CZW World Heavyweight Championship
| CZW World Heavyweight Championship | |||||||||||||||||||
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Chris Hero with the CZW World Heavyweight Championship. | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Promotion | Combat Zone Wrestling | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date established | March 27, 1999[1][2] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Current champion(s) | Jonathan Gresham | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date won | August 8, 2015 | ||||||||||||||||||
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The CZW World Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship owned and copyrighted by the professional wrestling promotion Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW). It was created and debuted on March 27, 1999 at CZW's The Staple Gun event.[1]
The championship is generally contested in professional wrestling matches, usually of hardcore/ultraviolent type. There have been a total of 43 reigns among 24 different wrestlers.[1] The current champion is Jonathan Gresham, who is in his first reign as champion.
History
Background
The championship was created and debuted on March 27, 1999 at CZW's The Staple Gun event, where Nick Gage defeated 20 other men in a battle royal to become the first champion.[1][2] The championship has been defended and lost in countries other than the United States multiple times. The first time it changed hands on foreign soil was on April 15, 2001, when Wifebeater defeated John Zandig for the championship in Birmingham, England at a live event.[1] Even though the CZW World Heavyweight Championship is supposed to only be eligible to "heavyweights" (wrestlers who weigh more than 220 lb (100 kg)), multiple lower-class wrestlers have held the championship. Wrestlers such as Drake Younger, Nick Gage, Nick Berk, and Yoshihiro Tajiri are a few who have been storyline exceptions.[1]
Belt design
The championship's current design involves three metal plates positioned on a leather strap. The central plate has the word "World" at the top, while the word "Champion" at the bottom. There are two light tubes that are placed at each end of the plate. The CZW logo is engraved at the very center of the plate.
Reigns
The inaugural champion was Gage, who won the championship by defeating 20 other men in a battle royal on March 27, 1999 at CZW's The Staple Gun event.[1][2] At 567 days, Drake Younger's only reign is the longest in the title's history.[1] John Zandig, Nick Berk, and Yoshihiro Tajiri are tied for shortest in the title's history at less than 1 day.[1] John Zandig holds the record for most reigns, with six.[1] Jonathan Gresham is the current champion, having defeated Matt Tremont for the championship on September 10, 2016.[3]
Footnotes
- 1.^ - This description is based on the current design of the CZW World Heavyweight Championship, as seen in the images throughout the article.