The World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship sanctioned by a group of National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) promoters led by the NWA affiliate in Omaha, Nebraska. These promoters chose to recognize Édouard Carpentier as NWA World Heavyweight Championship following his disputed win over NWA World Heavyweight Champion Lou Thesz on June 14, 1957.[1] The majority of NWA promoters continued to recognize Thesz as their champion.
It was often contested alongside the AWA World Heavyweight Championship, and the two titles were finally unified when AWA champion Verne Gagne defeated Omaha champion Fritz Von Erich on September 7, 1963.
Title history
- Key
| 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 |
Édouard Carpentier |
1 |
June 14, 1957 |
Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. |
Chicago, Illinois |
House show |
Recognized as champion after a disputed win over NWA World Heavyweight Champion Lou Thesz. The majority of the NWA promotions continue to recognize Thesz as their champion. |
[1] |
| 2 |
Verne Gagne |
1 |
August 9, 1958 |
Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. |
Omaha, Nebraska |
House show |
|
|
| 3 |
Wilbur Snyder |
1 |
November 15, 1958 |
[Note 1] |
Omaha, Nebraska |
House show |
|
|
| 4 |
Dick the Bruiser |
1 |
1959 |
[Note 2] |
Omaha, Nebraska |
House show |
Sometime after January 27, 1959. |
|
| 5 |
Wilbur Snyder |
2 |
July 25, 1959 |
Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. |
Omaha, Nebraska |
House show |
|
|
| 6 |
Dr. X |
1 |
October 3, 1959 |
Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. |
Omaha, Nebraska |
House show |
|
|
| 7 |
Don Leo Jonathan |
1 |
January 7, 1960 |
Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. |
Omaha, Nebraska |
House show |
|
|
| 8 |
Dr. X |
2 |
February 4, 1961 |
Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. |
Omaha, Nebraska |
House show |
|
|
| 9 |
Don Leo Jonathan |
2 |
April 3, 1961 |
[Note 3] |
Omaha, Nebraska |
House show |
|
|
| - |
Vacated |
- |
April 1961 |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
Vacant after a disqualification loss to Bobo Brazil. |
|
| 10 |
Don Leo Jonathan |
3 |
May 20, 1961 |
Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. |
Omaha, Nebraska |
House show |
Defeated Bobo Brazil to win the vacant title. |
|
| 11 |
Verne Gagne |
2 |
September 16, 1961 |
Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. |
Omaha, Nebraska |
House show |
|
|
| 12 |
Fritz Von Erich |
1 |
July 31, 1962 |
Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. |
Omaha, Nebraska |
House show |
|
|
| 13 |
Verne Gagne |
3 |
August 25, 1962 |
Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. |
Omaha, Nebraska |
House show |
|
|
| 14 |
The Crusher |
1 |
February 15, 1963 |
Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. |
Omaha, Nebraska |
House show |
Also won the AWA World Heavyweight Championship from Verne Gagne on July 9, 1963 in Minneapolis, Minnesota |
|
| 15 |
Verne Gagne |
4 |
July 20, 1963 |
Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. |
Minneapolis, Minnesota |
House show |
Won both the Omaha title and AWA title. |
|
| 16 |
Fritz Von Erich |
2 |
July 27, 1963 |
Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. |
Omaha, Nebraska |
House show |
Won both the Omaha title and AWA title. |
|
| 17 |
Verne Gagne |
5 |
September 7, 1963 |
0 |
Omaha, Nebraska |
House show |
Won the AWA title from Fritz Von Erich on August 8, 1963 in Amarillo, Texas. |
|
| - |
Title retired |
- |
September 7, 1963 |
Omaha, Nebraska |
N/A |
N/A |
The Omaha title was unified with the AWA title. |
|
- ↑ The exact date Snyder lost the championship is uncertain, putting his title reign at between Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. and Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. days.
- ↑ The exact date Dick the Bruiser won the championship is uncertain, putting his title reign at between 1 day and Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. days.
- ↑ The exact date the championship was vacated is uncertain, putting the title reign at between 1 and Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. days.
See also
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
External links
