Seth “Freakin” Rollins is the new World Heavyweight Champion in WWE. At Night of Champions in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, he defeated AJ Styles in the tournament finals to become champ. With the debate over who would be crowned as the first title holder settled, questions turned to the lineage of the new World Heavyweight Championship.
The need for the new world title stems from Roman Reigns’ ongoing reign as Undisputed WWE Universal Champion which now stands at more than 1,000 days. His tenure as champion is the longest of any in WWE since 1988 and there are no signs of it ending any time soon.
In the 2023 WWE Draft, Reigns was drafted to SmackDown. With him holding the unified WWE and Universal Championships, Monday Night Raw was left without a world title. Consequently, the creation of a new World Heavyweight Championship was announced by Triple H to fill the void on Raw.
Reception to the newly created title was mixed. Some feel it provides opportunities that would’ve been unavailable otherwise. Whereas others say it is secondary to Reigns’ Undisputed WWE Universal Championship and has been created as a consolation prize.
However you feel about it, what sticks out most is the new belt’s name and design. WWE previously had another World Heavyweight Championship that was defended from 2002-2013. It was held by the likes of Batista, Triple H, Edge, and Goldberg. The new championship’s design is inspired by the original’s Big Gold Belt. And that has caused many fans to ask if the new World Heavyweight Championship lineage continues that of the old one.
Does the new WWE World Heavyweight Championship continue the lineage of the old one?
So, does the new World Heavyweight Championship share a lineage with its older namesake? The answer is no. After Seth Rollins won the new title at Night of Champions on 27 May 2023 in Saudi Arabia, the official WWE title history shows that the new championship’s lineage begins with Rollins in 2023.
The previous version of the title was defended from 2002-2013 until it was unified with the WWE Championship. If the the old and new versions of the World Heavyweight Championship shared a title history, the lineage would show as beginning with Triple H back in the early noughties. But this isn’t the case. The two are listed as distinct championships.
A big reason for the confusion is that WWE referenced previous champions during the tournament for the new belt. This led many to believe that the two championships would, in fact, share a lineage.
How do you feel about the new World Heavyweight Championship lineage and title history? Should it have continued the previous one? Let us know in the comment section below and don’t forget to check out our other Film & TV articles…
