Following the name of the champion(s): Indicates the number of times the wrestler has held that title at that point.
[...]
Indicates a gap in the listing where title changes are not known.
*
If used next to the names of the wrestlers, they may, in fact, not have held the title in the period indicated. If used next to the dates or places, either they are possibly wrong or the title changes are fictitious.
<
Title was held or changed hands no later than this. In these cases, it is known that a wrestler held the title at a certain time but not when he/she won it.
+
Broadcast date; the actual recording date is unknown.
@
Order uncertain. Different titleholders may be known for the same year, for example, but it is not known who held the title before whom.
#
Unofficial or disputable claims. These are usually matches that certainly took place, but where there is doubt that the wrestler shown should be recognized as a true title holder. These listings are also italicized in HTML files
National Wrestling Alliance title, awarded
on 49-11-27 when champion Orville Brown cannot wrestle in the unification match scheduled on 11-25 in St. Louis, MO due to injury suffered in an automobile accident on 11-01
Los
Angeles version, defeating
Baron Michele Leone on 52-05-21 in Los Angeles, CA.
Defeats Thesz by countout in the second round and disqualification in the third round; California Athletic Commission recognizes the title change by disqualification (San Francisco Examiner, 55-03-23), but both Thesz and Nomellini continue to claim the title.
Carpentier withdraws his claim to the title when Montreal
promoter Eddie Quinn leaves NWA; NWA voids all recognition of
Carpentier as champion on 57-08-25; Carpentier continues to be recognized
as world champion in Nebraska and New England and by World
Wrestling Association in Los Angeles to legitimate the lineages
of their world titles.
Wins when Rogers is counted out claiming a groin injury;
Brazil refuses the victory stating that he would accept the title by pinfall only (Paterson Evening News, Paterson, NJ, 62-08-20); however, it is announced on 62-09-06
that Brazil is the new champion because nothing has been found
wrong with Rogers by the doctor; after Rogers is injured due to the attack by Karl Gotch and Bill Miller on 62-08-31 in Columbus, OH and cancels several matches, Brazil is briefly billed as the world champion in some towns including Commack, NY (Daily News, New York, NY 62-09-18) and Hagerstown, MD (The Daily Mail, 63-10-05) but eventually recognized as the United States champion by 62-10-05.
Title change reversed back in Newark, NJ; also defeats Brazil to retain the title on 62-10-30 in Toledo, OH (Toledo Blade, 62-10-28 & 10-31); Killer Kowalski defeats Rogers on 62-11-21
in Montreal, QC after Rogers' ankle is broken in first fall; Kowalski
is recognized as champion in some places including Texas; Rogers
defeats Kowalski on 63-01-21 in New York, NY in what is most likely a non-title match (no mention of the title on the newspapers).
Promoters in northeast refuse to recognize Rogers's
one-fall loss to Thesz and start World Wide Wrestling Federation
with Rogers as the first WWWF
World Heavyweight champion; Thesz defeats Rogers in a two-out-of-three-falls
rematch on 63-02-07 in Toronto, ON; defeats Kowalski on 63-02-01
in Houston, TX; unifies AWA (Alliance) World Title, defeating Karl Krauser on 64-09-07 in Columbus, OH and WWA World Title, defeating Dory Funk Jr. on 65-01-04 in Albuquerque, NM.
Wrestles to a double count-out against WWF Heavyweight
champion Bob Backlund on 82-07-04 in Atlanta, GA; on 82-12-19 in Santo Domingo, DOM, Flair allows himself to be pinned by Jack Veneno to avoid
the riot from the audience, but the title is returned to Flair when Veneno is not willing to leave the country to defend it although continues to claim the world title in DOM as of 92-03;
Midnight Rider (Dusty Rhodes under mask) defeats Flair on 83-02-09
in Miami, FL but returns the belt when asked to indentify himself
by NWA President Bob Geigel.
Stripped on 91-09-08 when Flair signs with WWF,
where he claims the "Real World Heavyweight Title"; NWA World
Heavyweight Title is vacant for the first time since the foundation of the NWA in 1948;
Flair wins WWF
World Heavyweight Title on 92-01-19 in Albany, NY; some reports
say Lex Luger, who has won the vacant WCW World Heavyweight Title
by defeating Barry Windham on 91-07-14 in Baltimore, MD, is briefly
given recognition as NWA World champion by the NWA board, controlled
by WCW Vice President Jim Herd; Luger is not recognized by NWA as
a former champion.
Referee gives a fast count; stripped on 02-05-28 by unanimous vote of the NWA Board of Directors for not being
able to schedule a title defense on 02-06-19 in Huntsville, AL.
Defeats Malice after the two become the finalists
of a battle royal; Total Nonstop Action Wrestling is given a control of the title by the NWA Board of Directors after this point.
Ray Gonzalez pins Jarrett on 05-04-16 in Caguas, PR (or 05-04-03 in San Juan, PR) but the decision is reversed after the match due to the unauthorized referee counting the pinfall while the originally sanctioned referee is knocked out; although there have been many other wrestlers with their victories overturned (simply booked not to win the title), Gonzalez is listed as a former champion in Wikipedia and other sites that copy the information from it including the old NWA official website in 15-02, resulting to confuse the site visitors.
Defeats Abyss and Sting in a 3-way match; stripped by NWA on 07-05-13 after NWA and TNA discontinues the working agreement; Kurt Angle defeats Cage and Sting in what is billed as a "world heavyweight title match" by TNA later on the same day in Orlando, FL but is stripped of the title on the following day due to a controversial ending of the match.
Loses to Bryan Danielson in the semi-final of 16-man tournament which takes place starting from 07-06-02 in various locations in the U.S., but due to Danielson's eye injury, Pearce replaces him and defeats Brent Albright in the final.
Also defeats Sai Ryoji for "AWA" World Title in a double title match on 11-07-03 in Tōkyō; stripped on 11-07-11 for refusing the scheduled title defense against Adam Pearce on 11-07-31 in Columbus, OH.
Vacates on 12-10-27 in Berwick, AUS after losing to Colt Cobana in the last of a 7-match series between the two; originally scheduled as a title match; however, the ownership of NWA changes during the series, and the new management decides not to sanction the match.
Kahagas
2012-11-02
Clayton, NJ
Wins a 9-man elimination match, last eliminating Damien Wayne.
