# MLW World Heavyweight Championship

The MLW World Heavyweight Championship is a world heavyweight championship owned and promoted by Major League Wrestling (MLW). It is the promotion's principal championship. The championship was established on June 15, 2002 at the Genesis and was active until February 10, 2004 after the promotion stopped hosting events. The championship was reactivated in 2018.

## History

On June 15, 2002, Major League Wrestling held an eight-man single-elimination tournament to crown the first MLW Champion at its inaugural Genesis event. Jerry Lynn, Shane Douglas, Vampiro and Taiyo Kea advanced to the semifinals. Douglas defeated Lynn to advance to the finals, and caused the match between Vampiro and Kea to be declared a no contest. As a result, both wrestlers advanced to the finals for a three-way dance. Douglas defeated both Kea and Vampiro to become the first champion. Afterwards, Douglas threw the belt down, like he did with the NWA World Heavyweight Championship belt. Referee John Finnegan threatened that Douglas would be banned from wrestling in Philadelphia if he didn't defend the title. MLW went on hiatus for three months after the match.
Upon the company's return, Satoshi Kojima defeated Jerry Lynn in New York City, New York at MLW's Reload event on September 26 for the vacant MLW World Heavyweight Championship. MLW promoter Court Bauer would later confirm that this title lineage and belt design was a separate championship from the MLW Championship won by Shane Douglas in June 2002. As such, Kojima was recognized as the first MLW World Heavyweight Champion. Kojima defended the title in his home promotion All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), with the defenses airing on both MLW Underground TV and AJPW broadcasts in Japan. Kojima lost the title at Hybrid Hell on June 20, 2003 to Mike Awesome. Afterwards, Awesome lost the title to Steve Corino, as Corino exercised Awesome's promise for a title shot. It was later reported that Kojima's employers, AJPW would not allow him to drop the title to an employee of a rival company Pro Wrestling Zero-One, which was Steve Corino. Corino remained champion until the promotion closed on February 10, 2004.
MLW resumed wrestling operations in July 2017. In January 2018, MLW announced its Road to the World Championship, an eight-man single-elimination tournament to crown a new champion. During the tournament, A. C. H. replaced Tom Lawlor in the semi-finals, after he suffered an injury. On April 12, Shane Strickland defeated Matt Riddle in The World Championship Finals. Low Ki made the first international title defense since 2003 in Claremont, Australia, as he defeated Jonah Rock on November 30 in a New Horizon Pro Wrestling event. Starting in July 2019, MLW would begin playing a Championship Lineage video (similar to New Japan Pro-Wrestling) highlighting all previous MLW World Heavyweight Champions before sanctioned championship matches. This lineage package would once again confirm Shane Douglas' reign as not recognized as part of the MLW World Heavyweight Championship history.

## Championship tournaments
### Inaugural MLW World Championship Tournament (2002)

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final | Final |
| Jerry Lynn | Jerry Lynn | Pin | | | | | | |
| La Parka | La Parka | 7:04 | | | | | | |
| La Parka | La Parka | 7:04 | Jerry Lynn | Jerry Lynn | Pin | | | |
| | | | Shane Douglas | Shane Douglas | 7:32 | | | |
| Shane Douglas | Shane Douglas | Pin | Shane Douglas | Shane Douglas | 7:32 | | | |
| Steve Corino | Steve Corino | 9:40 | | | | | | |
| Steve Corino | Steve Corino | 9:40 | | | | Shane Douglas | Shane Douglas | Pin |
| | | | | | | Taiyo KeaVampiro | Taiyo KeaVampiro | 1:15 |
| Taiyo Kea | Taiyo Kea | Pin | | | | | | | Taiyo KeaVampiro | Taiyo KeaVampiro | 1:15 |
| The Wall | The Wall | 6:43 | | | | | | |
| The Wall | The Wall | 6:43 | Taiyo Kea | Taiyo Kea | Bye | | | |
| | | | Vampiro | Vampiro | 17:00 | | | |
| Vampiro | Vampiro | Pin | Vampiro | Vampiro | 17:00 | | | |
| Christopher Daniels | Christopher Daniels | 13:56 | | | | | | |

### Road to the Championship Tournament (2018)

| First round Road To The World Championship (February 8) | First round Road To The World Championship (February 8) | First round Road To The World Championship (February 8) | Semifinals Spring Break (March 8) | Semifinals Spring Break (March 8) | Semifinals Spring Break (March 8) | Final The World Championship Finals (April 12) | Final The World Championship Finals (April 12) | Final The World Championship Finals (April 12) |
| MVP | MVP | 10:44 | | | | | | |
| Tom Lawlor | Tom Lawlor | Pin | | | | | | |
| Tom Lawlor | Tom Lawlor | Pin | A. C. H. | A. C. H. | | | | |
| | | | Matt Riddle | Matt Riddle | Pin | | | |
| Matt Riddle | Matt Riddle | Pin | Matt Riddle | Matt Riddle | Pin | | | |
| Jeff Cobb | Jeff Cobb | 13:40 | | | | | | |
| Jeff Cobb | Jeff Cobb | 13:40 | | | | Matt Riddle | Matt Riddle | 21:45 |
| | | | | | | Shane Strickland | Shane Strickland | Pin |
| Shane Strickland | Shane Strickland | Pin | | | | | | | Shane Strickland | Shane Strickland | Pin |
| Brody King | Brody King | 10:53 | | | | | | |
| Brody King | Brody King | 10:53 | Shane Strickland | Shane Strickland | Pin | | | |
| | | | Jimmy Havoc | Jimmy Havoc | | | | |
| Jimmy Havoc | Jimmy Havoc | Pin | Jimmy Havoc | Jimmy Havoc | | | | |
| Maxwell Jacob Friedman | Maxwell Jacob Friedman | 9:36 | | | | | | |

## Reigns

As of February 5, 2024, there have been twelve reigns and one vacancy shared between eleven different champions. Shane Douglas was the inaugural champion, defeating Taiyo Kea and Vampiro at Genesis on June 15, 2002, to become the inaugural champion. Jacob Fatu's reign is the longest at 819 days, while Mike Awesome's reign is the shortest at 10 minutes. Satoshi Kojima is the oldest champion when he won it at 53 years old, while Shane Strickland is the youngest champion at 28 years old.
Matt Riddle is the current champion in his first reign. He defeated Satoshi Kojima at Kings of Colosseum on January 11, 2025, in North Richland Hills, Texas.
Key :
| No. | Overall reign number |
| Reign | Reign number for the specific champion |
| Days | Number of days held |
| <1 | Reign lasted less than a day |
| + | Current reign is changing daily |
| No. | Champion | Championship change | Championship change | Championship change | Reign statistics | Reign statistics | Notes | Ref. |
| No. | Champion | Date | Event | Location | Reign | Days | Notes | Ref. |
| | Major League Wrestling (MLW) | Major League Wrestling (MLW) | Major League Wrestling (MLW) | Major League Wrestling (MLW) | Major League Wrestling (MLW) | Major League Wrestling (MLW) | Major League Wrestling (MLW) | Major League Wrestling (MLW) |
| 1 | Shane Douglas | June 15, 2002 | Genesis | Philadelphia, PA | 1 | 90 | Defeated Taiyō Kea and Vampiro in a three way dance to become inaugural champion. Douglas immediately threw down the championship after the match. This reign has only received occasional recognition from MLW. | |
| — | Vacated | September 13, 2002 | — | — | — | — | Shane Douglas was stripped of the championship due to his controversial actions at Genesis. | |
| 2 | Satoshi Kojima | September 26, 2002 | Reload | New York City, NY | 1 | 267 | Defeated Jerry Lynn to win the vacant title. | |
| 3 | Mike Awesome | June 20, 2003 | Hybrid Hell | Fort Lauderdale, FL | 1 | <1 | | |
| 4 | Steve Corino | June 20, 2003 | Hybrid Hell | Fort Lauderdale, FL | 1 | 235 | Corino challenged Mike Awesome to a match following Awesome's victory over Satoshi Kojima. | |
| — | Vacated | February 10, 2004 | — | — | — | — | Steve Corino was no longer listed as the MLW World Heavyweight Champion after the company stopped hosting events. | |
| — | Deactivated | 2004 | — | — | — | — | The title became deactivated when the company stopped hosting events. | |
| 5 | Shane Strickland | April 12, 2018 | The World Championship Finals | Orlando, FL | 1 | 91 | Defeated Matt Riddle in the tournament finals to win the revived title. | |
| 6 | Low Ki | July 12, 2018 | Fusion | Orlando, FL | 1 | 205 | MLW recognizes this reign as beginning on July 20, 2018, when the match aired on tape delay. | |
| 7 | Tom Lawlor | February 2, 2019 | SuperFight | Philadelphia, PA | 1 | 154 | | |
| 8 | Jacob Fatu | July 6, 2019 | Kings of Colosseum | Cicero, IL | 1 | 819 | | |
| 9 | Alexander Hammerstone | October 2, 2021 | Fightland | Philadelphia, PA | 1 | 644 | This was a Winner takes all match where Hammerstone's MLW National Openweight Championship was also on the line. | |
| 10 | Alex Kane | July 8, 2023 | Never Say Never | Philadelphia, PA | 1 | 210 | | |
| 11 | Satoshi Kojima | February 3, 2024 | SuperFight | Philadelphia, PA | 2 | 343 | | |
| 12 | Matt Riddle | January 11, 2025 | Kings of Colosseum | North Richland Hills, TX | 1 | 37+ | | |

## Combined reigns

As of February 17, 2025.
| † | Indicates the current champions |
| Rank | Wrestler | No. of reigns | Combined days |
| 1 | Jacob Fatu | 1 | 819 |
| 2 | Alexander Hammerstone | 1 | 644 |
| 3 | Satoshi Kojima | 2 | 610 |
| 4 | Steve Corino | 1 | 235 |
| 5 | Alex Kane | 1 | 210 |
| 6 | Low Ki | 1 | 205 |
| 7 | Tom Lawlor | 1 | 154 |
| 8 | Shane Strickland | 1 | 91 |
| 9 | Shane Douglas | 1 | 90 |
| 10 | Matt Riddle † | 1 | 37+ |
| 11 | Mike Awesome | 1 | <1 |