The WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship and the top title contested for in the Puerto Rican professional wrestling promotion, the World Wrestling Council. The championship was established in July 1982, as the WWC World Heavyweight Championship, when the company was named Capitol Sports Promotions. The championship received its current name following a match between Carlos Colón (WWC World Heavyweight Champion) and Ric Flair (NWA World Heavyweight Champion) where the "Champion of the Universe" was supposed to be determined. The first champion was Abdullah the Butcher, who was billed as champion upon the title's creation. Since being established, the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship has been held by forty-nine different wrestlers and has also been held up on nineteen occasions and vacated or stripped thirteen times. History Early history The WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship was first introduced as the WWC World Heavyweight Championship, when it was awarded to Abdullah the Butcher, after he won a "tournament" that supposedly took place in Japan. The tournament was part of a storyline and was used to relate to Abdullah's previous run in All Japan Pro Wrestling. Three days later Carlos Colón became the first local wrestler to win the championship. During the championship's first years Colón would defend the championship successfully against several international wrestlers, only losing it when a "feud angle" was being promoted. During December 1983, Capitol Sports Promotions gave a significant amount of promotion to an angle between Ric Flair and Carlos Colón. At the moment when the feud happened Colón was the WWC World Heavyweight Champion and Flair was the NWA World Heavyweight Champion. The angle included a spot where Flair would criticize Capitol's championship, claiming that he was the only "real world champion". This led to a match on December 18, 1983 where both wrestlers competed in an event organized at Bayamón, Puerto Rico. The match was billed as a fight to determine the "undisputed champion of the Universe", and it took place inside a steel cage. Flair lost the match and Colón was declared the "undisputed champion of the Universe", in the process the championship was renamed to WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship. February 17, 1985 marked the first time that the championship's holder changed outside of Puerto Rico, when Dory Funk, Jr. won it. After a rematch ended in a draw, the title was held up for the first time since its foundation.