NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship

On this page, you find the full Title History for the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship, with all Championship Info, Statistics, the Belt Design changes through the years, and the full list of Title Reigns, along with dates, events, and reign durations.

The NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship is a World Title contested in National Wrestling Alliance, by men wrestlers.

The championship was first established on July 14, 1948.

The current champion is EC3, who won the title at NWA 75 on August 27, 2023, and has been reigning for 305 days.

NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship: Title History

Promotions / Brands

Promotion	from	to
Promotion NWA	May 13, 2007	Present
Promotion TNA	June 19, 2002	May 12, 2007
Promotion NWA	September 16, 1993	June 18, 2002
Promotion WCWNWA	November 21, 1988	September 15, 1993
Promotion NWAJCP	January 1, 1985	November 20, 1988
Promotion NWA	July 14, 1948	December 31, 1984

Championship Names & Belt Designs
- NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship ("Ten Pounds of Gold") October 21, 2016
- NWA World Heavyweight Championship ("Ten Pounds of Gold") June 19, 2002 October 20, 2016
- NWA World Heavyweight Championship (Dan Severn) March 9, 2002 June 18, 2002
- NWA World Heavyweight Championship ("Ten Pounds of Gold") September 16, 1993 March 8, 2002
- NWA World Heavyweight Championship ("Big Gold") August 9, 1986 September 15, 1993
- NWA World Heavyweight Championship ("Ten Pounds of Gold") May 24, 1973 August 8, 1986
- NWA World Heavyweight Championship ("Crown belt") January 9, 1959 May 23, 1973
- NWA World Heavyweight Championship ("Lou Thesz belt") November 27, 1949 January 8, 1959
- NWA World Heavyweight Championship July 14, 1948 November 26, 1949

For the Title History of the newer version of this championship, see the page for the TNA World Championship.

NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship: Title Reigns

N.	Champion	Reign
101	EC3 1 August 27, 2023 St. Louis, MO \| NWA 75 305+ days	305+ days
100	Tyrus 1 November 12, 2022 Chalmette, LA \| NWA Hard Times 3 288 days	288 days
99	Trevor Murdoch 2 June 11, 2022 Knoxville, TN \| NWA Alwayz Ready 154 days Defeated Nick Aldis, Thom Latimer and Sam Shaw in a fatal 4-way match for the vacant title.	154 days
	Vacant June 11, 2022 Knoxville, TN \| NWA Alwayz Ready 0 days Matt Cardona vacated the title due to an injury.	0 days
98	Matt Cardona 1 February 12, 2022 Oak Grove, KY \| NWA/TNT PowerrrTrip 119 days	119 days
97	Trevor Murdoch 1 August 29, 2021 St. Louis, MO \| NWA 73 167 days	167 days
96	Nick Aldis 2 October 21, 2018 Nashville, TN \| NWA 70th Anniversary Show 1043 days	1043 days
95	Cody 1 September 1, 2018 Hoffman Estates, IL \| All In 50 days	50 days
94	Nick Aldis 1 December 9, 2017 Sewell, NJ \| Cage of Death 19 \| 266 days	266 days
93	Tim Storm 1 October 21, 2016 Sherman, TX \| House show \| 414 days On October 1, 2017, Billy Corgan's company Lightning One, Inc. purchased NWA, including the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. During this reign, the NWA's licensing model was abolished and title matches were limited primarily to performers under contract with Lightning One, Inc.	414 days
92	Jax Dane 1 August 29, 2015 San Antonio, TX \| World War Gold \| 419 days	419 days
91	Hiroyoshi Tenzan 1 February 14, 2015 Sendai, Japan \| NJPW The New Beginning 2015 196 days	196 days
90	Rob Conway 2 June 2, 2014 Las Vegas, NV \| Cauliflower Alley Club Reunion Show \| 257 days	257 days
89	Satoshi Kojima 1 January 4, 2014 Tokyo, Japan \| NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 8 149 days	149 days
88	Rob Conway 1 March 16, 2013 San Antonio, TX \| A Monster's Ball \| 294 days	294 days
87	Kahagas 1 November 2, 2012 Clayton, NJ \| Wrath of Champions \| 134 days Won an elimination match for the vacant title by last eliminating Damien Wayne.	134 days
	Vacant October 27, 2012 Berwick, Victoria, Australia \| NWA Warzone Wrestling 14 \| 6 days Adam Pearce left NWA and resigned as champion after the organization refused to allow him to defend the title in the concluding match of his seven-match series against Colt Cabana. The match did take place with Cabana winning, but both wrestlers refused the title in the aftermath.	6 days
86	Adam Pearce 5 July 21, 2012 Kansas City, KS \| Metro Pro Wrestling \| 98 days The match was aired on an unknown date via tape delay. During this reign, ownership of the NWA World Championship and the NWA itself was transferred from Pro Wrestling Organization LLC to the International Wrestling Corp.	98 days
85	Colt Cabana 2 April 29, 2012 Glendale, CA \| NWA Championship Wrestling from Hollywood \| 83 days	83 days
84	Adam Pearce 4 July 31, 2011 Columbus, OH \| NWA at the Ohio State Fair \| 273 days Defeated Chance Prophet, Jimmy Rave and Shaun Tempers in a 4-way match to win the vacant title.	273 days
	Vacant July 11, 2011 \| 20 days The Sheik was stripped of the title for refusing to defend against Adam Pearce on July 31, 2011.	20 days
83	The Sheik 1 April 23, 2011 Jacksonville, FL \| Subtle Hustle \| 79 days	79 days
82	Colt Cabana 1 April 2, 2011 West Hollywood, CA \| NWA Championship Wrestling from Hollywood \| 21 days	21 days
81	Adam Pearce 3 March 14, 2010 Charlotte, NC \| House show \| 384 days	384 days
80	Blue Demon Jr. 1 October 25, 2008 Mexico City, Mexico \| House show \| 505 days	505 days
79	Adam Pearce 2 September 20, 2008 Philadelphia, PA \| ROH Glory by Honor VII 35 days	35 days
78	Brent Albright 1 August 2, 2008 New York City, NY \| ROH Death Before Dishonor VI 49 days	49 days
77	Adam Pearce 1 September 1, 2007 Bayamón, Puerto Rico \| House show \| 336 days Defeated Brent Albright in the finals of the Reclaiming the Glory tournament to win the vacant title. Pearce competed as a substitute for Bryan Danielson, who defeated Pearce in the semifinals but withdrew from the tournament due to a detached retina.	336 days
	Vacant May 13, 2007 \| 111 days Christian Cage was stripped of the title when NWA ended its business agreement with TNA.	111 days
76	Christian Cage 2 January 14, 2007 Orlando, FL \| TNA Final Resolution 2007 119 days	119 days
75	Abyss 1 November 19, 2006 Orlando, FL \| TNA Genesis 2007 56 days	56 days
74	Sting 2 October 22, 2006 Plymouth, MI \| TNA Bound for Glory 2006 28 days	28 days
73	Jeff Jarrett 7 June 18, 2006 Orlando, FL \| TNA Slammiversary 2006 126 days	126 days
72	Christian Cage 1 February 12, 2006 Orlando, FL \| TNA Against All Odds 2006 126 days	126 days
71	Jeff Jarrett 6 November 3, 2005 Orlando, FL \| TNA Impact! 101 days	101 days
70	Rhino 1 October 23, 2005 Orlando, FL \| TNA Bound for Glory 2005 11 days	11 days
69	Jeff Jarrett 5 September 15, 2005 Windsor, Ontario, Canada \| NWA International Incident \| 38 days	38 days
68	Raven 1 June 19, 2005 Orlando, FL \| TNA Slammiversary 2005 88 days	88 days
67	AJ Styles 3 May 15, 2005 Orlando, FL \| TNA Hard Justice 2005 35 days	35 days
66	Jeff Jarrett 4 April 3, 2005 San Juan, Puerto Rico \| CMLL Juicio Final \| 42 days The title was returned to Jarrett due to the controversial ending of the title match.	42 days
65	Ray González 1 April 3, 2005 San Juan, Puerto Rico \| CMLL Juicio Final \| 0 days González pinned Jarrett in San Juan, but the decision was reversed after the match due to an unauthorized referee counting the pinfall while the originally sanctioned referee was knocked out. The title change was initially ignored by TNA, but was retroactively recognized by NWA in 2015.	0 days
64	Jeff Jarrett 3 June 2, 2004 Nashville, TN \| NWA: Total Nonstop Action 305 days Ron Killings defeated Jarrett on the June 23 NWA-TNA Weekly pay-per-view event for the title, but due to issues surrounding the title change, the title was held up, before Vince Russo gave Jarrett the title back (and the title change was not recognized).	305 days
63	Ron Killings 2 May 19, 2004 Nashville, TN \| NWA: Total Nonstop Action 14 days	14 days
62	AJ Styles 2 April 21, 2004 Nashville, TN \| NWA: Total Nonstop Action 28 days	28 days
61	Jeff Jarrett 2 October 22, 2003 Nashville, TN \| NWA: Total Nonstop Action 182 days	182 days
60	AJ Styles 1 June 11, 2003 Nashville, TN \| NWA: Total Nonstop Action 133 days	133 days
59	Jeff Jarrett 1 November 20, 2002 Nashville, TN \| NWA: Total Nonstop Action 203 days During this reign Jarrett unified the title with the WWA World Heavyweight Championship.	203 days
58	Ron Killings 1 August 7, 2002 Nashville, TN \| NWA: Total Nonstop Action 105 days	105 days
57	Ken Shamrock 1 June 19, 2002 Huntsville, AL \| NWA: Total Nonstop Action 49 days In June 2002, Jeff and Jerry Jarrett formed NWA: Total Nonstop Action (NWA-TNA) and worked out a licensing deal with NWA to control and feature the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and the NWA World Tag Team Championship as their title. Shamrock defeated Malice to win the vacant title.	49 days
	Vacant May 28, 2002 \| 22 days Dan Severn was stripped of the title after "refusing to make a defense" of the title on the inaugural NWA-TNA weekly pay-per-view.	22 days
56	Dan Severn 2 March 9, 2002 Tokyo, Japan \| ZERO-ONE Vast Energy \| 80 days	80 days
55	Shinya Hashimoto 1 December 15, 2001 McKeesport, PA \| Clash of the Champions \| 84 days Won a 3 round robin style (which also involved Gary Steele and Steve Corino) to win the vacant title.	84 days
	Vacant October 13, 2001 St. Petersburg, FL \| NWA 53rd Anniversary Show \| 63 days The title was held up after a Corino vs. Shinya Hashimoto title match ended in a no contest due to Corino being unable to compete after sustaining a head injury.	63 days
54	Steve Corino 1 April 24, 2001 Tampa, FL \| House show \| 172 days	172 days
53	Mike Rapada 2 December 22, 2000 Nashville, TN \| Christmas Chaos \| 123 days	123 days
52	Sabu 1 November 14, 2000 Tampa, FL \| Night of Decisions \| 38 days	38 days
51	Mike Rapada 1 September 19, 2000 Tampa, FL \| Tango in Tampa \| 56 days Defeated Jerry Flynn in tournament final to win the vacant title.	56 days
	Vacant July 2, 2000 \| 79 days Ogawa vacated the title to focus on training for his scheduled (but later cancelled) MMA fight against Rickson Gracie.	79 days
50	Naoya Ogawa 2 October 2, 1999 Thomaston, CT \| House show \| 274 days	274 days
49	Gary Steele 1 September 25, 1999 Charlotte, NC \| NWA 51st Anniversary Show \| 7 days	7 days
48	Naoya Ogawa 1 March 14, 1999 Yokohama, Japan \| UFO Battle in the Hama Ring \| 195 days	195 days
47	Dan Severn 1 February 24, 1995 Erlanger, KY \| House show \| 1479 days	1479 days
46	Chris Candido 1 November 19, 1994 Cherry Hill, NJ \| NWA World Heavyweight Title Tournament \| 97 days Defeated Tracy Smothers in tournament final to win the vacant title.	97 days
	Vacant August 27, 1994 \| 84 days Shane Douglas threw the NWA World Heavyweight Championship belt down immediately after winning it and declared that he did not want to be the organization's champion; Douglas then declared the NWA-ECW Heavyweight Championship, of which he was already in possession, to be a world championship. Eastern Championship Wrestling then withdraws from the NWA and becomes Extreme Championship Wrestling.	84 days
45	Shane Douglas 1 August 27, 1994 Philadelphia, PA \| ECW NWA World Title Tournament 0 days Defeated 2 Cold Scorpio in tournament final to win the vacant title.	0 days
	Vacant September 15, 1993 \| 346 days WCW withdrew from NWA on September 1, 1993 but NWA continued to recognize Flair as NWA Champion and tried to reach a deal with WCW for the title to be dropped to a wrestler of NWA's choosing before the end of the year. By September 15, communications broke down and NWA attempted to obtain a temporary restraining order against WCW to stop them from advertising the scheduled Rick Rude vs. Ric Flair match at Fall Brawl as a world title match and have the belt returned to them. Though WCW managed to keep the belt, they dropped any mentions of NWA name from that point forward and the title was vacated by NWA while WCW continued to recognize Flair as their WCW International World Heavyweight Champion.	346 days
44	Ric Flair 9 July 18, 1993 Biloxi, MS \| WCW Beach Blast 1993 59 days	59 days
43	Barry Windham 1 February 21, 1993 Asheville, NC \| WCW SuperBrawl III 147 days	147 days
42	The Great Muta 1 January 4, 1993 Tokyo, Japan \| WCW/NJPW Japan Supershow III: Fantastic Story in Tokyo Dome 48 days	48 days
41	Masahiro Chono 1 August 12, 1992 Tokyo, Japan \| NJPW G1 Climax 1992 Finals 145 days Defeated Rick Rude in the final of the G1 Climax to win the vacant title.	145 days
	Vacant September 8, 1991 \| 339 days Ric Flair was stripped of the title upon signing with WWF.	339 days
40	Ric Flair 8 May 19, 1991 St. Petersburg, FL \| WCW SuperBrawl I 112 days This title change was originally ignored in the United States, presenting Flair's reign as one continuous reign, but then it was recognized.	112 days
39	Tatsumi Fujinami 1 March 21, 1991 Tokyo, Japan \| WCW/NJPW Japan Supershow I: Starrcade in Tokyo Dome 59 days This title change was originally ignored in the United States, but then it was recognized.	59 days
38	Ric Flair 7 January 11, 1991 East Rutherford, NJ \| House show \| 69 days After this title win, Flair was also recognized as the first WCW World Heavyweight Champion.	69 days
37	Sting 1 July 7, 1990 Baltimore, MD \| WCW The Great American Bash 1990 188 days	188 days
36	Ric Flair 6 May 7, 1989 Nashville, TN \| WCW WrestleWar 1989 426 days	426 days
35	Ricky Steamboat 1 February 20, 1989 Chicago, IL \| WCW Chi-Town Rumble 1989 76 days	76 days
34	Ric Flair 5 November 26, 1987 Chicago, IL \| NWA Starrcade 1987: Chi-Town Heat 452 days On November 21, 1988 NWA's flagship promotion JCP was purchased by Ted Turner and renamed World Championship Wrestling (WCW).	452 days
33	Ronnie Garvin 1 September 26, 1987 Detroit, MI \| WorldWide \| 61 days	61 days
32	Ric Flair 4 August 9, 1986 St. Louis, MO \| House show \| 413 days	413 days
31	Dusty Rhodes 3 July 26, 1986 Greensboro, NC \| NWA The Great American Bash 1986 14 days	14 days
30	Ric Flair 3 May 24, 1984 Yokosuka, Japan \| House show \| 793 days By early 1985, JCP controlled many NWA territories and attempted going national, thus limiting title matches primarily to performers under contract with JCP.	793 days
29	Kerry von Erich 1 May 6, 1984 Irving, TX \| 1st Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions \| 18 days	18 days
28	Ric Flair 2 November 24, 1983 Greensboro, NC \| NWA Starrcade 1983: A Flare for the Gold 164 days During this reign, Harley Race defeats Ric Flair, then he regained the title, but there title changes were neither authorized nor recognised by NWA.	164 days
27	Harley Race 7 June 10, 1983 St. Louis, MO \| House show \| 167 days	167 days
26	Ric Flair 1 September 17, 1981 Kansas City, KS \| House show \| 631 days During this reign, The Midnight Rider (Dusty Rhodes under a mask due to being under suspension in Florida) defeated Ric Flair for the title, but he returned it when then-NWA President Bob Geigel asked Rider to unmask or return the title, so the title was returned to Flair. Then Jack Veneno defeated Flair in Santo Domingo but he refused to defend the title outside his native country, so the title was returned to Flair on the same day and the title change was not recognized. Then Carlos Colón won it but the title change was not recognized, so the title was returned to Flair after a "fictional match".	631 days
25	Dusty Rhodes 2 June 21, 1981 Atlanta, GA \| House show \| 88 days	88 days
24	Harley Race 6 May 1, 1981 Gainesville, GA \| House show \| 51 days	51 days
23	Tommy Rich 1 April 27, 1981 Augusta, GA \| House show \| 4 days	4 days
22	Harley Race 5 September 9, 1980 Ōtsu, Japan \| House show \| 230 days	230 days
21	Giant Baba 3 September 4, 1980 Saga, Japan \| House show \| 5 days	5 days
20	Harley Race 4 November 7, 1979 Amagasaki, Japan \| House show \| 302 days	302 days
19	Giant Baba 2 October 31, 1979 Nagoya, Japan \| House show \| 7 days	7 days
18	Harley Race 3 August 26, 1979 Orlando, FL \| House show \| 66 days	66 days
17	Dusty Rhodes 1 August 21, 1979 Tampa, FL \| House show \| 5 days	5 days
16	Harley Race 2 February 6, 1977 Toronto, ON \| House show \| 926 days	926 days
15	Terry Funk 1 December 10, 1975 Miami Beach, FL \| House show \| 424 days	424 days
14	Jack Brisco 2 December 9, 1974 Toyohashi, Japan \| House show \| 366 days	366 days
13	Giant Baba 1 December 2, 1974 Kagoshima, Japan \| House show \| 7 days	7 days
12	Jack Brisco 1 July 20, 1973 Houston, TX \| House show \| 500 days	500 days
11	Harley Race 1 May 24, 1973 Kansas City, KS \| House show \| 57 days	57 days
10	Dory Funk Jr. 1 February 11, 1969 Tampa, FL \| House show \| 1563 days	1563 days
9	Gene Kiniski 1 January 7, 1966 St. Louis, MO \| House show \| 1131 days	1131 days
8	Lou Thesz 3 January 24, 1963 Toronto, Ontario, Canada \| House show \| 1079 days During this reign, Buddy Rogers won the title but promoters in the Northeastern United States refused to recognize it.	1079 days
7	Buddy Rogers 1 June 30, 1961 Chicago, IL \| House show \| 573 days During this reign, Bruno Sammartino defeated Rogers but refused to accept the title because Rogers had wrestled with an injury, so the title was returned to Rogers. Also Bobo Brazil refused the title because of a groin injury that Rogers had claimed to have; however Brazil was then declared champion because a doctor had determined that Rogers had not suffered an injury, but this title change is not recognized by NWA (and neither Rogers' rematch win). Also Killer Kowalski defeated Rogers after Rogers broke his ankle; NWA does not recognize any of Rogers' losses.	573 days
6	Pat O'Connor 1 January 9, 1959 St. Louis, MO \| House show \| 903 days During this reign, Gene LeBell defeated O'Connor, but then he struck a Texas wrestling commissioner with the title belt and the decision was reversed. The title was returned to O'Connor and these two title changes were not recognized.	903 days
5	Dick Hutton 1 November 14, 1957 Toronto, Ontario, Canada \| House show \| 421 days	421 days
4	Lou Thesz 2 November 9, 1956 St. Louis, MO \| House show \| 370 days During this reign, Édouard Carpentier was awarded the title when Lou Thesz could not continue the match due to a back injury, but in some territories Thesz continued to be recognized as NWA World Heavyweight Champion, while in others Carpentier was billed as the champion. Thesz then won a rematch against Carpentier. After some controversies, these two title changes were not recognized.	370 days
3	Whipper Billy Watson 1 March 15, 1956 Toronto, Ontario, Canada \| House show \| 239 days	239 days
2	Lou Thesz 1 November 27, 1949 \| 2300 days Awarded of the title when Orville Brown suffered career-ending injuries in an automobile accident on November 1, 1949. During this reign, Leo Nomellini defeated Lou Thesz and both wrestlers continued to claim the title, then Thesz defeated Nomellini in a rematch. These two title changes were not officially recognized.	2300 days
1	Orville Brown 1 January 5, 1948 Waterloo, IA \| 692 days On July 14, 1948, NWA was founded in Waterloo, Iowa and Brown was recognized as the first official NWA World Heavyweight Champion. At the time of the founding of the NWA, Brown already held MWA World Heavyweight Championship and Iowa version of NWA World Heavyweight Championship; during the reign, the two titles were unified into the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.	692 days

NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship: Statistics

Promotion National Wrestling Alliance
Gender Male
Title Type Primary Title
Date Established July 14, 1948
Followed By TNA World Championship

Current ChampionEC3

Most Number of Reigns

Rank	Wrestler	Reigns
	Ric Flair	9
	Harley Race	7
	Jeff Jarrett	7
	Adam Pearce	5
	Lou Thesz	3

Most Combined Days

Rank	Wrestler	Days
	Lou Thesz	3749
	Ric Flair	3119
	Harley Race	1799
	Dory Funk Jr.	1563
	Dan Severn	1559

Longest Reigns

Wrestler	Reign	Days
Lou Thesz	November 27, 1949 - March 15, 1956	2300
Dory Funk Jr.	February 11, 1969 - May 24, 1973	1563
Dan Severn	February 24, 1995 - March 14, 1999	1479
Gene Kiniski	January 7, 1966 - February 11, 1969	1131
Lou Thesz	January 24, 1963 - January 7, 1966	1079

NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship

NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship: Title History

NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship: Title Reigns

EC3 1

Tyrus 1

Trevor Murdoch 2

Vacant

Matt Cardona 1

Trevor Murdoch 1

Nick Aldis 2

Cody 1

Nick Aldis 1

Tim Storm 1

Jax Dane 1

Hiroyoshi Tenzan 1

Rob Conway 2

Satoshi Kojima 1

Rob Conway 1

Kahagas 1

Vacant

Adam Pearce 5

Colt Cabana 2

Adam Pearce 4

Vacant

The Sheik 1

Colt Cabana 1

Adam Pearce 3

Blue Demon Jr. 1

Adam Pearce 2

Brent Albright 1

Adam Pearce 1

Vacant

Christian Cage 2

Abyss 1

Sting 2

Jeff Jarrett 7

Christian Cage 1

Jeff Jarrett 6

Rhino 1

Jeff Jarrett 5

Raven 1

AJ Styles 3

Jeff Jarrett 4

Ray González 1

Jeff Jarrett 3

Ron Killings 2

AJ Styles 2

Jeff Jarrett 2

AJ Styles 1

Jeff Jarrett 1

Ron Killings 1

Ken Shamrock 1

Vacant

Dan Severn 2

Shinya Hashimoto 1

Vacant

Steve Corino 1

Mike Rapada 2

Sabu 1

Mike Rapada 1

Vacant

Naoya Ogawa 2

Gary Steele 1

Naoya Ogawa 1

Dan Severn 1

Chris Candido 1

Vacant

Shane Douglas 1

Vacant

Ric Flair 9

Barry Windham 1

The Great Muta 1

Masahiro Chono 1

Vacant

Ric Flair 8

Tatsumi Fujinami 1

Ric Flair 7

Sting 1

Ric Flair 6

Ricky Steamboat 1