Sep 12, 2026, 11:35 PM ET The Undisputed WWE Championship is widely recognized as the most historic championship in WWE.
Dating back to 1963, the WWE Championship was first awarded to Buddy Rogers after he defeated Antonino Rocca in the finals of a tournament in April. Since that time, the biggest names in the business have held the title, including Bruno Sammartino, Andre the Giant, Bret Hart, The Rock and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.
Undisputed WWE champion Champion : Sami Zayn
Date won : Sept. 11, 2026
Defeated : CM Punk
Event : SmackDown
Undisputed WWE champion title history Wrestler Date won Event Length Reign No. Sami Zayn 9/11/26 SmackDown TBD 2 CM Punk 7/6/26 Raw 66 days 3 Sami Zayn 6/27/26 Night of Champions 9 days 1 Cody Rhodes 3/6/26 SmackDown 113 days 3 Drew McIntyre 1/8/26 SmackDown 55 days 3 Cody Rhodes 8/3/25 SummerSlam 159 days 2 John Cena 4/20/25 WrestleMania 41 104 days 14 Cody Rhodes 4/6/24 WrestleMania 40 378 days 1 Roman Reigns 4/3/22 WrestleMania 38 735 days 4 Brock Lesnar 2/19/22 Elimination Chamber 43 days 7 Bobby Lashley 1/29/22 Royal Rumble 21 days 2 Brock Lesnar 1/1/22 WWE Day 1 27 days 6 Big E 9/13/21 Monday Night Raw 110 days 1 Bobby Lashley 3/1/21 Monday Night Raw 196 days 1 The Miz 2/21/21 Elimination Chamber 8 days 2 Drew McIntyre 11/16/20 Monday Night Raw 97 days 2 Randy Orton 10/25/20 Hell in a Cell 22 days 14 Drew McIntyre 4/5/20 WrestleMania 36 202 days 1 Brock Lesnar 10/4/19 SmackDown 184 days 5 Kofi Kingston 4/7/19 WrestleMania 35 180 days 1 Daniel Bryan 11/13/18 SmackDown 145 days 4 AJ Styles 11/8/17 SmackDown 371 days 2 Jinder Mahal 5/21/17 Backlash 170 days 1 Randy Orton 4/2/17 WrestleMania 33 49 days 13 Bray Wyatt 2/12/17 Elimination Chamber 49 days 1 John Cena 1/29/17 Royal Rumble 14 days 13 AJ Styles 9/11/16 Backlash 140 days 1 Dean Ambrose 6/19/16 Money in the Bank 84 days 1 Seth Rollins 6/19/16 Money in the Bank 0 days 2 Roman Reigns 4/3/16 WrestleMania 77 days 3 Triple H 1/24/16 Royal Rumble 70 days 14 Roman Reigns 12/14/15 Monday Night Raw 41 days 2 Sheamus 11/22/15 Survivor Series 22 days 4 Roman Reigns 11/22/15 Survivor Series 0 days 1 Seth Rollins 3/29/15 WrestleMania 220 days 1 Brock Lesnar 8/17/14 SummerSlam 224 days 4 John Cena 6/29/14 Money in the Bank 49 days 12 Daniel Bryan 4/6/14 WrestleMania 64 days 4 Randy Orton 10/27/13 Hell in a Cell 161 days 11 Daniel Bryan 9/15/13 Night of Champions 1 day 3 Randy Orton 8/18/13 SummerSlam 28 days 10 Daniel Bryan 8/18/13 SummerSlam 0 days 2 John Cena 4/7/13 WrestleMania 133 days 11 The Rock 1/27/13 Royal Rumble 70 days 10 CM Punk 11/20/11 Survivor Series 434 days 5 Alberto Del Rio 10/2/11 Hell in a Cell 49 days 2 John Cena 9/18/11 Night of Champions 14 days 10 Alberto Del Rio 8/14/11 SummerSlam 35 days 1 John Cena 7/25/11 Monday Night Raw 20 days 9 Rey Mysterio 7/25/11 Monday Night Raw 0 days 3 CM Punk 7/17/11 Money in the Bank 28 days 4 John Cena 5/1/11 Extreme Rules 77 days 8 The Miz 11/22/10 Monday Night Raw 160 days 1 Randy Orton 9/19/10 Night of Champions 64 days 7 Sheamus 6/20/10 Fatal 4-Way 91 days 2 John Cena 3/28/10 WrestleMania 84 days 7 Batista 2/21/10 Elimination Chamber 35 days 6 John Cena 2/21/10 Elimination Chamber 0 days 6 Sheamus 12/13/09 TLC 70 days 1 John Cena 10/25/09 Bragging Rights 49 days 5 Randy Orton 10/4/09 Hell in a Cell 21 days 6 John Cena 9/13/09 Breaking Point 21 days 4 Randy Orton 6/15/09 Monday Night Raw 90 days 5 Batista 6/7/09 Extreme Rules 2 days 5 Randy Orton 4/26/09 Backlash 42 days 4 Triple H 2/15/09 No Way Out 70 days 13 Edge 1/25/09 Royal Rumble 21 days 7 Jeff Hardy 12/14/08 Armageddon 42 days 1 Edge 11/23/08 Survivor Series 21 days 6 Triple H 4/27/08 Backlash 210 days 12 Randy Orton 10/7/07 No Mercy 203 days 3 Triple H 10/7/07 No Mercy 0 days 11 Randy Orton 10/7/07 No Mercy 0 days 2 John Cena 9/17/06 Unforgiven 380 days 3 Edge 7/3/06 Monday Night Raw 76 days 2 Rob Van Dam 6/11/06 One Night Stand 22 days 1 John Cena 1/29/06 Royal Rumble 133 days 2 Edge 1/8/06 New Year's Revolution 21 days 1 John Cena 4/3/05 WrestleMania 280 days 1 JBL 6/27/04 Great American Bash 280 days 1 Eddie Guerrero 2/15/04 No Way Out 133 days 1 Brock Lesnar 9/18/03 SmackDown 148 days 3 Kurt Angle 7/27/03 Vengeance 53 days 5 Brock Lesnar 3/30/03 WrestleMania 119 days 2 Kurt Angle 12/15/02 Armageddon 105 days 4 Big Show 11/17/02 Survivor Series 28 days 4 Brock Lesnar 8/25/02 SummerSlam 84 days 1 The Rock 7/21/02 Vengeance 35 days 9 The Undertaker 5/19/02 Judgment Day 63 days 4 Hollywood Hogan 4/21/02 Backlash 28 days 12 Triple H 3/17/02 WrestleMania 35 days 5 Chris Jericho 12/9/01 Vengeance 98 days 3 Steve Austin 10/8/01 Monday Night Raw 62 days 6 Kurt Angle 9/23/01 Unforgiven 15 days 3 Steve Austin 4/1/01 WrestleMania 175 days 5 The Rock 2/25/01 No Way Out 35 days 6 Kurt Angle 10/22/00 No Mercy 126 days 1 The Rock 6/25/00 King of the Ring 119 days 5 Triple H 5/21/00 Judgment Day 35 days 4 The Rock 4/30/00 Backlash 21 days 4 Triple H 1/3/00 Monday Night Raw 118 days 3 Big Show 11/14/99 Survivor Series 50 days 3 Triple H 9/26/99 Unforgiven 49 days 2 Mr. McMahon 9/16/99 SmackDown 4 days 1 Triple H 8/23/99 Monday Night Raw 24 days 1 Mankind 8/22/99 SummerSlam 1 day 3 Steve Austin 6/28/99 Monday Night Raw 55 days 4 The Undertaker 5/23/99 Over the Edge 36 days 3 Steve Austin 3/28/99 WrestleMania 56 days 3 The Rock 2/15/99 Monday Night Raw 41 days 3 Mankind 1/31/99 Halftime Heat 15 days 2 The Rock 1/24/99 Royal Rumble 7 days 2 Mankind 1/4/99 Monday Night Raw 20 days 1 The Rock 11/15/98 Survivor Series 50 days 1 Steve Austin 6/29/98 Monday Night Raw 90 days 2 Kane 6/28/98 King of the Ring 1 day 1 Steve Austin 3/29/98 WrestleMania 91 days 1 Shawn Michaels 11/9/97 Survivor Series 140 days 3 Bret Hart 8/3/97 SummerSlam 98 days 5 The Undertaker 3/23/97 WrestleMania 133 days 2 Sycho Sid 2/17/97 Monday Night Raw 34 days 2 Bret Hart 2/16/97 In Your House 1 day 4 Shawn Michaels 1/19/97 Royal Rumble 25 days 2 Sycho Sid 11/17/96 Survivor Series 63 days 1 Shawn Michaels 3/31/96 WrestleMania 231 days 1 Bret Hart 11/19/95 Survivor Series 133 days 3 Diesel 11/26/94 House show 358 days 1 Bob Backlund 11/23/94 Survivor Series 3 days 2 Bret Hart 3/20/94 WrestleMania 248 days 2 Yokozuna 6/13/93 King of the Ring 280 days 2 Hulk Hogan 4/4/93 WrestleMania 70 days 5 Yokozuna 4/4/93 WrestleMania 0 days 1 Bret Hart 10/12/92 House show 174 days 1 Ric Flair 9/1/92 Prime Time Wrestling 41 days 10 Randy Savage 4/5/92 WrestleMania 149 days 2 Ric Flair 1/19/92 Royal Rumble 77 days 9 Hulk Hogan 12/3/91 Tuesday in Texas 1 days 4 The Undertaker 11/27/91 Survivor Series 6 days 1 Hulk Hogan 3/24/91 WrestleMania 248 days 3 Sergeant Slaughter 1/19/91 Royal Rumble 64 days 1 Ultimate Warrior 4/1/90 WrestleMania 293 days 1 Hulk Hogan 4/2/89 WrestleMania 364 days 2 Randy Savage 3/27/88 WrestleMania 371 days 1 Andre the Giant 2/5/88 The Main Event 0 days 1 Hulk Hogan 1/23/84 N/A 1,474 days 1 Iron Sheik 12/26/83 N/A 28 days 1 Bob Backlund 2/20/78 N/A 2,135 days 1 Superstar Billy Graham 4/30/77 N/A 296 days 1 Bruno Sammartino 12/10/73 N/A 1,237 days 2 Stan Stasiak 12/1/73 N/A 9 days 1 Pedro Morales 2/8/71 N/A 1,027 days 1 Ivan Koloff 1/18/71 N/A 21 days 1 Bruno Sammartino 5/17/63 N/A 2,803 days 1 Buddy Rogers 4/25/63 N/A 22 days 1
Number of reigns includes WCW, NWA and WWE world heavyweight championship wins.
