Who Is the WWE Champion in 2021?

The current WWE Champion is Drew McIntyre.

WWE Basics

WWE, short for World Wrestling Entertainment, is an American entertainment company that deals primarily in professional wrestling. WWE has been around since the early 1950s and has seen many different champions throughout the years. The WWE Champion is the top title in WWE and is currently held by Drew McIntyre.

What is WWE?

WWE, Inc. (NYSE: WWE) is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing and direct product sales. WWE also refers to the professional wrestling promotion itself, founded by Jess McMahon and Toots Mondt in 1952 as Capitol Wrestling Corporation Ltd. As of 2020, it is the largest wrestling promotion in the world, holding over 500 events a year (with the upwards of 320 aired live), and broadcasting to approximately 36 million viewers in more than 150 countries. The company’s global headquarters is located in Stamford, Connecticut, with offices in major cities across the world.

In 2014, WWE launched a network which featured all years of WWE programming including current and past episodes of Raw & SmackDown Live as well as original shows such as Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Sessions and Chris Jericho’s Saturday Night Special. On October 29th, 2019 it was announced that All Elite Wrestling (AEW) had signed a television deal with TNT to air their weekly show Dynamite Wednesday nights at 8pm ET directly competing against WWE NXT which airs on USA Wednesday nights at 8pm ET.

What is the WWE Championship?

The WWE Championship is a world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE, currently defended on their Raw brand. It is one of the two world titles in WWE, alongside the Universal Championship that was introduced for the SmackDown brand as a result of the WWE draft which took place in 2016. The current champion is Drew McIntyre, who is in his first reign.

WWE Champions in 2021

The WWE Champion is a world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE on the SmackDown brand. It is one of the two world titles of the WWE, alongside the WWE Universal Championship that was created for the Raw brand as a result of the 2016 WWE draft. The current WWE Champion is Drew McIntyre, who is in his second reign.

Drew McIntyre

Drew McIntyre is a Scottish professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand. In WWE, McIntyre is a one-time WWE Champion, a two-time Intercontinental Champion, and a one-time United States Champion. He is also the 2020 Men’s Royal Rumble winner.

Bobby Lashley

As of May 9, 2021, Bobby Lashley is the WWE Champion. He defeated Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania 37 to win the title.

Roman Reigns

Roman Reigns is the current WWE Champion. He won the title at the 2021 Royal Rumble, defeating Drew McIntyre.

WWE Championship History

The WWE Championship is a world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE on the SmackDown brand. It is one of WWE’s two world titles, alongside the WWE Universal Championship that was created for the Raw brand as a result of the 2016 WWE draft. The current champion is Drew McIntyre, who is in his second reign.

The first WWE Champion

The first WWE Champion was crowned on April 25, 1963. The title was created after the split of the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) into the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and the World Wide Wrestling Confederation (WWWC). The WWWF Champion Bruno Sammartino was recognized as the WWF Champion and Lou Thesz as the WWWC Champion.

Sammartino held the title for nearly eight years, before losing it to Ivan Koloff. He regained the title less than three weeks later and held it for another three years, before losing it to Stan Stasiak. He regained the title once again a month later and held it for another four years.

In all, Sammartino held the WWF Championship for a then-record 11 years and 8 months spread over two reigns, becoming one of only four wrestlers to have held the title for more than one year consecutively.

The most recent WWE Champion

The most recent WWE Champion is Drew McIntyre, who won the title at WrestleMania 36 by defeating Brock Lesnar. McIntyre is the first Scottish-born WWE Champion in history, and he held the title for nearly four months before losing it to Lesnar in a rematch at SummerSlam.

The longest-reigning WWE Champion

Bruno Sammartino is recognized by WWE as the longest reigning WWE Champion in history, holding the title for a combined 11 years and 8 days from 1963 to 1971 and again from 1973 to 1977.

Sammartino was born in Pizzoferrato, in the Abruzzo region of Italy, on October 6, 1935. He immigrated to the United States with his family at the age of 15. He began his professional wrestling career in Pittsburgh in 1959. Bruno quickly gained popularity with his Italian immigrant background and impressive feats of strength, winning multiple regional titles before being signed by WWE (then known as the World Wide Wrestling Federation) in 1960.

In May 1963, Sammartino defeated “Nature Boy” Buddy Rogers at Madison Square Garden in New York City to become the second WWE Champion. He held onto the title for an unprecedented 2,803 days (over 7 years), until he was defeated by “Superstar” Billy Graham in April 1971. Bruno recaptured the title just over two years later, defeating Stan Stasiak at Madison Square Garden in December 1973. He went on to hold the title for an additional 1,237 days (over 3 years) until he was defeated by “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka at Madison Square Garden in May 1977.

In total, Sammartino held the WWE Championship for a combined 11 years and 8 days, split over two reigns. He is recognized by WWE as the longest reigning WWE Champion of all time.

How to become a WWE Champion

To become a WWE Champion, you need to have a combination of strength, size, agility, and charisma. You also need to be able to tell a good story in the ring and connect with the WWE Universe. Lastly, you need to be marketable and have the “it” factor.

Win a WWE Championship match

To become a WWE Champion, a Superstar must win a WWE Championship match. The WWE Championship can change hands anywhere, anytime – all a Superstar needs is an opportunity. Typically, WWE Championships are contested at major WWE pay-per-view events, with the exception being the Money in the Bank Ladder Match, where the winner earns a championship opportunity that they can cash in at any time within the next year.

Cash in a Money in the Bank contract

WWE Money in the Bank (often abbreviated to MITB) is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event, produced annually by WWE. It is named after the Money in the Bank ladder match, which previously only took place at WrestleMania. The Money in the Bank PPV debuted in 2010 and has since become one of WWE’s “big four” PPVs, along with WrestleMania, Survivor Series, and Royal Rumble, as it features both Raw and SmackDown’s championships.

A distinguishing feature of WWE Money in the Bank is that it features the Money in the Bank ladder match, in which multiple wrestlers use ladders to retrieve a contract that guarantees them a world championship match at a time and place of their choosing within one calendar year. Since its establishment in 2010, every men’s Money in the Bank winner has successfully cashed in and won a world championship, with Edge being the first man to do so and WWE Hall of Famer Brock Lesnar being the most recent. In 2017, WWE introduced a women’s Money in the Bank ladder match.

In order to win a Money in the Bank contract, a wrestler must first win a qualifying match on Raw or SmackDown (starting 2020). The following is a list of wrestlers who have won aMoney in the Bank contract:

### Men
-The Miz (2010)
-Daniel Bryan (2011)
-Chris Jericho (2012)
-Randy Orton (2013)
-Seth Rollins (2014)
-Sheamus (2015)
-Dean Ambrose (2016) [Won while still part of The Shield]
Baron Corbin (2017) [Won while still part of NXT]
Braun Strowman(2018) [Won while still part of The Wyatt Family]
Sami Zayn(2019)[Won while still part of NXT]

2020 saw no men’s MITB Ladder Match due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, there was a Fatal 5-Way Elimination Match for an opportunity to face either Drew McIntyre or Brock Lesnar for their chosen title at either SummerSlam or Survivor Series. The participants were: Daniel Bryan, Otis, King Corbin, AJ Styles, and Aleister Black.[38][39] Otis won after last eliminating Corbin.[40][41] He then faced Lesnar for the WWE Championship at Summerslam,[42][43] but was not victorious.[44] At Survivor Series however he faced off against Drew McIntyre for the WWE Championship once again and this time was successful in defeating him and winning his first ever world championship.[45][46][47][48][49]

2021 will see two men’sMITB Ladder Matches; one each for Raw and SmackDown. The Raw participants are: Braun Strowman vs Cesaro vs Drew McIntyre vs Kofi Kingston vs Ricochet vs Sheamus.[50][51] While on SmackDown; Kevin Owens vs Jey Uso vs King Corbinvs Sami Zaynvs Seth Rollinsvs Daniel Bryan have been announced as participants for that brand’s MITB Ladder Match.[52][53put your heading here ]

### Women

-Natalya(2018)[Won while still part of The Hart Foundation ]
-Bayley(2019)[Won while still part of Team BAYLEY ]

2020 saw no women’s MITB Ladder Match due to pandemicCoronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19). Instead Asuka won an 8 woman tug-of-war match; with her team also consisting of Carmella,[54] Dana Brooke,[55put your heading here ] Nia Jax,[56put your heading here ] Shayna Baszler,[57put your heading here ] Lacey Evans,[58put your heading here ] Peyton Royce[59put your heading here ] & Billie Kay[60put your heading here ]; which took place backstage during WrestleMania 36 Night 2.[61][62] She was later given an opportunity to cash itin by then Acting General Manager Baron Corbin; however was unsuccessful as she challenged Bayley for her SmackDown Women’s Championship at Extreme Rules2020[63] but failed to regain her title.[64][65 put your expansion here ]. Asuka would then unsuccessfully try to cash itin again this time on Becky Lynchfor her Raw Women’s Championship at Hell In A Cell 2020; when she was again thwarted by Bayley who attacked her before she could even enterthen ring.[66 put your expansion here ][67 put your expansion here ]. She would finally have success when she cashed itin on Lynch once more; this time on an episodeof Monday Night Rawwhen Lynch was facing off against Shayna Baszlerfor her title; with Asuka eventually defeating Baszlerto become champion for third time.[68 put your expansion here ][69 put yourexpansionhere ].

Eight women will compete for a shotat eithertheRaw Women’s Championship ortheSmackDown Women’s Championshipat WrestleMania 37in 2021. These are: Asuka vs Charlotte Flair vs Dana Brooke vs Lana vs Liv Morgan vs Natalya vs Nia Jaxvs Ruby Riott

WWE Championship benefits

The WWE Champion is the most important title in the WWE. The WWE Champion is the face of the WWE and the most popular wrestler in the world. Being the WWE Champion comes with a lot of benefits. The WWE Champion gets to main event all WWE pay-per-views, has a higher salary, and gets a higher merchandise percentage.

A WWE Championship match at WrestleMania

A WWE Championship match at WrestleMania is one of the most coveted matches in all of professional wrestling. Not only does the winner get to headline WWE’s biggest show of the year, but they also receive a huge payday and a major push leading into the next year. In recent years, the WrestleMania main event has been used to launch new stars or propel already established ones to new heights.

A WWE Championship title reign

A WWE Championship title reign can last anywhere from a few days to a few months, depending on a number of factors. These include the WWE Superstar’s popularity, how they’re being used on WWE programming, and whether or not they’re involved in a major storyline.

The longest-reigning WWE Champion of all time is Bruno Sammartino, who held the title for 2,803 days (over seven years) from 1963 to 1971. The current WWE Champion is Drew McIntyre, who has held the title for 109 days as of May 2021.

While there is no set timeframe for a WWE Championship reign, the average length of time a Superstar holds the title is around 100 days.