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| The '''World Heavyweight Championship''' (often referred to as the '''Big Gold Belt''') is a historic ] ] which has represented a number of significant ].<ref>''History of the World Heavyweight Championship'', ] (2009)</ref> It was originally designed in 1985 on order by ] to give to ] ]. The belt has three gold plates and was the first to feature a name plate onto which the champion's name was etched. The original belt simply stated "World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion" without indicating any designated ]. For ] purposes, ] added its own logo to the belt in March 2003. The promotion also began featuring nameplates on the rest of its ] shortly after adopting the belt. | |||
| The World Heavyweight Championship has represented and can refer to one or more of the following championships: | |||
| *'''] (1985 – 1993) ] (1991)''' | |||
| **In 1985, the Big Gold Belt was made to replace the Dome Globe belt that had been used since 1973. According to Ric Flair on ], it was made by a silversmith in Reno, NV. | |||
| **In January 1991, ] (WCW) wanted to recognize Ric Flair as their world champion in conjunction with the NWA's recognition. Therefore, the belt represented both companies' recognition of a world champion. | |||
| **From March 21 to May 19, 1991, ] was recognized as the NWA World Heavyweight Champion following a disputed victory over Ric Flair. However, WCW refused to recognize Fujinami's victory, which resulted in Flair keeping the belt and remaining the WCW World Heavyweight Champion. | |||
| **In July 1991 Flair and WCW parted ways while Flair was still champion. The belt was property of Flair as he had originally placed a ]25,000 deposit on it that was required of anyone holding the belt. Flair kept the belt after parting ways with WCW due to WCW Vice President ] refusing to pay the deposit with additional interest back. WCW stripped Flair of their recognition of world champion and introduced a new belt to represent the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. | |||
| **Flair soon signed with the ] (WWF) and wore the Big Gold Belt there. Flair stated on the 2008 released ''Nature Boy Ric Flair: The Definitive Collection'' DVD that the $25,000 he initially deposited with additional interest totalling $38,000 was never paid back to him, and as a result, Flair kept the Big Gold Belt. He also stated that he later gave the belt to ] as a gift. WCW ultimately introduced a new Big Gold Belt to be used to represent the NWA World Heavyweight Championship due to an agreement between the NWA and WCW. | |||
| ] | |||
| *'''] (1993 – 1994)''' | |||
| **In September 1993, when WCW and the NWA parted ways, the Big Gold Belt was used to represent the WCW International World Heavyweight Championship, the supposed world championship of a fictitious subsidiary of World Championship Wrestling called WCW International. | |||
| *'''] (1994 – 2001)''' | |||
| **The Big Gold Belt represented the WCW World Heavyweight Championship once again in 1994 when the WCW International and WCW World Heavyweight Championships were ]. | |||
| **After the WWF purchased WCW in 2001, the belt continued to represent the WCW World Heavyweight Championship during the ] "]". The title was finally ] with the ] at ]. | |||
| *'''] (2001 – 2002)''' | |||
| **Following the unification of the WCW and WWF Championships, the Big Gold Belt and the WWF Championship belt were collectively used to represent the Undisputed Championship until a single new belt was introduced to represent the title in April 2002. | |||
| *'''] (2002–present)''' | |||
| **The Big Gold Belt returned to represent the newly created ] in September 2002 and continued to be used until March 2003 when a similar new belt began to be used to represent the title. Originally introduced on the ] ], the World Heavyweight Championship moved to the ] brand in 2005, and has since moved between both brands on multiple occasions. As of now, It is currently held by ]. | |||
| ==References== | |||
| {{reflist}} | |||
| ==See also== | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
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| ] | |||
| ] | |||
Latest revision as of 21:35, 26 December 2009
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