| Champion |
Date |
Circumstances |
| George Hackenschmidt |
May 4th, 1905 |
|
| Frank Gotch |
April 3rd, 1908 |
Gotch retired as the champion in 1913, vacating the belt. |
| Joe Stecher |
July 4th, 1915 |
Stecher beat Charles Cutler for the vacant belt. |
| Earl Caddock |
April 9th, 1917 |
|
| Joe Stecher(2nd) |
January 30th, 1920 |
|
| Ed "The Strangler" Lewis |
December 13th, 1920 |
|
| Stanislaus Zbyszko |
May 6th, 1921 |
|
| Ed "The Strangler" Lewis(2nd) |
March 3rd, 1922 |
|
| Wayne Munn |
January 8th, 1925 |
|
| Stanislaus Zbyszko(2nd) |
April 15th, 1925 |
|
| Joe Stecher(3rd) |
May 30th, 1925 |
|
| Ed "The Strangler" Lewis(3rd) |
February 20th, 1928 |
|
| Gus Sonnenberg |
January 4th, 1929 |
|
| Ed Don George |
December 10th, 1930 |
|
| Ed "The Strangler" Lewis(4th) |
April 13th, 1931 |
|
| Henry DeGlane |
May 4th, 1931 |
|
| Ed Don George(2nd) |
April 7th, 1932 |
|
| Dan O'Mahoney |
July 30th, 1935 |
|
| Dick Shikat: |
March 2nd, 1936 |
|
| Ali Baba |
April 25th, 1936 |
|
| Everett Marshall |
June 26th, 1936 |
|
| Lou Thesz |
December 29th, 1937 |
|
| Crusher Casey |
February 11th, 1938 |
|
| Everett Marshall(2nd) |
September 14th, 1938 |
Awarded to Marshall after Casey refused to defend title. |
| Lou Thesz(2nd) |
February 23rd, 1939 |
|
| Bronko Nagurski |
June 23rd, 1939 |
|
| Ray Steele |
March 7th, 1940 |
|
| Bronko Nagurski(2nd) |
March 11th, 1941 |
|
| Sandor Szabo |
June 5th, 1941 |
|
| Bill Longson |
February 19th, 1942 |
|
| Yvon Robert |
October 7th, 1942 |
|
| Bobby Managoff |
November 27th, 1942 |
|
| Bill Longson(2nd) |
February 19th, 1943 |
|
| Whipper Watson |
February 21st, 1947 |
|
| Lou Thesz(3rd) |
April 25th, 1947 |
|
| Bill Longson(3rd) |
November 21st, 1947 |
|
| Lou Thesz(4th) |
July 20th, 1948 |
|
| Whipper Watson(2nd) |
March 15th, 1956 |
|
| Lou Thesz(5th) |
November 9th, 1956 |
|
| Dick Hutton |
November 4th, 1957 |
|
| Pat O'Connor |
January 9th, 1958 |
|
| Buddy Rogers |
June 30th, 1961 |
|
| Lou Thesz(6th) |
January 24th, 1963 |
|
| Gene Kiniski |
January 7th, 1966 |
|
| Dory Funk, Jr |
February 11th, 1969 |
|
| Harley Race |
May 24th, 1973 |
|
| Jack Brisco |
July 20th, 1973 |
|
| Shohei "Giant" Baba |
December 2nd, 1974 |
|
| Jack Brisco(2nd) |
December 9th, 1974 |
|
| Terry Funk |
December 10th, 1975 |
|
| Harley Race(2nd) |
February 6th, 1977 |
|
| Dusty Rhodes |
August 21st, 1979 |
|
| Harley Race(3rd) |
August 26th, 1979 |
|
| Shohei "Giant" Baba(2nd) |
October 31st, 1979 |
|
| Harley Race(4th) |
November 7th, 1979 |
|
| Shohei "Giant" Baba(3rd) |
September 4th, 1980 |
|
| Harley Race(5th) |
September 10th, 1980 |
|
| Tommy Rich |
April 27th, 1981 |
|
| Harley Race(6th) |
May 1st, 1981 |
|
| Dusty Rhodes(2nd) |
June 21st, 1981 |
|
| Ric Flair |
September 17th, 1981 |
|
| Harley Race(7th) |
June 10th, 1983 |
|
| Ric Flair |
November 24th, 1983 |
|
| Kerry von Erich |
May 6th, 1984 |
|
| Ric Flair(3rd) |
May 24th, 1984 |
|
| Dusty Rhodes(3rd) |
July 26th, 1986 |
|
| Ric Flair(4th) |
August 9th, 1986 |
|
| Ronnie Garvin |
September 25th, 1987 |
|
| Ric Flair(5th) |
November 26th, 1987 |
|
| Ricky Steamboat |
February 20th, 1989 |
|
| Ric Flair(6th) |
May 7th, 1989 |
|
| Sting |
July 7th, 1990 |
|
| Ric Flair(7th) |
January 11th, 1991 |
Flair left WCW for the WWF in July '91, and was stripped of the belt. |
| Lex Luger |
July 14th, 1991 |
Luger beat Barry Windham for the vacated belt. |
| Sting(2nd) |
February 29th, 1992 |
|
| Big Van Vader |
July 12th, 1992 |
|
| Ron Simmons |
August 2nd, 1992 |
|
| Big Van Vader(2nd) |
December 30th, 1992 |
|
| Sting(3rd) |
March 11th, 1993 |
|
| Big Van Vader(3rd) |
March 19th, 1993 |
|
| Ric Flair(8th) |
December 27th, 1993 |
|
| Hulk Hogan |
July 17th, 1994 |
|
| The Giant |
October 29th, 1995 |
Jimmy Hart rigged Hogan's contract to allow him to lose the belt via DQ; belt was later vacated. |
| Randy Savage |
November 26th, 1995 |
Savage won the vacated belt by winning the World War III '95 Three-Ring Battle Royal. |
| Ric Flair(9th) |
December 27th, 1995 |
|
| Randy Savage(2nd) |
January 22nd, 1996 |
|
| Ric Flair(10th) |
February 11th, 1996 |
|
| The Giant(2nd) |
April 22nd, 1996 |
|
| Hulk Hogan(2nd) |
August 10th, 1996 |
|
| Lex Luger(2nd) |
August 4th, 1997 |
|
| Hulk Hogan(3rd) |
August 9th, 1997 |
|
| Sting(4th) |
December 28th, 1997 |
Title vacated January 8th, 1998, due to the controversial ending of the Hogan/Sting match. |
| Sting(5th) |
February 22nd, 1998 |
Sting defeated Hogan in a rematch to win the vacated title. |
| Randy Savage(3rd) |
April 19th, 1998 |
|
| Hulk Hogan(4th) |
April 20th, 1998 |
|
| Bill Goldberg |
July 6th, 1998 |
|
| Kevin Nash |
December 27th, 1998 |
|
| Hulk Hogan(5th) |
January 4th, 1999 |
|
| Ric Flair(11th) |
March 14th, 1999 |
|
| Diamond Dallas Page |
April 11th, 1999 |
|
| Sting(6th) |
April 26th, 1999 |
|
| Diamond Dallas Page(2nd) |
April 26th, 1999 |
Sting defended the title the same night he won it, losing a "Four Corners" Match to Page. The other participants were Kevin Nash & Goldberg. |
| Kevin Nash(2nd) |
May 9th, 1999 |
|
| Randy Savage(4th) |
July 11th, 1999 |
Savage & Sid Vicious won a Tag-Team Match over Nash & Sting. Since Savage got the pin, he won the title. |
| Hulk Hogan(6th) |
July 12th, 1999 |
|
| Sting(7th) |
September 12th, 1999 |
Hogan allowed Sting to pin him. Later that night, Sting wrestled against Goldberg and lost. Since Sting never officially put the belt on the line, Goldberg didn't win it, but the belt was vacated. |
| Bret Hart |
November 21st, 1999 |
Hart beat Chris Benoit in tournament final. Belt vacated after a controversial ending of a Hart/Goldberg match. |
| Bret Hart(2nd) |
December 20th, 1999 |
Hart beat Goldberg in rematch. Hart was later stripped due to injury. |
| Chris Benoit |
January 16th, 2000 |
Benoit defeated Sid Vicious for the belt, but left WCW for the WWF the next day, so the belt was stripped. |
| Sid Vicious |
January 24th, 2000 |
Sid beat Commissioner Kevin Nash for vacated title. |
| Kevin Nash(3rd) |
January 25th, 2000 |
Nash, as Commissioner, stripped Sid of the title and awarded it to himself. |
| Sid Vicious(2nd) |
January 25th, 2000 |
Sid won a "Handicap" Match over Ron Harris & Kevin Nash. Belt vacated in April '00 by Eric Bischoff & Vince Russo. |
| Jeff Jarrett |
April 16th, 2000 |
Jarrett beat Diamond Dallas Page for vacated title. |
| Diamond Dallas Page(3rd) |
April 24th, 2000 |
|
| David Arquette |
April 25th, 2000 |
Arquette & Diamond Dallas Page won a "Tag-Team" Match over Eric Bischoff & Jeff Jarrett. Arquette pinned Bischoff to win the title. |
| Jeff Jarrett(2nd) |
May 7th, 2000 |
Jarrett won a "Triple Cage" Match over Arquette and Diamond Dallas Page |
| Ric Flair(12th) |
May 15th, 2000 |
Flair was stripped due to an apparent "heart attack". |
| Jeff Jarrett(3rd) |
May 22nd, 2000 |
Jarrett beat Kevin Nash for the vacated belt. |
| Kevin Nash(4th) |
May 23rd, 2000 |
Nash won a "Three Way" Match over Jarrett and Scott Steiner |
| Ric Flair(13th) |
May 29th, 2000 |
Flair was given the belt by Nash, who said Flair had never lost it. |
| Jeff Jarrett(4th) |
May 29th, 2000 |
Jarrett laid down to Hulk Hogan on July 9th, 2000; Vince Russo explained that the old WCW World Title (which Hogan got) was gone, and that Jarrett would defend the new belt against Booker T later that night. |
| Booker T |
July 9th, 2000 |
Booker T beat Jeff Jarrett for the vacant title. |
| Kevin Nash(5th) |
August 28th, 2000 |
|
| Booker T(2nd) |
September 17th, 2000 |
|
| Vince Russo |
September 25th, 2000 |
Russo vacated the belt soon after winning it. |
| Booker T(3rd) |
October 2nd, 2000 |
Booker T beat Jeff Jarrett for the vacated belt. |
| Scott Steiner |
November 26th, 2000 |
|
| Booker T(4th) |
March 26th, 2001 |
Booker T won the belt from Steiner on the last episode of WCW Monday Nitro, as WWE bought WCW. All changes from now on happened on WWE Television. |
| Kurt Angle |
July 24th, 2001 |
|
| Booker T(5th) |
July 30th, 2001 |
|
| The Rock |
August 19th, 2001 |
|
| Chris Jericho |
October 21st, 2001 |
|
| The Rock(2nd) |
November 5th, 2001 |
|
| Chris Jericho(2nd) |
December 9th, 2001 |
Jericho unified the WCW World Title with the WWF World Title, creating the Undisputed Championship (later known as the WWE Title). |
| Triple H |
September 2nd, 2002 |
Triple H was given the World Heavyweight Title (see World Title History) |
