# List of world champions in WWE born outside the United States

The following is a list of world champions in WWE born outside the United States, detailing all wrestlers born outside the contiguous United States to have held a world championship in the American-based professional wrestling company, WWE.
Prior to the internationalization of professional wrestling, priority was often given to clean-cut American wrestlers (especially those who met a certain physical standard or held shoot ability) by America's various regional wrestling companies when determining who would hold the world heavyweight championship of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). WWE, however, being independent from the NWA, in its early years was built around strong "ethnic babyfaces" who appealed to immigrant communities in the northeastern United States where WWE was based. This philosophy resulted in multiple foreign-born wrestlers having reigns with the WWE Championship, most notably Italy's Bruno Sammartino and Puerto Rico's Pedro Morales.
As part of its brand extension, WWE currently promotes three men's world championships and two women's world championships. In the case of male wrestlers, two of the world championships, the WWE Championship and the WWE Universal Championship, are held and defended together as the Undisputed WWE Championship on the SmackDown brand; the third championship is the World Heavyweight Championship on Raw. For female wrestlers, WWE promotes the Women's World Championship on Raw and the WWE Women's Championship on SmackDown. Previous world championships promoted by WWE include the original version of the WWE Women's Championship (1956–2010), the WCW Championship (2001), the original version of the World Heavyweight Championship (2002–2013), the ECW Championship (2006–2010), and the WWE Divas Championship (2008–2016).
This list excludes American wrestlers who won world championships and were born on American military installations in foreign countries, such as Kane.

## Male champions

| Ring name | Real name | Title(s) | Reign(s) | Notes |
| Edge | Adam Copeland | World Heavyweight Championship (7 times) WWE Championship (4 times) | 11 | Foreign male wrestler with the most world titles in WWE. |
| Bret Hart | Bret Hart | WWE Championship | 5 | During his five reigns as WWE Champion, the title was known as the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. |
| Sheamus | Stephen Farrelly | WWE Championship (3 times) World Heavyweight Championship | 4 | |
| Alberto Del Rio | José Alberto Rodríguez | WWE Championship (2 times) World Heavyweight Championship (2 times) | 4 | |
| Christian | Jason Reso | World Heavyweight Championship (2 times) ECW Championship (2 times) | 4 | |
| Drew McIntyre | Drew Galloway | WWE Championship (2 times) World Heavyweight Championship | 3 | |
| Bruno Sammartino | Bruno Sammartino | WWE Championship | 2 | During his two reigns, the title was known as the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship. |
| Pedro Morales | Pedro Morales | WWE Championship | 1 | During his reign, the title was known as the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship. |
| Kevin Owens | Kevin Yannick Steen | WWE Universal Championship | 1 | |
| Kofi Kingston | Kofi Sarkodie-Mensah | WWE Championship | 1 | |
| Jinder Mahal | Yuvraj Singh Dhesi | WWE Championship | 1 | |
| Chris Benoit | Chris Benoit | World Heavyweight Championship | 1 | |
| Gunther | Walter Hahn | World Heavyweight Championship | 1 | |
| The Great Khali | Dalip Singh Rana | World Heavyweight Championship | 1 | |
| The Iron Sheik | Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri | WWE Championship | 1 | |
| Ivan Koloff | Oreal Donald Perras | WWE Championship | 1 | During his reign, the title was known as the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship. |
| Stan Stasiak | George Emile Stipich | WWE Championship | 1 | During his reign, the title was known as the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship. |
| Antonio Inoki | Muhammad Hussain Inoki | WWE Championship | 1 | During his reign, the title was known as the WWF Heavyweight Championship. Inoki's reign is not currently recognized by WWE. |
| Finn Bálor | Fergal Devitt | WWE Universal Championship | 1 | |
| André the Giant | André René Roussimoff | WWE Championship | 1 | During his reign, the title was known as the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. |
| Ezekiel Jackson | Rycklon Stephens | ECW Championship | 1 | |

## Female champions

| Ring name | Real name | Title(s) | Reign(s) | Notes |
| Becky Lynch | Rebecca Quin | Women's World Championship (5 times) WWE Women's Championship (2 times) | 7 | Foreign female wrestler with the most world titles in WWE (tied with Trish Stratus). During her first four reigns with the Women's World Championship, the title was known as the SmackDown Women's Championship. |
| Trish Stratus | Patricia Anne Stratigeas | WWE Women's Championship | 7 | Foreign female wrestler with the most world titles in WWE (tied with Becky Lynch). During her first reign, the title was known as the WWF Women's Championship. |
| Asuka | Kanako Urai | WWE Women's Championship (3 times) Women's World Championship | 4 | During her first two reigns with the WWE Women's Championship, the title was known as the Raw Women's Championship; it reverted to WWE Women's Championship during her third reign. During her reign with the Women's World Championship, the title was known as the SmackDown Women's Championship. |
| Rhea Ripley | Demi Bennett | Women's World Championship {2 times) WWE Women's Championship | 3 | During her reign with the WWE Women's Championship, the title was known as the Raw Women's Championship. She won the Women's World Championship as the SmackDown Women's Championship. The title was renamed in June 2023 during her reign. |
| Iyo Sky | Masami Odate | WWE Women's Championship Women's World Championship | 2 | |
| Maryse | Maryse Mizanin | WWE Divas Championship | 2 | |
| Layla | Layla El | WWE Women's Championship WWE Divas Championship | 2 | |
| Natalya | Natalie Neidhart | WWE Divas Championship Women's World Championship | 2 | She won the Women's World Championship when the title was named the SmackDown Women's Championship. |
| Paige | Saraya Bevis | WWE Divas Championship | 2 | |
| Bull Nakano | Keiko Aoki | WWE Women's Championship | 1 | During her reign, the title was known as the WWF Women's Championship. |
| Bertha Faye | Rhonda Sing | WWE Women's Championship | 1 | During her reign, the title was known as the WWF Women's Championship. |
| Gail Kim | Gail Kim | WWE Women's Championship | 1 | |
| Yukiko Tomoe | Yukiko Tomoe | WWE Women's Championship | 1 | During her reign, the title was known as the NWA Women's Championship. Tomoe's reign is not currently recognized by WWE. |
| Velvet McIntyre | Velvet McIntyre | WWE Women's Championship | 1 | During her reign, the title was known as the WWF Women's Championship. |

## By country

| Rank | Territory | No. of world champions |
| 1 | Canada | 13 |
| 2 | Japan | 5 |
| 3 | Ireland | 4 |
| 4 | United Kingdom | 3 |
| 5 | Australia | 1 |
| 5 | Austria | 1 |
| 5 | France | 1 |
| 5 | Guyana | 1 |
| 5 | Ghana | 1 |
| 5 | India | 1 |
| 5 | Iran | 1 |
| 5 | Italy | 1 |
| 5 | Mexico | 1 |
| 5 | Puerto Rico | 1 |