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The WCW World Heavyweight Championship was the primary championship in the World Championship Wrestling Professional Wrestling Organization . It was created in January 1991 , and a variation of the physical belt continues to be used in WWE as the World Heavyweight Championship . It has been held by many successful professional wrestlers, including Ric Flair , Hulk Hogan , Bret Hart and Sting . HISTORY Origin In December 1988 , Ted Turner purchased Jim Crockett Promotions , which had promoted under the name "NWA World Championship Wrestling". While the promotion remained a member of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), the use of the NWA name was gradually reduced on televised programming, in favor of the name "World Championship Wrestling", or "WCW". On January 11 , 1991 , Ric Flair defeated Sting to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship , and was recognized as the WCW World Heavyweight Champion. The new championship was not initially represented by its own title belt, and WCW continued to use the NWA World Heavyweight Championship title belt. Because of this, WCW regularly claimed the NWA World Championship lineage for its own championship. On July 1 1991 , a creative disagreement with WCW Executive Vice President Jim Herd led to Flair leaving WCW for Vince McMahon 's WWF . When Herd refused to return his $ 25,000 deposit (that was left with the NWA), Flair kept the " Big Gold Belt " that had represented the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. WCW was forced to create its own title belt, which was awarded to Lex Luger after he defeated Barry Windham in a cage match for the vacant WCW World Heavyweight Championship. In late 1991 , WCW sued Flair for using the Big Gold Belt on WWF television, but later settled out of court, paying Flair $38,000 for the amount of the NWA deposit, plus interest. Flair returned the Big Gold Belt to WCW. The Big Gold Belt was used for the revived NWA World Heavyweight Championship, a co-promotional gimmick between WCW and New Japan Pro Wrestling . In September 1993 , WCW left the NWA over a dispute regarding the other NWA members demanding that NWA World champion be available for booking, and due to the use of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship on syndicated programming recorded months in advance. By fall 1993, Rick Rude was appearing at the " Disney Tapings " as the NWA World Heavyweight Champion, despite the fact that in regards to the storyline, Flair was still champion. After leaving the NWA, WCW kept the Big Gold Belt, and it was re-named the WCW International World Heavyweight Championship . Unification At '' StarrCade 93 '', Flair won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, by defeating Vader . WCW decided to unify the WCW World Heavyweight Championship (represented by the new belt) and International Championship (represented by the "Big Gold Belt"), by having Flair wrestle Sting in June 1994 . Flair won and the International Title belt replaced the old World Heavyweight belt while the International Championship itself was dropped. Hulk Hogan entered WCW and won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship (now represented by the "Big Gold Belt") from Flair. Holding the title off and on until 2000 , Hogan helped WCW become the top wrestling company in the United States . However, by 2001, it had suffered a succession of failures. WWF/WWE In March 2001 , World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. purchased the assets of WCW from AOL-Time Warner for $7,000,000. Initially, Vince McMahon claimed that he wanted to revive the company in his own image, and a two-hour timeslot for WCW programming was proposed to TNN . Instead, McMahon orchestrated the infamous " Invasion " Storyline of 2001 , in which both WCW and ECW were ultimately dismantled. McMahon then decided to unify the WCW and WWF World Titles. The WCW Championship was then renamed the "World Championship" after the WWF storyline which eliminated WCW as an active entity. Some regard this as McMahon simply stroking his own ego, due to the fact that WCW nearly put the WWF out of business. Chris Jericho unified the titles by Pinning The Rock (World Champion) and Stone Cold Steve Austin (WWF Champion) at the WWF Vengeance 2001 Pay-Per-View. The belts stayed unified as the WWE Undisputed Championship until won by Brock Lesnar . When Lesnar decided to wrestle only for the '' SmackDown! '' brand, '' RAW '' General Manager Eric Bischoff awarded the World Heavyweight Championship to Triple H , represented by the old "Big Gold Belt". It should be noted that, despite appearances, it ''is'' now a different title belt, as the current design features a subtle WWE Trademark Logo above the words "World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion."). This belt DOES NOT have the same lineage as that of the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. FACTS
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