FIP World Heavyweight Championship History

 FIP WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP

Promotion: World Wrestling Network (WWN)

Brand: Full Impact Pro (FIP)

Date established: September 25th, 2004

Current champion(s): August Artois

Date won: December 10th, 2023

First champion(s): Homicide

Most reigns: Roderick Strong (3 reigns)

Longest reign: Jon Davis (632 days)

Shortest reign: Florenz De La Hunt (1 day)

Oldest champion: Jon Davis (40 years, 189 days)

Youngest champion: Austin Theory (20 years, 130 days)

Heaviest champion: Erick Stevens (247 lb (112 kg))

Lightest champion: Rich Swann (165 lb (75 kg))

HISTORY:

The FIP World Heavyweight Championship was introduced on September 25th, 2004, at FIP's "Emergence: Part Two" event as the FIP Heavyweight Championship. It was renamed the FIP World Heavyweight Championship on March 3rd, 2007, when then-champion Roderick Strong defeated PAC in Liverpool, England at the Ring of Honor (ROH) promotion's "Fifth Year Festival: Liverpool" event. Overall, there have been 23 reigns shared among 17 wrestlers. Title changes happen mostly at FIP-promoted events, which are usually released on DVD. The title has changed hands four times at non-FIP events. Reigns two and four occurred at ROH-promoted events, while reigns 10 and 11 happened at Dragon Gate events.

Since being renamed the "FIP World Heavyweight Championship" after a UK defense in March of 2007, the title has been defended internationally multiple times. Not only has the championship been successfully defended in Japan, China, Canada and Mexico but the title has also changed hands in both Japan and China.

Inaugural FIP Heavyweight Championship Tournament (2004):

First Round

Second Round

Semi Final

Final

Rainman

Pin

Jason Cross

11:15

Rainman

Pin

Kahagas

4:18

Scoot Andrews

4:39

Kahagas

Pin

Rainman

13:36

CM Punk

Pin

Justin Credible

Pin

Ralph Mosca

3:37

Justin Credible

10:51

CM Punk

Pin

Vordell Walker

13:01

CM Punk

Pin

CM Punk

13:23

Homicide

Pin

Austin Aries

Pin

Roderick Strong

17:00

Austin Aries

Pin

Jerrelle Clark

7:57

Slim J

6:27

Jerrelle Clark

Pin

Austin Aries

15:30

Homicide

Pin

Joshua Masters

Pin

Lex Lovett

3:45

Joshua Masters

1:28

Homicide

Pin

AJ Styles

18:04

Homicide

by DQ

Title History:

The inaugural champion was Homicide, who defeated CM Punk in the finals of a two-night tournament that concluded on September 25th, 2004, at FIP's "Emergence: Part Two" event. Roderick Strong holds the record for the most title reigns, with three. Jon Davis's second reign is the longest singular reign at 632 days, while Florenz De La Hunt's reign is the shortest at 1 day. Jon Davis holds the record for the longest combined reign as well at 821 days. Davis is also the oldest champion at 40, while Austin Theory is the youngest champion, having won it at age 20. 

Reigns:

Key

No.	Overall reign number
Reign	Reign number for the specific champion
Days	Number of days held
+	Current reign is changing daily

No.	Champion	Championship change			Reign statistics		Notes
		Date	Event	Location	Reign	Days
1	Homicide	September 25, 2004	Emergence: Part Two	Tampa, FL	1	476	Homicide defeated CM Punk in a tournament final to become the first champion.
2	Bryan Danielson	January 14, 2006	ROH Hell Freezes Over	Philadelphia, PA	1	300	This was a three-way dance also involving Roderick Strong.
3	Roderick Strong	November 10, 2006	All or Nothing	Inverness, FL	1	415	The title was renamed the "FIP World Heavyweight Championship" on March 3, 2007, when Strong defeated PAC in Liverpool, England, at ROH's Fifth Year Festival: Liverpool event.
4	Erick Stevens	December 30, 2007	ROH Final Battle	New York City, NY	1	48
5	Roderick Strong	February 16, 2008	Redefined	Crystal River, FL	2	154
6	Erick Stevens	July 19, 2008	Hot Summer Nights	Crystal River, FL	2	35	This was a Dog Collar match.
7	Go Shiozaki	August 23, 2008	Heatstroke	Crystal River, FL	1	119
8	Tyler Black	December 20, 2008	Unstoppable	Crystal River, FL	1	133
9	Davey Richards	May 2, 2009	Unfinished Business	Crystal River, FL	1	218	Richards was awarded the championship by forfeit after Tyler Black suffered a neck injury the previous night in Berwyn, IL and was forced to relinquish the title.
10	Masaaki Mochizuki	December 6, 2009	Dragon Gate The Gate of Generation	Sapporo, Japan	1	48
11	Davey Richards	January 23, 2010	DGUSA Fearless	Chicago, IL	2	58
—	Vacated	March 22, 2010	—	—	—	—	The championship was vacated by the FIP Championship Committee due to "an unforeseen contractual situation" with Davey Richards.
12	Jon Moxley	April 17, 2010	Southern Stampede	Crystal River, FL	1	360	Moxley defeated Roderick Strong to win the vacant title.
—	Vacated	April 12, 2011	—	—	—	—	The championship was vacated by the FIP Championship Committee due to Jon Moxley signing with WWE.
13	Jon Davis	February 1, 2013	Everything Burns	Tampa, FL	1	189	Davis defeated A. R. Fox to win the vacant title.
14	Trent Baretta	August 9, 2013	Heatstroke	Tampa, FL	1	462
15	Rich Swann	November 14, 2014	WWNLive in China	Chengdu, Sichuan, China	1	98
—	Vacated	February 20, 2015	Ascension	Tampa, FL	—	—	The championship was vacated due to Rich Swann being sidelined with an injury.
16	Roderick Strong	February 20, 2015	Ascension	Tampa, FL	3	57	Strong defeated Trent Baretta in a no disqualification match to win the vacant championship.
17	Rich Swann	April 18, 2015	Establish Dominance	Orlando, FL	2	76
18	Caleb Konley	July 3, 2015	Declaration of Independence	Tampa, FL	1	329
19	Fred Yehi	May 27, 2016	Accelerate	Orlando, FL	1	562
20	Austin Theory	December 10, 2017	EVOLVE 97	Melrose, MA	1	294
21	Anthony Henry	September 30, 2018	Accelerate	Ybor City, FL	1	509
22	Jon Davis	February 21, 2020	Everything Burns	Ybor City, FL	2	632
23	Karam	November 14, 2021	WWN Supershow: Battle of the Belts	Clearwater, FL	1	292
24	Florenz De La Hunt	September 2, 2022	POW Wrestling Rumble	Geesthacht, Germany	1	1
25	Karam	September 3, 2022	POW Wrestling Rumble	Hamburg, Germany	2	330
26	Lucky Ali	July 30, 2023	Heatstroke	Clearwater, FL	1	28	It was in a winner takes all match where Ali's WWN Proving Ground Heavyweight Championship and ACW Heavyweight Championship were also at stake.
27	Brian Brock	August 27, 2023	WWN SuperShow: Mercury Rising	Clearwater, FL	1	174+

Combined Reigns:

Rank	Wrestler	No. of reigns	Combined days
1	Jon Davis	2	821
2	Roderick Strong	3	626
3	Karam	2	622
4	Fred Yehi	1	562
5	Anthony Henry	1	509
6	Homicide	1	476
7	Trent Baretta	1	462
8	Jon Moxley	1	360
9	Caleb Konley	1	329
10	Bryan Danielson	1	300
11	Austin Theory	1	294
12	Davey Richards	2	276
13	Rich Swann	2	174
14	Tyler Black	1	133
15	Go Shiozaki	1	119
16	Brian Brock	1	174+
17	Erick Stevens	2	83
18	Masaaki Mochizuki	1	49
19	Lucky Ali	1	28
20	Florenz De La Hunt	1	1