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Professional wrestling championship
NWA Missouri Heavyweight Championship Promotion Central States Wrestling and St. Louis Wrestling Club (through 1986) Date established October - December 1899 (original) September 16, 1972 (current) Current champion(s) cando curtis
Missouri Heavyweight Championship
First champion(s) George Baptiste Most reigns Harley Race (7)
The NWA Missouri Heavyweight Championship was the secondary singles championship in the National Wrestling Alliance 's St. Louis Wrestling Club and Central States Wrestling promotions in the 1970s and 1980s. It was usually dominated by the area's top star, Harley Race , and as such it was considered a "stepping stone" to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship (although only Race, Terry Funk and Kerry Von Erich made it; Gene Kiniski , Dory Funk, Jr.,Jack Brisco and Ric Flair were already former World Champions upon winning the Missouri title). 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.
Pre National Wrestling Alliance Title history [ edit ]
Key
No.
Overall reign number
Reign
Reign number for the specific champion
Days
Number of days held
No.
Champion
Championship change
Reign statistics
Notes
Ref.
Date
Event
Location
Reign
Days
1
George Baptiste
October 1899 (NLT)
Missouri show
[Note 1]
1
[Note 2]
Records are unclear as to whom he defeated.
Championship history is unrecorded from October 1899 (NLT) to 1921 .
2
Jake Reed
1921
Missouri show
[Note 1]
1
[Note 3]
Defeated Lloyd Carter to win the championship. Unclear if Carter was the champion or if this was a tournament final.
Championship history is unrecorded from 1921 to March 6, 1930 .
3
Jake Ross
March 6, 1930
Missouri show
Chillicothe, Missouri
1
705
Defeated Charles Santen to win the championship, unclear if Santen was the champion or if this was a tournament final.
4
Fred Peterson
February 9, 1932
Missouri show
[Note 1]
1
[Note 4]
5
Billy Wolf
March 1934
Missouri show
[Note 1]
1
[Note 5]
6
Lou Thesz
June 18, 1937
Missouri show
Kansas City, Missouri
1
[Note 6]
Defeated Warren Bockwinkel to win the championship
—
Deactivated
N/A
—
—
—
—
Uncertain when the championship was abandoned
National Wrestling Alliance Title history [ edit ]
Key
No.
Overall reign number
Reign
Reign number for the specific champion
Days
Number of days held
No.
Champion
Championship change
Reign statistics
Notes
Ref.
Date
Event
Location
Reign
Days
1
Tommy O'Toole
March 10, 1950
CSW/SLWC show
St. Joseph, Missouri
1
35
Defeated Sonny Myers in a 10-man tournament final.
2
Sonny Myers
April 14, 1950
CSW/SLWC show
St. Joseph, Missouri
1
273
3
Ron Etchison
January 12, 1951
CSW/SLWC show
St. Joseph, Missouri
1
14
4
Sonny Myers
January 26, 1951
CSW/SLWC show
St. Joseph, Missouri
2
7
5
Ron Etchison
February 2, 1951
CSW/SLWC show
St. Joseph, Missouri
2
7
6
Ray Eckert
February 9, 1951
CSW/SLWC show
St. Joseph, Missouri
1
20
6
Ron Etchison
March 1, 1951
CSW/SLWC show
St. Joseph, Missouri
3
99
—
Vacated
June 8, 1951
—
—
—
—
Championship vacated, reason undocumented
8
Sonny Myers
February 1, 1952
CSW/SLWC show
[Note 1]
3
14
9
Joe Dusek
February 15, 1952
CSW/SLWC show
St. Joseph, Missouri
1
273
10
Sonny Myers
November 14, 1952
CSW/SLWC show
[Note 1]
4
42
11
Ron Etchison
December 26, 1952
CSW/SLWC show
St. Joseph, Missouri
4
155
—
Vacated
May 30, 1953
—
—
—
—
Championship vacated, no reason documented
12
Sonny Myers
December 18, 1953
CSW/SLWC show
[Note 1]
5
14
13
Bob Orton
January 1, 1954
CSW/SLWC show
St. Joseph, Missouri
1
63
14
Ray Eckert
March 5, 1954
CSW/SLWC show
St. Joseph, Missouri
2
33
—
Vacated
April 7, 1954
—
—
—
—
Championship held up due to a controversial ending of a match against Sonny Myers
15
Sonny Myers
April 9, 1954
CSW/SLWC show
St. Joseph, Missouri
6
43
Defeated Ray Eckert to win the vacant championship.
16
Larry Hamilton
May 22, 1954
CSW/SLWC show
St. Joseph, Missouri
1
167
17
Ron Etchison
November 5, 1954
CSW/SLWC show
St. Joseph, Missouri
5
308
—
Vacated
September 9, 1955
—
—
—
—
Championship vacated, reason not documented
18
Joe Dusek
April 1956
CSW/SLWC show
Sedalia, Missouri
2
[Note 7]
—
Vacated
September 19, 1956
—
—
—
—
Championship inactive.
19
Harley Race
September 16, 1972
Wrestling at the Chase
St. Louis, Missouri
1
91
Defeated Pak Song in a tournament final for the revived championship.
—
Vacated
December 16, 1972
—
—
—
—
Championship held up after a match against Johnny Valentine
20
Johnny Valentine
January 19, 1973
CSW/SLWC show
St. Louis, Missouri
1
22
Defeated Harley Race in a rematch.
[1]
21
Terry Funk
February 10, 1973
Wrestling at the Chase
St. Louis, Missouri
1
34
[2]
22
Gene Kiniski
March 16, 1973
CSW/SLWC show
St. Louis, Missouri
1
211
23
Harley Race
October 13, 1973
Wrestling at the Chase
St. Louis, Missouri
2
223
24
Dory Funk, Jr.
May 24, 1974
CSW/SLWC show
St. Louis, Missouri
1
273
25
Harley Race
February 21, 1975
CSW/SLWC show
St. Louis, Missouri
3
427
26
Bob Backlund
April 23, 1976
CSW/SLWC show
St. Louis, Missouri
1
217
27
Jack Brisco
November 26, 1976
CSW/SLWC show
St. Louis, Missouri
1
259
28
Dick Slater
August 12, 1977
CSW/SLWC show
St. Louis, Missouri
1
184
29
Ted DiBiase
February 12, 1978
Wrestling at the Chase
St. Louis, Missouri
1
14
[3]
30
Dick Murdoch
February 26, 1978
Wrestling at the Chase
St. Louis, Missouri
1
138
[4]
31
Dick the Bruiser
July 14, 1978
Wrestling at the Chase
St. Louis, Missouri
1
246
[5]
32
Dick Murdoch
March 18, 1979
Wrestling at the Chase
St. Louis, Missouri
2
61
33
Dick the Bruiser
May 18, 1979
CSW/SLWC show
St. Louis, Missouri
2
56
34
Dick Murdoch
July 13, 1979
CSW/SLWC show
St. Louis, Missouri
3
133
35
Kevin Von Erich
November 23, 1979
CSW/SLWC show
St. Louis, Missouri
1
154
36
Ken Patera
April 25, 1980
CSW/SLWC show
St. Louis, Missouri
1
210
37
Ted DiBiase
November 21, 1980
Wrestling at the Chase
St. Louis, Missouri
2
315
38
Jack Brisco
October 2, 1981
CSW/SLWC show
St. Louis, Missouri
2
21
39
Ken Patera
October 23, 1981
CSW/SLWC show
St. Louis, Missouri
2
70
40
Dick the Bruiser
January 1, 1982
CSW/SLWC show
St. Louis, Missouri
3
259
41
Harley Race
September 17, 1982
CSW/SLWC show
St. Louis, Missouri
4
128
42
Kerry Von Erich
January 23, 1983
CSW/SLWC show
St. Louis, Missouri
1
82
[6]
43
Jerry Blackwell
April 15, 1983
CSW/SLWC show
St. Louis, Missouri
1
28
44
Harley Race
May 13, 1983
CSW/SLWC show
St. Louis, Missouri
5
28
[7]
—
Vacated
June 10, 1983
—
—
—
—
Championship vacated when Champion Harley Race won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship
[8]
45
Ric Flair
July 15, 1983
CSW/SLWC show
St. Louis, Missouri
1
63
Defeated David Von Erich in a tournament final.
46
David Von Erich
September 16, 1983
CSW/SLWC show
St. Louis, Missouri
1
112
47
Harley Race
January 6, 1984
CSW/SLWC show
St. Louis, Missouri
6
315
48
Jerry Blackwell
November 16, 1984
CSW/SLWC show
St. Louis, Missouri
2
259
49
Harley Race
August 2, 1985
CSW/SLWC show
St. Louis, Missouri
7
[Note 8]
[9]
—
Vacated
February 2, 1986
—
—
—
—
Championship retired when Jim Crockett Promotions bought the St. Louis Wrestling Club . Crockett also bought Central States Wrestling in September.
See also [ edit ]
^ a b c d e f g The location of the match was not captured as part of the championship documentation.
^ The date the championship was won and later lost has not been documented which means the championship reign lasted more than 1 day but it is impossible to say how long exactly.
^ The date the championship was won and later lost has not been documented which means the championship reign lasted more than 1 day but it is impossible to say how long exactly.
^ The date the championship was won has not been documented which means the championship reign lasted anywhere between 21 days and 51 days
^ The date the championship was won has not been documented which means the championship reign lasted anywhere between 751 days and 781 days
^ The date the championship was vacated has not been documented which means the championship reign lasted more than 1 day but it is impossible to say how much more.
^ The date the championship was won has not been documented which means the championship reign lasted anywhere between 142 days and 171 days
^ The date the championship was vacated has not been documented which means the championship reign lasted anywhere between 183 days and 210 days
References [ edit ]
General references
Royal Duncan and Gary Will (2006). "(Kansas and Western Missouri) West Missouri: NWA Missouri Title". Wrestling Title Histories . Archeus Communications. p. 254. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4 . (through 2000)
"Missouri Heavyweight Title" . wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved March 24, 2015 .
^ Hoops, Brian (January 19, 2019). "Pro wrestling history (01/19): Ric Flair wins WWF title in 1992 Royal Rumble" . Wrestling Observer NewsletterWrestling Observer Figure Four Online . Retrieved January 18, 2019 .
^ Hoops, Brian (February 10, 2017). "DAILY PRO WRESTLING HISTORY (02/10): MASA SAITO WINS AWA GOLD AT THE TOKYO DOME" . Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 10, 2017 .
^ Hoops, Brian (February 12, 2017). "On this day in pro wrestling history (Feb 12): Christian Cage wins gold in TNA" . Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 15, 2017 .
^ Hoops, Brian (February 26, 2017). "Daily pro wrestling history (02/26): Verne Gagne wins AWA title on his birthday" . Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 27, 2017 .
^ Hoops, Brian (July 14, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history (July 14): Bruiser & Crusher vs. Stevens & Bockwinkel, Gagne vs. Superstar, Lex Luger wins WCW title, Snuka wins ECW title, Sting wins TNA belt" . Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 19, 2017 .
^ Hoops, Brian (January 23, 2020). "Pro wrestling history (01/23): Hulk Hogan defeats Iron Sheik for WWF title" . Wrestling Observer Newsletter . Retrieved January 25, 2020 .
^ Hoops, Brian (May 13, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history (May 13): Rick Martel wins AWA gold, Kurt Angle wins TNA title, Nash & Hall beat one man to win tag titles" . Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 11, 2017 .
^ F4W Staff (June 10, 2015). "ON THIS DAY IN PRO WRESTLING HISTORY (JUNE 10): HARLEY RACE BEATS RIC FLAIR FOR NWA TITLE, JERRY BLACKWELL TURNS BABYFACE" . Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 10, 2017 .
^ Hoops, Brian (August 2, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history: Ron Simmons makes history by winning WCW World title" . Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 19, 2017 .