NWF Heavyweight Championship

NWF Heavyweight Championship
Details
Promotion National Wrestling Federation
New Japan Pro Wrestling
Date established 1970
Date retired January 4, 2004

The NWF Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling championship used as part of the National Wrestling Federation and later New Japan Pro Wrestling.

History

The NWF (National Wrestling Federation) Heavyweight Championship was created by wrestling promoter Pedro Martinez for his NWF promotion in New York in 1970. The title was mainly defended in the New York/Canada area, until then-champion Johnny Powers took the belt with him on a tour of Japan with Tokyo Pro Wrestling. Powers would lose the title to Antonio Inoki, who would take the belt with when he found New Japan Pro Wrestling.

Inoki became the wrestler most associated with the title due to his high profile defenses of the title, beating the likes of Stan Hansen, André the Giant, Tiger Jeet Singh and Ernie Ladd while champion. Recognized as a four-time NWF Heavyweight champion, between the years of 1973 and 1983, Inoki was champion for all but six months. Inoki's fourth reign was actually due to the decision to hold up the championship, following a defense against Stan Hansen on April 17, 1981 that ended in a no contest. Inoki later regained the title on April 23, 1981 by defeating Hansen in a rematch. He retired the NWF title immediately after the match due to his desire to enter the 1983 IWGP League.[1]

As part of a NJPW storyline, the NWF Heavyweight championship was revived in August 2002. Mixed martial arts fighter Kazuyuki Fujita held a tournament to crown a new champion to rival the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. The tournament participants were announced to be wrestlers with a background in MMA, including Fujita, Yoshihiro Takayama, Tsuyoshi Kosaka, and Tadao Yasuda. Takayama won the tournament on January 4, 2003, beating Kosaka with a knee kick in the finals to become the first champion in over two decades. Takayama later lost the NWF Championship to Shinsuke Nakamura exactly a year later to unify the NWF and IWGP titles. Nakamura formally announced his vacating of the NWF Heavyweight title on January 5, 2004, retiring the belt for a second time during its history.[2]

Title history

An (n) indicates that a title changes occurred no later than the listed date.

Wrestler: Reigns: Date: Place: Notes:
Johnny Powers 1 1970 (n) Los Angeles, California Defeats Freddie Blassie to become inaugural champion.
Waldo Von Erich 1 November 20, 1971 Akron, Ohio
Dominic DeNucci 1 December 8, 1971 Buffalo, New York
Waldo Von Erich 2 January 5, 1972 Buffalo, New York
Ernie Ladd 1 June 9, 1972 Cleveland, Ohio
Abdullah the Butcher 1 June 24, 1972 Akron, Ohio Reign interrupted by Victor Rivera for under a month.
Victor Rivera 1 September 1972 (n) Location unknown
Abdullah the Butcher 2 October 1972 (n) Location unknown
Johnny Valentine 1 October 19, 1972 Cleveland, Ohio
Title held up December 7, 1972 Cleveland, Ohio After a match against Johnny Powers and the title has been Stripped in January 1973 when Valentine leaves the territory.
Jacques Rougeau 1 January 24, 1973 Buffalo, New York Defeats Waldo Von Erich in finals of tournament for the vacant title.
Johnny Valentine 2 August 1973 (n) Location unknown
Johnny Powers 2 1973 (n) Location unknown Powers takes the title to Japan with him on a tour with Tokyo Pro Wrestling
Antonio Inoki 1 December 10, 1973 Tokyo, Japan
Title vacant February 12, 1975 Inoki vacates the title as refusal of an NWF ordered defense against Tiger Jeet Singh.
Tiger Jeet Singh 1 March 13, 1975 Hiroshima, Japan Singh defeats Inoki for the vacant title.
Antonio Inoki 2 June 26, 1975 Tokyo, Japan Ordered by the NWA to stop referring to belt as a world title at annual NWA meeting on August 7, 1976.
Stan Hansen 1 February 8, 1980 Tokyo, Japan
Antonio Inoki 3 March 3, 1980 Tokyo, Japan
Title held up April 17, 1981 After a defense against Stan Hansen ends in a no contest.
Antonio Inoki 4 April 23, 1981 Tokyo, Japan Inoki vacates the title following the match to enter the NJPW IWGP League.
Title Inactive
Yoshihiro Takayama 1 January 4, 2003 Tokyo, Japan Defeats Tsuyoshi Kosaka in a tournament for the vacant title at Wrestling World
Shinsuke Nakamura 1 January 4, 2004 Tokyo, Japan Nakamura officially unifies NWF title with the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Wrestling World
Title Inactive on January 5, 2004

References

  1. ↑ Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2006). Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  2. ↑ Tanabe, Hisaharu. "N.W.F. Heavyweight Title". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2007-06-26.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 5/4/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.