NWA Southern Junior Heavyweight Championship | |||||||||||
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Details | |||||||||||
Promotion | NWA Mid-America | ||||||||||
Date established | May 25, 1939 | ||||||||||
Date retired | July 27, 1974 | ||||||||||
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The NWA Southern Junior Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling title for lighter wrestlers, board-controlled by the National Wrestling Alliance since December 1949.
It originally was used by various promotions across the Southeastern United States, most prevalently in NWA Mid-America based Tennessee. In August 1974, it was renamed the NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (Memphis version) .
The title was revived by the NWA in December 1999, and is used in the NWA Mid-South promotion, based in Humboldt, Tennessee. [1]
No. | Overall reign number |
---|---|
Reign | Reign number for the specific champion |
Days | Number of days held |
No. | Champion | Championship change | Reign statistics | Notes | Ref. | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Date | Event | Location | Reign | Days | ||||||
1 | Joe Gunther | May 25, 1939(NLT) | GCCW show | New Orleans | 1 | N/A | Recognized in Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi. | [2] | ||
— | N/A | — | — | |||||||
2 | Tommy Ward | March 20, 1950(NLT) | GCCW show | N/A | 1 | N/A | Recognized in Florida and Georgia. | |||
— | N/A | — | — | |||||||
3 | Karl Kowalski | September 18, 1950(NLT) | GCCW show | N/A | 1 | N/A | Recognized in Georgia. | |||
— | N/A | — | — | |||||||
4 | Henry Harrell | April 19, 1952 | GCCW show | Jackson, Mississippi | 1 | N/A | Defeated Tex Riley in a tournament final. | |||
5 | Herb Welch | July 1952 | GCCW show | Knoxville, Tennessee | 1 | N/A | ||||
6 | Al Galento | August 21, 1952 | GCCW show | Chattanooga, Tennessee | 1 | N/A | ||||
7 | Tex Riley | October 1952 | GCCW show | Kingsport, Tennessee | 1 | N/A | ||||
8 | Jesse James | N/A | GCCW show | N/A | 1 | N/A | ||||
— | N/A | — | — | |||||||
9 | Red Roberts | January 1953(NLT) | GCCW show | N/A | 1 | N/A | Recognized in Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee. | |||
10 | Ray Piret | March 17, 1954 | GCCW show | Nashville, Tennessee | 1 | 341 | ||||
11 | Sonny Myers | February 21, 1955 | GCCW show | Birmingham, Alabama | 1 | 155 | ||||
12 | Frank Jares | July 26, 1955 | GCCW show | Birmingham, Alabama | 1 | 301 | [3] | |||
13 | The Masked Bat | May 22, 1956 | GCCW show | Nashville, Tennessee | 1 | 7 | ||||
14 | Frank Jares | May 29, 1956 | GCCW show | Nashville, Tennessee | 2 | 56 | ||||
15 | Jesse James | July 24, 1956 | GCCW show | Nashville, Tennessee | 2 | 14 | ||||
16 | Frank Jares | August 7, 1956 | GCCW show | Nashville, Tennessee | 3 | 20 | ||||
17 | Herb Welch | August 27, 1956 | GCCW show | Birmingham, Alabama | 2 | 23 | ||||
18 | The Great Malenko | September 19, 1956 | GCCW show | Mobile, Alabama | 1 | 27 | ||||
19 | Herb Welch | October 16, 1956 | GCCW show | Mobile, Alabama | 3 | 132 | ||||
20 | Tor Yamata | February 25, 1957 | GCCW show | Birmingham, Alabama | 1 | 112 | ||||
21 | Cyclone Anaya | June 17, 1957 | GCCW show | Birmingham, Alabama | 1 | 65 | ||||
22 | Mario Galento | August 21, 1957 | GCCW show | Mobile, Alabama | 1 | N/A | ||||
— | Vacated | September 1957 | — | — | — | — | Vacated due to Galento not defending. | |||
23 | Cyclone Anaya | September 1957 | GCCW show | N/A | 2 | N/A | ||||
24 | Tor Yamata | October 1, 1957 | GCCW show | Nashville, Tennessee | 2 | 41 | ||||
25 | Ray Stevens | November 11, 1957 | GCCW show | Birmingham, Alabama | 1 | N/A | ||||
26 | Tor Yamata | January 1958(NLT) | GCCW show | N/A | 3 | N/A | ||||
27 | Herb Welch | March 17, 1958 | GCCW show | Memphis, Tennessee | 3 | N/A | ||||
— | N/A | — | — | |||||||
28 | Fred Blassie | May 1958(NLT) | GCCW show | N/A | 1 | N/A | ||||
— | N/A | — | — | |||||||
29 | Ray Stevens | June 1958(NLT) | GCCW show | N/A | 2 | N/A | ||||
30 | Corsica Jean | July 22, 1958 | GCCW show | Nashville, Tennessee | 1 | N/A | ||||
31 | Ray Stevens | October 1958(NLT) | GCCW show | N/A | 3 | N/A | ||||
— | Vacated | October 1958 | — | — | — | — | Stevens left the territory. | |||
32 | Yvon Robert | 1958 | GCCW show | Birmingham, Alabama | 1 | N/A | ||||
33 | Jesse James | January 12, 1959 | GCCW show | Birmingham, Alabama | 3 | 261 | [4] | |||
34 | Jackie Fargo | September 30, 1959 | GCCW show | Mobile, Alabama | 1 | 89 | ||||
35 | Mike Clancy | December 28, 1959 | GCCW show | Birmingham, Alabama | 1 | 360 | ||||
36 | Bill Monroe | December 22, 1960 | GCCW show | Chattanooga, Tennessee | 1 | 5 | ||||
37 | Len Rossi | December 27, 1960 | GCCW show | Nashville, Tennessee | 1 | 207 | ||||
38 | Don Greene | July 22, 1961 | GCCW show | Chattanooga, Tennessee | 1 | 170 | ||||
39 | Len Rossi | January 8, 1962 | GCCW show | Memphis, Tennessee | 2 | 41 | ||||
40 | Taro Sakuro | February 18, 1962 | GCCW show | Chattanooga, Tennessee | 1 | 109 | ||||
41 | Joe Lanza | June 7, 1962 | GCCW show | Chattanooga, Tennessee | 1 | N/A | ||||
— | N/A | GCCW show | — | N/A | ||||||
42 | Jackie Fargo | August 1962(NLT) | GCCW show | N/A | 2 | N/A | ||||
— | N/A | GCCW show | — | N/A | ||||||
43 | Hans Steiner | September 1962(NLT) | GCCW show | N/A | 1 | N/A | ||||
— | N/A | GCCW show | — | N/A | ||||||
44 | Len Rossi | May 1963(NLT) | GCCW show | N/A | 1 | N/A | ||||
45 | Frankie Cain | May 1963 | GCCW show | Memphis, Tennessee | 1 | N/A | ||||
— | N/A | GCCW show | — | N/A | ||||||
46 | Alex Perez | January 1964(NLT) | GCCW show | N/A | 1 | N/A | ||||
47 | Rocky Smith | November 1964(NLT) | GCCW show | N/A | 1 | N/A | ||||
48 | Alex Perez | February 8, 1965 | GCCW show | Memphis, Tennessee | 2 | N/A | ||||
49 | Rocky Smith | November 1965(NLT) | GCCW show | N/A | 2 | N/A | ||||
— | Vacated | December 16, 1965 | GCCW show | — | — | — | Held up after a match against Hiro Matsuda | |||
50 | Rocky Smith | December 23, 1965 | GCCW show | Chattanooga, Tennessee | 3 | 26 | Defeated Matsuda in a rematch. | |||
51 | Alex Perez | January 18, 1966 | GCCW show | Nashville, Tennessee | 3 | 80 | [5] | |||
52 | Al Costello | April 8, 1966 | GCCW show | Nashville, Tennessee | 1 | 20 | ||||
53 | Karl von Brauner | April 28, 1966 | GCCW show | Chattanooga, Tennessee | 1 | 90 | ||||
54 | Jackie Fargo | July 27, 1966 | GCCW show | Nashville, Tennessee | 3 | N/A | ||||
— | N/A | GCCW show | — | N/A | ||||||
55 | Len Rossi | April 1967(NLT) | GCCW show | N/A | 4 | N/A | ||||
56 | The Great Yamaha | August 19, 1967 | GCCW show | Chattanooga, Tennessee | 1 | 12 | ||||
57 | Len Rossi | August 31, 1967 | GCCW show | Chattanooga, Tennessee | 5 | 201 | ||||
58 | Tojo Yamamoto | March 19, 1968 | GCCW show | Chattanooga, Tennessee | 1 | 512 | ||||
— | N/A | GCCW show | — | 0 | ||||||
59 | Siki Samara | August 13, 1969 | GCCW show | Mobile, Alabama | 1 | 0 | Samara was awarded the title. | |||
60 | Jimmy Jones | August 13, 1969 | GCCW show | Mobile, Alabama | 1 | 7 | ||||
61 | Siki Samara | August 20, 1969 | GCCW show | Mobile, Alabama | 2 | 0 | ||||
62 | Siki Samara | August 20, 1969 | GCCW show | Mobile, Alabama | 2 | N/A | ||||
— | N/A | GCCW show | — | N/A | ||||||
63 | Len Rossi | March 1970(NLT) | GCCW show | N/A | 6 | N/A | ||||
64 | Sputnik Monroe | July 1, 1971 | GCCW show | Chattanooga, Tennessee | 1 | N/A | [6] | |||
65 | Len Rossi | August 1971 | GCCW show | N/A | 7 | N/A | ||||
— | Vacated | 1973 | GCCW show | — | — | — | Rossi suffers a broken ankle. | |||
66 | Tommy Gilbert | 1973 | GCCW show | Birmingham, Alabama | 1 | N/A | ||||
67 | Lou Thesz | 1973 | GCCW show | N/A | 1 | N/A | ||||
68 | Tommy Gilbert | 1973 | GCCW show | N/A | 2 | N/A | ||||
69 | Ron Garvin | December 1973(NLT) | GCCW show | N/A | 1 | N/A | ||||
70 | Tommy Gilbert | January 1974 | GCCW show | Birmingham, Alabama | 3 | N/A | ||||
71 | Lou Thesz | March 18, 1974 | GCCW show | Memphis, Tennessee | 2 | 23 | ||||
72 | Tommy Gilbert | April 10, 1974 | GCCW show | Nashville, Tennessee | 4 | 5 | ||||
73 | Jerry Lawler | April 15, 1974 | GCCW show | Memphis, Tennessee | 1 | 49 | ||||
74 | Ricky Gibson | June 3, 1974 | GCCW show | Memphis, Tennessee | 1 | 7 | ||||
75 | Jerry Lawler | June 10, 1974 | GCCW show | Memphis, Tennessee | 2 | 14 | [7] | |||
76 | Jackie Fargo | June 24, 1974 | GCCW show | Memphis, Tennessee | 4 | 14 | ||||
77 | Jerry Lawler | July 8, 1974 | GCCW show | Memphis, Tennessee | 3 | 12 | ||||
78 | Jackie Fargo | July 20, 1974 | GCCW show | Chattanooga, Tennessee | 5 | 7 | ||||
79 | Jerry Lawler | July 27, 1974 | GCCW show | Chattanooga, Tennessee | 4 | N/A | ||||
NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship |
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