NWA United National Championship

Last updated
NWA United National Championship
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The NWA United National Championship belt
Details
Promotion NWA Los Angeles
Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance
All Japan Pro Wrestling
Statistics
First champion Dale Lewis
Final champion Jumbo Tsuruta
Most reigns Jumbo Tsuruta (6 reigns)
Longest reign Jumbo Tsuruta (1,067 days)

The NWA United National Championship (often abbreviated to UN Championship) was a professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance, and best known for being defended in All Japan Pro Wrestling. It was unified into the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, along with the PWF World Heavyweight Championship and the NWA International Heavyweight Championship, in 1989. The original belt remained in use for the Triple Crown until 2013. [1]

Contents

Title history

SymbolMeaning
No.The overall championship reign
ReignThe reign number for the specific wrestler listed.
EventThe event in which the championship changed hands
N/AThe 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.
#WrestlerReignDateDays heldLocationNotes
1 Dale Lewis 1October 1970 [Note 1] Won a tournament to crown the first champion.
2Pantera Negra1October 23, 197028 Los Angeles, CA
3 John Tolos 1November 20, 197014Los Angeles, CA
4 Ray Mendoza 1December 4, 1970 [Note 2] Los Angeles, CA
5 John Tolos 2March 1971 [Note 3] N/ATolos returned the championship when the NWA decided the referee used a fast count during his title defense against Mendoza.
6 Antonio Inoki 1March 26, 1971262Los Angeles, CA
-Vacated-December 13, 1971-N/AVacated on December 13, 1971 when Inoki is fired from the JWA, the promotion to which he had brought the title from the United States.
7 King Krow 1January 1972 [Note 4] Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Defeated Sailor Thomas in a fictitious tournament final.
8 Seiji Sakaguchi 1February 11, 1972208Los Angeles, CA
9 The Sheik 1September 6, 19721 Tokyo, Japan
10 Seiji Sakaguchi 2September 7, 1972149 Osaka, Japan
11 Johnny Valentine 1February 3, 197333 Yokohama, Japan
12 Akihisa Takachiho 1March 8, 197337 Sano, Japan
-Deactivated-April 14, 1973-N/ADeactivated on April 14, 1973 when the JWA closed.
13 Jumbo Tsuruta 1August 28, 1976189Tokyo, JapanDefeated Jack Brisco in an AJPW tournament final to revive the championship.
14 Billy Robinson 1March 5, 197718 Akita, Japan
15 Jumbo Tsuruta 2March 23, 19771,067 Miami, FL
16 Dick Murdoch 1February 23, 198011 Kagoshima, Japan
17 Jumbo Tsuruta 3March 5, 1980222 Kuroiso, Japan
18 Abdullah the Butcher 1October 13, 1980101 Nagoya, Japan
19 Jumbo Tsuruta 4January 22, 1981556 Nirasaki, Japan
20 Harley Race 1August 1, 198284Tokyo, Japan
21 Jumbo Tsuruta 5October 24, 1982236 Kitami, Japan
-Vacated-June 17, 1983-N/AVacated on June 17, 1983 so Tsuruta could focus on defending the NWA International Heavyweight Championship.
22 Ted DiBiase 1October 14, 1983106 Sasebo, Japan Defeated Jerry Lawler in a tournament final via forfeit; wrestled Genichiro Tenryu for his first title defense instead.
23 Michael Hayes 1January 28, 19846 Athens, GA
24 David Von Erich 1February 3, 19847 Dallas, TX
-Vacated-February 10, 1984-N/AVacated on February 10, 1984 when Von Erich dies of an apparent heart attack.
25 Genichiro Tenryu 1February 23, 1984 [Note 5] Tokyo, JapanDefeated Ricky Steamboat in a tournament final.
-Vacated-February 1986-N/AVoluntarily vacated in February 1986 when Tenryu is pinned by Yoshiaki Yatsu in a tag team match.
26 Genichiro Tenryu 2April 26, 1986823 Ōmiya-ku, Japan Defeated Ted DiBiase in a tournament final. Tenryu won the PWF Heavyweight Championship on March 9, 1988.
27 Stan Hansen 1July 27, 1988265 Nagano, Japan Also won the PWF Heavyweight Championship.
28 Jumbo Tsuruta 6April 18, 19890Tokyo, JapanRetained the NWA International Heavyweight Championship and won the PWF Heavyweight Championship and the UN Championship.
-Unified-April 18, 1989-N/ATitle was unified with Tsuruta's NWA International Heavyweight Championship and with Hansen's PWF Heavyweight Championship and UN championship to create the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship.

Combined reigns

RankWrestlerNo. of
reigns		Combined days
1 Jumbo Tsuruta 62,270
2 Genichiro Tenryu 21,532 - 1,559
3 Seiji Sakaguchi 2357
4 Stan Hansen 1265
5 Antonio Inoki 1262
6 Ted DiBiase 1106
7 Abdullah the Butcher 1101
8 Ray Mendoza 187 - 112
9 Harley Race 184
10 Akihisa Takachiho 137
11 Johnny Valentine 133
12Pantera Negra128
13 Billy Robinson 118
14 John Tolos 214 - 39
15 King Krow 111 - 41
16 Dick Murdoch 111
17 David Von Erich 17
18 Michael Hayes 16
19 The Sheik 11
20 Dale Lewis 10 - 22

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ The exact date that Dale Lewis won the championship is uncertain, which puts the title reign at between 0 and 22 days.
  2. ↑ The exact date that John Tolos won the championship is uncertain, which puts the title reign at between 87 and 112 days.
  3. ↑ The exact date that John Tolos won the championship is uncertain, which puts the title reign at between 0 and 25 days.
  4. ↑ The exact date that King Krow won the championship is uncertain, which puts the title reign at between 11 and 41 days.
  5. ↑ The exact date that Genichiro Tenryu vacated the championship is uncertain, which puts the title reign at between 709 and 736 days.

References

  1. ↑ Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2006). Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. ISBN   0-9698161-5-4.
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