NWA/WCW World Heavyweight Championship

No.	Champion 	Date 	Event 	Location 	Reign	Days 	Notes
1 	Orville Brown 	July 14, 1948 	House show 	Des Moines, IA 	1 	501 	In July 1948, the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) was founded and Brown was recognized as the first official NWA World Heavyweight Champion. His reign length is calculated from the date he defeated Sonny Myers to first claim the world championship.
2 	Lou Thesz 	November 27, 1949 	N/A 	N/A 	1 	2,300	Awarded when Brown suffered career-ending injuries in an automobile accident on November 1, 1949. Thesz had earlier won the National Wrestling Association's World Heavyweight Championship on July 10, 1948 from Wild Bill Longson. Thesz became the undisputed champion of all of wrestling by winning the Los Angeles Olympic Auditorium World Heavyweight Championship, the remaining major world championship at the time other than the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, defeating Baron Michele Leone on May 21, 1952.
3 	Billy Watson 	March 15, 1956 	House show 	Toronto, ON 	1 	239 	Won the match and the championship by count out.
4 	Lou Thesz 	November 9, 1956 	House show 	St. Louis, MO 	2 	217 	Lou Thesz was able to unify the World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship (original version) with the NWA World Heavyweight Championship during this reign.
5 	Dick Hutton 	November 14, 1957 	House show 	Toronto, ON 	1 	421 	
6 	Pat O'Connor 	January 9, 1959 	House show 	St. Louis, MO 	1 	903 	
7 	Buddy Rogers 	June 30, 1961 	House show 	Chicago, Illinois 	1 	145 	
8 	Lou Thesz 	January 24, 1963 	House show 	Toronto, ON 	3 	1,079	Promoters in the northeast United States refused to recognize Rogers' one-fall loss to Thesz, thus breaking away from the NWA to form the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF). Rogers was declared the first WWWF World Heavyweight Champion three months later, on April 25.
9 	Gene Kiniski 	January 7, 1966 	House show 	St. Louis, MO 	1 	1,131	
10 	Dory Funk Jr. 	February 11, 1969 	House show 	Tampa, FL 	1 	1,563	
11 	Harley Race 	May 24, 1973 	House show 	Kansas City, Kansas 	1 	557 	
13 	Jack Brisco 	December 2, 1974 	House show 	Kagoshima, Japan 	1 	373 	
14 	Terry Funk 	December 10, 1975 	House show 	Miami Beach, Florida 	1 	424 	
15 	Harley Race 	February 6, 1977 	House show 	Toronto, ON 	2 	926 	
16 	Dusty Rhodes 	August 21, 1979 	House show 	Tampa, Florida 	1 	78 	
17 	Harley Race 	November 7, 1979 	House show 	Amagasaki, Japan 	3 	541 	
18 	Dusty Rhodes 	May 1, 1981 	House show 	Gainesville, Georgia 	2 	139 	
19 	Ric Flair 	September 17, 1981	House show 	Kansas City, Kansas 	1 	631 	
20 	Harley Race 	June 10, 1983 	House show 	St. Louis, Missouri 	3 	167 	
21 	Ric Flair 	November 20, 1983 	Starrcade 	Greensboro, North Carolina 	2 	735 	This was a steel cage match.
22 	Dusty Rhodes 	November 24, 1985 	Starrcade 	Atlanta, Georgia 	3 	364 	
23 	Ric Flair 	November 30, 1986 	Starrcade 	Atlanta, Georgia 	3 	722 	This was a steel cage match.
— 	Vacant 	November 21, 1988 	WCW Main Event 	 	— 	— 	On November 21, 1988 the NWA's flagship promotion Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) was purchased by Ted Turner and renamed World Championship Wrestling (WCW), the NWA and WCW ended their business relations and title agreements, as a result Flair was stripped of the title when
24 	Tatsumi Fujinami	January 4, 1991 	WCW/New Japan Supershow I 	Tokyo, Japan 	1 	69 	Defeated Riki Choshu to win the vacant title, with the IWGP Heavyweight Championship also on the line
25 	Ric Flair 	May 19, 1991 	SuperBrawl I 	St. Petersburg, Florida 	4 	112 	The WCW World Heavyweight Championship was also on the line
— 	Vacated 	September 8, 1991 	— 	— 	— 	— 	Flair was stripped of the NWA Title upon signing with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF).
26 	Masahiro Chono 	August 12, 1992 	G1 Climax 1992 – Day 5 	Tokyo, Japan 	1 	145 	Defeated Rick Rude in the final of the G1 Climax tournament.
27 	The Great Muta 	January 4, 1993 	WCW/New Japan Supershow III 	Tokyo, Japan 	1 	48 	Muta's IWGP Heavyweight Championship was also on the line
28 	Barry Windham 	February 21, 1993 	SuperBrawl III 	Asheville, North Carolina 	1 	147 	
29 	Ric Flair 	June 27, 1993 	The Great American Bash 	Anderson, South Carolina 	5 	57 	
— 	Vacated 	December 27, 1993 	— 	— 	— 	— 	Flair vacated the NWA Title after winning the WCW World Title.
30 	Shane Douglas 	August 27, 1994 	NWA World Title Tournament 	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 	1 	<1 	Defeated 2 Cold Scorpio in tournament final.
— 	Vacated 	August 27, 1994 	NWA World Title Tournament 	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 	— 	— 	Douglas threw the NWA World Heavyweight Championship belt down immediately after winning it and declared that he did not want to be the organization's champion; Douglas then declared the ECW World Heavyweight Championship (of which he was already in possession) to be a world championship. Eastern Championship Wrestling then withdraws from the NWA and becomes Extreme Championship Wrestling.
31 	Chris Candido 	November 19, 1994 	NWA World Heavyweight Title Tournament 	Cherry Hill, New Jersey 	1 	97 	Defeated Tracy Smothers in tournament final.
32 	Dan Severn 	February 24, 1995 	House show 	Erlanger, Kentucky 	1 	1,479	
33 	Naoya Ogawa 	March 14, 1999 	House show 	Yokohama, Japan 	1 	195 	
34 	Gary Steele 	September 25, 1999	51st Anniversary Show 	Charlotte, North Carolina 	1 	7 	Gary Steele pinned Ogawa in a three-way match also involving Brian Anthony.
35 	Naoya Ogawa 	October 2, 1999 	House show 	Thomaston, Connecticut 	2 	274 	
— 	Vacated 	July 2, 2000 	— 	— 	— 	— 	Ogawa vacated the title.
36 	Mike Rapada 	September 19, 2000	House show 	Tampa, Florida 	1 	94 	Defeated Jerry Flynn in tournament final.
37 	Sabu 	December 22, 2000 	House show 	Nashville, Tennessee 	2 	123 	
38 	Steve Corino 	April 24, 2001 	House show 	Tampa, Florida 	1 	172 	
— 	Vacated 	October 13, 2001 	53rd Anniversary Show 	St. Petersburg, Florida 	— 	— 	Title was held up when Corino lost a title match against Shinya Hashimoto when he became unable to compete due to head injury sustained in the match.
39 	Shinya Hashimoto	December 15, 2001 	House show 	McKeesport, Pennsylvania 	1 	84 	This was three matches round robin style; Gary Steele vs. Steve Corino, Gary Steele vs. Shinya Hashimoto, and Steve Corino vs. Shinya Hashimoto. Hashimoto won.
40 	Dan Severn 	March 9, 2002 	House show 	Tokyo, Japan 	2 	80 	Match ended in controversy, as the referee gave a fast count.
— 	Vacated 	May 28, 2002 	— 	— 	— 	— 	Severn was stripped of the title after failing to make a defense in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) at their inaugural PPV. Title made exclusive to TNA.
78 	Adam Pearce 	September 1, 2007 	House show 	Bayamón, Puerto Rico 	1 	336 	Defeated Brent Albright in the finals of the Reclaiming the Glory Tournament. Pearce competed as a substitute for Bryan Danielson, who defeated Pearce in the semifinals but withdrew from the tournament due to a detached retina. Danielson was the special referee.
79 	Brent Albright 	August 2, 2008 	Death Before Dishonor VI 	New York City, New York 	1 	49 	
80 	Adam Pearce 	September 20, 2008	Glory By Honor VII 	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 	2 	35 	
81 	Blue Demon Jr. 	October 25, 2008 	House show 	Mexico City, Mexico 	1 	505 	
82 	Adam Pearce 	March 14, 2010 	House show 	Charlotte, North Carolina 	3 	357 	Three-way elimination match also featuring Phill Shatter.
83 	Colt Cabana 	March 6, 2011 	NWA Championship Wrestling from Hollywood	West Hollywood, California 	1 	48 	
84 	The Sheik 	April 23, 2011 	Subtle Hustle 	Jacksonville, Florida 	1 	79 	
— 	Vacated 	July 11, 2011 	— 	— 	— 	— 	Sheik was stripped of the title for refusing to defend against Adam Pearce on July 31, 2011.
85 	Adam Pearce 	July 31, 2011 	NWA at the Ohio State Fair 	Columbus, Ohio 	4 	252 	Defeated Chance Prophet, Jimmy Rave and Shaun Tempers in a four-way match to win the vacant title.
86 	Colt Cabana 	April 8, 2012 	NWA Championship Wrestling from Hollywood	Glendale, California 	2 	104 	
87 	Adam Pearce 	July 21, 2012 	Metro Pro Wrestling 	Kansas City, Kansas 	5 	98 	This was a two out of three falls match. It was match four of a seven-match series between Cabana and Pearce.
— 	Vacated 	October 27, 2012 	NWA Warzone Wrestling 14 	Berwick, Victoria, Australia	— 	— 	Pearce left the NWA and resigned as champion after the organization refused to allow him to defend the title in the concluding match of the best-of-seven series against Cabana. The match did take place with Cabana winning, but both wrestlers refused the title in the aftermath.
88 	Kahagas 	November 2, 2012 	Wrath of Champions 	Clayton, New Jersey 	1 	134 	Won an elimination match for the vacant title by last eliminating Damien Wayne. Match also featured Chance Prophet, Jason Kincaid, Lance Erikson, Anthony Nese, Papadon, Biggie Biggs, and Lance Anoa'i. Kahagas was the reigning NWA National Heavyweight Champion at the time of his victory.
89 	Rob Conway 	March 16, 2013 	A Monster's Ball 	San Antonio, Texas 	1 	294 	Rob Conway replaced an injured Jax Dane and defeated Kahagas for the title.
90 	Satoshi Kojima 	January 4, 2014 	Wrestle Kingdom 8 	Tokyo, Japan 	1 	149 	
91 	Rob Conway 	June 2, 2014 	Cauliflower Alley Club Reunion Show 	Las Vegas, Nevada 	2 	257 	
92 	Hiroyoshi Tenzan	February 14, 2015 	The New Beginning in Sendai 	Sendai, Japan 	1 	196 	
93 	Jax Dane 	August 29, 2015 	World War Gold 	San Antonio, Texas 	1 	419 	
94 	Tim Storm 	October 21, 2016 	House show 	Sherman, Texas 	1 	414 	
95 	Nick Aldis 	December 9, 2017 	Cage of Death 19 	Sewell, NJ 	1 	266 	
96 	Cody Rhodes 	September 1, 2018 	All In 	Hoffman Estates, Illinois 	1 	351 	
97 	Kenny Omega 	August 18, 2019 	Unbreakable 	Nashville, TN 	2 	<1 	The AEW World Championship was also on the line
— 	Unified 	August 18, 2019 	Unbreakable 	Nashville, TN 	— 	— 	Kenny Omega defeated Cody Rhodes to unify the NWA World Heavyweight Championship with the AEW World Championship. The NWA World Heavyweight Championship was officially retired after the NWA closed
Category:Wrestling