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NWA History (1948 - Present) 1948: On July 14th, the National Wrestling Alliance is formed by Professional Wrestling promoters throughout North America in order to avoid stringent U.S. anti-trust laws. Although run as separate "territories," promoters agree to work with each other under the NWA banner. The first President is P.L. "Pinkie" George, while Orville Brown, the reigning Midwest Wrestling Association World Heavyweight champion, is recognized as the first NWA World champion, as the MWA is absorbed into the NWA. On July 20th, Lou Thesz defeats "Wild" Bill Longson in St.Louis to capture the National Wrestling Association World Heavyweight title. 1949: On November 1st, Orville Brown is injured in an automobile accident and is forced to retire from the ring, thus relinquishing his claim to the title. On November 25th, the unification match between Orville Brown and Lou Thesz in St. Louis is cancelled. Two days later (November 27th), the National Wrestling Alliance awards the NWA World Heavyweight Championship to Lou Thesz at its annual convention in St. Louis. [Note: Over the next few years, Lou Thesz unifies several titles to become the Undisputed World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion, as those organizations are absorbed by the NWA.] 1950: On July 27th, Lou Thesz defeats "Gorgeous" George Wagner in Chicago, to merge the old Boston-based American Wrestling Association version of the World title into the NWA World title. 1952: On May 21st, Lou Thesz defeats Baron Michele Leone in Los Angeles, to merge the California version of the world title [also referred to by some historians as the Olympic Auditorium version of the World title] into the NWA World title. The match draws a record $103,277 gate, the first gate of $100,000 or more in U.S. history. 1956: On March 15th, "Whipper" Billy Watson defeats Lou Thesz in Toronto via a count out. On November 9th, Lou Thesz defeats "Whipper" Billy Watson in St. Louis. 1957: On June 14th, Edouard Carpentier defeats Lou Thesz in Chicago, when Thesz cannot continue due to a back injury. The NWA Board of Directors, however, rule that the title cannot change hands through an injury and gives the belt back to Thesz. Despite the reversed decision, Carpentier remains recognized as World champion in both Omaha and Los Angeles by the World Werstling Association in order to legitimize the lineages of their respective world titles. On October 7th, Lou Thesz faces Rikidozan, the father of Japanese Professional Wrestling in Tokyo, for the first ever NWA World title match held in Japan. The match ends in a 60-minute time limit draw. On November 14th, Dick Hutton defeats Lou Thesz in Toronto. 1959: On January 9th, Pat O'Connor defeats Dick Hutton in St. Louis. 1960: On June 30th, "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers defeats Pat O'Connor in Chicago's Comiskey Park. 1962: On August 2nd, Bruno Sammartino is awarded the NWA World title after defeating "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers in Toronto, Ontario Canada, but refuses to accept the strap because Rogers had wrestled with an injury. 1963: On January 24th, Lou Thesz defeats "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers in a one fall contest in Toronto. Promoters in the Northeast U.S., however, refuse to recognize the one-fall decision and form the World Wide Wrestling Federation with Rogers as their first World Heavyweight champion. Rogers would later lose the title to Bruno Sammartino in Madison Square Garden, a rematch of their 1962 Toronto bout. The WWWF would eventually become the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). On February 7th, Lou Thesz defeats "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers in a return two out of three falls match in Toronto. The result has largely been forgotten in the annals of wrestling history, primarily because of the result of the first match: which was the creation of the WWWF. 1966: On January 7th, Gene Kiniski defeats Lou Thesz in St. Louis. 1969: On February 11th, Dory Funk Jr. defeats Gene Kiniski in Tampa, Florida, USA. For more information on Dory Funk Jr. check out his "Official" home page at http://www.dory-funk.com. On December 2nd, Dory Funk Jr. wrestles Antonio Inoki to a 60-minute draw, in the first NWA World title match in Japan in 12 years. Inoki's strong showing makes him a international superstar. (Note: A rematch was never held and video tapes of this bout are still sold in Japan). 1973: On March 24th, Harley Race defeats Dory Funk Jr. in Kansas City. On July 20th, Jack Brisco defeats Harley Race in Houston. 1974: On December 2nd, Giant Baba defeats Jack Brisco in Kagoshima, Japan. On December 9th, Jack Brisco defeats Giant Baba in Toyohashi, Japan. 1975: On December 10th, Terry Funk defeats Jack Brisco in Miami. 1977: On February 6th, Harley Race defeats Terry Funk in Toronto. 1978: On January 25th, Harley Race wrestles WWWF Champion "Superstar" Billy Graham to a one-hour draw in a best 2-out-of-3 falls contest in Miami's Orange Bowl, each taking one fall with the third going to a draw. The match includes special guest referees Gorilla Monsoon and Eddie Graham. 1979: On August 21st, Dusty Rhodes defeats Harley Race in Tampa. On August 26th, Harley Race defeats Dusty Rhodes in Orlando. On October 31st, Giant Baba defeats Harley Race in Nagoya, Japan. On November 7th, Harley Race defeats Giant Baba in Amagasaki, Japan. 1980: On September 4th, Giant Baba defeats Harley Race in Saga, Japan. On September 9th, Harley Race defeats Giant Baba in Ohtsu, Japan. 1981: On April 27th, "Wildfire" Tommy Rich defeats Harley Race in Augusta, Georgia, USA. On May 1st, Harley Race defeats "Wildfire" Tommy Rich in Gainsville, Georgia, USA. On June 21st, Dusty Rhodes defeats Harley Race in Atlanta. On September 17th, "Nature Boy" Ric Flair defeats Dusty Rhodes in Kansas City. 1982: On February 9th, The Midnight Rider (Dusty Rhodes) defeats Ric Flair in Tampa, but returns the belt when asked to indentify himself by NWA president Bob Geigel, as it is ruled by the NWA Board of Directors that a masked man cannot wear the championship. Ric Flair continues to be recognized as the champion. On July 4th, Ric Flair wrestles World Wrestling Federation (WWF) World Heavyweight Champion Bob Backlund to a 20-minute double disqualification in Atlanta's Omni. 1983: On June 10th, Harley Race defeats Ric Flair in St. Louis. On November 24th, Ric Flair defeats Harley Race in Greensboro, North Carolina, USA. 1984: On March 21st, Harley Race defeats Ric Flair in Wellington, New Zealand. On March 23rd, Ric Flair defeats Harley Race in Kallang, Singapore. On May 6th, Kerry von Erich defeats Ric Flair in Irving, Texas, USA. On May 24th, Ric Flair defeats Kerry von Erich in Yokosuka, Japan. 1985: On October 2nd, Ric Flair wrestles American Wrestling Association (AWA) World Heavyweight Champion Rick Martel in a title versus title match in Tokyo. The bout ends in a no decision as both champions are counted out of the ring. 1986: On July 25th, Dusty Rhodes defeats Ric Flair in Greensboro. On August 7th, Ric Flair defeats Dusty Rhodes in St. Louis. 1987: On September 25th, "Hands of Stone" Ronnie Garvin defeats Ric Flair in Detroit. On November 26th, Ric Flair defeats Ronnie Garvin in Chicago. 1989: On February 20th, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat defeats Ric Flair in Chicago. On May 7th, Ric Flair defeats Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat in Nashville. 1990: On July 7th, Sting defeats Ric Flair in Baltimore. 1991: On January 11th, Ric Flair defeats Sting in East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA. With all but a few of the regional NWA "territories" no longer operating, the title begins to be referred to as the World Championship Wrestling World Heavyweight title by WCW television announcers as they make the two names interchangeable. On March 21st, Tatsumi Fujinami defeats Ric Flair in Tokyo. Although Fujinami is recognized as the only NWA World Heavyweight Champion, the WCW World Heayweight title is given to Flair after the decision was changed by WCW to a disqualification, thus splitting the championship. On May 19th, Ric Flair defeats Tatsumi Fujinami in St. Petersburg, Florida to re-unify the two belts. On September 8th, Ric Flair is stripped of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship when he enters the World Wrestling Federation as the "Real World Champion." 1992: On August 12th, Masahiro Chono defeats Rick Rude in Tokyo during the final match of a tournament to fill the vacant NWA title. 1993: On January 4th, the Great Muta defeats Masahiro Chono in Tokyo. On February 21st, Barry Windham defeats the Great Muta in Ashville, North Carolina, USA. On July 18th, Ric Flair defeats Barry Windham in Biloxi, Mississippi, USA. In September, WCW withdraws from the NWA over a dispute revolving around an upcoming Pay-Per-View match between Ric Flair and Rick Rude. The result has the NWA no longer recognizing Ric Flair as its champion and WCW renaming the title the WCW International title. 1994: Despite all the controversy with WCW in 1993, the NWA continues uninterupted as a legal entity, but without national television exposure and holds another tournament for the vacant World Heavyweight title on August 27th. Shane Douglas defeats Too Cold Scorpio in the tournament final in Philadelphia but refuses the belt saying the NWA is a dead organization; Eastern Championship Wrestling immediately announces their withdrawal from the NWA and changes their name to Extreme Championship Wrestling. On November 19th, Chris Candido defeats Tracy Smothers in yet another tournament final in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, USA to fill the vacant title. 1995: On February 24th, Dan "the Beast" Severn defeats Chris Candido in Erlanger, Kentucky, USA. 1998: On January 5th, NWA President Howard Brody and NWA Executive Vice President Dennis Coralluzzo show up on WWF TV in New Haven, Connecticut to award the NWA North American title to the winner of a match between Jeff Jarrett and Barry Windham. It marks the return of the NWA to international television for the first time after a nearly five year absence. Three months later, Dan "the Beast" Severn makes his television debut. 1999: On March 14th, Naoya Ogawa defeats Dan "the Beast" Severn in Yokohama, Japan. The match includes special referee Dory Funk, Jr. On September 25th, Gary Steele of NWA-UK pinned Naoya Ogawa to win the title in Charlotte, North Carolina in a three-way dance involving Brian Anthony. On October 2nd, Naoya Ogawa regains the title in Thomaston, Connecticut. 2000: On July 2nd, Naoya Ogawa vacated the NWA World Heavyweight Title. Making it a second time in its history that the NWA World title was vacated. On September 19th, "Colorado Kid" Mike Rapada defeated Jerry Flynn in a four-man tournament final to win the NWA World Heavyweight Title in Tampa, Florida. On November 11th, Sabu pinned Mike Rapada to win the title in Tampa, Florida. On December 22nd, Mike Rapada regained the title from Sabu in Nashville, Tennessee. 2001: On April 24th, "King of Old School" Steve Corino pinned Mike Rapada to win the NWA World Heavyweight Title in Tampa, Florida. On October 13th, the title was held up against Shin'ya Hashimoto in St. Petersburg, Florida when Corino is unable to continue due to injury. On December 15th, Shin'ya Hashimoto defeated Steve Corino and Gary Steele in a round-robin tournament to win the NWA World Heavyweight Title in McKeesport, Pennsylvania. 2002: On March 9th, Dan Severn defeated Shin'ya Hashimoto to win the title in Tokyo, Japan. On May 28th, Dan Severn was stripped by unanimous vote of the NWA Board of Directors for not being able to schedule a title defense on June 19th in Huntsville, Alabama. On June 19th, Ken Shamrock defeated Malice (WCW's The Wall) to win the vacant title at the first NWA TNA PPV in Hunstville, Alabama. Ricky Steamboat was the special guest referee. On August 7th, Ron "The Truth" Killings defeated Ken Shamrock to win the NWA World Heavyweight Title in Nashville, Tennessee and became the first black NWA World Heavyweight Champion in history. On November 20th, Jeff Jarrett defeated Ron Killings to win the NWA World Heavyweight Title in Nashville, Tennessee. 2003: On May 25th, Jeff Jarrett unified the NWA World Heavyweight Title with the World Wrestling All-Stars World Title by defeating Sting in Auckland, New Zealand. On June 11th, AJ Styles pinned Jeff Jarrett to win the NWA World Heavyweight Title in Nashville, Tennessee. On October 22nd, Jeff Jarrett regained the NWA World Heavyweight Title from AJ Styles in Nashville, Tennessee. 2004: On April 21st, AJ Styles pinned Jeff Jarrett to win the NWA World Heavyweight Title in Nashville, Tennessee in a Steel Cage match. On May 19th, NWA TNA announces a deal with FOX Sports Net to produce a weekly show called "Impact" that will be airing on Fridays starting June 4th at 3 PM. The matches will be taped at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. On May 19th, Ron Killings defeated AJ Styles, Raven, and Chris Harris in Four-Way match to win the NWA World Heavyweight Title in Nashville, Tennessee. On June 2nd, Jeff Jarrett defeated AJ Styles, Ron Killings, Raven, and Chris Harris in a "King of the Mountain" match to win the NWA World Heavyweight Title in Nashville, Tennessee. 2005: On May15th, AJ Styles regained the NWA World Heavyweight Title by defeating Jeff Jarrett in Orlando, Florida. On June 19th, Raven defeated AJ Styles, Abyss, Monty Brown, and Sean Waltman in a "King of the Mountain" match to win the NWA World Heavyweight Title in Orlando, Florida.
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