The NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship is a men's professional wrestling world heavyweight championship owned and promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), an American professional wrestling promotion.
Aloysius Martin Thesz, known by the ring name Lou Thesz, was an American professional wrestler. Considered to be one of the last true shooters in professional wrestling and described as the "quintessential athlete" and a "polished warrior who could break a man in two if pushed the wrong way", Thesz is widely regarded as one of the greatest wrestlers and wrestling world champions in history, and possibly the last globally accepted world champion.
Wrestling at the Chase is a professional wrestling television series of local and national historical importance in the field of television wrestling. The show was recorded in St. Louis, Missouri, for KPLR-TV, Channel 11, and aired from May 23, 1959, to September 10, 1983. It was promoted by the St. Louis Wrestling Club, which was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance.
Samuel Muchnick was an American professional wrestling promoter from St. Louis, Missouri. He is often regarded as wrestling's equivalent of Pete Rozelle, and he was instrumental in establishing the National Wrestling Alliance, which became the industry's top governing body, in 1948. Muchnick served as the NWA's president from 1950 to 1960 and again from 1963 to 1975. He operated the St. Louis Wrestling Club, one of the primary members of the NWA, based in St. Louis.
Harley Leland Race was an American professional wrestler, promoter, and trainer.
Robert Keith Orton Jr., known by the ring name "Cowboy" Bob Orton, is an American semi-retired professional wrestler. He is a son of professional wrestler Bob Orton Sr., the brother of professional wrestler Barry Orton, and the father of professional wrestler Randy Orton. He is best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation,, including his involvement in the main event of the inaugural WrestleMania. He has also wrestled for several promotions in the United States, Japan, and other countries.
David Alan Adkisson was an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name David Von Erich. A member of the Von Erich family, Von Erich is best known for his appearances with World Class Championship Wrestling, the Dallas, Texas-based professional wrestling promotion owned by his father, Fritz Von Erich.
Bruce Franklin Reed was an American professional wrestler and football player, better known by the ring name Butch Reed. He played college football at the University of Central Missouri, was a star in Mid-South Wrestling and had high-profile tag team matches in the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling.
The NWA Missouri Heavyweight Championship was a singles championship in the National Wrestling Alliance's St. Louis Wrestling Club and Central States Wrestling promotions in the 1970s and 1980s. It was considered a "stepping stone" to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. A version of the Missouri Championship has been documented to exist in 1899, 1921, 1933 to 1934, 1937, 1947, 1950, and 1954 to 1955, but it was only in 1972 that a serious championship was established. Prior to the creation of the NWA the championship was not recognized outside of the region and used by regional promoters, it is even possible that competing Missouri Heavyweight Championships existed. The championship was abandoned in 1986, as the Central States promotion was being consolidated under Jim Crockett Promotions in order to counter the World Wrestling Federation's national expansion.
John Theodore Wisniski, better known by his ring name Johnny Valentine, was an American professional wrestler with a career spanning almost three decades. He has been inducted into four halls of fame for his achievements in wrestling. Wisniski is the father of professional wrestler Greg "The Hammer" Valentine.
Patrick John O'Connor, was a New Zealand/American amateur wrestler and professional wrestler. Regarded as one of the premier workers of his era, O'Connor held the AWA World Heavyweight Championship and NWA World Heavyweight Championship simultaneously, the latter of which he held for approximately two years. He was also the inaugural AWA World Heavyweight Champion. He is an overall two-time world champion.
Eugene Nicholas Kiniski was a Canadian athlete who played football for the Edmonton Eskimos and then became a three-time professional wrestling world heavyweight champion. "Canada's Greatest Athlete", as he billed himself for promotional purposes, was born in Edmonton, Alberta. Like Bronko Nagurski before him, Kiniski was one of the first world champions in professional wrestling to have a previous background in football. He is the father of professional wrestler Kelly Kiniski and international amateur and professional wrestler Nick Kiniski.
Robert Frederick Geigel was an American professional wrestling promoter and professional wrestler. He operated the Kansas City, Missouri-based Heart of America Sports Attractions promotion from 1963 to 1986, and served three terms as the president of the National Wrestling Alliance from 1978 to 1980, from 1982 to 1985, and finally from 1986 to 1987.
Carey L. Lloyd, also known by his ring name Rufus R. "Freight Train" Jones, was an American professional wrestler. He competed in the Central States, St. Louis and Mid-Atlantic regional promotions of the National Wrestling Alliance as well as the American Wrestling Association and All Japan Pro Wrestling during the 1970s and 1980s.
Heart of America Sports Attractions, Inc., operating as the Midwest Wrestling Association, Central States Wrestling and the World Wrestling Alliance, was an American professional wrestling promotion that ran shows mainly in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa. Due to the promotion's main office and base of operations being in Kansas City, Missouri the territory was often referred to simply as "Kansas City". The promotion existed from July 1948 until it closed in 1989. The territory was one of the original territories of the National Wrestling Alliance with two of the six "founding fathers" of the NWA promoting in it.
Omar Mijares, is a retired Venezuelan professional wrestler, best known by his ring name Omar Atlas, who competed in North American and international promotions including the National Wrestling Alliance, Stampede Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation from the late 1950s until the early 1990s. A longtime ally of Venezuelan wrestler Cyclone Negro, he was often billed as his younger half-brother Omar Negro when teaming with him in NWA Southwest Sports during the 1960s and later in Championship Wrestling from Florida during the 1970s.
The St. Louis Wrestling Hall of Fame is a professional wrestling hall of fame in St. Louis, United States. After several years of debating the idea of creating the Hall of Fame, former owner and promoter of the St. Louis Wrestling Club Larry Matysik opened it in 2007. He was joined in this effort by SBAC Member Tony Casta, sports journalist Keith Schildroth, collector Mitch Hartsey, and longtime fan Nick Ridenour. Although these directors oversee the selection process, the St. Louis Wrestling Hall of Fame is unique because it is the only wrestling hall of fame that allows fans to vote for potential inductees.
Starrcade '83: A Flare for the Gold was the first annual Starrcade professional wrestling event, produced under the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) banner by Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). The event took place on November 24, 1983, at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex in Greensboro, North Carolina and was broadcast on closed-circuit television around the Southern United States.
The Sam Muchnick Memorial Tournament was a World Wrestling Federation (WWF) supercard held at the sold-out Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis, Missouri on August 29, 1986, attended by nearly 11,000 fans and making $87,000. The tournament was arranged by Larry Matysik, a protege of Muchnick.
Dick Hrstich was a Yugoslavian/New Zealand professional wrestler, known by his ring names Ray Hrstich and Ray Gordon, who competed in the former Yugoslavia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States during the late 1950s and 60s. He was among the first New Zealanders to travel to the US and, like his fellow countrymen Pat O'Connor and Abe Jacobs, became a major star with the National Wrestling Alliance during the Television-era.
