Gypsy Joe
The first champion was Gypsy Joe, who won the title on November 6, 1952. In 1957 the NWA stripped Frank Stojack of the title for lack of NWA-mandated title defenses, but Stojack kept the physical belt and defended the title for over a year until the NWA regained possession of the actual Championship belt. After Stojack was stripped of the title, the NWA Executive board decided to give Salvador Lutteroth and Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre control of the championship in 1958. The first champion under Lutteroth's authority was Dory Dixon, who had worked for EMLL for many years. During the late 1970s and early 1980s the title was also defended in the Los Angeles area until that promotion closed in the early 1980s; from then on the title has only been defended in Mexico.