List of current champions in WWE
At the top of WWE's championship hierarchy are the WWE Universal Championship on Raw and the WWE Championship on SmackDown. The Universal Championship is held by record two-time champion Brock Lesnar, who won the vacant title by defeating Braun Strowman at Crown Jewel on November 2, 2018; previous champion Roman Reigns had to relinquish the title due to illness (leukemia). The WWE Champion is Daniel Bryan, who is in his fourth reign. He won the title on the November 13, 2018, episode of "SmackDown Live" by defeating AJ Styles.
The Miz
On the November 22 episode of "Raw", he cashed in his Money in the Bank contract following a successful WWE Championship defense by Randy Orton against Wade Barrett to become the new WWE Champion, making him the first "Tough Enough" contestant to win the WWE Championship. He successfully defended the championship against Jerry Lawler in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match on the following episode of "Raw", due to help from Michael Cole and Riley, and again at the pay-per-view in December by defeating Orton in a Tables match following interference from Alex Riley. The Miz defeated Morrison to retain the championship in a Falls Count Anywhere match on the first Raw of 2011. In January 2011, he defeated Orton again at the Royal Rumble after interference from CM Punk and Lawler the following month at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view to retain the championship. The night after Elimination Chamber, The Miz and John Cena were paired together by the Raw General Manager to challenge The Corre (Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater) for the WWE Tag Team Championship. The Miz and Cena were successful in winning the titles, but lost them back to Corre immediately afterward in a rematch after The Miz turned on Cena. This made their reign the shortest in the championship's history. The following week, The Miz lost Riley as his apprentice after Cena defeated Riley in a steel cage match with the stipulation that if Cena won, Riley was fired from his job, but The Miz hired Riley back in mid-March, this time as his Vice President of Corporate Communications. In the main event of WrestleMania XXVII on April 3, The Miz successfully defended the WWE Championship against Cena, following interference from The Rock. At Extreme Rules on May 1, The Miz lost the WWE Championship to Cena, in a triple threat steel cage match, also involving John Morrison. The following night on "Raw", The Miz failed to regain the championship from Cena in a singles match when he lost by disqualification and failed to regain the championship again in an "I Quit" match at Over the Limit.
The following night on the May 23 episode of "Raw", the Anonymous Raw General Manager's denied The Miz's request for another WWE Championship match and ended the feud with John Cena. The Miz blamed Riley for not being able to regain the WWE Championship because of Riley not being at ringside at Extreme Rules when Miz lost the championship. On the May 2nd episode of "Raw", Riley raised the hand of Miz with the WWE Championship with leading to his disqualification and at Over the Limit, Riley left his phone behind that he used to trick the referee into thinking that Cena said "I Quit". Riley attacked him, sending him crashing into a barricade at ringside and then head first over the broadcast table, which turned Riley a fan favorite for the first time in WWE. On the May 30 episode of "Raw", The Miz assaulted Riley after an interview from Michael Cole, but Riley gained the upper hand and Miz escaped through the crowd. At Capitol Punishment, Riley defeated Miz in a singles-match. He went on to lose to Riley in various singles and tag team matches. Miz lost Raw's Money in the Bank ladder match at Money in the Bank after leaving with a knee injury kayfabe, then returning but being stopped from claiming the briefcase by Rey Mysterio. The next night on Raw, Miz made it to the final of the WWE Championship tournament, defeating his former NXT rookie Alex Riley in the first round. The next week on Raw, Miz lost to Rey Mysterio. At SummerSlam, The Miz teamed with R-Truth and Alberto Del Rio loing to Rey Mysterio, Kofi Kingston and John Morrison.