IW North American Heavyweight Championship

Last updated

This is a list of people who held the "North American Heavyweight Title" under the banner of International Wrestling (IW) from 1969 to 1984. The promotion was owned by the Eastern Sports Association from 1969 until 1976. The IW promotion ends with end of 1984 season, and the title was discontinued.

North American Heavyweight Title

Key
No.Overall reign number
ReignReign number for the specific champion
DaysNumber of days held
No.ChampionChampionship changeReign statisticsNotesRef.
DateEventLocationReignDays
 1  The Beast  July 8, 1969 IW showN/A 1 49   
 2 Archie “The Stomper” Gouldie  August 26, 1969 IW showN/A 1 42   
 3  Bobo Brazil  October 7, 1969 IW showN/A 1 224   
 4 Bobby Red Cloud May 19, 1970 IW showN/A 1 14   
 5 Archie "The Stomper" Gouldie  June 2, 1970 IW showN/A 2 63   
 6  The Beast  August 4, 1970 IW showN/A 2 280   
 7 Eric Pomeroy May 11, 1971 IW showN/A 1 42   
 8  Leo Burke  June 22, 1971 IW showN/A 1 92   
 9  Gino Brito  September 22, 1971 IW showHalifax, Nova Scotia 1 5   
 10  Leo Burke  September 27, 1971 IW showHalifax, Nova Scotia 2 257   
 11  Killer Karl Krupp  June 10, 1972 IW showN/A 1 N/A   
 12 Eric Pomeroy July 1972 IW showN/A 2 N/A   
 13  Killer Karl Krupp  July 25, 1972 IW showHalifax, Nova Scotia 2 49   
 14  The Beast  September 12, 1972 IW showHalifax, Nova Scotia 3 N/A   
 15 Jim Dillon May 1973 IW showN/A 1 N/A   
 16  Killer Karl Krupp  August 1973 IW showN/A 3 N/A   
 17 Archie "The Stomper" Gouldie  September 1973 IW showN/A 3 N/A In October, the Stomper returned to Stampede Wrestling, and in December won their North American title from Omar Atlas. On February 22, 1974, in Calgary, the Stomper lost the (Stampede) North American Title to Harley Race. ESA may have used this title change to explain Harley Race entering the Maritimes at the start of the 1974 season in possession of the North American belt - omitting that the Stomper had won back the Stampede version in March. 
 18  Harley Race  May 7, 1974 IW showN/A 1 N/A   
 19  Leo Burke  May 1974 IW showN/A 3 N/A   
 20 Great Kuma  May 1974 IW showN/A 1 N/A   
 21  The Beast  June 1974 IW showN/A 4 N/A   
 22 Great Kuma  June 1974 IW showN/A 2 N/A   
 23 Eric Pomeroy July 1974 IW showN/A 3 N/A   
 24  August 1974 IW showN/A 1 N/A   
 25 Archie "The Stomper" Gouldie  September 1974 IW showN/A 4 N/A   
 26  September 1974 IW showN/A 2 N/A   
 27  Leo Burke  May 6, 1975 IW showN/A 4 84 Was supposedly won in Detroit. 
 28  Bob Brown  July 29, 1975 IW showN/A 1 84   
 29  Leo Burke  October 21, 1975 IW showN/A 5 N/A Substituting for Pat O’Connor. 
 30  Bob Brown  1975 IW showN/A 5 N/A Returned to Brown upon appeal. 
 31  Rudy Kay  November 1975 IW showN/A 1 N/A   
N/AN/AN/A The season ended without notice, leaving Rudy Kay unable to defend within 30 days. 
 32 Tommy Gilbert April 24, 1976 IW showUSA 1 N/A Won a tournament to be crowned champion. 
 33  The Brute  May 1976 IW showN/A 1 N/A   
 34 Tommy Gilbert May 27, 1976 IW showSaint John, New Brunswick 2 N/A   
 35  The Brute  June 1976 IW showN/A 2 N/A   
 36  Leo Burke  September 1976 IW showN/A 5 N/A   
 37 Michel Dubois 1976 IW showN/A 1 N/A   
 38 N/A IW showN/A  N/A   
 39 Steve Bolus June 9, 1977 TCW showN/A 1 N/A Arrived as champion 
 40 Frenchy Martin  June 1977 TCW showN/A 1 N/A   
 41  Leo Burke  July 14, 1977 TCW showN/A 6 N/A   

{{Professional wrestling title history middle

sort number = 42type=deactivatedJuly 1977}}event = IW shownotes = TCW closedref = 

}}

There was not a North American Title in the Maritimes again until 1984, when there were two of them.

  1. 84/04 Archie “The Stomper” Gouldie arrived at rival Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling as North American Champion. This was a newly created title for AGPW.
  2. 84/06 Leo Burke arrives at International Wrestling as North American Champion, this title had a history with Toronto's Maple Leaf Wrestling, starting in 1982, when Leo Burke arrived there as Champion, with the old ESA/North American belt.
Key
No.Overall reign number
ReignReign number for the specific champion
DaysNumber of days held
No.ChampionChampionship changeReign statisticsNotesRef.
DateEventLocationReignDays
 1  Leo Burke  October 1982 MLW showN/A 1N/A   
 2  Johnny Weaver  April 10, 1983 MLW showToronto, Ontario 1 49   
 3  Leo Burke  May 29, 1983 MLW showToronto, Ontario 2 N/A   
Deactivated June 1984 Maple Leaf Wrestling was sold to WWF. Leo Burke returned to Maritimes as North American champion. 
 4 Archie "The Stomper" Gouldie  August 1984N/AN/A 1 The Stomper jumped to International Wrestling, won title unification match over Leo Burke. 

Sources

Title history at wrestling-titles.com

Related Research Articles

Jean Gagné was a French–Canadian professional wrestler and manager, best known under the ring name Frenchy Martin. During his World Wrestling Federation heyday in the 1980s as the manager of Canadian wrestler Dino Bravo, he was known for his trademark sign that read "USA is not OK". Gagné, however, began his career in Canada, primarily in Stampede Wrestling, and Puerto Rico's World Wrestling Council. In 1990, Gagné left the WWF and retired from professional wrestling.

David Schultz (professional wrestler) American professional wrestler

David Schultz is an American former professional wrestler. Although he is known for competing in North American regional promotions such as Stampede Wrestling, the National Wrestling Alliance and the American Wrestling Association during the late 1970s and early 1980s, he is perhaps best remembered for his short stint in the World Wrestling Federation in 1984, where he gained notoriety after assaulting 20/20 reporter John Stossel during a report on the legitimacy of professional wrestling.

The Royal Kangaroos Professional wrestling tag team

The Royal Kangaroos was a professional wrestling tag team consisting of cousins "Lord" Jonathan Boyd and Norman Frederick Charles III. The duo played off their Australian heritage which included using a boomerang as their weapon of choice. Boyd and Charles were known for their brutal, brawling style.

Léonce Cormier is a Canadian retired professional wrestler. He was born in Dorchester, New Brunswick. He competed across Canada, in several American promotions, and wrestled internationally for both Puerto Rico's World Wrestling Council (WWC) and the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) in New Zealand. In Canada, where he spent the majority of his career, Cormier used the ring name Leo Burke. In the United States, however, he competed as Tommy Martin.

Yvon Cormier Canadian professional wrestler

Yvon Cormier was a Canadian professional wrestler. Competing primarily under the ring name The Beast, he and his three wrestling brothers made up the Cormier wrestling family. He wrestled in many countries but regularly returned to Canada, where he competed for the Eastern Sports Association (ESA) and the ESA-promoted International Wrestling (IW). He also competed in the Calgary, Alberta-based Stampede Wrestling for many years.

Ángel Acevedo is a Puerto Rican retired professional wrestler known by his ring name The Cuban Assassin and for his appearances with Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling, World Wrestling Council and Stampede Wrestling. Ángel Acevedo is a permanent resident of Canada and resides in Calgary, Alberta. Acevedo's son, Richie Acevedo, was also a wrestler for many years but retired in 2009. Acevedo allowed Fidel Sierra to use the Cuban Assassin name as well, as long as he did not use it in Japan, which has led to some mistakenly crediting Acevedo and Sierra with championships they did not win.

The Eastern Sports Association, often referred to in the business simply as "the Maritimes," was a Canadian professional wrestling promotion based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. It ran during the spring and summer months from 1969 to 1976.

Mr. Hito Japanese professional wrestler

Katsuji Adachi, better known as Mr. Hito, was a Japanese professional wrestler who competed in North American and Japanese regional promotions from the 1950s until the mid-1980s. Most notably, he was the tag team partner of Mr. Moto while wrestling in National Wrestling Alliance regional territories during the late 1950s.

Kazuo Sakurada, better known as Mr. Sakurada, The Dragonmaster, and as the Japanese version of Kendo Nagasaki (ケンドー・ナガサキ), was a Japanese professional wrestler. He was best known for his work in Stampede Wrestling, National Wrestling Alliance, and World Championship Wrestling. Sakurada was also highly regarded by Bret Hart as one of his most significant trainers alongside Katsui Adachi or Mr. Hito, with whom he taught extensively in Hart Dungeon.

In August 1985, the World Wrestling Federation took over the Montreal-based International Wrestling promotion. Upon joining the WWF roster, IW mainstay Dino Bravo was billed as the WWF Canadian Champion in some Canadian cities until January 1986, when the title was abandoned.

The Fabulous Kangaroos Professional wrestling tag team

The Fabulous Kangaroos was a professional wrestling tag team that existed in various forms from 1957 until 1983. The first incarnation of The Fabulous Kangaroos was formed when Italian Australian Al Costello teamed with Australia native Roy Heffernan and adopted an "Ultra Australian" gimmick complete with boomerangs, bush hats, and the song "Waltzing Matilda" as their entrance music. Costello and Heffernan are arguably the most famous version of The Kangaroos, regarded as one of the top tag teams to ever compete in professional wrestling, and are often credited with popularizing tag team wrestling in the late 1950s and 1960s.

Don Kent (wrestler) American professional wrestler

Leo Joseph "Joe" Smith Jr. was an American professional wrestler who wrestled as Don Kent and also as The Black Dragon, Doug Kent, Joe Smith and Super Medico III during his 20 years in professional wrestling.

Hubert Gallant is a Canadian retired professional wrestler and trainer who competed in North American regional promotions during the 1970s and early 1980s including Stampede Wrestling and Emile Dupree's Grand Prix Wrestling as well short stints in the National Wrestling Alliance, specifically the Mid-South and Carolinas regions.

Michel Lamarche was a Canadian professional wrestler, known by his ringnames Alexis Smirnoff and Michel "Justice" Dubois, who competed in North American regional promotions including the National Wrestling Alliance, including the Mid-South, Central States, Georgia and San Francisco territories, as well as brief stints in International Wrestling Enterprise, the American Wrestling Association and the World Wrestling Federation during the 1970s and 1980s.

Killer Karl Krupp Dutch-Canadian professional wrestler

George Momberg, better known by the ring name Killer Karl Krupp, was a Dutch-born professional wrestler famous during the 1970s and early 1980s.

Rudy Kay Canadian professional wrestler

Jean-Louis Cormier was a Canadian professional wrestler, best known by his ring name Rudy Kay. Cormier competed primarily in Canada and often formed a tag team with his brothers; together, they are known as the Cormier wrestling family. He also worked behind the scenes, operating both the Eastern Sports Association (ESA) and its television program, International Wrestling. Kay held seven championships while wrestling for the ESA: five tag team titles while wrestling alongside his older brother Yvon; the short-lived Taped Fist Championship; as well as the promotion's most prestigious singles title, the North American Heavyweight Championship.

Romeo Cormier was a Canadian professional wrestler best known by the ring name Bobby Kay. He was a member of the Cormier wrestling family, a group of four brothers who were all successful professional wrestlers. He worked in Canada and the United States from 1967 to the mid-1980s, briefly owning and operating part of the Eastern Sports Association. After retiring from wrestling, he performed country music professionally before taking a job with Loblaws.

The Cormier wrestling family was a group of Canadian brothers who competed in professional wrestling. They were born in New Brunswick and wrestled primarily in Canada. They also competed in the United States and had stints in several other countries. On many occasions, the Cormiers wrestled together as tag team partners. Two of the brothers were also involved in promoting wrestling. The family has been honored by the Cauliflower Alley Club, a social organization composed of people in the wrestling business, for their contributions to the sport. Jean-Louis died in 2008, Yvon in 2009 and Romeo in 2020.

Lutte Internationale Canadian professional wrestling promotion

Lutte Internationale was a professional wrestling promotion based in Montreal from 1980 until 1987. The promotion was founded by Frank Valois, André the Giant and Gino Brito as Promotions Varoussac. Lutte Internationale succeeded All-Star Wrestling and Grand Prix Wrestling as Quebec's top wrestling promotion for most of the 1980s.

WWE has maintained at least one primary tag team championship for its male performers since 1958. Whenever brand division has been implemented, separate primary tag team titles have been created or allocated for each brand.