UCW World Heavyweight Championship
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The UCW World Heavyweight Championship is the top professional wrestling title in the West Texas-based promotion United Championship Wrestling on its Monday Night "Live!" Brand. Its lineage dates all the way back to 1956 when The UCW Founder, H.D Snell defeated "Classy" Freddie Blassie in the title tournament final to become the first UCW World Heavyweight Champion. Since that time the title has been defended across The United States and also outside of The U.S in Japan, Mexico, Germany and Canada. In more recent years, the title has been the center of controversy due to the multiple and lengthy title reigns of "The Most Powerful Man in Terry County" Will Baker.
[edit] Title history
| Wrestler: | Times: | Date: | Location: | Notes: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| H.D Snell | 1 | February 10, 1956 | Lubbock, TX | Defeated "Classy" Freddie Blassie in the title tournament final to become the first champion. |
| Cordell Sanders | 1 | April 18, 1956 | Lubbock, TX | |
| H.D Snell | 2 | July 10, 1956 | Brownfield, TX | |
| Cordell Sanders | 2 | October 28, 1957 | Brownfield, TX | |
| H.D Snell | 3 | January 12, 1958 | Lubbock, TX | Snell held the title for nine years, a record for professional wrestling world champions. |
| Super Mercado Invasor | 1 | May 9, 1966 | Brownfield, TX | |
| Vacated | May 29, 1966 | Brownfield, TX | UCW officials stripped Super Mercado Invasor of the championship after unmasking him and revealing it was in fact the son of H.D Snell, Jack Snell. | |
| Jack Snell | 2 | June 10, 1966 | Lubbock, TX | Jack Snell wins a 20-Man Over The Top Rope Battle Royal to regain the title. |
| Glen Holt | 1 | December 16, 1966 | Lamesa, TX | |
| Jack Snell | 3 | August 8, 1967 | Albuquerque, NM | |
| Glen Holt | 2 | November 2, 1967 | Brownfield, TX | |
| Vacated | January 23, 1968 | Tahoka, TX | Glen Holt forfeited the title before joining The TWA territory in New Mexico. | |
| Hector Rivera | 1 | February 4, 1968 | Brownfield, TX | Became the first hispanic to hold the title after winning a Fatal Four-Way Match that involved "Bullet" Bob Armstrong, Jack Snell and Dory Funk Sr. |
| Jack Snell | 4 | March 19, 1968 | Lubbock, TX | |
| Hector Rivera | 2 | January 17, 1969 | Mexico City, Mexico | |
| Jack Snell | 5 | September 8, 1969 | El Paso, TX | This was a Texas "I Quit" Death Match. |
| Bob "The Ace" Baldwin | 1 | September 1, 1970 | Norman, OK | |
| Hector Rivera | 3 | November 22, 1970 | Lubbock, TX | |
| Bob "The Ace" Baldwin | 2 | March 26, 1971 | Lubbock, TX | |
| Jack Snell | 6 | July 4, 1971 | Lubbock, TX | |
| Vacated | July 8, 1971 | Lubbock, TX | Jack Snell retires from professional wrestling and vacates the title just days after regaining it. | |
| Bob "The Ace" Baldwin | 3 | August 2, 1971 | Lubbock, TX | UCW officials unanimously declare Bob "The Ace" Baldwin as the new champion after weeks of speculation. |
| Otis Boring | 1 | June 30, 1974 | Brownfield, TX | The beginning of an era, young new comer and hometown hero Otis Boring wins his first UCW World Heavyweight Championship after a grueling Submission Match that went over 45 minutes long. |
| Tommy Charters | 1 | April 9, 1975 | Brownfield, TX | Tommy Charters jumps from the New Mexico TWA territory and goes on to capture The UCW World Heavyweight Title after defeating Otis Boring in match contested under The Brass Knuckles stipulation rules. |
| Otis Boring | 2 | October 16, 1975 | Berlin, Germany | |
| Tommy Charters | 2 | April 28, 1976 | Tahoka, TX | |
| Otis Boring | 3 | June 10, 1976 | Toronto, Canada | |
| Tommy Charters | 3 | August 31, 1976 | Wichita, KS | |
| Otis Boring | 4 | March 15, 1978 | Hobbs, NM | Otis defeated Tommy at a TWA show in a loser leaves UCW match. Tommy Charters rejoins TWA territory. |
| Raul Serbantez | 1 | November 24, 1980 | Tijuana, Mexico | This was a Three Way Dance involving Otis Boring and Robert Snell. Serbantez pinned Snell to win his first UCW World Heavyweight Title. |
| Robert Snell | 1 | January 6, 1981 | Plainview, TX | |
| Raul Serbantez | 2 | March 18, 1981 | Brownfield, TX | |
| Otis Boring | 5 | June 2, 1981 | Amarillo, TX | |
| Robert Snell | 2 | September 12, 1981 | Slaton, TX | |
| Vacated | March 29, 1982 | Lubbock, TX | Robert Snell suffered a career ending injury on March 25 in a match against Raul Serbantez in Del Rio, TX and vacated four days later after announcing his retirement from in-ring competition. | |
| Hitachi Seiko | 1 | May 9, 1982 | Tokyo, Japan | After a four week International title tournament, Hitachi Seiko was able to defeat TWA Superstar, Big Rey in the final match to gain The UCW World Heavyweight Championship. |
| Raul Serbantez | 3 | December 17, 1982 | Amarillo, TX | |
| T.J Perez | 1 | April 3, 1983 | Brownfield, TX | T.J Perez wins his first UCW World Heavyweight Championship and unifies it with The UCW Tri-State Heavyweight Championship. |
| Raul Serbantez | 4 | August 17, 1983 | Lamesa, TX | |
| Ricky Baldwin | 1 | November 20, 1983 | Brownfield, TX | |
| T.J Perez | 2 | February 14, 1984 | San Antonio, TX | T.J Perez pinned the champion Ricky Baldwin in a Three Way Dance, which also included Otis Boring, to regain the title. |
| Ricky Baldwin | 2 | April 10, 1984 | Lubbock, TX | |
| Tommy Charters | 4 | March 27, 1985 | Canyon, TX | Tommy Charters regains title as apart of TWA, makes most of his defenses in New Mexico and Colorado. |
| Ricky Baldwin | 3 | June 11, 1985 | Hobbs, NM | |
| Raul Serbantez | 5 | September 6, 1985 | Brownfield, TX | |
| Ricky Baldwin | 4 | November 21, 1985 | Amarillo, TX | |
| T.J Perez | 3 | July 9, 1986 | Brownfield, TX | |
| Vacated | July 11, 1986 | Lubbock, TX | UCW officials review tapes of The T.J Perez versus Ricky Baldwin bout and determine Baldwin's feet were under the ropes when he was pinned and the title is stripped from Perez and a rematch is made. | |
| T.J Perez | 4 | July 28, 1986 | Birmingham, AL | |
| Otis Boring | 6 | December 24, 1986 | Brownfield, TX | |
| Ricky Baldwin | 5 | October 19, 1987 | Mexico City, Mexico | |
| Otis Boring | 7 | November 24, 1988 | Brownfield, TX | This was the Main Event match of the historic first-ever ThanksGiving event. |
| Raul Serbantez | 6 | January 1, 1989 | Plainview, TX | |
| T.J Perez | 5 | April 7, 1989 | Lubbock, TX | This was a 60 minute Iron Man Match. |
| Mark Stewart | 1 | May 9, 1989 | Brownfield, TX | |
| Otis Boring | 7 | August 13, 1989 | New Brunswick, NJ | This was a Steel Cage Match. |
| Mark Stewart | 2 | October 8, 1989 | Berlin, Germany | |
| Dan Sanders | 1 | January 24, 1990 | Brownfield, TX | Sanders wins a #1 contendership tournament and won the title the same night in the Main Event. |
| Mark Stewart | 3 | July 20, 1990 | Lamesa, TX | |
| Raul Serbantez | 7 | February 11, 1991 | San Angelo, TX | |
| Mark Stewart | 4 | May 29, 1991 | Lubbock, TX | |
| Dan Sanders | 2 | July 2, 1991 | Miami, FL | |
| Vacated | November 10, 1991 | Lubbock, TX | Dan Sanders no showed an event after he was attacked by Mark Stewart at The Lubbock International Airport. Before UCW Officials found out the truth as to why Sanders missed his scheduled title defense, they had already stripped him of the title. | |
| Otis Boring | 8 | December 4, 1991 | Dallas, TX | Otis Boring pinned Kerry Von Erich at the World famous, Dallas Sportatorium to regain the vacant title. |
| Dan Sanders | 3 | November 20, 1992 | Brownfield, TX | Dan Sanders regains the title at the historic ThanksGiving V event, after a brutal Texas Bull Rope Match. |
| "The Genius" Jerry Jones | 1 | June 30, 1993 | Brownfield, TX | |
| Joe Sears | 1 | October 12, 1993 | Brownfield, TX | In an effort to boost attendance for the annual Harvest Festival event, UCW places The President of The Terry County Chamber of Commerce, Joe Sears in a tag team match with his friend Otis Boring to take on the UCW World Heavyweight Champion, Jerry Jones and Mark Stewart with the title being able to change hands if Boring or Sears can gain a pin or submission victory. In the end, the long shot, underdog Joe Sears is able to pin Jerry Jones and capture The UCW World Heavyweight Title. |
| Ricky Baldwin | 6 | October 25, 1993 | Brownfield, TX | After The Terry County Chamber of Commerce President, Joe Sears turned on his friend Otis Boring and attacked him with The UCW World Heavyweight Championship belt, he handed the title over to former champion Ricky Baldwin and he is declared the new champion. |
| Otis Boring | 9 | April 2, 1994 | Lubbock, TX | |
| Ricky Baldwin | 7 | November 23, 1994 | New Orleans, LA | This was a "Blood on The Bayou" Match at the historic ThanksGiving VII event. |
| Mark Stewart | 5 | February 27, 1995 | Amarillo, TX | |
| Tommy Charters | 5 | May 6, 1995 | Tahoka, TX | |
| Otis Boring | 10 | November 22, 1995 | Brownfield, TX | Otis Boring was able to pin Tommy Charters and regain The UCW World Heavyweight Title after a historic match at the annual ThanksGiving VIII event. |
| Dan Sanders | 4 | December 29, 1995 | Lubbock, TX | |
| Ricky Baldwin | 8 | February 10, 1996 | Levelland, TX | |
| Eric Martinez | 1 | May 17, 1996 | Brownfield, TX | This was a Ladder Match. |
| T.J Perez | 6 | August 26, 1996 | Big Spring, TX | The only UCW World Heavyweight Title change to take place at an H.E.B event. |
| Ricky Baldwin | 9 | November 20, 1996 | Brownfield, TX | Ricky Baldwin pinned the champion T.J. Perez in a Fatal Four-Way Match that also involved Bulldog and Otis Boring to regain the title at the annual ThanksGiving IX event. |
| Otis Boring | 11 | January 25, 1997 | San Jose, CA | |
| Bulldog | 1 | March 17, 1997 | Brownfield, TX | |
| Ricky Baldwin | 9 | March 24, 1997 | Brownfield, TX | Bulldog lays down for Ricky Baldwin and allows him to win the title in one of the most controversial title changes in UCW history. |
| Otis Boring | 12 | May 31, 1997 | Lubbock, TX | |
| Cat Gonzales | 1 | October 28, 1997 | Brownfield, TX | Cat Gonzales receives a title shot for leaving the TWA promotion and signing with UCW and wins the title on the night of his debut. |
| Will Baker | 1 | November 19, 1997 | Brownfield, TX | Will Baker is able to win his first UCW World Heavyweight Championship at the ThanksGiving X event with help from controversial special referee, Ricky Baldwin who counted a fast three count. |
| Tommy Charters | 6 | September 19, 1998 | Atlanta, GA | |
| Will Baker | 2 | October 5, 1998 | Brownfield, TX | Will Baker easily defeated Tommy Charters to regain the title, after forcing him to wrestle three matches previous to his title defense the same night. |
| Sam Whitworth | 1 | November 22, 2000 | Brownfield, TX | Sam Whitworth ended the two year title reign of Will Baker in the Main Event of the historic ThanksGiving XIII event. |
| Will Baker | 3 | April 21, 2001 | Brownfield, TX | |
| Jacob Franco | 1 | May 28, 2001 | Lubbock, TX | |
| Will Baker | 4 | August 13, 2001 | Brownfield, TX | This was a Terry County Street Fight. |
| Otis Boring | 13 | September 21, 2002 | Brownfield, TX | |
| Will Baker | 5 | May 5, 2003 | Brownfield, TX | |
| Jonathon Clayton | 1 | July 19, 2004 | Brownfield, TX | Jonathon Clayton became the first African American to hold the title, after he got retribution on his former boss, Will Baker after months of controversy and mistreatment and pinned him to win the championship. |
| Will Baker | 6 | July 26, 2004 | Brownfield, TX | Will Baker regained the title the following week, when he abused his power and forced Jonathon Clayton to defend the title with one arm tied behind his back. |
| Otis Boring | 14 | September 18, 2004 | Buffalo, NY | |
| Will Baker | 7 | November 24, 2004 | Brownfield, TX | Will Baker regained the title at the annual ThanksGiving XVII event after a Last Man Standing Match. |
| Sam Whitworth | 2 | February 7, 2005 | Brownfield, TX | |
| Will Baker | 8 | May 23, 2005 | Brownfield, TX | |
| Eddie Arrezola | 1 | November 23, 2005 | Brownfield, TX | After 20 years in UCW, Eddie Arrezola wins his first UCW World Heavyweight Championship at ThanksGiving XVIII in one of the most historic moments in UCW history. |
| Ruben Villapondo | 1 | December 24, 2005 | Brownfield, TX | Ruben Villapondo was able to win the title after outside interference from Will Baker. |
| Will Baker | 9 | December 24, 2005 | Brownfield, TX | Will Baker presents Ruben Villapondo with a briefcase containing $60,000 and becomes champion by purchasing the title. |
| Eddie Arrezola | 2 | March 19, 2006 | Brownfield, TX | Eddie Arrezola regained the title after winning a Fatal Four-Way Match that involved Will Baker, Otis Boring and Will Fewlin. |
| "King" Eddie Rodriguez | 1 | July 16, 2006 | Socorro, NM | Eddie Rodriguez was able to attain his first UCW World Heavyweight Title with the help of his son, "Prince" Rod Rodriguez. |
| Bo "Number 1 Pick" Hargrove | 1 | July 21, 2007 | Lubbock, TX |
