UNION World Championship (RLS Championship)

The UNION World Championship is the main male championship fought for in UNION Wrestling, and is recognised within the alternative wrestling scene as being the "most prestigious currently available world championship in Europe".1 It was debuted in November 2015 and has been held by a total of four superstars. The current holder is Mikey Ace. 
Somewhat controversially, despite it's ranking as the highest European honour, of a promotion based in the UK, it had never been held by anyone born outside of North America until Mikey Ace's victory in 2023.2
== History ==
The belt was brought in at the beginning of the UK&I Tour in November 2015, and contested in a tournament involving Loic Vincent, Ace, The Maverick, Mayhem, Rafe Daniels, Bobby The Fan and eventual winner and inaugural champion Virgil Baker. 
Baker was given more than a year to legitimise the belt, facing many challengers and toppling them all on his way to a 53-week run at the top.
It was fellow American Ryan Burton who eventually bested Baker at Hardcore Brawl in November 2016. This marked the first time a face had held the championship, with Baker being heel for his entire run. Burton would hold the title for the entire of PWU's hiatuses from streaming in early 2017- with the February revival seeing him defeat Baker again at PWU Capitol Punishment 2017- appearing on live shows and defending the title sporadically against Loic Vincent, Mayhem and Zodiak.
Upon the return to streaming, Broderick ended up ending Burton's reign at PWU Money In The Bank on the 3rd May 2017. The Canadian retained the title against Burton at European Invasion 2017 on the 20th June, and again for the final time at The UNION Wrestling Classic in July 2017.
The Cowpoke attempted to win the Championship, as well as gaining revenge on Broderick for attacking his then-GM father Eddie Hamer, at Open Challenge 2017, but failed and hospitalised for his efforts. The Maverick challenged for the title at Heavy Metal 2017, losing in a valiant effort before revealing himself to be in league with Virgil Baker, who cashed in his Banker Case to become the first ever multiple time champion in UNION Wrestling.
In late-October, the title was confirmed to be renamed the UNION Championship, with it's lineage and current holder remaining unaffected. It was deactivated in 2019, but brought back as a part of the Reboot Era by Eddie Hamer in 2022, when it was again won by Baker against Hubris at UNION Bring Down The House. Baker would defend against Hubris again at Bring Down the House '23, and in a much more closely-fought match against Rafe Daniels at Uneasy Alliance 2023.
At UNION Hardcore Brawl 2023, in June, Mikey Ace would defeat Baker in an acclaimed match to capture his first UNION World Championship, and become the first European superstar to hold the champion, as well as the first from the UK. Ace would retain the title in a rematch at UNION London Calling 2024, which ended with Baker departing the promotion. At UNION Open Challenge, Takanobu Endo debuted to answer the call, but failed to beat Ace for the title. He defeated Endo again at UNION Uneasy Alliance 2024.
== Reigns ==
# 	Champion 	Won 	Reign In Defences
1 	Virgil Baker 	Defeated Rafe Daniels in a singles tourney final on 12th November 2015 	14*
2 	Ryan Burton 	Defeated Virgil Baker in a singles match at Hardcore Brawl 2016 	4*
3 	Broderick 	Defeated Ryan Burton in a Wembley Warfare match at PWU MITB 2017 	3
4 	Virgil Baker 	Defeated Broderick by cashing in Banker Case at Heavy Metal 2017. 	16*
Vacated & Deactivated	Vacated & Deactivated	Vacated & Deactivated 	Vacated & Deactivated
5 	Virgil Baker 	Defeated Hubris for vacant championship at UNION Bring Down The House 2022	3*
6 	Mikey Ace 	Defeated Baker at UNION Hardcore Brawl in June 2023 	4
*=Includes live, not-streamed matches either at special events or events held during the streaming hiatuses.
== Trivia ==
* Like all UNION Wrestling titles, the reigns are not measured in days held, but the number of times defended, to further separate UW from other promotions.3
* Virgil Baker revealed in an interview in October 2017 that he enjoys cleaning the title's front and side plates, and that he actually bought a custom made "cleaning kit" online.4
== Behind-the-Scenes/Notes ==
# The "alternative wrestling scene" being my posh little name for the universe I've created as a complete whole.
# I did this on purpose, in fact, as I thought it would be an interesting criticism. I do have the first European, and British, holder of the title planned... for some point in the future.
# This is actually to make it easier to update the pages on here, having to do so only after defences rather than daily or weekly.
# Narrative fluff to enhance the personality of the "real-life" person playing Baker.
UW World Championship (RLS)