NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship

NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship
Details
Promotion National Wrestling Alliance
Date established 1945
Current champion(s) John Saxon
Date won July 9, 2016

The NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world championship and secondary title in the National Wrestling Alliance that is for the lighter wrestlers. It started in 1945 and still exists today.[1] The title was unified with the National Boxing/Wrestling Association's World Junior Heavyweight Championship in 1949. To qualify to win this championship, wrestlers must weigh 220 lb or under.

Title history

# Wrestler Times Date Days held Location Notes
1 Ken Fenelon 1 May 1945 N/A N/A Fenelon was awarded the title by Pinkie George, founder of the NWA.
2 Marshall Esteppe 1 May 30, 1945 216 Toronto, IA
3 Larry Tillman 1 January 1, 1946 69 Des Moines, IA
4 Ken Fenelon 2 March 11, 1946 301 Des Moines, IA
5 Marshall Esteppe 2 January 6, 1947 77 Des Moines, IA
6 Ray Steele 1 March 24, 194735 Des Moines, IA
7 Marshall Esteppe 3 April 28, 1947 77 Des Moines, IA
8 Billy Goelz 1 March 16, 1948 159 Des Moines, IA
9 Al Williams 1 August 22, 1948 14 Waterloo, IA
10 Billy Goelz 2 September 5, 1948 N/A Waterloo, IA Recognition withdrawn in 49 when NWA selects Leroy McGuirk as champion.
11 Leroy McGuirk 1 November 1949 N/A Des Moines, IA Defeating John Swenski on June 19, 1939 in Hollywood, CA; recognized by National Wrestling Alliance during the convention; defeats Billy Goelz and Unified National Boxing/Wrestling Association's World Junior Heavyweight Championship into National Wrestling Alliance title on December 28, 1949.
— Vacated — February 7, 1950 — — Vacated when McGuirk was blinded in a car accident.
12 Verne Gagne 1 November 13, 1950 371 Tulsa, OK Defeated Sonny Myers in a tournament final of 14-man tournament; also defeats Billy Goelz on April 21, 1951 in Milwaukee, WI.
13 Danny McShain 1 November 19, 1951 637 Memphis, TN Unifies the Los Angeles version of the world title, defeating Rito Romero on May 25, 1952 in Los Angeles, CA; Red Berry defeats McShain by DQ on November 11, 1952 in Dallas, TX and claims the title; Whitey Whittler defeats McShain by DQ on October 17, 1952 in Oklahoma City, OK and claims the title; McShain defeats Whittler on November 14, 1952 in Oklahoma City, OK and Berry on November 27, 1952 in Galveston, Texas, to regain the respective claims.
14 Baron Michele Leone 1 August 17, 1953 602 Los Angeles, CA
15 Ed Francis 1 April 11, 1955 364 Tulsa, OK
16 Mike Clancy 1 April 10, 1956 350 Oklahoma City, OK
17 Fred Blassie 1 March 26, 1957 <1 Nashville, TN
— Vacated — March 26, 1957 — — Immediately held up due to a controversial finish.
18 Mike Clancy 2 April 9, 1957 217 Nashville, TN Defeated Fred Blassie.
— Vacated — November 12, 1957 — — Held up; Clancy defeated Jackie Fargo by DQ at November 15 in Nashville, TN.
19 Mike Clancy 3 November 19, 1957 101 Nashville, TN Defeated Fred Blassie in rematch.
20 Angelo Savoldi 1 February 28, 1958 97 Oklahoma City, OK
21 Dory Funk 1 June 5, 1958 36 Amarillo, TX
22 Angelo Savoldi 2 July 11, 1958 224 Oklahoma City, OK
23 Ivan the Terrible 1 February 20, 1959 14 Oklahoma City, OK
24 Angelo Savoldi 3 March 6, 1959 84 Oklahoma City, OK
25 Mike DiBiase 1 May 29, 1959 84 Oklahoma City, OK
26 Angelo Savoldi 4 August 21, 1959 336 Oklahoma City, OK
27 Danny Hodge 1 July 22, 1960 1,450 Oklahoma City, OK
28 Hiro Matsuda 1 July 11, 1964 125 Tampa, FL
29 Angelo Savoldi 5 November 13, 1964 161 Oklahoma City, OK
30 Danny Hodge 2 April 23, 1965 214 Oklahoma City, OK
31 Lorenzo Parente 1 November 23, 1965 42 Little Rock, AR
32 Danny Hodge 3 January 4, 1966 10 Little Rock, AR
33 Lorenzo Parente 2 January 14, 196629 Tulsa, OK
34 Joe McCarthy 1 February 12, 1966 80 Oklahoma City, OK
35 Danny Hodge 4 May 3, 1966 1,361 Little Rock, AR
36 Sputnik Monroe 1 July 13, 1970 28 Shreveport, LA
37 Danny Hodge 5 August 10, 1970 283 Shreveport, LA
38 Roger Kirby 1 May 20, 1971 113 New Orleans, LA
39 Ramon Torres 1 September 10, 1971 84 Monroe, LA
40 Dr. X 1 December 3, 1971 108 Oklahoma City, OK
41 Danny Hodge 6 March 20, 1972 639 Shreveport, LA
42 Ken Mantell 1 December 19, 1973 272 Jackson, MS
43 Wrestling Pro 1 September 17, 1974 49 Mobile, AL Awarded with a disputed decision; recognized only in the Gulf Coast territory.
44 Ken Mantell 2 November 5, 1974 221 Mobile, AL Defeats Wrestling Pro in rematch to become the undisputed champion.
45 Hiro Matsuda 2 June 14, 1975 262 St. Petersburg, FL
46 Danny Hodge 7 March 2, 1976 13 Shreveport, LA
— Vacated — March 15, 1976 — — Vacated when Hodge retired after suffering a broken neck in a car accident.
47 Pat Barrett 1 September 28, 1976 65 New Orleans, LA Defeated Nelson Royal in a tournament final.
48 Ron Starr 1 December 2, 1976 4 New Orleans, LA
49 Nelson Royal 1 December 6, 1976 566 New Orleans, LA
50 Chavo Guerrero Sr. 1 February 24, 1978 N/A Unknown
51 Nelson Royal 2 March 1978 N/A Unknown
52 Chavo Guerrero Sr. 2 April 7, 1978 79 Albuquerque, NM
53 Al Madril 1 June 25, 1978 398 Houston, TX
54 Nelson Royal 3 July 28, 1979 N/A Unknown Royal won via forfeit when Madril was too sick to attend a rematch.
— Vacated — December 1979 — — Vacated when Royal retired; Steve Keirn defeated Chavo Guerrero, Sr. in Los Angeles, CA on December 10 to seemingly win the vacant title, but NWA did not recognize the win as being for the title, though it was recognized by New Japan Pro Wrestling as well as Los Angeles and Florida; this version was later renamed the NWA International Junior Heavyweight Championship.
55 Ron Starr 2 February 11, 1980 N/A Tulsa, OK Defeated Les Thornton in a tournament final.
56 Les Thornton 1 March 1980 N/A Unknown Thornton won via forfeit or wins by default (sometime between March 9, 1980 and March 19, 1980); possibly on March 14, 1980 in Oklahoma City, OK where Starr and Thornton are scheduled to wrestle.
57 Jerry Stubbs 1 January 26, 1981 5 Mobile, AL
58 Les Thornton 2 January 31, 1981 127 Dothan, AL
59 Terry Taylor 1 June 7, 1981 13 Roanoke, VA
60 Les Thornton 3 June 20, 1981 88 Roanoke, VA
61 Gerald Brisco 1 September 16, 1981 30 Miami, FL
62 Les Thornton 4 October 16, 1981 22 Knoxville, TN
63 Joe Lightfoot 1 November 7, 1981 7 Bayamon, PR Above changes in Puerto Rico may be for WWC Title.
65 Les Thornton 5 November 14, 1981 192 San Juan, PR
66 Tiger Mask 1 May 25, 1982 313 Shizuoka, JPN In 1982, some North American promoters declared the title vacant due to Tiger Mask wrestling for the WWF; however, during an annual meeting between the NWA and New Japan Pro Wrestling, it's announced that Tiger Mask is still recognized as the official champion.
— Vacated — April 3, 1983 — — Vacated when Tiger Mask was injured two days prior.
67 Tiger Mask 2 June 2, 1983 71 Tokyo, JPN Defeated Kuniaki Kobayashi in a decision match.
— Vacated — August 12, 1983 — — Vacated after Tiger Mask retired.
68 The Cobra 1 November 3, 1983 N/A Tokyo, JPN Defeated Davey Boy Smith in a decision match. Around this time, Les Thornton is recognized by promoters in the US as champion.
69 Les Thornton 6 November 1983 N/A Manila, PH Wins a fictitious tournament.
— Vacated — June 1984 — — When Thornton joins WWF after its takeover of Georgia Championship Wrestling.
70 Hector Guerrero 1 July 13, 1984 81 Los Angeles, CA Wins a tournament.
71 Mike Davis 1 October 2, 1984 112 Albuquerque,NM
72 Denny Brown 1 November 22, 1984 248 Greensboro, NC
73 Hiro Saito 1 July 28, 1985 0 Osaka, JPN Wins the title from The Cobra.
74 The Cobra 2 July 28, 19854 Osaka, JPN
— Vacated — August 1, 1985 — —
75 Denny Brown 2 August 1985 N/A Won disputed version of title at Starrcade 1984 by defeating Mike Davis; recognized as champion by NWA vice president Shohei Baba, promoter of All Japan Pro Wrestling, after rival promotion New Japan Pro Wrestling withdraws from the NWA.
76 Gary Royal 1 August 15, 1985 31 St. Louis, MO
77 Denny Brown 3 September 15, 1985 321 Atlanta, GA
78 Steve Regal 1 August 2, 1986 30 Atlanta, GA
79 Denny Brown 4 September 1, 1986 187 Greenville, SC
80 Lazor Tron 2 March 7, 1987 N/A Atlanta, GA Lazor formerly known as Hector Guerrero.
— Vacated — October 1987 — — Vacated when Tron left World Championship Wrestling.
81 Nelson Royal 4 October 16, 1987 280 Columbia, SC Defeats Denny Brown Royal takes the title to USA Championship Wrestling in Knoxville in May 1988. Royal left WCW in 1988, at which point Masanobu Fuchi, the reigning (AJPW) World Junior Heavyweight Champion, was disputably recognized as the new champion; however, Royal continued defending the title across the country until 1989, when it was abandoned.
82 Scott Armstrong 1 July 22, 1988 1 Knoxville, TN
83 Nelson Royal 5 July 23, 1988 N/A Hazard, KY
84 Scott Armstrong 2 August 1988 N/A
85 Nelson Royal 6 August 19, 1988 N/A Knoxville, TN USA promotion closes in October 1988; Royal promotes ACW in the Carolinas and bills himself as world champion.
— Vacated — 1989 — — Abandoned in 1989.
86 Masayoshi Motegi 1 August 30, 1995338 Tokyo, JPN Defeated El Hijo del Santo in a tournament final when the NWA revives the title.
87 The Great Sasuke 1 August 2, 199670 Tokyo, JPN Wins an 8-man tournament to decide the first J-Crown holder, a combination of eight junior heavyweight titles. These titles were still technically considered separate, as opposed to one unified championship, and continued to be defended.
88 Último Dragón 1 October 11, 199685 Osaka, JPN
89 Jushin Thunder Liger 1 January 4, 1997183 Tokyo, JPN Defeated Dragón at Wrestling World.
90 El Samurai 1 July 6, 199735 Sapporo, JPN
91 Shinjiro Otani 1 August 10, 1997 87 Nagoya, JPN
— Vacated — November 5, 1997 — — Vacated when the J-Crown was dematerialized.
92 Logan Caine 1 March 5, 1999 237 Parkersburg, WV Defeated Viper in a tournament final.
— Vacated — October 28, 1999 — — Stripped due to no-showing a title defense against Vince Kaplack.
93 Vince Kaplack 1 October 28, 199978 Pittsburgh, PA Defeated Chris Hero as a replacement for Logan Caine.
94 Tony Kozina 1 January 14, 2000190 North Versailles, PA
95 Rockford 2000 1 July 22, 200035 Surrey, BC
96 Tony Kozina 2 August 30, 200039 N/A Awarded when NWA officials review the tape of a title match between Rockford and Kozina on August 26.
97 Vince Kaplack 2 October 14, 2000175 Nashville, TN Won the title at the NWA 52nd Anniversary Show.
98 Rocky Reynolds 1 April 7, 200127 Pennsboro, WV
99 Mike Thunder 1 May 4, 2001109 North Richland Hills, TX
100 Lex Lovett 1 August 21, 200153 Tampa, FL
101 Jason Rumble 1 October 13, 2001112 Saint Petersburg, FL Defeated Lovett, Jimmy Rave, Brandon K & BJ Turner in a five-way match at the NWA 53rd Anniversary Show.
102 Rocky Reynolds 2 February 2, 200214 Titusville, PA
103 Jason Rumble 2 February 16, 200249 Malden, MA
104 Rocky Reynolds 3 April 6, 200256 Parkersburg, WV
105 Jimmy Rave 1 June 29, 200242 Cornelia, GA Defeated Reynolds and Jeremy Lopez in a three-way match.
106 Star 1 August 10, 20027 Columbia, TN
107 Jimmy Rave 2 August 17, 2002154 Columbia, TN
108 Brother Love 1 January 18, 2003140 Greenville, MS
109 Rocky Reynolds 4 June 7, 200356 Parkersburg, WV
110 Chris Draven 1 August 2, 2003161 Parkersburg, WV
111 Jerrelle Clark 1 January 10, 2004 281 Saint Petersburg, FL
112 Jason Rumble 3 October 17, 2004312 Winnipeg, MB Defeated Clark and Vance Desmond in a three-way match at the NWA 56th Anniversary Show.
113 Black Tiger IV 1 August 25, 2005 178 Columbia, TN
114 Tiger Mask IV 1 February 19, 2006446 Tokyo, JPN
115 Mike Quackenbush 1 May 11, 2007 1,275 Portage, IN
116 Craig Classic 1 November 6, 2010 247 Fort Pierce, FL
— Vacated — July 11, 2011 — — Classic relinquished the title in protest of The Sheik being stripped of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Classic brought his own version of the title to Pro Wrestling Zero1 as the New Wrestling Alliance championship.
117 Kevin Douglas 1 October 7, 2011373 Charlotte, NC Defeated Chase Owens in a tournament final.
— Vacated — October 14, 2012 — — Douglas was stripped of the title for no-showing a scheduled title defense on October 13, 2012 against Chase Owens. A one-night tournament was held in Kingsport, TN in lieu of the Douglas-Owens match.
118 Chase Owens 1 October 13, 2012 302 Kingsport, TN Defeated Matt Conard and Zac Vincent in a tournament final.
119 Jason Kincaid 1 August 10, 2013 69 Kingsport, TN
120 Chase Owens 2 October 18, 2013 78 Houston, TX
121 Ricky Morton 1 January 4, 2014 62 Kingsport, TN
122 Chase Owens 3 March 7, 2014 246 Church Hill, TN
123 Jushin Thunder Liger 2 November 8, 2014 156 Osaka, JPN
124 Steve Anthony 1 April 13, 2015 163 Las Vegas, NV
125 Tiger Mask IV 2 September 23, 2015 178 Okayama, JPN
126 Steve Anthony 2 March 19, 2016 112 Nagoya, JPN
127 John Saxon 1 July 9, 2016 159+ Pensacola, FL

List of top combined reigns

As of December 15, 2016.

† Indicates the current champion
<1 Indicates that the combined total is less than one day.
Rank Wrestler No. of
reigns		 Combined days
1 Danny Hodge 7 4,134
2 Mike Quackenbush 1 1,275
3 Angelo Savoldi 5 902
4 Nelson Royal 6 846
5 Mike Clancy 3 768
6 Denny Brown 4 756
7 Danny McShain 1 637
8 Chase Owens 3 626
9 Tiger Mask IV 2 624
10 Baron Michele Leone 1 602
11 Hiro Matsuda 2 548
12 Ken Mantell 2 493
13 Jason Rumble 3 473
14 Les Thornton 6 429
15 Al Madril 1 398
16 Tiger Mask 2 384
17 Kevin Douglas 1 373
18 Verne Gagne 1 371
19 Marshall Esteppe 3 370
20 Ed Francis 1 364
21 Jushin Thunder Liger 2 339
22 Masayoshi Motegi 1 338
23 Ken Fenelon 2 301
24 Jerrelle Clark 1 281
25 Steve Anthony 2 275
26 Vince Kaplack 2 253
27 Craig Classic 1 247
28 Logan Caine 1 237
29 Tony Kozina 2 229
30 Jimmy Rave 2 196
31 Rocky Reynolds 4 181
32 Black Tiger IV 1 178
33 Chris Draven 1 161
34 Billy Goelz 2 159
35 Brother Love 1 140
36 Roger Kirby 1 113
37 Mike Davis 1 112
38 Mike Thunder 1 109
39 Dr. X 1 108
40 John Saxon † 1 159+
41 Shinjiro Otani 1 87
42 Último Dragón 1 85
43 Mike DiBiase 1 84
Ramon Torres 1 84
45 Hector Guerrero/Lazor Tron 2 81
46 Joe McCarthy 1 80
47 Chavo Guerrero 2 79
48 Lorenzo Parente 2 71
49 The Great Sasuke 1 70
50 Pat Barrett 1 69
Larry Tillman 1 69
Jason Kincaid 1 69
53 Ricky Morton 1 62
54 Lex Lovett 1 53
55 Wrestling Pro 1 49
56 Dory Funk 1 36
57 Ray Steele 1 35
El Samurai 1 35
59 Gary Royal 1 31
60 Steve Regal 1 30
61 Sputnik Monroe 1 28
62 Al Williams 1 14
Ivan The Terrible 1 14
64 Joe Lightfoot 1 7
Star 1 7
66 Jerry Stubbs 1 5
67 The Cobra 2 4
Ron Starr 2 4
69 Scott Armstrong 2 1
70 Hiro Saito 1 <1
Fred Blassie 1 <1
Leroy McGuirk 1 <1

See also

References

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