NWA National Heavyweight Championship
| NWA National Heavyweight Championship | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Details | |||||||||||||
| Current champion(s) | Greg Anthony | ||||||||||||
| Date won | January 30, 2016 | ||||||||||||
| Date established | January 12, 1980 | ||||||||||||
| Promotion | National Wrestling Alliance | ||||||||||||
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The original version NWA National Heavyweight Championship was the major singles title in the NWA-affiliated Georgia Championship Wrestling from 1980 until 1986. In spite of its name, the championship was never defended on a national basis but, rather, it was used only within the territorial region in which Georgia Championship Wrestling ran its operations.
In 1984, Vince McMahon's Titan Sports, Inc. (which operated under the World Wrestling Federation brand name) bought Georgia Championship Wrestling, Inc. The National champion at the time of the sale was The Spoiler (Don Jardine). Spoiler went to work for the WWF and was briefly recognized by that company as National Heavyweight Champion.
Meanwhile, a rival group with NWA sanctioningbegan in Georgia. This group was called Championship Wrestling from Georgia. They awarded the NWA National Heavyweight Championship to Ted DiBiase (proclaiming that he had won the title from The Spoiler, which actually wasn't the case except for storyline purposes).
In 1985, Jim Crockett Promotions purchased the TBS Saturday night and Sunday night television slots from the WWF and began production on a new era of "World Championship Wrestling." JCP essentially consolidated Championship Wrestling from Georgia (taking over that group's Saturday morning time slot as well) and began to recognize their championships.
Eventually Crockett held a unification match between his company's United States champion and the National champion. The U.S. champ won and that version of the National title was abandoned.[1]
Beginning in 1997, the NWA Board of Directors reactivated the NWA National Heavyweight Championship. Unlike its original incarnation, the revived NWA National Heavyweight Championship is defended in various NWA affiliated promotions throughout the United States.
The NWA National Heavyweight Championship is the third most prestigious title in the National Wrestling Alliance behind the North American and World Heavyweight Championships.
The current champion is Greg Anthony, who is in his first reign as champion. He won the title on January 30, 2016. The title had been vacated in May 2015 due to an injury to then-reigning National and North American champion Jax Dane. Dane had defended the National and North American titles as a unified championship, but the titles were split by the NWA after Dane's injury.
Contents
Title history
Original version (1980–1986)
| Wrestler: | Times: | Date: | Location: | Notes: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austin Idol | 1 | January 12, 1980 | Atlanta, Georgia | |
| Vacated | August 20, 1980 | Vacated for unknown reasons. | ||
| Jack Brisco | 1 | October 10, 1980 | Atlanta, Georgia | Defeated Terry Funk in a tournament final. |
| Mongolian Stomper | 1 | December 6, 1980 | Atlanta, Georgia | |
| Steve Olsonoski | 1 | March 29, 1981 | Atlanta, Georgia | |
| Masked Superstar | 1 | August 15, 1981 | Columbus, Georgia | |
| Tommy Rich | 1 | September 28, 1981 | Augusta, Georgia | |
| Masked Superstar | 2 | November 25, 1981 | Atlanta, Georgia | |
| Tommy Rich | 2 | January 17, 1982 | Atlanta, Georgia | |
| Ron Bass | 1 | March 15, 1982 | Augusta, Georgia | |
| Tommy Rich | 3 | April 19, 1982 | Augusta, Georgia | |
| Buzz Sawyer | 1 | May 2, 1982 | Atlanta, Georgia | |
| Paul Orndorff | 1 | June 20, 1982 | Atlanta, Georgia | |
| Vacated | July 2, 1982 | Or July 30, 1982 Orndorff vacated the title to train for a World Title match. | ||
| Super Destroyer | 1 | August 29, 1982 | Atlanta, Georgia | Won a tournament to win the vacant title. |
| Paul Orndorff | 2 | October 3, 1982 | Atlanta, Georgia | |
| Masked Superstar | 3 | October 17, 1982 | Atlanta, Georgia | |
| Paul Orndorff | 3 | November 17, 1982 | Atlanta, Georgia | |
| Killer Karl Kox | 1 | December 1982 | ||
| Tommy Rich | 4 | February 1983 | ||
| Paul Orndorff | 4 | March 1983 | ||
| Killer Tim Brooks | 1 | March 20, 1983 | Atlanta, Georgia | |
| Larry Zbyszko | 1 | March 20, 1983 | Atlanta, Georgia | Bought the title from Brooks for $25,000 |
| Vacated | April 30, 1983 | Zbyszko was stripped of the title by NWA President Bob Geigel for buying it. | ||
| Larry Zbyszko | 2 | June 5, 1983 | Atlanta, Georgia | Defeated Mr. Wrestling II in a tournament final to win the vacant title. |
| Mr. Wrestling II | 1 | June 19, 1983 | ||
| Larry Zbyszko | 3 | July 17, 1983 | Atlanta, Georgia | |
| Brett Wayne | 1 | September 25, 1983 | Atlanta, Georgia | |
| Ted DiBiase | 1 | November 18, 1983 | Cleveland, Ohio | |
| Brad Armstrong | 1 | February 18, 1984 | Atlanta, Georgia | Wrestled under a mask as "Mr. R"(thought to be Tommy Rich under the mask) and pinned DiDibase to win the title when DiBiase was distracted by Rich standing at the announcers' podium at ringside. |
| The Spoiler | 1 | April 12, 1984 | Wheeling, West Virginia | |
| Brad Armstrong | 2 | May 4, 1984 | Marietta, Georgia | |
| The Spoiler | 2 | July 1, 1984 | Atlanta, Georgia | |
| Ted DiBiase | 2 | July 14, 1984 | Macon, Georgia | This was a phantom match after The Spoiler went to the World Wrestling Federation. |
| Ron Garvin | 1 | October 11, 1984 | Baltimore, Maryland | |
| Black Bart | 1 | June 1, 1985 | Atlanta, Georgia | The match also had a Loser Leaves Town stipulation |
| Terry Taylor | 1 | September 22, 1985 | Atlanta, Georgia | |
| Buddy Landel | 1 | November 28, 1985 | Greensboro, North Carolina | Won at Starrcade. |
| Dusty Rhodes | 1 | December 19, 1985 | Albuquerque New Mexico | Rhodes was awarded the title in a phantom match after Landel was fired due to his drug problem. |
| Tully Blanchard | 1 | March 4, 1986 | Spartanburg, South Carolina | |
| Wahoo McDaniel | 1 | August 28, 1986 | Los Angeles, California | |
| Nikita Koloff | 1 | September 28, 1986 | Atlanta, Georgia | |
| Title retired | September 28, 1986 | Atlanta, Georgia | The title was unified with the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship, which Koloff won from Magnum T.A. on August 17, 1986 in Charlotte, North Carolina. | |
Revived version (1997–)
| Wrestler: | Times: | Date: | Location: | Notes: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big Slam | 1 | May 17, 1997 | Title was awarded after the NWA revived it. | |
| Salvatore Sincere | 1 | July 18, 1997 | Raeford, North Carolina | |
| Vacated | October 11, 1997 | |||
| Doug Gilbert | 1 | March 27, 1998 | Mount Holly, New Jersey | Defeated Barry Windham and Rocco Rock in a three-way match to win the vacant title. |
| Stevie Richards | 1 | August 22, 1998 | Mount Holly, New Jersey | |
| Doug Gilbert | 2 | October 24, 1998 | Cherry Hill, New Jersey | Won the title in an eight-man tag team steel cage match at the NWA 50th Anniversary Show. |
| Don Brodie | 1 | January 15, 2000 | Memphis, Tennessee | |
| Kevin Northcutt | 1 | April 14, 2000 | North Richland Hills, Texas | |
| Stone Mountain | 1 | September 13, 2000 | Athens, Georgia | |
| Terry Knight | 1 | November 4, 2000 | Cornelia, Georgia | Defeated Jesse Taylor on November 18, 2000 in Cornelia, Georgia to unify the NWA Wildside United States Heavyweight Championship. |
| Don Brodie | 2 | January 12, 2001 | Greenville, Mississippi | |
| Vacated | August 2001 | Title vacated after Brodie is injured in an automobile accident. | ||
| Kevin Northcutt | 2 | August 22, 2001 | Northcutt was awarded the title. | |
| Hotstuff Hernandez | 1 | October 13, 2001 | St. Petersburg, Florida | Won the title at the NWA 53rd Anniversary Show. On May 5, 2002, Shinya Hashimoto defeated Hernandez in a title match in Tokyo. The title was returned to Hernandez after Hashimoto refused it. The NWA later claimed that Hashimoto and Hernandez's match in Japan was not for the title. |
| Ricky Murdock | 1 | January 11, 2003 | Greenville, Mississippi | Also won the NWA Missouri Heavyweight Championship on October 10, 2003, defeating Shane Somers at the NWA 55th Anniversary Show in Parkersburg, West Virginia. |
| Spyder | 1 | October 15, 2004 | Winnipeg, Manitoba | Won the title at the NWA 56th Anniversary Show. |
| Vacated | October 8, 2005 | Nashville, Tennessee | Spyder stripped of the title when he no-shows a title defense. | |
| Ricky Murdock | 2 | October 8, 2005 | Nashville, Tennessee | Defeated Conscience and The Juggulator in a three-way match at the NWA 57th Anniversary Show to win the vacant title. |
| Vacated | March 31, 2006 | Lebanon, Tennessee | Title held up after a match against Big Bully Douglas, due to interference from Kory Williams. | |
| Big Bully Douglas | 1 | April 1, 2006 | Columbia, Tennessee | Defeated Murdock in a rematch to win the held up title. |
| Kory Williams | 1 | September 30, 2006 | Lebanon, Tennessee | |
| Chance Prophet | 1 | May 5, 2007 | Salyersville, Kentucky | |
| Vacated | October 12, 2007 | Stripped of the title by the NWA Board of Directors due to injury. | ||
| Pepper Parks | 1 | October 20, 2007 | Lebanon, Tennessee | Defeats Kory Williams in a match to determine the new champion. |
| Crusher Hansen | 1 | April 18, 2008 | McKeesport, Pennsylvania | |
| Phill Shatter | 1 | January 19, 2009 | McKeesport, Pennsylvania | |
| Chance Prophet | 2 | February 19, 2011 | Franklinville, New Jersey | |
| Kahagas | 1 | March 29, 2012 | Miami, Florida | NWA Ring Warriors Battle of the Belts |
| Vacated | November 14, 2012 | Title vacated after Kahagas wins the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.[2] | ||
| Damien Wayne | 1 | January 5, 2013 | Nashville, North Carolina | Defeated Chance Prophet and Lance Erikson in a three-way match to fill the vacant title.[3] |
| Vordell Walker | 1 | June 14, 2013 | Millersville, Tennessee | [4] |
| Damien Wayne | 2 | August 2, 2013 | Millersville, Tennessee | [5] |
| Nitro | 1 | September 14, 2013 | Toledo, Ohio | |
| Lou Marconi | 1 | March 1, 2014 | Williamston, NC | |
| Nitro | 2 | March 22, 2014 | Hillsdale, MI | |
| Lou Marconi | 2 | March 23, 2014 | Toledo, OH | |
| Nitro | 3 | April 5, 2014 | Carolina Beach, NC | |
| Lou Marconi | 3 | July 7, 2014 | Carolina Beach, NC | |
| Jax Dane | 1 | February 6, 2015 | Millersville, TN | From April 12, Dane holds the National and North American championships. NWA allows him to defend both titles together.[6] |
| Vacated | May 28, 2015 | Dane forfeits both of his titles due to injury. | ||
| Arrick Andrews | 1 | July 11, 2015 | Cookeville, TN | Defeats Chase Owens in an eight-man tournament final.[7] |
| Vacated | January 2, 2016 | Andrews announced that he had suffered a knee injury in a hunting accident that would keep him out of wrestling for 8 months, and forfeited the title. A battle royal was set for January 9 to fill the vacancy. | ||
| John Saxon | 1 | January 9, 2016 | Dyersburg, TN | Won a battle royal for the vacant title. |
| Greg Anthony | 1 | January 30, 2016 | Dyersburg, TN | |
See also
References
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