NWA Missouri Heavyweight Championship
| NWA Missouri Heavyweight Championship | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| File:NWA Missouri HEavyweight Championship Belt.jpg The NWA Missouri Heavyweight Championship belt | |||||||||||
| Details | |||||||||||
| Promotion | Central States Wrestling and St. Louis Wrestling Club (through 1986) NWA Midwest (2002-2012) NWA Central-States Championship Wrestling (since 2014) | ||||||||||
| Date established | October - December 1899 (original) September 16, 1972 (current) | ||||||||||
| Current champion(s) | Mitch Johnson | ||||||||||
| Date won | August 22, 2015 | ||||||||||
| Other name(s) | |||||||||||
Missouri Heavyweight Championship | |||||||||||
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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, Kerry Von Erich and Ric Flair made it; Gene Kiniski and Dory Funk, Jr. 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. NWA Midwest revived the title in 2002 and promoted it until 2012. On March 29, 2014 the new NWA Central-States Championship Wrestling promotion brought the Missouri Championship back.
Pre National Wrestling Alliance Title history
- Key
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| # | The overall championship reign |
| Reign | The reign number for the specific set of wrestlers listed. |
| Event | The event promoted by the respective promotion in which the title changed hands |
| — | Used for vacated reigns in order to not count it as an official reign |
| Indicates periods of unknown lineage | |
| (NLT) | Indicates that the championship changed hands "No Later Than" a certain date. |
| # | Wrestler | Reign | Date | Days held |
Location | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | George Baptiste | 1 | October 1899 (NLT) | [Note 1] | [Note 2] | Live event | Records are unclear as to whom he defeated. |
| 2 | Jake Reed | 1 | 1921 | [Note 3] | [Note 2] | Live event | Defeated Lloyd Carter to win the championship. Unclear if Carter was the champion or if this was a tournament final. |
| 3 | Jake Ross | 1 | March 6, 1930 | 705 | Chillicothe, Missouri | Live event | Defeated Charles Santen to win the championship, unclear if Santen was the champion or if this was a tournament final. |
| 4 | Fred Peterson | 1 | February 9, 1932 | [Note 4] | [Note 2] | Live event | |
| 5 | Billy Wolf | 1 | March 1934 | [Note 5] | [Note 2] | Live event | |
| 6 | Lou Thesz | 1 | June 18, 1937 | [Note 6] | Kansas City, Missouri | Live event | Defeated Warren Bockwinkel to win the championship |
National Wrestling Alliance Title history
- Key
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| # | The overall championship reign |
| Reign | The reign number for the specific set of wrestlers listed. |
| Event | The event promoted by the respective promotion in which the title changed hands |
| — | Used for vacated reigns in order to not count it as an official reign |
| Indicates periods of unknown lineage | |
| (NLT) | Indicates that the championship changed hands "No Later Than" a certain date. |
| # | Wrestler | Reign | Date | Days held |
Location | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tommy O'Toole | 1 | March 10, 1950 | 35 | St. Joseph, Missouri | Live event | Defeated Sonny Myers in a 10-man tournament final. |
| 2 | Sonny Myers | 1 | April 14, 1950 | 273 | St. Joseph, Missouri | Live event | |
| 3 | Ron Etchison | 1 | January 12, 1951 | 14 | St. Joseph, Missouri | Live event | |
| 4 | Sonny Myers | 2 | January 26, 1951 | 7 | St. Joseph, Missouri | Live event | |
| 5 | Ron Etchison | 2 | February 2, 1951 | 7 | St. Joseph, Missouri | Live event | |
| 6 | Ray Eckert | 1 | February 9, 1951 | 20 | St. Joseph, Missouri | Live event | |
| 7 | Ron Etchison | 3 | March 1, 1951 | 99 | St. Joseph, Missouri | Live event | |
| — | Vacated | N/A | June 8, 1951 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Championship vacated, reason undocumented |
| 8 | Sonny Myers | 3 | February 1, 1952 | 14 | [Note 2] | Live event | |
| 9 | Joe Dusek | 1 | February 15, 1952 | 273 | St. Joseph, Missouri | Live event | |
| 10 | Sonny Myers | 4 | November 14, 1952 | 42 | [Note 2] | Live event | |
| 11 | Ron Etchison | 4 | December 26, 1952 | 155 | St. Joseph, Missouri | Live event | |
| — | Vacated | N/A | May 30, 1953 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Championship vacated, no reason documented |
| 12 | Sonny Myers | 5 | December 18, 1953 | 14 | [Note 2] | Live event | |
| 13 | Bob Orton | 1 | January 1, 1954 | 63 | St. Joseph, Missouri | Live event | |
| 14 | Ray Eckert | 2 | March 5, 1954 | 33 | St. Joseph, Missouri | Live event | |
| — | Vacated | N/A | April 7, 1954 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Championship held up due to a controversial ending of a match against Sonny Myers |
| 15 | Sonny Myers | 6 | April 9, 1954 | 43 | St. Joseph, Missouri | Live event | Defeated Ray Eckert to win the vacant championship. |
| 16 | Larry Hamilton | 1 | May 22, 1954 | 167 | St. Joseph, Missouri | Live event | |
| 17 | Ron Etchison | 5 | November 5, 1954 | 308 | St. Joseph, Missouri | Live event | |
| — | Vacated | N/A | September 9, 1955 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Championship vacated, reason not documented |
| 18 | Joe Dusek | 2 | April 1956 | [Note 7] | Sedalia, Missouri | Live event | |
| — | Vacated | N/A | September 19, 1956 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Championship inactive. |
| 19 | Harley Race | 1 | September 16, 1972 | 91 | St. Louis, Missouri | Live event | Defeated Pak Song in a tournament final for the revived championship. |
| — | Vacated | N/A | December 16, 1972 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Championship held up after a match against Johnny Valentine |
| 20 | Johnny Valentine | 1 | January 19, 1973 | 22 | St. Louis, Missouri | Live event | Defeated Harley Race in a rematch. |
| 21 | Terry Funk | 1 | February 10, 1973 | 34 | St. Louis, Missouri | Live event | |
| 22 | Gene Kiniski | 1 | March 16, 1973 | 211 | St. Louis, Missouri | Live event | |
| 23 | Harley Race | 2 | October 13, 1973 | 223 | St. Louis, Missouri | Live event | |
| 24 | Dory Funk, Jr. | 1 | May 24, 1974 | 273 | St. Louis, Missouri | Live event | |
| 25 | Harley Race | 3 | February 21, 1975 | 427 | St. Louis, Missouri | Live event | |
| 26 | Bob Backlund | 1 | April 23, 1976 | 217 | St. Louis, Missouri | Live event | |
| 27 | Jack Brisco | 1 | November 26, 1976 | 259 | St. Louis, Missouri | Live event | |
| 28 | Dick Slater | 1 | August 12, 1977 | 184 | St. Louis, Missouri | Live event | |
| 29 | Ted DiBiase | 1 | February 12, 1978 | 14 | St. Louis, Missouri | Live event | |
| 30 | Dick Murdoch | 1 | February 26, 1978 | 138 | St. Louis, Missouri | Live event | |
| 31 | Dick the Bruiser | 1 | July 14, 1978 | 246 | St. Louis, Missouri | Live event | |
| 32 | Dick Murdoch | 2 | March 17, 1979 | 62 | St. Louis, Missouri | Live event | |
| 33 | Dick the Bruiser | 2 | May 18, 1979 | 56 | St. Louis, Missouri | Live event | |
| 34 | Dick Murdoch | 3 | July 13, 1979 | 133 | St. Louis, Missouri | Live event | |
| 35 | Kevin Von Erich | 1 | November 23, 1979 | 154 | St. Louis, Missouri | Live event | |
| 36 | Ken Patera | 1 | April 25, 1980 | 210 | St. Louis, Missouri | Live event | |
| 37 | Ted DiBiase | 2 | November 21, 1980 | 315 | St. Louis, Missouri | Live event | |
| 38 | Jack Brisco | 2 | October 2, 1981 | 21 | St. Louis, Missouri | Live event | |
| 39 | Ken Patera | 2 | October 23, 1981 | 70 | St. Louis, Missouri | Live event | |
| 40 | Dick the Bruiser | 3 | January 1, 1982 | 259 | St. Louis, Missouri | Live event | |
| 41 | Harley Race | 4 | September 17, 1982 | 128 | St. Louis, Missouri | Live event | |
| 42 | Kerry Von Erich | 1 | January 23, 1983 | 82 | St. Louis, Missouri | Live event | |
| 43 | Jerry Blackwell | 1 | April 15, 1983 | 28 | St. Louis, Missouri | Live event | |
| 44 | Harley Race | 5 | May 13, 1983 | 28 | St. Louis, Missouri | Live event | |
| — | Vacated | N/A | June 10, 1983 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Championship vacated when Champion Harley Race won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship |
| 45 | Ric Flair | 1 | July 15, 1983 | 63 | St. Louis, Missouri | Live event | Defeated David Von Erich in a tournament final. |
| 46 | David Von Erich | 1 | September 16, 1983 | 112 | St. Louis, Missouri | Live event | |
| 47 | Harley Race | 6 | January 6, 1984 | 315 | St. Louis, Missouri | Live event | |
| 48 | Jerry Blackwell | 2 | November 16, 1984 | 259 | St. Louis, Missouri | Live event | |
| 49 | Harley Race | 7 | August 2, 1985 | [Note 8] | St. Louis, Missouri | Live event | |
| — | Vacated | N/A | February 1986 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Championship retired when Jim Crockett Promotions bought the St. Louis Wrestling Club. Crockett also bought Central States Wrestling in September. |
NWA Midwest Title history
- Key
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| # | The overall championship reign |
| Reign | The reign number for the specific set of wrestlers listed. |
| Event | The event promoted by the respective promotion in which the title changed hands |
| — | Used for vacated reigns in order to not count it as an official reign |
| # | Wrestler | Reign | Date | Days held |
Location | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gary Jackson | 1 | July 27, 2002 | 311 | St. Robert, Missouri | Live event | Defeated Steve Stone after the title was revived by NWA Midwest. |
| — | Vacated | N/A | June 3, 2003 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Championship vacated due to lack of defenses. |
| 2 | Shane Somers | 1 | June 17, 2003 | 0 | Rolla, Missouri | Live event | Defeated Dingo, John Epperson, Tony Luza, Rick Norris and Yukon Eric, Jr. in a six-way match. |
| — | Vacated | N/A | June 17, 2003 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Somers was immediately stripped of the title by Missouri State Commissioner Carl Lauer for using an illegal chokehold. |
| 3 | Shane Somers | 2 | June 17, 2003 | 115 | Rolla, Missouri | Live event | Teamed up with The Mad Hatter, pinned John Epperson, who was teaming with Ricky Murdock, in a tag team match. |
| 4 | Ricky Murdock | 1 | October 10, 2003 | 169 | Parkersburg, West Virginia | Live event | Won the title at the NWA 55th Anniversary Show. Murdock's NWA National Heavyweight Championship was also at stake. |
| 5 | Shane Somers | 3 | March 27, 2004 | [Note 9] | Plato, Missouri | Live event | |
| — | Vacated | N/A | 2005 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Championship vacated, reason not documented. |
| 6 | Abyss | 1 | December 7, 2005 | 384 | Lawrence, Kansas | Live event | Defeated Tyler Cook to win the vacant championship |
| — | Vacated | N/A | December 26, 2006 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Championship vacated, reason not documented. |
| 7 | Dingo | 1 | January 19, 2007 | 1,001 | St. Joseph, Missouri | Live event | Defeated Kraig Keesman, Mark Sterling and Jeremy Wyatt in a four-way match. |
| 8 | Davey Vega | 1 | October 16, 2009 | [Note 10] | Glen Carbon, Illinois | Live event | |
| — | Vacated | N/A | 2010 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Championship vacated as Davey Vega could not commit to NWA Midwest events. |
| 9 | Jeremy Wyatt | 1 | April 30, 2011 | 11 | Caseyville, Illinois | Live event | Defeated Uhaa Nation, Jonathan Gresham and Trent Stone in a four-way match. |
| — | Vacated | N/A | May 11, 2011 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Jeremy Wyatt won the NWA Central States Championship |
| 10 | KC Karrington | 1 | June 10, 2011 | 455 | Glen Carbon, Illinois | Live event | Defeated Dan Walsh in tournament final. |
| 11 | Makaze | 1 | September 7, 2012 | 55 | Glen Carbon, Illinois | Live event | Defeats Karrington, Dan Walsh, and Trent Stone in a 4-way match. |
| — | Vacated | N/A | November 1, 2012 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Championship vacated when Dynamo Pro Wrestling withdraws from the NWA. |
Central-States Championship Wrestling Missouri Title history
- Key
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| # | The overall championship reign |
| Reign | The reign number for the specific set of wrestlers listed. |
| Event | The event promoted by the respective promotion in which the title changed hands |
| — | Used for vacated reigns in order to not count it as an official reign |
| # | Wrestler | Reign | Date | Days held |
Location | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Elvis Aliaga | 1 | March 29, 2014 | 8 | Richland, Missouri | Live event | Wins 10 man over the top rope battle royal to capture vacant title. |
| — | Vacated | N/A | April 6, 2014 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Championship held up after Aliaga's controversial battle royal victory. |
| 13 | Elvis Aliaga | 2 | June 21, 2014 | 350 | Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri | Live event | Won a four-man gauntlet match that included the final four men eliminated from the original battle royal. |
| 13 | Evan Morris | 1 | June 6, 2015 | 77 | Rolla, Missouri | Live event | |
| 13 | Mitch Johnson | 1 | August 22, 2015 | 3,370+ | Newbern, Tennessee | Live event | Won when Morris was attacked by a mysterious masked man. |
See also
Footnotes
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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 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
- ^ The date the championship was vacated has not been documented which means the championship reign lasted anywhere between 280 days and 629 days
- ^ The date the championship was vacated has not been documented which means the championship reign lasted anywhere between 77 days and 441 days
References
- 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.