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7 Great NWA World Heavyweight Wrestling Champions

Dory Funk Jr., Terry Funk, Gene Kiniski, Lou Thesz, Buddy Rogers, Harley Race and Pat O'Connor

Today In NWA Wrestling History (March 15th)

March 15th 1956 

Toronto, ON, Canada

Whipper Billy Watson defeated Lou Thesz to win the World Heavyweight Championship (Original version) & the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. 

Watson held the World championship for 239 days and this was his only NWA World title reign.  He lost the title back to Thesz in St. Louis MO on November 9th 1956

Sting joins the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2016: Raw, January 11, 2016

WWE Hall of Fame 2016

NWA/WCW/TNA/WWE Superstar Sting has been announced as the first member of the Class of 2016 for the WWE Hall of Fame.

Today in Wrestling History (April 27th)

April 27th 1981

Augusta, Georgia

Tommy Rich stuns the wrestling world by pinning NWA World Champion Harley Race to win his first and only

World Heavyweight title.  

However, only 4 days later in Gainesville, Georgia, Harley Race would recapture the belt to begin his 6th world title reign.

Wrestle War 1989 (NWA World Title Match)

Wrestling Magazine Cover of the Week

Pro Wrestling Illustrated 

October 1984

Match of the Night (Flair vs Rude 1993)

Fall Brawl 1993

WAR GAMES

September 19th

Astro Arena

Houston, TX

NWA World Heavyweight Title

Ric Flair 

(World Champion)

vs

"Ravishing" Rick Rude

Today in Wrestling History

Title Changes for September 25th

(yes a little late)

1953 – Blue Demon defeats El Santo to win the NWA World Welterweight Championship

1964 – Rayo de Jalisco defeats Benny Galant to win the NWA World Middleweight Championship

1965 – "Bulldog" Don Kent defeated Red McKim to win the NWA Tri-State Missouri Junior Heavyweight Championship

1981 – The Great Kabuki defeated Kerry Von Erich to win the NWA American Heavyweight Championship

1985 – Terry Taylor defeated Black Bart to win the NWA National Heavyweight Championship

1987 – "Hands of Stone" Ronnie Garvin defeated Natureoy Ric Flair to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship

1994 – Stars 'n' Stripes (Marcus Alexander Bagwell & The Patriot) defeated Pretty Wonderful ("Pretty" Paul Roma & "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff) to win the WCW World Tag Team Championship

1995 – The Smoking Gunns defeated Owen Hart & Yokozuna to win the WWF World Tag Team Championship

1999 – Gary Steele defeated Brian Anthony & Naoya Ogawa in a 3-Way Dance to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship

1999 – Team Extreme (Kit Carson & Khris Germany) defeated The Brotherhood (Dukes Dalton & Knuckles Nelson) to win the NWA World Tag Team Championship

2000 – Vince Russo defeated Booker T in a Cage Match to win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship

2000 - The Natural Born Thrillers (Sean O’Haire & Mark Jindrak) win a battle royal to win the vacant WCW World Tag Team Championship

2001 – Booker T & Test defeated The Brothers of Destruction (The Undertaker & Kane) to win the WCW (WWF) World Tag Team Championship

2006 – The Pro Wrestling Noah GHC Tag Team Championship is vacated when one-half of the reigning champions, Kenta Kobashi is diagnosed with kidney cancer

2007 –The WWE Cruiserweight Title is vacated by Smackdown General Manager Vickie Guerrero. This would be the final time that the belt would appear on WWE programming, though it wouldn’t be officially retired until the following year

2010 – "Black Machismo" Jay Lethal defeated The Amazing Red to win the TNA X-Division Championship

Magazine Cover of the Day

November 1990

Match of the Night (NWA World Title 1993)

WCW/New Japan Supershow 3

January 4th 1993

Tokyo Dome

Tokyo, Japan

NWA World Heavyweight Champion

Masahiro Chono

vs

New Japan IWGP Champion

The Great Muta

WE LOVE PRO WRESTLING!

BARRY WINDHAM

NWA World Heavyweight Champion

Defeated champion The Great Muta (Kenji Muto) at Superbrawl III in Asheville, NC on Feb 21st 1993

Held the title for 147 days before losing to Ric Flair on July 18th 1993 at Beach Blast

Today in Wrestling History (July 7th)

Sting wins his first NWA World Heavyweight Title

Stings pins Ric Flair at the Great American Bash in Baltimore MD, July 7th 1990

Sting would hold the title for 188 days before losing in rematch with Flair on January 11th 1991 in East Rutherford NJ.

30 Second Fury - Sting's Scorpion Death Drop

Today in Wrestling History (May 6th)

Kerry Von Erich wins the NWA World Heavyweight Title

David Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions

May 6th 1984

Texas Stadium

Irving, TX

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Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat

NWA World Heavyweight Champion

Feb 20th 1989 - May 7th 1989

Lou Thesz

Today April 28, 2002. One of the greatest American wrestlers of all time, NWA legend Lou Thesz (b. Lajos Tiza, later changed to Aloysius Martin Thesz, 4.24.16 in Banat, MI) passes away from complications of a triple bypass surgery at age 86.

NWA World Heavyweight Champion
World Heavyweight Champion (Los Angeles Version)
World Heavyweight Champion (Montreal Version)
Texas Heavyweight Champion
AWA (Boston) World Heavyweight Champion
AWA (Ohio) World Heavyweight Champion
NWA International (Japan) Heavyweight Champion
NWA Southern Junior Heavyweight Champion
NWA Southern (Mid-America) & Pacific Coast (Vancouver) Tag Team Champion
IWE (Japan) TWWA World Heavyweight Champion
UWA (Mexico) World Heavyweight Champion
WWA (Los Angeles) World Heavyweight Champion

Wrestling Magazine Cover of the Day

February 1982

Ric Flair vs Jerry Lawler - NWA World Title

NWA World Heavyweight Title November 7th 1979

November 7th 1979, Harley Race would face japanese legend and NWA World Heavyweight Champion, Giant Baba in a rematch for the NWA World Heavyweight Title.  Race lost the title 7 days earlier to Baba in Nagoya, Japan.  This time they met in Amagasaki, Japan with the belt on the line.

Harley Race would hold the belt for 302 days, from November 7th 1979 to September 4th 1980 when he again would lose the belt to Giant Baba, this time in Saga, Japan.  Baba would be World champion for 5 days this time and Race would win back the belt on September 9th in Otsu, Japan.