The ROH World Championship is a professional wrestling world championship owned by the Ring of Honor (ROH) promotion . The championship was created and debuted on July 27, 2002, at ROH's Crowning a Champion event . Originally called the ROH Championship, the title was renamed to the ROH World Championship in May 2003 after the title was defended outside the United States for the first time—earlier that month, then-champion Samoa Joe had defeated The Zebra Kid in London , England, at the Frontiers of Honor event co-promoted with the Frontier Wrestling Alliance .[1] unified with the ROH Pure Championship after then-champion Bryan Danielson defeated ROH Pure Champion Nigel McGuinness in Liverpool , England.[1]
Current champion Mark Briscoe ROH World Championship reigns are determined by professional wrestling matches , in which competitors are involved in scripted rivalries. These narratives create feuds between the various competitors, which cast them as villains and heroes . Some reigns were held by champions using a ring name , while others used their real name . Reigns that were won on pay-per-view events aired on tape delay up to weeks or months apart. Reigns that were won at live events were released on DVD. The inaugural champion was Low Ki , whom ROH recognized to have become the champion after defeating Christopher Daniels , Spanky , and Doug Williams in a four-way 60-minuted Iron Man match on July 27, 2002, at ROH's Crowning a Champion event.
As of April 2024, there have been 40 reigns among 33 wrestlers with two vacancies. Adam Cole holds the record for most reigns, with three. Jay Lethal has the most defenses, with 41; Kyle O'Reilly has the least, with 0. At 645 days, Samoa Joe's reign is the longest in the title's history; Kyle O'Reilly's reign is the shortest at 33 days. Mark Briscoe is the current champion in his first reign. He defeated Eddie Kingston on April 5, 2024 at Supercard of Honor in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania .
Title history Names 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 Ref. Date Event Location Reign Days 1 Low Ki July 27, 2002 Crowning a Champion Philadelphia , PA 1 56 Defeated Christopher Daniels , Spanky and Doug Williams in a four-way 60-minute Iron Man match after the Block A, Block B, Block C, Block D ROH Championship tournament finals to become the inaugural champion. [4] 2 Xavier September 21, 2002 Unscripted Philadelphia , PA 1 182 [5] 3 Samoa Joe March 22, 2003 Night of Champions Philadelphia , PA 1 645 After Joe defeated The Zebra Kid on May 17, 2003 in London , England , the ROH Championship was renamed the ROH World Championship. [6] 4 Austin Aries December 26, 2004 Final Battle Philadelphia , PA 1 174 [7] 5 CM Punk June 18, 2005 Death Before Dishonor III Morristown, NJ 1 55 [8] 6 James Gibson August 12, 2005 Redemption Dayton, OH 1 36 This was a four-way elimination match , also involving Christopher Daniels and Samoa Joe . [9] 7 Bryan Danielson September 17, 2005 Glory by Honor IV Lake Grove, NY 1 462 Danielson unified the title with the ROH Pure Championship on August 12, 2006 by defeating Nigel McGuinness in Liverpool , England . [10] [11] 8 Homicide December 23, 2006 Final Battle New York City , NY 1 56 [12] 9 Takeshi Morishima February 17, 2007 The Fifth Year Festival: Philadelphia Philadelphia , PA 1 231 [13] 10 Nigel McGuinness October 6, 2007 Undeniable Edison, NJ 1 545 [14] 11 Jerry Lynn April 3, 2009 Supercard of Honor IV Houston , TX 1 71 [15] 12 Austin Aries June 13, 2009 Manhattan Mayhem III New York City , NY 2 245 This was a three-way elimination match , also involving Tyler Black . [16] 13 Tyler Black February 13, 2010 ROH 8th Anniversary Show New York City , NY 1 210 [17] 14 Roderick Strong September 11, 2010 Glory By Honor IX New York City , NY 1 189 This was a no disqualification match , with Terry Funk as the ringside enforcer . [18] 15 Eddie Edwards March 19, 2011 Manhattan Mayhem IV New York City , NY 1 99 [19] 16 Davey Richards June 26, 2011 Best in the World New York City , NY 1 321 [20] 17 Kevin Steen May 12, 2012 Border Wars Toronto , ON 1 328 [21] 18 Jay Briscoe April 5, 2013 Supercard of Honor VII New York City , NY 1 89 [22] — Vacated July 3, 2013 — — — — The title was vacated by ROH Match Maker Nigel McGuinness after Jay Briscoe suffered a storyline injury at the June 23 television tapings and would not be able to compete for the foreseeable future. [23] [24] 19 Adam Cole September 20, 2013 Death Before Dishonor XI Philadelphia , PA 1 275 Defeated Michael Elgin in a tournament final to win the vacant championship. [25] 20 Michael Elgin June 22, 2014 Best in the World Nashville, TN 1 76 [26] 21 Jay Briscoe September 6, 2014 All Star Extravaganza VI Toronto , ON 2 286 [27] 22 Jay Lethal June 19, 2015 Best in the World New York City , NY 1 427 This was a winner takes all match , also for Lethal's ROH World Television Championship . [28] 23 Adam Cole August 19, 2016 Death Before Dishonor XIV Sunrise Manor, NV 2 105 [29] 24 Kyle O'Reilly December 2, 2016 Final Battle New York City , NY 1 33 This was a no disqualification match . [30] 25 Adam Cole January 4, 2017 Wrestle Kingdom 11 Tokyo , Japan 3 65 This was a New Japan Pro-Wrestling event. [31] 26 Christopher Daniels March 10, 2017 ROH 15th Anniversary Show Sunrise Manor, NV 1 105 [32] 27 Cody June 23, 2017 Best in the World Lowell, MA 1 175 [33] 28 Dalton Castle December 15, 2017 Final Battle New York City , NY 1 197 [34] 29 Jay Lethal June 30, 2018 Ring of Honor Wrestling Fairfax, VA 2 280 This was a four-way match , also involving Cody and Matt Taven .tape delay on July 23, 2018. [35] 30 Matt Taven April 6, 2019 G1 Supercard New York City , NY 1 174 This was a three-way ladder match , also involving Marty Scurll . [36] 31 Rush September 27, 2019 Death Before Dishonor XVII Sunrise Manor, NV 1 77 [37] 32 PCO December 13, 2019 Final Battle Baltimore , MD 1 78 This was a "Friday the 13th Massacre" no disqualification match . [38] 33 Rush February 29, 2020 Gateway to Honor St. Charles, MO 2 498 This was a three-way match , also involving Mark Haskins . [39] 34 Bandido July 11, 2021 Best in the World Baltimore , MD 1 152 [40] — Vacated December 10, 2021 — — — — The championship was vacated after Bandido tested positive for COVID-19 . [41] 35 Jonathan Gresham December 11, 2021 Final Battle Baltimore , MD 1 224 Defeated Jay Lethal to win the vacant championship. Former champion Bandido still had the ROH World Championship title belt, while Gresham won the original ROH World Championship title belt. Gresham defeated Bandido at Supercard of Honor XV to determine the Undisputed ROH World Champion .Tony Khan purchased Ring of Honor. [42] [43] [2] [3] 36 Claudio Castagnoli July 23, 2022 Death Before Dishonor Lowell, MA 1 60 [44] 37 Chris Jericho September 21, 2022 Dynamite: Flushing, Queens, NY 1 80 This was an All Elite Wrestling event. [45] 38 Claudio Castagnoli December 10, 2022 Final Battle Arlington, TX 2 284 [46] 39 Eddie Kingston September 20, 2023 Dynamite: Flushing, Queens, NY 1 198 This was an All Elite Wrestling event and a Winner Takes All match also for Kingston's NJPW Strong Openweight Championship .AEW Continental Championship and Strong Openweight Championship after winning the Continental Classic tournament at Worlds End . Kingston would lose the AEW Continental Championship to Kazuchika Okada on the March 20, 2024 episode of AEW Dynamite [47] 40 Mark Briscoe April 5, 2024 Supercard of Honor Philadelphia, PA 1 22+ [48]
Combined reigns As of April 27, 2024.
The inaugural champion
Low Ki .
One-time and record longest reigning champion
Samoa Joe Record three-time ROH World Champion
Adam Cole Jay Lethal , a two-time champion, holds the record for most combined days as champion, with 707.
† Indicates the current champion
Notes 1. ^ 2. ^ 3. ^ References External links .jpg)
