Canadian International Heavyweight Championship

Last updated
International Heavyweight Championship
Details
Promotion Lutte Internationale (1976–1987)
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2024–2025)
Date establishedMarch 29, 1976
Date retiredJanuary 19, 2025
Other name(s)
  • Canadian World Championship
  • Canadian International Heavyweight Championship
    (1976–1987; 2024–2025)
Statistics
First champion(s) Serge Dumont
Most reigns Dino Bravo (7 reigns)
Longest reign PCO (183 days)
Shortest reign A. J. Francis (35 days)
Oldest champion PCO (56 years old)
Youngest champion A. J. Francis (38 years old)

The Canadian International Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship that was defended in the American promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA).

Contents

It was originally the top singles title in the Montreal-based wrestling promotion Lutte Internationale (International Wrestling). It was the successor to the Montreal Athletic Commission's MAC World Heavyweight Championship (later renamed the International Heavyweight Championship), which was retired after the Commission's promotion, the International Wrestling Association, closed in 1975. The title was promoted from 1976 until Lutte Internationale closed in 1987, upon which the title was retired.

In 2024, the title was revived by TNA by A. J. Francis, with the explanation that Francis purchased the rights to the title and declared himself champion. This occurred on June 15, 2024 in Cicero, Illinois during the Impact! tapings which aired on June 27. [1] [2] [3] At The People vs. GCW show, PCO cut a promo in which he legitimately aired his grievances with TNA management, before attempting to destroy the TNA Digital Media Championship belt with a sledgehammer. After that, Digital Media Championship was vacated and the Canadian International Heavyweight Championship was subsequently dropped.

Title history

Key
No.Overall reign number
ReignReign number for the specific champion
DaysNumber of days held
No.ChampionChampionship changeReign statisticsNotesRef.
DateEventLocationReignDays
Lutte Internationale
 1 Serge Dumont March 29, 1976 IW show Montreal, Quebec, Canada1 127Defeated Johnny Rougeau. 
 2 Billy Two Rivers  August 3, 1976 IW show Montreal, Quebec, Canada1 160   
 3 Serge Dumont September 1976 IW showN/A2 N/A   
 4 Johnny Rougeau  September 1976 IW showN/A1 N/A   
Championship history is unrecorded from September 1976 to February 1980.
 5 Edouard Carpentier  1980 IW showN/A1 N/AUnknown who Carpentier defeated for the title. 
 6 Java Ruuk  February 11, 1980 IW show Montreal, Quebec, Canada1 189   
 7 Edouard Carpentier  August 18, 1980 IW showN/A2 40   
 8 Pierre Lefebvre  September 27, 1980 IW showN/A1 3   
 9 Dino Bravo  September 30, 1980 IW showN/A1 107Unknown who Bravo defeated for the title. 
 10 Michel Dubois  January 12, 1981 IW showN/A1 159   
 11 Dino Bravo  June 20, 1981 IW show Ottawa, Ontario, Canada2 N/A   
 12 Sailor White  January 1982 IW showN/A1 N/A   
 13 Dino Bravo  July 1982 IW showN/A3 N/A   
— Vacated  July 1982—N/A——
 14 Billy Robinson  August 16, 1982 IW show Montreal, Quebec, Canada1 147Defeated Rick Martel in tournament final. 
 15 The Destroyer  January 10, 1983 IW show Montreal, Quebec, Canada1 2   
 16 Billy Robinson  January 12, 1983 IW show Quebec City, Quebec, Canada2 54   
 17 Dino Bravo  March 7, 1983 IW show Montreal, Quebec, Canada4 N/A   [4]
 18 Rick Martel  June 1983 IW showN/A1 N/A   
 19 Dino Bravo  September 21, 1983 IW show Montreal, Quebec, Canada5 384   
 20 King Tonga  October 9, 1984 IW show Hull, Quebec, Canada1 125   
 21 Dino Bravo  February 11, 1985 IW show Montreal, Quebec, Canada6 91Special referee— Verne Gagne. [5]
— Vacated  May 13, 1985—N/A——
 22 Dino Bravo  May 28, 1985 IW show Montreal, Quebec, Canada7 398Defeated King Tonga; recognized by the WWF during their takeover of the Montreal office. [6]
 23 The Great Samu  June 30, 1986 IW show Montreal, Quebec, Canada1 126   
 24 David Schultz  November 3, 1986 IW show Montreal, Quebec, Canada1 77   
 25 Hercules Ayala  January 19, 1987 IW show Montreal, Quebec, Canada1 27   [7]
 26 Abdullah the Butcher  February 15, 1987 IW show Montreal, Quebec, Canada1 197   [8]
—Deactivated August 31, 1987—N/A——Title retired upon the closing of Lutte Internationale. 
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA)
27 A. J. Francis June 15, 2024 Impact! Cicero, Illinois, United States135Title revived by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) with the explanation that Francis bought the rights to the title and declared himself as champion.
This episode aired on tape delay on June 27, 2024.		 [1] [2]
28 PCO July 20, 2024 Slammiversary Montreal, Quebec, Canada1183This was a Montreal Street Fight. This was also for Francis' TNA Digital Media Championship. [9]
—Deactivated January 19, 2025The People vs. GCW New York City, New York, United States——After PCO cut a promo in which he legitimately aired his grievances with TNA management, before attempting to destroy the TNA Digital Media Championship belt with a sledgehammer, Canadian International Heavyweight Championship was subsequently dropped by TNA. [10]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "TNA iMPACT! on AXS TV Results: June 27, 2024". TNA Wrestling.com. TNA Wrestling. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  2. 1 2 Thomas, Jeremy. "AJ Francis Proclaims Himself International Heavyweight Champion On TNA Impact". 411 Mania. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  3. ↑ "TNA Wrestling Re-signs A.J. Francis". TNA Wrestling.com. TNA Wrestling. Retrieved December 31, 2024.
  4. ↑ Hoops, Brian (March 7, 2020). "Daily Pro Wrestling history (03/07): Bruno Sammartino vs. Giant Baba". Wrestling Observer Newsletter . Retrieved March 8, 2020.
  5. ↑ Hoops, Brian (February 11, 2017). "On this day in pro wrestling history (Feb 11): AJ Styles wins the IWGP Title". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 15, 2017.
  6. ↑ F4W Staff (May 28, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history (May 28): Hulk Hogan vs. Nick Bockwinkel, Bruno vs. Superstar Graham double DQ". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 10, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ↑ Hoops, Brian (January 19, 2019). "Pro wrestling history (01/19): Ric Flair wins WWF title in 1992 Royal Rumble". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online . Retrieved January 18, 2019.
  8. ↑ Hoops, Brian (February 15, 2017). "On this day in pro wrestling history (Feb 15): Eddie Guerrero wins the WWE Championship". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 15, 2017.
  9. ↑ Powell, Jason (July 20, 2024). "TNA Slammiversary results: Powell's live review of Moose vs. Joe Hendry vs. Josh Alexander vs. Nic Nemeth vs. Frankie Kazarian vs. Steve Maclin in an elimination match for the TNA Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved July 20, 2024.
  10. ↑ "PCO Says New TNA Management Team Is 'Ehhhh,' Gives More Insight Into Actions At The People vs. GCW | Fightful News". www.fightful.com. Retrieved 2025-01-20.
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