Triple H was the first wrestler to win both the WWE Championship and the World Heavyweight Championship. He won the World Heavyweight Championship in 2002 after WWE divided its world-title scene between Raw and SmackDown.
Triple H had already won the WWF Championship several times before the World Heavyweight Championship was introduced. At Unforgiven in September 2002, he defeated Rob Van Dam to become the first wrestler to hold the newly revived World Heavyweight Championship.
The title was presented as the continuation of the historic WCW World Heavyweight Championship after WWE unified its major championships and assigned the new belt to Raw. Triple H’s victory therefore gave him both of WWE’s principal world-title lineages during the brand-extension era.
Other wrestlers, including John Cena, Randy Orton, and Edge, later held both championships. Triple H’s distinction is that he achieved the combination first, making him an important figure in the early history of WWE’s two-brand title system.