List of ROH World Champions

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 FWA.[1] On August 12, 2006, the ROH World Championship was unified with the ROH Pure Championship after then-champion Bryan Danielson defeated ROH Pure Champion Nigel McGuinness in Liverpool, England.[1] The Pure Championship was deactivated after this match.

Two-time and current champion Rush.

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-minute Iron Man match on July 27, 2002, at ROH's Crowning a Champion event. As of January 2021, Adam Cole holds the record for most reigns, with three.[1] As of January 2021, 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.

Overall, there have been 33 reigns among 27 wrestlers with one vacancy. The current champion is Rush, who is in his second reign.

Title history

Names
Name Years
ROH Championship July 2002 – May 2003
ROH World Championship May 2003 – present

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, Pennsylvania 1 56 Defeated Christopher Daniels, Spanky and Doug Williams in a four-way 60-minute Iron Man match to become the inaugural champion. [2]
2 Xavier September 21, 2002 Unscripted Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1 182 [2]
3 Samoa Joe March 22, 2003 Night of Champions Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1 645 After Joe defeated The Zebra Kid on May 17, 2003 in London, England, the ROH Championship was renamed the ROH World Championship. [2][3]
4 Austin Aries December 26, 2004 Final Battle 2004 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1 174 [2]
5 CM Punk June 18, 2005 Death Before Dishonor III Morristown, New Jersey 1 55 [2]
6 James Gibson August 12, 2005 Redemption Dayton, Ohio 1 36 This was a four-way elimination match also involving Christopher Daniels and Samoa Joe. [2]
7 Bryan Danielson September 17, 2005 Glory by Honor IV Lake Grove, New York 1 462 Danielson unified the title with the ROH Pure Championship on August 12, 2006 by defeating Nigel McGuinness in Liverpool, England. [2][4][5]
8 Homicide December 23, 2006 Final Battle 2006 New York, New York 1 56 [2][6]
9[2] Takeshi Morishima February 17, 2007 Fifth Year Festival: Philly Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1 231 [7][8]
10 Nigel McGuinness October 6, 2007 Undeniable Edison, New Jersey 1 545 [7][9]
11 Jerry Lynn April 3, 2009 Supercard of Honor IV Houston, Texas 1 71 [10]
12 Austin Aries June 13, 2009 Manhattan Mayhem III New York, New York 2 245 This was a three-way elimination match also involving Tyler Black. [11]
13 Tyler Black February 13, 2010 8th Anniversary Show New York, New York 1 210 [12]
14 Roderick Strong September 11, 2010 Glory By Honor IX New York, New York 1 189 This was a no disqualification match with Terry Funk as the ringside enforcer. [13][14]
15 Eddie Edwards March 19, 2011 Manhattan Mayhem IV New York, New York 1 99 [15]
16 Davey Richards June 26, 2011 Best in the World 2011 New York, New York 1 321 [16]
17 Kevin Steen May 12, 2012 Border Wars Toronto, Ontario 1 328 [17]
18 Jay Briscoe April 5, 2013 Supercard of Honor VII New York, New York 1 89 [18]
— Vacated July 3, 2013 — — — — The title was vacated by ROH Match Maker Nigel McGuinness after Briscoe suffered a storyline injury at the June 23 television tapings and would not be able to compete for the foreseeable future. [19][20]
19 Adam Cole September 20, 2013 Death Before Dishonor XI Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1 275 Defeated Michael Elgin in a tournament final. [21][22]
20 Michael Elgin June 22, 2014 Best in the World 2014 Nashville, Tennessee 1 76
21 Jay Briscoe September 6, 2014 All Star Extravaganza VI Toronto, Ontario 2 286 [23]
22 Jay Lethal June 19, 2015 Best in the World '15 New York, New York 1 427 This was a Winner Takes All match, also for Lethal's ROH World Television Championship. [24][25]
23 Adam Cole August 19, 2016 Death Before Dishonor XIV Las Vegas, Nevada 2 105
24 Kyle O'Reilly December 2, 2016 Final Battle New York, New York 1 33 This was a no disqualification match.
25 Adam Cole January 4, 2017 Wrestle Kingdom 11 Tokyo, Japan 3 65 This was a New Japan Pro-Wrestling event, It was also the first time the ROH World Championship changed hands outside of North America.
26 Christopher Daniels March 10, 2017 15th Anniversary Show Las Vegas, Nevada 1 105 [26]
27 Cody June 23, 2017 Best in the World Lowell, Massachusetts 1 175 [27][28]
28 Dalton Castle December 15, 2017 Final Battle New York City, New York 1 197 [29]
29 Jay Lethal June 30, 2018 Ring of Honor Wrestling Fairfax, Virginia 2 280 This was a four-way match also involving Matt Taven and Cody.
Aired July 23, 2018 on tape delay.
30 Matt Taven April 6, 2019 G1 Supercard New York, New York 1 174 This was a three-way ladder match also involving Marty Scurll.
31 Rush September 27, 2019 Death Before Dishonor XVII Las Vegas, Nevada 1 77
32 PCO December 13, 2019 Final Battle 2019 Baltimore, Maryland 1 78 This was a "Friday the 13th Massacre" no DQ match.
33 Rush February 29, 2020 Gateway to Honor St. Charles, Missouri 2 329+ This was a three-way match also involving Mark Haskins [30]

Combined reigns
One-time and record longest reigning champion Samoa Joe.
Record three-time ROH World Champion Adam Cole

As of January 23, 2021.

† Indicates the current champion
Rank Wrestler No. of
reigns		 Combined
days
1 Jay Lethal 2 707
2 Samoa Joe 1 645
3 Nigel McGuinness 1 545
4 Bryan Danielson 1 462
5 Adam Cole 3 445
6 Austin Aries 2 419
7 Rush † 2 406+
8 Jay Briscoe 2 375
9 Kevin Steen 1 328
10 Davey Richards 1 321
11 Takeshi Morishima 1 231
12 Tyler Black 1 210
13 Dalton Castle 1 197
14 Roderick Strong 1 189
15 Xavier 1 182
16 Cody 1 175
17 Matt Taven 1 174
18 Christopher Daniels 1 105
19 Eddie Edwards 1 99
20 PCO 1 78
21 Michael Elgin 1 76
22 Jerry Lynn 1 71
23 Homicide 1 56
Low Ki 1 56
25 CM Punk 1 55
26 James Gibson 1 36
27 Kyle O'Reilly 1 33

Notes
1.^ – This event was a live event that was later released on DVD.
2.^ – This event was a pay-per-view that later aired on tape delay.
3.^ – Each reign is ranked highest to lowest; reigns with the exact number mean they are tied for that certain rank.

References
General
  • "ROH World Championship reign history". Solie.org. Retrieved 2009-04-06.
  • "ROH World Championship reign history". Ring of Honor. Archived from the original on 2010-04-12. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
  • "Past Ring of Honor results". Ring of Honor. Archived from the original on 2013-03-22. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
Specific
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  2. Burkett, Harry, ed. (June 2007). "ROH Title". PWI 2007 Wrestling Almanac & Book of facts. Blue Bell, Pennsylvania: London Publishing. p. 76. ISBN 25274-00388.
  3. "We are the Champions (as of July 8)". Power Slam Magazine. Lancaster, Lancashire, England: SW Publishing LTD. August 2003. p. 15. 109.
  4. Radican, Sean (2005-09-19). "ROH News: Bryan Danielson captures ROH World Title from James Gibson". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2010-09-12.
  5. "ROH Pure Championship reign history". Ring of Honor. Archived from the original on 2010-04-04. Retrieved 2010-09-12.
  6. Clevett, Jason (2006-12-24). "Homicide crowned ROH champion". SLAM! Wrestling. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved 2010-09-12.
  7. Burkett, Harry, ed. (January 2008). "Ring of Honor Title". PWI 2007 Wrestling Almanac & Book of facts. Blue Bell, Pennsylvania: London Publishing. p. 106. ISBN 25274-00388.
  8. "ROH ペンシルバニア州フィラデルフィア大会" (in Japanese). Pro Wrestling Noah. 2007-02-17. Archived from the original on 2011-07-24. Retrieved 2010-09-12.
  9. "ROH ニュージャージー州エジソン大会" (in Japanese). Pro Wrestling Noah. 2007-06-10. Archived from the original on 2011-07-24. Retrieved 2010-09-12.
  10. Caldwell, James (2009-04-04). "ROH News: Story from Friday night's ROH Title match in Houston". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2010-09-12.
  11. Caldwell, James (2009-06-13). "ROH News: Result from ROH Title match tonight in NYC – Tyler Black added to match". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2010-09-12.
  12. Marrero, Jose (2010-02-14). "2/13 ROH Results: New York, New York". WrestleView. Retrieved 2010-09-12.
  13. Martin, Adam (2010-09-11). "ROH Glory by Honor IX iPPV Results – 9/11/10". WrestleView. Archived from the original on 2010-09-14. Retrieved 2010-09-12.
  14. Caldwell, James (2010-09-11). "ROH News: PPV Results – Recently-released TNA wrestler returns to ROH after PPV main event". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2010-09-12.
  15. Meltzer, Dave (2011-03-19). "Surprise title change tonight". The Wrestling Observer. Retrieved 2011-03-19.
  16. Radican, Sean (2011-05-26). "Radican's "Best in the World" internet PPV report 6/26: Ongoing "real-time" coverage of live PPV from New York City". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2011-05-26.
  17. Namako, Jason (2012-05-12). "ROH Border Wars iPPV Results- 5/12/12". WrestleView. Archived from the original on 2012-12-05. Retrieved 2012-05-13.
  18. Radican, Sean (2013-04-05). "Radican's ROH "Supercard of Honor VII" iPPV blog 4/5 – Steen defends vs. Jay Briscoe, ROH vs. S.C.U.M. Ten Man Tag". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2013-04-06.
  19. "Nigel McGuinness Makes a Huge Announcement!". Ring of Honor. 2013-07-03. Retrieved 2013-07-03.
  20. Johnson, Mike (2013-07-03). "More on ROH Championship". PWInsider. Retrieved 2013-07-03.
  21. Johnson, Mike (2013-09-20). "New ROH Champion crowned: complete ROH Death Before Dishonor XI coverage from Philadelphia, PA". PWInsider. Retrieved 2013-09-21.
  22. Hoops, Brian (September 20, 2015). "On this date in pro wrestling history (9/20): Flair defeats McDaniel, Gagne beats Von Raschke". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  23. Caldwell, James (2014-09-06). "ROH IPPV news: New ROH World champion, former WWE star & Hardy returning, more from Saturday's event". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2014-09-07.
  24. http://www.cagematch.net/?id=5&nr=121&page=5&reign=22
  25. http://superluchas.com/2016/08/02/video-jay-lethal-retiene-el-campeonato-de-roh-y-se-corona-campeon-de-cwa-en-puerto-rico-imagenes-exclusivas-del-encuentro/
  26. McNeill, Pat (March 10, 2017). "McNEILL's ROH 15th Anniversary PPV Report 3/10 – Cole vs. Daniels, Hardys vs. Bucks vs. RPG Vice". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
  27. Meltzer, Dave; Currier, Joseph (June 23, 2017). "ROH Best in the World live results: Christopher Daniels vs. Cody". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved June 23, 2017.
  28. McNeill, Pat (June 23, 2017). "McNEILL's ROH Best In The World 2017 PPV Report 6/23: Young Bucks vs. War Machine, Daniels vs. Cody". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved June 25, 2017.
  29. Meltzer, Dave; Currier, Joseph (December 15, 2017). "ROH Final Battle 2017 live results: Cody vs. Dalton Castle". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved December 15, 2017.
  30. Knipper, Justin (March 1, 2020). "ROH Gateway to Honor results: Rush vs. PCO vs. Mark Haskins title match". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved March 1, 2020.

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