NWA World Middleweight Championship
NWA World Middleweight Championship | |||||||||||
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Averno, the 85th NWA World Middleweight Champion | |||||||||||
Details | |||||||||||
Current champion(s) | Vacated | ||||||||||
Date won | November 30, 2007 | ||||||||||
Date established | 1939 | ||||||||||
Promotion |
Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (1939—1990) Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (1990—1994, 2003—2010) Último Dragón (1994—2003) | ||||||||||
Other name(s) | |||||||||||
World Middleweight Championship (Creation—1952) | |||||||||||
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The NWA World Middleweight Championship is a currently inactive professional wrestling championship, promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). For the majority of its existence it has been promoted by Mexican promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), where it was known as the Campeonato Mundial Peso Medio de NWA. The title, being a professional wrestling championship, it is not won legitimately: it is instead won via a scripted ending to a wrestling match. The official definition of the middleweight weight class in Mexico is between 82 kg (181 lb) and 87 kg (192 lb), but is not always strictly enforced.[Note 1][1]
The Championship was originally called the "World Middleweight Championship", and was created by Salvador Lutteroth, owner of Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (EMLL). Lutteroth awarded the title to Gus Kallio, a five-time National Wrestling Association World Middleweight Champion and the "king of the middleweights" in the United States.[2] The title was created at an unknown point before March 29, 1939. When Octavio Gaona defeated Kallio on March 29, 1939 he also won Kallio's other World Middleweight Championship. Kallio's original world middleweight title was retired in 1940 to keep the focus on the Mexican version of the championship. When EMLL became a member of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) in 1952 the belt was given the "NWA" prefix.[3] In the early 1990s EMLL withdrew from the NWA and changed their name to Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre in order to create a clean break from their past NWA association.[4] While they withdrew from the NWA, they retained the ownership of three NWA-labelled championships that all originated in EMLL. The other two titles were the NWA World Welterweight Championship and the NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship. The titles are still promoted as "NWA Championships" by CMLL despite not being officially recognized by the NWA since the early 1990s. In 1994 Último Dragón paid CMLL for the rights to the NWA World Middleweight Championship, giving him control of the Championship. Dragón won the title from Corazón de León on November 8, 1994, after which he began promoting the belt in Japan; where it and the title remained in Japan for almost ten years (although Dragon did not defend it in his quest for both the J-Crown and the WCW World Cruiserweight Championship). In 2003 Último Dragón signed with World Wrestling Entertainment and sold the title back to CMLL. Averno defeated Zumbido to win the vacant title in the first CMLL-based title match since 1994.[5] In March 2010 Blue Demon Jr., the president of NWA Mexico, sent letters to CMLL, telling them to stop promoting the NWA-branded championships since they were not part of the NWA. NWA Mexico has previously tried to reclaim the three NWA-branded championships promoted by CMLL, but was ignored by CMLL. The promotion did not directly respond to the latest claim either; the NWA Welterweight Champion, Mephisto, commented, simply stating that the titles belonged to CMLL.[6] Finally, on August 12, 2010, CMLL debuted the new NWA World Historic Middleweight Championship and returned the old belt to NWA.[7] NWA has not determined a new champion since getting the title back from CMLL. There have been 84 reigns between 45 different wrestlers. René Guajardo has held the championship on six separate occasions, the most by any wrestler. Tarzán López's four reigns combine for 2,977 days, the longest of any champion, while the Great Sasuke's single reign is the longest individual reign with 1,487 days. Oro is the person who has held the title the shortest time, 41 days.
Title history
- Key
Symbol | Meaning |
No. | The overall championship reign |
Reign | The reign number for the specific wrestler listed. |
Event | The event promoted by the respective promotion in which the title changed hands |
N/A | The specific information is not known |
— | Used for vacated reigns in order to not count it as an official reign |
[Note] | Indicates that the exact length of the title reign is unknown, with a note providing more details. |
No. | Wrestler | Reign | Date | Days held |
Location | Event | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Kallio, GusGus Kallio | 1 | N/A | Unknown [Note 2] |
N/A | Live event | Gus Kallio was awarded the championship in late 1938 or early 1939 due to the fact that he already held the World Middleweight Championship in the United States. |
2 | Gaona, OctavioOctavio Gaona | 1 | February 19, 1939 | 350 | Mexico City, Distrito Federal | Live event | Octavio Gaona won the championship to permanently establish it as an EMLL title. He also won Kallio's other World Middleweight Championship. |
3 | Tarzán López | 1 | February 4, 1940 | 681 | Mexico City, Distrito Federal | Live event | López won both versions of the World Middleweight Championship. After this title change only the Mexican version remained active. |
4 | Guzmán, BlackBlack Guzmán | 1 | December 16, 1941 | 57 | Mexico City, Distrito Federal | Live event | |
5 | Tarzán López | 2 | February 11, 1942 | 1,473 | Mexico City, Distrito Federal | Live event | |
6 | Guerrero, GoryGory Guerrero | 1 | February 23, 1946 | 782 | Mexico City, Distrito Federal | Live event | |
7 | Mike Kelly | 1 | April 12, 1948 | 411 | Mexico City, Distrito Federal | Live event | |
8 | Tarzán López | 3 | May 28, 1949 | 481 | N/A | EMLL 15th Anniversary Show | |
9 | Sito, SugiSugi Sito | 1 | September 21, 1950 | 368 | N/A | EMLL 17th Anniversary Show | |
10 | Llanes, EnriqueEnrique Llanes | 1 | September 24, 1951 | 132 | Mexico City, Distrito Federal | EMLL 18th Anniversary Show | |
— | Vacated | — | February 3, 1952 | — | N/A | N/A | EMLL vacated the championship for unknown reasons. |
11 | Tarzán López | 4 | July 13, 1952 | 342 | Mexico City, Distrito Federal | Live event | Tarzán López won a tournament to win the vacant title. |
12 | Sito, SugiSugi Sito | 2 | June 20, 1953 | 195 | Mexico City, Distrito Federal | Live event | |
13 | Santo, ElEl Santo | 1 | January 1, 1954 | 1,021 | Mexico City, Distrito Federal | Live event | |
14 | Vera, RolandoRolando Vera | 1 | October 19, 1956 | 1,455 | Monterrey, Nuevo León | Live event | |
15 | Guajardo, RenéRené Guajardo | 1 | October 13, 1960 | 415 | Monterrey, Nuevo León | Live event | |
16 | Antonio Posa | 1 | December 2, 1961 | 140 | Mexico City, Distrito Federal | Live event | |
17 | Guajardo, RenéRené Guajardo | 2 | April 18, 1962 | 190 | Mexico City, Distrito Federal | Live event | |
18 | Rayo de Jalisco | 1 | October 25, 1962 | 583 | Mexico City, Distrito Federal | Live event | |
19 | Benny Galant | 1 | May 30, 1964 | 118 | Mexico City, Distrito Federal | Live event | |
20 | Rayo de Jalisco | 2 | September 25, 1964 | 196 | N/A | EMLL 31st Anniversary Show | |
21 | Guajardo, RenéRené Guajardo | 3 | April 9, 1965 | 400 | Mexico City, Distrito Federal | Live event | |
22 | Jerry London | 1 | May 14, 1966 | 48 | Mexico City, Distrito Federal | Live event | |
23 | Guajardo, RenéRené Guajardo | 4 | July 1, 1966 | 253 | Monterrey, Nuevo León | Live event | |
24 | Mendoza, RayRay Mendoza | 1 | March 11, 1967 | [Note 3] | Mexico City, Distrito Federal | Live event | |
— | Vacated | — | May 1967 | — | N/A | N/A | EMLL vacated the championship for unknown reasons. |
25 | Guajardo, RenéRené Guajardo | 5 | July 29, 1967 | 629 | N/A | Live event | Guajardo won a decision match for the vacant title. |
26 | Rayo de Jalisco | 3 | April 18, 1969 | 119 | Mexico City, Distrito Federal | Live event | |
27 | Solitario, ElEl Solitario | 1 | August 15, 1969 | 378 | Mexico City, Distrito Federal | Live event | |
28 | Mashio Koma | 1 | June 28, 1970 | 161 | Mexico City, Distrito Federal | Live event | |
29 | Aníbal | 1 | December 6, 1970 | 845 | Mexico City, Distrito Federal | Live event | |
30 | Guajardo, RenéRené Guajardo | 6 | March 30, 1973 | [Note 4] | Mexico City, Distrito Federal | Live event | |
— | Vacated | — | 1974 | — | N/A | N/A | EMLL vacated the championship for unknown reasons. |
31 | Aníbal | 2 | September 20, 1974 | [Note 5] | Mexico City, Distrito Federal | EMLL 41st Anniversary Show | Aníbal defeated El Cobarde in a decision match to win the title. |
— | Vacated | — | May 1975 | — | N/A | N/A | The championship was vacated when Aníbal left EMLL to work for the Universal Wrestling Association. |
32 | Aguayo, PerroPerro Aguayo | 1 | July 4, 1975 | 476 | Mexico City, Distrito Federal | Live event | Perro Aguayo won a tournament to claim the vacant championship. |
33 | Faraón, ElEl Faraón | 1 | October 22, 1976 | 140 | Mexico City, Distrito Federal | Live event | |
34 | Aguayo, PerroPerro Aguayo | 2 | March 11, 1977 | 114 | Mexico City, Distrito Federal | Live event | |
35 | Mendoza, RingoRingo Mendoza | 1 | July 3, 1977 | 101 | Guadalajara, Jalisco | Live event | |
36 | Joe Plardy | 1 | October 12, 1977 | 44 | Acapulco, Guerrero | Live event | |
37 | Faraón, ElEl Faraón | 2 | November 25, 1977 | 84 | Mexico City, Distrito Federal | Live event | |
38 | Mendoza, RingoRingo Mendoza | 2 | February 17, 1978 | 51 | Los Angeles, California | Live event | |
39 | Aguayo, PerroPerro Aguayo | 3 | April 9, 1978 | 75 | Guadalajara, Jalisco | Live event | |
40 | Mendoza, RingoRingo Mendoza | 3 | June 23, 1978 | 51 | Mexico City, Distrito Federal | Live event | |
41 | Salazar, TonyTony Salazar | 1 | August 13, 1978 | 174 | Mexico City, Distrito Federal | Live event | |
42 | Mendoza, RingoRingo Mendoza | 4 | February 3, 1979 | 218 | Acapulco, Guerrero | Live event | |
43 | Sayama, SatoruSatoru Sayama | 1 | September 9, 1979 | 201 | Guadalajara, Jalisco | Live event | |
44 | Satánico, ElEl Satánico | 1 | March 28, 1980 | 20 | Mexico City, Distrito Federal | Live event | |
45 | Mendoza, CachorroCachorro Mendoza | 1 | April 17, 1980 | 59 | Monterrey, Nuevo León | Live event | |
46 | Sangre Chicana | 1 | June 15, 1980 | 217 | Monterrey, Nuevo León | Live event | |
47 | Salazar, TonyTony Salazar | 1 | January 18, 1981 | 54 | Monterrey, Nuevo León | Live event | |
48 | Sangre Chicana | 2 | March 13, 1981 | 21 | Mexico City, Distrito Federal | Live event | |
49 | Mendoza, RingoRingo Mendoza | 5 | April 3, 1981 | 240 | Mexico City, Distrito Federal | Live event | |
50 | Faraón, ElEl Faraón | 3 | November 29, 1981 | 124 | Guadalajara, Jalisco | Live event | |
51 | César Curiel | 1 | April 2, 1982 | 206 | Mexico City, Distrito Federal | Live event | |
52 | Satánico, ElEl Satánico | 2 | October 25, 1982 | 0 | Mexico City, Distrito Federal | Live event | |
53 | El Jalisco | 1 | October 25, 1982 | 139 | Guadalajara, Jalisco | Live event | |
54 | Satánico, ElEl Satánico | 3 | March 13, 1983 | 82 | N/A | Live event | |
55 | Lizmark | 1 | June 3, 1983 | 182 | Mexico City, Distrito Federal | Live event | |
56 | Satánico, ElEl Satánico | 4 | December 2, 1983 | 250 | Mexico City, Distrito Federal | Live event | |
57 | Gran Cochisse | 1 | August 8, 1984 | 37 | Mexico City, Distrito Federal | Live event | |
58 | Satánico, ElEl Satánico | 5 | September 14, 1984 | 16 | Mexico City, Distrito Federal | Live event | |
59 | Gran Cochisse | 2 | September 30, 1984 | 49 | Guadalajara, Jalisco | Live event | |
60 | Gran Hamada | 1 | November 18, 1984 | 138 | Mexico City, Distrito Federal | Live event | |
61 | Fiera, LaLa Fiera | 1 | April 5, 1985 | 106 | Mexico City, Distrito Federal | Live event | |
62 | Valaguez, ChamacoChamaco Valaguez | 1 | July 20, 1985 | 302 | Puebla, Puebla | Live event | |
63 | Gran Cochisse | 3 | May 18, 1986 | 152 | N/A | Live event | |
64 | Kung Fu | 1 | October 17, 1986 | 273 | Mexico City, Distrito Federal | Live event | |
65 | Dandy, ElEl Dandy | 1 | July 17, 1987 | 81 | Mexico City, Distrito Federal | Live event | |
66 | Kung Fu | 2 | October 6, 1987 | 248 | Mexico City, Distrito Federal | Live event | |
67 | Atlantis | 1 | June 10, 1988 | 37 | Mexico City, Distrito Federal | Live event | |
68 | Charles Jr., EmilioEmilio Charles Jr. | 1 | July 17, 1988 | 11 | N/A | Live event | |
69 | Atlantis | 2 | July 28, 1988 | 15 | N/A | Live event | |
70 | Charles Jr., EmilioEmilio Charles Jr. | 2 | August 12, 1988 | 259 | Mexico City, Distrito Federal | Live event | |
71 | Ángel Azteca | 1 | April 28, 1989 | 400 | N/A | Live event | |
72 | Dandy, ElEl Dandy | 2 | June 2, 1990 | 60 | Mexico City, Distrito Federal | Live event | |
73 | Atlantis | 3 | August 1, 1990 | 945 | Acapulco, Guerrero | Live event | |
74 | Mano Negra | 1 | March 3, 1993 | 81 | Acapulco, Guerrero | Live event | |
75 | Oro | 1 | May 23, 1993 | 41 | N/A | Live event | |
76 | Mano Negra | 2 | July 3, 1993 | 155 | Puebla, Puebla | Live event | |
77 | Corazón de León | 1 | December 4, 1993 | 339 | Mexico City, Distrito Federal | Live event | |
78 | Último Dragón | 1 | November 8, 1994 | [Note 6] | Tokyo, Japan | Live event | Match promoted by WAR. Último Dragón stops defending the title around 1996. |
— | Vacated | — | 1998 | — | N/A | N/A | Último Dragón was forced to vacate the championship due to an arm injury. |
79 | Great Sasuke | 1 | February 7, 1999 | 1,487 | Yokohama, Japan | Live event | Great Sasuke defeated Tokyo Magnum in tournament final to win the championship. |
80 | Último Dragón | 2 | March 5, 2003 | [Note 7] | Sendai, Miyagi, Japan | Live event | [8] |
— | Vacated | — | April 2003 | — | N/A | N/A | The championship was vacated when Último Dragon began to work for World Wrestling Entertainment.[8] |
81 | Averno | 1 | September 3, 2004 | 161 | Mexico City, Distrito Federal | Live event | Averno defeated Zumbido in a decision match for the vacant championship.[5] |
82 | Místico | 1 | February 11, 2005 | 455 | Mexico City, Distrito Federal | CMLL Super Viernes | [9] |
83 | Black Warrior | 1 | May 12, 2006 | 474 | Mexico City, Distrito Federal | CMLL Super Viernes | [10] |
84 | Místico | 2 | April 29, 2007 | 215 | Mexico City, Distrito Federal | Dia de los Niños | [11] |
85 | Averno | 2 | November 30, 2007 | 986 | Mexico City, Distrito Federal | CMLL Super Viernes | Title renamed the NWA World Historic Middleweight Championship on August 12, 2010.[11] |
— | Vacated | — | August 12, 2010 | — | N/A | N/A | The championship was vacated when CMLL returned it to NWA.[12] |
Reigns by combined length
- Key
Symbol | Meaning |
† | Indicates the current champion |
¤ | The exact length of at least one title reign is uncertain, so the shortest possible length is used. |
+ | Indicates that the date changes daily for the current champion. |
Rank | Wrestler | No. of Reigns | Combined days |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Tarzán López | 4 | 2,977 |
2 | Guajardo, RenéRené Guajardo | 5 | 1,938¤ [Note 4] |
3 | Great Sasuke | 1 | 1,487 |
4 | Vera, RolandoRolando Vera | 1 | 1,455 |
5 | Último Dragón | 2 | 1,177¤ [Note 6] [Note 7] |
6 | Aníbal | 2 | 1122¤ [Note 5] |
7 | Santo, ElEl Santo | 1 | 1,021 |
8 | Atlantis | 3 | 997 |
9 | Averno | 2 | 986 |
10 | Rayo de Jalisco | 3 | 898 |
11 | Guerrero, GoryGory Guerrero | 1 | 782 |
12 | Místico | 2 | 670 |
13 | Aguayo, PerroPerro Aguayo | 3 | 665 |
14 | Mendoza, RingoRingo Mendoza | 5 | 661 |
15 | Sito, SugiSugi Sito | 2 | 564 |
16 | Kung Fu | 2 | 521 |
17 | Black Warrior | 1 | 474 |
18 | Mike Kelly | 1 | 411 |
19 | Ángel Azteca | 1 | 400 |
20 | Satánico, ElEl Satánico | 5 | 388 |
21 | Solitario, ElEl Solitario | 1 | 378 |
22 | Gaona, OctavioOctavio Gaona | 1 | 350 |
23 | Faraón, ElEl Faraón | 3 | 348 |
24 | Corazón de León | 1 | 339 |
25 | Valaguez, ChamacoChamaco Valaguez | 1 | 302 |
26 | Charles Jr., EmilioEmilio Charles Jr. | 2 | 270 |
27 | Gran Cochisse | 3 | 238 |
28 | Sangre Chicana | 2 | 237 |
29 | Mano Negra | 2 | 236 |
30 | Salazar, TonyTony Salazar | 2 | 228 |
31 | César Curiel | 1 | 206 |
32 | Sayama, SatoruSatoru Sayama | 1 | 201 |
33 | Lizmark | 1 | 182 |
34 | Mashio Koma | 1 | 161 |
35 | Dandy, ElEl Dandy | 2 | 141 |
36 | Antonio Posa | 1 | 140 |
37 | El Jalisco | 1 | 139 |
38 | Gran Hamada | 1 | 138 |
39 | Llanes, EnriqueEnrique Llanes | 1 | 132 |
40 | Benny Galant | 1 | 118 |
41 | Fiera, LaLa Fiera | 1 | 106 |
42 | Mendoza, CachorroCachorro Mendoza | 1 | 59 |
43 | Guzmán, BlackBlack Guzmán | 1 | 57 |
44 | Mendoza, RayRay Mendoza | 1 | 51¤ [Note 3] |
45 | Jerry London | 1 | 48 |
46 | Joe Plardy | 1 | 44 |
47 | Oro | 1 | 41 |
48 | Gus Kallio | 1 | Unknown¤ [Note 2] |
Footnotes
- ↑ The most recent case of this is Mephisto holding the CMLL World Welterweight Championship, a belt with a 78 kg (172 lb) upper limit, despite weighing 90 kg (200 lb).
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The length of Gus Kallio's title reign is too uncertain to calculate.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The exact date on which Ray Mendoza vacated the championship is unknown, which means the title reign lasted between 51 and 81 days.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 The exact date on which René Guajardo vacated the championship is unknown, which means the title reign lasted between 277 and 538 days.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 The exact date on which René Guajardo vacated the championship is unknown, which means the title reign lasted between 223 and 253 days.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 The exact date on which Último Dragon vacated the championship is unknown, which means the title reign lasted between 1,150 and 1,514 days.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 The exact date on which Último Dragon vacated the championship is unknown, which means the title reign lasted between 27 and 57 days.
References
- General source for title changes before 2000
- Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2006). "Mexico: EMLL NWA World Middlweight Title". Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. pp. 389–390. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
- Specific
- ↑ Arturo Montiel Rojas (2001-08-30). "Reglamento de Box y Lucha Libre Professional del Estado de Mexico" (PDF) (in Spanish). Comisión de Box y Lucha Libre Mexico D.F. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 30, 2006. Retrieved 2009-04-03.
Articulo 242: "Super welter 82 kilos / Medio 87 kilos"
- ↑ "Londos Rated Champ By National Association". Reading Eagle. September 20, 1933. Retrieved February 20, 2010.
- ↑ Hornbaker, Tim (2007). "International Expansion". National Wrestling Alliance: the untold story of the monopoly that strangled pro wrestling. ECW Press. pp. 24–25. ISBN 978-1-55022-741-3.
- ↑ Madigan, Dan (2007). "The start of the journey". Mondo Lucha a Go-Go: the bizarre & honorable world of wild Mexican wrestling. HarperColins Publisher. pp. 15–28. ISBN 978-0-06-085583-3.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Número Especial – Lo mejr de la lucha ilbre mexicana durante el 2004". SuperLuchas (in Spanish). January 24, 2005. 91.
- ↑ Ruiz Glez, Alex (March 12, 2010). "Mephisto responde a Blue Demon Jr.: "No tengo que entrar a ninguna eliminatoria porque yo soy el campeón..."". SuperLuchas (in Spanish). Retrieved March 14, 2010.
- ↑ "Campeones" (in Spanish). Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre. Retrieved December 16, 2010.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Número Especial – Lo mejr de la lucha ilbre mexicana durante el 2003". SuperLuchas (in Spanish). January 5, 2004. 40.
- ↑ "2005 Lo Mejor de la Lucha Mexicana". SuperLuchas (in Spanish). January 3, 2006. 140.
- ↑ "Lo Mejor de la Lucha Libre Mexicana duranted el 2006". SuperLuchas (in Spanish). December 23, 2006. 192. Retrieved July 11, 2009.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 "2007 Lo Mejor de la Lucha Mexicana". SuperLuchas (in Spanish). December 26, 2007. 244. Retrieved July 11, 2009.
- ↑ Boutwell, Josh (August 20, 2010). "Viva La Raza! Lucha Weekly". WrestleView. Retrieved June 26, 2011.
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