People are hating on it, but I absolutely love that the WWE has elected to revive the old World Heavyweight Championship title. The championship belt to go with it looks pretty clean if you ask me. It’s a nice hark back to the big gold belt, while adding a little modern flair to it, no pun intended. Speaking of “modern flair,” Seth Rollins and AJ Styles will compete for the gold as the WWE is set to crown the new World Heavyweight Champion at Night of Champions on May 27th. Those two have had some great matches in the past, and I can’t think of a better way to kick off the next incarnation of this title. It certainly feels as though Rollins is being positioned for a good run to reward the last year’s worth of work that he’s put in, but I wouldn’t be mad at a curveball here and seeing Styles raise that belt at the end of the night.
The World Heavyweight Championship was reintroduced to the WWE back in 2002 after the initial brand split. Raw needed a title, so Eric Bischoff trotted out there and literally just handed it to Triple H. The move wasn’t over at the time, and I think it’s still fair to question whether or not it was the right call to just hand a guy the title. But, the reputation of the belt would grow nonetheless. It would be 11 years before that title went away when it was unified with the WWE Championship in a match between John Cena and Randy Orton. In that span, the title grew a reputation for being the workhorse championship, and a sort of stepping stone championship, much like the Intercontinental Championship of the 1980s and 1990s was.
The tournament finals at Night of Champions stirred a bit of nostalgia in me, and had me reflecting upon those 11 years and who the greatest champions to hold that gold were. Even though the title was reintroduced on Raw and stayed there for a couple of years, I almost always associate this title with Smackdown. Nonetheless, as I’m prone to do, I got to thinking about who some of the great champions of this time period were, and naturally, that led to fingers that were itchin’ to type up this article.
The Greatest World Heavyweight Champions of the WWE Era
5. Sheamus (211 days as champion) – Maybe it’s my local bias showing as Nashville has undoubtedly claimed Sheamus as one of its own now. But, when he first won the title back in 2012, it felt like he was poised for a real run at it. He had some classics against Daniel Bryan and Big Show during that run, but even then, I had no idea just how much that title reign would make Sheamus.
4. Edge (411 days as champion) – You could probably swap Edge and Undertaker here and I don’t think I’d argue too much with you. Some would say that Edge is probably one of the guys who benefited from a brand split and having two main titles in the WWE back in the day. But, I don’t think I’d say that. He grew into one of the WWE’s all-time great heels in 2005-06. He would’ve been a star no matter what. And, you can point to his work as champion as some of the best stuff of the decade.
3. The Undertaker (210 days as champion) – I was shocked to look back at the history of this title and see that Taker had only held it for 210 days. Plum shocked! For so long, he was the conscience of SmackDown, and he was routinely in the mix in the World Heavyweight Championship picture. But, I guess he didn’t actually have the strap for as long as I remember. Nonetheless, I’m giving him the third spot on this list for all of the classics he had on the blue brand during this era.
2. Batista (507 days as champion) – To me, Batista is the first guy that the World Heavyweight Championship really made in the WWE. The storyline that led to his first win was awesome. His first run with the belt was awesome. He’d go on to become one of the superstars that defined his era, and shined as one of the faces of the company.
1. Triple H (616 days as champion) – Yeah. I know. It’s probably not the most popular choice here, but I think it’s the right one. Triple H’s reign of terror from 2002-04 was aggravating as all get out when I was a teenager and was tired of seeing his pompous ass come away with win after win after win. But, looking back on it in 2023, I get it. Triple H really set the tone for what this title would become and his early reigns reminded us all of what this championship meant to the history of pro wrestling.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley.
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