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

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
ReignReign number for the specific champion
DaysNumber of days held
DefensesNumber of successful defenses
<1Reign lasted less than a day
+Current reign is changing daily
No.ChampionChampionship changeReign statisticsNotesRef.
DateEventLocationReignDaysDefenses
1Davey RichardsJune 30, 2017DEFY5 GiganticSeattle, WA180Defeated Shane Strickland in the tournament final to become the inaugural champion.
2Shane StricklandJuly 8, 2017CZW EvilutionVoorhees, NJ12795This 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.
3Austin AriesApril 13, 2018VibesSeattle, WA1981This was a Winner Takes All match also for Aries' Impact World Championship.
4Shane StricklandJuly 20, 2018Swerve Vs. AriesPortland, OR21473
5Artemis SpencerDecember 14, 2018On EdgeSeattle, WA12528
6SchaffAugust 23, 2019Defyance ForeverTacoma, WA11824
7Randy MyersFebruary 21, 2020Kings Of CrashSeattle, WA11,0090
—Christopher Daniels (Interim)December 18, 2021Dark HorseSeattle, WA—2946Daniels defeated Brody King to become the interim champion.
—Swerve Strickland (Interim)October 8, 2022City Of ThornsPortland, OR—490
8Swerve StricklandNovember 26, 2022FightwaveSeattle, WA31331This 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.
9Nick WayneApril 8, 2023The RealestSeattle, WA1562
10KentaJune 3, 2023Your NightmareSeattle, WA162610
11Ricky StarksFebruary 7, 2025HundredthSeattle, WA1210
—VacatedFebruary 28, 2025—————Starks vacated the title after signing with WWE.
12Clark ConnorsMarch 15, 2025AftermathSeattle, WA11881Defeated Starboy Charlie in a Super 8XGP Tournament final to win the vacant title.
13Bryan KeithSeptember 19, 2025AeonSeattle, WA1211+4

Combined reigns

As of April 18, 2026.

†Indicates the current champion
RankWrestlerNo. of reignsCombined defensesCombined days
1Randy Myers101,009
2Kenta110616
3Swerve Strickland39559
4Artemis Spencer18252
5Clark Connors11188
6Bryan Keith †14211+
7Schaff14182
8Austin Aries1198
9Nick Wayne1256
10Ricky Starks1021
11Davey Richards108

Notes

External links

  • at Cagematch.net