# NWA International Heavyweight Championship

The NWA International Heavyweight Championship was a singles title recognized by the National Wrestling Alliance through its partnership with the Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance, and later by All Japan Pro Wrestling. It is one of the three titles that were unified into the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship in 1989. In 1983, Giant Baba would elevate the title further in the eyes of many when he, as the reigning PWF Heavyweight Champion, declared Jumbo Tsuruta to be the new "Ace" of All Japan after Jumbo won the NWA International Heavyweight Championship from Bruiser Brody. Following the withdrawal of All Japan from the NWA, the International title was briefly sanctioned by the Pacific Wrestling Federation until the unification of the Triple Crown could be completed.
Under Rikidōzan the belt had a design similar to Lou Thesz's original NWA World Heavyweight Championship belt during the 1950s, but after Rikidōzan's death, the belt given to Giant Baba had the design seen on the belt part of the Triple Crown until 2013. The original design was later used on the PWF Heavyweight Championship, the UWFI belt (which was the original Lou Thesz belt), and a belt later given to Kazushi Sakuraba for show.

## Title history

| Symbol | Meaning |
| No. | The overall championship reign |
| Reign | The reign number for the specific wrestler listed. |
| Event | The event in which the championship changed hands |
| N/A | The specific information is not known |
| — | Used for vacated reigns in order to not count it as an official reign |
| [Note #] | Indicates that the exact length of the title reign is unknown, with a note providing more details. |
| # | Wrestler | Reign | Date | Days held | Location | Event | Notes | Ref. |
| | Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance | Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance | Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance | Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance | Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance | Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance | Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance | Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance |
| 1 | Lou Thesz | 1 | November 1, 1957 | 299 | N/A | N/A | Thesz was awarded the championship by the NWA after losing the World Heavyweight Championship to Dick Hutton. Houston NWA promoter Morris Sigel claimed that Thesz had won the title by defeating Antonino Rocca in 1949. | |
| 2 | Rikidōzan | 1 | August 27, 1958 | 1,936 | Los Angeles, California, United States | House show | Thesz claims the match was not for the title and continues defending the title in the U.S. and Europe until regaining the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in January 1963. | |
| - | Vacated | - | December 15, 1963 | - | N/A | N/A | Vacated following Rikidōzan's death from stab wounds suffered one week earlier in Tokyo, Japan. | |
| 3 | Giant Baba | 1 | November 24, 1965 | 944 | Osaka, Japan | House show | Defeated Dick the Bruiser for the vacant title. | |
| 4 | Bobo Brazil | 1 | June 25, 1968 | 2 | Nagoya, Japan | House show | | |
| 5 | Giant Baba | 2 | June 27, 1968 | 889 | Tokyo, Japan | House show | | |
| 6 | Gene Kiniski | 1 | December 3, 1970 | 16 | Osaka, Japan | House show | | |
| 7 | Giant Baba | 3 | December 19, 1970 | 623 | Los Angeles, California, United States | House show | | |
| - | Vacated | - | September 2, 1972 | - | N/A | N/A | Vacated when Baba left the Japan Wrestling Association to start All Japan Pro Wrestling. | |
| 8 | Bobo Brazil | 2 | December 1, 1972 | 3 | Yokohama, Japan | House show | Defeated Kintarō Ōki for the vacant title. | |
| 9 | Kintarō Ōki | 1 | December 4, 1972 | 3,052 | Hiroshima, Japan | House show | | |
| - | Vacated | - | April 13, 1981 | - | N/A | N/A | After the JWA closed in 1973, Ohki took the belt to South Korea from where he defended it. After briefly returning to Japan and making some defenses in IWE, Ohki vacated the title on April 13, 1981 under orders from the NWA. | |
| | All Japan Pro Wrestling | All Japan Pro Wrestling | All Japan Pro Wrestling | All Japan Pro Wrestling | All Japan Pro Wrestling | All Japan Pro Wrestling | All Japan Pro Wrestling | All Japan Pro Wrestling |
| 10 | Dory Funk, Jr. | 1 | April 30, 1981 | | Matsudo, Japan | House show | Won tournament for the vacant title when Bruiser Brody was injured and unable to wrestle in the finals. Defeated Terry Funk for his first title defense instead. | |
| 11 | Bruce Reed | 1 | June 1981 | | Florida, United States | House show | Title reign not recognized in Japan. | |
| 12 | Dory Funk, Jr. | 2 | August 1981 | | Florida, United States | House show | | |
| 13 | Bruiser Brody | 1 | October 9, 1981 | 23 | Tokyo, Japan | House show | | |
| 14 | Dory Funk, Jr. | 3 | November 1, 1981 | 171 | Tokyo, Japan | House show | | |
| 15 | Bruiser Brody | 2 | April 21, 1982 | 374 | Osaka, Japan | House show | | |
| 16 | Jumbo Tsuruta | 1 | April 30, 1983 | 1,188 | Tokyo, Japan | House show | | |
| 17 | Stan Hansen | 1 | July 31, 1986 | 82 | Tokyo, Japan | House show | | |
| 18 | Jumbo Tsuruta | 2 | October 21, 1986 | 523 | Tokyo, Japan | House show | | |
| 19 | Bruiser Brody | 3 | March 27, 1988 | 22 | Tokyo, Japan | House show | | |
| 20 | Jumbo Tsuruta | 3 | April 19, 1988 | 364 | Sendai, Japan | House show | | |
| - | Unified | - | April 18, 1989 | - | N/A | N/A | Unified with PWF Heavyweight Championship and NWA United National Championship to create the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship. | |

## Combined reigns

| Rank | Wrestler | No. of reigns | Combined days |
| 1 | Kintarō Ōki | 1 | 3,052 |
| 2 | Giant Baba | 3 | 2,456 |
| 3 | Jumbo Tsuruta | 3 | 2,076 |
| 4 | Rikidōzan | 1 | 1936 |
| 5 | Bruiser Brody | 3 | 419 |
| 6 | Lou Thesz | 1 | 299 |
| 7 | Dory Funk, Jr. | 3 | 242 - 301 |
| 8 | Stan Hansen | 1 | 82 |
| 9 | Bruce Reed | 1 | 32 - 91 |
| 10 | Gene Kiniski | 1 | 16 |
| 11 | Bobo Brazil | 2 | 5 |