World Heavyweight Championship (National Wrestling Association)

The World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling

Professional wrestling

Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...

world heavyweight championship

Championship (professional wrestling)

A Championship or "title" in professional wrestling is a recognition promoted by professional wrestling organizations.Championship reigns are determined by professional wrestling matches, in which competitors are involved in scripted rivalries...

of the National Wrestling Association

National Wrestling Association

The National Wrestling Association was an off-shoot of the National Boxing Association, formed to sanction professional wrestling. This NWA is not the same organization as the National Wrestling Alliance, which was formed in 1948....

(NWA), an offshoot of the National Boxing Association

World Boxing Association

The World Boxing Association is a boxing organization that sanctions official matches, and awards the WBA world championship title at the professional level. It was previously known as the National Boxing Association before changing its name in 1962...

(NBA). The title existed from 1929 through 1949, when it was unified with the National Wrestling Alliance

National Wrestling Alliance

The National Wrestling Alliance is a wrestling promotion company and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...

's World Heavyweight Championship

NWA World Heavyweight Championship

The National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in the National Wrestling Alliance. Its lineage has been traced from the first World Heavyweight Championship, which traces its lineage to Georg Hackenschmidt's 1905 title and...

Title history

Wrestler:	Times:	Date:	Place:	Notes:
Gus Sonnenberg Gus Sonnenberg Gustave Adolph Sonnenberg was an American football player and professional wrestler. As a wrestler, he was National Wrestling Association world heavyweight champion...	1	January 4, 1929	Boston, MA	Defeated Ed "Strangler" Lewis Ed Lewis (wrestler) Robert Herman Julius Friedrich , was a professional wrestler best known by his ring name Ed "Strangler" Lewis, whose career spanned four decades.-Wrestling career:... to become the first champion.
Stripped		1929		Title stripped for failing to meet "real" contenders.
Dick Shikat	1	August 23, 1929	Philadelphia, PA Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...	Defeated Jim Londos Jim Londos Christos Theofilou or Christopher Theophelus better known as "The Golden Greek" Jim Londos, was a professional wrestler who was one of the most popular stars wrestling offered during the Great Depression.-Career:Jim Londos was born Christos Theofilou in 1897 in Argos, Greece. as the youngest of... to win the vacant title.
Jim Londos Jim Londos Christos Theofilou or Christopher Theophelus better known as "The Golden Greek" Jim Londos, was a professional wrestler who was one of the most popular stars wrestling offered during the Great Depression.-Career:Jim Londos was born Christos Theofilou in 1897 in Argos, Greece. as the youngest of...	1	June 6, 1930	Philadelphia, PA
Danno O'Mahony Danno O'Mahony Danno O'Mahony was an Irish professional wrestler. His surname was usually spelled "O'Mahoney" during his wrestling career...	1	June 27, 1935	Boston, MA
Dick Shikat	2	March 2, 1936	New York City, NY New York City New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
Ali Baba	1	April 25, 1936	Detroit, MI Detroit, Michigan Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
Everett Marshall Everett Marshall Everett Marshall was an American professional wrestler who was best known for his work in the late 1930s with what is now National Wrestling Alliance.- Biography :...	1	June 26, 1936	Columbus, OH Columbus, Ohio Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
Vacated		September 1936		Title vacated when the NBA and NWA recommend at their annual meeting that a tournament be held.
John Pesek John Pesek John Pesek was an American professional wrestler and notable greyhound racing dog breeder.He was born to Bohemian parents near Ravenna, Nebraska, the fifth of seven children, and grew up living the hard life of the American pioneer. His father Martin died in an accident when John was twelve...	1	September 13, 1937		Title awarded when Pesek is the only contender to post a $1000 bond.
Vacated				Pesek's recognition as champion withdrawn.
Lou Thesz Lou Thesz Aloysius Martin "Lou" Thesz was a United States professional wrestler and 18-time world heavyweight champion, most notably holding the NWA World Heavyweight Championship three times. Combined, he held the NWA Championship for 10 years, three months and nine days , longer than anyone else in history...	#	December 29, 1937	St. Louis, MO St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...	Whether or not this reign was recognized by the NBA/NWA is unknown.
Steve Casey Steve Casey Stephen "Steve" Casey was an Irish sport rower and world champion professional wrestler. He was the second Irish wrestler, after Danno O'Mahoney, to become a world champion.- Rowing :...	1	February 11, 1938	Boston, MA
Vacated		September 1938		Casey's recognition as champion withdrawn due to his being out of the country.
Everett Marshall	2	September 14, 1938		Title awarded at the NBA/NWA annual meeting.
Lou Thesz	1	February 23, 1939	St. Louis, MO
Bronko Nagurski Bronko Nagurski Bronislau "Bronko" Nagurski was a Canadian-born American football player. He was also a successful professional wrestler, recognized as a multiple-time world heavyweight champion.-Youth and collegiate career:...	1	June 23, 1939	Houston, TX Houston, Texas Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
Ray Steele	1	March 7, 1940	St. Louis, MO
Bronko Nagurski	2	March 11, 1941	Houston, TX
Sandor Szabo	1	June 5, 1941	St. Louis, MO
Bill Longson Bill Longson William Longson was a professional wrestler, who spent most of his career in St. Louis, Missouri under the ring name "Wild Bill" Longson...	1	February 19, 1942	St. Louis, MO
Yvon Robert Yvon Robert Yvon Robert was a French Canadian professional wrestler who was best known to fans as Yvon "The Lion" Robert.- American Wrestling Association :...	1	October 7, 1942	Montreal, Quebec Montreal Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
Bobby Managoff Bobby Managoff Robert Manoogian, Jr. was an American professional wrestler who was best known for his work with National Wrestling Alliance in the 1940s as Bobby Managoff...	1	November 27, 1942	Houston, TX
Bill Longson	2	February 19, 1943	St. Louis, MO
Whipper Billy Watson Whipper Billy Watson William John Potts, O.Ont was a Canadian professional wrestler best known by his ring name Whipper Billy Watson, and was a two-time world heavyweight wrestling champion.-Early life:...	1	February 21, 1947	St. Louis, MO
Lou Thesz	2	April 25, 1947	St. Louis, MO
Bill Longson	3	November 21, 1947	Houston, TX
Lou Thesz	3	July 10, 1948	Indianapolis, IN Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
Title retired		November 27, 1949		Title unified with NWA World Heavyweight Championship NWA World Heavyweight Championship The National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in the National Wrestling Alliance. Its lineage has been traced from the first World Heavyweight Championship, which traces its lineage to Georg Hackenschmidt's 1905 title and... .

Title history

See also