NWA National Heavyweight Championship
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The "NWA" National Heavyweight Championship was a title owned and operated by Georgia Championship Wrestling, Inc. from 1980 until 1984. It was not officially sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance.
In 1984, Vince McMahon's Titan Sports, Inc. (which operated under the World Wrestling Federation brand name) bought Georgia Championship Wrestling, Inc. The National champion at the time of the sale was The Spoiler (Don Jardine). Spoiler went to work for the WWF and was briefly recognized by that company as National heavyweight champion.
Meanwhile, a rival group with NWA sanctioning began in Georgia. This group was called Championship Wrestling from Georgia. They created a new version of the "NWA" National heavyweight championship and awarded their belt to Ted DiBiase (proclaiming that he had won the title from The Spoiler, which actually wasn't the case except for storyline purposes).
In 1985, Jim Crockett Promotions purchased the TBS Saturday night and Sunday night television slots from the WWF and began production on a new era of "World Championship Wrestling." JCP essentially consolidated Championship Wrestling from Georgia (taking over that group's Saturday morning time slot as well) and began to recognize their championships.
Eventually Crockett held a unification match between his company's United States champion and the National champion. The U.S. champ naturally won and that version of the National title was abandoned.
Contents |
[edit] Title history
[edit] Original version (1980–1986)
| Wrestler: | Times: | Date: | Location: | Notes: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jack Brisco | 1 | October 1980 | Brisco was awarded the title as the first champion. | |
| Mongolian Stomper | 1 | December 6, 1980 | Atlanta, Georgia | |
| Steve Olsonoski | 1 | May 29, 1981 | Atlanta, Georgia | |
| Masked Superstar | 1 | August 15, 1981 | Columbus, Georgia | |
| Tommy Rich | 1 | September 28, 1981 | Augusta, Georgia | |
| Masked Superstar | 2 | November 25, 1981 | Atlanta, Georgia | |
| Tommy Rich | 2 | January 17, 1982 | Atlanta, Georgia | |
| Ron Bass | 1 | March 15, 1982 | Augusta, Georgia | |
| Tommy Rich | 3 | April 19, 1982 | Augusta, Georgia | |
| Buzz Sawyer | 1 | May 2, 1982 | Atlanta, Georgia | |
| Paul Orndorff | 1 | June 20, 1982 | Atlanta, Georgia | |
| Vacated | 1982 | Orndorff vacated the title to train for a World Title match. | ||
| Super Destroyer | 1 | August 29, 1982 | Atlanta, Georgia | Won a tournament to win the vacant title. |
| Paul Orndorff | 2 | October 3, 1982 | Atlanta, Georgia | |
| Masked Superstar | 3 | October 17, 1982 | Atlanta, Georgia | |
| Paul Orndorff | 3 | November 17, 1982 | Atlanta, Georgia | |
| Killer Karl Kox | 1 | 1982 | ||
| Tommy Rich | 4 | 1983 | ||
| Paul Orndorff | 4 | March 1983 | ||
| Killer Tim Brooks | 1 | March 20, 1983 | Atlanta, Georgia | |
| Larry Zbyszko | 1 | March 20, 1983 | Atlanta, Georgia | Bought the title from Brooks for $25,000 |
| Vacated | April 30, 1983 | Zbyszko was stripped of the title by NWA President Bob Geigel for buying it. | ||
| Larry Zbyszko | 2 | June 5, 1983 | Atlanta, Georgia | Defeated Mr. Wrestling II in a tournament final to win the vacant title. |
| Brett Wayne | 1 | September 25, 1983 | Atlanta, Georgia | |
| Ted DiBiase | 1 | November 18, 1983 | Cleveland, Ohio | |
| Brad Armstrong | 1 | February 18, 1984 | Atlanta, Georgia | |
| The Spoiler | 1 | April 12, 1984 | Wheeling, West Virginia | |
| Brad Armstrong | 2 | May 4, 1984 | Marietta, Georgia | |
| The Spoiler | 2 | July 1, 1984 | Atlanta, Georgia | |
| Ted DiBiase | 2 | July 14, 1984 | Macon, Georgia | This was a phantom match after The Spoiler went to the World Wrestling Federation. |
| Ron Garvin | 1 | October 11, 1984 | Baltimore, Maryland | |
| Black Bart | 1 | June 1, 1985 | Atlanta, Georgia | |
| Terry Taylor | 1 | September 22, 1985 | Atlanta, Georgia | |
| Buddy Landel | 1 | November 28, 1985 | Greensboro, North Carolina | |
| Dusty Rhodes | 1 | December 19, 1985 | Atlanta, Georgia | Rhodes was awarded the title in a phantom match after Landel was fired due to his drug problem. |
| Tully Blanchard | 1 | March 4, 1986 | Spartanburg, South Carolina | |
| Wahoo McDaniel | 1 | August 28, 1986 | Los Angeles, California | |
| Nikita Koloff | 1 | September 28, 1986 | Atlanta, Georgia | |
| Title retired | September 28, 1986 | Atlanta, Georgia | The title was unified with the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship, which Koloff won from Magnum T.A. on August 17, 1986 in Charlotte, North Carolina. | |
[edit] Revived version (1997–)
| Wrestler: | Times: | Date: | Location: | Notes: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big Slam | 1 | 1997 | Title was awarded after the NWA revived it. | |
| Salvatore Sincere | 1 | July 18, 1997 | Raeford, North Carolina | |
| Vacated | October 11, 1997 | |||
| Doug Gilbert | 1 | March 27, 1998 | Mount Holly, New Jersey | Defeated Barry Windham and Rocco Rock in a three-way match to win the vacant title. |
| Stevie Richards | 1 | August 22, 1998 | Mount Holly, New Jersey | |
| Doug Gilbert | 2 | October 24, 1998 | Cherry Hill, New Jersey | |
| Don Brodie | 1 | January 15, 2000 | Memphis, Tennessee | |
| Kevin Northcutt | 1 | April 14, 2000 | North Richland Hills, Texas | |
| Stone Mountain | 1 | September 13, 2000 | Athens, Georgia | |
| Terry Knight | 1 | November 4, 2000 | Cornelia, Georgia | Defeated Jesse Taylor on November 18, 2000 in Cornelia, Georgia to unify the NWA Wildside United States Heavyweight Championship. |
| Don Brodie | 2 | January 12, 2001 | Greenville, Mississippi | |
| Vacated | August 2001 | Title vacated after Brodie is injured in an automobile accident. | ||
| Kevin Northcutt | 2 | August 22, 2001 | Northcutt was awarded the title. | |
| Hotstuff Hernandez | 1 | October 13, 2001 | St. Petersburg, Florida | |
| Shinya Hashimoto | 1 | May 23, 2002 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| Hotstuff Hernandez | 2 | May 2002 | Title returned to Hernandez after Hashimoto refuses it. The NWA later claimed that Hashimoto and Hernandez's match in Japan was not for the title. | |
| Ricky Murdock | 1 | January 11, 2003 | Greenville, Mississippi | |
| Spyder | 1 | October 15, 2004 | Winnipeg, Manitoba | |
| Vacated | October 8, 2005 | Nashville, Tennessee | Spyder stripped of the title when he no-shows a title defense. | |
| Ricky Murdock | 2 | October 8, 2005 | Nashville, Tennessee | Defeated The Juggulator to win the vacant title. |
| Vacated | March 31, 2006 | Lebanon, Tennessee | Title held up after a match against Big Bully Douglas, due to interference from Kory Williams. | |
| Big Bully Douglas | 1 | April 1, 2006 | Columbia, Tennessee | Defeated Murdock in a rematch to win the held up title. |
| Kory Williams | 1 | September 30, 2006 | Lebanon, Tennessee | |
