NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship

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NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship
An American wrestler with short blond pompadour-styled hair wearing a blue and black robe poses in the middle of a wrestling ring.
Ric Flair held the NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship four times and had the eight-longest combined reign, at 408 days.
Details
PromotionNational Wrestling Alliance
Jim Crockett Promotions
Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling
Date establishedOctober 13, 1970 (Re-established in 1996)
Date retiredDecember 26, 1986
Other name(s)
  • NWA Eastern Heavyweight Championship
Statistics
First champion(s)Pat O'Connor
Most reignsWahoo McDaniel (7 times)
Longest reignBuff Bagwell (1,807 days)
Shortest reignPat O'Connor (1 day)[Note 1]

The NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship contested for in Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP), a territory-promotion governed by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The title was only contestable by male individual wrestlers. Since 1974, JCP was also known as "Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling" (MACW), which is why all of its championships included "Mid-Atlantic" in their names.[1] Being a professional wrestling championship, it was not won legitimately; it was instead won via a scripted ending to a match or awarded to a wrestler because of a storyline. In 1970, the championship was introduced as the NWA Eastern Heavyweight Championship during a taping of Championship Wrestling[Note 2] on October 13, 1970. It was announced that the Missouri Mauler had defeated the defending champion Pat O'Connor in New York City to win the title; this title change was fictitious and a storyline to introduce the championship to the promotion; nevertheless, O'Connor's reign is denoted as the first official reign. Because it was fictitious, further information regarding O'Connor's reign is unavailable.

On the September 6, 1973 taping of Championship Wrestling,[Note 2] JCP owner Jim Crockett, Jr. announced the retirement of the NWA Eastern Heavyweight Championship and the establishment of the NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship; this coincided with the rebranding of JCP as MACW.[1] At the time of this change, Jerry Brisco was in his fourth reign as the NWA Eastern Heavyweight Champion, and as a result of never losing the title, he was recognized as the first NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Champion. Because Brisco's fourth reign did not end, being awarded the NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Title is not counted as a new reign overall in the title's history.[2] On December 26, 1986, Ron Garvin, after winning JCP's version of the NWA United States Tag Team Championship with Barry Windham, vacated the NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Title and handed the belt to Crockett, Jr. on a taping of World Championship Wrestling.[Note 3] Crockett, Jr. deactivated the championship for unknown reasons, and eventually, JCP was sold to Ted Turner in 1988.[3] As a result, Garvin was the final wrestler to hold the NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Title. In the late 1990s, a group of promoters was given permission by the NWA to establish a territory called "Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling (MACW)"; however, this territory has not claimed any connection to the original JCP/MACW. As a result, their prime championship, called the MACW Heavyweight Championship,[4] has no connection to this original JCP/MACW championship.

Overall, there were 60 reigns shared between 29 wrestlers. Fifteen of those reigns occurred while the title was called the "NWA Eastern Heavyweight Championship", while 46 occurred under the "NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship" name. The title had only one official vacancy, which occurred in July 1985. Jack Brisco and Wahoo McDaniel had the most reigns as champion, with six; Jerry Brisco and Rip Hawk had the second-most, with four. Ken Patera's second reign was the longest in the title's history, at 334 days; the Missouri Mauler had the second-longest, at 275 days. Johnny Valentine ranks first in combined reigns by length, at 504 days with 2 reigns; Patera ranks second, at 495 days with 4 reigns. All title changes occurred at JCP–promoted events: live events, pay-per-view events, and on televised events that aired on broadcast delay.

Title history

Key
Symbol Meaning
# The overall championship reign
Reign The reign number for the specific wrestler listed
Event The event promoted by the respective promotion in which the title changed hands
N/A The specific information is not known or applicable.
—
 Used for vacated reigns so as not to count it as an official reign
  Indicates periods of unknown lineage
# Wrestler Reign Date Days
held 		Location Event Notes
NWA Eastern Heavyweight Championship
1 Pat O'Connor 1 1970 [Note 1] N/A Live event It was announced in local advertisements that O'Connor was the reigning Eastern Heavyweight Champion until October 13, 1970, when he lost the championship to the Missouri Mauler; this reign was a storyline to introduce the championship to JCP, and as a result, further information regarding how O'Connor won the title is unavailable.[5]
2 Missouri Mauler 1 October 13, 1970 275 N/A Championship Wrestling[Note 2] The Missouri Mauler announced on local television from WGHP television studios that he had defeated O'Connor for the title in New York City; the title change was a continuation of the storyline to introduce the championship to JCP, and as a result, further information regarding the title change is unavailable. This title change aired on broadcast delay.[5]
3 Danny Miller 1 July 15, 1971 67 Greensboro, North Carolina Live event
4 Missouri Mauler 2 September 20, 1971 71 Charlotte, North Carolina Live event
5 Jack Brisco 1 November 30, 1971 76 High Point, North Carolina Championship Wrestling
[Note 2] 		This title change aired on broadcast delay.
6 Rip Hawk 1 February 14, 1972 56 Charlotte, North Carolina Live event
7 Jack Brisco 2 April 10, 1972 [Note 4] Charlotte, North Carolina Live event
8 Rip Hawk 2 [Note 5] [Note 5] San Juan, Puerto Rico Live event The exact date on which Rip Hawk won his second reign is unknown, however, it is confirmed by sources that he won the title from Jack Brisco between April 25 and May 25, 1972 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
9 Jerry Brisco 1 June 13, 1972 76 Columbia, South Carolina Live event
10 Rip Hawk 3 August 28, 1972 7 Greenville, South Carolina Live event
11 Jerry Brisco 2 September 4, 1972 115 Greenville, South Carolina Live event
12 Rip Hawk 4 December 28, 1972 65 Greensboro, North Carolina Live event
13 Jerry Brisco 3 March 3, 1973 67 Salem, North Carolina Live vent
14 Ole Anderson 1 May 9, 1973 55 Raleigh, North Carolina All Star Wrestling
[Note 6] 		This title change aired on broadcast delay.
NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship
15 (1) Jerry Brisco 4 July 3, 1973 [Note 7] Columbia, South Carolina Live event On September 6, 1973 the NWA retired the NWA Eastern Heavyweight Championship and introduced the NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship to JCP as its replacement. As a result of Brisco being recognized as the final NWA Eastern Heavyweight Champion later the NWA recognized him as the first NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Champion. However, this reign is not considered to be a new reign overall in the title's history because Jerry Brisco originally never lost the title.
16 (2) Johnny Valentine 1 January 1974 [Note 8] N/A N/A From the information known, Johnny Valentine was awarded the championship by Jim Crockett, Jr. after Brisco traveled to Japan to wrestle and was unable to defend the title in the United States; a formal vacancy was not established, however.
— Vacant N/A October 28, 1974 7 — N/A N/A
17 (3) Johnny Valentine 2 November 4, 1974 135 Live event
18 (4) Paul Jones 1 March 9, 1975 10 Charlotte, North Carolina Live event Jones' title win became a controversy as a result of Valentine having his leg on the ring rope when the referee counted the pinfall, which the referee failed to see. If this were seen, the pin count would have been stopped. [6]
19 (5) Johnny Valentine 3 March 19, 1975 102 Raleigh, North Carolina All Star Wrestling Valentine demanded a review of his match with Jones by NWA President Sam Muchnick, who ruled in favor of Valentine. As a result, Muchnick stripped Jones of the championship and awarded it to Valentine; a formal vacancy was not established, however. This title change aired on tape delay.[6]
20 (6) Wahoo McDaniel 1 June 29, 1975 N/A Asheville, North Carolina Live event
21 (7) Ric Flair 1 July 1975 N/A Live event
22 (8) Wahoo McDaniel 2 July 26, 1975 56 Asheville, North Carolina Live event
23 (9) Ric Flair 2 September 20, 1975 226 Hampton, Virginia Live event [7]
24 (10) Wahoo McDaniel 3 May 3, 1976 21 Charlotte, North Carolina Live event
25 (11) Ric Flair 3 May 24, 1976 110 Charlotte, North Carolina Live event [8]
26 (12) Wahoo McDaniel 4 September 11, 1976 35 Greenville, South Carolina Live event
27 (13) Ric Flair 4 October 16, 1976 72 Greensboro, North Carolina Live event
28 (14) Wahoo McDaniel 5 December 27, 1976 166 Richmond, Virginia Live event
29 (15) Greg Valentine 1 June 11, 1977 59 Greensboro, North Carolina Live event
30 (16) Wahoo McDaniel 6 August 9, 1977 29 Raleigh, North Carolina Live event
31 (17) Greg Valentine 2 September 7, 1977 207 Raleigh, North Carolina Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling
[Note 6] 		This title change aired on broadcast delay. As part of the storyline, Valentine "broke" Wahoo's leg, but this was not a legitimate injury.
32 (18) Wahoo McDaniel 7 April 2, 1978 7 Greensboro, North Carolina Live event
33 (19) Ken Patera 1 April 9, 1978 161 Charlotte, North Carolina Live event
33 (20) Tony Atlas 1 September 17, 1978 28 Roanoke, Virginia Live event
34 (21) Ken Patera 2 October 15, 1978 334 Roanoke, Virginia Live event
35 (22) Jim Brunzell 1 September 14, 1979 69 Richmond, Virginia Live event
36 (23) Ray Stevens 1 November 22, 1979 33 Greensboro, North Carolina Live event
37 (24) Jim Brunzell 2 December 25, 1979 168 Charlotte, North Carolina Live event
38 (25) The Iron Sheik 1 May 11, 1980 174 Charlotte, North Carolina Live event
39 (26) Ricky Steamboat 1 November 1, 1980 166 Richmond, Virginia Live event
40 (27) Ivan Koloff 1 April 16, 1981 177 Norfolk, Virginia Live event
41 (28) Ricky Steamboat 2 October 10, 1981 22 Greensboro, North Carolina Live event
42 (29) Roddy Piper 1 November 1, 1981 180 Greensboro, North Carolina Live event
43 (30) Jack Brisco 3 (1) May 10, 1982 58 Greenville, North Carolina Live event
43 (31) Roddy Piper 2 July 7, 1982 27 Charlotte, North Carolina World Wide Wrestling
[Note 9] 		This title change aired on broadcast delay.
44 (32) Jack Brisco 4 (2) August 3, 1982 29 Raleigh, North Carolina Live event
45 (33) Paul Jones 2 September 1, 1982 47 Charlotte, North Carolina World Wide Wrestling
[Note 9] 		This title change aired on broadcast delay.
46 (34) Jack Brisco 5 (3) October 18, 1982 15 Greenville, South Carolina Live event
47 (35) Paul Jones 3 November 2, 1982 28 Raleigh, North Carolina Live event
48 (36) Jack Brisco 6 November 30, 1982 61 Columbia, South Carolina Live event
49 (37) Dory Funk, Jr. 1 January 30, 1983 187 Charlotte, North Carolina Live event
50 (38) Rufus Jones 1 August 5, 1983 120 Richmond, Virginia Live event
51 (39) Dick Slater 1 December 3, 1983 [Note 10] Hampton, Virginia Live event
52 (40) Ivan Koloff 2 [Note 11] [Note 11] N/A [Note 12] After Dick Slater won the NWA United States Championship on December 14, 1983, he elected to award Ivan Koloff the NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship; however, the exact date and location of this title change is unknown, although it has been confirmed to have aired on broadcast delay.
53 (41) Angelo Mosca, Jr. 1 January 25, 1984 53 Shelby, North Carolina Live event
54 (42) Ivan Koloff 3 March 18, 1984 35 Charlotte, North Carolina Live event
55 (43) Angelo Mosca, Jr. 2 April 22, 1984 20 Charlotte, North Carolina [Note 12] This title change aired on broadcast delay.
56 (44) The Masked Outlaw 2 May 12, 1984 46 Spencer, North Carolina [Note 12] The Masked Outlaw was an alternate ring name of Dory Funk, Jr. (who was suspended for shoving NWA representative Sandy Scott), who had won the title under his real name previously. This title change aired on broadcast delay.
57 (45) Angelo Mosca, Jr. 3 June 27, 1984 63 Norfolk, Virginia [Note 12] This title change aired on broadcast delay.
58 (46) Ron Bass 1 August 29, 1984 199 Spartanburg, South Carolina [Note 12] This title change aired on broadcast delay.
59 (47) Buzz Tyler 1 March 16, 1985 [Note 13] Greensboro, North Carolina [Note 12] This title change aired on broadcast delay.
— Vacant N/A July 1985 — N/A N/A Buzz Tyler was stripped of the championship after he left JCP; title was declared vacant as a result.
60 (48) Krusher Khrushchev 1 November 28, 1985 44 Greensboro, North Carolina Starrcade (1985) Krusher Khrushchev defeated Sam Houston in a tournament final to win the vacant championship.
61 (49) Sam Houston 1 January 11, 1986 66 Atlanta, Georgia World Championship Wrestling
[Note 3] 		This title change aired on broadcast delay.
Khrushchev legitimately injured his knee during this match; he would miss six months of action.
62 (50) Black Bart 1 March 18, 1986 168 Mooresville, North Carolina Live event
63 (51) Ron Garvin 1 September 2, 1986 115 Spartanburg, South Carolina Live event After winning JCP's version of the NWA United States Tag Team Championship with Barry Windham, Garvin vacated the NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship and handed it to Jim Crockett, Jr. on the December 26, 1986 taping of World Championship Wrestling. The title was deactivated afterwards for unknown reasons by Crockett, Jr., and JCP was then sold to Ted Turner in 1988.[3] As a result, Ron Garvin was the final wrestler to hold the NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Title.
NWA MACW Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship (1996-2011)
64 (52) Preston Quinn 1 July 17, 1996 [[571]] Suffolk, Virginia Defeats Rising Sun.
65 (53) Carolina Kid 1 February 8, 1998 N/A Norfolk, Virginia
— Vacant N/A 1998 — N/A N/A
66 (54) Colt Steel 1 October 2, 1999 [[371 ]] Columbus, North Carolina Defeats The Metal Maniac.
67 (55) Bunkhouse Buck 1 October 7, 2000 N/A Morganton, North Carolina
68 (56) Rick Nelson 1 2001 N/A
69 (57) Buff Bagwell 1 December 14, 2001 N/A Hartsville, South Carolina
— Vacant N/A 2002 — N/A N/A Title vacated as of September 5, 2002.
70 (58) Steve Williams 1 December 30, 2003 N/A Guangzhou, China Defeats Terry Taylor.
— Vacant N/A 2005 — N/A N/A
71 (59) Scott Steiner 1 September 24, 2005 N/A Concord, North Carolina Defeats Buff Bagwell.
— Vacant N/A 2006 — N/A N/A
72 (60) Buff Bagwell 2 March 17, 2006 [[1,807]] Laurens, South Carolina Defeats Rikki Nelson.
73 (61) Rick Nelson 2 February 26, 2011 Cheraw, South Carolina MACW leaves the NWA in 2012. Title vacated as of October 1, 2012. No Championship by Ricky Nelson or the old MACW is sanctioned or recognized by the NWA after this date
New NWA MACW Heavyweight Championship (2012-present)
— Vacant N/A 2012 — N/A N/A NWA Sanctions a new MACW to be formed October 1st, 2012
— Vacant N/A 2013 — N/A N/A NWA World Wide introduces new Eastern States Championship but it is NOT the Mid-Atlantic Championship.
— Vacant N/A 2014 — N/A N/A
74 (62) Lance Erikson 1 July 4, 2015 239 Beckley, West Virginia Lance Erickson becomes first NWA Mid-Atlantic Champion since 2012 when he defeats William Huckaby.
— Vacant N/A February 28, 2016 — N/A N/A Title vacated when Erickson fails to defend the title.

Combined reigns

Key
Symbol Meaning
#= The equal sign next to a number means that entry is equal in length with the preceding and/or following entry
¤ The exact length of at least one title reign is uncertain, so the shortest possible length is used.
† Indicates the current champion.
Rank Wrestler # of reigns Combined days
1= Buff Bagwell 2 1,828¤
2 Preston Quinn 1 571
3 Johnny Valentine 3 504¤
[Note 8]
4 Ken Patera 2 495
5 Jerry Brisco 4 440¤
[Note 7]
6 Ric Flair 4 408¤
7 Colt Steel 1 371
8 Missouri Mauler 2 347
9 Wahoo McDaniel 7 341¤
10 Greg Valentine 2 266
11 Jack Brisco 6 253¤
[Note 4]
12 Lance Erikson 1 239
14 Jim Brunzell 2 237
14 Ivan Koloff 3 237¤
[Note 11]
15 Dory Funk, Jr./The Masked Outlaw 2 233
16 Roddy Piper 2 207
18 Ron Bass 1 199
19 Rick Steamboat 2 188
20 The Iron Sheik 1 174
21 Black Bart 1 168
22 Rip Hawk 4 147¤
[Note 5]
23 Angelo Mosca, Jr. 3 136
24 Rufus Jones 1 120
25 Ron Garvin 1 115
26 Buzz Tyler 1 107¤
[Note 13]
27 Paul Jones 2 85
28 Danny Miller 1 67
29 Sam Houston 1 66
30 Ole Anderson 1 55
31 Ray Stevens 1 33
32 Tony Atlas 1 28
33 Dick Slater 1 28¤
[Note 10]
34 Pat O'Connor 1 1¤
[Note 1]
35 Carolina Kid 1 1¤
36 Bunkhouse Buck 1 1¤
37 "Dr. Death" Steve Williams 1 1¤
38 Scott Steiner 1 1¤
39 Rikki Nelson 2 1¤

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b c The exact date on which Pat O' Connor won his only reign is unknown, which means that it lasted between 1 and 285 days.
  2. ^ a b c d Championship Wrestling was a television program for JCP that began airing on local WGHP television markets in 1964.
  3. ^ a b World Championship Wrestling was a television program for JCP that began airing on WTBS television markets in 1981.
  4. ^ a b The exact date on which Jack Brisco lost his second reign in unknown, which means that it lasted between 15 and 45 days.
  5. ^ a b c The exact date on which Rip Hawk won his second reign is unknown, although it is confirmed in sources that it took place between April 25, 1972 and May 25, 1972. As a result, his reign lasted between 19 and 49 days.
  6. ^ a b All Star Wrestling, Wide World Wrestling, and World Wide Wrestling were television programs for JCP that began airing on local WRAL television markets in the late 1950s..
  7. ^ a b The exact date on which Jerry Brisco lost his fourth championship reign is unknown, which means that it lasted between 182 and 212 days.
  8. ^ a b The exact date on which Johnny Valentine won his first reign is unknown, which means that it lasted between 402 and 432 days.
  9. ^ a b World Wide Wrestling (renamed from Wide World Wrestling in 1978) began airing on local WPCQ-TV television markets in 1981, after it moved from WRAL.
  10. ^ a b The exact date on which Dick Slater awarded Ivan Koloff the championship is unknown, which means that his only reign lasted between 11 and 28 days.
  11. ^ a b c The exact date on which Ivan Koloff was awarded the championship by Dick Slater took place between December 14 and December 31, 1983, which means that his second reign lasted between 25 and 42 days.
  12. ^ a b c d e f From 1983 to 1984, JCP taped programming in indoor arenas to air on television markets; however, the name of the programming and the markets it aired on is unknown.
  13. ^ a b The exact date on which Buzz Tyler was stripped of the championship is unknown, which means that his only reign lasted between 107 and 137 days.

References

General (title history)
  • Bourne, Dick. "Mid-Atlantic Wrestling: The Definitive History of the Mid-Atlantic Championship". Mid-Atlantic Gateway. Archived from the original on December 17, 2010. Retrieved July 27, 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  • "NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Title History". Wrestling Title Histories by Gary Will and Royal Duncan. Solie.org. Retrieved August 1, 2009.
General (television programming)
Specific
  1. ^ a b Bourne, Dick; David Chappell. "What's In a Name?". Mid-Atlantic Gateway. Archived from the original on August 21, 2009. Retrieved July 27, 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ Bourne, Dick. "The Origin and Evolution of the Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship". Mid-Atlantic Gateway. Archived from the original on March 10, 2009. Retrieved July 30, 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ a b Beekman, Scott (2006). Ringside: a history of professional wrestling in America. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 129–132. ISBN 0-275-98401-X.
  4. ^ "MACW's Latest Rankings". Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling. Archived from the original on August 14, 2009. Retrieved August 1, 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ a b "Clippings from the collection of Mark Eastridge". Mid-Atlantic Gateway. January 1971. Archived from the original on November 14, 2008. Retrieved July 26, 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ a b Bourne, Dick. "Why Paul Jones' victory over Johnny Valentine for the Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship Should Be Recognized". Mid-Atlantic Gateway. Archived from the original on 2009-08-21. Retrieved 2009-08-01. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ Hoops, Brian (September 20, 2015). "On this date in pro wrestling history (9/20): Flair defeats McDaniel, Gagne beats Von Raschke". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  8. ^ Hoops, Brian (May 24, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history (May 24): Harley Race wins NWA title due to interesting circumstances, Ric Flair beats Kerry Von Erich in Japan". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 18, 2017.

External links

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