NWA Missouri Heavyweight Championship

The NWA Missouri Heavyweight Championship was a singles championship in the National Wrestling Alliance's St. Louis Wrestling Club and Central States Wrestling promotions in the 1970s and 1980s. It was considered a "stepping stone" to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship (although only Race, Terry Funk and Kerry Von Erich made it; Gene Kiniski, Dory Funk, Jr.,Jack Brisco and Ric Flair were already former World Champions upon winning the Missouri title). A version of the Missouri Championship has been documented to exist in 1899, 1921, 1933 to 1934, 1937, 1947, 1950, and 1954 to 1955, but it was only in 1972 that a serious championship was established. Prior to the creation of the NWA the championship was not recognized outside of the region and used by regional promoters, it is even possible that competing Missouri Heavyweight Championships existed. The championship was abandoned in 1986, as the Central States promotion was being consolidated under Jim Crockett Promotions in order to counter the World Wrestling Federation's national expansion.

NWA Missouri Heavyweight Championship
Details
PromotionCentral States Wrestling and St. Louis Wrestling Club (through 1986)
Date establishedOctober - December 1899 (original)
September 16, 1972 (current)
Other name(s)
Missouri Heavyweight Championship
Statistics
First champion(s)George Baptiste
Most reignsHarley Race (7)

Pre National Wrestling Alliance Title history

edit
Key
No. Overall reign number
Reign Reign number for the specific champion
Days Number of days held
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign Days
1 George Baptiste October 1899 (NLT) Missouri show [Note 1] 1 [Note 2] Records are unclear as to whom he defeated.
Championship history is unrecorded from October 1899 (NLT) to 1921.
2 Jake Reed 1921 Missouri show [Note 1] 1 [Note 3] Defeated Lloyd Carter to win the championship. Unclear if Carter was the champion or if this was a tournament final.
Championship history is unrecorded from 1921 to March 6, 1930.
3 Jake Ross March 6, 1930 Missouri show Chillicothe, Missouri 1 705 Defeated Charles Santen to win the championship, unclear if Santen was the champion or if this was a tournament final.
4 Fred Peterson February 9, 1932 Missouri show [Note 1] 1 [Note 4]
5 Billy Wolf March 1934 Missouri show [Note 1] 1 [Note 5]
6 Lou Thesz June 18, 1937 Missouri show Kansas City, Missouri 1 [Note 6] Defeated Warren Bockwinkel to win the championship
Deactivated N/A Uncertain when the championship was abandoned

National Wrestling Alliance Title history

edit
Key
No. Overall reign number
Reign Reign number for the specific champion
Days Number of days held
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign Days
1 Tommy O'Toole March 10, 1950 CSW/SLWC show St. Joseph, Missouri 1 35 Defeated Sonny Myers in a 10-man tournament final.
2 Sonny Myers April 14, 1950 CSW/SLWC show St. Joseph, Missouri 1 273
3 Ron Etchison January 12, 1951 CSW/SLWC show St. Joseph, Missouri 1 14
4 Sonny Myers January 26, 1951 CSW/SLWC show St. Joseph, Missouri 2 7
5 Ron Etchison February 2, 1951 CSW/SLWC show St. Joseph, Missouri 2 7
6 Ray Eckert February 9, 1951 CSW/SLWC show St. Joseph, Missouri 1 20
6 Ron Etchison March 1, 1951 CSW/SLWC show St. Joseph, Missouri 3 99
Vacated June 8, 1951 Championship vacated, reason undocumented
8 Sonny Myers February 1, 1952 CSW/SLWC show [Note 1] 3 14
9 Joe Dusek February 15, 1952 CSW/SLWC show St. Joseph, Missouri 1 273
10 Sonny Myers November 14, 1952 CSW/SLWC show [Note 1] 4 42
11 Ron Etchison December 26, 1952 CSW/SLWC show St. Joseph, Missouri 4 155
Vacated May 30, 1953 Championship vacated, no reason documented
12 Sonny Myers December 18, 1953 CSW/SLWC show [Note 1] 5 14
13 Bob Orton January 1, 1954 CSW/SLWC show St. Joseph, Missouri 1 63
14 Ray Eckert March 5, 1954 CSW/SLWC show St. Joseph, Missouri 2 33
Vacated April 7, 1954 Championship held up due to a controversial ending of a match against Sonny Myers
15 Sonny Myers April 9, 1954 CSW/SLWC show St. Joseph, Missouri 6 43 Defeated Ray Eckert to win the vacant championship.
16 Larry Hamilton May 22, 1954 CSW/SLWC show St. Joseph, Missouri 1 167
17 Ron Etchison November 5, 1954 CSW/SLWC show St. Joseph, Missouri 5 308
Vacated September 9, 1955 Championship vacated, reason not documented
18 Joe Dusek April 1956 CSW/SLWC show Sedalia, Missouri 2 [Note 7]
Vacated September 19, 1956 Championship inactive.
19 Harley Race September 16, 1972 Wrestling at the Chase St. Louis, Missouri 1 91 Defeated Pak Song in a tournament final for the revived championship.
Vacated December 16, 1972 Championship held up after a match against Johnny Valentine
20 Johnny Valentine January 19, 1973 CSW/SLWC show St. Louis, Missouri 1 22 Defeated Harley Race in a rematch. [1]
21 Terry Funk February 10, 1973 Wrestling at the Chase St. Louis, Missouri 1 34 [2]
22 Gene Kiniski March 16, 1973 CSW/SLWC show St. Louis, Missouri 1 211
23 Harley Race October 13, 1973 Wrestling at the Chase St. Louis, Missouri 2 223
24 Dory Funk, Jr. May 24, 1974 CSW/SLWC show St. Louis, Missouri 1 273
25 Harley Race February 21, 1975 CSW/SLWC show St. Louis, Missouri 3 427
26 Bob Backlund April 23, 1976 CSW/SLWC show St. Louis, Missouri 1 217
27 Jack Brisco November 26, 1976 CSW/SLWC show St. Louis, Missouri 1 259
28 Dick Slater August 12, 1977 CSW/SLWC show St. Louis, Missouri 1 184
29 Ted DiBiase February 12, 1978 Wrestling at the Chase St. Louis, Missouri 1 14 [3]
30 Dick Murdoch February 26, 1978 Wrestling at the Chase St. Louis, Missouri 1 138 [4]
31 Dick the Bruiser July 14, 1978 Wrestling at the Chase St. Louis, Missouri 1 246 [5]
32 Dick Murdoch March 18, 1979 Wrestling at the Chase St. Louis, Missouri 2 61
33 Dick the Bruiser May 18, 1979 CSW/SLWC show St. Louis, Missouri 2 56
34 Dick Murdoch July 13, 1979 CSW/SLWC show St. Louis, Missouri 3 133
35 Kevin Von Erich November 23, 1979 CSW/SLWC show St. Louis, Missouri 1 154
36 Ken Patera April 25, 1980 CSW/SLWC show St. Louis, Missouri 1 210
37 Ted DiBiase November 21, 1980 Wrestling at the Chase St. Louis, Missouri 2 315
38 Jack Brisco October 2, 1981 CSW/SLWC show St. Louis, Missouri 2 21
39 Ken Patera October 23, 1981 CSW/SLWC show St. Louis, Missouri 2 70
40 Dick the Bruiser January 1, 1982 CSW/SLWC show St. Louis, Missouri 3 259
41 Harley Race September 17, 1982 CSW/SLWC show St. Louis, Missouri 4 128
42 Kerry Von Erich January 23, 1983 CSW/SLWC show St. Louis, Missouri 1 82 [6]
43 Jerry Blackwell April 15, 1983 CSW/SLWC show St. Louis, Missouri 1 28
44 Harley Race May 13, 1983 CSW/SLWC show St. Louis, Missouri 5 28 [7]
Vacated June 10, 1983 Championship vacated when Champion Harley Race won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship [8]
45 Ric Flair July 15, 1983 CSW/SLWC show St. Louis, Missouri 1 63 Defeated David Von Erich in a tournament final.
46 David Von Erich September 16, 1983 CSW/SLWC show St. Louis, Missouri 1 112
47 Harley Race January 6, 1984 CSW/SLWC show St. Louis, Missouri 6 315
48 Jerry Blackwell November 16, 1984 CSW/SLWC show St. Louis, Missouri 2 259
49 Harley Race August 2, 1985 CSW/SLWC show St. Louis, Missouri 7 [Note 8] [9]
Vacated February 2, 1986 Championship retired when Jim Crockett Promotions bought the St. Louis Wrestling Club. Crockett also bought Central States Wrestling in September.

See also

edit

Footnotes

edit
  1. ^ a b c d e f g The location of the match was not captured as part of the championship documentation.
  2. ^ The date the championship was won and later lost has not been documented which means the championship reign lasted more than 1 day but it is impossible to say how long exactly.
  3. ^ The date the championship was won and later lost has not been documented which means the championship reign lasted more than 1 day but it is impossible to say how long exactly.
  4. ^ The date the championship was won has not been documented which means the championship reign lasted anywhere between 21 days and 51 days
  5. ^ The date the championship was won has not been documented which means the championship reign lasted anywhere between 751 days and 781 days
  6. ^ The date the championship was vacated has not been documented which means the championship reign lasted more than 1 day but it is impossible to say how much more.
  7. ^ The date the championship was won has not been documented which means the championship reign lasted anywhere between 142 days and 171 days
  8. ^ The date the championship was vacated has not been documented which means the championship reign lasted anywhere between 183 days and 210 days

References

edit
General references
  • Royal Duncan and Gary Will (2006). "(Kansas and Western Missouri) West Missouri: NWA Missouri Title". Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. p. 254. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4. (through 2000)
  • "Missouri Heavyweight Title". wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved March 24, 2015.
  1. ^ Hoops, Brian (January 19, 2019). "Pro wrestling history (01/19): Ric Flair wins WWF title in 1992 Royal Rumble". Wrestling Observer NewsletterWrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved January 18, 2019.
  2. ^ Hoops, Brian (February 10, 2017). "DAILY PRO WRESTLING HISTORY (02/10): MASA SAITO WINS AWA GOLD AT THE TOKYO DOME". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 10, 2017.
  3. ^ Hoops, Brian (February 12, 2017). "On this day in pro wrestling history (Feb 12): Christian Cage wins gold in TNA". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 15, 2017.
  4. ^ Hoops, Brian (February 26, 2017). "Daily pro wrestling history (02/26): Verne Gagne wins AWA title on his birthday". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  5. ^ Hoops, Brian (July 14, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history (July 14): Bruiser & Crusher vs. Stevens & Bockwinkel, Gagne vs. Superstar, Lex Luger wins WCW title, Snuka wins ECW title, Sting wins TNA belt". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  6. ^ Hoops, Brian (January 23, 2020). "Pro wrestling history (01/23): Hulk Hogan defeats Iron Sheik for WWF title". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved January 25, 2020.
  7. ^ Hoops, Brian (May 13, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history (May 13): Rick Martel wins AWA gold, Kurt Angle wins TNA title, Nash & Hall beat one man to win tag titles". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
  8. ^ F4W Staff (June 10, 2015). "ON THIS DAY IN PRO WRESTLING HISTORY (JUNE 10): HARLEY RACE BEATS RIC FLAIR FOR NWA TITLE, JERRY BLACKWELL TURNS BABYFACE". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 10, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ Hoops, Brian (August 2, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history: Ron Simmons makes history by winning WCW World title". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 19, 2017.