Misplaced Pages

FTW Championship

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.

The FTW ("Fuck The World") Championship was a professional wrestling championship . It was presented as an "outlaw" or "renegade" title that was unsanctioned by officials in-storyline , and often served as a hardcore championship , as many matches for the title were held under " FTW Rules ". It was used in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) from 1998 to 1999 and in All Elite Wrestling (AEW) from 2020 to 2024. The title was originally established in the now defunct ECW promotion in 1998 by its inaugural holder, Taz , which upon its introduction in AEW in 2020 made it the oldest championship in AEW until the title's retirement.

#501498

127-504: It was originally unified into the ECW World Heavyweight Championship when then ECW World Heavyweight Champion Taz won the title from Sabu at Living Dangerously 1999 . It remained inactive for 21 years but the title was never actually property of ECW but of Taz himself. As such, the title was not included in the intellectual property sold to WWE during the sale of ECW in 2001, allowing Taz to reintroduce

254-514: A Dog Collar match . Jericho alternated between WCW and a number of Japanese tours before he signed a contract with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) on June 30. Jericho's final WCW match came during a Peoria , Illinois , house show July 21, where he and Eddie Guerrero lost to Billy Kidman and Rey Mysterio Jr. in a tag team match. Fifteen years after Jericho's departure from WCW, his best known entrance music within

381-517: A diving headbutt through a table. Despite Benoit being carried out on a stretcher, he returned to the match to climb the ladder and retain the championship. The two lost the title one month later to The Dudley Boyz on the June 21 episode of SmackDown! . At King of the Ring on June 24, both Benoit and Jericho competed in a triple threat match for Austin's WWF Championship, in which Booker T interfered as

508-481: A "TAZ" logo engraved in the belt's centerplate. This second design would also be used for the belt after its reintroduction in AEW. Taz stated that the concept and attitude have been replicated by other companies. According to Taz on The Rise and Fall of ECW DVD documentary, when Sabu won the title, he was legitimately upset backstage over Taz's name being permanently displayed on the belt. From then on, whenever Sabu had

635-516: A 3-on-1 elimination handicap match at WrestleMania, but was knocked out by Rourke after the match. On the April 13 episode of Raw , Jericho was drafted to the SmackDown brand as part of the 2009 WWE draft . Jericho then faced Steamboat in a singles match at Backlash on April 26, where Jericho was victorious. In May, Jericho started a feud with Intercontinental Champion Rey Mysterio, leading to

762-570: A Triple Threat match against Chris Benoit and Angle at WrestleMania 2000 on April 2 in a two-falls contest with both of Angle's titles at stake. Jericho won the European Championship by pinning Benoit, after Benoit pinned Jericho to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship. This was the first of six pay-per-view matches between the pair within twelve months. Jericho was originally supposed to be in

889-475: A bet over who could sleep with their respective paramour first, with a Canadian dollar at stake. Stratus overheard this and ended her relationship with Jericho, who seemingly felt bad for using Stratus. After he saved her from an attack by Kane , Stratus agreed that the two of them could just be "friends", thus turning Jericho face. After Christian put Stratus in the Walls of Jericho while competing against her in

1016-485: A child, where manager Floyd Creatchman claimed that Leo Burke , the first professional wrestler to be known as "The Man of 1,000 Holds", was now known as "The Man of 1,002 Holds", to which Floyd Creatchman stated that "he learned two more". During the March 30, 1998, episode of Nitro , after defeating Marty Jannetty , Jericho pulled out a long pile of paper that listed each of the 1,004 holds he knew and recited them to

1143-624: A controversial decision during a rematch in which two separate referees declared each one of them the winner of a match for the title. As a result, they became co-champions, during which Jericho turned face. He attained sole champion status at the Royal Rumble on January 23, 2000, by defeating Chyna and Hardcore Holly in a Triple Threat match. Jericho lost the WWF Intercontinental title to then- European Champion Kurt Angle at No Way Out on February 27. Jericho competed in

1270-451: 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"

1397-513: A design similar to that of the centerpiece. The new belt as of June 20, 2006 was differentiated by a full black strap with barbed wire tooling , 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 belt design for the ECW Championship belt. This design features a large black leather strap with five platinum pieces. The large centerpiece features

SECTION 10

#1732802473502

1524-579: A fast count when Jericho pinned Triple H, causing Jericho to win the title. Hebner later reversed the decision due to pressure from Triple H, and WWE does not recognize Jericho's reign as champion. On April 19, Jericho defeated Eddie Guerrero at the Gary Albright Memorial Show organized by World Xtreme Wrestling (WXW). On the May 4 episode of SmackDown! , Jericho defeated Benoit to win his third WWF Intercontinental Championship but lost

1651-408: A ladder match against Christian, breaking the previous record held by Jeff Jarrett from 1999. Jericho's seventh reign was short lived, as he lost it at Taboo Tuesday on October 19 to Shelton Benjamin . Jericho teamed up with Randy Orton , Chris Benoit, and Maven to take on Triple H, Batista, Edge, and Gene Snitsky at Survivor Series on November 14. The match stipulated that each member of

1778-432: A leave of absence from wrestling. Jericho then proceeded to bring with him to the ring a portrait of Malenko that he insulted and demeaned. Just prior to Slamboree , J. J. Dillon (referred to by Jericho as "Jo Jo") scheduled a cruiserweight Battle Royal , the winner of which would immediately have a shot at Jericho's Cruiserweight Championship. Jericho accepted on the grounds that whoever he faced would be too tired to win

1905-409: A losing effort at Fall Brawl . The following month, at Halloween Havoc , Jericho lost to nWo member Syxx due to biased officiating by nWo referee Nick Patrick . This led to a match between Jericho and Patrick at World War 3 , which stipulated that Jericho's one arm would be tied behind his back. Despite the odds stacked against him, Jericho won the match. Later that night, Jericho participated in

2032-489: A match at Judgment Day on May 17, which Jericho lost. However, Jericho defeated Mysterio in a No Holds Barred Match at Extreme Rules on June 7 to win his ninth Intercontinental Championship, breaking his own record again. At The Bash on June 28, Jericho lost the Intercontinental Championship back to Mysterio in a mask vs. title match . Later in the event, Jericho and his partner Edge won

2159-665: A match at No Mercy on October 21 for the WCW Championship after Jericho defeated Rob Van Dam in a number one contenders match on the October 11 episode of SmackDown! . Jericho won the WCW Championship at No Mercy when he pinned The Rock after debuting a new finisher, the Breakdown , onto a steel chair, winning his first world title in the process. One night later, the two put their differences aside and won

2286-539: A match, Jericho sought revenge on Christian, which led to a match at WrestleMania XX on March 14, 2004. Christian defeated Jericho after Stratus ran down and "inadvertently" struck Jericho (thinking it was Christian) and Christian got the roll-up. After the match, Stratus turned on Jericho and revealed that she and Christian were a couple. This revelation led to a handicap match at Backlash on April 18 that Jericho won. Jericho won his record-breaking seventh WWE Intercontinental Championship at Unforgiven on September 12 in

2413-607: A one-time IWGP Intercontinental Champion , becoming the first man to have held both the WWE and IWGP versions of the Intercontinental Championship. In January 2019, Jericho joined AEW and became the inaugural holder of the AEW World Championship in August of that year. While in AEW, Jericho would also capture the ROH World Championship (the main title of AEW's sister promotion, Ring of Honor ) at

2540-416: 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 that featured

2667-402: A professional wrestler himself began when he saw footage of Owen Hart , then appearing with Stampede Wrestling , performing various high-flying moves. In addition, Irvine also cited Owen's older brother Bret , Ricky Steamboat and Shawn Michaels as inspirations for him becoming a professional wrestler. His first experience with a professional wrestling promotion was when he acted as part of

SECTION 20

#1732802473502

2794-628: A promo that The Undertaker was involved in, Jericho made his in-ring debut as a heel on August 26, losing a match against Road Dogg by disqualification on the inaugural episode of SmackDown! after he performed a powerbomb on Road Dogg through a table. Jericho's first long-term feud was with Chyna , for the WWF Intercontinental Championship . After losing to Chyna at Survivor Series on November 14, Jericho defeated her to win his first WWF Intercontinental Championship at Armageddon on December 12. This feud included

2921-806: A rematch to force Jericho off the show. On the January 4, 2010, episode of Raw , DX defeated Jeri-Show to retain the championship once again, marking the end of Jeri-Show. Jericho entered the 2010 Royal Rumble match on January 31, but was eliminated by the returning Edge, his former tag team partner, who went on to win the match. At Elimination Chamber on February 21, Jericho won the World Heavyweight Championship in an Elimination Chamber match, defeating The Undertaker, John Morrison , Rey Mysterio, CM Punk and R-Truth following interference from Shawn Michaels. The next night on Raw , Edge used his Royal Rumble win to challenge Jericho for

3048-502: A rematch to win his second Cruiserweight Championship on the August 16 episode of Saturday Night . Jericho began feuding with Eddie Guerrero over the title as he successfully defended the title against Guerrero at Clash of the Champions XXXV before losing the title to Guerrero at Fall Brawl . Jericho defeated Gedo at Halloween Havoc . At World War 3 , Jericho participated in the namesake battle royal but failed to win. On

3175-490: A second match. At Slamboree, Jericho came out to introduce the competitors in an insulting fashion before the match started and then went backstage for coffee. An individual who appeared to be Ciclope won the battle royal after Juventud Guerrera shook his hand and then eliminated himself. The winner was a returning Malenko in disguise. Following one of the loudest crowd reactions in WCW history, Malenko proceeded to defeat Jericho for

3302-421: A team that would come to called Jeri-Show . The duo defeated Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase to retain the championship. Jeri-Show successfully defended the title against Cryme Tyme at SummerSlam on August 23, MVP and Mark Henry at Breaking Point on September 13 and Rey Mysterio and Batista at Hell in a Cell on October 4. At Survivor Series on November 22, both Jericho and Big Show took part in

3429-508: A title match, which Jericho and Tiger lost. In the weeks before Jericho's debut, a clock labeled "countdown to the new millennium" appeared on WWF programming. On the home video, Break Down the Walls , Jericho states he was inspired to do this as his entrance when he saw a similar clock in a post office and Vince McMahon approved its use as his introduction to the WWF. The clock finally ran out on

3556-486: A triple threat match for the World Heavyweight Championship, but the Undertaker successfully retained the title. At TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 13, Jeri-Show lost the tag titles to D-Generation X (DX) (Shawn Michaels and Triple H) in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match. As a member of the SmackDown brand, Jericho could only appear on Raw as a champion and DX intentionally disqualified themselves in

3683-446: 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 that feature a design similar to that of the centerpiece. Overall, there have been 49 ECW World Heavyweight Championship reigns shared among 32 individuals. The inaugural champion was Jimmy Snuka, who won the title by defeating Salvatore Bellomo in April 1992. The Sandman holds

3810-567: The 2002 King of the Ring tournament , defeating Edge and The Big Valbowski to advance to the semi-finals, where he was defeated by Rob Van Dam at King of the Ring on June 23. In July, he began a feud with the debuting John Cena , losing to him at Vengeance on July 21. After his feud with Cena ended, Jericho moved to the Raw brand on the July 29 episode of Raw , unwilling to work for SmackDown! General Manager Stephanie McMahon. Upon his arrival to

3937-592: The Championship Scramble match as a late replacement for the defending champion CM Punk and subsequently won the World Heavyweight Championship , defeating Batista, John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL), Kane, and Rey Mysterio . It was announced that Michaels would challenge Jericho for the World Heavyweight Championship in a ladder match at No Mercy on October 5, which Jericho won. At Cyber Sunday on October 26, Jericho lost

FTW Championship - Misplaced Pages Continue

4064-508: The Chris Benoit double murder and suicide . (*) – Johnny Nitro was an event-day replacement added by WWE after Chris Benoit was a no-show, with the official statement a "family emergency". It was later discovered Benoit's double murder/suicide had taken place that weekend . Following the events of the WWE brand extension , an annual WWE draft was established, in which select members of

4191-516: The NWA World Heavyweight Championship . It was established under ECW in 1994 but was originally introduced in 1992 by the promotion's precursor, Eastern Championship Wrestling . The inaugural champion was Jimmy Snuka , however, WWE considers the inaugural world heavyweight champion to be Shane Douglas , with his reign beginning on August 27, 1994. The title was deactivated in 2001 when ECW went out of business. ECW

4318-845: The NWA World Middleweight Champion that began in December 1993. Jericho made his final appearance with CMLL in September 1995, unsuccessfully challenging CMLL World Heavyweight Champion Apolo Dantés in the Arena Coliseo in Mexico City . 1994 saw Jericho reunited with Storm, as The Thrillseekers in Jim Cornette 's Appalachian Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW) promotion, where they feuded with

4445-542: The New York Rangers at the time of Jericho's birth. When his father retired, the family moved back to Winnipeg, Manitoba , where Irvine grew up. He holds dual American and Canadian citizenships. Irvine's interest in professional wrestling began when he started watching the local American Wrestling Association (AWA) events that took place at the Winnipeg Arena with his family, and his desire to become

4572-709: The Saturday Nitro live event in Los Angeles, California , to win the WCW Cruiserweight Championship for the first time, thus winning the first championship of his WCW career. Jericho successfully defended the title against Ultimo Dragon at Bash at the Beach , before losing the title to Alex Wright on the July 28 episode of Monday Nitro . Jericho unsuccessfully challenged Wright for the title at Road Wild , before defeating Wright in

4699-567: The Unified WWE Tag Team Championship as surprise entrants in a triple threat tag team match. As a result of this win, Jericho became the first wrestler to win every (original) Grand Slam eligible championship. Shortly thereafter Edge suffered an injury and Jericho revealed a clause in his contract to allow Edge to be replaced and Jericho's reign to continue uninterrupted. At Night of Champions on July 26, Jericho revealed Big Show as his new tag team partner, creating

4826-786: The WWE Intercontinental Championship a record nine times and was the ninth Triple Crown Champion , as well as the fourth Grand Slam Champion in history. In addition, he was the 2008 Superstar of the Year Slammy Award winner and (along with Big Show as Jeri-Show ) won the 2009 Tag Team of the Year Slammy Award—making him the only winner of both Superstar and Tag Team of the Year. After his departure from WWE in 2018, Jericho signed with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he became

4953-594: The World Wrestling Federation (WWF, renamed WWE in 2002). In 2001, he became the first Undisputed WWF Champion , and thus the final holder of the WCW World Heavyweight Championship (then referred to as the World Championship), having won and unified the WWF and World titles by defeating Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock on the same night . Jericho headlined multiple pay-per-view (PPV) events during his time with

5080-625: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter the "Feud of the Year". At Night of Champions on June 29, Jericho lost the Intercontinental Championship to Kofi Kingston after a distraction by Michaels. In June, Jericho took on Lance Cade as a protégé. Afterward, Jericho developed a suit-wearing persona inspired by Javier Bardem 's character Anton Chigurh from the 2007 film No Country for Old Men and wrestler Nick Bockwinkel . Jericho and Michaels met at The Great American Bash on July 20, which Jericho won after attacking

5207-496: The namesake battle royal for a future WCW World Heavyweight Championship match but failed to win the match. Jericho represented WCW against nWo Japan member Masahiro Chono in a losing effort at the nWo Souled Out event . At SuperBrawl VII , Jericho unsuccessfully challenged Eddie Guerrero for the United States Heavyweight Championship . On June 28, 1997, Jericho defeated Syxx at

FTW Championship - Misplaced Pages Continue

5334-653: The premiere event in the relaunch of the ECW franchise as a third WWE brand , complementary to Raw and SmackDown . On June 13, Paul Heyman , former ECW owner and newly appointed figurehead for the ECW brand , recommissioned the ECW World Heavyweight Championship to be the brand's world title and awarded it to Rob Van Dam as a result of winning the WWE Championship at One Night Stand 2006. Heyman had originally stated that either

5461-476: The ring name Chris Jericho , is an American-Canadian professional wrestler, rock musician, and actor. As a wrestler, he has been signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) since January 2019 , where he is the leader of The Learning Tree stable, and the two-time and current ROH World Champion in AEW's sister promotion, Ring of Honor . Noted for his over-the-top rock star persona, in-ring technical wrestling prowess, and his ability to reinvent his character throughout

5588-575: The world title of the NWA, was vacant. Consequently, a tournament was organized to crown a new NWA World Heavyweight Champion and on August 27, NWA-ECW Heavyweight Champion Shane Douglas defeated 2 Cold Scorpio in the finals to win the title. However, Douglas immediately relinquished the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and instead proclaimed himself the new ECW World Heavyweight Champion. ECW subsequently seceded from

5715-536: The 2022 Dynamite : Grand Slam event and the FTW Championship at Dynasty 2024 . In 1999, Jericho became the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Fozzy , who released their eponymous debut album the following year. The group's early work is composed largely of cover versions , although they have focused primarily on original material from their third album, All That Remains (2005), onward. Jericho has also appeared on numerous television shows over

5842-473: The August 22 episode of Raw , Jericho faced Cena for the WWE Championship again in a rematch, this time in a " You're fired" match . Cena won again, and Jericho was fired by Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff . Jericho was carried out of the arena by security as Kurt Angle attacked Cena. Jericho's WWE contract expired on August 25. After a two-year hiatus, WWE promoted Jericho's return starting on

5969-706: The August 9 episode of Raw Is War in Chicago , Illinois while The Rock was in the ring cutting a promo on the Big Show . Jericho entered the arena and proclaimed " Raw Is Jericho" and that he had "come to save the World Wrestling Federation", referring to himself as "Y2J" (a play on the Y2K bug ). The Rock proceeded to verbally mock him for his interruption. Later that month, he would interact with several superstars including in particular interrupting

6096-600: The Cruiserweight Championship from Mysterio the next night after he interrupted J. J. Dillon while Dillon was giving the championship to Mysterio. Jericho was again awarded the championship. Eventually, Jericho decisively lost the title to Juventud Guerrera in a match at Road Wild with Malenko as special referee. On August 10, Jericho defeated Stevie Ray to win the World Television Championship (Stevie Ray substituting for

6223-465: The ECW video library and a series of books, which included the release of The Rise and Fall of ECW documentary. With heightened and rejuvenated interest in the ECW franchise, WWE organized ECW One Night Stand on June 12, a reunion event that featured ECW alumni . Due to the financial and critical success of the production, WWE produced the second ECW One Night Stand on June 11, 2006, which served as

6350-415: The ECW Championship in July 2007. The ECW World Championship Tournament was a tournament created to determine a new ECW World Champion after Bobby Lashley vacated his championship due to being drafted to Raw on June 11, 2007. The finals took place at Vengeance: Night of Champions . This tournament is notable because one of the semi-final rounds was Chris Benoit's final match. The tournament final

6477-581: The FTW Heavyweight Championship). Taz regained the title at Living Dangerously on March 21, 1999, where he unified the FTW Heavyweight Championship with the ECW World Heavyweight Championship (which he then held) by defeating Sabu in a title versus title match . Taz then began using only the ECW World Heavyweight Championship, being the sole World Heavyweight Championship in the promotion, in turn retiring

SECTION 50

#1732802473502

6604-591: The FTW Heavyweight Championship. Taz began appearing in All Elite Wrestling (AEW) in late 2019 and officially signed with the company in January 2020 as a commentator. He then began managing Brian Cage . On Night 2 of Dynamite : Fyter Fest on July 2 that year ( aired on July 8), Cage was scheduled to face Jon Moxley for the AEW World Championship ; however, the match was postponed as Moxley had to self-quarantine after his wife Renee Paquette had tested positive for COVID-19 . In turn, Taz reinstated

6731-476: The January 15, 1998, episode of Thunder , Jericho defeated Eddie Guerrero to earn a title shot against Rey Mysterio Jr. for the Cruiserweight Championship at Souled Out . Jericho won the match by forcing Mysterio to submit to the Liontamer . After the match, Jericho turned heel by assaulting Mysterio's knee with a toolbox . In the storyline, Mysterio needed six months of recovery before he could return to

6858-429: The NWA and became Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). The ECW World Heavyweight Championship was thus established, spun off from the NWA title. It remained active until April 11, 2001, when ECW closed and World Wrestling Entertainment subsequently purchased its assets. The final champion Rhyno went on to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in 2005. By 2005, WWE began reintroducing ECW through content from

6985-416: The NWA to become Extreme Championship Wrestling in 1994 it continued using this belt until 1996 when it had a new belt created in 1996 starting during Raven's second title reign and was used through 1998. In 1998, ECW had a new belt created for its championship that would be used until the promotion ceased operations in 2001. Soon after its recommissioning, the ECW World Heavyweight Championship belt design

7112-476: The October 14 episode of Raw . Christian and Jericho lost the titles to Booker T and Goldust in a fatal four-way elimination match, involving the teams of The Dudley Boyz, and William Regal and Lance Storm at Armageddon on December 15. On the January 13, 2003 episode of Raw , Jericho won an over-the-top-rope challenge against Kane, Rob Van Dam, and Batista to select his entry number for the Royal Rumble match on January 19. He chose number two in order to start

7239-564: The September 24, 2007, episode of Raw with a viral marketing campaign using a series of 15-second cryptic binary code videos, similar to the matrix digital rain used in The Matrix series . The videos contained hidden messages and biblical links related to Jericho. Jericho made his return to WWE television as a face on the November 19, 2007, episode of Raw when he interrupted Randy Orton during Orton's orchestrated "passing of

7366-1043: The WAR International Junior Heavyweight Championship in July 1995 and gave a tape of the match to Heyman, Jericho began wrestling for the Philadelphia-based Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) promotion in February 1996. In his second appearance, he defeated Rob Van Dam at the Big Apple Blizzard Blast . Jericho won the ECW World Television Championship from Pitbull #2 in June 1996 at Hardcore Heaven . While in ECW, Jericho wrestled Taz , Sabu , Rob Van Dam , Cactus Jack , Shane Douglas , and 2 Cold Scorpio . He made his final appearance at The Doctor Is In in August 1996. It

7493-477: The WWE Championship or the World Heavyweight Championship would "become" the ECW World Heavyweight Championship if a competitor designated to the ECW brand became WWE Champion or World Heavyweight Champion at the event. However, Rob Van Dam later declared that he would hold both titles simultaneously instead. The title became known as the ECW World Championship in July 2006, and later simply as

7620-412: The WWE roster are reassigned to a different brand. ECW was revived as a third brand in 2006 to rival Raw and SmackDown and continued to operate until February 16, 2010, rendering the title inactive once again. The original belt was a five-plate title belt made by Mike Vartanian. The belt was an exact copy of NWA-ECW's forerunner Tri-State Wrestling Alliance's Heavyweight title. The only difference

7747-399: The WWF Intercontinental Championship for the fourth time. At WrestleMania X-Seven on April 1, he successfully defended his title in a match against William Regal , only to lose it four days later to Triple H. At Judgment Day on May 20, Jericho and Benoit won a tag team turmoil match and earned a shot at Stone Cold Steve Austin and Triple H for their WWF Tag Team Championship on Raw

SECTION 60

#1732802473502

7874-563: The WWF Tag Team Championship from the Dudley Boyz. After they lost the titles to Test and Booker T on the November 1 episode of SmackDown! , they continued their feud. On the November 5 episode of Raw, The Rock defeated Jericho to regain the WCW Championship. Following the match, Jericho attacked The Rock with a steel chair . At Survivor Series on November 18, Jericho turned heel by almost costing Team WWF

8001-788: The WWF/WWE, including WrestleMania X8 and the inaugural TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs and the Elimination Chamber matches and the shows itself. He was inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in 2010. Jericho won the Undisputed WWF Championship once , the WCW/World Championship twice , and the World Heavyweight Championship (2002–2013 version) three times . He has also held

8128-547: The World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XXVI on March 28. Jericho defeated Edge at WrestleMania to retain the title, but lost the championship to Jack Swagger on the following episode of SmackDown , who cashed in his Money in the Bank contract. Jericho then failed to regain the title from Swagger in a triple-threat match also involving Edge on the April 16 episode of SmackDown . Jericho and Edge continued their feud leading into Extreme Rules on April 25, where Jericho

8255-432: The World Heavyweight Championship to Batista, but later won it back eight days later on November 3 on the 800th episode of Raw in a steel cage match. Jericho defeated Michaels in a Last Man Standing match on the November 10 episode of Raw after interference from JBL. Jericho lost the World Heavyweight Championship at Survivor Series on November 23 to the returning John Cena. On the December 8 episode of Raw , Jericho

8382-442: The World Heavyweight Championship, but he failed to win as he was eliminated by Rey Mysterio . Following this, Jericho began a rivalry with veteran wrestlers Ric Flair , Ricky Steamboat , Jimmy Snuka and Roddy Piper , as well as actor Mickey Rourke . Jericho was originally arranged to face Rourke at WrestleMania 25 on April 5, but Rourke later pulled out of the event. Instead, Jericho defeated Piper, Snuka and Steamboat in

8509-507: The audience. Many of the holds were fictional, and nearly every other hold was an armbar . On the March 12, 1998, episode of Thunder , Malenko defeated a wrestler wearing Juventud Guerrera's mask who appeared to be Jericho. However, the masked wrestler was actually Lenny Lane , whom Jericho bribed to appear in the match. This started a minor feud between Lane and Jericho after Jericho refused to pay Lane. At Uncensored , Jericho finally wrestled Malenko and defeated him, after which Malenko took

8636-458: The belt with him, he would cover the Taz logo with athletic tape and write "SABU" on it in magic marker. A similar instance occurred with the current champion Chris Jericho, as after winning the title, he appeared on the April 24, 2024, episode of Dynamite with a decal of his name at the top of the belt to cover Taz's name. There were a total of 10 reigns between seven champions and one vacancy. Taz

8763-523: The belt, and a "TAZ" logo at the top. "FTW" stickers were strategically placed over the word "Television" in the middle of the belt as well as the United States and United Kingdom flags on the side plates. A few months later, in an attempt to persuade Taz to team with Sabu and Rob Van Dam against Shane Douglas and The Triple Threat, Bill Alfonso presented Taz with an original FTW belt featuring a black leather strap and orange-accented bronze plates, with

8890-608: The brand, he initiated a feud with Ric Flair , leading to a match at SummerSlam on August 25, which Jericho lost. On the September 16 episode of Raw , he won the WWE Intercontinental Championship for the fifth time from Rob Van Dam , before losing the title to Kane two weeks later on Raw . He then later formed a tag team with Christian , with whom he won the World Tag Team Championship by defeating Kane and The Hurricane on

9017-423: The catalyst for The Invasion angle. Despite Booker T's interference, Austin retained the title. In the following months, Jericho became a major force in The Invasion storyline in which WCW and ECW joined forces to overtake the WWF. Jericho remained on the side of the WWF despite previously competing in WCW and ECW. However, Jericho began showing jealousy toward fellow WWF member The Rock. They faced each other in

9144-399: The champion Booker T ). Soon afterward, Jericho repeatedly called out WCW World Heavyweight Champion Goldberg in an attempt to begin a feud with him, but never actually wrestled him. Jericho cites Eric Bischoff , Goldberg and Hulk Hogan 's refusal to book Jericho in a pay-per-view squash match loss against Goldberg, which Jericho felt would be a big draw, as a major reason for leaving

9271-422: The championship. Jericho claimed he was the victim of a carefully planned conspiracy to get the belt off of him. He at first blamed the WCW locker room, then added Dillon, Ted Turner , and finally in a vignette, he walked around Washington, D.C. , with the sign "conspiracy victim" and accused President Bill Clinton of being one of the conspirators after being rejected from a meeting. Eventually, Malenko vacated

9398-478: The company, "One Crazed Anarchist", lent its name to the second single from his band Fozzy 's 2014 album, Do You Wanna Start a War . In January 1997, Jericho made his debut for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), who had a working agreement with WCW, as Super Liger, the masked nemesis of Jyushin Thunder Liger . According to Jericho, Super Liger's first match against Koji Kanemoto at Wrestling World 1997

9525-536: The company. On November 30, Jericho lost the World Television Championship to Konnan . In early 1999, Jericho began a feud with Perry Saturn . The feud saw Jericho and Saturn instigating bizarre stipulation matches, such as at Souled Out , where Jericho defeated Saturn in a "loser must wear a dress" match. At SuperBrawl IX , Jericho and Saturn wrestled in a "dress" match which Jericho won. Saturn finally defeated Jericho at Uncensored in

9652-415: The course of his career, Jericho has been named by journalists and industry colleagues as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time. During the 1990s, Jericho performed for American organizations Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW), as well as for promotions in countries such as Canada, Japan, and Mexico. In the latter half of 1999, he made his debut in

9779-523: The creation of the FTW Heavyweight Championship (also referred to as the Brooklyn World Championship) on May 14, 1998, at It Ain't Seinfeld . In the storyline, he was frustrated by his inability to challenge for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship due to Champion Shane Douglas' injury and refusal to face him. Taz created and defended his own world title, billing himself as the "real" World Champion. He stated that fans appreciated

9906-459: The cut on Michaels's eye. At SummerSlam on August 17, Michaels said that his eye damage would force him to retire and insulted Jericho by saying he would never achieve Michaels's success. Jericho tried to attack Michaels, but Michaels ducked, so Jericho punched Michaels's wife, Rebecca, instead. As a result, they fought in an unsanctioned match at Unforgiven on September 7, which Jericho lost by referee stoppage. Later that night, Jericho entered

10033-490: The final of a tournament to crown the inaugural WAR International Junior Heavyweight Champion . He defeated Gedo for the championship in June 1995, losing it to Último Dragón the next month. In December 1995, Jericho competed in the second Super J-Cup tournament, defeating Hanzo Nakajima in the first round, but losing to Wild Pegasus in the second round. In 1995, Jericho joined the heel stable Fuyuki-Gun ("Fuyuki Army") with Hiromichi Fuyuki , Gedo, and Jado , adopting

10160-475: The first-ever Undisputed WWF Champion , as well as the fourth Grand Slam winner under the original format . He retained the title at the Royal Rumble on January 20, 2002, against The Rock and at No Way Out on February 17 against Austin. Jericho later lost the title to Royal Rumble winner Triple H in the main event of WrestleMania X8 on March 17. Jericho was later drafted to the SmackDown! brand in

10287-453: The inaugural WWF draft lottery . He would then appear at Backlash on April 21, interfering in Triple H's Undisputed WWF Championship match against Hollywood Hulk Hogan . He was quickly dumped out the ring, but Triple H would go on to lose the match. This would lead to a Hell in a Cell match at Judgment Day on May 19, where Triple H would emerge victorious. Jericho would then compete in

10414-642: The likes of Well Dunn , The Rock 'n' Roll Express , and The Heavenly Bodies . In late 1994, Jericho began competing regularly in Japan for Genichiro Tenryu 's Wrestling and Romance (later known as Wrestle Association "R") (WAR) promotion as The Lion Heart. In November 1994, Último Dragón defeated him for the NWA World Middleweight Championship , which he had won while wrestling in Mexico. In March 1995, Jericho lost to Gedo in

10541-446: The main event of WrestleMania, but was taken out after Mick Foley , who was originally asked by writers to be in the match, took his place. Jericho was even advertised on the event's posters promoting the match. Jericho lost the title the next night to Eddie Guerrero on Raw is War after Chyna sided with Guerrero. On the April 17 episode of Raw is War , Jericho upset Triple H in a WWF Championship match. Referee Earl Hebner made

10668-455: The match between Batista and Michaels at Backlash on April 27, but instead, he was appointed as the special guest referee. During the match at Backlash, Michaels feigned a knee injury so that Jericho would give him time to recover and lured Batista in for Sweet Chin Music for the win. After Backlash, Jericho accused Michaels of cheating, but Michaels continued to play up an injury. When Jericho

10795-497: The match when Edge claimed the briefcase. At Backlash on May 1, Jericho challenged Shelton Benjamin for the WWE Intercontinental Championship, but lost the match. Jericho lost to Lance Storm at ECW One Night Stand on June 12. Jericho used his old "Lionheart" gimmick, instead of his more well known "Y2J" gimmick. Jericho lost the match after Jason and Justin Credible hit Jericho with a Singapore cane , which allowed Storm to win

10922-474: The match with Shawn Michaels , who had challenged him to prove Jericho's claims that he was better than Michaels. After Michaels's entrance, Jericho entered as the second participant. Christian, in Jericho's attire, appeared while the real Jericho attacked Shawn from behind. He eliminated Michaels shortly afterward, but Michaels got his revenge later in the match by causing Test to eliminate Jericho. Jericho spent

11049-568: The match, but Orton retained the title. He began a feud with JBL and met him at the Royal Rumble on January 27, 2008. Jericho was disqualified after hitting JBL with a steel chair. On the March 10 episode of Raw , Jericho captured the WWE Intercontinental Championship for a record eighth time when he defeated Jeff Hardy . In April 2008, Jericho became involved in the ongoing feud between Shawn Michaels and Batista when he suggested that Michaels enjoyed retiring Ric Flair, causing Shawn Michaels to attack him. Jericho thus asked to be inserted into

11176-428: The match. The next night on Raw , Jericho turned heel by betraying WWE Champion John Cena after defeating Christian and Tyson Tomko in a tag team match. Jericho lost a Triple Threat match for the WWE Championship at Vengeance on June 26 which also involved Christian and Cena. The feud continued throughout the summer and Jericho lost to Cena in a WWE Championship match at SummerSlam on August 21. The next night on

11303-491: The message conveyed by the title, which represented contempt for bosses and society, and said that he believed it was more appreciated than the company's top title. The championship was billed as "unrecognized" by ECW. Taz lost the title only once, in a singles match against Sabu . This was an intentional loss, when he pulled an unconscious Sabu over himself on December 19, 1998 (he was confident that he would defeat Shane Douglas in an upcoming title bout, and thus no longer needed

11430-493: 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. Ezekiel Jackson 's 3-minute reign following his defeat of Christian on the television finale of ECW is the shortest, as the title was retired with the cancellation of the ECW brand. Christian's second reign was the longest under WWE at 205 days. Chris Jericho Christopher Keith Irvine (born November 9, 1970), better known by

11557-429: The most time of any other wrestler in that same Royal Rumble. Jericho simultaneously feuded with Test, Michaels, and Jeff Hardy , defeating Hardy at No Way Out on February 23. Jericho and Michaels fought again at WrestleMania XIX on March 30, which Michaels won. Jericho, however, attacked Michaels with a low blow after the match following an embrace. After this match, Jericho entered a rivalry with Goldberg, which

11684-582: The name Lion Do. In February 1996, Jericho and Gedo won a tournament for the newly created International Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship , defeating Lance Storm and Yuji Yasuraoka in the final. They lost the championship to Storm and Yasuraoka the following month. Jericho made his final appearances with WAR in July 1996, having wrestled a total of twenty-four tours for the company. Thanks in part to recommendations by Chris Benoit, Dave Meltzer and Perry Saturn , to promoter Paul Heyman , and after Mick Foley saw Jericho's match against Último Dragón for

11811-406: The next night. Benoit and Jericho won the match, in which Triple H legitimately tore his quadriceps, spending the rest of the year injured. Benoit and Jericho each became a WWF Tag Team Champion for the first time. The team defended their title in the first fatal four-way Tables, Ladders and Chairs match on the May 24 episode of SmackDown! , where Benoit sustained a year-long injury after missing

11938-407: The rights to the title. The title was used to compensate for storylines that had to be dropped due to injuries. ECW World Heavyweight Champion Shane Douglas had a serious sinus infection and an elbow injury. Taz and Al Snow also missed their matches at Wrestlepalooza 1998 due to health problems. ECW Owner Paul Heyman said the title suited Taz's "bad-ass, no-nonsense" attitude." Taz announced

12065-546: The ring trophy items from his defeated opponents, such as Guerrera's mask, Prince Iaukea 's Hawaiian dress, and a headband from Disco Inferno . Jericho then began a long feud with Dean Malenko , in which Jericho repeatedly claimed he was a better wrestler than Malenko, but refused to wrestle him. Because of his mastery of technical wrestling, Malenko was known as "The Man of 1,000 Holds", so Jericho claimed to be "The Man of 1,004 Holds"; Jericho mentions in his autobiography that this line originated from an IWA interview he saw as

12192-621: The ring crew for the first tour of the newly opened Keystone Wrestling Alliance promotion, where he learned important pointers from independent wrestlers Catfish Charlie and Caveman Broda. He attended Red River College in Winnipeg, graduating in 1990 with a diploma in Creative Communications. At the age of 19, he entered the Hart Brothers School of Wrestling, where he met Lance Storm on his first day. He

12319-406: The ring. Jericho then had a short feud with Juventud Guerrera in which Guerrera repeatedly requested a shot at Jericho's Cruiserweight Championship, but Jericho constantly rebuffed him. The feud culminated in a title versus mask match at SuperBrawl VIII . Guerrera lost the match and was forced to remove his mask. Following this match, Jericho began his ongoing gimmick of collecting and wearing to

12446-448: The sole world title of the Raw brand in 2008 as a result of that year's draft . When WWE disbanded the ECW brand in 2010, the championship was subsequently retired following the final episode of WWE ECW with Ezekiel Jackson as the final titleholder, who also had the shortest reign with the belt at 2 minutes 25 seconds as he won it during the episode. The ECW World Heavyweight Championship

12573-620: The title (as the FTW Championship) that night and awarded it to Cage, mirroring the circumstances behind the title's original inception in ECW. Just like in ECW, the FTW Championship was not an officially sanctioned championship in AEW. After winning the title at Dynasty in April 2024, due to the negative connotation of the "FTW" abbreviation, Chris Jericho , under his gimmick of a delusional mentor "The Learning Tree", rechristened "FTW" as "For The World" and declared that

12700-590: The title following his title defense. "And, hey, everybody knows that there's no way a fuck from Pittsburgh can beat up a man from Brooklyn . So what I got right here, I am the world champion, and I have the proof. You can call it the Brooklyn Title or the Fuck The World Belt!" — Taz unveiling the FTW Heavyweight Championship at It Ain't Seinfeld The FTW Heavyweight Championship was designed, created, and conceived by Taz , who also owns

12827-408: The title in AEW in 2020, this time awarding it to his client, Brian Cage . It was introduced in a similar matter to how it was introduced in ECW; the world champion of the promotion was inactive at the time, and unable to defend it, thus the FTW Championship was awarded to the would-be challenger. On September 25, 2024, at Dynamite : Grand Slam , Taz's son and record three-time champion Hook retired

12954-416: The title to Benoit four days later on Raw is War . Jericho's feud with Triple H ended at Fully Loaded on July 23, when they competed in a Last Man Standing match . Jericho lost the match to Triple H only by one second, despite the repeated assistance Triple H's wife, Stephanie , provided him in the match. At the Royal Rumble on January 21, 2001, Jericho defeated Chris Benoit in a ladder match to win

13081-483: The title was for all the fans. The “FTW” abbreviation went back to its original meaning after Jericho lost the title to Hook . On September 25 at Dynamite : Grand Slam , Hook retired the FTW Championship after his title defense and returned the title to his father, Taz. When the title was first created, the FTW belt was a custom ECW Television Championship belt with a leather strap painted orange, stickers partially covering

13208-441: The title. Jericho ended up defeating Malenko at The Great American Bash to win the vacant title after Malenko was disqualified after hitting Jericho with a chair. The next night, Malenko was suspended for his actions. At Bash at the Beach , the recently returned Rey Mysterio Jr. (who had recovered from his knee injury) defeated Jericho in a No Disqualification match after the still-suspended Malenko interfered. Jericho regained

13335-525: The torch" ceremony. Jericho revealed his intentions to reclaim the WWE Championship in order to "save" WWE fans from Orton. On the November 26 episode of Raw, Jericho defeated Santino Marella and debuted a new finishing move called the Codebreaker . At Armageddon on December 16, he competed in a WWE Championship match against Orton, defeating him by disqualification when SmackDown!' s color commentator John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) interfered in

13462-408: The vacant World Heavyweight Championship. Jericho began the match with Benoit and eliminated Edge, but was eliminated by Batista. Triple H went on to win. At WrestleMania 21 on April 3, Jericho participated in the first ever Money in the Bank ladder match . Jericho suggested the match concept, and he competed in the match against Shelton Benjamin, Chris Benoit, Kane, Christian, and Edge. Jericho lost

13589-563: The victory after he was eliminated in their Winner Take All matchup by once again attacking The Rock. Despite this, Team WWF won the match. At Vengeance on December 9, Jericho defeated both The Rock for the World Championship (formerly the WCW Championship) and Stone Cold Steve Austin for his first WWF Championship on the same night to become the first wrestler to hold both championships at the same time, which made him

13716-461: The winning team would be the general manager of Raw over the next four weeks. Jericho's team won, and took turns as general manager. During Jericho's turn as general manager, the World Heavyweight Championship was vacated because a Triple Threat match for the title a week earlier ended in a draw. At New Year's Revolution on January 9, 2005, Jericho competed in the Elimination Chamber against Triple H, Chris Benoit, Batista, Randy Orton, and Edge for

13843-775: The winter of 1992, Jericho traveled to Mexico and competed under the name Leon D'Oro ("Golden Lion", a name that fans voted on for him between " He-Man ", "Chris Power", and his preferred choice "Leon D'Oro"), and later Corazón de León ("Lion Heart"), where he initially wrestled for several small wrestling companies in Nuevo León . In March 1993, Jericho appeared with the Universal Wrestling Association . In April 1993, Jericho began competing in Mexico's oldest promotion, Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). In CMLL, Jericho took on Silver King , Negro Casas , and Último Dragón en route to an 11-month reign as

13970-793: The years, including the 2011 season of Dancing With the Stars . He hosted the ABC game show Downfall , the 2011 edition of the Revolver Golden Gods Awards , and the UK's Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards in 2012 and 2017. Christopher Keith Irvine was born in Manhasset, New York on November 9, 1970, the son of a Canadian couple. He is of Scottish descent from his father's side and Ukrainian descent from his mother's side. His father, ice hockey player Ted Irvine , had been playing for

14097-530: Was awarded the Slammy Award for 2008 Superstar of the Year award. Six days later, he lost his rematch with John Cena for the World Heavyweight Championship at Armageddon on December 14. At the Royal Rumble on January 25, 2009, Jericho participated in the Royal Rumble match, but he was eliminated by the Undertaker. On February 15 at No Way Out , he competed in an Elimination Chamber match for

14224-612: Was driving the car. One of the interrogates was Lance Storm , who admitted that he was the assailant. Austin forced Storm into a match with Goldberg, who defeated Storm. After the match, Goldberg forced Storm to admit that Jericho was the superstar who conspired Storm into running him over. On the May 26 episode of Raw , Goldberg was once again a guest on the Highlight Reel . Jericho expressed jealousy towards Goldberg's success in WCW and felt that since joining WWE, he had achieved everything he had ever wanted in his career and all that

14351-439: Was during this time that he drew the attention of World Championship Wrestling (WCW). Jericho debuted for WCW on August 20, 1996, by defeating Mr. JL , which aired on the August 31 episode of Saturday Night . Jericho's televised debut in WCW occurred on the August 26 episode of Monday Nitro against Alex Wright in a match which ended in a no contest. He made his pay-per-view debut on September 15 against Chris Benoit in

14478-438: Was finally convinced and he apologized to Michaels for not believing him, Michaels then admitted to Jericho that he had faked his injury and he attacked Jericho with Sweet Chin Music. After losing to Michaels at Judgment Day on May 18, Jericho initiated a handshake after the match. On the June 9 episode of Raw , Jericho hosted his talk show segment, The Highlight Reel , interviewing Michaels. Jericho pointed out that Michaels

14605-486: Was fueled by Goldberg's refusal to fight Jericho in WCW. During Jericho's first episode of the Highlight Reel , an interview segment, where Goldberg was the guest, he complained that no one wanted Goldberg in WWE and continued to insult him in the following weeks. On the May 12 episode of Raw , a mystery assailant attempted to run over Goldberg with a limousine . A week later, Co-Raw General Manager, Stone Cold Steve Austin , interrogated several Raw superstars to find out who

14732-811: Was going to be "Jack Action" however, someone remarked to him that the name was stupid, they then asked him what his name really was, he then got nervous and said "Chris Jericho". He took the name Jericho from an album, Walls of Jericho , by German power metal band, Helloween . Jericho and Storm worked for Tony Condello in the tours of Northern Manitoba with Adam Copeland (Edge), Jason Reso (Christian) and Terry Gerin (Rhino). The pair also wrestled in Calgary's Canadian National Wrestling Alliance (CNWA) and Canadian Rocky Mountain Wrestling (CRMW). In 1991, Jericho and Storm started touring in Japan for Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling as Sudden Impact, where he befriended Ricky Fuji , who also trained under Stu Hart . In

14859-591: Was introduced originally in 1992 as the NWA-ECW Heavyweight Championship with Jimmy Snuka becoming the inaugural champion on April 25. However, its origin is attributed to events that began in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), an organization with many members promotions . In the early 1990s, Eastern Championship Wrestling (ECW) was a member of the NWA and by 1994, the NWA World Heavyweight Championship ,

14986-503: Was left was to defeat Goldberg and challenged him to a match. At Bad Blood on June 15, Goldberg settled the score with Jericho and defeated him. On the October 27 episode of Raw , Jericho won his sixth WWE Intercontinental Championship when he defeated Rob Van Dam . He lost the title back to Van Dam immediately after in a steel cage match. Later in 2003, Jericho started a romance with Trish Stratus while his tag team partner Christian began one with Lita . This, however, turned out to be

15113-487: Was so poorly received that the gimmick was dropped instantly. Jericho botched several moves in the match and complained he had difficulty seeing through the mask. The following six months, Jericho worked for New Japan unmasked, before being called back by WCW. On September 23, 1998, Jericho made a one-night-only return to NJPW at that years Big Wednesday show, teaming with Black Tiger against IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Shinjiro Otani and Tatsuhito Takaiwa in

15240-406: Was still cheered by the fans despite Michaels's deceit and attack on Jericho during the previous months, whereas Jericho was booed when he tried to do the right thing. Jericho then assaulted Michaels with a low blow and sent Michaels through the "Jeritron 6000" television, damaging the eye of Michaels, and turning heel in the process. This began what was named by both Pro Wrestling Illustrated and

15367-416: Was supposed to be Benoit vs CM Punk but Benoit no-showed the event and was replaced by Johnny Nitro, who would go on to win the title. It was reported the day after the event that Benoit, his wife Nancy, and their son Daniel were found dead in their home in suburban Atlanta. The day after police ruled that Benoit himself had killed his wife and son before committing suicide. This event has gone on to be known as

15494-513: Was that the NWA-ECW's main plate featured the promotion’s name and had areas painted blue. During this belt's period of use, it was treated badly and was grinded, repainted, and had jewels placed on the main plate, which would explain why it appears different in almost every photo of it. By the time the belt was replaced, it was in a very bad state and two of the side plates were broken off or missing. When Eastern Championship Wrestling withdrew from

15621-401: Was the inaugural champion. His son Hook was the final champion and also had the most reigns at three, as well as the longest combined reign at 626 days. Ricky Starks had the longest singular reign at 378 days while Taz's second reign was the shortest at less than a day as he abandoned the title upon winning the ECW World Heavyweight Championship in a championship unification match. Chris Jericho

15748-514: Was the oldest champion at 53 years old while Hook was the youngest when he first won the title at 23. ECW World Heavyweight Championship The ECW World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship originally used in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and later, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was the original world title of the ECW promotion, spun off from

15875-408: Was then purchased by WWE two years later during the summer of 2003. In 2006, WWE reactivated the championship as the world title of their newly established ECW brand . It was the third concurrently active world championship in the promotion, complementing the WWE Championship and World Heavyweight Championship of the other two brands, Raw and SmackDown . The ECW Championship briefly appeared as

16002-609: Was trained by Ed Langley and local Calgary wrestler Brad Young. Two months after completing training, he was ready to start wrestling on independent shows, making his debut at the Moose Hall in Ponoka, Alberta , as "Cowboy" Chris Jericho, on October 2, 1990, in a ten-minute time limit draw against Storm. The pair then worked as a tag team , initially called Sudden Impact. According to a February 2019 interview with Rich Eisen on The Rich Eisen Show, Jericho stated that his initial name

16129-409: Was updated to a design similar to the belt used before ECW's original closure in 2001, which featured a black leather strap with a snakeskin pattern on the rear, snaps 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 centerpiece, which featured a design of a blue globe in the center, and to the left and right of the globe were

#501498