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117-668: The NWA Heritage Championship is a title sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance . As of November 25, 2024. As of November 25, 2024. Championship (professional wrestling) Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s A championship or title in professional wrestling is a recognition promoted by professional wrestling organizations . Championship reigns are determined by professional wrestling matches , in which competitors are involved in predetermined rivalries. These narratives create feuds between
234-653: A Velocity taping also in February, and made his final appearance in November in a tag team match against Paul London and Spanky at a Velocity taping, in which he was partnered with John Walters. This was his final appearance for the promotion for over five years. Danielson went to Japan after his release from the WWF, competing in Japan's premier promotion, New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he used his American Dragon persona and donned
351-513: A championship belt that is worn or carried by the champion(s). In the case of team wrestling, there is a belt for each member of the team. Almost all professional wrestling promotions have one major title, and some have more. Championships are designated by divisions of weight, height, gender, wrestling style, and other qualifications. Typically, each promotion only recognizes the "legitimacy" of their own titles, although cross-promotion does happen. When one promotion absorbs or purchases another,
468-432: A ten-man tag team match in which a man from each team starts in the cage and a random wrestler enters periodically thereafter. During the match, Danielson turned on his team by assaulting his rival Samoa Joe before leaving the match and effectively abandoning his involvement in the animosity between the two promotions. As the interpromotional hostility with CZW heightened, Danielson also defended against challengers from
585-569: A thumb war , before singing " John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt " along with the crowd. In May, he made another appearance teaming with Paul London, referring to himself as "American Dolphin" in a parodied manner. On September 4 at Guerre Sans Frontières during his last night in PWG, Danielson defeated Chris Hero to win the PWG World Championship for the second time and immediately vacated it afterward. Following his return from his injury in 2007,
702-507: A "Founding Father" of the company. On February 23, 2002, he competed in the main event of the company's debut event, The Era of Honor Begins, in a three-way match against Christopher Daniels and Low Ki , a match that Low Ki won. One of his matches with Austin Aries , performed on August 7, 2004, at Testing the Limit, lasted seventy-four minutes before Aries was finally declared the victor. One of
819-652: A Squared Circle Wrestling event. On September 10, he returned to the IWA using the name Daniel Bryan and lost the IWA Puerto Rico Heavyweight Championship to Dennis Rivera . The following day, Danielson returned to EVOLVE by defeating Munenori Sawa in the main event. Later that same night, Danielson wrestled for New York Wrestling Connection in a tag team match, where he and Tony Nese defeated Dimitrios Papadon and Alex Reynolds. On September 25, Danielson returned to Dragon Gate USA and defeated YAMATO in
936-526: A WWE Championship match and instead forcing him to face Kane on August 19 at SummerSlam , where Bryan emerged victorious. As a result of Bryan and Kane's issues, AJ enrolled them in anger management classes hosted by Dr. Shelby and they were later forced to "hug it out". At the arrangement of Dr. Shelby and AJ, the two adversaries formed a team whose constant bickering and infighting even during matches inadvertently resulted in them defeating The Prime Time Players ( Titus O'Neil and Darren Young ) to become
1053-575: A few isolated championship matches. On rare occasions, a male wrestler will compete in championship matches for championships generally contested exclusively in the women's division. Such examples include Harvey Wippleman becoming the only male to capture the WWF Women's Championship in 2000, and Eric Young winning one half of the TNA Knockouts Tag Team Championship in 2012. Gimmick match classifications sometimes factor into
1170-600: A gender specification, though Chyna defeating Jeff Jarrett to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship in 1999 and Tessa Blanchard defeating Sami Callihan to win the Impact World Championship in 2020 are notable exceptions. In promotions featuring only a single gender (such as Women of Wrestling or Shimmer Women Athletes ), gender classifications are often unnecessary as well. Titles specifically designated for women may fall into any of
1287-549: A good luck kiss from AJ. On the following episode of SmackDown , Bryan blamed AJ for his title loss and ended their relationship. Despite AJ's attempts to mend their relationship, Bryan cruelly rebuffed her multiple times, leaving AJ an emotional wreck. At Extreme Rules on April 29, Bryan failed to regain the World Heavyweight Championship from Sheamus in a two-out-of-three falls match , losing two falls to one. The next night on Raw SuperShow , Bryan became
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#17328763856241404-754: A hardcore championship is the FTW Championship in All Elite Wrestling (AEW), which is primarily contested in FTW Rules matches . A past such title is WWE Hardcore Championship , which was active from 1998 to 2002. In recent years, style-based championships have centered around what is known as "scientific" or technical wrestling. Examples of this include the NXT Heritage Cup (which is specifically contested under "British Round Rules") in WWE 's NXT brand, and
1521-545: A knee infection. In All Elite Wrestling , when a champion gets injured, a match is held to determine an interim champion until the lineal champion is cleared to compete, after which a match is held between the two to crown an undisputed champion. For example, Jon Moxley became interim AEW World Champion in June 2022 after then-lineal champion, CM Punk, was sidelined with a foot injury. When Punk returned in August, Moxley defeated him in
1638-549: A legitimate nerve injury , which was a stinger resulting in Bryan being unable to feel both his arms for the rest of the match. He's the most technically proficient wrestler the WWE main-event scene has seen possibly since Bret Hart , and he connects with the crowd (the whole crowd — sorry, Mr. Cena) in a near-euphoric way we haven't seen consistently since The Rock in his prime. —David Shoemaker of Grantland , while declaring Bryan as
1755-687: A losing effort against CM Punk , which led to a brief feud between the two. Danielson's biggest success came in 2006 by winning the FIP Heavyweight Championship , holding the belt for eleven months before losing it to Roderick Strong . Danielson wrestled his last match for FIP in December 2006 at Florida Rumble, where he lost to Erick Stevens . Danielson also wrestled in the Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) promotion. He made his debut in November 2003 at An Inch Longer Than Average in
1872-530: A losing effort to PWG Champion Frankie Kazarian . He continued to appear in PWG over the next couple of years, winning the PWG World Championship in 2007 and holding it for six months before taking an eleven-month hiatus from the company. He made his return to PWG at the 2008 Battle of Los Angeles tournament. In April 2009, at PWG: One Hundred, Danielson defeated Kenny Omega . The match was notable for its opening, which included Omega and Danielson performing variable tests of strength, including arm wrestling and
1989-410: A match to become the undisputed champion. These interim reigns are not recognized as official reigns. However, if the lineal champion's injury renders them indefinitely sidelined, they can forfeit the championship and the interim champion becomes the lineal champion. An example of this happened in November 2022, when it was announced that then-lineal AEW Women's World Champion , Thunder Rosa relinquished
2106-416: A measure of their performance ability and drawing power. The most accomplished or decorated wrestlers tend to be revered as legends. American wrestler Ric Flair has had multiple world heavyweight championship reigns spanning over three decades. Japanese wrestler Último Dragón once held and defended a record 10 titles simultaneously . Professional wrestling's championship belts are modeled similarly to
2223-471: A no contest. This culminated in a triple threat steel cage match to exclude outside interference at the Royal Rumble on January 29, where Bryan escaped the cage after freeing himself from Big Show's grasp to retain the championship. At Elimination Chamber on February 19, Bryan defeated Big Show, Cody Rhodes, The Great Khali , Santino Marella, and Wade Barrett in an Elimination Chamber match to retain
2340-514: A number of CZW wrestlers. Hero intensified the rivalry, leading to the two wrestling at ROH's Hell Freezes Over event on January 14, where Danielson successfully defended the ROH World Championship. On July 15 at Death Before Dishonor IV, he soon filled the vacant slot on ROH's five-man team which participated in one of CZW's more popular attractions, a steel cage match called the Cage of Death ,
2457-499: A red, white and blue mask reminiscent of a dragon. As a part of the junior heavyweight division , Danielson had success in both singles and tag team competition in the company, winning (without wearing a mask) the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship with Curry Man on March 12, 2004. In 2002, Danielson joined the independent promotion Ring of Honor (ROH), where he is acknowledged as
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#17328763856242574-714: A severe injury and despite the championship being quite important. In 1998, Shane Douglas kept the ECW World Heavyweight Championship while sidelined. In 2005, Trish Stratus kept the WWE Women's Championship while sidelined with a herniated disk for four months. In 2012, CM Punk kept the WWE Championship while undergoing and recovering from knee surgery. In 2015, Ryback kept the WWE Intercontinental Championship while recovering from
2691-480: A short, TV-friendly time limit, usually 10 or 15 minutes. These titles were originally introduced during a time when weekly TV shows were seen as a vehicle to promote the money-making live shows, where major title defenses took place. Television titles provided a championship that would be defended on the weekly television shows. Examples of a television championship include the AEW TNT Championship (named after
2808-529: A six-man tag team match. The Shield went on to take out Undertaker and rack up wins over Bryan and Kane in both singles and tag matches that also included WWE Champion John Cena. On May 19 at Extreme Rules , Bryan and Kane lost the WWE Tag Team Championship to Shield members Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns, ending their reign at 245 days. As Bryan being pinned led to the loss of the WWE Tag Team Championship, he became obsessed about proving that he
2925-468: A title match and quickly pinned Henry, but SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long revealed that Henry was not medically cleared to compete and voided the match, so Henry remained champion and the briefcase was returned to Bryan. Regardless of his briefcase, Bryan won a fatal four-way match on the same episode of SmackDown to become the contender for Henry's championship. On the live November 29 episode of SmackDown , Henry managed to pin Bryan to retain
3042-530: A winner, with a title changing hands by countout and disqualification and a draw forcing a restart. Danielson won the match on August 12 and retired the Pure title as its last champion (the title would be reinstated in 2020). During a match with Colt Cabana on August 26, Danielson suffered a real injury when he separated his shoulder, tearing two tendons in it and he tore another tendon in his chest. Danielson returned at Glory by Honor V: Night 2 on September 16 and
3159-441: A wrestler and defended in sanctioned matches, but are not recognized as legitimate titles by the promotion. Examples of unsanctioned championships include: Bryan Danielson Bryan Lloyd Danielson (born May 22, 1981) is an American semi-retired professional wrestler . He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a former AEW World Champion . He is also known for his tenure on WWE , where he performed under
3276-499: Is Earned , which had Danielson team with ROH World Champion Takeshi Morishima against Nigel McGuinness and Kenta. Danielson's team won after Danielson made Kenta tap out to his signature submission hold , the Cattle Mutilation . Danielson vied to contend for the ROH World Championship by defeating McGuinness at Domination on June 9, which appeared on the company's next pay per view named Driven which took place on June 23, but
3393-544: Is WWE's NXT Heritage Cup , which is represented with a trophy. The fate of a title depends on the champion's condition and the importance of the title to the promotion (e.g. Gregory Helms held the WWE Cruiserweight Championship , despite being sidelined with an injury, because the Cruiserweight Championship was not a major championship). The champion may be forced to vacate his or her title if
3510-427: Is becoming increasingly rare as champions are needed to be present in regular tours even when titles are not defended. Professional wrestling championships are often split up into various different classifications, each of which designate varying levels of importance to the belts. The world heavyweight championship (also just world championship) is the name given to the championship that is typically presented as being
3627-465: Is often implicitly understood. Other tag team championships include 3-on-3 and 4-on-4 formats, which are often explicitly stated within the championship name to distinguish them from the 2-on-2 championships. Some teams may invoke what is called the Freebird Rule , in which a stable of three or more wrestlers are all officially recognized as champion, allowing any pairing of the stable's members to defend
NWA Heritage Championship - Misplaced Pages Continue
3744-542: Is scripted, there is no promotion or group of people that recognize one official world title of the industry (the closest was the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship during the territory days during the mid to late 20th century). Instead, each promotion can promote their top title as a world title, with some of them promoting title matches around the world to claim the designation. Some promotions may even recognize multiple world championships, such as
3861-481: Is the case with WWE, as due to the large size of its roster, the promotion splits its roster into what they call brands where talent exclusively perform and their two main brands ( Raw and SmackDown) each have their own world championship. The first widely recognized world heavyweight championship was the World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship , created in 1905, and the inaugural champion
3978-484: Is very common for these variations to be the second most prestigious championship in a promotion, but exceptions have existed, like the now defunct WWE European Championship , which served as the company's tertiary singles championship, and the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship , which many NWA territories created versions of and promoted as their most prestigious championship whenever
4095-742: The GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship in Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah) and the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). He won numerous titles on the independent circuit, including the PWG World Championship , the FIP Heavyweight Championship , and the wXw World Heavyweight Championship . Danielson again signed with WWE in 2009, but was fired after an incident in 2010. Upon his return three months later, he went on to win
4212-685: The MVP for the WWE Midseason Awards in October 2013 Heading to SummerSlam, Bryan started a storyline where WWE chairman Vince McMahon was against Bryan due to Bryan's image not fitting of McMahon's vision of a typical WWE wrestler, while WWE chief operating officer Triple H was in support of Bryan. At the event, Bryan defeated John Cena to win his first WWE Championship, but after the match special referee Triple H performed his Pedigree finishing move on Bryan, leading to Randy Orton cashing in his Money in
4329-644: The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) published a video of Danielson stating his intent to challenge for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship , as the establishment that sanctioned the title at the time, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, was relinquishing the title back to the NWA. A tournament, titled Reclaiming the Glory, was held to determine the new champion with Danielson making his way to finals, scheduled to compete Brent Albright on September 1, but due to
4446-544: The ROH Pure Championship in Ring of Honor (which is contested under "Pure Wrestling Rules"). A variation that was prominent in the 1980s and 1990s and made a return in the 2020s is a "television championship" or "iron man championship", which involves more frequent title defenses as well as the stipulations that the belt can only change hands on television (as opposed to non-televised house shows ) with title matches having
4563-539: The TNA Digital Media Championship , which was created in 2021 to reflect TNA 's online platforms or WWE's Speed Championship which is named after the X (Twitter) exclusive streaming show WWE Speed . In 2021, AEW introduced the first TV title specifically for female wrestlers, the AEW TBS Championship , named for the network that is the home of Dynamite as of January 5, 2022, serving as
4680-700: The WWE Championship four times, the World Heavyweight Championship once, and the WWE United States Championship and WWE Intercontinental Championship once each. He also won the WWE Tag Team Championship (as part of Team Hell No with Kane ) and the SmackDown Tag Team Championship (with Erick Rowan ), becoming the 26th WWE Triple Crown Champion and the 15th WWE Grand Slam Champion . He also won
4797-504: The World Association of Wrestling (WAW), and Premier Promotions. He returned several times over the next five years, working for various promotions. In February 2005 at New Dawn Rising, he made his debut in ROH's sister promotion, Full Impact Pro (FIP), teaming up with Rocky Romero in a match against Austin Aries and Homicide. The next night at Dangerous Intentions, Danielson competed in
NWA Heritage Championship - Misplaced Pages Continue
4914-509: The home network of AEW's Rampage and Collision broadcasts plus other AEW programming) and the ROH World Television Championship . A modern take on the traditional TV title are internet championships. As professional wrestling began having events on streaming and online platforms, some promotions modified their television championships to be promoted as internet championships to reflect this. Examples of this include
5031-557: The ring name Daniel Bryan from 2010 to 2021. Noted for his technical wrestling style and popularity with fans, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time. Danielson began his professional wrestling career in 1999 on the independent circuit , and signed an 18-month contract with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) in 2000; he later went on to make appearances in WWE until 2003. He joined Ring of Honor (ROH) in 2002, wrestling in
5148-530: The wXw World Heavyweight Championship against Bad Bones and held it over a month before losing it to Absolute Andy. After his departure from wXw, Danielson made his debut with Philadelphia -based independent promotion CHIKARA to compete in their King of Trios tournament , which saw him team with Claudio Castagnoli and Dave Taylor in a contingency called Team Uppercut. In the same year, Danielson competed in Dragon Gate USA 's second show, losing to Open
5265-523: The "Comisión de Box y Lucha Libre Mexico D.F." (the Mexico City Boxing and Wrestling Commission), the main regulatory body in Mexico: Gender occasionally plays a role in the classifications of championship belts. Due to professional wrestling being a male dominated sport, only women's titles are given official gender classifications. Generally, only men are allowed to win the championships without
5382-515: The 2011 Money in the Bank ladder match and the "Superstar of the Year" award at the 2013 Slammy Awards , and headlined several major WWE events , including the 2014 and 2021 editions of their flagship event WrestleMania . Danielson retired from wrestling in 2016 due to injuries arising from multiple concussions , which led to seizures and a brain lesion . He then took on a non-wrestling role for WWE as
5499-466: The Bank , Bryan won the SmackDown Money in the Bank ladder match which earned him a World Heavyweight Championship match at any point within the following year. After several months of losing matches, Bryan began a feud with then World Heavyweight Champion Mark Henry . On the November 25 episode of SmackDown , Henry was knocked out again by Big Show, at which point Bryan cashed in his briefcase for
5616-452: The Bank contract to win the title from Bryan. When [Vince McMahon] had HHH call Bryan a B+ player, that is because Vince saw Bryan that way. Vince was just going to screw Bryan in the storylines and then push him down the card. —Dave Scherer of PWInsider.com's analysis of Bryan's feud with The Authority The next night on Raw , Triple H and the McMahons endorsed Orton as "the face of
5733-486: The Dream Gate Champion Naruki Doi . Danielson re-signed with WWE in August 2009, under his real name. He made his debut on January 4, 2010, in a dark match prior to Raw , defeating Chavo Guerrero . He went to Florida to train with Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), the WWE developmental territory , to acclimate himself to his new work environment and work on his ring rust . He debuted at
5850-632: The FCW television tapings on January 14 and lost to Kaval. At the February 11 tapings, he was given the ring name Daniel Bryan. He later said that he was given a list of 10 possible ring names to use in WWE (including Daniel Bryan, Buddy Peacock, and Lloyd Bonaire) but his real name was not on the list. His name was given by William Regal. Bryan made his debut on the inaugural episode of NXT on February 23, losing by submission to then World Heavyweight Champion Chris Jericho and being attacked by his storyline mentor The Miz for disrespecting him earlier in
5967-429: The June 14 episode of SmackDown , Bryan (with Kane and Randy Orton as his tag team partners) ended The Shield's unpinned and unsubmitted streak in a televised six-man tag match by forcing Rollins to submit. On June 16 at Payback , Bryan and Orton lost against Rollins and Reigns for the WWE Tag Team Championship. The following night on Raw , a match between Bryan and Orton ended via referee stoppage after Bryan suffered
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#17328763856246084-479: The Limit, Bryan interfered in a match between Punk and Kane to frame Punk attacking Kane with a steel chair, leading to a three-way feud. During this time, a jilted AJ Lee turned her affections to both Punk and Kane. On the June 1 episode of SmackDown , Bryan's interference caused WWE Championship match between Punk and Kane to end in a double disqualification, resulting in a triple threat match being set up on June 17 at No Way Out , where Punk managed to retain
6201-520: The NWA Legends Fanfest. Despite returning to WWE on August 15, Danielson honored most of his independent bookings, making his first appearance on August 20 and defeating Jon Moxley at Heartland Wrestling Association's Road to Destiny. The following day, he was defeated by Drake Younger at Insanity Pro Wrestling's Ninth Anniversary Reign of the Insane. On August 22, Danielson defeated J Freddie at
6318-670: The NWA World Heavyweight Champion was not around. Another common classification of championships are by weight classes . Given the scripted nature of professional wrestling matches, weight classes are not always strictly adhered to. Typically, promotions prefer to have a heavyweight title as their top prize, with other designations, such as cruiserweight , middleweight , or light-heavyweight titles. Promotions often have one sub-heavyweight classification, while others sometimes may have more. Mountevans' committee (a governing body that instilled rules for professional wrestling in
6435-546: The Pro to Rookie Derrick Bateman . In late 2010, The Bella Twins began competing for Bryan's affection, leading to them supporting him at ringside and competing in mixed tag team matches together. On the January 24, 2011 episode of Raw , it was revealed that Bryan had been secretly dating Gail Kim , who began accompanying him to ringside. On the March 14 episode of Raw , Bryan lost
6552-601: The ROH Pure Champion Nigel McGuinness had a match to unify the titles. They met at April 29 in a match fought under pure wrestling rules and McGuinness left Danielson outside the ring after a chair shot to win by countout —this was enough to retain the Pure title, but not to win Danielson's World Championship. They had another unification match in McGuinness's native England; ROH decided that there had to be
6669-610: The TWA Tag Team Championship with Spanky on March 21, 2000, defeating The Board of Education (Jeromy Sage and Ruben Cruz), but they dropped the titles back to The Board of Education two weeks later. While touring the country's independent circuit , Danielson was signed to a developmental deal by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) to work in their developmental system and was assigned to Memphis Championship Wrestling (MCW), where he gained exposure and
6786-482: The UK) created seven formal weight divisions: Classifying championships into weight classes is also common practice in the lucha libre promotions of Mexico . Lucha libre has a detailed weight class system patterned after boxing. Each weight class has an official upper limit, but examples of wrestlers who are technically too heavy to hold their title can be found. The following weight classes exist in lucha libre, as defined by
6903-521: The United States Championship to Sheamus , ending his reign at 176 days. Bryan was originally scheduled to have his rematch against Sheamus for the United States Championship on the main card at WrestleMania XXVII on April 3, but the match was rescheduled as a dark lumberjack match that ended in a no contest when the lumberjacks fought among themselves to trigger the start of a battle royal , which he lost. Bryan lost his title rematch
7020-715: The United States and abroad. In 2003, he toured the United Kingdom for the British promotion All Star Wrestling (ASW), where he sometimes used the name Dynamic Dragon. While there, he won the World Heavy Middleweight Championship on May 6 in an eight-man one-night tournament in Croydon , defeating James Mason. He spent the next six months in the United Kingdom, working for ASW, Frontier Wrestling Alliance (FWA),
7137-453: The WWE again. After being released, Danielson received several offers to sign with other wrestling companies, being contacted by TNA, albeit indirectly and some Japanese promotions. Two weeks after his departure from WWE, Danielson made his return to the independent circuit on June 26, defeating Eddie Kingston at the CHIKARA event We Must Eat Michigan's Brain. Rather than receiving streamers,
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#17328763856247254-435: The WWE" while labeling Bryan a "B+ player" and forming The Authority faction. With Triple H threatening to fire anyone who disobeyed him, Bryan was left alone to take on and suffer attacks from Orton and The Shield. Despite Bryan regained the title from Orton at Night of Champions , he was stripped of the title the following night on Raw by Triple H. Bryan wrestled Orton for the vacant titles twice, one at Battleground in
7371-544: The World Heavyweight Championship. After the match, Royal Rumble match winner Sheamus attacked Bryan and chose him as his WrestleMania opponent for the World Heavyweight Championship. In March, Bryan began to mistreat AJ, publicly demanding her to shut up and claiming that she always got in his way. Despite these actions, AJ continued to stand by Bryan. Bryan's reign as World Heavyweight Champion ended at 105 days when Sheamus defeated him in 18 seconds at WrestleMania XXVIII on April 1 due to Bryan being distracted with receiving
7488-404: The altar and instead accepted Mr. McMahon 's offer of the position of permanent Raw General Manager. Bryan's night turned from bad to worse as he was later attacked by The Rock and insulted by celebrity Charlie Sheen . AJ's rejection of Bryan turned him into an angry and bitter individual and resulted in Bryan lashing out at audiences. AJ continued to exact her revenge on Bryan by denying him
7605-414: The beginning of 2006, Chris Hero , a representative from Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW), invaded ROH and targeted Danielson—the two exchanged words over the internet before having a match together, with nearly the entire roster of both companies embarking on an interpromotional feud. Danielson became personally invested in this feud and invaded CZW himself, which led to him having physical altercations with
7722-458: The championship belts in boxing , and other combat sports such as mixed martial arts . They are made of elaborately designed plates of gold or other precious metals , usually bearing the name of the title and the wrestling promotion, and is on a leather strap. The color and designs vary with each title and promotion. A wrestler may win a sanctioned championship and redesign the belt itself. Some (such as John Cena 's Spinner Belt) later became
7839-411: The championship. This rule is most commonly applied to the standard 2-on-2 tag team championship, though it has also been applied to the other variants. Tag team championships are also often combined with regional modifiers, gimmick modifiers, gender modifiers, and weight class modifiers to further distinguish them. In such cases, the primary title is usually called the world tag team championship , with
7956-494: The company held a show in Japan named Tokyo Summit on September 14, where Danielson wrestled GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion Yoshinobu Kanemaru and won the championship. Following his victory, NOAH allowed him to defend the title in Ring of Honor, with his first defense being at Glory By Honor VII on September 20, defeating Katsuhiko Nakajima . However, this was his only successful defense as he returned to Japan on October 13 to lose
8073-530: The company's newsletter, The ROH Newswire , that he had quit ROH after being frustrated by his inability to defeat Austin Aries for the ROH World Championship . It was later revealed Danielson had become frustrated in general with professional wrestling and planned to take some time off to evaluate his career options. However, Danielson had several dates booked in Europe and Japan, leading fans to believe that
8190-436: The company. He was quickly defeated by both Sean O'Haire and Little Guido in his two appearances. He went on to make four additional non-contracted appearances for WWE in 2003 on its secondary shows , Velocity and Heat , initially as enhancement talent before being allowed to compete in longer matches; he wrestled Jamie Noble at a Velocity taping in January, Rico at a Heat taping in February, John Cena at
8307-487: The counterpart to the male TNT Championship. Sister promotion ROH introduced a similar title for their women's division, ROH Women's World Television Championship . Tag team championships are yet another different form of wrestling title. Some consider it to be a style championship, but tag team championships are unique in their ability to include multiple wrestlers on teams competing for multiple belts. The most common form of tag team championships are in 2-on-2 format, which
8424-520: The creation of title belts. In these classifications, special skills in a certain type of match or a certain style of wrestling is the signature of the division, and the champion is considered to be the most skilled wrestler at that specific style. Gimmick championships often take very differing forms. A common variation is the "hardcore championship", a title often defended in weapons-filled and bloody competitions with fewer rules (count outs and disqualifications are not usually allowed). An active example of
8541-531: The dark match main event of Return of the Dragon. After the match, Danielson joined BxB Hulk , Masato Yoshino , Naruki Doi and PAC as the fifth member of the stable World-1. On July 30, Danielson returned to Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, competing in a match where he defeated Roderick Strong. On August 7, Danielson unsuccessfully challenged Adam Pearce for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship at
8658-469: The eye injury he sustained at ROH's Manhattan Mayhem event, he withdrew from the tournament and instead acted as the referee of the match. In 2009, Danielson's contract with Ring of Honor expired, which opened up Danielson to travel to other companies more freely while competing in his home promotion. In 2009, Danielson also signed a short-term contract with German wrestling promotion Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw). Shortly after his debut, Danielson won
8775-448: The fall of 2009, Danielson signed with WWE after a farewell tour with ROH, during which he challenged Aries for the title again and lost. On September 26 at Glory by Honor VIII: The Final Countdown, he won his last match in the company against McGuinness, who was also having his final match with the company until 2023. Aside from competing primarily in ROH, Danielson has also competed in a multitude of other independent promotions, both in
8892-534: The family after his parents' divorce, he and his sister both delivered newspapers as children, and later worked at McDonald's as teenagers. For a brief time in high school, he lived with his father in Castle Rock, Washington . During his sophomore year at Aberdeen High School , Danielson decided to pursue a professional wrestling career and attempted to train at Dean Malenko 's wrestling school in Florida. However, by
9009-507: The family to Vernal, Utah , then to Albany, Oregon , before they returned to Aberdeen. His parents divorced over his father's alcoholism when Danielson was a child, though they remained on good terms. During his childhood, Danielson was shown a professional wrestling magazine by a friend, and has been a fan of wrestling ever since. He considered himself shy and antisocial as a child and teenager, but still competed in sports such as football and track and field . To help his mother support
9126-527: The fans instead threw neck ties in light of the Justin Roberts incident in WWE. The following day at CHIKARA's Faded Scars and Lines, Danielson defeated Young Lions Cup holder Tim Donst in a non-title match. On July 3, Danielson returned to wXw, defeating Wade Fitzgerald and TJP in the round robin stage of the Ambition 1 tournament. The following day, he defeated TJP in a rematch and finally Johnny Moss in
9243-602: The finals of the tournament to win Ambition 1. On July 17, Danielson debuted in the International Wrestling Association (IWA), being booked to defeat Q.T. Marshall for the IWA Puerto Rico Heavyweight Championship. On July 23, Danielson debuted in the fledgling EVOLVE promotion, which was originally conceived to be built around Danielson as their top star before he signed to WWE. In the main event, Danielson defeated Bobby Fish. The following day, Danielson returned to Dragon Gate USA and submitted Shingo in
9360-428: The first occasion against Big Show when Bryan goaded Mark Henry into attacking him and causing a disqualification; the second occasion a no disqualification rematch with Big Show which ended abruptly after Big Show accidentally ran into AJ, hospitalizing her within the storyline for which Bryan blamed him; and the third occasion against Henry in a lumberjack match when Bryan provoked the lumberjacks to interfere and cause
9477-496: The injury becomes too severe and the championship is too important. In May 2015, Daniel Bryan vacated the WWE Intercontinental Championship due to a major concussion and a year before, he had to vacate the world title due to neck surgery. In November 2015, Seth Rollins vacated the WWE World Heavyweight Championship due to a knee injury that required surgery. However, a champion may keep their title despite
9594-441: The main event of the evening. The following day, Danielson defeated Jon Moxley . On October 1, Danielson wrestled the last of his independent matches by defeating Shelton Benjamin at a Northeast Wrestling event. Danielson returned to WWE as Daniel Bryan at SummerSlam on August 15, 2010, where he was revealed as the surprise seventh member of Team WWE for the seven-on-seven elimination tag team match against The Nexus. Bryan
9711-552: The main event of the promotion's first event; considered a mainstay of ROH, he stayed with the company until 2009, winning the ROH World Championship and ROH Pure Championship once each. He unified the championships at one point and was also the inaugural winner of the annual ROH Survival of the Fittest tournament. In 2022, he was named as part of the inaugural class of the ROH Hall of Fame . He also wrestled extensively in Japan, winning
9828-418: The more notable rivalries he had in the early years in the company was with Homicide , as the two fought numerous matches with a variety of stipulations, culminating in a steel cage match on May 13, 2005, at The Final Showdown, where Danielson was victorious. Despite winning the company's inaugural Survival of the Fittest tournament in 2004, Bryan did not win a ROH title. In 2005, Danielson explained in
9945-556: The most prestigious of those contested within a promotion. The wrestler holding a championship with this name is most commonly referred to as the "world heavyweight champion" or "world champion" (though some promotions may use synonymous/alternate terms, such as the AAA Mega Championship of Lucha Libre AAA World Wide or the Undisputed WWE Championship , the premier title of WWE ). Since professional wrestling
10062-674: The next night on Raw , after which he was saved from Sheamus by the debuting Sin Cara . On April 26, Bryan was drafted to SmackDown as part of the 2011 supplemental draft . On the May 6 episode of SmackDown , Bryan made his debut for the brand by losing to Sheamus. Cody Rhodes then started a feud with Bryan by attacking him after losing their match and placing a paper bag on his head. Bryan then aligned with Sin Cara to feud with Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase . On June 28, Bryan returned to NXT to manage Derrick Bateman once again. On July 17 at Money in
10179-467: The number one contender to CM Punk's WWE Championship when he won a Beat the Clock challenge by defeating Jerry Lawler in under three minutes. Bryan received his title match at Over the Limit on May 20 and suffered a controversial loss—when Bryan rolled back onto his shoulders as he applied the "Yes!" Lock , Punk tapped out immediately after the referee counted a pinfall win for Punk. Shortly before Over
10296-465: The number one contenders to the WWE Tag Team Championship on the September 10 episode of Raw and then defeating champions Kofi Kingston and R-Truth to win the championship on September 16 at Night of Champions . The team was named Team Hell No and started a feud with The Shield, leading to a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match on December 16 at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs , where The Shield
10413-432: The official belt design. Others (such as Stone Cold Steve Austin 's Smoking Skull Belt, Edge 's Rated-R Spinner, Daniel Bryan 's eco-friendly belt, and The Fiend Bray Wyatt 's Universal title with his face on it) were not used after their respective title reign. While rare, there are cases of championships being represented with items other than belts, such as championship trophies, medals, crowns, etc. An example of this
10530-523: The on-screen general manager of SmackDown and remained in the role until 2018, when he was unexpectedly cleared by doctors to return to in-ring competition. His WWE contract expired in May 2021, and he made his AEW debut four months later. Since joining AEW, he has headlined several AEW pay-per-view events and won the men's 2024 Owen Hart Cup . He defeated Swerve Strickland to become the AEW World Champion at All In 2024 , his first championship in
10647-548: The other categories listed here (e.g. women's world titles or women's tag team titles). Andy Kaufman once used gender classifications to his advantage, turning inter-gender competitions into a unique wrestling side-show. Kaufman declared himself the "Inter-Gender Champion of the World", and offered $ 1,000 to any woman who could pin him. None were successful during the run of the gimmick; though in other promotions such as WCW and WWE , women have successfully pinned men, most notably in
10764-413: The other championships seen as secondary titles. Examples of 2-on-2 tag team championships: Examples of 3-on-3 tag team championships: Examples of 4-on-4 tag team championships: Examples of 5-on-5 tag team championships: The concept of championships, and their central role in wrestling, allows for the potential for angles . One such angle is an unsanctioned championship title. These are claimed by
10881-465: The performers who show potential, thus allowing them greater exposure to the audience. However, other circumstances may also determine the use of a championship. A combination of a championship's lineage, the caliber of performers as champion, and the frequency and manner of title changes, dictates the audience's perception of the title's quality, significance, and reputation. A wrestler's championship accomplishments can be central to their career, becoming
10998-406: The periodical was likely a storyline claim for Danielson's absence during this period. Danielson defeated James Gibson for the ROH World Championship at Glory by Honor IV on September 15, 2005. The rest of the year saw Danielson have successful title defenses even against wrestlers from other companies, such as Pro Wrestling Noah star Naomichi Marufuji at Final Battle on December 17. At
11115-749: The promotion is based, an example being WWE's United States Championship . Sometimes it may specify a specific state or territory, such as the NWA Georgia Heavyweight Championship . It is also common to be a smaller division of the world, an example being the WWE Intercontinental Championship , the AEW International Championship (previously known as the All-Atlantic Championship), or the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship . It
11232-565: The promotion. At WrestleDream 2024 , Danielson lost the AEW World Championship to Jon Moxley in what was billed as the final match of his full-time professional wrestling career. Bryan Lloyd Danielson was born in Aberdeen, Washington , on May 22, 1981, the son of therapist Darlene and lumberjack Donald "Buddy" Danielson. His mother was pregnant with him for over 10 months. He has an older sister named Billie Sue. His father's job moved
11349-566: The ringside area. On June 11, Danielson was fired from WWE for being too violent during the segment, strangling ring announcer Justin Roberts with his own neck tie. Danielson noted that WWE apologized to him for his release, explaining that they "had sponsors they had to deal with". His release was put in a storyline, where the rest of the NXT rookies kicked him out of the group for showing remorse for his actions and declared that Bryan would never return to
11466-467: The rival company, who had signed an open contract for any CZW wrestler willing to challenge for the ROH World Championship. Former champion Samoa Joe also challenged Danielson at Fight of the Century on August 5, but their match ended in a 60-minute draw . While having the ROH World Championship, ROH faced the issue of having another title with seemingly equal value, the ROH Pure Championship . Danielson and
11583-416: The show. he was eliminated from the show along with Michael Tarver . On the May 31 episode of Raw, Bryan was granted a match against The Miz by guest host Ashton Kutcher , which he won and threw Miz into Cole at ringside after the match. On the June 7 episode of Raw , the faction known as The Nexus (NXT rookies from season one) invaded the WWE ring, attacking John Cena and causing destruction around
11700-606: The time he graduated in 1999, the school had closed down. Following a friend's suggestion, he instead began training under Shawn Michaels and Rudy Gonzalez at the Texas Wrestling Academy (TWA) in San Antonio, Texas . After his wrestling debut in December 1999, he toured Japan with Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) alongside Lance Cade , a fellow trainee from the TWA, and they competed in several tag team matches. He won
11817-585: The title after AJ distracted Kane. On the June 25 episode of Raw SuperShow , Bryan defeated Punk and Kane in a non-title three-way elimination match to earn another shot at the WWE Championship. At Money in the Bank on July 15, Bryan failed to capture the WWE Championship again from Punk in a no disqualification match with AJ as special guest referee . The following night on Raw SuperShow , AJ accepted Bryan's marriage proposal. On Raw 1000 , Bryan's storyline wedding ended in failure when AJ left Bryan at
11934-506: The title due to a back injury she suffered in August. As a result, then-interim champion, Jamie Hayter , became the official champion. Before the 1980s when title matches were rare, some champions could keep their titles even when injured; Bruno Sammartino kept his WWWF World Heavyweight Championship from April to June 1976 despite being injured by a botched body slam from Stan Hansen . In Mexico , this situation still occurs, but in Japan , it
12051-609: The title in a steel cage match. Also in November, Bryan started being involved in a romantic storyline with AJ Lee. Bryan cashed in his Money in the Bank contract on December 18 at TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs against Big Show, who had just defeated Henry and subsequently received a DDT onto a steel chair, which allowed Bryan to secure a pinfall victory and become the World Heavyweight Champion. As World Heavyweight Champion, Bryan turned heel , In January 2012, Bryan successfully defended his title three times:
12168-411: The title to Kenta. Following his loss, Danielson challenged McGuinness for the ROH World Championship at the next ROH pay-per-view Rising Above on November 22, in a losing effort. Ring of Honor made its national television debut with the program Ring of Honor Wrestling and Danielson made his television debut in the main event of its third episode on February 28, 2009 by defeating Austin Aries. In
12285-544: The title two weeks later by defeating The Miz and John Morrison in a triple threat submissions count anywhere match at Hell in a Cell on October 3. On October 24, he went on to challenge then Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler to a champion vs. champion match at Bragging Rights as a special attraction SmackDown vs. Raw match, defeating Ziggler in a highly acclaimed match. On November 21, Bryan went on to successfully defend his title against Ted DiBiase at Survivor Series . Bryan returned to NXT' s season four as
12402-415: The titles from the defunct promotion may continue to be defended in the new promotion or be decommissioned, usually through championship unification . Behind the scenes , the bookers in a company will place the title on the most accomplished performer, or those the bookers believe will generate fan interest in terms of event attendance and television viewership. Lower ranked titles may also be used on
12519-488: The various competitors, which cast them as villains and heroes (heels and faces respectively). The bookers in a company will place the title on the most accomplished performer, or whom they believe will generate fan interest in terms of event attendance and television viewership. Professional wrestling portrays the structure of title match combat sports . Participants compete for a championship, and must defend it after winning it. These titles are represented physically by
12636-567: Was George Hackenschmidt . The lineage of many prominent contemporary world championships can be traced back to the World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship, with the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship considered its direct successor , with many world championships having been spun of from the NWA's title. A very common championship variation. The championship usually specifies the location on where
12753-447: Was aired on September 21. This allowed him, now as a fan favorite , to challenge Morishima for the title at Manhattan Mayhem II on August 25 in a losing effort in which he also suffered a legitimate detached retina . Following surgery, he fought Morishima again in a match at Man Up on September 15, but the referee stopped the match since Danielson was unable to respond to him. In a rematch at Rising Above on December 29, Morishima
12870-551: Was challenged by Kenta , a guest competitor from NOAH, due to the two companies' talent exchange agreement —Danielson again retained his championship. At Final Battle on December 23, Danielson's fifteen-month title reign finally ended after he lost to Homicide at his 39th defense and he subsequently took time off from wrestling in order to heal his shoulder. On May 11, 2007, Danielson returned to ROH at Reborn Again and defeated Shane Hagadorn and Adam Pearce in separate matches. On May 12, ROH filmed its first pay-per-view , Respect
12987-407: Was close to being called up to the main roster during the 2001 Royal Rumble match: he explained that the WWF thought of using him as one of their key figures in the newly created cruiserweight division , which was inspired by World Championship Wrestling (WCW). In 2002, Danielson wrestled two matches for the renamed World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) despite not being a contracted performer for
13104-483: Was disqualified. Morishima returned to the company at Final Battle on December 27, 2008, in a match billed as a " Fight Without Honor " in which both men were allowed weapons and which Danielson won. Danielson commented in March 2012 on how he felt validated at Final Battle 2008, because he and Morishima managed to get 2,500 people to see the show in New York City. As part of ROH's agreement with Pro Wrestling Noah,
13221-423: Was not the weak link of Team Hell No and as a result became even more aggressive, but his overzealous behavior led to Team Hell No losing their rematch against Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns on the May 27 episode of Raw . During this storyline, Bryan was praised as the best performer in WWE and having an unmatched connection with crowds by critics, peers and veterans of the professional wrestling industry. On
13338-602: Was one of the two final members of Team WWE and managed to eliminate two members of The Nexus, but was eliminated by Wade Barrett after The Miz, whose place he took in Team WWE, attacked him. Despite this, Team WWE won the match. As part of the Raw roster , Bryan feuded with The Miz, defeating him at Night of Champions to win the United States Championship , his first championship in WWE. Bryan then successfully defended
13455-475: Was the first man eliminated from the match, courtesy of Henry. On April 7 at WrestleMania 29 , Team Hell No defeated Dolph Ziggler and Big E Langston for another successful title defense. Team Hell No rekindled their rivalry with The Shield the following night on Raw after saving The Undertaker from an ambush by them. On the April 22 episode of Raw , Team Hell No and The Undertaker were defeated by The Shield in
13572-674: Was trained by WWF competitor William Regal , whom he credited as being instrumental in the development of his career. During this time, he adopted his moniker of the "American Dragon". WWF severed its ties with MCW in 2001, but not before Danielson won the MCW Light Heavyweight Championship and the MCW Tag Team Championship with Spanky. After 18 months with the company, he was released from his WWF contract in July 2001. Danielson revealed in his 2015 autobiography that he
13689-444: Was victorious after pinning Bryan. On January 27, 2013, at the Royal Rumble , Team Hell No retained the WWE Tag Team Championship against Team Rhodes Scholars. On the February 4 episode of Raw , Bryan was inserted into the World Heavyweight Championship number one contender Elimination Chamber match when he defeated Rey Mysterio , after which the returning Mark Henry attacked both men. On February 17 at Elimination Chamber , Bryan
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