WWF International Heavyweight Championship

Last updated
WWF International Heavyweight Championship
WWF International Heavyweight Championship.png
New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW)'s version of the WWF International Heavyweight Championship belt
Details
Promotion Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC)
World Wrestling Federation (WWF)
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW)
Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF)
Date established1959
1982
Date retired1963
1985
Other name(s)
  • NWA International Heavyweight Championship (Northeast version) (1959–1963)
  • WWWF International Heavyweight Championship (1963)
Statistics
First champion(s) Antonino Rocca
Final champion(s) Tatsumi Fujinami
Most reigns Tatsumi Fujinami
(3 reigns)
Oldest champion Tony Parisi
(41 years, 145 days)
Youngest champion Akira Maeda
(25 years, 62 days)
Heaviest champion Riki Choshu
(265lb (120kg))
Lightest champion Antonino Rocca
(224lb (102kg))

The WWF International Heavyweight Championship is a former championship recognized by the Capitol Wrestling Corporation, the World Wrestling Federation, New Japan Pro-Wrestling, and the Universal Wrestling Federation. [1]

Contents

History

The title existed from 1959 through 1963 and again from 1982 through 1985.

Reigns

Key
No.Overall reign number
ReignReign number for the specific champion
DaysNumber of days held
No.ChampionChampionship changeReign statisticsNotesRef.
DateEventLocationReignDays
1 Antonino Rocca July 2, 1959 House show New York, NY 11,554Defeated Buddy Rogers to become the inaugural champion.
Vacated October 3, 1963 Antonino Rocca vacated the championship and it later became inactive.
2 Tony Parisi June 15, 1982 House show Buffalo, NY 164It is uncertain who Parisi defeated to win the championship.
3 Gino Brito August 18, 1982 House show Buffalo, NY 112 
4 Tatsumi Fujinami August 30, 1982 WWF on MSG Network New York, NY 1216 
5 Riki Choshu April 3, 1983Big Fight Series II 1983 Tokyo, Japan 1123  [2]
6 Tatsumi Fujinami August 4, 1983Summer Fight Series 1983 Tokyo, Japan 2715Fujinami won the match by count-out but refused to accept the championship. A rematch between Fujinami and Choshu to determine a new champion was scheduled in Calgary, Alberta on August 12, 1983 but Choshu could not get into Canada for the match, and Fujinami was recognized as undisputed champion starting from the August 4, 1983 date. [3]
Akira Maeda March 25, 1984 All American Wrestling New York, NY 1120Maeda defeated Pierre Lefebvre at Madison Square Garden to be recognized by the WWF but the victory was ignored by NJPW. Maeda departed from the WWF during this reign and defended the title as the "UWF Heavyweight Championship" in the Universal Wrestling Federation before vacating the title on July 23, 1984.
Tatsumi Fujinami July 5, 19843379Fujinami regained recognition from the WWF on July 5, 1984, though NJPW recognized his second reign as uninterrupted. [4]
Vacated July 19, 1985 House show Sapporo, Japan Tatsumi Fujinami gave up the title after wrestling Super Strong Machine to a double disqualification.
DeactivatedOctober 31, 1985The championship was abandoned the WWF ended its working relationship with NJPW.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship</span> Professional wrestling championship

The USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship formed in 1988, which consisted of the WCWA World Heavyweight Championship from World Class Championship Wrestling and the AWA World Heavyweight Championship from the American Wrestling Association. The title was unified on December 13, 1988, when AWA World Champion Jerry Lawler defeated WCWA World Champion Kerry Von Erich in a unification match.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AWA World Heavyweight Championship</span> Professional wrestling championship

The AWA World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship and the highest ranked championship in the defunct American Wrestling Association (AWA). All AWA trademarks, including the AWA World Heavyweight Championship, are now owned by WWE. The championship was generally contested in professional wrestling matches, in which participants execute worked finishes rather than contend in direct competition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NWA National Heavyweight Championship</span> Professional wrestling championship

The NWA National Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling championship owned and promoted by the U.S.-based, National Wrestling Alliance (NWA).

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mid-South Louisiana Heavyweight Championship</span> Professional wrestling championship

The Mid-South Louisiana Heavyweight Championship was a secondary professional wrestling championship that was used and defended from 1964 though 1983. Initially, the championship originated in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA)-affiliated Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling. During this time, it was referred to as the NWA Gulf Coast Louisiana Heavyweight Championship until 1972. Beginning in 1972, the title was used in the NWA affiliated NWA Tri-State then was called the NWA Tri-State Louisiana Heavyweight Championship from 1972 until 1979. In 1979, however, wrestler and promoter "Cowboy" Bill Watts purchased the Tri-State territory and renamed it Mid-South Wrestling. Although Watts kept close ties with the NWA for purpose of having access to wrestling talent, he withdrew Mid-South from the NWA and, as a result, renamed all of the promotion's championships accordingly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship</span> Professional wrestling championship

The NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship was a major title in Championship Wrestling from Florida and is now the major title in NWA Florida Wrestling Alliance. It started in 1937 and was abandoned in 1949. It was picked back up in 1966 by CWF and lasted until 1987 when the company was purchased by Jim Crockett Promotions. In 1988, the newly created Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), soon renamed Pro Wrestling Federation (PWF), picked it back up in 1988 and it continued its lineage through NWA Florida, until they ceased operations in 2006. In 2009, Pro Wrestling Fusion revived the title until they left the NWA in 2011. For several months in 2012, a new Championship Wrestling from Florida affiliated with the NWA, briefly reviving the title until NWA Florida Underground Wrestling took over the championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship</span> Professional wrestling championship

The NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling title that has existed since the 1930s. Though its exact date of creation isn't known, it is among the oldest championships used in professional wrestling today. The title has used a variety of different names over the years, which consists of initial changes to represent the various companies that have controlled the title at different times. Originally, it was simply known as the Texas Heavyweight Championship until its name was changed after the formation of the National Wrestling Alliance in 1948. For most of the title's existence, at least until the early 1990s, it was defended almost exclusively within the Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio areas of Texas. From the 1930s to the mid-1960s, these cities and the surrounding towns were within the territory operated by Ed McLemore, which was known simply as Southwest Sports, Inc. at the time. After McLemore's death, the territory came under the control of Fritz Von Erich and was renamed as Big Time Wrestling. However, the promotion would be renamed World Class Championship Wrestling in the early 1980s, which is the name the territory is best remembered under today. The championship remained an NWA affiliated title until February 1986.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NWA Georgia Heavyweight Championship</span> Professional wrestling championship

The GCW Heavyweight Championship is the major title in the Georgia Championship Wrestling professional wrestling promotion. It started in 1964 and was unified in 1981 with the NWA National Heavyweight Championship.

The NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance and was defended in the US state of Hawaii. The title, which began in 1935. From February 1940 through 1942 the title was known as the Hawaii Junior Heavyweight Championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stampede Wrestling North American Heavyweight Championship</span> Professional wrestling championship

The Stampede Wrestling North American Heavyweight Championship was the major title in the Canadian professional wrestling promotion Stampede Wrestling. From its establishment in 1968 until 1972, it was Stampede's secondary singles championship, becoming the top title in 1972 after the previous top championship, the Calgary version of the NWA Canadian Heavyweight Championship, was abandoned.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship</span> Professional wrestling tag team championship

The NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance and defended in its member promotion Pacific Northwest Wrestling, which promoted shows in the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AWA International Heavyweight Championship</span> Professional wrestling championship

The AWA International Heavyweight Championship, originally known as the CWA/AWA International Heavyweight Championship was a major professional wrestling title defended in the Continental Wrestling Association. It was created in 1983 from the CWA's partnership with the American Wrestling Association. The title lasted until 1987, when it was unified with the NWA Mid-America Heavyweight and AWA Southern Heavyweight championships, creating the CWA Heavyweight Championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NWA Mid-America Tag Team Championship</span> Professional wrestling tag team championship

The NWA Mid-America Tag Team championship was a tag team title promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion NWA Mid-America that ran more or less exclusively in Alabama, Tennessee, and Kentucky, United States, from the 1940s until 1980. Originally the NWA Mid-America promoted their version of the NWA World Tag-Team titles but when they became defunct in 1977 the "Mid-America" title became the main title for the promotion. The titles were reactivated in 2001 under NWA Nashville's patronage and continued to exist until 2011 when they were again abandoned.

The NWA Americas Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling tag team title in the National Wrestling Alliance's NWA Hollywood Wrestling based out of Los Angeles, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NWA Southeastern United States Junior Heavyweight Championship</span> Professional wrestling championship

The NWA Southeastern Junior Heavyweight Championship was a secondary title for wrestlers considered "Junior Heavyweights", that is weighing under 230 lbs. It was promoted in the Alabama, Florida, Tennessee and Mississippi region from 1975 until 1989, first by Southeastern Championship Wrestling from 1975 to 1985 then by its successor Continental Championship Wrestling from 1985 to 1988 and finally by the Continental Wrestling Federation between 1988 and 1989.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Championship (Southern Division)</span> Professional wrestling championship

The NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Championship (Southern Division) was originally the primary singles championship for Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling and was originally named the NWA Gulf Coast Heavyweight Championship. As the name indicates the title was recognized by the National Wrestling Alliance as a local title promoted in the Tennessee, Alabama, Florida and Mississippi region from 1957 until 1977 when its name was changed for the Southern Division of Southeast Championship Wrestling. In 1980 the title was abandoned and the Northern division of the NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Championship became the main title of SECW.

The Vancouver version of the NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship was established in 1962 as the top tag team title in NWA All-Star Wrestling. The title held that status until late summer 1985, when the title was renamed the UWA Tag Team Championship upon All-Star Wrestling's departure as a member of the National Wrestling Alliance, aside from the period from June 1966 to December 1967, when the promotion had a version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship, which was abandoned after that time.

The NWA Mississippi Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling regional championship in Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling (GCCW). It was a secondary title, complementing the NWA Gulf Coast Heavyweight Championship, and one of several state championships recognized by the National Wrestling Alliance. The title was deactivated with the retirement of "Cowboy" Bob Kelly on September 3, 1976.

References

  1. Wrestling Information Archive
  2. F4W Staff (April 3, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling title change history : Gotch Vs. Hackenschmidt, Inoki Vs. Hansen, Guerrero Vs. Jericho". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 10, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. Hoops, Brian (August 4, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history (August 4): Lex Luger beats Huk Hogan for WCW title". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  4. "NJPW Summer Fight Series 1984 - Tag 7". CageMatch. Retrieved March 28, 2017.