List of NWA World Heavyweight Champions

List of professional wrestling champions
Current champion EC3

The NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship is a world heavyweight championship owned and promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), an American professional wrestling promotion. It is the promotion's premier title.

NWA currently recognizes 101 individual Worlds Heavyweight Championship reigns.[1][2] The inaugural champion was Orville Brown. The longest reigning champion is Lou Thesz, who held the title from November 27, 1949 to March 15, 1956, for a total of 2,300 days (6 years, 3 months, and 16 days); Thesz also holds the record for longest combined reigns at 3,749 days. Shane Douglas and Ray González share the record for the shortest reign as champion, both holding the championship for less than 1 day. Ric Flair holds the record for most reigns with 9. The youngest champion is Chris Candido who won the title at the age of 22, while the oldest champion is Tim Storm, who won it at the age of 51.

EC3 is the current champion in his first reign. He defeated previous champion Tyrus in a Bullrope match at the NWA 75th Anniversary Show on August 27, 2023, in St. Louis, Missouri.

Title history

Names

Name Years
NWA World Heavyweight Championship July 14, 1948 – October 21, 2016
NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship October 21, 2016 – present

Reigns

Key
No. Overall reign number
Reign Reign number for the specific champion
Days Number of days held
Days recog. Number of days held recognized by the promotion
N/A Unknown information
† Championship change is unrecognized by the promotion
<1 Reign lasted less than a day
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign Days Days recog.
National Wrestling Alliance (NWA)
1 Orville Brown July 14, 1948 N/A Waterloo, IA 1 501 501 On July 14, 1948, the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) was founded in Waterloo, Iowa and Brown was recognized as the first official NWA World Heavyweight Champion. At the time of the founding of the NWA, Brown already held the Midwest Wrestling Association's World Heavyweight Championship and the Iowa version of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship; during Brown's reign, the two championships were unified into the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. [a][3]
2 Lou Thesz November 27, 1949 N/A N/A 1 1,941 2,300 Awarded when Orville Brown suffered career-ending injuries in an automobile accident on November 1, 1949. Thesz had earlier won the National Wrestling Association's World Heavyweight Championship on July 20, 1948 from Wild Bill Longson. Thesz became the undisputed champion of all of wrestling by winning the Los Angeles Olympic Auditorium's World Heavyweight Championship, the remaining major world championship at the time other than the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, defeating Baron Michele Leone on May 21, 1952. [b]
† Leo Nomellini March 22, 1955 House show San Francisco, CA 1 115 — Nomellini defeated Lou Thesz by countout in the second fall and disqualification in the third fall. The California Athletic Commission recognized the title change by disqualification, but both wrestlers continued to claim the title.
† Lou Thesz July 15, 1955 House show St. Louis, MO 2 244 — Thesz defeated Leo Nomellini in a rematch.
3 Whipper Billy Watson March 15, 1956 House show Toronto, ON 1 239 239 Watson won the match and the championship by count out. [c]
4 Lou Thesz November 9, 1956 House show St. Louis, MO 2(3) 217 370 Thesz won the match and the championship by count out. [d]
† Édouard Carpentier June 14, 1957 House show Chicago, IL 1 40 — Carpentier was awarded the title when Lou Thesz could not continue the match due to a back injury. In some territories, Thesz continued to be recognized as NWA World Heavyweight Champion, while in others Carpentier was billed as the champion. [e]
† Lou Thesz July 24, 1957 House show Montreal, Quebec 4 113 — Thesz won a rematch against Édouard Carpentier by disqualification. The NWA initially continued to recognize Carpentier as the champion, but voided any recognition of Carpentier as champion when he withdrew the claim for the title when Eddie Quinn, Carpentier's promoter in Montreal, quit the NWA in August 1958. Some territories such as Boston's Atlantic Athletic Commission (AAC), Los Angeles' North American Wrestling Alliance (NAWA, later WWA), and the Nebraska promotions continued to recognize Carpentier as NWA World Heavyweight Champion. The AAC recognized Killer Kowalski as world champion when he defeated Carpentier in Boston. Nebraska later recognized Verne Gagne as world champion when he defeated Carpentier in Omaha. Los Angeles recognized Freddie Blassie as world champion when he defeated Carpentier in 1961. [f]
5 Dick Hutton November 14, 1957 House show Toronto, ON 1 421 421 [g]
6 Pat O'Connor January 9, 1959 House show St. Louis, MO 1 440 903 [h]
† Gene LeBell March 24, 1960 House show Amarillo, TX 1 <1 — After LeBell defeated Pat O'Connor, he struck a Texas wrestling commissioner with the championship belt and the decision was reversed. [4][5][6]
† Pat O'Connor March 24, 1960 House show Amarillo, TX 2 463 — The title was returned to O'Connor due to the nature of the championship match.
7 Buddy Rogers June 30, 1961 House show Chicago, IL 1 145 573
† Bruno Sammartino August 2, 1962 House show Toronto, ON 1 <1 — On August 2, 1962, Sammartino defeated Buddy Rogers in Toronto, but refused to accept the title because Rogers had wrestled with an injury. [7]
† Buddy Rogers August 2, 1962 House show Toronto, ON 2 16 — The title was returned to Rogers after Sammartino refused the title due to Rogers' injury. [7]
† Bobo Brazil August 18, 1962 House show Newark, NJ 1 73 — Brazil refused the title because of a groin injury that Buddy Rogers had claimed to have. However, on September 6, 1962, Brazil was declared champion because a doctor had determined that Rogers had not suffered an injury. This title change is not currently recognized by the NWA.
† Buddy Rogers October 30, 1962 House show Toledo, OH 3 86 —
† Killer Kowalski November 21, 1962 House show Montreal, Quebec 1 61 — Kowalski defeated Buddy Rogers on November 21 in Montreal after Rogers broke his ankle in the first fall. He was only recognized as champion in some states such as Texas until January 21, 1963 when he lost a rematch to Rogers in New York City. Kowalski disputed that Rogers had won the title during the rematch, arguing that the match had not been for the title. The NWA does not recognize any of Rogers' losses, with only one title reign counted for Rogers.
† Buddy Rogers January 21, 1963 House show New York City, NY 4 3 —
8 Lou Thesz January 24, 1963 House show Toronto, ON 3(5) 1,079 1,079 [i]
† Buddy Rogers January 24, 1963 N/A N/A 5 77 — Promoters in the Northeastern United States refused to recognize Buddy Rogers' one-fall loss to Thesz, thus breaking away from the NWA to form the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF). Rogers continued to defend the championship in the WWWF until he was declared the first WWWF World Heavyweight Champion on April 11.
9 Gene Kiniski January 7, 1966 House show St. Louis, MO 1 1,131 1,131 [j]
10 Dory Funk Jr. February 11, 1969 House show Tampa, FL 1 1,563 1,563 [8]
11 Harley Race May 24, 1973 House show Kansas City, KS 1 57 57 [9]
12 Jack Brisco July 20, 1973 House show Houston, TX 1 500 500 [10]
13 Giant Baba December 2, 1974 House show Kagoshima, Japan 1 7 7 This was a two-out-of-three-falls match. [11]
14 Jack Brisco December 9, 1974 House show Toyohashi, Japan 2 366 366
15 Terry Funk December 10, 1975 House show Miami Beach, FL 1 424 424
16 Harley Race February 6, 1977 House show Toronto, ON 2 926 926
17 Dusty Rhodes August 21, 1979 House show Tampa, FL 1 5 5
18 Harley Race August 26, 1979 House show Orlando, FL 3 66 66
19 Giant Baba October 31, 1979 House show Nagoya, Japan 2 7 7
20 Harley Race November 7, 1979 House show Amagasaki, Japan 4 302 302
21 Giant Baba September 4, 1980 House show Saga, Japan 3 5 5
22 Harley Race September 9, 1980 House show Ōtsu, Japan 5 230 230
23 Tommy Rich April 27, 1981 House show Augusta, GA 1 4 4
24 Harley Race May 1, 1981 House show Gainesville, GA 6 51 51
25 Dusty Rhodes June 21, 1981 House show Atlanta, GA 2 88 88
26 Ric Flair September 17, 1981 House show Kansas City, KS 1 145 631 Former champion Lou Thesz was the special referee.
† The Midnight Rider February 9, 1982 House show Miami, FL 3 <1 — On February 9, 1982 in Miami, The Midnight Rider (Dusty Rhodes under a mask due to being under suspension in Florida) defeated Ric Flair for the title, but he returned it when then-NWA President Bob Geigel asked Rider to unmask or return the championship belt as NWA rules at the time forbade masked wrestlers from holding it. [12]
† Ric Flair February 9, 1982 House show Miami, FL 2 150 — The championship was returned to Flair.
† Jack Veneno September 7, 1982 House show Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic 1 <1 — Veneno defeated Ric Flair in Santo Domingo. As Veneno refused to defend the title outside his native country, the title was returned to Flair on the same day. [k]
† Ric Flair September 7, 1982 House show Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic 3 121 — [k]
† Carlos Colón January 6, 1983 House show San Juan, Puerto Rico 1 4 — Colon's WWC World Heavyweight Championship was also on the line. This title change is not recognized by the NWA. [l]
† Ric Flair January 10, 1983 House show Miami, FL 4 29 — This was a fictional match; this title change is not recognized by the NWA. On February 8, 1983, Victor Jovica defeated Flair to win the championship during a World Wrestling Council (WWC) event in Trinidad and Tobago, but the decision was reversed three days later because Jovica's feet were on the ropes during the pin. Due to the nature of the pin, neither the NWA nor the WWC recognized Jovica as champion.
27 Harley Race June 10, 1983 House show St. Louis, MO 7 167 167
28 Ric Flair November 24, 1983 Starrcade Greensboro, NC 2(5) 117 164 This was a steel cage match. Former champion Gene Kiniski was the special referee.
† Harley Race March 20, 1984 House show Wellington, New Zealand 8 3 — This title change was not authorized by the NWA. This title change was recognized by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) from 1998 until 2001, and has been occasionally recognized by the NWA since 2015. [13][14][15][16][2]
† Ric Flair March 23, 1984 House show Kallang, Singapore 6 44 — This title change was not authorized by the NWA. This title change was recognized by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) from 1998 until 2001, and has been occasionally recognized by the NWA since 2015. [13][14][15][2]
29 Kerry Von Erich May 6, 1984 1st Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions Irving, TX 1 18 18 This match had no time limit and the title could change hands on a disqualification; Kerry pinned Flair to win the title.
Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP)
30 Ric Flair May 24, 1984 House show Yokosuka, Japan 3(7) 793 793 By early 1985, Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) controlled many NWA territories and attempted going national, thus limiting championship matches primarily to performers under contract with JCP. [9]
31 Dusty Rhodes July 26, 1986 The Great American Bash Greensboro, NC 3(4) 14 14
32 Ric Flair August 9, 1986 House show St. Louis, MO 4(8) 412 412
33 Ron Garvin September 25, 1987 NWA World Wide Wrestling Detroit, MI 1 62 62 Aired September 26, 1987 on tape delay.
World Championship Wrestling (WCW)
34 Ric Flair November 26, 1987 Starrcade Chicago, IL 5(9) 452 452 On November 21, 1988 the NWA's flagship promotion Jim Crockett Promotions was purchased by Ted Turner and renamed World Championship Wrestling (WCW). This limited championship matches primarily to performers under contract with WCW.
35 Ricky Steamboat February 20, 1989 Chi-Town Rumble Chicago, IL 1 76 76
36 Ric Flair May 7, 1989 WrestleWar Nashville, TN 6(10) 426 426
37 Sting July 7, 1990 The Great American Bash Baltimore, MD 1 188 188
38 Ric Flair January 11, 1991 House show East Rutherford, NJ 7(11) 69 69 After this title win, Flair was also recognized as the first WCW World Heavyweight Champion.
39 Tatsumi Fujinami March 21, 1991 Starrcade in Tokyo Dome Tokyo, Japan 1 59 59 Briefly defended along with the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. This title change was originally ignored in the United States. [14][17]
40 Ric Flair May 19, 1991 SuperBrawl I St. Petersburg, FL 8(12) 112 112 This title change was originally ignored in the United States, presenting Flair's reign as one continuous reign. [14]
— Vacated September 8, 1991 — — — — — Ric Flair was stripped of the title upon signing with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). [14]
41 Masahiro Chono August 12, 1992 G1 Climax 1992 – Day 5 Tokyo, Japan 1 145 145 Chono defeated Rick Rude in the final of the G1 Climax tournament.
42 The Great Muta January 4, 1993 Fantastic Story in Tokyo Dome Tokyo, Japan 1 48 48 Muta's IWGP Heavyweight Championship was also on the line.
43 Barry Windham February 21, 1993 SuperBrawl III Asheville, NC 1 147 147 [18]
44 Ric Flair July 18, 1993 Beach Blast Biloxi, MS 9(13) 59 59 [19][20]
— Vacated September 15, 1993 — — — — — World Championship Wrestling (WCW) withdrew from the NWA on September 1, 1993 but the NWA continued to recognize Flair as NWA Champion and tried to reach a deal with WCW for the title to be dropped to a wrestler of NWA's choosing before the end of the year. By September 15, communications broke down and the NWA attempted to obtain a temporary restraining order against WCW to stop them from advertising the scheduled Rick Rude vs. Ric Flair match at Fall Brawl as a world title match and have the belt returned to them. Though WCW managed to keep the belt, they dropped any mentions of the NWA name from that point forward and the title was vacated by the NWA while WCW continued to recognize Flair as their WCW International World Heavyweight Champion. [21][22]
National Wrestling Alliance/Pro Wrestling Organization LLC
45 Shane Douglas August 27, 1994 NWA World Title Tournament Philadelphia, PA 1 <1 <1 Douglas defeated 2 Cold Scorpio in tournament final. [23]
— Vacated August 27, 1994 NWA World Title Tournament Philadelphia, PA — — — Shane Douglas threw the NWA World Heavyweight Championship belt down immediately after winning it and declared that he did not want to be the organization's champion; Douglas then declared the NWA-ECW Heavyweight Championship, of which he was already in possession, to be a world championship. Eastern Championship Wrestling then withdraws from the NWA and becomes Extreme Championship Wrestling. [23]
46 Chris Candido November 19, 1994 NWA World Heavyweight Title Tournament Cherry Hill, NJ 1 97 97 Candido defeated Tracy Smothers in tournament final. [m]
47 Dan Severn February 24, 1995 House show Erlanger, KY 1 1,479 1,479 [24][25]
48 Naoya Ogawa March 14, 1999 Battle in the Hama Ring Yokohama, Japan 1 195 195 [26]
49 Gary Steele September 25, 1999 NWA 51st Anniversary Show Charlotte, NC 1 7 7 Gary Steele pinned Ogawa in a three-way match, also involving Brian Anthony.
50 Naoya Ogawa October 2, 1999 House show Thomaston, CT 2 274 274
— Vacated July 2, 2000 — — — — — Ogawa vacated the championship to focus on training for his scheduled (but later cancelled) mixed martial arts fight against Rickson Gracie.
51 Mike Rapada September 19, 2000 Tango in Tampa Tampa, FL 1 56 56 Rapada defeated Jerry Flynn in tournament final. [27]
52 Sabu November 14, 2000 Night of Decisions Tampa, FL 1 38 38
53 Mike Rapada December 22, 2000 Christmas Chaos Nashville, TN 2 123 123
54 Steve Corino April 24, 2001 House show Tampa, FL 1 172 172
— Vacated October 13, 2001 NWA 53rd Anniversary Show St. Petersburg, FL — — — The championship was held up after a Corino vs. Shinya Hashimoto title match ended in a no contest due to Corino being unable to compete after sustaining a head injury.
55 Shinya Hashimoto December 15, 2001 Clash of the Champions McKeesport, PA 1 84 84 This was three matches held round robin style; Gary Steele vs. Steve Corino, Gary Steele vs. Shinya Hashimoto, and Steve Corino vs. Shinya Hashimoto. Hashimoto won the round robin matches. [28]
56 Dan Severn March 9, 2002 Vast Energy Tokyo, Japan 2 80 80 [28]
— Vacated May 28, 2002 — — — — — Dan Severn was stripped of the title after "refusing to make a defense" of the championship on the inaugural NWA: Total Nonstop Action (NWA-TNA) pay-per-view.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA)
57 Ken Shamrock June 19, 2002 NWA-TNA Weekly pay-per-view event #1 Huntsville, AL 1 49 49 In June 2002, Jeff and Jerry Jarrett formed NWA: Total Nonstop Action (NWA-TNA) and worked out a licensing deal with the NWA to control and feature the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and the NWA World Tag Team Championship as their championships. Shamrock defeated Malice to win the title.
58 Ron Killings August 7, 2002 NWA-TNA Weekly pay-per-view event #8 Nashville, TN 1 105 105
59 Jeff Jarrett November 20, 2002 NWA-TNA Weekly pay-per-view event #22 Nashville, TN 1 203 203 Jarrett unified the title with the WWA World Heavyweight Championship during this reign. [29][30]
60 A.J. Styles June 11, 2003 NWA-TNA Weekly pay-per-view event #49 Nashville, TN 1 133 133 This was a three-way match, also involving Raven.
61 Jeff Jarrett October 22, 2003 NWA-TNA Weekly pay-per-view event #68 Nashville, TN 2 182 182
62 A.J. Styles April 21, 2004 NWA-TNA Weekly pay-per-view event #94 Nashville, TN 2 28 28 This was a steel cage match.
63 Ron Killings May 19, 2004 NWA-TNA Weekly pay-per-view event #98 Nashville, TN 2 14 14 This was a four-way match, also involving Chris Harris and Raven.
64 Jeff Jarrett June 2, 2004 NWA-TNA Weekly pay-per-view event #100 Nashville, TN 3 305 305 This was a King of the Mountain match, also involving A.J. Styles, Chris Harris, and Raven. Ron Killings defeated Jarrett on the June 23 NWA-TNA Weekly pay-per-view event for the title, but due to issues surrounding the title change, the title was held up, before Vince Russo gave Jarrett the title back.[31]
65 Ray González April 3, 2005 Juicio Final 2005 San Juan, Puerto Rico 1 <1 <1 González pinned Jarrett on April 3 in San Juan, but the decision was reversed after the match due to an unauthorized referee counting the pinfall while the originally sanctioned referee was knocked out. Title change was initially ignored by TNA but was retroactively recognized by the NWA in 2015. [32]
66 Jeff Jarrett April 3, 2005 Juicio Final 2005 San Juan, Puerto Rico 3 42 42 The title was returned to Jarrett due to the nature of the championship match. On their previous official website, the NWA regarded this as a continuation of Jarrett's third reign rather than the start of his fourth reign.[32]
67 A.J. Styles May 15, 2005 Hard Justice Orlando, FL 3 35 35 Tito Ortiz was the special referee. [33]
68 Raven June 19, 2005 Slammiversary Orlando, FL 1 88 88 This was a King of the Mountain match, also involving Abyss, Monty Brown, and Sean Waltman. [34]
69 Jeff Jarrett September 15, 2005 International Incident Windsor, ON 4 38 38 This was a "Raven's Rules" match. [35]
70 Rhino October 23, 2005 Bound for Glory Orlando, FL 1 2 2 Rhino won the right to face Jeff Jarrett in a Gauntlet for the Gold match after designated challenger Kevin Nash fell ill and withdrew. Tito Ortiz was the special referee. [36]
71 Jeff Jarrett October 25, 2005 Impact! Orlando, FL 5 110 110 Aired November 3, 2005 on tape delay.
72 Christian Cage February 12, 2006 Against All Odds Orlando, FL 1 126 126 [37]
73 Jeff Jarrett June 18, 2006 Slammiversary Orlando, FL 6 126 126 This was a King of the Mountain match, also involving Abyss, Ron Killings, and Sting. [38]
74 Sting October 22, 2006 Bound for Glory Plymouth, MI 2 28 28 Kurt Angle was the special outside enforcer. This was a Title vs. Career match where Sting put his career on the line. [39]
75 Abyss November 19, 2006 Genesis Orlando, FL 1 56 56 Abyss defeated Sting by disqualification after Sting pushed the referee. [40]
76 Christian Cage January 14, 2007 Final Resolution Orlando, FL 2 119 119 This was a three-way elimination match, also involving Sting. [41]
— Vacated May 13, 2007 — — — — — Christian Cage was stripped of the championship when the NWA ended its business agreement with TNA.
National Wrestling Alliance/Pro Wrestling Organization LLC
77 Adam Pearce September 1, 2007 House show Bayamón, Puerto Rico 1 336 336 Pearce defeated Brent Albright in the finals of the Reclaiming the Glory tournament. Pearce competed as a substitute for Bryan Danielson, who defeated Pearce in the semifinals but withdrew from the tournament due to a detached retina. Danielson was the special referee. [42]
78 Brent Albright August 2, 2008 Death Before Dishonor VI New York City, NY 1 49 49 [43]
79 Adam Pearce September 20, 2008 Glory By Honor VII Philadelphia, PA 2 35 35 [44][45]
80 Blue Demon Jr. October 25, 2008 House show Mexico City, Mexico 1 505 505 [46]
81 Adam Pearce March 14, 2010 House show Charlotte, NC 3 357 357 This was a three-way elimination match, also featuring Phill Shatter. [47]
82 Colt Cabana March 6, 2011 NWA Championship Wrestling from Hollywood West Hollywood, CA 1 48 48 Aired April 2, 2011 on tape delay. [48]
83 The Sheik April 23, 2011 Subtle Hustle Jacksonville, FL 1 79 79 [49]
— Vacated July 11, 2011 — — — — — The Sheik was stripped of the championship for refusing to defend against Adam Pearce on July 31, 2011. [50]
84 Adam Pearce July 31, 2011 NWA at the Ohio State Fair Columbus, OH 4 252 252 Pearce defeated Chance Prophet, Jimmy Rave, and Shaun Tempers in a four-way match to win the vacant championship. [51]
85 Colt Cabana April 8, 2012 NWA Championship Wrestling from Hollywood Glendale, CA 2 104 104 Aired April 29, 2012 on tape delay. [52]
National Wrestling Alliance/International Wrestling Corp.
86 Adam Pearce July 21, 2012 Metro Pro Wrestling Kansas City, KS 5 98 98 Aired on an unknown date via tape delay. This was a two-out-of-three falls match and was match four of a seven-match series between Pearce and Colt Cabana. During this reign, ownership of the NWA World Championship and the NWA itself was transferred from Pro Wrestling Organization LLC to the International Wrestling Corp. [53]
— Vacated October 27, 2012 NWA Warzone Wrestling 14 Berwick, Victoria, Australia — — — Adam Pearce left the NWA and resigned as champion after the organization refused to allow him to defend the title in the concluding match of his seven-match series against Colt Cabana. The match did take place with Cabana winning, but both wrestlers refused the title in the aftermath. [54]
87 Kahagas November 2, 2012 Wrath of Champions Clayton, NJ 1 134 134 Kahagas won an elimination match for the vacant title by last eliminating Damien Wayne. Match also featured Chance Prophet, Jason Kincaid, Lance Erikson, Anthony Nese, Papadon, Biggie Biggs, and Lance Anoa'i. Kahagas was the reigning NWA National Heavyweight Champion at the time of his victory. [55]
88 Rob Conway March 16, 2013 A Monster's Ball San Antonio, TX 1 294 294 Conway replaced an injured Jax Dane and defeated Kahagas for the championship. [56]
89 Satoshi Kojima January 4, 2014 Wrestle Kingdom 8 in Tokyo Dome Tokyo, Japan 1 149 149 [57]
90 Rob Conway June 2, 2014 Cauliflower Alley Club Reunion Show Las Vegas, NV 2 257 257 [58]
91 Hiroyoshi Tenzan February 14, 2015 The New Beginning in Sendai Sendai, Japan 1 196 196 [59]
92 Jax Dane August 29, 2015 World War Gold San Antonio, TX 1 419 419 [60][61]
National Wrestling Alliance/Lightning One Inc.
93 Tim Storm October 21, 2016 House show Sherman, TX 1 414 414 On October 1, 2017, Billy Corgan's company Lightning One, Inc. purchased the NWA, including the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. During this reign, the NWA's licensing model was abolished and championship matches were limited primarily to performers under contract with Lightning One, Inc.
94 Nick Aldis December 9, 2017 Cage of Death 19 Sewell, NJ 1 266 266 [62]
95 Cody September 1, 2018 All In Hoffman Estates, IL 1 50 50 [63]
96 Nick Aldis October 21, 2018 NWA 70th Anniversary Show Nashville, TN 2 1,043 1,043 This was a two-out-of-three falls match. [64]
97 Trevor Murdoch August 29, 2021 NWA 73rd Anniversary Show St. Louis, MO 1 167 167 This was a Title vs. Career match where Murdoch put his career on the line. [65]
98 Matt Cardona February 12, 2022 PowerrrTrip Oak Grove, KY 1 119 119 Aired via tape delay on the March 8, 2022 episode of NWA Powerrr. [66]
— Vacated June 11, 2022 Alwayz Ready Knoxville, TN — — — Cardona vacated the title due to an injury.
99 Trevor Murdoch June 11, 2022 Alwayz Ready Knoxville, TN 2 154 154 Defeated Nick Aldis, Thom Latimer, and Sam Shaw in a fatal four-way match for the vacant title. [67]
100 Tyrus November 12, 2022 Hard Times 3 Chalmette, LA 1 288 288 This was a three-way match, also involving Matt Cardona. [68]
101 EC3 August 27, 2023 NWA 75th Anniversary Show St. Louis, MO 1 234+ 234+ This was a Bullrope match with Tyrus's wrestling career on the line as well. [69]

Combined reigns

Three-time champion Lou Thesz, whose first reign is the longest reign at 2,300 days, and he has the longest combined reign at 3,749 days.
Record nine-time champion Ric Flair
† Indicates the current champion
<1 The reign is shorter than one day.
Rank Wrestler No. of
reigns 		Combined days
1 Lou Thesz 3 3,749
2 Ric Flair 9 3,119
3 Harley Race 7 1,800
4 Dory Funk Jr. 1 1,563
5 Dan Severn 2 1,559
6 Nick Aldis 2 1,309
7 Gene Kiniski 1 1,131
8 Adam Pearce 5 1,078
9 Jeff Jarrett 6 1,006
10 Pat O'Connor 1 903
11 Jack Brisco 2 866
12 Buddy Rogers 1 573
13 Rob Conway 2 551
14 Blue Demon Jr. 1 505
15 Orville Brown 1 501
16 Naoya Ogawa 2 469
17 Terry Funk 1 424
18 Dick Hutton 1 421
19 Jax Dane 1 419
20 Tim Storm 1 414
21 Trevor Murdoch 2 321
22 Tyrus 1 288
23 Christian Cage 2 245
24 Whipper Billy Watson 1 239
25 EC3 † 1 234+
26 Sting 2 216
27 A.J. Styles 3 196
Hiroyoshi Tenzan 1 196
29 Mike Rapada 2 179
30 Steve Corino 1 172
31 Colt Cabana 2 152
32 Satoshi Kojima 1 149
33 Barry Windham 1 147
34 Masahiro Chono 1 145
35 Kahagas 1 134
36 Ron Killings 2 119
Matt Cardona 1 119
38 Dusty Rhodes 3 107
39 Chris Candido 1 97
40 Raven 1 88
41 Shinya Hashimoto 1 84
42 The Sheik 1 79
43 Ricky Steamboat 1 76
44 Ron Garvin 1 62
45 Tatsumi Fujinami 1 59
46 Abyss 1 56
47 Cody 1 50
48 Brent Albright 1 49
Ken Shamrock 1 49
50 The Great Muta 1 48
51 Sabu 1 38
52 Giant Baba 3 19
53 Kerry Von Erich 1 18
54 Gary Steele 1 7
55 Tommy Rich 1 4
56 Rhino 1 2
57 Shane Douglas 1 <1
Ray González 1 <1

Footnotes

  • Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2000). "United States: 19th century & widely defended titles – NWA, WWF, AWA, IWA, ECW, NWA: NWA World Heavyweight Title". Wrestling Title Histories: Professional Wrestling Champions Around the World from the 19th Century to the Present. Waterloo, ON: Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  1. ^ Duncan & Will (2000) p. 15 "Orville Brown 1948/07 Recognized as the first champion when the National Wrestilng Alliance is founded in 48/07 in Waterloo, IA by Pinkie George with five other promoters."
  2. ^ Duncan & Will (2000) p. 15 "Unifies following titles to become the Undisputed World Heavyweight champion:
    • National Wrestling Association World Heavyweight title, having defeated Bill Longson on 48/07/20 in Indianapolis, IN
    • National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight title, awarded on 49/11/27 when champion Orville Brown is injured in an automobile accident on 49/11/01 before a unification match scheduled on 49/11/25 in St. Louis, MO
    • Los Angeles Olympic Auditorium version of the world title, defeating Baron Michele Leone on 52/05/21 in Los Angeles, CA."
  3. ^ Duncan & Will (2000) p. 15 "Whipper Billy Watson 56/03/15 Toronto, ON"
  4. ^ Duncan & Will (2000) p. 15 "Lou Thesz [2] 56/11/09 St. Louis, MO"
  5. ^ Duncan & Will (2000) p. 15 "Edouard Carpentier # 57/06/14 Chicago, IL"
  6. ^ Duncan & Will (2000) p. 15 "Lou Thesz # 57
    Carpentier withdraws his claim to the title when Montreal promoter Eddie Quinn leaves NWA; NWA voids all recognition of Carpentier as champion"
  7. ^ 'Dick Hutton 57/11/14 Toronto, ON"
  8. ^ Duncan & Will (2000) p. 15 "Pat O'Connor 59/01/09 St. Louis, MO"
  9. ^ Duncan & Will (2000) p. 15 "Lou Thesz [3] 63/01/24 Toronto, ON
    Promoters in northeast refuse to recognize Rogers' one-fall loss to Thesz and start World Wide Wrestling Federation with Rogers as the first WWWF World Heavyweight champion"
  10. ^ Duncan & Will (2000) p. 15 "Gene Kiniski 66/01/07 St. Louis, MO"
  11. ^ a b Duncan & Will (2000) p. 17 "Flair allows himself to be pinned by Jack Veneno to avoid the riot from the audience, but the title is returned to Flair"
  12. ^ Duncan & Will (2000) p. 17 "Carlos Colon # 1983/01/06 San Juan, PR"
  13. ^ Duncan & Will (2000) p. 19 "Chris Candido 1994/11/19 Cherry Hill, NJ Defeats Tracy Smothers in tournament final."

References

  1. ^ "NWA World Heavyweight Title". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2017-03-04.
  2. ^ a b c @nwa (August 1, 2019). "Today the world lost one of the toughest men ever to walk God's green earth. RIP Harley Race! 8X NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion. The entire sport of professional wrestling and the National Wrestling Alliance sends its deepest condolences to the family and friends of Harley" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  3. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (July 14, 1948). "14.07.1948 - 01.11.1949: Orville Brown". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
  4. ^ Lee Bateman, Oliver (August 16, 2022). "Gene LeBell Did It All". The Ringer. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
  5. ^ Hillhouse, Dave (October 19, 2006). "Straight shooting with 'Judo' Gene LeBell". Slam! Wrestling. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
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