World Heavyweight Championship (professional wrestling)
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The World Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling title created to identify the best wrestler in the world. It was first resolved in a series of professional wrestling title matches dating back to 1901. The first recognized World Heavyweight Champion was Georg Hackenschmidt.
Most of the well recognized World Heavyweight Championships in professional wrestling such as the WWE Championship, WCW World Heavyweight Championship, ECW Championship, and NWA World Heavyweight Championship are derived from this version. The NWA World Heavyweight Championship traces its history back to this World Heavyweight Championship while the top titles of the three largest promotions in North America during the 1990s (World Wrestling Entertainment, the now defunct World Championship Wrestling, and Extreme Championship Wrestling) spun off from the NWA World Heavyweight Championship's lineage.
The new version of the World Heavyweight Championship, can also be traced back to this version as it is the successor to both the WCW World Heavyweight Championship and the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.
[edit] Title history
| Wrestler: | Times: | Date: | Location: | Notes: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Georg Hackenschmidt | 1 | November 1901 | Vienna, Austria | George Hackenscmidt won a world championship tournament to win the title. Hackenschmidt won several other tournaments in Paris, France; Hamburg, Germany; Saint Petersburg, Russia; Elberfield, Germany; and Berlin Germany in the same year. He also won the European Greco-Roman championship title from Tom Cannon on September 4, 1902 in Liverpool, England. He won the recognition of being the World Heavyweight Champinon on January 30, 1904 in London, England by defeating Ahmed Madrali. Hackenschmidt defeated American Heavyweight Champion, Tom Jenkins, on May 4, 1905 in New York City, New York to become the recognized World Champion in North America. |
| Frank Gotch | 1 | April 3, 1908 | Chicago, Illinois | Frank Gotch held the title for four years, and was the second longest World Heavyweight Champion in history behind Bruno Sammartino who later became the longest WWWF Championship and World Champion, holding the title for seven years and three months. |
| Henry Ordmann | 1 | ? 1913 | Omaha, Nebraska | According to some sources, Henry Ordmann defeated Jess Westegaard for the title. |
| Charlie Cutler | 1 | February 1914 | Charlie Cutler was billed as the North American Heavyweight Champion in Illinois and was recognized as the World Heavyweight Champion in February of 1914. It is reported that Cutler defeated Ordmann for the title in July of 1914 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. | |
| Joe Stecher | 1 | July 5, 1915 | Omaha, Nebraska | Joe Stetcher defeated Charlie Cutler for the title. |
| Earl Caddock | 1 | January 30, 1920 | Omaha, Nebraska | |
| Joe Stecher | 2 | November 14, 1920 | New York City, New York | |
| Ed "Strangler" Lewis | 1 | December 13, 1920 | New York City, New York | |
| Stanislaus Zbyszko | 1 | May 6, 1921 | New York City, New York | |
| Ed "Strangler" Lewis | 2 | March 3, 1922 | Witchita, Kansas | |
| Wayne Munn | 1 | January 8, 1925 | Kansas City, Missouri | |
| Stanislaus Zbyszko | 2 | April 15, 1922 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Wayne Munn continued to be recognized as World Heavyweightr Champion in Michigan and in Illinois. |
| Joe Stecher | 3 | May 30, 1925 | Saint Louis, Missouri | |
| Ed "Strangler" Lewis | 3 | February 21, 1928 | Saint Louis, Missouri | Ed "Strangler" Lewis defeated Wayne Munn on February 2, 1928 in Michigan City, Indiana for the title (the Michigan/Illinois version of the World title). He unified the title with the amin world title on February 21, 1928. |
| Gus Sonnenberg | 1 | January 4, 1929 | Boston, Massachuttes | The recognition of being the World Heavyweight Champion was withdrawn from Gus Sonnenberg by the wrestling section of the National Boxing Association in 1929 for failing to meet real title contenders. |
| Ed Don George | 1 | December 10, 1930 | Los Angeles, California | |
| Ed "Strangler" Lewis | 4 | April 14, 1931 | Los Angeles, California | Ed "Strangler" Lewis lost the American Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Title by Disqualification to Henri Deglane on May 4, 1931 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, but still recognized as World Heavyweight Champion in Illinois. Lewis also defeated the title claimani, Wladek Zbyszko, on November 2, 1931 in Chicago, Illinois for thr title. Lewis continued to win the New York State Athletic Commission World Title by defeating Jack Sherry on October 10, 1932. |
| Danno O'Mahoney | 1 | June 27, 1935 | Boston, Massachuttes | Danny O'Mahoney defeated Jim Lindos to win the New York State Athletic Commission World Title. Mahoney continues to win the American Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Title by defeating Ed Don George on July 30, 1935 in Boston, Massachusetts to become the Undisputed World Heavyweight Champion. |
| Dick Shikat | 1 | March 2, 1936 | New York City, New York | |
| Ali Baba | 1 | April 25, 1936 | Detroit, Michigan | |
| Dave Levin | 1 | June 12, 1936 | Newark, New Jersey | Dave Levin wins the title by Disqualification. Ali Baba continued to be recognized as World Champion by the National Boxing Association and the National Wrestling Association. |
| Dean Detton | 1 | September 28, 1936 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Dean Detton defeated Ed "Strangler" Lewis in a tournament final to win the title in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania earlier in the year. |
| Bronko Nagurski | 1 | June 16, 1937 | Minneapolis, Minnesota | Bronko Nagurski was recognized as the Undisputed World Heavyweight Champion by "The Ring" magazine. |
| Jim Londos | 1 | November 18, 1938 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Jim Lindos retires as World Heavyweight Champion in 1946. |
| Lou Thesz | 1 | ? ? | ? | Lou Thesz unifies the following titles to become the Undisputed World Heavyweight Champion: (1) The National Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Title by defeating Bill Longson on July 20, 1948 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (2) The National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Title was awarded to him on November 27, 1949 when previous champion, Orville Brown, was injured in an automobile accident on November 1, 1949 before the Unification World Title Match that was scheduled on November 25, 1994 in Sain Louis, Missouri. (3) The American Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Title (Boston's Version) by defeating Gorgeous George on July 27, 1950 in Chicago, Illinois. (4) The Los Angeles Olympic Auditorium World Heavyweight Title by defeating Baron Michele Leon on May 21, 1952 in Los Angeles, California. Leo Nomellini defeated Lou Thesz by Disqualification in San Francisco, California on March 22, 1955. National Wrestling Alliance rules states that a title cannot change hands on a Disqualification, which sets the rule in professional wrestling, "A title cannot change on a Disqualification." |
| Whipper Billy Watson | 1 | March 15, 1956 | Toronto, Ontario, Canada | Whipper Billy Watson defeated Lou Thesz by Count Out to win the world title. |
| Lou Thesz | 2 | November 9, 1956 | Saint Louis, Missouri | Edouard Carpentier defeated Lou Thesz by Disqualification on June 14, 1957 in Chicago, Illinois when Thesz cannot continue the match due to a back injury. The NWA rules states that a title cannot change on a Disqualification and Carpentier gives the title back to Thesz. Edouard Carpentier was then recognized as World Heavyweight Champion in Omaha, Nebraska and in Boston, Massachuttes. He was then later recognized as the World Heavyweight Champion by the World Wrestling Association in Los Angeles, California. This was the last time the World Heavyweight Title has been unified and to date has never been fully unified again. Lou Thesz defeated Edouard Carpentier in a rematch by Disqualification on July 24, 1957 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada for the title. |
