WWE Women ' s Championship ( 1956 – 2010 ) The WWE Women ' s Championship was a professional wrestling championship in the World Wrestling Entertainment ( WWE ) promotion . Created in 1956 , it was the oldest active professional wrestling championship in World Wrestling Entertainment history until its retirement in 2010 as a result from a unification with the WWE Divas Championship . The New WWE Women ' s Championship title does not carry the lineage of the original Women ' s Championship . History . The WWE Women ' s Championship was originally known as the NWA World Women ' s Championship of the National Wrestling Alliance ( NWA ) . In 1956 , The Fabulous Moolah became the inaugural champion on September 18 as recognized by World Wrestling Entertainment . The WWE Women ' s Championship is descended from the original NWA World Women ' s Championship of the National Wrestling Alliance , which is still active today . In 1983 , the World Wrestling Federation ( WWF ) disaffiliated with the NWA and recognized then - NWA Women ' s World Champion The Fabulous Moolah as the promotion ' s World Women ' s Champion . Additionally , the WWF also recognized Moolah ' s reign at the time as a continuation of her first NWA World Women ' s Championship reign , which occurred in 1956 , resulting in the promotion not recognizing other reigns that occurred during the title ' s existence in the NWA . Thus , The Fabulous Moolah ' s reign is considered to have lasted 27 years by the promotion . The WWF soon renamed their recognition of the title as the World Wrestling Federation ( WWF ) Women ' s Championship . In 1990 , the Women ' s Championship became inactive after Rockin ' Robin vacated the championship following her departure from the WWF . Then in December 1993 , the title was reactivated with Alundra Blayze winning a tournament for the vacant Women ' s Championship . The Women ' s Championship , however , became inactive again when Blayze unexpectedly signed with World Championship Wrestling in 1995 while still champion , forcing her to relinquish the title . The Women ' s Championship was reactivated again in September 1998 when Jacqueline Moore defeated Sable to win the title . After the WWF / WWE name change in 2002 , the championship was subsequently referred to as the WWE Women ' s Championship . With the WWE Brand Extension , the WWE Undisputed Championship and WWE Women ' s Championship became the only titles allowed to be defended on both the Raw and SmackDown ! brands , while all other titles were exclusive to a single brand . Later , the Women ' s Championship became exclusive to only the " Raw " brand . The championship remained the only women ' s exclusive championship for the promotion until July 4 , 2008 , when a counterpart to the championship was created for the " SmackDown " brand , called the WWE Divas Championship . On April 13 , 2009 , the Women ' s Championship was transferred to the " SmackDown " brand when reigning champion Melina was drafted from " Raw " to " SmackDown " during the 2009 WWE Draft . On June 28 at The Bash 2009 pay - per - view , Michelle McCool became the first ever Diva to hold both the WWE Women ' s Championship and the WWE Divas Championship . Other divas that have held both the Women ' s and Divas Championship include Beth Phoenix , Layla , Mickie James and Melina . It was announced on the August 31 edition of " Raw " that the championship would be unified with its counterpart , the Divas Championship , at the Night of Champions event . This match was won by Michelle McCool and unified both titles creating the Unified WWE Divas Championship , thus making the Women ' s Championship defunct as the unified title follows the lineage of the Divas Championship . On April 3 , 2016 at WrestleMania 32 , a new WWE Women ' s Championship was introduced to succeed the Divas Championship , however , this new title does not carry the lineage of the original Women ' s Championship Reigns . The inaugural champion was The Fabulous Moolah who defeated Judy Grable in September 1956 by far had the longest official reign by holding it for 10 years and 1 day or a total of 3 , 651 days under the WWE banner it ' s 27 years , 10 months , 5 days , or a total of 10 , 170 days and has had more recognized reigns than anyone else with 8 while under the WWE banner it ' s Trish Stratus with 7 . Mickie James has the shortest reign , while in Paris on April 24 , 2007 . James defeated then - champion Melina and Victoria in a Triple Threat Match . However , Jonathan Coachman , the Acting General Manager for " Raw " said that since Mickie pinned Victoria , Melina deserved an immediate rematch in which she won by having her feet on the ropes . Chyna is the only undefeated champion in WWE history as she retired during her first reign . Rockin Robin was stripped of the title when she left and the title was deactivated . Layla was the final champion after she defeated Beth Phoenix in a two - on - one handicap match , on the May 11 , 2010 taping of " SmackDown " , which aired on May 14 . Overall , there have been a total of 29 recognized champions with 59 official WWE Women ' s Championship reigns combined .