DEFY World Championship
| DEFY World Championship | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Current title design (2017–present) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Details | |||||||||||||||||||
| Promotion | DEFY Wrestling | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date established | June 30, 2017 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Current champion(s) | Kenta | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date won | June 3, 2023[1] | ||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
The DEFY World Championship is a men's professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American promotion DEFY Wrestling, being sanctioned as the promotion's top championship. There have been a total of ten reigns shared between eight different champions. The current champion is Kenta who is in his first reign.[1]
Title history[edit]
There have been a total of 10 reigns shared between 8 different champions. Davey Richards was the inaugural champion who also holds the record for the shortest reign with eight days. Randy Myers had the longest reign at 1,009 days, however without scoring any defenses due to the COVID pandemic impact. Swerve Strickland holds the record for most reigns with three and also for the most cumulated successful defenses with nine. The current champion is New Japan Pro Wrestling's Kenta who defeated Nick Wayne at DEFY Your Nightmare on June 3, 2023 in Seattle, Washington.[1]
| No. | Overall reign number |
|---|---|
| Reign | Reign number for the specific champion |
| Days | Number of days held |
| Defenses | Number of successful defenses |
| <1 | Reign lasted less than a day |
| + | Current reign is changing daily |
| No. | Champion | Championship change | Reign statistics | Notes | Ref. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Event | Location | Reign | Days | Defenses | ||||
| 1 | Davey Richards | June 30, 2017 | DEFY5 Gigantic | Seattle, WA | 1 | 8 | 0 | Defeated Shane Strickland in the tournament final to become the inaugural champion. | [2] |
| 2 | Shane Strickland | July 8, 2017 | CZW Evilution | Voorhees, NJ | 1 | 279 | 5 | This was a four-way winner takes all match also disputed for Strickland's CZW World Heavyweight Championship which also involved Joe Gacy and Lio Rush. | [3] |
| 3 | Austin Aries | April 13, 2018 | DEFY Vibes | Seattle, WA | 1 | 98 | 1 | This was a winner takes all match also disputed for Aries' Impact World Championship. | [4] |
| 4 | Shane Strickland | July 20, 2018 | DEFY Swerve Vs. Aries | Portland, OR | 2 | 147 | 3 | [5] | |
| 5 | Artemis Spencer | December 14, 2018 | DEFY On Edge | Seattle, WA | 1 | 252 | 8 | [6] | |
| 6 | Schaff | August 23, 2019 | DEFY Defyance Forever | Tacoma, WA | 1 | 182 | 4 | [7] | |
| 7 | Randy Myers | February 21, 2020 | DEFY Kings Of Crash | Seattle, WA | 1 | 1,009 | 0 | [8] | |
| 8 | Swerve Strickland | November 26, 2022 | DEFY Fightwave | Seattle, WA | 3 | 133 | 1 | This was a title unification match in which Strickland wrestled as the interim champion. The bout was a six-way ladder match which also involved Artemis Spencer, Christopher Daniels, Cody Chhun and Schaff. Strickland was previously known as Shane Stricklad. | [9] |
| 9 | Nick Wayne | April 8, 2023 | DEFY The Realest | Seattle, WA | 1 | 56 | 2 | [10] | |
| 9 | Kenta | June 3, 2023 | DEFY Your Nightmare | Seattle, WA | 1 | 348+ | 5 | [11] | |
Combined reigns[edit]
As of May 16, 2024.
| † | Indicates the current champion |
|---|
| Rank | Wrestler | No. of reigns |
Combined defenses |
Combined days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Randy Myers | 1 | 0 | 1,009 |
| 2 | Swerve Strickland[a] | 3 | 9 | 559 |
| 3 | Kenta † | 1 | 5 | 348+ |
| 4 | Artemis Spencer | 1 | 8 | 252 |
| 5 | Schaff | 1 | 4 | 182 |
| 6 | Austin Aries | 1 | 1 | 98 |
| 7 | Nick Wayne | 1 | 2 | 56 |
| 8 | Davey Richards | 1 | 0 | 8 |
Notes[edit]
- ^ Strickland was known as "Shane Strickland" during his first two title reigns.
References[edit]
- ^ a b c Kreikenbohm, Philip. "DEFY World Championship". cagematch.net. Retrieved May 16, 2024.
- ^ "Defy 06/30/17 Defy 5: Gigantic Night 2 Results". pwponderings.com. PW Ponderings. July 1, 2017. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
- ^ Perez, Luis (August 4, 2017). "ZW 07/08/17 EVILution iPPV Review". pwponderings.com. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
- ^ Rosado, Emmanuel (April 14, 2018). "#AndNEW: Austin Aries Wins Defy Wrestling Championship". lastwordonsports.com. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
- ^ DEFY Wrestling (July 18, 2018). "VIDEO: SHANE STRICKLAND BEGINS SECOND REIGN AS DEFY CHAMPION". defywrestling.com. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
- ^ DEFY Wrestling (December 15, 2018). "RESULTS: DEFY ON EDGE 12/14/18 …AND NEW, DEFY WORLD CHAMPION - ARTEMIS SPENCER". defywrestling.com. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
- ^ "Defy Wrestling 08/23/19 Defyance Forever Results". pwponderings.com. PW Ponderings. August 25, 2019. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
- ^ Toro, Carlos (February 24, 2020). "DEFY Wrestling Kings Of Crash Results (2/21): New Champion Crowned, Jeff Cobb, Anthony Bowens, More". fightful.com. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
- ^ Chicasaca, Renato (November 26, 2022). "Cartelera DEFY Fightwave: Swerve Strickland, Christopher Daniels, Wheeler Yuta y más". turnheelwrestling.com (in Spanish). Retrieved May 11, 2024.
- ^ Lambert, Jeremy (April 9, 2023). "DEFY The Realest Results (4/8): Nick Wayne Faces Swerve Strickland". fightful.com. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
- ^ Guzzo, Gisberto (June 4, 2023). "DEFY Your Nightmare Results (6/3): KENTA, Christopher Daniels, And More In Action". fightful.com. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
External links[edit]
- DEFY World Title History at Cagematch.net