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In professional wrestling, championships are competed for in scripted storylines by a promotion company's roster of contracted wrestlers. WWE is a Stamford, Connecticut-based sports entertainment company primarily focused on professional wrestling. The promotion was founded in 1952 as the Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC). In the company's 50-year history, over twenty different unique championships have been operated and contended for. These titles consisted of divisional, special stipulations, and weight-class championships. Of these titles, nineteen have been retired and succeeded through replacement titles or title unifications. The first retired championship was in 1967 with the WWWF United States Tag Team Championship (created in 1953), while the most recent was the WWE Divas Championship (created in 2008) in April 2016. The following is a compilation of the company's former championships that were once active and contended for by its roster.
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1950–1969
In 1953, CWC became a member of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). During this time, CWC wrestlers could compete for championships operated by the NWA. In 1958, the CWC created the United States Tag Team Championship (the first title ever owned by WWE), which inaugural champions Mark Lewin and Don Curtis won in April of that year. In 1963, CWC was renamed as the WWWF and ended its partnership with the NWA. To reflect the changes, the WWWF introduced its world heavyweight championship (WWE's second overall championship and the current WWE Championship), while the WWWF acronym was added to the United States Tag Team Titles. The titles were disbanded in 1967 without a formal announcement by the WWWF, and thus, the first tag team championship (and first championship overall) to be retired by the promotion. Ten years later, the company retired its first individually contested title, the WWWF United States Heavyweight Championship, also without a formal announcement.
1970–1999
The WWWF formed a partnership with New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF), and Universal Wrestling Association (UWA) between the 1970s and 1980s, and as a result, created and lent titles to these promotions. In 1979, the promotion renamed itself to the WWF and six years later ended its partnerships with NJPW and UWF. This resulted in the retirement of one UWF and three NJPW lent titles: the WWF International Heavyweight Championship (UWF), WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship, WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship, and WWF International Tag Team Championship (NJPW). The company also ceased operations of three short-lived titles: the WWF North American Heavyweight Championship (1979–1981), WWF Canadian Championship (1985–1986), and WWF Women's Tag Team Championship (1983–1989). Despite their names, the geographic-name-based titles were not restricted to wrestlers from that location. During the 1990s, the WWF ended its relationship with the UWA; as a result, the WWF Intercontinental Tag Team Championship was abandoned, while the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship (which UWA possessed) was reactivated in the United States for use by the WWF. In 1996, the Million Dollar Championship, a title created by Ted DiBiase, was retired, although it was never sanctioned by the WWF, but was reintroduced briefly in 2010 by Ted DiBiase Jr.
2000–present
In March 2001, the WWF acquired all assets of World Championship Wrestling (WCW), including its championships. Of these titles, the WWF operated the WCW World Heavyweight, World Tag Team, and Cruiserweight championships. In late 2001, the WWF discontinued the WCW World Heavyweight (which was unified with the WWF Championship) and Tag Team Championships while the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship was retired in favor of the Cruiserweight, which would also be retired in 2007. In 2002, WWF was renamed to WWE, and during this year, WWE discontinued the WWE Hardcore and European Championships after they were unified with the WWE Intercontinental Championship.
WWE also acquired all assets of Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) in 2003, and implemented the ECW brand in 2006, along with the reactivated the ECW World Heavyweight Championship; however, when the brand closed in 2010, the title was retired after Ezekiel Jackson became the last champion on the final episode of the ECW on Syfy series. The World Tag Team Championship, established in 1971, and WWE Tag Team Championship, introduced in 2002, were unified on April 9, 2009, maintaining separate title histories as the "Unified WWE Tag Team Championship". However, on August 16, 2010, the older title was retired in favor of keeping the newer title as the sole tag team championship contended for in WWE. The champions, The Hart Dynasty (David Hart Smith and Tyson Kidd) were awarded a new set of belts that represented the 2002 championship, and were thus recognized as the final holders of the original World Tag Team Championship.
The original WWE Women's Championship, established in 1956, and the WWE Divas Championship, introduced in 2008, were unified on September 19, 2010, maintaining the title history of the Divas Championship. The older title was retired in favor of keeping the newer title as the sole championship contended for in WWE by the Divas. The self-professed co-Women's Champion Michelle McCool defeated Divas Champion Melina at Night of Champions to become the unified champion, thus making Layla the final holder of the Women's Championship. On April 3, 2016, at WrestleMania 32, Divas Champion Charlotte was originally scheduled to defend her title in a triple-threat match. At the event, however, the Divas Championship was replaced with a new WWE Women's Championship, with the winner of the triple-threat match becoming the inaugural champion, thus Charlotte was the final holder of the Divas Championship.
The World Heavyweight Championship was established in 2002 as a second world championship in WWE during the time of the first brand extension. During this period, the World Heavyweight Championship would be the primary championship for either the Raw or Smackdown brand, with the WWE Championship on the other. The brand extension ended in 2011, allowing both championships to appear on both shows. On December 15, 2013, World Heavyweight Champion John Cena faced WWE Champion Randy Orton in a match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, where the World Heavyweight Championship was unified with the WWE Championship as Orton defeated Cena. At the event, it was announced that the unified titles would be called the "WWE World Heavyweight Championship". WWE officially recognized Orton as the final World Heavyweight Champion, and retired the title.