Last 5 Times A New World Champion Was Crowned On WWE Raw

Monday Night Raw has been the flagship weekly show of WWE since its inception in 1993. It has been the host of countless major moments and matches in WWE’s programming. On the 5th January 2026 episode of Raw, which also marks the 1st anniversary of Raw on Netflix, we are going to witness one such major match, which will be Bron Breakker challenging CM Punk for the World Heavyweight Championship.

However, WWE saves big World Title changes for its PLEs. In fact, under Triple H’s control, the World Title changes have been limited to only the big PLEs like WrestleMania and SummerSlam. If Breakker actually wins the World Title on the next Raw, it will be an incredibly shocking moment. As we inch closer to the match, let’s revisit the last 5 times a new World Champion was crowned on Raw.

5. Gunther Defeated Jey Uso For The World Heavyweight Title (June 9, 2025)

This was the most recent World Title change on Raw. After a dominant run as World Heavyweight Champion, Gunther shockingly lost the belt to Jey Uso at WrestleMania 41. A couple of months later, Gunther got his rematch on Raw.

Jey Uso put on a great fight, but it was not enough as Gunther defeated him to regain his title. The sudden title change made sense as Jey Uso’s title win was a failed experiment, and WWE was building towards a match between Gunther and Goldberg.

4. Big E Defeated Bobby Lashley For the WWE Title (September 13, 2021)

Despite the WWE saving major title changes for bigger events, we’ve often seen Money in the Bank cash-ins happening on weekly television. One such cash-in took place on the September 13th episode of Raw in 2021, when Big E cashed in his Money in the Bank on the WWE Champion Bobby Lashley.

Lashley had just retained his WWE Title against Randy Orton, after which he fell victim to Big E’s cash-in. Due to fatigue from the previous match, Lashley expectedly dropped the title to Big E, giving Big E his first and only World Title win.

3. Bobby Lashley Defeated The Miz For The WWE Title (March 1, 2021)

Before dropping the title to Big E, Bobby Lashley himself won the WWE Championship on Raw itself. At Elimination Chamber 2021, Lashley attacked the WWE Champion Drew McIntyre, causing The Miz to win the title from him after he cashed in his Money in the Bank contract.

Following this, Lashley became the No. 1 Contender for the WWE Title. Just 8 days after Elimination Chamber, Lashley challenged Miz for the belt on Raw in a Lumberjack Match and quickly defeated him to win the WWE Title for the first time in his career, and would then go on to have a dominant run as Champion.

2. Drew McIntyre Defeated Randy Orton For The WWE Title (November 16, 2020)

Drew McIntyre finally captured the WWE Championship for the first time at WrestleMania 36. McIntyre carried the WWE during the pandemic and had a fantastic reign as Champion. His toughest challenge came in the form of Randy Orton, who ended his reign at Hell in a Cell 2020.