In
professional wrestling, championships may be unified to consolidate the number of championships in a given
promotion, or to add legitimacy and prestige to a certain title's lineage. In a title-for-title match, one of three things will happen:
One of the championships is dropped
A brand new championship is created
Both championships remain active and are defended and lost together under one name, but title changes reflect each individual title's history
The
Omaha World Heavyweight Championship (a championship belt created by promoters in
Omaha, Nebraska) unified with the
AWA World Heavyweight Championship when the titles was unified on September 7, 1963, when AWA World Heavyweight Champion Verne Gagne defeated Omaha World Heavyweight Champion
Fritz Von Erich in Omaha, Nebraska. The Omaha version was abandoned after absorbed with the AWA World Heavyweight Championship.[4]
The
J-Crown, a combination of eight lightweight championships from various wrestling promotions, was defended mostly in Japan and Mexico. The title has since been abandoned and all championship belts returned to their home promotions.[6]
The
WCW Championship (rebranded as World Championship) and the
WWF Championship were unified to create the Undisputed WWF Championship on December 9, 2001, at
Vengeance when
Chris Jericho defeated WWF Champion
Stone Cold Steve Austin and World Champion
The Rock in the same night. The WWF Championship became the Undisputed WWF Championship while the former WCW Championship was retired, although the championship belts used to represent the two championships would adorn the Undisputed WWF Champion for several months afterwards, up until a single championship belt was introduced to
Triple H in April 2002.[9] After the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) was renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and after the introduction of the
brand split, where the promotion divided its roster into two brands where wrestlers exclusively performed, the championship was renamed as the WWE Championship in September 2002 when it became exclusive to the
SmackDown! brand, resulting in the
Raw brand introducing their own
World Heavyweight Championship as a counterpart.
The
WWE European Championship was unified with the WWE Intercontinental Championship in July 2002, when Intercontinental Champion
Rob Van Dam defeated European Champion
Jeff Hardy on Raw in a title unification match. The European title was then retired.[10]
The
WWE Hardcore Championship was unified with the WWE Intercontinental Championship in August 2002, when Intercontinental Champion Rob Van Dam pinned Hardcore Champion
Tommy Dreamer. The Hardcore Championship was then retired.[11]
The
World Tag Team Championship was unified with the
WWE Tag Team Championship in a
dark match before
WrestleMania XXV, when WWE Tag Team Champions
The Colóns (
Carlito and
Primo) defeated World Tag Team Champions
John Morrison and The Miz in
Houston, Texas, on April 5, 2009, to become the "Unified WWE Tag Team Champions". Both titles, however, would remain independently active but defended together until the World Tag Team Championship was formally decommissioned in August 2010 in favor of continuing the WWE Tag Team Championship, which dropped the "unified" moniker.[18]
The original
WWE Women's Championship was unified with the
WWE Divas Championship at the
Night of Championspay-per-view in September 2010. Divas Champion
Melina faced self-professed co-WWE Women's Champion
Michelle McCool in a
lumberjill match. McCool won the match due to interference from real Women's Champion
Layla to unify the two titles.[19] Following the win, the Women's Championship was retired after 54 years and the Divas Championship became briefly known as the "Unified WWE Divas Championship".
The
World Heavyweight Championship and
WWE Championship were unified as the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at
TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs in December 2013—two years after the end of the first brand split. WWE Champion
Randy Orton defeated World Heavyweight Champion
John Cena in a
Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match to unify both championships and become the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion. The WWE Championship retained the lineage and the World Heavyweight Championship was retired, although the championship belts used to represent the two championships would adorn the WWE World Heavyweight Champion for several months afterwards, up until a single championship belt was introduced to Brock Lesnar in August 2014 on the Raw after
SummerSlam.[20] The WWE World Heavyweight Championship reverted to being called the WWE (World) Championship in mid-2016 after the promotion reintroduced the brand split and the title became exclusive to SmackDown, resulting in Raw establishing the
WWE Universal Championship as a counterpart.
The
GFW Global Championship was unified with the
Impact Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship (former TNA World Heavyweight Championship) to create the Unified GFW World Heavyweight Championship at
Slammiversary XV in July 2017. GFW Global Champion
Alberto El Patron defeated Impact Wrestling World Heavyweight Champion
Lashley to unify both championships and become the Unified World Heavyweight Champion. The new championship retained the lineage of the TNA/Impact Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship and the GFW Global Championship was retired, although the championship belts used to represent the two championships would adorn the Unified GFW World Heavyweight Champion until a single belt was eventually produced, and the championship was eventually renamed to Impact World Championship in 2018.[21]
The
GFW Women's Championship was unified with the
Impact Wrestling Knockouts Championship (former TNA Knockouts Championship) to create the Unified GFW Knockouts Championship at
Slammiversary XV in July 2017. GFW Women's Champion
Sienna defeated Impact Wrestling Knockouts Champion
Rosemary to unify both championships. The new championship retained the lineage of the TNA/Impact Wrestling Knockouts Championship and the GFW Women's Championship was retired.[21]
The
TNA World Heavyweight Championship and
Impact World Championship were unified as the Impact Unified World Championship at
Sacrifice on March 13, 2021. The Impact World Championship was originally known as the TNA World Heavyweight Championship before the company was renamed from Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) to Impact Wrestling in 2017. As part of a storyline in April 2020,
Moose began to refer to himself as the TNA World Heavyweight Champion and carried the belt that last represented the title before it became known as the Impact World Championship. Impact did not recognize this until February 2021 and officially sanctioned Moose's championship. At Sacrifice, Impact World Champion
Rich Swann defeated TNA World Heavyweight Champion Moose to unify the titles. The TNA World Heavyweight Championship was deactivated while the Impact World Championship became briefly known as the Impact Unified World Championship but reverted to Impact World Championship. The unified championship was represented by both title belts[23] until August, when the TNA belt was retired.[24]
The
WWE Championship and
Universal Championship were unified as the
Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at
WrestleMania 38 Night 2 on April 3, 2022. Universal Champion
Roman Reigns defeated WWE Champion
Brock Lesnar in a
Winner Takes All match to unify the titles and become the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion. Even though the match was billed as a unification match, both championships are still independently active although the championship belts used to represent the two championships would adorn the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion much like the Undisputed WWF Championship (2001–2002) and the WWE World Heavyweight Championship (2013–2014),[28] until a single championship belt was introduced to then-champion Reigns on the June 2, 2023 episode of SmackDown.[29] Although the championship is represented by a single belt, both championships are still currently independently active as of April 8, 2024.
The
Raw Tag Team Championship and
SmackDown Tag Team Championship were unified as the
Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship on the May 20, 2022, episode of WWE SmackDown. SmackDown Tag Team Champions
The Usos (
Jey Uso and
Jimmy Uso) defeated Raw Tag Team Champions
RK-Bro (
Randy Orton and
Riddle) in a
Winner Takes All match to unify the titles and become the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions. Even though the match was billed as a unification match, both championships are still independently active although the championship belts used to represent the two championships would adorn the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions much like the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship (2009–2010). At
WrestleMania XL, both championships that made up the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship were split up as a result of a ladder match where both sets of tag team titles were hanging above the ring and were retrieved by two different teams.
The
NXT United Kingdom Championship was unified with the
NXT Championship at
Worlds Collide on September 4, 2022. NXT Champion
Bron Breakker defeated NXT United Kingdom Champion
Tyler Bate to unify the titles and become the Unified NXT Champion. Bate is recognized as the final NXT United Kingdom Champion and the title was then retired.
The
NXT Women's Tag Team Championship was unified with the
WWE Women's Tag Team Championship on the June 23, 2023, episode of SmackDown. WWE Women's Tag Team Champions
Ronda Rousey and
Shayna Baszler defeated NXT Women's Tag Team Champions
Alba Fyre and
Isla Dawn to unify the titles and become the unified WWE Women's Tag Team Champions. The NXT Women's Tag Team Championship was then retired with Fyre and Dawn recognized as the final champions.
^"411MANIA". Going Old School: Starrcade '87. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
^Emelett, Ed (September 1995). "Japan's Triple Crown: "It's the Most Important Title in the World!"". Pro Wrestling Illustrated. London Publishing Co.: 28.
ISSN1043-7576.
^Royal Duncan and Gary Will (2000). "American Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Title". Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications.
ISBN0-9698161-5-4.