The subsequent legacy of the championship is not linear, with the champion being disputed among various promotions until the formation of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) in 1948. The last several reigns are recognized by the NWA under the NWA World Heavyweight Championship's lineage.[1]
The first recognized World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion was George Hackenschmidt, who officially won the championship on May 4, 1905, by defeating Tom Jenkins in New York City.[2] The championship remained active for the next 51 years, with the last recognized reign being disputed between Lou Thesz and Édouard Carpentier after a match between the two ended in a legitimate disqualification.
Frank Gotch won the title from Hackenschmidt on April 3, 1908, and he held the title for five years until his retirement on April 1, 1913. He was the sixth longest reigning world heavyweight champion in history behind Bruno Sammartino, Jim Londos, Lou Thesz, Verne Gagne (who all held their world titles for over seven years) and Bob Backlund (who held his for nearly six years).[4]
Joe Stecher defeated American Heavyweight Champion Charlie Cutler to become the first widely recognized world heavyweight champion after the retirement of Frank Gotch.[5]
After Joe Stecher lost the title to Johan Olin by countout, Olin started his own line, with both iterations of the title being defended. Ed Lewis defeated Olin while Earl Caddock defeated Stecher. Lewis and Wladek Zbyszko traded the title on multiple occasions between 1917 and 1919, making Zbyszko a three-time unofficial champion and Lewis a two-time unofficial champion, while Caddock debatably held the title for a period of 23 days - 1,027 days, depending on which iteration of the title is deemed official. Joe Stecher was able to defeat both Wladek Zbyszko and Ed Lewis to unify both titles in 1920.
On April 15, 1925, Stanislaus Zbyszko defeated previous champion Wayne Munn to win the championship. However, Munn continued to be recognized as the World Heavyweight Champion in Michigan and in Illinois.[6]Ed Lewis defeated Wayne Munn on February 2, 1928, in Michigan City, Indiana for the Michigan/Illinois World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship version. Joe Stetcher then defeated Zbyszko to become widely recognized champion. The dispute ended when Lewis defeated Stetcher on February 21, 1928.[7]
Gus Sonnenburg won the title from Lewis on January 4, 1929, but the recognition of being the world champion by the wrestling section of the National Boxing Association was withdrawn from Sonnenberg for failing to meet real title contenders.[8]
Lewis won the title again on April 13, 1931. Lewis was also AWA World Heavyweight Champion in Boston at the time, but lost that title by disqualification to Henri Deglane on May 4, 1931, in Montreal. However, Lewis was still recognized as the World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion in Illinois. Lewis then defeated Wladek Zbyszko (who was widely considered the World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion) on November 2, 1931, in Chicago, ending the dispute. Lewis then continued by winning the New York State Athletic Commission World Heavyweight Championship by defeating Jack Sherry on October 10, 1932, for the vacant title.[9] but lost it to Jim Browning.[10]
Danno O'Mahony won the title from Lewis on July 30, 1935. O'Mahony defeated Londos to win the New York State Athletic Commission world title. O'Mahony also won the AWA world title by defeating Ed Don George on July 30, 1935, in Boston, Massachusetts to become the undisputed World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion.[11] On March 2, 1936, Dick Shikat beat O'Mahony in New York, but the AWA continued to recognize O'Mahony as champion, splintering the "undisputed" nature of the title once again.
Ali Baba won the title on April 24, 1936. Four days later it was announced by The New York Times that Baba would not be recognized as the World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion in New York State by the New York Athletic Commission. However, it was announced that Baba and Shikat would face each other on May 5, 1936, at Madison Square Garden for the world title. Baba went on to win the bout and thus be recognized as the World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion.[12][13][14]
Bronko Nagurski won the title on June 29, 1937. Nagurski was recognized as the undisputed World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion by The Ring magazine.[15]
Londos won the title again on November 18, 1938, and retired as the World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion on January 28, 1946.[16] Londos wrestled his last match on this date by defeating Lord Albert Mills.
Thesz won the title back from Watson on November 9, 1956. Édouard Carpentier defeated Lou Thesz by disqualification on June 14, 1957, in Chicago, Illinois once Thesz could not continue the match due to a back injury. The NWA rules stated that a title could not change on a disqualification and Carpentier awarded the NWA world title back to Thesz. Carpentier was still recognized as the World Heavyweight Champion in Omaha, Nebraska and in Boston, Massachusetts. He was then later recognized as the World Heavyweight Champion by Worldwide Wrestling Associates in Los Angeles, California. This ended the last time the World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship was unified and to date has never been fully unified again. The Omaha version of the World Heavyweight Championship was later unified with the AWA World Heavyweight Championship. Thesz defeated Carpentier in a rematch by disqualification on July 24, 1957, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada for the title.
The title was unofficially retired on July 24, 1957,[21] and its lineage continued over to the National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Championship.
Reigns
There were a total of 28 reigns and 3 vacancies. The first recognized World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion was George Hackenschmidt, who officially won the championship on May 4, 1905, by defeating Tom Jenkins in New York City, New York,[4] the championship remained active for the next 51 years with the last recognized reign beginning on November 9, 1956.
Ed Lewis holds the record for most reigns as the World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion with four. Lewis also holds the record for most combined days as champion with 3,073 days, while Jim Londos holds the record for longest reign at 2,628 days. Stanislaus Zbyszko holds the record for shortest reign at 45 days and is also the oldest champion, winning at the age of 46 years, 15 days, while Joe Stecher is the youngest champion, winning at the age of 22 years, 103 days.
The final reign was disputed between Lou Thesz and Edouard Carpentier. All matches were held at house shows.
Gotch held the title for five years until April 1, 1913. He was the sixth longest reigning world heavyweight champion in history behind Bruno Sammartino, Jim Londos, Lou Thesz, Verne Gagne (who all held their world titles for over seven years) and Bob Backlund (who held his for nearly six years).
Zybszko defeats Lewis for the title, but Lewis continues to claim the title. Caddock defeats Zbyszko on February 8, 1918, in Des Moines, Iowa to unify Zybyszko's part of the Olin line, but Zybyszko still claims ownership. Lewis defeats Zybszko on May 19, 1918, in New York, New York to make him the undisputed champion of the Johan Olin line, but not the Joe Stecher line. Champion of the Stecher line, Earl Caddock defeats Lewis on June 21, 1918, in Des Moines, Iowa, but Lewis still claims the title.
Defeated Earl Caddock to unify both the Olin and the Stecher lines. The lineage of the Stecher line was carried forward, so Stecher's title win is recognised as starting on January 30, 1920, as opposed to May 19, 1919.
Lewis defeated Wayne Munn on February 2, 1928, in Michigan City, Indiana for the Michigan/Illinois World Heavyweight Championship version. Lewis defeated Stecher on February 21, 1928, to end the dispute.
The recognition of being the World Heavyweight Champion was withdrawn from Gus Sonnenberg by the wrestling section of the National Boxing Association in 1929 for failing to meet real title contenders.
Lewis lost the AWA World Heavyweight Championship by disqualification to Henri Deglane on May 4, 1931, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, but still recognized as World Heavyweight Champion in Illinois. Lewis also defeated the title claimer, Wladek Zbyszko, on November 2, 1931, in Chicago, Illinois for the title. Lewis continued to win the New York State Athletic Commission World Heavyweight Championship by defeating Jack Sherry on October 10, 1932.
O'Mahoney defeated Jim Londos to win the New York State Athletic Commission World Heavyweight Championship. Mahoney continues to win the AWA World Heavyweight Championship (Boston version) by defeating Ed Don George (who had beat Deglane on February 9, 1933) on July 30, 1935, in Boston, Massachusetts to become the undisputed World Heavyweight Champion.
On April 29, 1936, it was announced by the New York Times that Ali Baba would not be recognized as World Heavyweight Champion in the New York State by The New York Athletic Commission; however, it was announced that Ali Baba and Dick Shikat would face each other on May 5, 1936, at Madison Square Garden for the World Heavyweight Championship. Baba went on to win the professional wrestling bout and thus be recognized as the World Heavyweight Champion.
Wins by disqualification. Recognized by The Ring magazine as the true world champion. Baba continues to claim the title but loses to Everett Marshall on June 26, 1936, in Columbus, OH. Levin also wins Los Angeles version, defeating Vincent Lopez on August 19, 1936, in Los Angeles, CA.
Recognized by The Ring magazine as the true world champion. Has also defeated Ed Strangler Lewis in a title tournament final earlier in the year in Philadelphia, PA.
Édouard Carpentier defeated Lou Thesz by disqualification on June 14, 1957, in Chicago, Illinois when Thesz could not continue the match due to a back injury. The NWA rules stated that a title could not change on a disqualification, and Carpentier gave the title back to Thesz. Carpentier was then recognized as World Heavyweight Champion in Omaha, Nebraska and in Boston, Massachusetts. He was then later recognized as the World Heavyweight Champion by the World Wrestling Association in Los Angeles, California. This was the last time the World Heavyweight Championship has been unified and to date has never been fully unified again. The Omaha version of the World Heavyweight Championship was later unified with the AWA World Heavyweight Championship. Thesz defeated Carpentier in a rematch by disqualification on July 24, 1957, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada for the title.
The standard Championship belt has three plates on a black leather strap.
Legacy
A diagram showing the evolution of various world heavyweight championships.
Various promotions have been home to world heavyweight championships with origins that can also be traced back to the World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship.
The National Wrestling Alliance Worlds Heavyweight Championship assumed the original world championship's position as the preeminent wrestling championship, and claimed its lineage. Most of the following championships, all based in North America, arose out of the NWA championship. "World" heavyweight championships in Japan, Mexico, and the US Independent circuit were created ex novo after promotions started.
The AWA World Heavyweight Championship was established in May 1960, after the NWA's Minnesota member territory withdrew from the NWA and established the American Wrestling Association. The first champion was Pat O'Connor, who was recognized upon the AWA's secession from the NWA as O'Connor held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship as well, which he won on January 9, 1959. The creation of the AWA World Heavyweight Championship along with the NWA World Heavyweight Championship would pave the way for the creation of many other world championships in other wrestling promotions. The American Wrestling Association and the title became inactive in 1990 and the organization officially closed down in 1991 with the title also being decommissioned.
The WWE Championship's origin can be traced back to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship after an incident in which the Capitol Wrestling Corporation at the time left the NWA to become the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF). This was after the WWWF refused to recognize Lou Thesz as the NWA World Heavyweight Champion after he beat Buddy Rogers in a one fall match – the NWA World Heavyweight Championship title matches usually followed a best-of-three fall format – Vincent J. McMahon, the WWWF's owner created the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship and awarded Rogers the championship belt proclaiming he won it in a (apocryphal) tournament in Brazil in April 1963.[37] He lost the championship to Bruno Sammartino a month later on May 17, 1963, after suffering a heart attack shortly before the match. To accommodate Rogers' condition, the match was booked to last under a minute. Sammartino would retain the title for seven years, eight months and one day (2,803 days), until losing it to Ivan Koloff, making Sammartino's reign the longest continuous world championship reign in men's wrestling history.[38][39]
The WCW World Heavyweight Championship's origin is traced back to a match which took place on January 11, 1991, where Ric Flair defeated Sting for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. When WCW pulled out of the NWA in early 1991, Flair was recognized as the first WCW World Heavyweight Champion.[40][41] The WCW International World Heavyweight Championship can be traced back to an incident in WCW's final split with the NWA in 1993, when Flair's NWA World Heavyweight Championship reign continued to be recognized as the WCW International World Heavyweight Championship.[42] The two titles were unified in June 1994. The title was briefly defended in WWF following WWF's purchase of WCW in 2001 before being unified into the WWF Championship and retired. Chris Jericho unified the WCW World Heavyweight Championship with the WWF Championship at WWF Vengeance 2001.[43]
The ECW World Heavyweight Championship's origin is attributed to a tournament which was held to crown a new NWA World Heavyweight Champion in 1994 in NWA Eastern Championship Wrestling.[44] On August 27, 1994, Shane Douglas participated and won the tournament and discarded the NWA World Heavyweight Championship proclaiming himself the new Extreme Championship Wrestling World Heavyweight Champion. After this event ECW withdrew from the NWA and renamed itself Extreme Championship Wrestling. The title was decommissioned after ECW's bankruptcy in 2001 and subsequent purchase by WWE, then reactivated and competed for on the ECW brand of WWE from 2006 to 2010 when it was retired for the final time, with Ezekiel Jackson being the final holder of the title.[44][45][46][47]
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
TNA formed in May 2002 and established a partnership with the NWA, allowing TNA control of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and NWA World Tag Team Championship. On June 19, 2002, TNA crowned the first NWA World Heavyweight Champion under their banner after Ken Shamrock won a Gauntlet for the Gold match at TNA's first weekly pay-per-view.[18] On May 13, 2007, the NWA severed ties with TNA after the then-current NWA World Heavyweight Champion, Christian Cage, refused to defend the NWA World Heavyweight Championship against wrestlers from other NWA territories.[48] A brand new TNA World Heavyweight Championship was first won by Kurt Angle who won it at the 2007 edition of Sacrifice by defeating Cage and Sting. This title however neither claimed lineage to nor was linked to the Original World Heavyweight Championship.[49]
WWE created a new World Heavyweight Championship following its first brand split, when then-WWE "Undisputed" Champion Brock Lesnar became exclusive to the SmackDown brand, refusing to face designated number one contender Triple H, who was a member of the Raw brand. Triple H was awarded the newly established title. This championship was a successor to the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, split via the WWE Championship. It was represented by the same Big Gold Belt once used for the WCW and NWA championships, and was awarded by Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff, the former President of WCW.[50][51][52] WWE asserts its legacy extends back to the title created in 1905.[53] Like the original World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship, the title was not prefixed with the name of a promotion, though the physical belt had the WWE logo on it. It would be reunified with the WWE Championship by Randy Orton on December 15, 2013.[54]
Scott Levy is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name, Raven. He is best known for his appearances with professional wrestling promotions Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (WWF/E) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). Widely recognized as "one of the best talkers in wrestling", Raven is known for his "psychological heel tactics" and grunge-inspired gimmick. His feud with The Sandman in the mid-1990s has been described as "one of the most emotional rivalries in professional wrestling's history".
Frank Alvin Gotch was an American professional wrestler. Gotch was the first American professional wrestler to win the World Heavyweight Championship in catch wrestling, and he is credited for popularizing professional wrestling in the United States. He competed back when the contests at championship level were largely legit, and his reign as World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion is one of the ten longest in the history of professional wrestling. He became one of the most popular athletes in America from the 1900s to the 1910s. Pro Wrestling Illustrated described Gotch as "arguably the best North American professional wrestler of the 20th century".
The NWA World's 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.
The WWE Championship is a men's professional wrestling world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE, defended on the SmackDown brand division. Since April 2022, the title has been jointly held and defended with the WWE Universal Championship as the Undisputed WWE Championship, but both titles have maintained their individual lineages. It is one of three world titles in WWE, alongside its companion Universal Championship on SmackDown, and the World Heavyweight Championship on Raw. The current champion is Cody Rhodes, who is in his first reign. He won the undisputed title by defeating previous champion Roman Reigns in a Bloodline Rules match at WrestleMania XL Night 2 on April 7, 2024.
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.
Troy Allan Martin is an American professional wrestler, manager, and promoter, better known by his ring name Shane Douglas. He is best known for his tenures in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), Xtreme Pro Wrestling (XPW), and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA).
Virgil Riley Runnels Jr., better known as "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, was an American professional wrestler, booker, and trainer who worked for the National Wrestling Alliance and the World Wrestling Federation, later known as WWE. Rhodes was considered a star wrestler and presented the persona of an American everyman, the American Dream personified. Rhodes is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time.
Lawrence Whistler, better known by the ring name Larry Zbyszko, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is perhaps best known for his feud with his mentor, Bruno Sammartino, during the early 1980s as well as his work as a wrestler and color commentator for World Championship Wrestling. Among other accolades, he is a two-time world champion having twice held the AWA World Heavyweight Championship. Zbyszko was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on March 28, 2015, by Sammartino.
John Stanley "Stan" Hansen II, best known as Stan "The Lariat" Hansen, is an American retired professional wrestler.
Championship unification is the act of combining two or more separate professional wrestling championships into a single title.
Cassidy James Riley, also known as Kassidy James, is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his work with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment.
Robert Herman Julius Friedrich, better known by the ring name Ed "Strangler" Lewis, was an American professional wrestler and trainer. During his wrestling career, which spanned four decades, Lewis was a four-time World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion and overall recognized officially as a five-time world champion. Considered to be one of the most iconic and recognizable sports stars of the 1920s, often alongside boxer Jack Dempsey and baseball player Babe Ruth, Lewis notably wrestled in over 6,000 matches and lost only 32 of them.
The Triple Crown is an accomplishment recognized by various professional wrestling promotions. It is a distinction made to a professional wrestler who has won three of a single promotion's championships; specifically, a world championship, another singles championship, and a tag team championship. Promotions to officially recognize Triple Crown winners include WWE, All Elite Wrestling (AEW), Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), and Ring of Honor (ROH) as well as the defunct promotions World Championship Wrestling (WCW), Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), and Lucha Underground.
An undisputed championship is a professional wrestling term for a world title that is the unquestioned top championship in a promotion, often formed from two world titles being unified or held by the same individual.
Professional wrestling in the United States, through the advent of television in the 1950s, and cable in the 1980s, began appearing in powerful media outlets, reaching never before seen numbers of viewers. It became an international phenomenon with the expansion of the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Throughout the 1990s, professional wrestling achieved highs in both viewers and financial success during a time of fierce competition among competing promotions, such as WWF, World Championship Wrestling, and Extreme Championship Wrestling.
Paul Forbes Bowser was a professional wrestling promoter who was active from the 1920s to the 1950s in the Boston area.
The history of professional wrestling, as a performing art, started in the late 19th century, with predecessors in funfair and variety strongman in the 1830s.
The American professional wrestling promotion WWE has maintained several men's world championships since Capitol Wrestling Corporation seceded from the National Wrestling Alliance in 1963 to become the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), which was later subjected to various name changes, including World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)—in April 2011, the company ceased using its full name and has since just been referred to as WWE. The company's first world championship was the WWE Championship, which was established along with the promotion's creation in 1963 as the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship; it is still active today and is WWE's oldest active title. Whenever the WWE brand extension has been implemented, separate world championships have been created or allocated for each brand.
1 2 Oliver, Greg (February 4, 2000). "Remembering Whipper Billy Watson". SLAM! Wrestling. Archived from the original on July 9, 2000. Retrieved June 12, 2009. Thesz lost the title to Watson on March 15, 1956 in Toronto via a count out
↑ "Ali Baba Loses, Kicks Opponent". The Evening Independent. St Petersburg, Florida: St. Petersburg Times. June 13, 1936. p.8. Retrieved June 14, 2009.
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