# NWA Western States Heavyweight Championship

The NWA Western States Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling title in the National Wrestling Alliance's Amarillo, Texas territory, Western States Sports.
The title was in use from 1969, when it replaced Amarillo's version of the NWA North American Heavyweight Championship, through the promotion's 1981 closure.
The title was revived in 2015 by NWA Vendetta Pro Wrestling, with a new champion being crowned via a tournament held in Santa Maria, California. This was an eight-man, single-elimination tournament, won by "Loverboy" Matt Riviera. Though created as a "new" title, all previous champions have received recognition.
The original title was not related to the NWA Western States Heritage Championship, which was used in Jim Crockett Promotions from 1987 to 1989, though the 2015 version does use the same title belt design, and as such, is often referred to as the Western States "Heritage" Championship.
Title retired once again as of September 8, 2017 when titleholder Rik Luxury defeated Vendetta Pro Wrestling Heavyweight Champion Apostle Judah Mathew to unify the two titles into the new Vendetta Pro Wrestling Western States Heavyweight Championship.

## Title history

Silver areas in the history indicate periods of unknown lineage. An (n) indicates that a title changes occurred no later than the listed date.
| Wrestler: | Times: | Date: | Location: | Notes: |
| Dory Funk, Sr. | 1 | June 12, 1969 | Amarillo, Texas | Funk was the final holder of the Amarillo version of the NWA North American Heavyweight Championship and awarded the title when it was replaced. |
| Tex McKenzie | 1 | November 13, 1969 | Amarillo, Texas | By forfeit after Funk suffers arm injury previous night in Lubbock, Texas. |
| The Beast | 1 | November 24, 1969 | Amarillo, Texas | |
| Ricky Romero | 1 | February 2, 1970 | El Paso, Texas | |
| Title vacated on February 20, 1970 when Romero wins the Rocky Mountain Heavyweight Championship. |||||
| Terry Funk | 1 | March 19, 1970 | Amarillo, Texas | The match ends with a controversial decision when two referees award the victory to each man. |
| The Beast | 2 | March 1970 (n) | | Awarded back sometime after March 26, 1970 and defends in Abilene, TX on March 27, 1970. |
| Terry Funk | 2 | May 7, 1970 | Amarillo, Texas | |
| Bull Ramos | 1 | July 1, 1970 | Lubbock, Texas | |
| Terry Funk | 3 | July 7, 1970 | Amarillo, Texas | |
| Pak Song | 1 | July 16, 1970 | Amarillo, Texas | |
| The Spartan (Ricky Hunter) | 1 | February 25, 1971 | Amarillo, Texas | |
| The Spartan (Ricky Hunter) | 2 | April 14, 1971 | Amarillo, Texas | |
| Terry Funk | 4 | April 29, 1971 | Amarillo, Texas | |
| Mr. Wrestling (Gordon Nelson) | 1 | June 21, 1971 (n) | Amarillo, Texas | Sometime after May 6, 1971. |
| Terry Funk | 5 | June 28, 1971 | Abilene, Texas | |
| Ciclón Negro | 1 | July 6, 1971 | Odessa, Texas | |
| Terry Funk | 6 | August 3, 1971 | Odessa, Texas | |
| Pak Song | 2 | August 5, 1971 | Amarillo, Texas | |
| Terry Funk | 7 | August 12, 1971 | Amarillo, Texas | |
| Ciclón Negro | 2 | August 26, 1971 | Amarillo, Texas | |
| Dory Funk | 2 | September 9, 1971 | Amarillo, Texas | |
| Title vacated when Funk is injured during the match. Ciclón Negro and Terry Funk wrestle to a draw for the vacant title on September 16, 1971 in Amarillo, Texas. |||||
| Ciclón Negro | 3 | September 30, 1971 | Amarillo, Texas | Defeats Terry Funk. |
| Lord Alfred Hayes | 1 | December 2, 1971 | Amarillo, Texas | |
| Duke Myers | 1 | March 13, 1972 | Abilene, Texas | Maybe held up after this match. |
| Lord Alfred Hayes | 2 | March 20, 1972 | Abilene, Texas | Maybe for the held-up title. |
| Ciclón Negro | 4 | June 13, 1972 | Odessa, Texas | |
| Lord Alfred Hayes | 3 | June 20, 1972 | Odessa, Texas | |
| Ciclón Negro | 5 | June 29, 1972 | Amarillo, Texas | |
| Lord Alfred Hayes | 4 | July 6, 1972 | Amarillo, Texas | |
| Dory Funk | 3 | August 16, 1972 | Lubbock, Texas | |
| Lord Alfred Hayes | 5 | August 21, 1972 | Abilene, Texas | Billed as Champion. |
| Ciclón Negro | 6 | August 31, 1972 | Amarillo, Texas | |
| Terry Funk | 8 | November 1972 (n) | | Possibly on November 12, 1972 in Clovis, New Mexico. |
| Karl Von Steiger | 1 | 1972 (n) | | |
| Ricky Romero | 2 | 1973 (n) | | |
| King Curtis Iaukea | 1 | 1973 (n) | | |
| Ciclón Negro | 7 | July 6, 1973 | Abilene, Texas | |
| Terry Funk | 9 | July 10, 1973 (n) | | |
| Kung Fu Lee | 1 | October 18, 1973 | Amarillo, Texas | |
| Title held up Against Terry Funk. |||||
| Terry Funk | 10 | October 25, 1973 | Amarillo, Texas | Defeated Kung Fu Lee in a rematch. |
| Buck Robley | 1 | January 24, 1974 | Clovis, New Mexico | |
| Terry Funk | 11 | March 3, 1974 | Clovis, New Mexico | |
| Karl Von Steiger | 2 | March 1974 (n) | | |
| Bob Backlund | 1 | March 9, 1974 | Amarillo, Texas | |
| Dick Murdoch | 1 | May 10, 1974 | | |
| Bob Backlund | 2 | May 22, 1974 | Lubbock, Texas | |
| Karl Von Steiger | 3 | May 23, 1974 | Amarillo, Texas | |
| Dick Murdoch | 2 | May 30, 1974 | Amarillo, Texas | |
| Title vacant in June 1974 after winning the NWA International Title. |||||
| Siegfried Stanke | 1 | July 4, 1974 | Amarillo, Texas | Defeats Akio Sato in a 4-man tournament final. |
| Akio Sato | 1 | August 16, 1974 | | |
| Siegfried Stanke | 2 | August 24, 1974 | | |
| Bob Backlund | 3 | September 4, 1974 | | |
| Killer Karl Kox | 1 | September 10, 1974 | Odessa, Texas | |
| Bob Backlund | 4 | September 11, 1974 | Lubbock, Texas | Maybe billed as champion. |
| Jim Dillon | 1 | September 19, 1974 | Amarillo, Texas | Defeated Killer Karl Kox. |
| Terry Funk | 12 | October 17, 1974 | Amarillo, Texas | |
| Title vacated when Funk left for Florida in April 1975. |||||
| Bobby Jaggers | 1 | June 11, 1975 | Lubbock, Texas | Defeats Nick Kozak 4-man a tournament final. |
| Ray Candy | 1 | July 30, 1975 | Lubbock, Texas | |
| Bruiser Brody | 1 | October 17, 1975 | Lubbock, Texas | |
| Scott Casey | 1 | December 18, 1975 | Amarillo, Texas | |
| Jerry Brisco | 1 | April 16, 1976 | Amarillo, Texas | |
| Scott Casey | 2 | June 4, 1976 | Lubbock, Texas | |
| Tank Patton | 1 | October 13, 1976 | Abilene, Texas | |
| Super Destroyer | 1 | February 24, 1977 | Amarillo, Texas | |
| Doug Somers | 1 | April 7, 1977 | Amarillo, Texas | |
| Bull Ramos | 2 | September 1977 (n) | Wichita Falls, Texas | |
| Ricky Romero | 3 | December 15, 1977 | Amarillo, Texas | |
| Roger Kirby | 1 | April 14, 1978 (n) | | |
| Ricky Romero | 4 | July 21, 1978 (n) | | Sometime after June 27, 1978; still champion as of August 10, 1978. |
| Title vacated. |||||
| Bob Morgan | 1 | February 28, 1980 | Amarillo, Texas | Defeats Larry Lane in tournament final. |
| Larry Lane | 1 | March 6, 1980 | Amarillo, Texas | Won a tournament. |
| Bob Morgan | 2 | March 7, 1980 | Amarillo, Texas | |
| Title vacated. |||||
| Ricky Romero | 5 | August 27, 1981 | Amarillo, Texas | Defeated Doug Somers in a tournament final after the initial match on August 20, 1981 ends with DDQ. |
| Title retired in 1981 when the promotion closed. Revived in 2015 by Vendetta Pro Wrestling. |||||
| Matt Riviera | 1 | January 17, 2015 | Santa Maria, California | Defeated Brian Kendrick in a tournament final. |
| Jeff Jarrett | 1 | May 15, 2015 | King City, California | |
| Matt Riviera | 2 | May 17, 2015 | Chowchilla, California | |
| Ricky Ruffin | 1 | October 30, 2015 | Santa Maria, California | |
| Rik Luxury | 1 | May 20, 2016 | Santa Maria, California | |
| On September 8, 2017, Luxury defeated Apostle Judah Mathew to claim his Vendetta Pro Wrestling Heavyweight title, unifying it with his NWA Western States title to form the Vendetta Pro Wrestling Western States Heavyweight Championship |||||

### 2015 NWA Western States Championship Tournament

January 17, 2015 - Santa Maria, California
| First Round | First Round | Semifinals | Semifinals | Finals | Finals |
| 1 | Brian Kendrick | | | | |
| 8 | Ricardo Rodriguez | | | | |
| 8 | Ricardo Rodriguez | Brian Kendrick | Brian Kendrick | | |
| | | Jody Kristofferson | Jody Kristofferson | | |
| 4 | Chris Masters | Jody Kristofferson | Jody Kristofferson | | |
| 5 | Jody Kristofferson | | | | |
| 5 | Jody Kristofferson | | | Brian Kendrick | Brian Kendrick |
| | | | | Matt Riviera | Matt Riviera |
| 2 | Rik Luxury | | | | | Matt Riviera | Matt Riviera |
| 7 | Billy Blade | | | | |
| 7 | Billy Blade | Rik Luxury | Rik Luxury | | |
| | | Matt Riviera | Matt Riviera | | |
| 3 | Americos | Matt Riviera | Matt Riviera | | |
| 6 | Matt Riviera | | | | |