NWA International Heavyweight Championship

NWA International Heavyweight Championship
Details
Promotion Japan Wrestling Association, All Japan Pro Wrestling, NWA Hollywood Wrestling & Championship Wrestling from Florida
Date established November, 1957
Date retired April 18, 1989
This was a regional NWA championship based in Japan. For the WCW International World championship, see WCW International World Heavyweight Championship.

The NWA International Heavyweight Championship was a singles title recognized by the National Wrestling Alliance through its partnership with the Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance, and later by All Japan Pro Wrestling. It is one of the three titles that were unified into the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship in 1989. From 1981 to the creation of the Triple Crown, All Japan considered the NWA International title to be its top singles championship.

Under Rikidōzan the belt had a design similar to Lou Thesz's original NWA World Heavyweight Championship belt during the 1950s, but after Rikidōzan's death, the belt given to Giant Baba had the design seen on the belt part of the Triple Crown until 2013. The original design was later used on the PWF Heavyweight Championship, the UWFI belt (which was the original Lou Thesz belt), and a belt later given to Kazushi Sakuraba for show.[1]

Title history

Symbol Meaning
No. The overall championship reign
Reign The reign number for the specific wrestler listed.
Event The event in which the championship changed hands
N/A The specific information is not known
— Used for vacated reigns in order to not count it as an official reign
[Note #] Indicates that the exact length of the title reign is unknown, with a note providing more details.
# Wrestler Reign Date Days held Location Event Notes Ref.
1 Thesz, LouLou Thesz 1 November 1, 1957 259 N/A N/A Thesz was awarded the championship by the NWA. Houston NWA promoter Morris Sigel claimed that Thesz has won the title by defeating Antonino Rocca in 1949.  
2 Rikidōzan 1 August 27, 1958 2,180 Los Angeles, California, United States House show    
- Vacated - December 15, 1964 N/A N/A N/A Vacated following Rikidōzan's death from stab wounds suffered one week earlier in Tokyo, Japan.  
3 Baba, GiantGiant Baba 1 November 24, 1965 914 Osaka, Japan House show Defeated Dick the Bruiser for the vacant title.  
4 Brazil, BoboBobo Brazil 1 June 25, 1968 −181 Nagoya, Japan House show    
5 Baba, GiantGiant Baba 2 June 27, 1968 706 Tokyo, Japan House show    
6 Kiniski, GeneGene Kiniski 1 December 3, 1970 16 Osaka, Japan House show    
7 Baba, GiantGiant Baba 3 December 19, 1970 623 Los Angeles, California, United States House show    
- Vacated - September 2, 1972 N/A N/A N/A Vacated when Baba left the Japan Wrestling Association to start All Japan Pro Wrestling.  
8 Brazil, BoboBobo Brazil 2 December 1, 1972 3 Yokohama, Japan House show Defeated Kintaro Ohki for the vacant title.  
9 Ohki, KintaroKintaro Ohki 1 December 4, 1972 3,052 Hiroshima, Japan House show    
- Vacated April 13, 1981 - N/A N/A N/A After the JWA closed in 1973, Ohki took the belt to South Korea from where he defended it. He vacated the title on April 13, 1981 under orders from the NWA.  
10 Funk, Jr., DoryDory Funk, Jr. 1 April 30, 1981 [Note 1] Matsudo, Japan House show Won tournament for the vacant title when Bruiser Brody was injured and unable to wrestle in the finals. Defeated Terry Funk for his first title defense instead.  
11 Reed, BruceBruce Reed 1 1981 [Note 1] Florida, United States House show Title reign not recognized in Japan.  
12 Funk, Jr., DoryDory Funk, Jr. 2 1981 [Note 1] Florida, United States House show    
13 Bruiser Brody 1 October 9, 1981 −28 Tokyo, Japan House show    
14 Funk, Jr., DoryDory Funk, Jr. 3 November 1, 1981 131 Tokyo, Japan House show    
15 Bruiser Brody 2 April 21, 1982 130 Osaka, Japan House show    
16 Tsuruta, JumboJumbo Tsuruta 1 April 30, 1983 944 Tokyo, Japan House show    
17 Hansen, StanStan Hansen 1 July 31, 1986 −71 Tokyo, Japan House show    
18 Tsuruta, JumboJumbo Tsuruta 2 October 21, 1986 462 Tokyo, Japan House show    
19 Bruiser Brody 3 March 27, 1988 −253 Tokyo, Japan House show    
20 Tsuruta, JumboJumbo Tsuruta 3 April 18, 1988 [Note 2] Sendai, Japan House show    
- Unified 1988 - N/A N/A N/A Unified with PWF Heavyweight Championship and NWA United National Championship to create the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship.  

See also

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 3 The exact date that Butch Reed won the championship from Dory Funk Jr. is uncertain, which puts the title reign at between 1 day and −83 days.
  2. ↑ The length of the title reign is too uncertain to calculate.

References

  1. ↑ Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2006). Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
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