NWA International Heavyweight Championship
| NWA International Heavyweight Championship | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Belt of the NWA International Heavyweight Championship
|
|||||||||||||||||
| Data | |||||||||||||||||
| owner |
Japan Wrestling Association All Japan Pro Wrestling NWA Hollywood Wrestling Championship Wrestling from Florida |
||||||||||||||||
| Introduced | November 1957 | ||||||||||||||||
| Discontinued | April 18, 1989 | ||||||||||||||||
| Records | |||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||
The NWA International Heavyweight Championship was a wrestling title for individual wrestlers awarded by the National Wrestling Alliance . Awarded in 1957, it also served as a mark of partnership with the Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance and later with All Japan Pro Wrestling . It was united in 1989 together with the PWF World Heavyweight Championship and the NWA United National Championship to form the AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship . Like all wrestling titles, it was awarded as part of a storyline .
history
The title was awarded to Lou Thesz by the NWA in November 1957 . The promoter Morris Sigel justified this title with a victory over Antonino Rocca in Japan in 1949. The background was a European tour by Thesz, who had recently lost the NWA World Heavyweight Championship at Dick Hutton . In order to be able to lead his tour in Europe as a champion, the title was introduced.
On August 27, 1958, the Japanese wrestler Rikidozan Thesz defeated in a match. Thesz later claimed it was not a title match and continued to defend the title in the US, while Rikidozan was booked as champion in Japan. In January 1963, however, Rikidozan won again against Thesz. Only eleven months later, the title became vacant after Rikidōzan was murdered.
It shouldn't be the only irregularity. Giant Baba dominated the title event from 1965 to 1972 . However, when he left the Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance to found All Japan Pro Wrestling , Bobo Brazil was first champion, but lost the title to Ōhki Kintarō shortly thereafter . He took the title to South Korea after the end of the JWA , where he defended the title for several years. When he stayed in Japan for a short time in 1981 to defend the title at International Wrestling Enterprises , the NWA reclaimed the title. From then on there was a regularity and the title was further defended, especially at All Japan Pro Wrestling.
In 1989, Jumbo Tsuruta united after a match against Stan Hansen the title along with the PWF World Heavyweight Championship and the NWA United National Championship to form the AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, which has since been considered the highest single title of All Japan Pro Wrestling.
design
The design of the title changed once. The original belt was similar to the 1950s NWA World Heavyweight Championship belt. It was much thinner than today's wrestling belts, with one large and two small plates with wrestling drawings stamped on them. There is a crown above the large plate.
After Rikidōzan's death, the design was revised and now resembled the motif incorporated into the AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship. It has four side panels with pearls. The motif of the front panel is an eagle on a globe. There is a floating crown above the eagle. The original motif was later used in the design of the belts for the PWF Heavyweight Championship and the UWF International title.
At the start of the AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, the belt continued to be in use. The Triple Crown Champions of that time appeared with all three belts, supplemented by a trophy. All three belts were given to Giant Baba's widow Motoko Baba in 2012 , who AJPW continued to run after his death. One of the main reasons was the poor condition of all three belts, which over the years had repeatedly been misused as weapons and threatened to break apart. Baba displayed the belts in her home.
List of title holders
| # | Wrestlers | Reign | Date | Days hero | Location | Event | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lou Thesz | 1 | November 1957 | 299 | Thesz was awarded the title after losing the World Heavyweight Championship to Dick Hutton . The basis was a victory against Antonino Rocca in 1949. | |||
| 2 | Rikidozan | 1 | August 27, 1958 | 2302 | Los Angeles , United States | Houseshow | Thesz claimed that this match was not a title match and defended his title in the United States until he received the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in January 1963. | |
| - | Vacant | - | December 15, 1963 | - | Declared vacant after Rikidozan was murdered. | |||
| 3 | Giant Baba | 1 | November 24, 1965 | 944 | Osaka, Japan | Houseshow | Beat Dick the Bruiser in a match for the vacant title. | |
| 4th | Bobo Brazil | 1 | June 25, 1968 | 2 | Nagoya, Japan | Houseshow | ||
| 5 | Giant Baba | 2 | June 27, 1968 | 889 | Tokyo, Japan | Houseshow | ||
| 6th | Gene Kiniski | 1 | 3rd December 1970 | 16 | Osaka, Japan | Houseshow | ||
| 7th | Giant Baba | 3 | December 19, 1970 | 623 | Los Angeles , United States | Houseshow | ||
| - | Vacant | - | 2nd September 1972 | - | Declared vacant after Baba left the Japan Wrestling Association to form All Japan Pro Wrestling . | |||
| 8th | Bobo Brazil | 2 | 1st December 1972 | 3 | Yokohama, Japan | Houseshow | Defeated Kintaro Ohki in a match for the vacant title | |
| 9 | Kintaro Ohki | 1 | 4th December 1972 | 3052 | Hiroshima, Japan | Houseshow | ||
| - | Vacant | - | April 13, 1981 | - | After the JWA closed, Ohki took the title back to South Korea, where he continued to defend it. During a visit to the IWE , the NWA demanded the title back. | |||
| 10 | Dory Funk, Jr. | 1 | April 30, 1981 | (71-130) | Matsudo, Japan | Houseshow | Won a tournament for the vacant title. His final opponent Bruiser Brody was injured, so that instead of a final fight at the end of the tournament, his first title defense against his brother Terry Funk was due. | |
| 11 | Bruce Reed | 1 | June 1981 | (32-91) | Florida , United States | Houseshow | Title change not recognized in Japan. | |
| 12 | Dory Funk, Jr. | 2 | August 1981 | (71-130) | Florida , United States | Houseshow | ||
| 13 | Bruiser Brody | 1 | October 9, 1981 | 23 | Tokyo , Japan | Houseshow | ||
| 14th | Dory Funk, Jr. | 3 | November 1, 1981 | 171 | Tokyo , Japan | Houseshow | ||
| 15th | Bruiser Brody | 2 | April 21, 1982 | 374 | Tokyo , Japan | Houseshow | ||
| 16 | Jumbo Tsuruta | 1 | April 30, 1983 | 1188 | Tokyo , Japan | Houseshow | ||
| 17th | Stan Hansen | 1 | July 31, 1986 | 82 | Tokyo , Japan | Houseshow | ||
| 18th | Jumbo Tsuruta | 2 | October 21, 1986 | 523 | Tokyo , Japan | Houseshow | ||
| 19th | Bruiser Brody | 3 | March 27, 1988 | 22nd | Tokyo , Japan | Houseshow | ||
| 20th | Jumbo Tsuruta | 3 | April 18, 1988 | 365 | Sendai, Japan | Houseshow | ||
| - | United | - | April 18, 1989 | - | United with the PWF Heavyweight Championship and the NWA United National Championship to form the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship . |
Title Statistics
| rank | Wrestlers | number | Days |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kintaro Ohki | 1 | 3052 |
| 2 | Giant Baba | 3 | 2456 |
| 3 | Rikidozan | 1 | 2302 |
| 4th | Jumbo Tsuruta | 3 | 2076 |
| 5 | Bruiser Brody | 3 | 419 |
| 6th | Lou Thesz | 1 | 299 |
| 7th | Dory Funk, Jr. | 3 | 242-301 |
| 8th | Stan Hansen | 1 | 82 |
| 9 | Bruce Reed | 1 | 32-91 |
| 10 | Gene Kiniski | 1 | 16 |
| 11 | Bobo Brazil | 2 | 5 |
Amarillo version
In 1960, during the situation for the Thesz / Rikidōzan title, Sonny Myers was proclaimed the NWA International Heavyweight Championship in the NWA Amarillo, whose territory includes West Texas . Allegedly he won the title in Japan in July 1960. The title was only defended in the Amarillo area. After a gap that lasted from 1961 to 1974, in which the title was probably not used, Ciclon Negro was called up as the new champion. Allegedly he won the title in Osaka, Japan in a tournament with over 100 wrestlers or 81 wrestlers, depending on the source. The tournament almost certainly never took place and is based on a newspaper report from a local paper. After that, however, he was regularly defended again and held by wrestlers such as Terry Funk , Dick Murdoch and Ted Dibiase . It was only recognized by this territory of the NWA, which closed in 1981 and, in contrast to the aforementioned title, remained of no great significance.
Individual evidence
- ^ Lou Thesz as International Heavyweight Champion. In: puroresu.com. Retrieved March 12, 2020 .
- ^ NWA International Heavyweight Title. In: www.wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved March 12, 2020 .
- ^ NWA International Heavyweight Title. In: wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved March 12, 2020 .
- ^ NWA International Heavyweight Championship. CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database, accessed March 12, 2020 .
- ^ A b NWA International Heavyweight Title. In: wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved March 12, 2020 .
- ^ Duncan, Royal, 1952-, Will, Gary, 1962-: Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present . 4th ed., Fully rev. & updated. Archeus Communications, Waterloo, Ont. 2000, ISBN 0-9698161-5-4 .
- ↑ All Japan returns Triple Crown to Baba's widow. CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database, accessed March 12, 2020 .
- ↑ Alexander Podgorski: 10 Most Prestigious Wrestling Championship Belts Ever. April 5, 2015, accessed March 12, 2020 .
- ^ Brian Hoops: Daily Pro Wrestling history (11/24): The First Starcade . In: Wrestling Observer Newsletter . November 24, 2019. Retrieved November 24, 2019.
- ^ Brian Hoops: On this day in pro wrestling history (July 31): Stan Hansen wins NWA International title, Giant Baba, Hulk Hogan in AWA . Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. July 31, 2015. Accessed February 11, 2017.
- ^ NWA International Heavyweight Title (W. Texas). In: wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved March 12, 2020 .