page_title: NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship
section_title: National Wrestling Alliance/Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2002–2007)
hierarchical_section_title: NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship / History / National Wrestling Alliance/Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2002–2007)
caption_attribution_description: English: Jeff Jarrett before a match at the then-Telewest Arena in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Taken April 3, 1999.
context_page_description: The NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship is a world heavyweight championship owned and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion National Wrestling Alliance. The current champion is Nick Aldis, who is in his second reign.
  Although formally established in 1948, its lineage has been traditionally traced back to the first World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship, which traces its lineage to the title first awarded to George Hackenschmidt in 1905. This effectively makes it the oldest surviving wrestling championship in the world.
  The title began as a governing body's world championship and has been competed for in multiple major promotions across the world, including Capitol Wrestling Corporation, New Japan Pro-Wrestling, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, Ring of Honor, Combat Zone Wrestling and the now-defunct Jim Crockett Promotions, World Championship Wrestling, Eastern Championship Wrestling and World Class Championship Wrestling.
  In October 2017, the NWA ceased being a governing body and gradually evolved into a singular wrestling promotion with the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship as its premier title.
context_section_description: In June 2002, Jeff and Jerry Jarrett formed NWA:Total Nonstop Action (NWA:TNA; now known as Impact Wrestling). The Jarretts worked out a licensing deal with the NWA and affiliated their promotion with the NWA World Heavyweight and NWA World Tag Team titles. While working out a cable deal, the Jarretts put NWA:TNA on weekly pay-per-view. The NWA World Heavyweight Champion at the time, Dan Severn, was unable to appear on the inaugural TNA card, and he was stripped of the NWA title. Ken Shamrock was then declared the new NWA World Heavyweight Champion after winning a Gauntlet for the Gold battle royal.  On August 7, 2002, Ron "The Truth" Killings defeated Ken Shamrock becoming the first-ever African American NWA World Heavyweight Champion in history. In 2004, NWA:TNA withdrew from the NWA, dropping the NWA from their promotion name to just TNA. However, TNA retained the rights to use the NWA World Heavyweight and Tag Team titles until May 13, 2007, when the agreement ended, with TNA creating its own world and tag team championships.
caption: Jeff Jarrett, a former 6-time champion, founded TNA in 2002. The following 6 years, he would have the control of the title.
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