This article is about the championship that is currently defended on the Raw brand of WWE. For SmackDown's female championship, see WWE Women's Championship.

The World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Divas Championship is a professional wrestling championship in World Wrestling Entertainment. It is competed for by WWE Divas only on the Raw brand. The championship was created by WWE in 2008, and was introduced in storyline by then- SmackDown General Manager Vickie Guerrero as an alternative to Raw's Women's Championship. Michelle McCool became the inaugural champion on July 20, 2008 when she defeated Natalya at The Great American Bash. After former Divas Champion Maryse was drafted to Raw as part of the 2009 WWE Draft, she took the title with her. The championship is generally contested in professional wrestling matches, in which participants execute finishes.

History

With the first WWE Brand Extension, a storyline division in which WWE assigns its employees to a different program, the others being Raw and ECW, in 2002, the WWE Women's Championship was to be defended on both brands. At some point that year, however, it became exclusive to the Raw brand. Thereafter, only Divas on the Raw brand were able to compete for the WWE Women's Championship, while the Divas on the SmackDown brand were unable to compete for a women's-exclusive championship. ^[1] However, on a few occasions the regulation was bypassed with Melina, Ashley, Torrie Wilson and Nidia challenging for the title while on the SmackDown! brand, but none were successful. ^{[2] [3]}

As a result, WWE created the WWE Divas Championship and introduced it in a storyline on the June 6, 2008 episode of Friday Night SmackDown when then SmackDown General Manager Vickie Guerrero announced the creation of the title. ^[4] The championship belt was officially unveiled on the July 4, 2008 episode of SmackDown. After winning respective matches to earn the opportunity to wrestle for the new championship, Michelle McCool defeated Natalya at The Great American Bash to become the inaugural champion. ^{[5] [6]} When Maryse won the title from McCool in December 2008, she dislocated her kneecap at a live event later that month. Similar to how Trish Stratus kept the Women's Championship when she was sidelined with a herniated disc in 2005, ^[7] Maryse was able to keep the Divas Title upon her return in late January 2009. As part of the 2009 WWE Draft, then-Divas Champion Maryse was one of the people drafted to the Raw brand, in the process making the championship exclusive to Raw. ^[8] It was announced on the August 30, 2010 episode of Raw that the Divas Championship would be unified with the Women's Championship at a match at Night of Champions.at the event michelle mccol defeated melina to unified both championships

Reigns

The inaugural champion was Michelle McCool, who defeated Natalya at The Great American Bash on July 20, 2008 in Uniondale, New York. ^[6] Maryse is currently the longest reigning WWE Divas Champion in history, holding the belt for 216 days, while Jillian is the shortest reigning champion, with her reign lasting four minutes and thirty seconds. Maryse and Melina are also the record holders for the most Divas Championship reigns with two reigns. Melina is the current champion and is in her second title reign, having won a singles match at the August 15, 2010, WWE pay per view, SummerSlam (2010). Overall, there have been a total of 7 champions with 9 WWE Divas Championship reigns combined.

References

External links

• Official WWE Divas Title History
• WWE Diva's Championship History