WWE's World Heavyweight Championship has been at the center of many great matches over the years, featuring wrestlers like Shawn Michaels and Triple H.
Over years of programming, and with icons coming and going, WWE has also featured plenty of different title belts for its talent to pursue. Fans have been witness to the 24/7 and Hardcore titles, the International and World Martial Arts titles, and even a Million Dollar Championship. However, the most prestigious titles used over the past few decades have typically been the WWE Championship and the World Heavyweight Championship.
The latter tells a story of its own, quite literally inspired by stamped-out competition in WCW. In 2002, the company started "competing" with itself, with Brock Lesnar as WWE Champion being made exclusive to the "WWE SmackDown" brand, while "WWE Raw" made use of WCW's "Big Gold Belt" as the North Star of Monday nights. Over the next decade, the World Heavyweight Championship served as the primary and secondary title for the company at different points, until it was ultimately unified with the WWE Championship by Randy Orton at TLC 2013.
Another 10 years went by, with WWE eventually creating the Universal Championship to fill the gap left behind. However, in 2023, the World Heavyweight Championship was revived and rebooted when the "Raw" brand was without a main title, and it has since served as the top prize on Monday nights held by the likes of Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre, and CM Punk.
So many years as one of the company's ultimate prizes has ensured the World Heavyweight Championship carries with it an extensive back catalog of instant classics, and it has fallen to this writer to determine the very best. Without further ado, here are the five greatest World Heavyweight Championship matches, ranked.
Read more: What If John Cena Never Became WWE's Doctor Of Thuganomics?
5. John Cena vs. Edge - WWE Backlash 2009
Across much of 2009, John Cena held the World Heavyweight Championship while in a feud with Edge. This iteration of their rivalry began after Edge captured the title by winning the Elimination Chamber match at No Way Out in February of that year. Edge then lost the title to Cena at WrestleMania 25 in a triple threat also involving Big Show. However, Edge had friends in high places – well, just the one friend in Vickie Guerrero – to ensure he got his rematch in a Last Man Standing match at Backlash.
They met in the main event, which started out as a heavy brawl between the pair that naturally found its way outside of the ring. Edge and Cena took turns weaponizing the steel steps, throwing one another into the steps before throwing the steps at each other. Cena dumped Edge into the crowd with an Attitude Adjustment, and the two went on to fight around the arena before circling back to the stage for the closing stretch. It was here that Big Show appeared, chokeslamming Cena into a spotlight, bursting into sparks upon impact.
It was a brutally exciting match that made great use of the Last Man Standing finish, and created one of the most GIF-worthy finales in WWE history along the way. While others on this list retain a sense of historical significance or just have a little something more to them, Cena and Edge were two of the best opponents for one another and this title match was a perfect example of that.
4. Jeff Hardy vs. CM Punk - WWE SummerSlam 2009
That same title run for Edge proved to be the first steps to the next match on our list. Jeff Hardy won the title from Edge at WWE Extreme Rules 2009, but CM Punk cashed in his Money in the Bank contract that same night to subsequently dethrone Hardy. Punk retained the title over Hardy and Edge on "WWE Raw," via technicality through a disqualification at The Bash, and then Hardy reclaimed the title at Night of Champions to set up a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match at WWE SummerSlam.
Part of what added to this feud was the legitimate clash in ideologies between the straight-edge Punk and Hardy – infamous for his substance struggles – and that translated to one of the most compelling feuds in either man's career. Punk had started his title quest with the win of the Money in the Bank ladder match, and that experience shone through as he eventually won out. Meanwhile, as one might expect, Hardy was the man in the match attempting the daring stunts.
Hardy launched himself onto Punk with a Swanton Bomb to put them both through the announcer's desk, but that wouldn't pay off in the end, with Punk winning their striking exchange atop the ladder to claim the title. After the match, the lights went out and The Undertaker appeared to chokeslam Punk, kickstarting another rivalry to remember.
3. Batista vs. Undertaker - WWE WrestleMania 23
The Undertaker's WrestleMania streak saw some great and some not so great matches across two decades, but at WWE WrestleMania 23, he put on a great performance against World Heavyweight Champion Batista.
Undertaker had won the 2007 Royal Rumble to earn himself at any of the three world titles at the time, and would go on to choose Batista and his World Heavyweight title as the targets to convert his WrestleMania streak into championship gold. It hardly received an inspired build-up, with Batista and Undertaker mostly working tag matches. On the night of WrestleMania, though, the two men delivered an exciting match with some classic big-man offense.
Right at the starting bell, Batista hit Undertaker with a spear. From there, the match went back-and-forth with each of them countering attempts at one another's finisher. 'Taker eventually got the Last Ride off for a near-fall, going over the top rope for a signature diving clothesline before Batista came back with a powerslam through the announcer's desk.
Back in the ring, Batista tried to end the streak with a spinebuster and Batista Bomb. Unfortunately for the future "Guardians of the Galaxy" star, Undertaker kicked out of that and followed up with the Tombstone for the win. It made Undertaker the first man to win both the WWE and WWE World Heavyweight titles at WrestleMania – as part of the same winning streak no less. On top of that, it was also just a really good match that exemplified the sense of clashing titans one would expect from professional wrestling.
2. Elimination Chamber Match - WWE Survivor Series 2002
One of the earliest and greatest matches in the history of the World Heavyweight Championship came in the aftermath of Eric Bischoff awarding it to Triple H in 2002. Rob Van Dam then became an early contender for the title, but failed to capture it at WWE Unforgiven as Ric Flair turned on him to get the wheels to Evolution rolling. Kane would then join the pursuit, failing to capture the World Heavyweight title and losing his Intercontinental title in the process.
But "WWE Raw" was also competing with "WWE SmackDown" at the time, and Bischoff sought to book a title match better than the Hell in a Cell match at WWE No Mercy 2002. Thus, the Elimination Chamber was born, with Bischoff revealing that Van Dam, Kane, Chris Jericho, Booker T, and Shawn Michaels would all be locked inside the structure vying for Triple H's title. Michaels was also looking for vengeance after Triple H had turned on him, adding vitriol to the concoction of ambition.
Triple H got the match started, stacking the odds against him, with Van Dam also in the ring. Van Dam controlled much of the early goings before Jericho entered, working with Triple H to isolate his rival in Van Dam. Booker T entered next, and the first major high spot came with Van Dam hitting the Five Star Frog Splash onto Triple H from the top of a pod. Booker took advantage of that to eliminate Van Dam, but he was then eliminated by Jericho.
Kane entered and was eliminated next after a spot of dominance, with everyone including sixth entrant Michaels hitting their finishers to put him down. Michaels then eliminated Jericho and finally scored his vengeance, hitting Sweet Chin Music to pin Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship, becoming only the second holder in the title's history.
1. Chris Benoit vs. Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels - WWE WrestleMania 20
As uncomfortable as it may be, it's hard to deny which match served as the pinnacle of the World Heavyweight Championship.
Heading into 2004, the title was held by Triple H, with his former D-Generation X partner Shawn Michaels in pursuit. Meanwhile, Chris Benoit won the Royal Rumble and declared he would be switching brands specifically to challenge Triple H for the World Heavyweight title.
The dispute set up a classic triangular dynamic, with a villain, a hero, and an anti-hero; Triple H, Benoit, and Michaels respectively. At the time, hard as it may be to believe, Benoit garnered huge reactions and fans wanted to see his crowning moment. However, people had also been clamoring for Michaels to get his definitive win over Triple H, but it was "The Game" who held the title and had no intention of letting it go.
The match stands as one of the greatest exhibitions of different styles meshing, with Triple H working as the anchor between Michaels' fast-paced, high-flying offense and Benoit's technical prowess. In many ways, this match set the blueprint for Daniel Bryan's WWE WrestleMania 30 moment, sandwiching a hard-working underdog between two established championship winners and asphyxiating the hope throughout the affair.
In the end, Benoit submitted Triple H to win the title, sharing an emotional post-match celebration with WWE Champion and best friend Eddie Guerrero. It was one of the greatest moments in WWE history at the time, marred by the heartbreak and rightful condemnation that came in the years after.
And yet, despite Benoit's actions in 2007, it is this writer's view that nothing has been able to recapture what this bout had going for it. The emotion. The excitement. The stakes. Everything was there. And it paid off in a bout that made the World Heavyweight title feel like the greatest prize in wrestling.
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Read the original article on Wrestling Inc.
Category: General Sports
