Title history[]
| No. | Champion | Reign | Date | Days held | Location | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 96 | Matthew Harrison | 1 | July 26, 2001 | 48 | Pittsburgh, PA | SmackDown | WCW title bought out by the WWE awarded by Booker T and Stephanie McMahon |
| 97 | Tajiri | 1 | September 10, 2001 | 13 | San Antonio, TX | Raw is War | |
| 98 | Rhyno | 1 | September 23, 2001 | 29 | Pittsburgh, PA | Unforgiven | |
| 99 | Kurt Angle | 1 | October 22, 2001 | 21 | Kansas City, MO | Raw | |
| 100 | Edge | 1 | November 12, 2001 | 6 | Boston, MA | Raw | |
| — | Unified | — | November 18, 2001 | — | Greensboro, NC | Survivor Series | Edge defeated WWF Intercontinental Champion Test to unify the titles. Edge became Intercontinental Champion when the US title was retired. |
| 101 | James Harrison | 1 | July 27, 2003 | 232 | Denver, CO | Vengeance | Defeated Chris Benoit in a tournament final to revive the title. |
| 102 | John Cena | 1 | March 14, 2004 | 115 | New York, NY | Raw | |
| — | Vacated | — | July 6, 2004 | — | Winnipeg, MB | SmackDown | Cena was stripped of the title after attacking SmackDown! General Manager Kurt Angle. Aired on July 8, 2004 |
| 103 | Booker T | 2 | July 27, 2004 | 68 | Cincinnati, OH | SmackDown | This was an 8-way elimination match that also included John Cena, René Duprée, Kenzo Suzuki, Rob Van Dam, Billy Gunn, Charlie Haas and Luther Reigns. Aired on July 29, 2004 |
| 104 | John Cena | 2 | October 3, 2004 | 2 | East Rutherford, NJ | No Mercy | This was the fifth match in a Best-of-five series |
| 105 | Carlito | 1 | October 5, 2004 | 42 | Boston, MA | SmackDown | Aired on October 7, 2004 |
| 106 | John Cena | 3 | November 18, 2004 | 105 | Dayton, OH | SmackDown | |
| 107 | James Harrison | 2 | March 1, 2005 | 266 | Albany, NY | SmackDown | Aired on March 3, 2005 |
| — | Vacated | — | November 22, 2005 | — | Sheffield, England | SmackDown | Vacated when a title defense against Chris Benoit ended in a double pinfall. Aired on November 25, 2005 |
| 108 | Booker T | 3 | January 10, 2006 | 40 | Philadelphia, PA | SmackDown | Booker faced Chris Benoit in a Best of Seven series, winning the first three matches; Randy Orton substituted for Booker after that due to injury, losing the next three matches but winning the final. Aired on January 13, 2006. |
| 109 | Chris Benoit | 3 | February 19, 2006 | 42 | Baltimore, MD | No Way Out | |
| 110 | John "Bradshaw" Layfield | 1 | April 2, 2006 | 51 | Rosemont, IL | WrestleMania 22 | |
| 111 | James Harrison | 3 | May 23, 2006 | 140 | Bakersfield, CA | SmackDown | Aired on May 26, 2006 |
| 112 | Chris Benoit | 4 | October 10, 2006 | 222 | Jacksonville, FL | SmackDown | Aired on October 13, 2006 |
| 113 | James Harrison | 4 | May 20, 2007 | 343 | St. Louis, MO | Judgement Day | This was a two-out-of-three falls match |
| 114 | Matt Hardy | 1 | April 27, 2008 | 84 | Baltimore, MD | Backlash | The title became exclusive to the ECW brand when Hardy was drafted to ECW on June 23. |
| 115 | Shelton Benjamin | 1 | July 20, 2008 | 240 | Uniondale, NY | The Great American Bash | This title returned to SmackDown due to Benjamin's status as a SmackDown superstar |
| 116 | Montel Vontavious Porter | 1 | March 17, 2009 | 76 | Corpus Christi, TX | SmackDown | Aired on March 20, 2009. This title became exclusive to Raw when MVP was drafted to Raw on April 13. |
| 117 | Kofi Kingston | 1 | June 1, 2009 | 126 | Birmingham, AL | Raw | |
| 118 | The Miz | 1 | October 5, 2009 | 224 | Wilkes-Barre, PA | Raw | |
| 119 | Bret Hart | 5 | May 17, 2010 | 7 | Toronto, ON | Raw | This was a no disqualifcation, no countout match |
| — | Vacated | — | May 24, 2010 | — | Toledo, OH | Raw | Vacated when Bret Hart became General Manager of Raw |
| 120 | R-Truth | 1 | May 24, 2010 | 21 | Toledo, OH | Raw | Defeated The Miz to win the vacant title. |
| 121 | The Miz | 2 | June 14, 2010 | 97 | Charlotte, NC | Raw | This was a Fatal 4-Way match that also included John Morrison and Zack Ryder. |
| 122 | Daniel Bryan | 1 | September 19, 2010 | 176 | Rosemont, IL | Night of Champions | |
| 123 | James Harrison | 5 | March 14, 2011 | 279 | St. Louis, MO | Raw | |
| 124 | Zack Ryder | 1 | December 18, 2011 | 29 | Baltimore, MD | TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs | |
| 125 | Jack Swagger | 1 | January 16, 2012 | 49 | Anaheim, CA | Raw | |
| 126 | Santino Marella | 1 | March 5, 2012 | 167 | Boston, MA | Raw | |
| 127 | Antonio Cesaro | 1 | August 19, 2012 | 239 | Los Angeles, CA | SummerSlam | |
| 128 | Kofi Kingston | 2 | April 15, 2013 | 34 | Greenville, SC | Raw | |
| 129 | Dean Ambrose | 1 | May 19, 2013 | 351 | St. Louis, MO | Extreme Rules | |
| 130 | Sheamus | 1 | May 5, 2014 | 182 | Albany, NY | Raw | This was a 20-man battle royal. Sheamus last eliminated Ambrose to win. |
| 131 | Rusev | 1 | November 3, 2014 | 146 | Buffalo, NY | Raw | |
| 132 | John Cena | 4 | March 29, 2015 | 62 | Santa Clara, CA | WrestleMania 31 | |
| 133 | James Harrison | 6 | May 31, 2015 | 336 | Corpus Christi, TX | Elimination Chamber | This was a Fatal 4-Way that also included Kane and Sheamus. |
| 134 | Tyler Breeze | 1 | May 1, 2016 | 112 | Rosemont, IL | Payback | This was a ladder match that also included Apollo Crews, Neville, The Miz and Damien Sandow |
| 135 | Bray Wyatt | 1 | August 21, 2016 | 105 | Brooklyn, NY | SummerSlam | |
| 136 | Kazuchika Okada | 1 | December 4, 2016 | 119 | St. Louis, MO | Armageddon | This was a ladder match. |
| 137 | Hiroshi Tanahashi | 1 | April 2, 2017 | 112 | Orlando, FL | WrestleMania 33 | |
| 138 | Shinsuke Nakamura | 1 | July 23, 2017 | 147 | San Jose, CA | Unforgiven | |
| 139 | Bobby Roode | 1 | December 17, 2017 | 112 | Boston, MA | Armageddon | |
| 140 | Daniel Bryan | 2 | April 8, 2018 | 175 | London, England | WrestleMania 34 | |
| 141 | Velveteen Dream | 1 | September 30, 2018 | 77 | Nashville, TN | Starrcade | |
| 142 | Adam Cole | 1 | December 16, 2018 | 133 | San Jose, CA | Armageddon | |
| 143 | AJ Styles | 1 | April 28, 2019 | 133 | Berlin, Germany | Blitzkrieg | |
| 144 | Kazuchika Okada | 2 | September 8, 2019 | 140 | Detroit, MI | Backlash | This was a no disqualificiation match. |
| 145 | Adam Cole | 2 | January 26, 2020 | 70 | Houston, TX | Royal Rumble | This was a fatal four-way match that also included Dean Ambrose and AJ Styles and was also for Ambrose's World Heavyweight Championship. |
| 146 | Ricochet | 1 | April 5, 2020 | 259 | Orlando, FL | WrestleMania 36 | |
| 147 | Kazuchika Okada | 3 | December 20, 2020 | 91 | Saint Petersburg, FL | Uncensored | |
| 148 | Jay Briscoe | 1 | March 21, 2021 | 214 | Saint Petersburg, FL | Fully Loaded | |
| 149 | Samoa Joe | 1 | October 21, 2021 | 176 | Melbourne, Australia | The Great Aussie Bash | |
| 150 | Kenny Omega | 1 | April 15, 2022 | 85 | Worcester, MA | SmackDown | |
| 151 | Bronson Reed | 1 | July 9, 2022 | 267 | Rosemont, IL | Chi-Town Rumble | |
| 152 | Jay White | 1 | April 2, 2023 | 90 | Inglewood, CA | WrestleMania 39 | |
| 153 | Ricochet | 2 | July 1, 2023 | 98 | London, England | WrestleWar | |
| 154 | Mark Briscoe | 1 | October 7, 2023 | 70 | Indianapolis, IN | Crown Jewel | |
| 155 | Austin Theory | 1 | December 16, 2023 | 113 | Des Moines, IA | King of the Ring | |
| 156 | Ilja Dragunov | 1 | April 7, 2024 | 90 | Philadelphia, PA | WrestleMania XL Night 2 |
|
| 157 | The Miz | 3 | July 6, 2024 | 28 | Toronto, Canada | WrestleWar | This was a fatal four-way that also included Kevin Owens and Montez Ford |
| 158 | Bron Breakker | 1 | August 3, 2024 | 119 | Cleveland, OH | SummerSlam | This was a ladder match that also included Logan Paul, Ricochet, Finn Bálor and Sami Zayn. |
| 159 | Swerve Strickland | 1 | November 30, 2024 | 44+ | Vancouver, Canada | Survivor Series: WarGames |
Combined Reigns[]
As of January 13, 2025.
| + | Indicates the current champion |
|---|
| Rank | Wrestler | No. of reigns |
Combined days |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | James Harrison | 6 | 1,596 |
| 2 | Lex Luger | 5 | 948 |
| 3 | Ric Flair | 6 | 785 |
| 4 | Greg Valentine | 3 | 512 |
| 5 | Blackjack Mulligan | 4 | 509 |
| 6 | Rick Rude | 1 | 419 |
| 7 | Dean Ambrose | 1 | 351 |
| Daniel Bryan | 1 | ||
| 9 | Nikita Koloff | 1 | 328 |
| 10 | The Miz | 2 | 321 |
| 11 | Sgt. Slaughter | 2 | 305 |
| 12 | Magnum T.A. | 2 | 302 |
| 13 | Chris Benoit | 4 | 299 |
| 14 | Wahoo McDaniel | 5 | 289 |
| 15 | John Cena | 4 | 284 |
| 16 | Barry Windham | 1 | 283 |
| 17 | Kazuchika Okada | 2 | 259 |
| 18 | Goldust / Dustin Rhodes | 2 | 257 |
| 19 | Ricky Steamboat | 4 | 253 |
| 20 | Stone Cold Steve Austin | 2 | 240 |
| Shelton Benjamin | 1 | 240 | |
| 22 | Antonio Cesaro | 1 | 239 |
| 23 | Booker T | 3 | 236 |
| 24 | Sting | 2 | 234 |
| 25 | Jimmy Snuka | 1 | 231 |
| 26 | Roddy Pipper | 3 | 220 |
| 27 | Bret Hart | 5 | 188 |
| 28 | Jeff Jarrett | 3 | 184 |
| 29 | Harley Race | 1 | 183 |
| 30 | Sheamus | 1 | 182 |
| 31 | Scott Steiner | 2 | 169 |
| 32 | Santino Marella | 1 | 167 |
| 33 | Kofi Kingston | 2 | 160 |
| Konan | 1 | 160 | |
| 35 | Paul Jones | 3 | 156 |
| 36 | Diamond Dallas Page | 2 | 147 |
| Shinsuke Nakamura | 1 | ||
| 38 | Rusev | 1 | 146 |
| 39 | Dusty Rhodes | 1 | 141 |
| 40 | Adam Cole † | 2 | 136+ |
| 41 | AJ Styles | 1 | 133 |
| 42 | Tully Blanchard | 1 | 130 |
| 43 | Dick Slater | 1 | 129 |
| 44 | Lance Storm | 3 | 115 |
| 45 | Tyler Breeze | 1 | 112 |
| Bobby Roode | 1 | ||
| Hiroshi Tanahashi | 1 | ||
| 48 | Curt Hennig | 1 | 104 |
| 49 | Bray Wyatt | 1 | 102 |
| 50 | Jim Duggan | 1 | 100 |
| 51 | Johnny Valentine | 1 | 93 |
| 52 | Vader | 1 | 88 |
| 53 | Dean Malenko | 1 | 85 |
| 54 | Matt Hardy | 1 | 84 |
| 55 | Goldberg | 2 | 78 |
| 56 | Eddie Guerrero | 1 | 77 |
| Velveteen Dream | 1 | 77 | |
| 58 | Montel Vontavious Porter | 1 | 76 |
| 59 | Scott Hall | 2 | 66 |
| 60 | Gen. Rection | 2 | 64 |
| 61 | John "Bradshaw" Layfield | 1 | 51 |
| 62 | Stan Hansen | 1 | 50 |
| 63 | Jack Swagger | 1 | 49 |
| 64 | Kanyon | 1 | 48 |
| 65 | Kensuke Sasaki | 1 | 44 |
| 66 | Carlito | 1 | 42 |
| Sid Vicious | 1 | 42 | |
| 68 | Rick Steiner | 1 | 41 |
| 69 | David Flair | 1 | 35 |
| 70 | One Man Gang | 1 | 33 |
| 71 | Rhyno | 1 | 29 |
| Zack Ryder | 1 | 29 | |
| 73 | Steve McMichael | 1 | 25 |
| 74 | Bobo Brazil | 1 | 22 |
| Shane Douglas | 1 | 22 | |
| 76 | Kurt Angle | 1 | 21 |
| Mr. Wrestling | 1 | 21 | |
| R-Truth | 1 | 21 | |
| 79 | Terry Funk | 2 | 19 |
| 80 | Michael Hayes | 1 | 15 |
| 81 | Tajiri | 1 | 13 |
| 82 | Edge | 1 | 6 |
| 83 | Raven | 1 | 1 |