NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship | |||||||||||
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Ric Flair held the NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship three times and had the fourth-longest combined reign, at 408 days. |
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Details | |||||||||||
Promotion | National Wrestling Alliance and Jim Crockett Promotions | ||||||||||
Date established | October 13, 1970 | ||||||||||
Date retired | December 26, 1986 | ||||||||||
Other name(s) | NWA Eastern Heavyweight Championship | ||||||||||
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The NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship contested for in Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP), a territory-promotion governed by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The title was only contestable by male individual wrestlers. Since 1974, JCP was also known as "Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling" (MACW), which is why all of its championships included "Mid-Atlantic" in their names.[1] Being a professional wrestling championship, it was not won legitimately; it was instead won via a scripted ending to a match or awarded to a wrestler because of a storyline. In 1970, the championship was introduced as the NWA Eastern Heavyweight Championship during a taping of Championship Wrestling[Note 2] on October 13, 1970. It was announced that the Missouri Mauler had defeated the defending champion Pat O'Connor in New York to win the title; this title change was fictitious and a storyline to introduce the championship to the promotion; nevertheless, O'Connor's reign is denoted as the first official reign. Because it was fictitious, further information regarding O'Connor's reign is unavailable.
On the September 6, 1973 taping of Championship Wrestling,[Note 2] JCP owner Jim Crockett, Jr. announced the retirement of the NWA Eastern Heavyweight Championship and the establishment of the NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship; this coincided with the rebranding of JCP as MACW.[1] At the time of this change, Jerry Brisco was in his fourth reign as the NWA Eastern Heavyweight Champion, and as a result of never losing the title, he was recognized as the first NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Champion. Because Brisco's fourth reign did not end, being awarded the NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Title is not counted as a new reign overall in the title's history.[2] On December 26, 1986, Ron Garvin, after winning JCP's version of the NWA United States Tag Team Championship with Barry Windham, vacated the NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Title and handed the belt to Crockett, Jr. on a taping of World Championship Wrestling.[Note 3] Crockett, Jr. deactivated the championship for unknown reasons, and eventually, JCP was sold to Ted Turner in 1988.[3] As a result, Garvin was the final wrestler to hold the NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Title. In the late 1990s, a group of promoters was given permission by the NWA to establish a territory called "Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling (MACW)"; however, this territory has not claimed any connection to the original JCP/MACW. As a result, their prime championship, called the MACW Heavyweight Championship,[4] has no connection to this original JCP/MACW championship.
Overall, there were 60 reigns shared between 29 wrestlers. Fifteen of those reigns occurred while the title was called the "NWA Eastern Heavyweight Championship", while 46 occurred under the "NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship" name. The title had only one official vacancy, which occurred in July 1985. Jack Brisco and Wahoo McDaniel had the most reigns as champion, with six; Jerry Brisco and Rip Hawk had the second-most, with four. Ken Patera's second reign was the longest in the title's history, at 334 days; the Missouri Mauler had the second-longest, at 275 days. Johnny Valentine ranks first in combined reigns by length, at 504 days with 2 reigns; Patera ranks second, at 495 days with 4 reigns. All title changes occurred at JCP–promoted events: live events, pay-per-view events, and on televised events that aired on broadcast delay.
Contents |
Symbol | Meaning |
---|---|
# | The overall championship reign |
Reign | The reign number for the specific tag team listed |
Event | The event promoted by the respective promotion in which the title changed hands |
N/A | The specific information is not known or applicable. |
—
|
Used for vacated reigns so as not to count it as an official reign |
# | Wrestler | Reign | Date | Days held |
Location | Event | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Pat O'Connor | 1 | 1970 | [Note 1] | N/A | Live event | It was announced in local advertisements that O'Connor was the reigning Eastern Heavyweight Champion until October 13, 1970, when he lost the championship to the Missouri Mauler; this reign was a storyline to introduce the championship to JCP, and as a result, further information regarding how O'Connor won the title is unavailable.[5] |
2 | Missouri Mauler | 1 | October 13, 1970 | 275 | N/A | Championship Wrestling[Note 2] | The Missouri Mauler announced on local television from WGHP television studios that he had defeated O'Connor for the title in New York; the title change was a continuation of the storyline to introduce the championship to JCP, and as a result, further information regarding the title change is unavailable. This title change aired on broadcast delay.[5] |
3 | Danny Miller | 1 | July 15, 1971 | 67 | Greensboro, North Carolina | Live event | |
4 | Missouri Mauler | 2 | September 20, 1971 | 72 | Charlotte, North Carolina | Live event | |
5 | Jack Brisco | 1 | November 31, 1971 | 75 | High Point, North Carolina | Championship Wrestling [Note 2] |
This title change aired on broadcast delay. |
6 | Rip Hawk | 1 | February 14, 1972 | 56 | Charlotte, North Carolina | Live event | |
7 | Jack Brisco | 2 | April 10, 1972 | [Note 4] | Charlotte, North Carolina | Live event | |
8 | Rip Hawk | 2 | [Note 5] | [Note 5] | San Juan, Puerto Rico | Live event | The exact date on which Rip Hawk won his second reign is unknown, however, it is confirmed by sources that he won the title from Jack Brisco between April 25 and May 25, 1972 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. |
9 | Jerry Brisco | 1 | June 13, 1972 | 76 | Columbia, South Carolina | Live event | |
10 | Rip Hawk | 3 | August 28, 1972 | 7 | Greenville, South Carolina | Live event | |
11 | Jerry Brisco | 2 | September 4, 1972 | 115 | Greenville, South Carolina | Live event | |
12 | Rip Hawk | 4 | December 28, 1972 | 65 | Greensboro, North Carolina | Live event | |
13 | Jerry Brisco | 3 | March 3, 1973 | 67 | Salem, North Carolina | Live vent | |
14 | Ole Anderson | 1 | May 9, 1973 | 55 | Raleigh, North Carolina | All Star Wrestling [Note 6] |
This title change aired on broadcast delay. |
15 | Jerry Brisco | 4 | July 3, 1973 | [Note 7] | Columbia, South Carolina | Live event | On September 6, 1973, the NWA retired the NWA Eastern Heavyweight Championship and introduced the NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship to JCP as its replacement. As a result, Brisco was the final wrestler to hold the championship under the "NWA Eastern Heavyweight Championship" name. |
Symbol | Meaning |
---|---|
# (#) | The overall championship reign is listed without parenthesis, while the reign number under the specific name of the championship is enclosed in parenthesis. |
Reign | The reign number for the specific tag team listed |
Event | The event promoted by the respective promotion in which the title changed hands |
N/A | The specific information is not known or applicable. |
—
|
Used for vacated reigns so as not to count it as an official reign |
# | Wrestler | Reign | Date | Days held |
Location | Event | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
15 (1) | Jerry Brisco | 4 | July 3, 1973 | [Note 7] | Columbia, South Carolina | Live event | As a result of Brisco being recognized as the final NWA Eastern Heavyweight Champion, the NWA recognized him as the first NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Champion. However, this reign is not considered to be a new reign overall in the title's history because Jerry Brisco originally never lost the title. |
16 (2) | Johnny Valentine | 1 | January 1974 | [Note 8] | N/A | N/A | From the information known, Johnny Valentine was awarded the championship by Jim Crockett, Jr. after Brisco traveled to Japan to wrestle and was unable to defend the title in the United States; a formal vacancy was not established, however. |
17 (3) | Paul Jones | 1 | March 9, 1975 | 10 | Charlotte, North Carolina | Live event | Jones' title win became a controversy as a result of Valentine having his leg on the ring rope when the referee counted the pinfall, which the referee failed to see. If this were seen, the pin count would have been stopped.[6] |
18 (4) | Johnny Valentine | 2 | March 19, 1975 | 102 | Raleigh, North Carolina | All Star Wrestling | Valentine demanded a review of his match with Jones by NWA President Sam Muchnick, who ruled in favor of Valentine. As a result, Muchnick stripped Jones of the championship and awarded it to Valentine; a formal vacancy was not established, however. This title change aired on tape delay.[6] |
19 (5) | Wahoo McDaniel | 1 | June 29, 1975 | 83 | Asheville, North Carolina | Live event | |
20 (6) | Ric Flair | 1 | September 20, 1975 | 226 | Hampton, Virginia | Live event | |
21 (7) | Wahoo McDaniel | 2 | May 3, 1976 | 21 | Charlotte, North Carolina | Live event | |
22 (8) | Ric Flair | 2 | May 24, 1976 | 110 | Charlotte, North Carolina | Live event | |
23 (9) | Wahoo McDaniel | 3 | September 11, 1976 | 35 | Greenville, South Carolina | Live event | |
24 (10) | Ric Flair | 3 | October 16, 1976 | 72 | Greensboro, North Carolina | Live event | |
25 (11) | Wahoo McDaniel | 4 | December 27, 1976 | 166 | Richmond, Virginia | Live event | |
26 (12) | Greg Valentine | 1 | June 11, 1977 | 59 | Greensboro, North Carolina | Live event | |
27 (13) | Wahoo McDaniel | 5 | August 9, 1977 | 29 | Raleigh, North Carolina | Live event | |
28 (14) | Greg Valentine | 2 | September 7, 1977 | 207 | Raleigh, North Carolina | Wide World Wrestling [Note 6] |
This title change aired on broadcast delay. |
29 (15) | Wahoo McDaniel | 6 | April 2, 1978 | 7 | Greensboro, North Carolina | Live event | |
30 (16) | Ken Patera | 1 | April 9, 1978 | 161 | Charlotte, North Carolina | Live event | |
31 (17) | Tony Atlas | 1 | September 17, 1978 | 28 | Roanoke, Virginia | Live event | |
32 (18) | Ken Patera | 2 | October 15, 1978 | 334 | Roanoke, Virginia | Live event | |
33 (19) | Jim Brunzell | 1 | September 14, 1979 | 69 | Richmond, Virginia | Live event | |
34 (20) | Ray Stevens | 1 | November 22, 1979 | 33 | Greensboro, North Carolina | Live event | |
35 (21) | Jim Brunzell | 2 | December 25, 1979 | 168 | Charlotte, North Carolina | Live event | |
36 (22) | Iron Sheik | 1 | May 11, 1980 | 174 | Charlotte, North Carolina | Live event | |
37 (23) | Ricky Steamboat | 1 | November 1, 1980 | 166 | Richmond, Virginia | Live event | |
38 (24) | Ivan Koloff | 1 | April 16, 1981 | 177 | Norfolk, Virginia | Live event | |
39 (25) | Ricky Steamboat | 2 | October 10, 1981 | 22 | Greensboro, North Carolina | Live event | |
40 (26) | Roddy Piper | 1 | November 1, 1981 | 180 | Greensboro, North Carolina | Live event | |
41 (27) | Jack Brisco | 3 (1) | May 10, 1982 | 58 | Greenville, North Carolina | Live event | |
42 (28) | Roddy Piper | 2 | July 7, 1982 | 27 | Charlotte, North Carolina | World Wide Wrestling [Note 9] |
This title change aired on broadcast delay. |
43 (29) | Jack Brisco | 4 (2) | August 3, 1982 | 29 | Raleigh, North Carolina | Live event | |
44 (30) | Paul Jones | 2 | September 1, 1982 | 47 | Charlotte, North Carolina | World Wide Wrestling [Note 9] |
This title change aired on broadcast delay. |
45 (31) | Jack Brisco | 5 (3) | October 18, 1982 | 15 | Greenville, South Carolina | Live event | |
46 (32) | Paul Jones | 3 | November 2, 1982 | 28 | Raleigh, North Carolina | Live event | |
47 (33) | Jack Brisco | 6 | November 30, 1982 | 61 | Columbia, South Carolina | Live event | |
48 (34) | Dory Funk, Jr. | 1 | January 30, 1983 | 187 | Charlotte, North Carolina | Live event | |
49 (35) | Rufus Jones | 1 | August 5, 1983 | 120 | Richmond, Virginia | Live event | |
50 (36) | Dick Slater | 1 | December 3, 1983 | [Note 10] | Hampton, Virginia | Live event | |
51 (37) | Ivan Koloff | 2 | [Note 11] | [Note 11] | N/A | [Note 12] | After Dick Slater won the NWA United States Championship on December 14, 1983, he elected to award Ivan Koloff the NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship; however, the exact date and location of this title change is unknown, although it has been confirmed to have aired on broadcast delay. |
52 (38) | Angelo Mosca, Jr. | 1 | January 25, 1984 | 53 | Shelby, North Carolina | Live event | |
53 (39) | Ivan Koloff | 3 | March 18, 1984 | 35 | Charlotte, North Carolina | Live event | |
54 (40) | Angelo Mosca, Jr. | 2 | April 22, 1984 | 20 | Charlotte, North Carolina | [Note 12] | This title change aired on broadcast delay. |
55 (41) | The Masked Outlaw | 2 | May 12, 1984 | 46 | Spencer, North Carolina | [Note 12] | The Masked Outlaw was an alternate ring name of Dory Funk, Jr., who had won the title under his real name previously. This title change aired on broadcast delay. |
56 (42) | Angelo Mosca, Jr. | 3 | June 27, 1984 | 63 | N/A | [Note 12] | It is unknown where this title change occurred, although it has been confirmed that it aired on broadcast delay. |
57 (43) | Ron Bass | 1 | August 29, 1984 | 199 | Spartanburg, South Carolina | [Note 12] | This title change aired on broadcast delay. |
58 (44) | Buzz Tyler | 1 | March 16, 1985 | [Note 13] | Greensboro, North Carolina | [Note 12] | This title change aired on broadcast delay. |
— | Vacant | 1 | July 1985 | — | N/A | N/A | Buzz Tyler was stripped of the championship after he left JCP; title was declared vacant as a result. |
59 (45) | Krusher Khrushchev | 1 | November 28, 1985 | 44 | Greensboro, North Carolina | Starrcade (1985) | Krusher Khrushchev defeated Sam Houston in a tournament final to win the vacant championship. |
60 (46) | Sam Houston | 1 | January 11, 1986 | 66 | Atlanta, Georgia | World Championship Wrestling [Note 3] |
This title change aired on broadcast delay. |
61 (47) | Black Bart | 1 | March 18, 1986 | 168 | Mooresville, North Carolina | Live event | |
62 (48) | Ron Garvin | 1 | September 2, 1986 | 115 | Spartanburg, South Carolina | Live event | After winning JCP's version of the NWA United States Tag Team Championship with Barry Windham, Garvin vacated the NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship and handed it to Jim Crockett, Jr. on the December 26, 1986 taping of World Championship Wrestling. The title was deactivated afterwards for unknown reasons by Crockett, Jr., and JCP was then sold to Ted Turner in 1988.[3] As a result, Ron Garvin was the final wrestler to hold the NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Title. |
Symbol | Meaning |
---|---|
#= | The equal sign next to a number means that entry is equal in length with the preceding and/or following entry |
¤ | The exact length of at least one title reign is uncertain, so the shortest possible length is used. |
Rank | Wrestler | # of reigns | Combined days |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Johnny Valentine | 2 | 504¤ [Note 8] |
2 | Ken Patera | 2 | 495 |
3 | Jerry Brisco | 4 | 440¤ [Note 7] |
4 | Ric Flair | 3 | 408 |
5 | Missouri Mauler | 2 | 347 |
6 | Wahoo McDaniel | 6 | 341 |
7 | Greg Valentine | 2 | 266 |
8 | Jack Brisco | 6 | 253¤ [Note 4] |
9= | Jim Brunzell | 2 | 237 |
9= | Ivan Koloff | 3 | 237¤ [Note 11] |
10 | Dory Funk, Jr./The Masked Outlaw | 2 | 233 |
11 | Roddy Piper | 2 | 207 |
12 | Ron Bass | 1 | 199 |
13 | Black Bart | 1 | 168 |
14 | Rick Steamboat | 2 | 188 |
15 | Iron Sheik | 1 | 174 |
16 | Rip Hawk | 4 | 147¤ [Note 5] |
17 | Angelo Mosca, Jr. | 3 | 136 |
18 | Rufus Jones | 1 | 120 |
19 | Ron Garvin | 1 | 115 |
20 | Buzz Tyler | 1 | 107¤ [Note 13] |
21 | Paul Jones | 2 | 85 |
22 | Danny Miller | 1 | 67 |
23 | Sam Houston | 1 | 66 |
24 | Ole Anderson | 1 | 55 |
25 | Ray Stevens | 1 | 33 |
26= | Tony Atlas | 1 | 28 |
26= | Dick Slater | 1 | 28¤ [Note 10] |
27 | Pat O'Connor | 1 | 1¤ [Note 1] |