NWA World Heavyweight Championship
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The National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Championship is a title in the simulated sporting events of professional wrestling. It was spun off from the first "World Title"; which tracks its lineage to George Hackenschmidt's 1905 title and Frank Gotch's 1908 version.
With many "territories" appearing across the USA, the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) was formed in 1948, as an overall governing wrestling body. Like franchises, these territories had the option of NWA membership, while retaining their own ownership and top champion.
Every year, the NWA World Champion would travel to each territory and defend the title against the territories' top contender. The purpose of the world champ was to make the top contender look good and still hold the title. The NWA Board of Directors decided when the title changed hands; with the former champ regaining the title days to weeks later. With controversy of Lou Thesz not dropping the title, Verne Gagne protested by withdrawing his American Wrestling Association from the NWA and declaring the AWA Belt a World Title. His withdrawal was a forerunner to the World Wide Wrestling Federation (now WWE) and Ted Turner's World Championship Wrestling (WCW) pulling out years later.
When Ric Flair won the NWA World Title in 1981, the NWA enjoyed more popularity than before. Despite Vince McMahon Jr's. WWF/WWE gaining steam and growing in 1984, Flair's reign kept the "World" in the NWA World Title. Like the champs before, he traveled to other NWA territories and defended the belt. He would drop the belt and regain it, as the NWA Board of Directors decided.
As the 1980s drew to a close, Jim Crockett Promotions (main NWA Territory) almost filed for bankruptcy. Spending money it did not have, it failed keeping up with the WWF/WWE. Ted Turner bought the company, because it was a high rated program on his WTBS cable station. Completing the deal in 1989, Turner began changing the company to his WCW vision. WCW stayed in the NWA, but Turner slowly phased out the NWA name. Due to a falling out with WCW Executive Vice-President Jim Herd, Flair left WCW in 1991. Flair took the NWA Belt with him, because it was his belt (it was a design JCP had ordered for him in about 1986, when he started displaying it), as well as he had his $25,000 bond on it.
Flair was stripped of the NWA World Title when he signed with the WWF/WWE in September 1991 and he displayed it on WWF/WWE Television, calling himself "the Real World's Champion". After winning the WWF/WWE World Title, WCW bought the belt from Flair, paying him his NWA deposit, plus interest, of $38,000 total.
Since WCW kept its NWA membership at this time, it allowed the NWA to hold a tournament to decide a new champ. The tournament was won by Japanese wrestler Masa Chono. From 1992 to 1993, the NWA belt was defended on WCW television. Flair returned to WCW and regained the belt from Barry Windham. Two months later, Turner withdrew WCW from the NWA and renamed the belt as the WCW International Title. The same month, Flair dropped the WCW International Title to Rick Rude. Despite losing WCW as its flagship program, the NWA remained in existence and brought back the belt from the 70's to early 80's.
Looking to Todd Gordon's Eastern Championship Wrestling, the NWA held another tournament for a new Champion. Shane Douglas won the tournament. However, he threw the belt down. He rejected the belt for the new ECW World Heavyweight Championship. Despite the second rejection, the NWA held another tournament in late 1994; in Jim Cornette's Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW). This tournament was won by Chris "Skip" Candido. Holding the belt for a few months, he dropped the belt to Ultimate Fighting Championship's (UFC) Dan Severn.
Severn held the belt off and on in the late 90's and became part of Cornette's NWA faction in WWF/WWE. Trying to get back in the national spotlight, the NWA made a deal with Vince McMahon Jr. to appear on WWF/WWE television. Part of Cornette's NWA stable, was NWA North American Champion Jeff Jarrett. The NWA's deal with WWF/WWE never accomplished its intended purpose and McMahon ended it. The NWA belt went back to being defended on the independent circuit and remaining NWA territories.
In early 2001, McMahon bought a bankrupt WCW from AOL Time Warner and ECW (in 2003). After failing to revive WCW, he created his own competition, by splitting the WWE in half. He made RAW and SmackDown! their own brands/federations; with their own World Titles. However, wrestling purists wanted true competition; not the WWE watering down its "monopoly". Enter former NWA North American Champion Jeff Jarrett.
In 2002, Jeff talked his father Jerry Jarrett into starting a new wrestling promotion. Jerry and Jeff worked out a deal and affiliated their new business with the NWA. NWA-TNA (Total Nonstop Action) was born. While working out a cable deal, the Jarretts put NWA-TNA on weekly pay-per-view; for $9.95 a week. Because of his refusal to be on NWA-TNA, Dan Severn was "stripped" of the NWA belt and a battle royal was held. Former UFC fighter Ken Shamrock won and was declared the new NWA World Champion. While not recognized as a World Title by "Pro-Wrestling Illustrated", the NWA World Heavyweight Title is back on television. With the Jarretts' cable TV deal soon to start on WGN, the NWA and NWA World Title looks to regain the prestige of the Crockett/territorial days.