List of PWG World Champions

Kyle O'Reilly carrying the PWG World Championship belt in June 2014.

The PWG World Championship is a professional wrestling world championship owned and copyrighted by Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG). The championship was created and debuted on August 30, 2003 at PWG's Bad Ass Mother 3000 – Stage 2 event.[1] Originally called the PWG Championship, the title was renamed to the PWG World Championship in February 2006 after the title was defended outside the United States for the first and second time—that month, then-champion Joey Ryan defeated Emil Sitoci in Essen, Germany at European Vacation – Germany and Jonny Storm in Orpington, England at European Vacation – England.[2][3]

The championship is generally contested in professional wrestling matches, in which participants execute scripted finishes rather than contend in direct competition. All reigns are won at live events, which are released on DVD. The inaugural champion was Frankie Kazarian, whom PWG recognized to have become the champion after defeating Ryan in the finals of a 16-man tournament on August 30, 2003 at PWG's Bad Ass Mother 3000 – Stage 2 event.[1] As of April 2015, Kevin Steen holds the record for most reigns, with three.[4][5][6] Adam Cole's only reign at 538 days is the longest in the title's history. PWG publishes a list of successful championship defenses for each champion on their official website. As of April 2015, Ryan has the most defenses, with 19; Bryan Danielson and Kenny Omega have the least, with 0.

Roderick Strong is the current champion in his first reign, after defeating Kyle O'Reilly in a Guerrilla Warfare match on December 12, 2014, to win the title.[7] Overall, there have been 23 reigns among 17 different wrestlers and three vacancies.[7] Low Ki, Bryan Danielson, and Davey Richards, all of whom vacated the championship, are the only people to have not been defeated for the championship.[8]

Title history

Names

Name Years
PWG Championship August 2003 – February 2006
PWG World Championship February 2006 – present

Reigns

# Numbers in bold indicate that a reign is current and changes daily
Reign The reign number for the specific wrestler listed
Successful defenses Accounts how many defenses the champion had during their reign
Event The event promoted by the respective promotion in which the title was won
N/A The information is not available or is unknown
— Used for vacated reigns so as not to count it as an official reign
+ Indicates the current reign is changing daily.
# Wrestlers Reign Date Days held Location Successful defenses Event Notes
1
Kazarian, FrankieFrankie Kazarian
1
August 30, 2003
176
4[9]
 Bad Ass Mother 3000 – Stage 2 Kazarian defeated Joey Ryan in the finals of a 16-man tournament to become the first champion.[1]
2
Pearce, AdamAdam Pearce
1
February 22, 2004
139
3[10]
 Taste The Radness This was a Chicago Street Fight.[11]
3
Kazarian, FrankieFrankie Kazarian
2
July 10, 2004
126
3[12]
 The Reason for the Season This was a Loser Leaves Town steel cage match.[13]
4
Dragon, SuperSuper Dragon
1
November 13, 2004
140
8[14]
 Free Admission (Just Kidding) [15]
5
Styles, A.J.A.J. Styles
1
April 2, 2005
126
4[16]
 All Star Weekend – Night Two [17]
6
Steen, KevinKevin Steen
1
August 6, 2005
119
5[4]
 Zombies [Shouldn't Run] [18]
7
Ryan, JoeyJoey Ryan
1
December 3, 2005
406
19[19]
 Chanukah Chaos (The C's Are Silent) The title was renamed from the "PWG Championship" to the "PWG World Championship" following PWG's European Vacation tour of England and Germany in February 2006.[2][3][20]
8
Tornado, HumanHuman Tornado
1
January 13, 2007
42
Reseda, California
3[21]
 Based on a True Story This was a Guerrilla Warfare match.[22]
9
Generico, ElEl Generico
1
February 24, 2007
155
Van Nuys, California
9[23]
 Holy Diver Down [24]
10
Danielson, BryanBryan Danielson
1
July 29, 2007
160
5[25]
 Giant-Size Annual #4 [26]
11
Ki, LowLow Ki
1
January 5, 2008
32
Van Nuys, CA
1[8]
 All-Star Weekend 6 – Night One [27]
—
—
February 6, 2008[8]
—
N/A
—
 N/A The title was vacated due to Low Ki suffering a knee injury while working in Japan.[8]
12
Tornado, HumanHuman Tornado
2
February 24, 2008
133
Reseda, California
1[28]
 ¡Dia de los Dangerous! Tornado defeated Karl Anderson and Roderick Strong in the finals of a 5-man tournament to become the champion.[29]
13
Hero, ChrisChris Hero
1
July 6, 2008
425
Reseda, California
10[30]
 Life During Wartime This was a Guerrilla Warfare steel cage match.[31]
14
Danielson, BryanBryan Danielson
2
September 4, 2009
0
Reseda, California
0[32]
 Guerre Sans Frontières [33]
—
—
September 4, 2009[32]
—
Reseda, California
—
 Guerre Sans Frontières The title was vacated due to Danielson being unable to defend it after signing with the World Wrestling Entertainment professional wrestling promotion.[32]
15
Omega, KennyKenny Omega
1
November 21, 2009
98
Reseda, California
0[34]
 2009 Battle of Los Angeles - Night Two Defeated Roderick Strong in the finals of the 2009 Battle of Los Angeles to win the vacant title.[35]
16
Richards, DaveyDavey Richards
1
February 27, 2010
198
Reseda, California
2[36]
 As the Worm Turns [37]
—
—
September 13, 2010
—
N/A
—
N/A
 The title was vacated due to Richards being unable to defend it.[38]
17
Castagnoli, ClaudioClaudio Castagnoli
1
October 9, 2010
287
Reseda, California
6[39]
 The Curse of Guerrilla Island Castagnoli defeated Brandon Gatson, Chris Hero and Joey Ryan in a four–way match to win the vacant title.[40]
18
Steen, KevinKevin Steen
2
July 23, 2011
91
Reseda, California
1[5]
 Eight [41]
19
Generico, ElEl Generico
2
October 22, 2011
147
Reseda, California
0[42]
 Steen Wolf This was a ladder match.[43]
20
Steen, KevinKevin Steen
3
March 17, 2012
259
Reseda, California
4[6]
 World's Finest This was a three-way match, also involving Eddie Edwards.[44]
21
Cole, AdamAdam Cole
1
December 1, 2012
538
Reseda, California
7[45]
 Mystery Vortex This was a Guerrilla Warfare match.[46]
22
O'Reilly, KyleKyle O'Reilly
1
May 23, 2014
203
Reseda, California
3[47]
 Sold Our Soul for Rock 'n Roll This was a Knockout or Submission Only match.[48]
23
Strong, RoderickRoderick Strong
1
December 12, 2014
139+
Reseda, California
2[49]
 Black Cole Sun This was a Guerrilla Warfare match.[50]

List of combined reigns

Adam Cole, the longest reigning PWG World Champion (pictured with the ROH World Championship belt).
† Indicates the current champion
Rank Wrestler No. of reigns Combined
defenses		 Combined
days
1 Cole, AdamAdam Cole 1 7 538
2 Steen, KevinKevin Steen 3 10 469
3 Hero, ChrisChris Hero 1 10 425
4 Ryan, JoeyJoey Ryan 1 19 406
5 Generico, ElEl Generico 2 9 302
5 Kazarian, FrankieFrankie Kazarian 2 7 302
7 Castagnoli, ClaudioClaudio Castagnoli 1 6 287
8 O'Reilly, KyleKyle O'Reilly 1 3 203
9 Richards, DaveyDavey Richards 1 2 198
10 Tornado, HumanHuman Tornado 2 4 175
11 Danielson, BryanBryan Danielson 2 5 160
12 Dragon, SuperSuper Dragon 1 8 140
13 Pearce, AdamAdam Pearce 1 3 139
14 Strong, RoderickRoderick Strong† 1 2 139+
15 Styles, A.J.A.J. Styles 1 4 126
16 Omega, KennyKenny Omega 1 0 98
17 Ki, LowLow Ki 1 1 32

Notes

1.^ – Each reign is ranked highest to lowest; reigns with the exact number mean they are tied for that certain rank.

References

General
Specific
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Bad Ass Mother 3000 - Stage 2". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.com. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "European Vacation - Germany". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.com. Retrieved 2009-05-15.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "European Vacation - England". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.com. Retrieved 2009-05-15.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Kevin Steen's first reign". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.com. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Kevin Steen's second reign". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.com. Retrieved 2011-07-23.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Kevin Steen's third reign". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.com. Retrieved 2012-03-18.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Pro Wrestling Guerrilla World Champion". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.com. Retrieved 2009-05-15.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 "Low Ki's first reign". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.com. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
  9. ↑ "Frankie Kazarian's first reign". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.com. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
  10. ↑ "Adam Pearce's first reign". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.com. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
  11. ↑ Corey, Commander (2004-12-01). "Pro Wrestling Guerilla DVD a rad experience". Slam! Sports - Wrestling. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved 2009-05-25.
  12. ↑ "Frankie Kazarian's second reign". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.com. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
  13. ↑ "The Reason for the Season". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.com. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
  14. ↑ "Super Dragon's first reign". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.com. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
  15. ↑ "Free Admission (Just Kidding)". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.com. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
  16. ↑ "A.J. Styles' first reign". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.com. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
  17. ↑ Clevett, Jason (2005-04-10). "SoCal stars shine at All Star Weekend". Slam! Sports - Wrestling. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved 2009-05-25.
  18. ↑ "Zombies (Shouldn't Run)". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.com. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
  19. ↑ "Joey Ryan's first reign". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.com. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
  20. ↑ "Chanukah Chaos (The C's Are Silent)". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.com. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
  21. ↑ "Human Tornado's first reign". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.com. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
  22. ↑ "Based on a True Story". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.com. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
  23. ↑ "El Generico's first reign". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.com. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
  24. ↑ "Holy Diver Down". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.com. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
  25. ↑ "Bryan Danielson's first reign". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.com. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
  26. ↑ "Giant-Size Annual #4". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.com. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
  27. ↑ "All-Star Weekend 6 - Night One". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.com. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
  28. ↑ "Human Tornado's second reign". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.com. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
  29. ↑ "¡Dia de los Dangerous!". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.com. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
  30. ↑ "Chris Hero's first reign". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.com. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
  31. ↑ "Life During Wartime". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.com. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 32.2 "Bryan Danielson's second reign". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.com. Retrieved 2009-09-05.
  33. ↑ "Guerre Sans Frontières". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.com. Retrieved 2009-09-05.
  34. ↑ "Kenny Omega's first reign". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.com. Retrieved 2009-11-23.
  35. ↑ "2009 Battle of Los Angeles - Night Two". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.com. Retrieved 2009-11-23.
  36. ↑ "Davey Richards' first reign". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.com. Retrieved 2010-02-28.
  37. ↑ "As the Worm Turns". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.com. Retrieved 2010-02-28.
  38. ↑ Caldwell, James (2010-09-14). "PWG News: Davey Richards relinquishes PWG World Title, four-way match announced for next show to determine new champion". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2010-09-14.
  39. ↑ "Claudio Castagnoli's first reign". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.com. Retrieved 2010-10-09.
  40. ↑ "The Curse of Guerrilla Island". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.com. Retrieved 2010-10-09.
  41. ↑ "Eight". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.com. Retrieved 2011-07-23.
  42. ↑ "El Generico's second reign". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.com. Retrieved 2011-10-22.
  43. ↑ "Steen Wolf". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.com. Retrieved 2011-10-22.
  44. ↑ "World's Finest". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.com. Retrieved 2012-03-18.
  45. ↑ "Adam Cole's first reign". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.com. Retrieved 2012-03-18.
  46. ↑ "Mystery Vortex". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.com. Retrieved 2012-12-02.
  47. ↑ "Kyle O'Reilly's first reign". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.com. Retrieved 2014-05-24.
  48. ↑ "Sold our Soul for Rock 'n Roll". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.com. Retrieved 2014-05-24.
  49. ↑ "Roderick Strong's first reign". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.com. Retrieved 2014-12-13.
  50. ↑ "Black Cole Sun". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.com. Retrieved 2014-12-13.

External links