World Heavyweight Championship Although numerous titles in many different promotions have used the term " World Heavyweight Championship " , it is almost exclusively used as a moniker for the title that is under competition between the main event wrestlers . Despite the name , the territorial nature of early professional wrestling meant that few promotions could actually claim the " World " part of the title , in the sense that the title could potentially be defended against any challenger anywhere in the world . Thus , few belts are considered to be " world championship " belts . The presence of a title considered to be a World Heavyweight Championship is one of the factors that makes its promotion one of the major promotions in professional wrestling . However , it is to be noted that numerous major promotions have top championships that are not considered world ( nor heavyweight ) championships , and the presence of a world championship in a promotion ' s shows does not instantly make a promotion a major one , as a World Heavyweight Championship may be shared between several promotions . Most of the recognized World Heavyweight Championships today are derived from the version held by Georg Hackenschmidt in 1905 and Frank Gotch in 1908 . In particular , many of the titles considered major today have some connection to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship , created in 1948 . In particular , all three of North America ' s largest promotions in the 1990s ( WWF , WCW , and ECW ) had top belts that were spun off from the NWA lineage . Nomenclature of World Heavyweight Championships . The term " World Heavyweight Championship " can apply to any major belt in general , or to a specific belt in particular . This often creates confusion , as is the case of Ric Flair , who is billed as a 16 - time World Heavyweight Champion but does not have 16 reigns of any single world championship title . The name of the promotion is often prepended to the phrase " World Heavyweight Championship " as the championship ' s complete name ( as in the WWE World Heavyweight , WCW World Heavyweight , or ECW World Heavyweight Championships ) - however some are correctly known simply as the " World Heavyweight Championship " without qualification , possibly because they are competed for in promotions where an existing World Heavyweight Championship is present ( as was the case of the American Wrestling Association in the 1960s and 1970s and World Wrestling Entertainment today ) . The NWA Championship is often quoted as the " World ' s Heavyweight Wrestling Championship " , and the physical title belt itself carries this moniker . List of World Heavyweight Championships . Numerous promotions have claimed their top championship belts as " World Heavyweight Championships " but are not considered to be world titles . Unfortunately , due to no official universally accepted method of determining what constitutes a world title , there is no way to determine who truly has world title status . The most commonly agreed upon " World Heavyweight Championships " are those recognized by " Pro Wrestling Illustrated " magazine Meanwhile , other belts have recognition as a " world championship " despite not being a " World Heavyweight Championship " . These other world titles often include various other classifications , including weight classes ( e . g . , World Cruiserweight Championship ) or stipulations ( e . g . , World Television Championship ) . Often , subordinate belts to world titles are designated as national , international , or regional titles . Examples of this include the WWE Intercontinental Championship ( an international title subordinate to the WWE Championship ) , the NWA North American Heavyweight Championship ( a regional title subordinate to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship ) , and the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship ( a national title subordinate to the WCW World Heavyweight Championship ) . Active World Heavyweight Championships . There are currently eight titles that are recognized as World Heavyweight Championships ( according to " Pro Wrestling Illustrated " magazine . These are championships that have been internationally defended . ) These titles are : Other World Titles not recognized by PWI . Other titles claiming the name , but are not recognised by PWI include :