December 15th marks the one-year anniversary of the unification of the WWE and World Heavyweight Championships. It was a divisive move that some still disagree with today, believing that it stifles younger talent by significantly decreasing their chances of becoming a World Champion. Others argue that having only one world champion makes the belt more coveted and, in a time where title prestige in the WWE is alarmingly low, this can only be a good thing. Whichever side of the fence you sit on, its clear that the WWE World Heavyweight Championship has endured a tumultuous start. Superstar injuries and absences in equal measure have forced long, stagnant periods where the championship has not been seen in WWE for weeks, sometimes even months; for example, Brock Lesnars last championship defence was over one hundred days ago! The combination of bad luck and poor judgement on WWEs part has resulted in the richest prize in sports entertainment being contested only nine times in twelve months. Here is every title match, ranked in order of match quality and the overall feud behind it. As a side note, Daniel Bryan was scheduled to defend the WWE World Heavyweight Championship on the Raw after WrestleMania against Triple H, but as the match never got started it wont be included here.
