5 AEW wrestlers who held the 'Big Gold' WWE World Heavyweight Championship

Triple H recently reintroduced the iconic 'Big Gold' WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Although numerous legendary superstars have held the title, a number of current AEW stars have also had a run with it in the past while still in the Stamford-based promotion.

For this list, we're going to explore five current active AEW stars who hold the title. With this in mind, the likes of Paul Wight (fka Big Show) and Mark Henry are just honorably mentioned as they are not active. CM Punk is also on the honorable mention since his situation with All Elite is still up in the air.

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#5: Bryan Danielson (fka Daniel Bryan in WWE)

Bryan Danielson's first run with the Big Gold title was in 2011 after cashing in his Money in the Bank contract against Big Show at that year's TLC event. This win also marked the first-ever NXT star to win a WWE World Championship. Unfortunately, he lost the title in just 18 seconds at WrestleMania XXVIII.

His run for the title in 2013-2014 then skyrocketed him into being one of the top babyfaces in the company. Before his memorable WrestleMania XXX win of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, he clashed heads with The Authority, Randy Orton, and even John Cena.

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#4: Chris Jericho

Chris Jericho is one of the most experienced wrestlers on the list. He debuted in the Stamford-based promotion in 1999 and lasted until 2018, although he did have some subsequent breaks in between.

He won the Big Gold title in 2001, which at the time was still called the WCW Championship. After returning to the company in 2007, he won the title the following year at Unforgiven. Jericho won the title again in 2010 in that year's Elimination Chamber match.

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#3: Christian Cage

Christian Cage, simply known as Christian in WWE, won his first World Heavyweight Championship during his second run in the company. He debuted in 1998 and departed in 2005. He returned to WWE in 2009 and finally won his first World Championship years later. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to spend much time with the championship.

He won the title in 2011's Extreme Rules event, beating Alberto Del Rio. His first reign ended in just four days on an episode of SmackDown at the hands of Randy Orton. His second reign didn't last long either, with only 27 days.

He won the title the second time around at the Money in the Bank event after Orton disqualified himself. However, Christian lost the title once again to The Viper at SummerSlam.

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#2: Jake Hager (fka Jack Swagger in WWE)

Jack Hager performed for WWE from 2006 until 2017, but he only held the major title in 2010. Unfortunately, this was his only run for the World Heavyweight Championship.

After winning the 2010 Money in the Bank match, he cashed in the contract against Chris Jericho to win the championship in April. He defended it against Jericho, Edge, Randy Orton, and even The Big Show. He lost the title to Rey Mysterio in June of the same year, ending his reign at only 79 days.

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#1: Sting

Sting is one of the biggest legends in the sport, which is why it's no surprise that he has held numerous titles in the past. Best known for his time in WCW, he held around fourteen world championships for the duration of his career.

The WWE Hall of Famer may never have won a title in the Stamford-based promotion, but he won the Big Gold title in WCW six times. He won the title for the first time in 1992 at the company's The Great American Bash event. After Vince McMahon bought the company, they continued using the Big Gold design for their World Heavyweight Championship for a few years.