WCW International World Heavyweight Championship

WCW International World Heavyweight Championship
The Big Gold Belt represented the WCW International World Heavyweight Championship from 1993–94.
Details
Promotion	World Championship Wrestling New Japan Pro-Wrestling
Brand	WCW International
Date established	July 18, 1993
Date retired	June 23, 1994
Statistics First champion(s) Ric Flair Final champion(s) Ric Flair Most reigns Rick Rude (3) Longest reign Rick Rude (178 days) Shortest reign Hiroshi Hase (8 days)

The WCW International World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship that was contested in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) between 1993 and 1994. Although it was owned and controlled by WCW, the championship was presented as the highest accolade of "WCW International", a fictitious subsidiary. The championship was contested at WCW events and at several events in Japan under the aegis of New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW).

Represented by the historic Big Gold Belt, the championship originated as the world heavyweight title of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), an umbrella organization of wrestling promotions from which WCW withdrew in 1993. At that time, WCW was responsible for deciding which of their wrestlers would hold the NWA championship. When the NWA withdrew WCW's control of the booking of their championship, a fictitious alternative was created to promote the use of the title belt.

Over the title's history, eight title reigns were shared between four wrestlers. Rick Rude's three title reigns comprise the longest total time as champion with 202 cumulative days. Hiroshi Hase is the champion with the shortest reign of eight days; Rude holds the longest individual reign of 178 days. Ric Flair was the first and last titleholder.