DEFY World Championship

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DEFY World Championship
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Current title design (2017–present)
Details
PromotionDEFY Wrestling
Date establishedJune 30, 2017
Current championBryan Keith
Date wonSeptember 19, 2025
Statistics
First championDavey Richards
Most reignsSwerve Strickland
(3 reigns)
Longest reignRandy Myers
(1,009 days)
Shortest reignDavey Richards
(8 days)
Oldest championKenta
(42 years, 83 days)
Youngest championNick Wayne
(17 years, 272 days)
Heaviest championSchaff
(273 lb (124 kg))
Lightest championArtemis Spencer (176 lb (80 kg))

The DEFY World Championship is a men's professional wrestling world championship created and promoted by the American promotion DEFY Wrestling, being sanctioned as the promotion's top championship. There have been a total of twelve reigns shared between nine different champions. The current champion is Bryan Keith who is in his first reign. He won the title by defeating Clark Connors at Aeon on September 19, 2025 in Seattle, Washington.

Title history

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There have been a total of 11 reigns shared between 9 different champions. Davey Richards was the inaugural champion who also holds the record for the shortest reign with eight days. Randy Myers had the longest reign at 1,009 days, however without scoring any defenses due to the COVID pandemic impact. Swerve Strickland holds the record for most reigns with three. The current champion is Bryan Keith who is in his first reign. He won the title by defeating Clark Connors at Aeon on September 19, 2025 in Seattle, Washington.


Key
No. Overall reign number
Reign Reign number for the specific champion
Days Number of days held
Defenses Number of successful defenses
<1 Reign lasted less than a day
+ Current reign is changing daily
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign Days Defenses
1 Davey Richards June 30, 2017 DEFY5 Gigantic Seattle, WA 1 8 0 Defeated Shane Strickland in the tournament final to become the inaugural champion. [1]
2 Shane Strickland July 8, 2017 CZW Evilution Voorhees, NJ 1 279 5 This was a four-way Winner Takes All match also disputed for Strickland's CZW World Heavyweight Championship which also involved Joe Gacy and Lio Rush. [2]
3 Austin Aries April 13, 2018 Vibes Seattle, WA 1 98 1 This was a Winner Takes All match also for Aries' Impact World Championship. [3]
4 Shane Strickland July 20, 2018 Swerve Vs. Aries Portland, OR 2 147 3 [4]
5 Artemis Spencer December 14, 2018 On Edge Seattle, WA 1 252 8 [5]
6 Schaff August 23, 2019 Defyance Forever Tacoma, WA 1 182 4 [6]
7 Randy Myers February 21, 2020 Kings Of Crash Seattle, WA 1 1,009 0 [7]
— Christopher Daniels (Interim) December 18, 2021 Dark Horse Seattle, WA — 294 6 Daniels defeated Brody King to become the interim champion. [8]
— Swerve Strickland (Interim) October 8, 2022 City Of Thorns Portland, OR — 49 0 [9]
8 Swerve Strickland November 26, 2022 Fightwave Seattle, WA 3 133 1 This was a Championship Unification match in which Strickland wrestled as the interim champion. The bout was a six-way ladder match which also involved Artemis Spencer, Christopher Daniels, Cody Chhun and Schaff. Strickland was previously known as Shane Stricklad. [10]
9 Nick Wayne April 8, 2023 The Realest Seattle, WA 1 56 2 [11]
10 Kenta June 3, 2023 Your Nightmare Seattle, WA 1 626 10 [12]
11 Ricky Starks February 7, 2025 Hundredth Seattle, WA 1 21 0 [13]
— Vacated February 28, 2025 — — — — — Starks vacated the title after signing with WWE. [14]
12 Clark Connors March 15, 2025 Aftermath Seattle, WA 1 188 1 Defeated Starboy Charlie in a Super 8XGP Tournament final to win the vacant title. [15]
13 Bryan Keith September 19, 2025 Aeon Seattle, WA 1 234+ 0 [16]

Combined reigns

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As of May 11, 2026.

† Indicates the current champion
Rank Wrestler No. of
reigns 		Combined
defenses 		Combined
days
1 Randy Myers 1 0 1,009
2 Kenta 1 10 616
3 Swerve Strickland[a] 3 9 559
4 Artemis Spencer 1 8 252
5 Clark Connors 1 1 188
6 Schaff 1 4 182
7 Austin Aries 1 1 98
8 Bryan Keith † 1 1 234+
9 Nick Wayne 1 2 56
10 Ricky Starks 1 0 21
11 Davey Richards 1 0 8

Notes

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  1. ^ Strickland was known as "Shane Strickland" during his first two title reigns.

References

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