WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE HISTORY

TITLE HOLDER	DATE	CITY	REIGN
Bruno Sammartino	17/05/63	New York, NY	2,803 days
Ivan Koloff	18/01/71	New York< NY	21 days
Pedro Morales	08/02/71	New York, NY	1,027 days
Stan Stasiak	01/12/73	Philadelphia, PA	9 days
Bruno Sammartino (2)	10/12/73	New York, NY	1,237 days
Superstar Graham	30/04/77	Baltimore, MD	296 days
Bob Backlund	20/02/78	New York, NY	2,135 days
Antonia Inoki	30/11/79	Tokoshima, Japan	6 days
Bob Backlund (2)	06/12/79	Tokyo, Japan	2,125 days
Iron Sheik	26/12/83	New York, NY	28 days
Hulk Hogan	23/01/84	New York, NY	1,474 days
Andre The Giant	05/02/88	Indianapolis, IN	45 seconds
"Macho Man" Randy Savage	27/03/88	Atlantic City, NJ	371 days
Hulk Hogan (2)	02/04/89	Atlantic City, NJ	364 days
Ultimate Warrior	01/04/90	Toronto, Ontario	293 days
Sgt Slaughter	19/01/91	Miami, FL	64 days
Hulk Hogan (3)	24/03/91	Los Angeles, CA	248 days
Undertaker	27/11/91	Detroit, MI	6 days
Hulk Hogan (4)	03/12/91	San Antonio, TX	1 day
Ric Flair	19/01/92	Albany, NY	77 days
"Macho Man" Randy Savage (2)	05/04/92	Indianapolis, IN	149 days
Ric Flair (2)	01/09/92	Hershey, PA	41 days
Bret "The Hitman" Hart	12/10/92	Saskatoon, Sasktown	174 days
Yokozuna	04/04/93	Las Vegas, NV	127 seconds
Hulk Hogan (5)	04/04/93	Las Vegas, NV	70 days
Yokozuna (2)	13/06/93	Dayton, OH	280 days
Bret "The Hitman" Hart (2)	20/03/94	New York, NY	248 days
Bob Backlund (3)	23/11/94	San Antonio, TX	3 days
"Big Daddy Cool" Diesel	26/11/94	New York, NY	358 days
Bret "The Hitman" Hart (3)	19/11/95	Landover, MD	133 days
"The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels	31/03/96	Anaheim, CA	231 days
Sycho Sid	17/11/96	New York, NY	63 days
"The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels (2)	19/01/97	San Antonio, TX	25 days
Bret "The Hitman" Hart (4)	16/02/97	Chattanoga, TN	1 day
Sycho Sid (2)	17/02/97	Nashville, TN	34 days
Undertaker (2)	23/03/97	Chicago, IL	133 days
Bret "The Hitman" Hart (5)	03/08/97	East Rutherford, NJ	98 days
"The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels (3)	09/11/97	Montreal, Quebec	140 days
"Stone Cold" Steve Austin	29/03/98	Boston, MA	91 days
Kane	28/06/98	Pittsburgh, PA	1 day
"Stone Cold" Steve Austin (2)	29/06/98	Cleveland, OH	90 days
"The Rock" Rocky Maivia	15/11/98	St Louis, MS	44 days
Mankind	29/12/98	Worcester, MA	26 days
"The Rock" Rocky Maivia (2)	24/01/99	Anaheim, CA	2 days
Mankind (2)	26/01/99	Tuscon, AZ	20 days
"The Rock" Rocky Maivia (3)	15/02/99	Birmingham, Alabama	CURRENT CHAMP

REMARKS :

Bruno Sammartino was declared the first ever WWF Champion after beating Buddy Rogers, who was the first ever WWWF Champion.
Antonio Inoki winning the title on 30/11/79 was not acknowledged in the United States.
Bob Backlund lost the title on 06/12/79 to The Iron Sheik when Backlund's manager, Arnold Skaaland threw in the towel to end the match. The Sheik was applying his finishing move, the Camel Clutch, to Backlund's injured back but he refused to give up so Skaaland threw in the towel to spare him serious injury.
Andre The Giant's win on 05/02/88 was controversial as Hogan's shoulders were clearly up at the 2 count. After the match, Andre gave the title to "The Million Dollar Man" but this was deemed invalid by the WWF President who ordered the belt to be vacated and a tournament held at Wrestlemania IV to decide who would win the belt.
On 27/03/88 at Wrestlemania IV, "Macho Man" Randy Savage won the tournament, after going past four opponents, to get the title.
The title was again declared vacant due to the controversy surrounding Hogan's win over the Undertaker on 03/12/91. Ric Flair had knocked WWF President, Jack Tunney, out with a chair but Paul Bearer had missed Hogan to hit The Undertaker with the urn to give Hogan the pin. Tunney later ruled that the title would be awarded to the winner of the 1992 Royal Rumble.
On 19/01/92 at the 1992 Royal Rumble, Ric Flair lasted over 60 minutes, after coming out in second position, to win the title.
On 04/04/93 at Wrestlemania IX, Yokozuna beat Bret "The Hitman" Hart after throwing salt in his eyes to win the title. He, and his manager Mr Fuji, then challenged Hulk Hogan who had come to help Bret. Mr Fuji missed Hogan and threw salt in Yokozuna's eyes thus letting Hogan pin him after a legdrop for his fifth title.
When Bret "The Hitman" Hart won the title on 20/03/94 at Wrestlemania X, Rowdy Roddy Piper was the Special Guest Referee.
On 13/02/97, "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels was forced to vacate the title on a Special Thursday RAW Thursday Live due to a knee injury. The WWF President then declared that the winner of the next In Your House : Final Four match would win the title.
On 16/02/97 at In Your House : Final Four, Bret "The Hitman" Hart beat 3 other wrestlers in a Final Four match to win the title.
When Bret "The Hitman" Hart won the title on 03/08/97 at the 1997 Summerslam, "The "Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels was the Special Guest Referee.
On 09/11/97 at the 1997 Survivor Series, Vince McMahon ordered the referee to end the match just seconds after "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels had placed Bret "The Hitman" Hart in the Sharpshooter, thus giving the belt to Shawn even though Bret never actually submitted to the hold.
When "Stone Cold" Steve Austin won the title on 29/03/98 at Wrestlemania XIV, Mike Tyson, the Special Enforcer for the match, made the three count after the referee had been knocked out.
On 27/09/98, the title was declared vacant in Hamilton, OH, when the champion, Austin, was pinned by both the Undertaker and Kane in a 3-way match.
On 15/11/98 at Survivor Series, "The Rock" beat Mankind in the finals of a one night 16-man tournament to win the title, as well as joining the Corporate Team that same night. The title had been vacated by Austin on 27/09/98 on Heat when Vince stripped him of the title after Kane interfered in his match with Undertaker for the title.

RETURN