ECW Championship
| ECW Championship | |||||||||||||||||||
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 The current ECW Championship since July 22 2008 |
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| Details | |||||||||||||||||||
| Current champion(s) |
Matt Hardy | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date won | September 7, 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Promotion | World Wrestling Entertainment | ||||||||||||||||||
| Brand | ECW | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date introduced | August 27, 1994 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Other name(s) |
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| Past design(s) |    |
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The Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) Championship is a professional wrestling world championship in World Wrestling Entertainment. It was originally the highest ranked title of the Extreme Championship Wrestling promotion. Currently, it is the primary championship on the ECW brand.
ECW Championship title reigns are determined by professional wrestling matches, in which wrestlers are involved in scripted pre-existing rivalries that are played out on WWE programming. These narratives create feuds between various wrestlers, which cast them as villains and heroes.
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The ECW Championship was originally known as the Eastern Championship Wrestling (ECW) Heavyweight Championship of the National Wrestling Alliance.[1] Following the title's introduction in 1992, Jimmy Snuka became the inaugural champion on April 25. In 1994, ECW Heavyweight Champion, Shane Douglas, participated in a tournament for the vacant NWA World Heavyweight Championship and defeated 2 Cold Scorpio in the finals on August 27 to win the title. He immediately relinquished it, however, and instead proclaimed himself the new ECW World Heavyweight Champion.[2][3] Following this, Eastern Championship Wrestling left the NWA and was renamed Extreme Championship Wrestling while the title became known as the Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) World Heavyweight Championship. The title remained active until April 11, 2001 when ECW shut down and World Wrestling Entertainment subsequently purchased its assets.
In June 2006, WWE revived ECW as a third brand and reactivated the championship to be the ECW brand's primary title. On June 13, Paul Heyman awarded the ECW World Heavyweight Championship to Rob Van Dam as a result of winning the WWE Championship at One Night Stand 2006. Heyman had originally stated that the WWE Championship would "become" the ECW World Heavyweight Championship if Rob Van Dam became the WWE Champion at the event.[4] Rob Van Dam later declared, however, that he would hold both titles simultaneously instead.[5] The title later became known as the ECW World Championship in July 2006.[6] In August 2007, the title began to be referred to as the ECW Championship.[7] The title remained on the ECW brand until June 23 2008, when then-champion, Kane, was drafted to the Raw brand, as a part of the 2008 WWE Draft, in the process briefly making the title Raw exclusive.[8] The title became ECW exclusive once again, after ECW superstar, Mark Henry, won the title in a Triple Threat match at Night of Champions on June 29 2008.[9]
Soon after its recommissioning, the ECW World Heavyweight Championship belt design was updated to a design similar to the belt used prior to ECW's original closure in 2001, which featured a black leather strap with a snakeskin pattern on the rear, buckles to wrap around the waist of the wrestler who wore it, and five pieces made of gold. In the middle of the strap was a large center piece, which featured a design of a blue globe in the center, and to the left and right of the globe were a pair of baseball bats wrapped in barbed wire. At the top of the piece, a purple ECW logo and the words "World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion" were engraved with the words "Heavyweight Wrestling" in red, which gave the text a blood-like appearance. In addition, the entire piece was engraved with a pattern similar to that of a steel cage. Along the strap, on both ends, were four smaller pieces which featured a design similar to that of the center piece. The new belt was differentiated by a full black strap with barbed wire stitching, red ECW logos, and the innards of the steel cage pattern outlined in black.
On July 22, 2008, ECW General Manager Theodore Long introduced a new 17 pound platinum belt design for the ECW Championship belt.[10] This current design features a large black leather strap with five platinum pieces. The large center piece features a design of a phoenix over a globe in the center with its wings expanded and rays of light emitting from it. At the top of the piece, the WWE logo and the words "World Wrestling Entertainment" are engraved with "ECW" in large letters engraved prominently over the phoenix. A nameplate, which has the name of the champion etched, is located below it and at the bottom of the piece, the word "Champion" is engraved. Additionally, the entire piece is bordered by a jagged saw-like pattern. Along the strap, on both ends, are four small biker cross-shape pieces which feature a design similar to that of the center piece.
The inaugural champion was Jimmy Snuka, who won the title by defeating Salvatore Bellomo in April 1992. Currently, The Sandman holds the most reigns as champion, with five. Shane Douglas, in his fourth reign, had the longest reign in the title's history which lasted 406 days, while The Sandman, in his fifth, had the shortest at 14 minutes.
As of September 2008, Matt Hardy is the champion in his first reign. Hardy won the title at Unforgiven by being the last person to score a pinfall in a championship scramble also involving former champion Mark Henry, Finlay, The Miz, and Chavo Guerrero on September 7, 2008 in Cleveland, Ohio.[11] Overall, there have been 44 ECW Championship reigns.[1]
- ^ a b "ECW World Heavyweight Title". Wrestling-Titles. Retrieved on 2007-06-13.
- ^ "NWA World Title Tournament - August 27, 1994 in Philadelphia". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved on 2007-06-15.
- ^ "History of the ECW World Title". WWE. Retrieved on 2007-06-13.
- ^ "WWE RAW results - June 5, 2006". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2007-06-15.
- ^ "ECW on Sci Fi results - June 13, 2006". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2007-06-13.
- ^ "ECW on Sci Fi results - July 11, 2006". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2007-06-13.
- ^ "ECW Championship". WWE. Retrieved on 2007-08-07.
- ^ Sitterson, Aubrey (2008-06-25). "Tangled Titles". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved on 2008-06-30.
- ^ Rote, Andrew (2008-06-29). "Worlds Strongest Extreme Champion". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved on 2008-06-30.
- ^ Medalis, Kara A. (2008-07-22). "Going for gold". World Wrestling Entertainment.
- ^ "Unforgiven 2008 results". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-10-03.
- The ECW Championship at WWE.com
- CygyWrestling.com - ECW World Heavyweight Title History
- Wrestling-Titles.com
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