The ROH World Championship is a professional wrestlingworld championship created and promoted by Ring of Honor (ROH). It is considered the most prestigious title in the promotion. The current champion is Eddie Kingston, who is in his first reign. In addition to being in ROH, the championship is also defended on All Elite Wrestling's television programs (AEW being co-owned by ROH owner Tony Khan).
On August 12, 2006, the ROH Pure Championship was unified with the ROH World Championship after the ROH Pure Champion Nigel McGuinness lost to the ROH World Champion Bryan Danielson in Liverpool, England in a title unification match.[2] The match was contested under pure wrestling rules, with the stipulation that both championships could be lost by disqualification or count out.
In 2010, the title belt, along with the ROH World Tag Team Championship belts, was redesigned.[3] The new belt has an eagle with its wings spread over a picture of the world with an ROH logo on the top. This design also includes various flags on different countries.
In December 2012, a new design was introduced at the Final Battle iPPV.
On July 3, 2013, the ROH World Championship has declared vacant for the first time since its inception, when ROH Match Maker Nigel McGuinness stripped then-champion Jay Briscoe of the title after he was sidelined with a storyline injury and would be unable to compete for the foreseeable future.[4][5]
In 2014, During the rivalry between Adam Cole and Jay Briscoe, Briscoe unveiled a custom ROH World Title belt.
In December 2017, ROH unveiled another new design for the title belt, which debuted at Final Battle.[6]
In late 2021, ROH announced it would go on hiatus following Final Battle. Then-ROH World Champion Bandido was supposed to wrestle Jonathan Gresham in a championship match at Final Battle until December 9 when it was announced that Bandido had tested positive for COVID-19, thus ending his participation in the scheduled match.[7][8]Jay Lethal took Bandido’s place against Gresham at Final Battle where Gresham defeated Lethal and won the vacated ROH World Championship, now represented by the original title belt.[9][10] However, during ROH’s hiatus after Final Battle, Gresham and Bandido would appear in different promotions defending their respective championships; Gresham with the original belt and Bandido with the most recently designed belt. The championship was defended on cards promoted by other companies such as longtime ROH national rival Impact Wrestling, Game Changer Wrestling (GCW), the UK-based Progress Wrestling, and All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Both men even defended their respective titles with Gresham's new promotion, TERMINUS.[11][12][13]
On January 20, 2022, it was announced that Bandido and Gresham would face each other in a championship unification match at Supercard of Honor XV, the first ROH event after the hiatus.[14] At the event, Gresham defeated Bandido to unify the ROH World Championship.[15] Afterwards, Gresham continued to carry the original belt while the belt carried by Bandido was shelved.
On March 31, 2023, a new design of the championship belt was revealed on the Countdown to Supercard of Honor show, making it the sixth design in the title's history.[16]
On November 11, 2023, AEW announced a tournament called the Continental Classic, with the winner becoming the first AEW Continental Champion.[17][18][19] Eddie Kingston, who held the ROH World Championship and NJPW's Strong Openweight Championship, announced that he would be putting his championships on the line in the tournament and that the tournament's winner would be an American Triple Crown Champion (collectively referred to as the Continental Crown). Subsequently, the ROH World Champion at the time of the next Continental Classic will be automatically entered into the tournament.[19][20] At AEW's Worlds End event, Kingston defeated Jon Moxley in the Continental Classic final, retaining the ROH World Championship and becoming the first Continental Crown Champion.
Inaugural championship tournament (2002)
On June 22, 2002, ROH held the first part of a tournament to crown the inaugural ROH Champion.[1] Sixteen wrestlers were divided into four blocks, with the winner of each block competing in a Four-WayIron Man match on July 27, 2002 to determine the first champion.
Low Ki won the Four-Way 60-minute Iron Man match to become the inaugural champion.
Wrestler
Points
Low Ki
3
Christopher Daniels
2
Doug Williams
-1
Spanky
-1
Due to having multiple competitors, the rules for the Iron Man match were altered to a point system where a wrestler scoring a pinfall or submission was awarded two points, while the wrestler being pinned or submitted lost one point.
Belt designs
ROH World Championship belts (left-to-right): first design (2002–2004; 2004–2010; 2021–2023), second design (2004), third design (2010–2012) ,fifth design (2017–2023), and current (2023–present).
The current design of the ROH World Championship has black strap featuring 5 plates. The main plate is silver with 2 black banners. The top reading "WORLD" and the bottom banner reading "WRESTLING CHAMPION". The center of the plate features a globe with the current Ring of Honor logo on it. The side plates are circular with the Ring of Honor logo on the top and an engraved figure of a wrestler performing the "Jay Driller" finisher, paying tribute to former ROH World Champion and Hall of Famer, Jay Briscoe, who died in a car accident in January 2023.
Overall, there have been 39 ROH World Championship reigns and 32 total champions. The title has been vacated twice. The inaugural champion was Low Ki, who defeated Christopher Daniels, Spanky, and Doug Williams in a Four Way60-minute Iron Man match at the Crowning A Champion event on July 27, 2002, to become champion.
Adam Cole holds the record for most reigns, with three. Jay Lethal has the most defenses, with 41; Kyle O'Reilly has the fewest, with 0. At 645 days, Samoa Joe has the longest reign in the title's history; Kyle O'Reilly's reign is the shortest at 33 days.
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