# WWA World Heavyweight Championship (Los Angeles)

The WWA World Heavyweight Championship, also known simply as the World Heavyweight Championship, was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in the Los Angeles, California-based Worldwide Wrestling Associates (WWA). The title was established as an offshoot of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship when Édouard Carpentier became recognized as world champion in Los Angeles, when the promotion was then known as the North American Wrestling Alliance. The championship was renamed with the promotion in 1961, and was abandoned in 1968 after WWA joined the NWA and was renamed NWA Hollywood Wrestling.
There were multiple world titles contested in Indianapolis' World Wrestling Association, the World Wrestling Association in Mexico and in the World Wrestling Association of Korea, which are all omonime promotions of the original WWA and which all consider themselves to be the true WWA or its true heir.

## Title history

Key :
| No. | Overall reign number |
| Reign | Reign number for the specific champion |
| Days | Number of days held |
| No. | Champion | Championship change | Championship change | Championship change | Reign statistics | Reign statistics | Notes | Ref. |
| No. | Champion | Date | Event | Location | Reign | Days | Notes | Ref. |
| 1 | Édouard Carpentier | June 14, 1957 | WWA show | Chicago, Illinois | 1 | 1,459 | Defeated Lou Thesz by disqualification to become the National Wrestling Alliance world champion. He lost the NWA title by disqualification to Thesz on July 24, 1957. Some NWA territories (which then became Worldwide Wrestling Associates) didn't recognize the title change and thus the WWA World title was born. | |
| 2 | Freddie Blassie | June 12, 1961 | WWA show | Los Angeles, California | 1 | 289 | He won the title when Carpentier was declared unable to continue in third fall. | |
| 3 | Rikidōzan | March 28, 1962 | WWA show | Los Angeles, California | 1 | 119 | | |
| 4 | Freddie Blassie | July 25, 1962 | WWA show | Los Angeles, California | 2 | 2 | | |
| 5 | The Destroyer | July 27, 1962 | WWA show | San Diego, California | 1 | 287 | | |
| 6 | Freddie Blassie | May 10, 1963 | WWA show | Los Angeles, California | 3 | 105 | | |
| 7 | Bearcat Wright | August 23, 1963 | WWA show | Los Angeles, California | 1 | 115 | Wins by countout. First black wrestler to hold a world title in professional wrestling. | |
| 8 | Édouard Carpentier | December 16, 1963 | WWA show | Indio, California | 2 | 45 | Wins by forfeit when Wright no-shows a scheduled defense. | |
| 9 | Freddie Blassie | January 30, 1964 | WWA show | Los Angeles, California | 4 | 83 | | |
| 10 | Dick the Bruiser | April 22, 1964 | WWA show | Los Angeles, California | 1 | 91 | | |
| 11 | The Destroyer | July 22, 1964 | WWA show | Los Angeles, California | 2 | 50 | Dick the Bruiser didn't acknowledge his defeat against The Destroyer, claiming to be the true WWA champion and starting World Wrestling Association (Indianapolis) as the first WWA World Heavyweight Championship (Indianapolis) holder. | |
| 12 | Bob Ellis | September 10, 1964 | WWA show | Los Angeles, California | 1 | 64 | | |
| 13 | The Destroyer | November 13, 1964 | WWA show | San Diego, California | 3 | 119 | | |
| † | Toyonobori | December 12, 1964 | JWA show | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | | Toyonobori defeated The Destroyer in a JWA card, but the title change was not recognized by WWA. However Toyonobori was recognized as the legitimate champion in the JWA. To put an end to the controversy Luke Graham, the champion recognized by WWA, defeated Toyonobori, the champion recognized by the JWA, on September 20, 1965, in Los Angeles (below). | |
| 14 | Pedro Morales | March 12, 1965 | WWA show | Los Angeles, California | 1 | 133 | Defeats The Destroyer | |
| 15 | Luke Graham | July 23, 1965 | WWA show | Los Angeles, California | 1 | 86 | Recognized as legitimate champion by WWA, defeated Toyonobori, recognized by the Japanese Wrestling Association as the true champion, on September 20, 1965, in Los Angeles to put an end to the controversy on the legitimate title holder. | |
| 16 | Pedro Morales | October 17, 1965 | WWA show | Los Angeles, California | 2 | 292 | | |
| 17 | Buddy Austin | August 5, 1966 | WWA show | Los Angeles, California | 1 | 28 | | |
| 18 | Bobo Brazil | September 2, 1966 | WWA show | Los Angeles, California | 1 | 14 | | |
| 19 | Buddy Austin | September 16, 1966 | WWA show | Los Angeles, California | 2 | 28 | | |
| 20 | Lou Thesz | October 14, 1966 | WWA show | Los Angeles, California | 1 | 14 | | |
| 21 | Mark Lewin | October 28, 1966 | WWA show | Los Angeles, California | 1 | 193 | | |
| 22 | Kim Il | May 9, 1967 | WWA show | Seoul, South Korea | 1 | 66 | | |
| 23 | Mike DiBiase | July 14, 1967 | WWA show | Los Angeles, California | 1 | 42 | | |
| 24 | Buddy Austin | August 25, 1967 | WWA show | Los Angeles, California | 3 | 140 | | |
| 25 | Bobo Brazil | January 12, 1968 | WWA show | Los Angeles, California | 2 | 341 | On October 1, 1968, WWA joined the National Wrestling Alliance. To determine the unified world champion Gene Kiniski, the NWA world champion, wrestled Brazil to a draw on December 18, 1968, in Los Angeles. Kiniski was therefore recognized the true champion and the WWA World title was merge with the NWA World title. | |
| — | Deactivated | December 18, 1968 | WWA show | — | — | — | | |