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| {{distinguish|WWE Women's Championship (2016–present)|WWE Divas Championship}} | |||
| {{Infobox pro wrestling championship | |||
| |name = WWE Women's Championship | |||
| |image = WWE_Women's_Championship_2015.jpg.png | |||
| |caption = The final belt design of the original WWE Women's Championship. <br/>(June 2002 - September 2010) | |||
| |promotion = ] | |||
| |created = September 18, 1956 | |||
| |retired = September 19, 2010 | |||
| |firstchamp = ] | |||
| |finalchamp = ] | |||
| |mostreigns = ] ] | |||
| |longestreign = The Fabulous Moolah (]) | |||
| |shortestreign = ]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/women/4598286|title=Mickie's third Reign|publisher=WWE.com|accessdate=2007-10-23}}</ref><br />(<1 hour) | |||
| |oldest = The Fabulous Moolah (76 years, 106 days) | |||
| |youngest = ] (22 years, 10 Months) | |||
| |pastnames = | |||
| * NWA World Women's Championship | |||
| * WWF Ladies' Championship | |||
| * WWF Women's Championship | |||
| }} | |||
| The '''WWE Women's Championship''' was a ] ] in the ] (WWE) promotion. Created in 1956, it was the oldest active professional wrestling championship in World Wrestling Entertainment history until its retirement in 2010 after unification with the ].<ref name="Retirement">{{cite web|url=http://www.wwe.com/inside/wwefeaturepage/features/mccoolhistory/news1/mccool/|title=Flawless mark on history|first=Katie A.|last=Raymond-Santo|date=2010-09-24|accessdate=2010-09-26|publisher=]}}</ref> A new ] was created in 2016, and although both belts share the name and the original is considered to be the predecessor, the new belt does not carry the lineage of the original. | |||
| ==History== | |||
| On September 18, 1956, ] became the inaugural Women's Champion as recognized by World Wrestling Entertainment.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/women/30445413212111221|title=WWE: Inside WWE > Title History > Women's > 19560918 - Fabulous Moolah|accessdate=2007-10-06|publisher=WWE.com}}</ref> The Women's Championship is descended from the original ] of the National Wrestling Alliance, which is still active today. In 1983, the ] (WWF, now WWE) disaffiliated with the NWA and recognized then-NWA World Women's Champion ] as the promotion's World Women's Champion. The Fabulous Moolah's reign is considered to have lasted 28 years by the promotion. The WWF soon renamed their recognition of the title as the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) Women's Championship. | |||
| In 1990, the Women's Championship became inactive after ] vacated the championship following her departure from the WWF.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/women/30445413212111223|title=Women's Championship reign|publisher=]|accessdate=2007-11-24}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Ellison, Lillian|title=The Fabulous Moolah: First Goddess of the Squared Circle|year=2003|isbn=978-0-06-001258-8|publisher=ReaganBooks|page=197}}</ref> Then in December 1993, the title was reactivated with ] winning a tournament for the vacant Women's Championship.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/women/30445413212111214|title=Alundra Blayze's first reign|publisher=]|accessdate=2009-03-22}}</ref> However, the Women's Championship became inactive again when Blayze was released from the WWF. Blayze, as Madusa, unexpectedly signed with ] in 1995 and threw the championship belt, which was still in her possession, in a trash can on an episode of '']'' (in her 2015 ] induction speech, Blayze "returned" the belt).<ref name=renahome>{{cite web|url=http://www.miamiherald.com/675/story/278156.html|title=Rena enjoys home life|author=Scott Fishman|publisher=Miami Herald|accessdate=2007-10-23|date=October 20, 2007}} {{Dead link|date=September 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref> The Women's Championship was reactivated again in September 1998 when ] defeated ] to win the title.<ref name=renahome/> | |||
| After the ] in 2002, the championship was subsequently referred to as the WWE Women's Championship. With the ] in March 2002, the Women's Championship at first was still defended on both the '']'' and '']'' brands, while most titles were exclusive to one brand. In September, the Women's Championship became exclusive to only the ''Raw'' brand. The Women's Championship remained the sole championship contested by women, until July 4, 2008 when a counterpart to the championship, called the ], was created for the ''SmackDown'' brand. | |||
| ] in early 2009]] | |||
| On April 13, 2009, the Women's Championship became exclusive to the ''SmackDown'' brand when reigning champion ] was drafted from ''Raw'' to ''SmackDown'' during the ] to replace the current ] ], who had been drafted to ''Raw''. On June 28 at ] pay-per-view, ] became the first woman to hold both the Women's Championship and the Divas Championship. Other women that have held both championships include ], Melina, ], and ]. Michelle McCool and Melina are the only women in WWE history to record multiple reigns with both the Women's and Divas championships. | |||
| The Women's Championship was unified with the Divas Championship at ] in September 2010. This match was won by ] and unified both titles creating the Unified WWE Divas Championship, thus making the Women's Championship defunct as the unified title follows the lineage of the Divas Championship; the title eventually dropped the "Unified" moniker to be called the WWE Divas Championship.<ref name="Retirement"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/divas/|title=History of the Unified Divas Championship|date=2010-09-21|accessdate=2010-09-21|publisher=]}}</ref> | |||
| On April 3, 2016 at ], a new ] was introduced to succeed the Divas Championship, however, this new title does not carry the lineage of the original Women's Championship, but WWE acknowledges it as its predecessor. | |||
| === Brand designation history === | |||
| Following the ] on March 25, all titles in WWE became exclusive to either the ''Raw'' brand or ''SmackDown'' brand. The following is a list of dates indicating the transitions of the Women's Championship between the ''Raw'' and ''SmackDown'' brands. | |||
| {| class="wikitable" style="width:75%; font-size:85%; text-align:center;" | |||
| |- | |||
| ! style="background:#ddd;" colspan="2"|Colors | |||
| |- | |||
| | style="background:#fbb;"|<br /> | |||
| |Championship moved to the '']'' brand. | |||
| |- | |||
| | style="background:#bbf;"|<br /> | |||
| |Championship moved to the '']'' brand. | |||
| |- | |||
| |} | |||
| {| class="wikitable" style="font-size:85%; text-align:center; width:75%;" | |||
| |- | |||
| ! rowspan=1|Date of transition || Notes | |||
| |- | |||
| |- | |||
| |style="background:#fbb;"|September 2002 | |||
| |Women's Championship became exclusive to ''Raw''. | |||
| |- | |||
| |style="background:#bbf;"|April 13, 2009 | |||
| |Following the 2009 WWE Draft, the Women's Champion at the time, ], was drafted to ''SmackDown'' and brought the title to the brand. The title remained with ''SmackDown'' until the unification with the ] in September 2010. | |||
| |- | |||
| |} | |||
| ===Reigns=== | |||
| {{Main|List of WWE Women's Champions}} | |||
| ], who held the championship when it was deactivated in 2010.]] | |||
| The inaugural champion was ], who defeated ] on September 18, 1956.<ref name="moolah1">{{cite web|url=http://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/women/30445413212111221|title=The Fabulous Moolah's first reign|accessdate=April 4, 2016|publisher=WWE}}</ref> Moolah by far has the longest reign by holding it for 10 years. Under the WWWF banner, Moolah has the longest reign with 27 years. The Fabulous Moolah has the most reigns with 8. Under the WWE banner, ] has the most reigns with 7. Mickie James has the shortest reign with 1 hour. While in Paris on April 24, 2007, James defeated then-champion Melina and Victoria in a Triple Threat Match. However, Jonathan Coachman, the Acting General Manager for ''Raw'' said that since Mickie pinned Victoria, Melina deserved an immediate rematch, which she won.<ref name="melina2">{{cite web|url=http://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/women/4598294|title=Melina's second reign|accessdate=April 4, 2016|publisher=WWE}}</ref> | |||
| The only male Women's Champion was ]. On January 30, 2000, Wippleman won the WWF Women's Championship from ] while he was in a disguise and used the name "Hervina" in a "Lumberjill Snow bunny" match; the match took place in a snow filled pool surrounded by female wrestlers whose purpose was to keep the competitors from leaving the pool.<ref name="hervina1">{{cite web|url=http://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/women/304454132121112213|title=Hervina's first reign|accessdate=April 4, 2016|publisher=WWE}}</ref> | |||
| The women's division was deemed inactive in 1990 during Robin's reign.<ref name="robin1">{{cite web|url=http://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/women/30445413212111223|title= Rockin' Robin's first reign|accessdate=April 4, 2016|publisher=WWE}}</ref> Alundra Blayze won the Women's Championship after it was reactivated in 1993.<ref name="blayze1">{{cite web|url=http://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/women/30445413212111214|title=Alundra Blayze's first reign|accessdate=April 4, 2016|publisher=WWE}}</ref> ] departed from the company during her reign. Trish Stratus won her seventh title reign in her final match at ] in 2006 against Lita before retiring the same night, thus vacating the championship the next day.<ref name="trish7">{{cite web|url=http://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/women/243982611|title=Trish Stratus' seventh reign|accessdate=April 4, 2016|publisher=WWE}}</ref> Michelle McCool unified the Women's and Divas Championships in Layla's place, thus leaving Layla the final and undefeated champion.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wwe.com/inside/wwefeaturepage/features/mccoolhistory/news1/mccool/|title=Flawless mark on history|first=Katie A.|last=Raymond-Santo|date=September 24, 2010|accessdate=April 4, 2016|publisher=]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wwe.com/inside/wwefeaturepage/features/mccoolhistory/womenschampions/|title=Hall of Women's Champions|accessdate=April 4, 2016|publisher=]}}</ref> | |||
| == See also == | |||
| {{Portal|Professional wrestling}} | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| == References == | |||
| {{Reflist|30em}} | |||
| == External links == | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| {{Former WWE Championships}} | |||
| {{WWE Women's Championship}} | |||
| {{DEFAULTSORT:Wwe Women's Championship}} | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||