Promotion WWE Date established April 3, 2016 First champion(s) Charlotte Flair Current champion Bayley | Brand Raw Date won February 13, 2017 Most reigns Charlotte Flair (4) | |
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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. It is one of two women's championships for WWE's main roster, along with the SmackDown Women's Championship on the SmackDown brand. The current champion is Bayley, who is in her first reign.
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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 Flair, then known simply as 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 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. 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. It was also changed because some WWE female wrestlers felt it diminished their athletic abilities and relegated them to "eye candy". 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. Charlotte, the final Divas Champion, became the inaugural WWE Women's Champion when she defeated Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch.
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.
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, and notes that the lineage of female champions dates back to The Fabulous Moolah's reign in 1956.
Brand designation history
When the championship was unveiled, there was no brand division as that had ended in August 2011. From its inception until the reintroduction of the brand extension in July 2016, then-champion Charlotte defended the title on both Raw and SmackDown.
Championship belt design
The Raw Women's Championship belt is similar in appearance to the WWE 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 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.
Reigns
As of April 6, 2017, overall there have been 8 reigns between 3 champions. Charlotte Flair, then known simply as Charlotte, was the inaugural champion, and she holds multiple records with the championship: her first reign is the longest reign at 113 days and she has the longest combined reign at 242 days (though WWE says 114 and 246, respectively), she has the most reigns at four, and she is the oldest champion at 30 years old. Sasha Banks is the youngest champion at 24 years old and she has the shortest reign at 20 days.
Bayley is the current champion in her first reign. She won the title by defeating Charlotte Flair on the February 13, 2017 episode of Raw.
Combined reigns
As of April 6, 2017.