling's championship belt (at the moment in Savio Vega 's possession) and had transferred the Universal Heavyweight Championship to a secure location, which led to a discussion between personnel from both companies and Rodríguez's expulsion from the event. After the event's conclusion police officers were deployed and the IWA retained physical possession of

1425-595: The IWA, Cotto issued a challenge to end the conflict, an unification match for the EWO Championship and IWA Undisputed World Heavyweight Championship. On March 1, 2012, the challenge was accepted by Pérez and Rondón in a backstage segment. At Clash of the Titans, Bonecrusher defeated Cotto, becoming Unified Champion. In 2012, IWA folded, so the title was vacated. During the following years, the Undisputed World Heavyweight Championship made appearances in

1482-540: The IWE and take control of all titles with intentions of close IWA and renamed. After Juicio Final 2022, the company got 2 champions on all divisions due to controversy between IWE & IWA. The IWA World Heavyweight Championship belt originally consisted of five gilded circular plaques placed on a black belt. The main plate featured a mapamundi at the center, flanged by eleven flags (Puerto Rico, Japan, Brazil, Canada, Australia, Colombia, Italy, South Korea, Mexico, United States and

1539-496: The NWA and declared their primary singles title a world title in 1960. The World Wide Wrestling Federation , owned by Vince McMahon, Sr. followed suit in 1963 and declared their major singles title a world championship. Many other NWA affiliated promotions would split from the NWA over the years with Ted Turner 's World Championship Wrestling in 1993, and Tod Gordon 's Eastern Championship Wrestling in 1994. Each of these promotions declared their primary singles championship to be

1596-527: The National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Championship (the championship belt that Thesz opted to keep as the designation of all the championships he had won) became the undisputed world heavyweight title for all contenders to seek. This, however, would change over the years and decades to come as professional wrestling grew and evolved. The American Wrestling Association , owned by Verne Gagne split off from

1653-587: The Universal Championship held by Roman Reigns from SmackDown and the WWE Championship held by Brock Lesnar from Raw were unified. The winner of the match, Roman Reigns, was then referred to as the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion . Although WWE billed the match as a championship unification, both titles have maintained their individual lineages. On the May 20, 2022, episode of SmackDown ,

1710-597: The WWE World Heavyweight Championship reverted to being called the WWE Championship before WWE reintroduced the brand extension the following month. The WWE Champion was drafted to SmackDown and it was renamed the WWE World Championship though reverted to WWE Championship in December 2016. In response, Raw created their own world championship, the WWE Universal Championship . At WrestleMania 38 in 2022,

1767-604: The WWF during the same year, the World Wrestling Federation Championship remained. WWF took full advantage of their situation, unifying the unbranded " World Championship " (formerly the WCW World Heavyweight Championship) and WWF Championship at Vengeance in 2001 , with Chris Jericho becoming the first Undisputed WWF Champion (and the first undisputed champion in over 50 years in professional wrestling in general). The championship

IWA Undisputed World Heavyweight Championship (Puerto Rico) - Misplaced Pages Continue

1824-473: The World Championship in the 1930s and 1940s, as well. After Gotch's retirement, several other men proceeded to hold the then World Heavyweight Championship, including periods of time where the National Wrestling Association formed a second World Heavyweight Championship to contend with the formerly undisputed belt. From that point onward, there was no undisputed champion, as multiple men laid claim to

1881-472: The belt with him at Golpe de Estado, and in subsequent charity events. On July 20, 2018, a relaunch of IWA's Florida spinoff was also announced, along a tournament to fill the vacancies for the Undisputed World Heavyweight and World Tag Team Championships. However, the formal reactivation of IWA-PR led to the reassignment for the second date of Impacto Total: El Tour, where it would be disputed in

1938-482: The belt, with the wrestler reminiscing about winning it in Juicio Final 2001 and emphasized on the history that the title had. The title was also featured at the 2016 WrestleCon held at Dallas, with Vega posing with it in fan requests and while being reunited with Miguel Pérez. The title was formally reactivated on April 20, 2018, initially scheduled to be contested in a charity card held in benefit of Gustavo Rodríguez,

1995-624: The brand extension officially ended, meaning that both the WWE Champion and the World Heavyweight Champion could appear on both Raw and SmackDown . In November 2013, then World Heavyweight Champion John Cena made a challenge to then WWE Champion Randy Orton to determine WWE's undisputed world champion; the match would take place at the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view the following month. Randy Orton defeated John Cena in

2052-460: The cancellation of the Luchando por Gustavo titular match the following day, leaving the title vacant. The IWA trademark was formally reintroduced on May 6, 2018. The Undisputed World Heavyweight Championship (along the Intercontinental and World Tag Team belts) was featured in the promotion for Golpe de Estado 2018, where the main storyline revolved around Vega's intention of renaming WWL. Vega carried

2109-480: The championship belt still in his possession and challenged Freddie "Blitz" Lozada, who was the IWA World Heavyweight Champion to a unification match . The match took place later in the event with Lozada winning both belts. Following this match WWC's merchandising manager, José Roberto Rodríguez, who had been allowed entry into the building, demanded that the belt was returned to him, but at the moment

2166-509: The championship. Following this the belt was returned to WWC personnel following an ultimatum, which claimed that the company would take legal action if it wasn't returned within forty-eight hours. However, both the International Wrestling Association and the National Wrestling Alliance recognized the unification match, and considered Lozada the first Undisputed World Heavyweight Champion in Puerto Rico. Beginning in 2009,

2223-476: The controversy between IWA and IWE, in which the latter took control of the old titles forcing IWA to create new titles in each division In Golpe de Estado (November 19), defeated Mr. Big (representing IWE) to win the IWA half in a Title vs Title unification match. The title was branded once again as the IWA Undisputed World Championship and the IWE title half (old classic IWA title design)

2280-543: The count from a substitute referee. On April 18, 2009, Cotto was challenged to an unification contest by Joe Bravo , who held the DWE Dominican National Championship, the major title of Dominican Wrestling Entertainment based in the Dominican Republic . Bravo won with the help of a heel referee, becoming a dual champion. The next titleholder to challenge for the belt was Jerry Lynn , Ring of Honor 's World Champion , who unsuccessfully competed against Bravo and Chicano in

2337-703: The first undisputed World Heavyweight Champion. The only other reigning champion with claim to the belt at the time was Tom Jenkins the American Heavyweight Championship , which unified the American Greco-Roman Championship with the American Catch-As-Catch Can Championship. Jenkins was eventually defeated by Frank Gotch , who took over as the only man with a potentially legitimate claim to being "the true champion". Hackenschmidt and Gotch finally met in

IWA Undisputed World Heavyweight Championship (Puerto Rico) - Misplaced Pages Continue

2394-549: The globes and black on the company acronym. In subsequent retouches, the underlying chrome base was evident, the blue coloration was darkened, "IWA" was recolored red throughout, the Pan-African flag was changed twice (first to that of Venezuela and later Germany) and the flag of Italy was switched with France's. In 2018, Collection Spot was commissioned to restore the IWA World Heavyweight Championship, adding to

2451-641: The late 1920s, and remained that way for over 20 years, when several major World Heavyweight Championships split from the primary title (namely, Boston 's American Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Championship, the National Boxing Association (later, National Wrestling Association ) World Championship of Wrestling, and the New York State Athletic Commission World Heavyweight Championship). Other governing bodies would create their own version of

2508-498: The name. In 2021, Fernando Tonos and Manny Ferno created a group known as La Alianza IWE with the intention of completing a hostile takeover on behalf of International Wrestling Entertainment. Members of the stable won all of the IWA-PR titles. In response, general manager Chicky Starr and Savio Vega introduced parallel titles for each division in March 2022. While the storyline continued, there

2565-586: The original Reggie Parks design, but was enlarged and the blue shade of the mapamundi reverted to a lighter shade of blue. Instead of being etched intaglio as in the original design, the "IWA" logo is now flat and silver-colored. Meanwhile, the original belt was repurposed as the IWE World Heavyweight Championship with a sticker of the stable’s logo being placed over the "IWA" in the crown of the center plate. Highlights in bold denotes after Juicio Final 2022 each division have 2 champions due by

2622-673: The ring on April 3, 1908, in Chicago , Illinois . Gotch defeated Hackenschmidt to win the World Heavyweight Championship, then abandoned the American Heavyweight Championship in a process similar to today's championship unification . Gotch wrestled for several years before retiring as undisputed champion Other wrestlers who were recognized as the only major World Champion following Gotch's retirement were Earl Caddock , Joe Stecher , Ed "Strangler" Lewis , Stanislaus Zbyszko , and Wayne Munn . The championship became disputed in

2679-474: The title for the first time in 14 years, Mikael Judas started defending it abroad, beginning with a successful defense at Tennessee. Another appearance for Continental Championship Wrestling of Georgia, in which he was announced as the "Puerto Rico World Champion". On November 30, 2019, Mr. Big defeated Judas at Hardcore Weekend. Benefited by the COVID-19 pandemic , he entered the longest reign of any wrestler, scoring

2736-544: The title without ever backing it up by defeating multiple other contenders. This all changed in July 1948, when the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) was formed by multiple promotions and awarded the NWA World Heavyweight Championship to Orville Brown . After Brown suffered career-ending injuries in an automobile accident on November 1, 1949, the NWA recognised Lou Thesz as the champion. Thesz had earlier won

2793-794: The titles to Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn at WrestleMania 39 in 2023, with Owens and Zayn becoming the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions. On Day 1 of WrestleMania XL , the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship was defended in a ladder match. After the match, Awesome Truth won the Raw Tag Team Championship and A-Town Down Under won the Smackdown Tag Team Championship officially the 2 Tag Team titles are split and no longer “undisputed”. On

2850-466: The work previously done by Rolando Martínez. Besides retouching the colors, reinstating the Italian flag and restoring the black to "IWA" throughout, the process involved adding gold to the mantling of the plates and painting their studs blue. In 2022, IWA-PR commissioned new belts for all divisions from Collection Spot as part of revamp for its 20th anniversary. The IWA World Heavyweight Championship retained

2907-530: The youngest WWE world champion at the time by winning the WWE Undisputed Championship, Brock Lesnar and his title were made exclusive to SmackDown . To remedy this, the Big Gold Belt was brought back the following month to represent the new World Heavyweight Championship and became Raw 's top championship, thus making the WWE Championship no longer undisputed. In 2011, the WWE Championship

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2964-611: Was George Hackenschmidt , who won a series of tournaments in Europe , including a world championship tournament to win the original World Heavyweight Championship . Amongst the other tournaments he won were the annual major tournaments in Paris , France ; Hamburg , Germany ; St. Petersburg , Russia ; and Berlin , Germany. Hackenschmidt also defeated European Greco-Roman Champion Tom Cannon on September 4, 1902, in Liverpool , England to become

3021-447: Was a pair of belts contested independently of each other, with the original being referenced to as the "IWE World Heavyweight Championship". On November 19, 2022, John Hawking defeated Mr. Big to unify both titles, reintroducing the name "IWA Undisputed World (Heavyweight) Championship". On December 15, 2007, Scott Hall failed to attend a titular defense which led to the fictional local boxing and wrestling commission's decision to vacate

3078-515: Was absent for a scheduled defense due to a storyline injury, which resulted in the title being stripped from him. The interim General Manager went on to proclaim himself champion, issuing an open challenge which was accepted by EWO's first contender, a masked wrestler known only as "Bonecrusher", who won it Ina squash match. The confrontations between Cotto and Pérez continued in two of IWA's events expanding to include EWO's CEO, Richard Rondón, as well. On February 25, 2012, following more intervention from

3135-415: Was retired, ending the IWA vs IWE title dispute storyline. As of November 21, 2024. Undisputed championship (professional wrestling) An undisputed championship is a professional wrestling term for a world title that is the unquestioned top championship in a promotion, often formed from two world titles being unified or held by the same individual. The reported first undisputed champion

3192-406: Was temporarily referred to as "undisputed" again. After a storyline in which John Cena and CM Punk both claimed the WWE Championship, the two faced off at the 2011 SummerSlam , resulting in a single title holder. This was not, however, the same as the undisputed title that existed between 2001 and 2002, as the World Heavyweight Championship was unaffected. Immediately following SummerSlam 2011,

3249-484: Was then represented by the belts of its two predecessors until a singular belt design was commissioned. By May 2002, the WWF had been renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment and the Undisputed WWE Championship, as it was now called, became the top championship of the promotion. With the purchase of WCW during the previous year, WWE's roster had doubled in size and with newly obtained properties and

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