WWE Raw Women's Championship

The inaugural and four-time Raw Women's Champion Charlotte Flair

On April 3, 2016, WWE Hall of Famer Lita appeared during the WrestleMania 32 pre-show: after recapping the history of women's professional wrestling in WWE, she declared that WWE's women would no longer be referred to as WWE Divas, but as "WWE Superstars" like their male counterparts.[1] The term "Diva" had been criticized by some commentators, fans, and several past and present female wrestlers, including then-Divas Champion Charlotte,[2] as diminishing female's athletic abilities and relegating them to "eye candy".[3][4] Lita also unveiled a new title belt and revealed that the Divas Championship would be retired in favor of a new WWE Women's Championship. The inaugural champion was determined by a triple threat match between Charlotte, Becky Lynch, and Sasha Banks later that night, which was originally scheduled for the Divas Championship.[5] Charlotte, the final Divas Champion, became the first WWE Women's Champion by winning that match.[6]

Following the reintroduction of the brand split in July 2016, then-champion Charlotte was drafted to the Raw brand, making the championship exclusive to Raw. It was subsequently renamed to Raw Women's Championship after SummerSlam in August, when SmackDown created the SmackDown Women's Championship as a counterpart title.[1] The NXT Women's Championship would become WWE's third main women's title when the NXT brand, formerly the promotion's developmental territory, became WWE's third major brand in September 2019 when it was moved to the USA Network.[7]

When the title was introduced, it shared its name with the original Women's Championship. However, the new title does not share the same title history as the original, which was unified with the Divas Championship in 2010, with the combined title inheriting the latter's lineage and history. WWE acknowledges the original championship as its predecessor,[1] and notes that the lineage of female champions dates back to The Fabulous Moolah's reign in 1956.[5]

The championship was the first women's title to be defended in a WWE pay-per-view main event, which was at Hell in a Cell in October 2016; this was also the first-ever women's Hell in a Cell match and the first women's match to main event a WWE pay-per-view. At the event, Charlotte defeated Sasha Banks to become a three-time champion.[8] After two years, it was again featured in the main event match of a pay-per-view, which was the first-ever all-women's pay-per-view Evolution in October 2018, where Ronda Rousey retained the title against Nikki Bella.[9] Rousey then defended the title in a winner takes all triple threat match against SmackDown Women's Champion Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch in the main event of WrestleMania 35 in April 2019, which Lynch won. This was the first women's match to main event a WrestleMania – WWE's flagship event.[10] On May 10, 2020, the championship became the first in history to be directly rewarded as a result of winning the Money in the Bank ladder match (taped April 15, 2020), which was revealed the following night on Raw when the case was opened by Becky Lynch, presenting the title that she was forfeiting due to pregnancy to Asuka.[11]

The Raw Women's Championship belt is similar in appearance to the WWE Championship belt (introduced in 2014), with a few notable differences. The strap is smaller for the women, and white, as opposed to black. The die-cut WWE logo in the center plate sits on a red background, as opposed to a black one. The small print below the logo reads "Women's Champion". Gold divider bars separate the center plate from the belt's two side plates. In what has become a prominent feature of the majority of WWE's championship belts, the side plates feature a removable center section, which can be customized with the champion's logo; the default side plates feature the WWE logo on a red globe. This was the first women's title in WWE with customizable side plates.[5]

In what has become a tradition since fall 2014, the WWE has presented custom WWE Championship belts to winners in both male and female professional sports with the side plates commemorating the achievement.[12] In September 2018, the WWE began presenting custom Raw Women's Championship belts to winners in just female sports. The first of these was given to the Seattle Storm for winning the 2018 WNBA Finals.[13] Custom Raw Women's Championship belts have since been presented to the United States Women's National Soccer Team for winning the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup,[14] a team that previously received a custom WWE Championship for this feat in 2015,[15] and to Bianca Andreescu for winning the 2019 Women's US Open.[16]

As of June 27, 2020, there have been 16 reigns between 8 champions. Charlotte Flair, then known simply as Charlotte, was the inaugural champion. She is tied with Sasha Banks for the most reigns at four. Becky Lynch's sole reign is the longest at 373 days (398 days as recognized by WWE) while Banks' fourth reign is the shortest at 8 days. Asuka is the oldest champion, winning the championship at the age of 38, while Banks is the youngest as she first won the title at 24 years old.

Asuka is the current champion in her first reign. At Money in the Bank on May 10, 2020, Asuka won the women's Money in the Bank ladder match, which was pre-recorded on April 15. On the May 11 episode of Raw, previous champion Becky Lynch announced her hiatus from the company due to pregnancy. She then revealed that by Asuka winning the Money in the Bank ladder match, she actually won the Raw Women's Championship instead of the traditional women's championship match contract. WWE in turn recognizes Asuka's reign as beginning on May 10. This also made Asuka the second Women's Grand Slam Champion and third Women's Triple Crown Champion.

• Women in WWE
• Women's championships in WWE

• Official Raw Women's Title History