WWE Raw Women's Championship

This article is about the current championship on the Raw brand. For the other championships, see WWE Women's Championship.
WWE Raw Women's Championship

The Raw Women's Championship belt with default side plates
Details
Promotion WWE
Brand Raw
Date established April 3, 2016
Current champion(s) Sasha Banks
Date won November 28, 2016
Other name(s)
  • WWE Women's Championship
    (2016)
  • WWE Raw Women's Championship
    (2016–present)

The WWE Raw Women's Championship is a women's professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE on the Raw brand. The current champion is Sasha Banks, who is in her third reign.

Introduced as the WWE Women's Championship on April 3, 2016 at WrestleMania 32, it replaced the Divas Championship and has a unique title history, separate from WWE's original Women's Championship and the Divas Championship. Charlotte was the inaugural champion. As a result of the 2016 draft, the championship became exclusive to Raw with a subsequent rename, and SmackDown created the WWE SmackDown Women's Championship as a counterpart title.

History

On April 3, 2016, WWE Hall of Famer Lita appeared during the WrestleMania 32 pre-show and, after recapping the history of women's professional wrestling in WWE, unveiled the brand-new championship and declared that WWE's women would no longer be referred to as WWE Divas, but as "WWE Superstars" just as their male counterparts are.[1] This came after the term "Diva" was scrutinized by some commentators, fans, and several past and present WWE female performers, including then-Divas Champion Charlotte, who were in favor of changing the championship to the Women's Championship.[2] It was also changed because some WWE female wrestlers felt it diminished their athletic abilities and relegated them to "eye candy".[3][4] Lita then announced that the winner of the Divas Championship triple threat match between Charlotte, Becky Lynch, and Sasha Banks later that night would become the first-ever WWE Women's Champion, subsequently retiring the Divas Championship.[5] Charlotte, the final Divas Champion, became the inaugural WWE Women's Champion when she defeated Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch.[6]

Following the reintroduction of the brand extension, then champion Charlotte was drafted to the Raw brand on the July 19, 2016 premiere episode of SmackDown Live, making the championship exclusive to Raw. In response, SmackDown created the SmackDown Women's Championship on August 23, 2016. The WWE Women's Championship was subsequently renamed to reflect its exclusivity to Raw.[1]

When the title was introduced, it shared its name with the original Women's Championship. However, the new title does not share the same title history as the original, which was unified with the Divas Championship in 2010, with the combined title inheriting the latter's lineage and history. WWE acknowledges the original championship as its predecessor,[1] and notes that the lineage of female champions dates back to The Fabulous Moolah's reign in 1956.[5]

Brand designation history

Colors

 Championship moved to the Raw brand.
Date of transition Notes
July 19, 2016 WWE Women's Champion Charlotte was drafted to Raw during the 2016 WWE draft.
After the introduction of the SmackDown Women's Championship, the title was renamed to Raw Women's Championship.

Championship belt design

The Raw Women's Championship belt is similar in appearance to the WWE World Championship belt, with a few notable differences. The strap is smaller to fit the champion, and white, as opposed to black. The die-cut WWE logo in the center plate sits on a red background, as opposed to a black one. The small print below the logo reads "Women's Champion". Like the WWE World Championship belt, the Raw Women's Championship belt features two side plates, both separated by gold divider bars, with the WWE logo on the globe as default plates, which are customized with the current champion's logos as a similarity of the name plate feature of other championship belts.[5]

Title history

The current and three-time Raw Women's Champion Sasha Banks

Name

Name Years
WWE Women's Championship April 3, 2016 – September 4, 2016
WWE Raw Women's Championship September 5, 2016 – present

Reigns

As of December 5, 2016, overall there have been 6 reigns between 2 champions. Charlotte Flair, then known simply as Charlotte, was the inaugural champion, who defeated Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch in a triple threat match on April 3, 2016 at WrestleMania 32; her first reign is also the longest at 113 days and she and Sasha Banks have the most reigns at 3. Sasha Banks is the youngest champion at 24 years old.

The current champion is Sasha Banks, who is in her third reign. She defeated Charlotte on the November 28, 2016 episode of Raw in a Falls Count Anywhere match.

Reign The reign number for the specific champion listed
Location The city in which the title was won
Event The event promoted by the respective promotion in which the title was won
— Used for vacated reigns so as not to count it as an official reign
+ Indicates the current reign is changing daily
No. Champion Reign Date Days held Location Event Notes Ref.
1 Charlotte Flair 1 April 3, 2016 113 Arlington, TX WrestleMania 32 This was a triple threat match also involving Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks to determine the inaugural champion. The Divas Championship, which Charlotte held going into the match, was retired in favor of the new WWE Women's Championship. The title became exclusive to the Raw brand following the 2016 WWE draft. [7]
2 Sasha Banks 1 July 25, 2016 27 Pittsburgh, PA Raw [8]
3 Charlotte Flair 2 August 21, 2016 43 Brooklyn, NY SummerSlam The title was renamed the Raw Women's Championship on September 5, 2016 following the creation of the SmackDown Women's Championship. [9]
4 Sasha Banks 2 October 3, 2016 27 Los Angeles, CA Raw [10]
5 Charlotte Flair 3 October 30, 2016 29 Boston, MA Hell in a Cell This was a Hell in a Cell match. [11]
6 Sasha Banks 3 November 28, 2016 7+ Charlotte, NC Raw This was a falls count anywhere match. [12]

Combined reigns

The inaugural and three-time Raw Women's Champion Charlotte Flair
† Indicates the current champion

As of December 5, 2016.

Rank Wrestler No. of
reigns		 Combined days
1 Charlotte Flair1 3 185
2 Sasha Banks † 3 61+

1 During her first two reigns, Charlotte Flair's ring name was simply "Charlotte".

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Raw Women's Championship". WWE.com.
  2. ↑ Konuwa, Alfred (March 30, 2016). "Is WWE Planning To Rebrand Its Divas Division?". Forbes. Retrieved April 4, 2016.
  3. ↑ Ahmed, Tufayel. "WrestleMania 32: By Dumping the 'Divas' Branding, WWE Makes Its Biggest Step to Gender Equality". Newsweek. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  4. ↑ Gass, Dorathy (2014-06-20). "Wrestlemania 32: How The Women Stole The Show". Wrestle Newz. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  5. 1 2 3 WWE Staff (April 3, 2016). "All-new WWE Women's Championship introduced at WrestleMania". WWE. Retrieved April 3, 2016. Lita introduced the all-new WWE Women's Championship at WrestleMania, and revealed that Charlotte, Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch will compete for this title tonight.
  6. ↑ Caldwell, James. "4/3 WrestleMania 32 PPV Pre-Show Results – CALDWELL's Complete Report". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
  7. ↑ Artus, Matthew (April 3, 2016). "Charlotte def. Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks to become first new WWE Women's Champion". WWE. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
  8. ↑ Tedesco, Mike (July 25, 2016). "WWE RAW Results – 7/25/16 (Live from Pittsburgh, fallout from Battleground, new era of RAW begins)". Wrestleview. Retrieved July 25, 2016.
  9. ↑ Caldwell, James. "8/21 WWE Summerslam Results – CALDWELL'S Complete Live Report". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved August 21, 2016.
  10. ↑ Tedesco, Mike. "WWE RAW Results – 10/3/16 (Live from Los Angeles, Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks for the RAW Women's Title)". WrestleView. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  11. ↑ Powell, Jason. "Powell's WWE Hell in a Cell 2016 live review: Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte for the WWE Women's Championship, Kevin Owens vs. Seth Rollins for the WWE Universal Championship, Roman Reigns vs. Rusev for the U.S. Championship". Pro Wreslting Dot Net. Retrieved October 30, 2016.
  12. ↑ Keller, Wade (November 28, 2016). "KELLER'S WWE RAW REPORT 11/28: Live coverage – Charlotte defends against Sasha Banks, New Day defends against Anderson & Gallows". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved November 28, 2016.

External links

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