NWA World Heavyweight Championship



In the Classic Era, the NWA World Heavyweight Championship was the top title in the Heavyweight class of the National Wrestling Alliance.

History
As the start of the Classic Era, the Champion was Harley Race, having won the title in May 1973.

In 1986, the Ten Pounds of Gold version of the title belt was replaced by the Big Gold Belt, created by Jim Crockett Promotions.

In 1988, Jim Crockett Promotions became the de facto home of the NWA, having already owned the Mid-Atlantic territory before purchasing Championship Wrestling from Florida and then Central States Wrestling along with the Universal Wrestling Federation. By the end of the year, JCP itself would be sold to Turner Broadcasting and in 1989, it would be rebranded as World Championship Wrestling.

In 1991, a disagreement between the NWA and WCW arose over who the World Heavyweight Champion was, with the NWA recognizing Tatsumi Fujinami and WCW recognizing Ric Flair. The matter would be settled at WCW SuperBrawl with Flair winning. Soon after, Flair would leave WCW behind while still World Heavyweight Champion, creating a new problem. Flair arrived in the World Wrestling Federation, itself a former member of the NWA with the Championship belt. WCW stripped their recognition of the title and created a new title separate from the NWA. The NWA meanwhile eventually got their title belt back from Flair and that led to a tournament won by Masahiro Chono.

In 1993, WCW officially separated from the NWA while Flair was Champion. WCW claimed ownership of the title belt as it had been a creation of JCP, whose properties now belonged to them. That title would be renamed the WCW International Heavyweight Championship while the NWA brought back the Ten Pounds of Gold to represent them once again.

In 1994, a tournament was held to determine a new Champion. Shane Douglas, the NWA Eastern Heavyweight Champion at the time, won the tournament. During his post match speech in the ring, he rejected the title in favor of his Eastern title. The next day, Eastern Championship Wrestling would fold, terminating its relationship with the NWA in the process. In its place was the formation of Extreme Championship Wrestling with Douglas as its World Heavyweight Champion.

The NWA would finally crown a new World Heavyweight Champion in a tournament without any headaches later in the year, with Chris Candido winning. From this point onward, the Championship was mostly vied for by competitors from smaller, independent promotions though Dan Severn did make appearances with it in the WWF.

At the time of Classic Era's destruction, the Championship belonged to Mike Rapada

List of Champions

 * Harley Race (1973)(1977-79)(1979)(1979-80)(1980-81)(1981)(1983)
 * Jack Brisco (1973-74)(1974-75)
 * Giant Baba (1974)(1979)(1980)
 * Terry Funk (1975-77)
 * Dusty Rhodes (1979)(1981)(1986)
 * Tommy Rich (1981)
 * Ric Flair (1981-83)(1983-84)(1984-86)(1986-87)(1987-89)(1989-90)(1991)(1993)
 * Kerry Von Erich (1984)
 * Ron Garvin (1987)
 * Ricky Steamboat (1989)
 * Sting (1990-91)
 * Tatsumi Fujinami (1991)
 * Masahiro Chono (1992-93)
 * The Great Muta (1993)
 * Barry Windham (1993)
 * Shane Douglas (1994)
 * Chris Candido (1994-95)
 * Dan Severn (1995-99)
 * Naoya Ogawa (1999)(1999-2000)
 * Gary Steele (1999)
 * Mike Rapada (2000)(2000-01)
 * Sabu (2000)