Origin of every present World Championship in WWE

WWE Superstars climb the ladder in their careers to reach the top of the company. The prize at the top is the world title, which is deemed to be the most coveted prize in professional wrestling.

These titles are given utmost significance and are usually defended at the main event of WWE shows. As Vince McMahon's company has three brands (RAW, SmackDown, and NXT 2.0), it has a top championship exclusively for its brands for both men and women divisions.

In the article, we will discuss the history and origin of these top titles in the chronological order of their lineage.

#6. WWE Championship - April 1963

The WWE Championship is the oldest title in the promotion. It was introduced on the 11th of April, 1963, and was awarded to Buddy Rogers. There is a reason behind Rogers being chosen as the inaugural champion.

WWWF (World Wide Wrestling Federation, now WWE) was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance. Buddy Rogers was the NWA World Champion when Vince McMahon's promotion ended their affiliation with NWA.

Rogers was pinned in a title match for one fall. However, titles only changed hands in the two out of three fall matches back then. Thus, WWWF objected to this title change.

WWWF then awarded Rogers the inaugural world championship. It was announced that he defeated Antonio Rocca in the tournament final at Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. However, the tournament was reportedly entirely fictional and never happened.

The same title was renamed the WWF Championship.

After the promotion acquired its arch-rival WCW, a unification match for the world titles of two companies was held. Chris Jericho defeated both The Rock and Steve Austin on the same night to unify the WCW Championship into the WWF Championship, thus becoming the Undisputed Champion.

The Undisputed title was renamed WWE Championship as it carried the same lineage. It was again unified with the World Heavyweight Championship in 2013. At TLC, Randy Orton defeated John Cena to unify the belts. The lineage of the original championship prevailed yet again.

#5. NXT Championship - July 2012

The promotion replaced Florida Championship Wrestling with NXT in 2012. It saw huge potential in the division, and an exclusive NXT Championship was introduced for the brand.

NXT Commissioner Dusty Rhodes announced an eight-man knockout tournament called the Gold Rush to crown the inaugural champion. Four superstars from NXT and four from the main roster competed for the title.

Seth Rollins defeated Jinder Mahal in the final and became the first-ever NXT Champion. Bron Breakker is the current champion.

#4. WWE NXT Women's Championship - July 2013

It's surprising that the NXT Women's title has been around for a longer time than any other current WWE Women's title. Like its male counterpart, it was awarded to the inaugural champion in an eight-woman tournament announced by Stephanie McMahon.

It included four superstars from NXT and four from the main roster.

On the July 24 episode of NXT, Paige defeated Emma to be crowned the champion. She never lost the title as it was vacated when she won the Divas title on the main roster.

#3. WWE RAW Women's championship - WrestleMania 32

Hall of Famer Lita made her way to the ring during WrestleMania 32. She announced that the female superstars of the promotion should be called as such and not divas.

She also introduced the new Women's Championship. The title shared the name with an older version of the Women's World title. However, the promotion clarified that the title was a successor to the original women's championship and doesn't carry the same lineage.

An astonishing fact is that the original championship dates back to 1956, when the Fabulous Moolah won it. It was the NWA World Women's Championship back then. It was older than the WWE Championship itself.

However, it was unified into the Divas title in 2010, which was retired when Lita revealed the new title, thus ending the lineage of the original championship.

Charlotte defeated Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch to be crowned the inaugural women's champion. However, the title was renamed RAW Women's Championship when SmackDown introduced its own women's title.

#2. Universal Championship - Summerslam 2016

After WWE reintroduced the brand extension in 2016, RAW and SmackDown were split into two exclusive rosters with their championships. SmackDown live drafted WWE Champion Dean Ambrose, who retained the title at Battleground.

So while RAW was left without a top title, its commissioner Stephanie McMahon and general manager Mick Foley had no choice but to announce a new title. They revealed the Universal Championship in honor of the fans.

Seth Rollins was the first pick from RAW and thus got a spot in the inaugural title match. Whereas Finn Balor won the eight-man tournament to face Rollins at Summerslam.

The Demon King defeated The Architect at the event and became the first-ever Universal Champion.

However, he had to relinquish his title the following day after suffering from an injury incurred during the match.

#1. WWE SmackDown Women's Championship - Backlash 2016

RAW picked Charlotte, the women's champion, during the aforementioned draft. After this, SmackDown Commissioner Shane McMahon and manager Daniel Bryan unveiled a new women's title exclusively for their brand.

The title match was held at Backlash in a six-pack elimination challenge between Becky Lynch, Alexa Bliss, Carmella, Natalya, Naomi, and Nikki Bella.

Lynch stood tall in the event after eliminating Carmella.