# NWA World Television Championship

The NWA World Television Championship is a world television championship owned and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The inaugural champion was Ricky Starks.
On December 14, 2019, the NWA announced they were reintroducing the NWA World Television Championship with a tournament to determine a new champion. Although past Television champions from both the Georgia and Mid-Atlantic versions have been referred to on NWA programming, the original titles and respective lineage are currently owned by WWE. The modern-day NWA World Television Championship is considered the third most important heavyweight title in the current NWA, after the World and National titles. The belt uses the same design as used by JCP/WCW between 1985 and 1992.

## History

On December 14, 2019, during NWA's Into the Fire pay-per-view, it was announced they were reintroducing the NWA World Television Championship with a tournament to determine a new champion at their next PPV, Hard Times, on January 24, 2020. On the December 17 episode of NWA's weekly flagship program, NWA Power, it was revealed that all NWA World Television Championship tournament matches would have a 6 minute, 5 second time limit. The time limit was an homage to the 6:05 PM start time of NWA Power as well as a tribute to the original start time for NWA's World Championship Wrestling that ran from the 1970s to 1992. All tournament competitors, as well as two qualifying matches, were then announced. On the January 7 episode of NWA Power, Tim Storm clarified that six competitors would move on to the first round of the NWA World Television Championship tournament. He also announced there would be two additional spots open in the first round for competitors yet to be named and not currently on the NWA roster. The tournament bracket was unveiled on the January 14 episode of NWA Power. On the January 21 episode of NWA Power, the final two competitors in the first round of the tournament were named: Matt Cross from the independent circuit and Dan Maff from Ring of Honor.
On the January 28, 2020 episode of NWA Power, the "Lucky Seven Rule" was announced. A champion who successfully defends the championship seven consecutive times will be eligible to trade in the championship for a match for the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship. On March 21, 2021 at Back For The Attack, the NWA extended the time limit for World Television title matches on pay-per-views to ten minutes.

### Hard Times tournament

| Qualifier | Qualifier | First Round | First Round | Semifinals | Semifinals | | Final | Final |
| Tim Storm | Pin | | | | | | | |
| Royce Isaacs | 4:26 | | | | | | | |
| Royce Isaacs | 4:26 | Tim Storm | Bye | | | | | |
| | | Ken Anderson | -- | | | | | |
| Dave Dawson | 3:56 | Ken Anderson | -- | | | | | |
| Zane Dawson | Pin | | | | | | | |
| Zane Dawson | Pin | | | Tim Storm | 4:43 | | | |
| | | | | Ricky Starks | Pin | | | |
| Eddie Kingston | 4:10 | | | | | Ricky Starks | Pin | | | |
| Ricky Starks | Pin | | | | | | | |
| Ricky Starks | Pin | Ricky Starks | Pin | | | | | |
| | | Matt Cross | 3:50 | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | Ricky Starks | Pin |
| | | | | | | | Trevor Murdoch | 9:20 |
| Zicky Dice | Pin | | | | | | | | Trevor Murdoch | 9:20 |
| Caleb Konley | 4:43 | | | | | | | |
| Caleb Konley | 4:43 | Zicky Dice | 2:35 | | | | | |
| | | Dan Maff | Pin | | | | | |
| | | | | Dan Maff | 3:27 | | | |
| | | | | Trevor Murdoch | Pin | | | |
| The Question Mark | Pin | | | | | Trevor Murdoch | Pin | | | |
| Colt Cabana | 3:05 | | | | | | | |
| Colt Cabana | 3:05 | The Question Mark | 3:08 | | | | | |
| | | Trevor Murdoch | Pin | | | | | |
| Trevor Murdoch | Pin | Trevor Murdoch | Pin | | | | | |
| Thom Latimer | 3:30 | | | | | | | |
1 ^ Replaced Nick Aldis when Aldis refused to enter and ordered fellow Strictly Business member Isaacs to take his place. 2 ^ Replaced an injured Zane Dawson when Anderson won an 8-man Last Chance Gauntlet match to fill the spot. 3 ^ Anderson was not "medically cleared" to compete giving Tim Storm a bye as a result.

## Belt design

The current design is the same that Jim Crockett Promotions used from April 1985 to November 1988. It is also the same design World Championship Wrestling used from November 1988 to January 1991 and for the WCW World Television Championship belt from January 1991 to May 1992. The design uses a dual-colored leather strap (black front, red back) as the base. The main plate is nickel silver with a red background for the words “NWA Television Heavyweight Wrestling Champion.” An eagle’s head and wings sit underneath the “NWA” letters, a globe is etched in the silver underneath “Television,” and a wrestling ring with two figures is etched in the silver underneath “Heavyweight Wrestling Champion.” There are four side plates. On the left are the logos of two of the major television networks: NBC and ABC. On the right, the logo of the television network CBS is on one plate while an image of a satellite dish is on the other. The belt was also available in red and white straps.

## Reigns

As of March 16, 2025, there have been nine reigns between nine champions and four vacancies. Ricky Starks was the inaugural champion. Tyrus reign is the longest between 474 and 476 days, while Starks' reign is the shortest with two days. Tyrus is the oldest champion at 48 years old, while Carson Drake is the youngest at 24 years old.
Currently the title is vacated after Carson Bartholomew Drake to wrestle for the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship as part of the "Lucky Seven Rule" at NWA Powerrr on February 2, 2025 in Tampa, Florida.

### Names

| Name | Years |
| NWA World Television Championship | December 14, 2019 – present |
Key :
| No. | Overall reign number |
| Reign | Reign number for the specific champion |
| Days | Number of days held |
| + | Current reign is changing daily |
| No. | Champion | Championship change | Championship change | Championship change | Reign statistics | Reign statistics | Notes | Ref. |
| No. | Champion | Date | Event | Location | Reign | Days | Notes | Ref. |
| | National Wrestling Alliance/Lightning One Inc. | National Wrestling Alliance/Lightning One Inc. | National Wrestling Alliance/Lightning One Inc. | National Wrestling Alliance/Lightning One Inc. | National Wrestling Alliance/Lightning One Inc. | National Wrestling Alliance/Lightning One Inc. | National Wrestling Alliance/Lightning One Inc. | National Wrestling Alliance/Lightning One Inc. |
| 1 | Ricky Starks | January 24, 2020 | Hard Times | Atlanta, GA | 1 | 2 | Defeated Trevor Murdoch in the finals of 12-man single-elimination tournament to become the inaugural champion. | |
| 2 | Zicky Dice | January 26, 2020 | NWA Powerrr | Atlanta, GA | 1 | 268 | Aired on tape delay on March 3, 2020. | |
| 3 | Da Pope | October 20, 2020 | UWN Primetime Live | Long Beach, CA | 1 | Between 228 and 230 | | |
| 4 | Tyrus | Between June 5, 2021 and June 7, 2021 | NWA Powerrr | Atlanta, GA | 1 | Between 476 or 474 | Aired on tape delay on August 6, 2021. The date the title change took place is unknown, as the tapings were held between June 5-7, 2021. | |
| — | Vacated | September 24, 2022 | NWA USA | Atlanta, GA | — | — | Tyrus voluntarily vacated the championship to wrestle for the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship as part of the "Lucky Seven Rule". | |
| 5 | Jordan Clearwater | November 12, 2022 | Hard Times 3 | New Orleans, LA | 1 | 92 | Defeated AJ Cazana for the vacant title. The time limit was extended for this match only to 15 minutes after the previous match between the same competitors on the October 22nd episode of NWA USA for the title ended in a time limit draw. | |
| 6 | Thom Latimer | February 12, 2023 | NWA Powerrr | Tampa, FL | 1 | 213 | Aired on tape delay on February 14, 2023. | |
| — | Vacated | August 28, 2023 | NWA Powerrr | Tampa, FL | — | — | Latimer voluntarily vacated the championship to wrestle for the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship as part of the "Lucky Seven Rule". Aired on September 13, 2023. | |
| 7 | Mims | August 29, 2023 | NWA Powerrr | Nashville, TN | 1 | 137 | Defeated Zicky Dice for the vacant title. Aired on tape delay on October 10, 2023. | |
| 8 | Max the Impaler | January 13, 2024 | Paranoia | Fort Lauderdale, FL | 1 | 287 | Aired at NWA Powerrr on tape delay on February 13, 2024. | |
| 9 | Carson Bartholomew Drake | October 26, 2024 | Samhain 2 | Tampa, FL | 1 | 100 | This was a Hell Awaits match. Aired at NWA Powerrr on tape delay on December 10, 2024. | |
| — | Vacated | February 2, 2025 | NWA Powerrr | Tampa, FL | — | — | Drake voluntarily vacated the championship to wrestle for the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship as part of the "Lucky Seven Rule". | |