The WWA World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in the Los Angeles-based World Wrestling Association (WWA). The title was established as an offshoot of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship when Edouard Carpentier became recognized as world champion in Los Angeles, when the promotion was then known as the North American Wrestling Alliance. The championship was renamed with the promotion in May 1962, and was abandoned in 1968 after the WWA joined the NWA and was renamed NWA Hollywood Wrestling.
There are omonime world titles contested in World Wrestling Association (Indianapolis),[1][2] World Wrestling Association [3] and in World Wrestling Association (Korea),[4][5] which are all omonime promotions of the original WWA and which all consider themselves to be the true WWA or its true heir.
Contents |
| # | Name(s): | Reigns: | Date: | Location: | Notes: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Edouard Carpentier | 1 | June 14, 1957 | Chicago, Illinois | Defeated Lou Thesz by disqualification to become the National Wrestling Alliance world champion. He lost the NWA title by disqualification to Thesz on July 24 1957. Some NWA territories (which would then became the WWA) didn't recognize the title change and thus the WWA world title was born. |
| 2 | Fred Blassie | 1 | June 12, 1961 | Los Angeles, California | He won the title when Carpentier was declared unable to continue in third fall. |
| 3 | Rikidozan | 1 | march 28, 1962 | Los Angeles, California | |
| 4 | Fred Blassie | 2 | July 25, 1962 | Los Angeles, California | |
| 5 | The Destroyer | 1 | July 27, 1962 | San Diego, California | |
| 6 | Fred Blassie | 3 | May 10, 1963 | Los Angeles, California | |
| 7 | Bearcat Wright | 1 | August 23, 1963 | Los Angeles, California | Wins by countout. First black wrestler to hold a world title in professional wrestling. |
| 8 | Edouard Carpentier | 2 | December 16, 1963 | Indio, California | Wins by forfeit when Wright no-shows a scheduled defence. |
| 9 | Fred Blassie | 4 | January 30, 1964 | Los Angeles, California | |
| 10 | Dick the Bruiser | 1 | April 22, 1964 | Los Angeles, California | Dick the Bruiser didn't acknowledge his defeat against The Destroyer, claiming to be the true WWA champion and starting World Wrestling Association (Indianapolis) as the first WWA World Heavyweight Championship (Indianapolis) holder. |
| 11 | The Destroyer | 2 | July 22, 1964 | Los Angeles, California | Dick the Bruiser didn't acknowledge his defeat against The Destroyer, claiming to be the true WWA champion and starting World Wrestling Association (Indianapolis) as the first WWA World Heavyweight Championship (Indianapolis) holder. |
| 12 | Bob Ellis | 1 | September 10, 1964 | Los Angeles, California | |
| 13 | The Destroyer | 3 | November 13, 1964 | San Diego, California | |
| # | Toyonobori | 1 | December 12, 1964 | Los Angeles, California | Toyonobori defeated The Destroyer in an uncontroversial matter, but the title change was not recognized by WWA. However Toyonobori was recognized as the legitimate champion in Japanese Wrestling Association, one of the most important WWA patners in wrestling. To put an end to the controversy Luke Graham, the champion recognized by WWA, defeated Toyonobori, the champion recognized by JWA, on September 20, 1965 in Los Angeles. |
| 14 | Pedro Morales | 1 | march 12, 1965 | Los Angeles, California | |
| 15 | Luke Graham | 1 | July 23, 1965 | Los Angeles, California | Luke Graham, recognized as legitimate champion by WWA, defeated Toyonobori, recognized by Japanese Wrestling Association as the true champion, on September 20, 1965 in Los Angeles to put an end to the controversy on the legitimate title holder. |
| 16 | Pedro Morales | 2 | October 17, 1965 | Los Angeles, California | |
| 17 | Buddy Austin | 1 | August 5, 1966 | Los Angeles, California | |
| 18 | Bobo Brazil | 1 | September 2, 1966 | Los Angeles, California | |
| 19 | Buddy Austin | 2 | September 16, 1966 | Los Angeles, California | |
| 20 | Lou Thesz | 1 | October 14, 1966 | Los Angeles, California | |
| 21 | Mark Lewin | 1 | October 28, 1966 | Los Angeles, California | |
| 22 | KIM II | 1 | June 9, 1967 | Seoul, South Korea | |
| 23 | Mike DiBiase | 1 | July 28, 1967 | Los Angeles, California | |
| 24 | Buddy Austin | 3 | August 25, 1967 | Los Angeles, California | |
| 25 | Bobo Brazil | 2 | January 12, 1968 | Los Angeles, California | On October 1, 1968 WWA joined the National Wrestling Alliance. To determine the unified world champion Gene Kiniski, the NWA world champion, wrestled Brazil to a draw on December 18, 1968 in Los Angeles. Kiniski was therefore recognized the true champion and the WWA world title was merge with the NWA world title. It has been later revived in 2000 by World Wrestling Association (Korea) |
| # | Title retired | December 18, 1968 | |||