FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship
Mason Ryan as the Florida Heavyweight Champion in 2010
Details
PromotionFlorida Championship Wrestling
Date establishedFebruary 15, 2008[1][2]
Date retiredAugust 14, 2012
Statistics
First champion(s)Jake Hager
Final champion(s)Richie Steamboat
Most reignsBo Rotundo/Dallas
(3 times)[1]
Longest reignJake Hager
(216 days)
Shortest reignBo Rotundo, Rick Victor and Leo Kruger
(<1 day)
Oldest championSheamus O'Shaunessy
(30 years, 318 days)
Youngest championBo Rotundo
(20 years, 254 days)
Heaviest championSheamus O'Shaunessy
(290 lb (130 kg))
Lightest championMike Dalton
(195 lb (88 kg))

The FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling heavyweight championship owned and promoted by Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), a former developmental territory of WWE. It is contested for in their heavyweight division. The championship was created and debuted on February 15, 2008, at a FCW house show.[1][2]

The first champion was Jake Hager who won a 23-man battle royal by defeating Ted DiBiase Jr. to become the first champion.[3] On March 22, 2008, Hager defeated FCW Southern Heavyweight Champion Heath Miller to unify the two championships and retire the FCW Southern Heavyweight Championship. Bo Rotundo/Dallas holds the record for the most reigns with three reigns. Leo Kruger, Rick Victor and Bo Rotundo all hold the record for shortest reign, because all three have individually won and lost the title on the same day. Jake Hager holds the record for the longest reign (as an individual) with 216 days. In August 2012, the championship was retired when FCW was closed down and WWE created NXT as the new farm territory and replaced with the NXT Championship. The final champion was Richie Steamboat, who defeated Rick Victor to win the title.

Reigns

Over the championship's four-year history, there have been 21 reigns between 17 champions. Jake Hager was the inaugural champion. Bo Dallas, formerly known as Bo Rotundo, holds the record for most reigns at three times. Hager's reign is the longest at 216 days, while Rick Victor's and Rotundo's first reigns and Leo Kruger's second reign lasted less than a day. Sheamus O'Shaunessy is the oldest champion at 30 years old, while Rotundo is the youngest at 20 years old.

Richie Steamboat was the final champion in his first reign. He won the title by defeating Victor on July 20, 2012, and held it for 25 days until FCW closed on August 14.

Key
No. Overall reign number
Reign Reign number for the specific champion
Days Number of days held
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign Days
 1  Jake Hager  February 15, 2008  Live event Tampa, FL  1  216 Hager defeated Ted DiBiase Jr. after both were the two remaining superstars in a 23-man battle royal. On March 22, 2008, Hager defeated FCW Southern Heavyweight Champion Heath Miller to unify the two championships and retire the FCW Southern Heavyweight Championship. [3]
 2  Sheamus O'Shaunessy  September 18, 2008  Live event Tampa, FL  1  84 [3]
 3  Eric Escobar  December 11, 2008  FCW Tampa, FL  1  77 [3]
 4  Joe Hennig  February 26, 2009  FCW Tampa, FL  1  21 [3]
— Vacated March 19, 2009 — — — — Joe Hennig was forced to turn in his championship due to injury. [3]
 5  Drew McIntyre  March 19, 2009  FCW Tampa, FL  1  84 Defeated Eric Escobar to win the vacant championship. [3]
 6  Tyler Reks  June 11, 2009  FCW Tampa, FL  1  63 [3]
 7  Heath Miller  August 13, 2009  FCW Tampa, FL  1  42 [3]
 8  Justin Angel  September 24, 2009  FCW Tampa, FL  1  175 This was a two out of three falls match. [3]
 9  Alex Riley  March 18, 2010  FCW Tampa, FL  1  126 This was a three–way match, also involving Wade Barrett. [3]
 10  Mason Ryan  July 22, 2010  FCW Tampa, FL  1  196 This was a three–way match, also involving Johnny Curtis. [3][4]
 11  Bo Rotundo  February 3, 2011  March of Champions Tampa, FL  1  <1 Norman Smiley was the special guest referee. [3]
 12  Lucky Cannon  February 3, 2011  March of Champions Tampa, FL  1  105 Brett DiBiase was the special guest referee. [3][5]
 13  Bo Rotundo  May 19, 2011  FCW Tampa, FL  2  105 Brett DiBiase was the special guest referee. [3][5]
— Vacated September 1, 2011 FCW Tampa, FL — — The championship was vacated after Bo Rotundo was sidelined with an injury. [3][6]
 14  Leo Kruger  September 1, 2011  FCW Tampa, FL  1  154 This was a fatal–four-way match, also involving Damien Sandow, Dean Ambrose and Husky Harris. [3][6]
 15  Mike Dalton  February 2, 2012  FCW Tampa, FL  1  21 [7]
 16  Leo Kruger  February 23, 2012  FCW Tampa, FL  2   <1
 17  Seth Rollins  February 23, 2012  FCW Tampa, FL  1   98
 18  Rick Victor  May 31, 2012  Live event Crystal River, FL  1   <1 [8][9][10][11]
 19  Bo Dallas  May 31, 2012  Live event Crystal River, FL  3   43 [8]
 20  Rick Victor  July 13, 2012  Live event Punta Gorda, FL  2   7 [9][12]
 21  Richie Steamboat  July 20, 2012  Live event St. Augustine, FL  1   25 [13]
— Deactivated  August 14, 2012 — Tampa, FL — — Title retired when FCW closed down.

Combined reigns

Rank Champion No. of
reigns 		Combined
days
1 Jake Hager 1 216
2 Mason Ryan 1 196
3 Justin Angel 1 175
4 Leo Kruger 2 154
5 Bo Dallas/Bo Rotundo 3 149
6 Alex Riley 1 126
7 Lucky Cannon 1 105
8 Seth Rollins 1 98
9 Sheamus O'Shaunessy 1 84
Drew McIntyre 1 84
11 Eric Escobar 1 77
12 Tyler Reks 1 63
13 Heath Miller 1 42
14 Richie Steamboat 1 25
15 Joe Hennig 1 21
Mike Dalton 1 21
17 Rick Victor 2 8

References

  1. ^ a b c "FCW Florida Heavyweight Title history". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2009-06-22.
  2. ^ a b "FCW Results (2008)". Online World of Wrestling.com. Retrieved 2009-06-22.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q "Champions roll call". Florida Championship Wrestling. Archived from the original on 2011-01-02. Retrieved 2011-02-14.
  4. ^ Lansdell, Chris (2010-07-23). "FCW Taping Results (SPOILERS)". 411Mania. Retrieved 2010-07-25.
  5. ^ a b "Superstar of the Week: Lucky Cannon". Florida Championship Wrestling. Archived from the original on 2011-02-24. Retrieved 2011-02-14.
  6. ^ a b "Spoilers for Florida Championship Wrestling for September 25, October 2 and 9: two new champions crowned and another Rollins/Ambrose match". PWInsider. 2011-09-01. Retrieved 2011-09-01.
  7. ^ Meltzer, Dave (2012-02-02). "Two title changes at tonight's FCW tapings". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 2012-02-04.
  8. ^ a b "Chaos in Crystal River tonight: Florida Title changes hands twice! Bo Dallas new Champion!!!!". Florida Championship Wrestling. 16 June 2012. Archived from the original on 19 April 2014. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  9. ^ a b "Fact, 3 years ago I was security in Punta Gorda for @CMPunk. Tonight I left the same building as 2 time FCW heavyweight champion!". Rick Victor. 13 July 2012. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  10. ^ "FCW Heavyweight Title Changes Hands Twice, Recent WWE Attendance and More". June 20, 2012. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
  11. ^ "Last night I had the world in my hands but it slipped through my fingers. A normal man would fall but this one will never stop rising". Rick Victor. 17 June 2012. Archived from the original on 19 April 2014. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  12. ^ "Big ups to new FCW tag champs @CjuicePARKER & @JasonJordanJJ. And even though he's a scumbag...new heavyweight champ @RickVictor69". Seth Rollins. 13 July 2012. Archived from the original on 19 April 2014. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  13. ^ "Richie Steamboat Becomes New FCW Heavyweight Champion". wrestlingnewssource.com. 21 July 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
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