When Silvers created Internet Pro Wrestling in July 2000, he declared himself the first World Heavyweight Champion of the promotion. He would go on to lose the title one day later without having ever successfully defended it. Internet Pro Wrestling would prove to be an extremely short-lived promotion, closing within two weeks of its opening. With the closing of IPW, the IPW World Heavyweight Championship was abandoned. While some records of the title's history (such as the dates of all three reigns) have been found, much of it has been lost to time, and the history of the title before this point is therefore not entirely clear.