Despite the great number of foreign and international WWE title holders, the championship itself has not enjoyed the same sense of culture as it pertains to where title changes happen. In the 51-year history of the WWE title, all actual, recognized title changes took place within the confines of North America. With the delays in time, and the premium on live television that may remain the case for many years. There are some interesting exceptions to this fact, however. The WWE claims it's inaugural champion, Buddy Rogers, won the title during a tournament in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Needless to say, Rogers never actually traveled to Brazil to defeat Antonio Rocca in the alleged "tournament final" as the title was awarded to him instead. There were also the aforementioned title defenses in Japan, which saw Antonio Inoki win the title, drop it back to Bob Backlund, and then saw Backlund again win the vacant championship. However, all of these went unrecognized by the WWE.