List of ROH World Champions
The ROH World Championship is a professional wrestling world championship owned and copyrighted by Ring of Honor (ROH) promotion. The championship was created and debuted on July 27, 2002 at ROH's Crowning a Champion event. Originally called the ROH Championship, the title was renamed to the ROH World Heavyweight Championship in May 2003 after the title was defended outside the United States for the first time—earlier that month, then-champion Samoa Joe had defeated The Zebra Kid in London, England at the Frontiers Of Honor event co-promoted with the FWA.[1] On August 12, 2006, the ROH World Heavyweight Championship was unified with the ROH Pure Championship after then-champion Bryan Danielson defeated ROH Pure Champion Nigel McGuinness in Liverpool, England.[1] The Pure Championship was deactivated after this match.
ROH World Heavyweight Championship reigns are determined by professional wrestling matches, in which competitors are involved in scripted rivalries. These narratives create feuds between the various competitors, which cast them as villains and heroes. Some reigns were held by champions using a ring name, while others used their real name. Reigns that were won on pay-per-view events aired on tape delay up to weeks or months apart. Reigns that were won at live events were released on DVD. The inaugural champion was Low Ki, whom ROH recognized to have become the champion after defeating Christopher Daniels, Spanky, and Doug Williams in a Four Way 60-minute Iron Man match on July 27, 2002 at ROH's Crowning a Champion event. As of April 2024, Austin Aries and Jay Briscoe share the record for most reigns, with two.[1] As of April 2024, Bryan Danielson and Nigel McGuinness have the most defenses, with 38; Low Ki has the least, with 1. At Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. days, Samoa Joe's reign is the longest in the title's history. The current champion is Jay Lethal in his first reign.[1] Overall, there have been 22 reigns among 20 wrestlers with one vacancy.[1]
Contents
Title history
Names
Name | Years |
---|---|
ROH Championship | 2002 – May 2003 |
ROH World Championship | May 2003 – present |
Reigns
No. | Wrestlers | Reign | Date | Days held | Location | Successful defenses | Event | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Low Ki | 1 | July 27, 2002 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | 1 | Crowning a Champion [1] | Low Ki defeated Christopher Daniels, Spanky, and Doug Williams in a Four-Way 60-minute Iron Man match to become the inaugural champion. |
2 | Xavier | 1 | September 21, 2002 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | 4 | Unscripted [2] | |
3 | Samoa Joe | 1 | March 22, 2003 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | 29 | Night of Champions [3] | After Joe defeated The Zebra Kid on May 17, 2003, in London, England, the ROH Championship was renamed the ROH World Championship.[2] |
4 | Austin Aries | 1 | December 26, 2004 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | 16 | Final Battle 2004 [4] | |
5 | CM Punk | 1 | June 18, 2005 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. | Morristown, New Jersey | 4 | Death Before Dishonor III [5] | |
6 | James Gibson | 1 | August 12, 2005 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. | Dayton, Ohio | 4 | Redemption [6] | This was a four-way elimination match also involving Christopher Daniels and Samoa Joe. |
7 | Bryan Danielson | 1 | September 17, 2005 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. | Lake Grove, New York | 38 | Glory by Honor IV [7] | Danielson unified the title with the ROH Pure Championship on August 12, 2006 by defeating Nigel McGuinness in Liverpool, England.[3][4] |
8 | Homicide | 1 | December 23, 2006 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. | New York, New York | 3 | Final Battle 2006 [8] | [5] |
9 | Takeshi Morishima | 1 | February 17, 2007 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | 20 | Fifth Year Festival: Philly [9] | [6] |
10 | Nigel McGuinness | 1 | October 6, 2007 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. | Edison, New Jersey | 38 | Undeniable [10] | [7] |
11 | Jerry Lynn | 1 | April 3, 2009 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. | Houston, Texas | 6 | Supercard of Honor IV [11] | [8] |
12 | Austin Aries | 2 | June 13, 2009 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. | New York, New York | 13 | Manhattan Mayhem III [12] | This was a Three-Way Elimination match also involving Tyler Black.[9] |
13 | Tyler Black | 1 | February 13, 2010 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. | New York, New York | 7 | 8th Anniversary Show [13] | [10] |
14 | Roderick Strong | 1 | September 11, 2010 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. | New York, New York | 5 | Glory By Honor IX [14] | This was a No Disqualification match with Terry Funk as the ringside enforcer.[11][12] |
15 | Eddie Edwards | 1 | March 19, 2011 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. | New York, New York | 3 | Manhattan Mayhem IV[15] | Became the first ROH Triple Crown Champion.[13] |
16 | Davey Richards | 1 | June 26, 2011 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. | New York, New York | 10 | Best in the World 2011[16] | [14] |
17 | Kevin Steen | 1 | May 12, 2012 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. | Toronto, Ontario | 18 | Border Wars[17] | [15] |
18 | Jay Briscoe | 1 | April 5, 2013 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. | New York, New York | 6 | Supercard of Honor VII | [16] |
— | Vacated | — | July 3, 2013 | — | — | N/A | N/A | Title vacated by ROH Match Maker Nigel McGuinness after Jay Briscoe suffered a storyline injury at the June 23 television tapings and would not be able to compete in ROH for the foreseeable future.[17][18] |
19 | Adam Cole | 1 | September 20, 2013 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | 13 | Death Before Dishonor XI | Defeated Michael Elgin in a tournament final.[19] |
20 | Michael Elgin | 1 | June 22, 2014 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. | Nashville, Tennessee | 7 | Best in the World 2014 | |
21 | Jay Briscoe | 2 | September 6, 2014 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. | Toronto, Ontario | 13 | All Star Extravaganza 6 | [20] |
22 | Jay Lethal | 1 | June 19, 2015 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist.+ | New York, New York | 22 | Best in the World 2015 | This was a Winner Take All match also for Lethal's ROH World Television Championship. |
List of combined reigns
As of April 17, 2024.
† | Indicates the current champion |
---|
Rank [18] | Wrestler | No. of reigns |
Combined defenses |
Combined days |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Samoa Joe | 1 | 29 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. |
2 | Nigel McGuinness | 1 | 38 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. |
3 | Bryan Danielson | 1 | 38 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. |
4 | Austin Aries | 2 | 29 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. |
5 | Jay Briscoe | 2 | 19 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. |
6 | Jay Lethal † | 1 | 22 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist.+ |
7 | Kevin Steen | 1 | 20 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. |
8 | Davey Richards | 1 | 10 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. |
9 | Adam Cole | 1 | 13 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. |
10 | Takeshi Morishima | 1 | 20 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. |
11 | Tyler Black | 1 | 7 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. |
12 | Roderick Strong | 1 | 5 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. |
13 | Xavier | 1 | 4 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. |
14 | Eddie Edwards | 1 | 3 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. |
15 | Michael Elgin | 1 | 7 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. |
16 | Jerry Lynn | 1 | 6 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. |
17 | Homicide | 1 | 3 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. |
Low Ki | 1 | 1 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. | |
19 | CM Punk | 1 | 4 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. |
20 | James Gibson | 1 | 4 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. |
Notes
- 1.^ – This event was a live event that was later released on DVD.
- 2.^ – This event was a pay-per-view that later aired on tape delay.
- 3.^ – Each reign is ranked highest to lowest; reigns with the exact number mean they are tied for that certain rank.
References
- General
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- Specific
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