NWA Missouri Heavyweight Championship
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The NWA Missouri Heavyweight Championship was the secondary singles championship in the National Wrestling Alliance's St. Louis Wrestling Club and Central States Wrestling promotions in the 1970's and 1980's. It was usually dominated by the area's top star, Harley Race, and as such it was considered a "stepping stone" to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship (although only Race, Terry Funk, Kerry Von Erich and Ric Flair made it; Gene Kiniski and Dory Funk, Jr. were already former World Champions upon winning the Missouri title). Previous versions existed in 1934, 1947, 1950, and 1955, but it was only in 1972 that a serious championship was established. It was shelved in 1986, as the Central States promotion was being consolidated under Jim Crockett Promotions in order to counter the WWF expansion. NWA Midwest brought it back in 2002 and still uses it.
[edit] Title history
| Wrestler: | Times: | Date: | Location: | Notes: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billy Wolf | 1 | 1934 | ||
| Title vacated between 1934 and 1947. | ||||
| Ron Etchison | 1 | October 17, 1947 | St. Joseph, Missouri | |
| Title vacated in November 1947. | ||||
| Sonny Myers | 1 | November 7, 1947 | St. Joseph, Missouri | |
| Title vacated between 1947 and 1950. | ||||
| Tommy O'Toole | 1 | March 10, 1950 | St. Joseph, Missouri | |
| Bob Orton | 1 | February 1954 | ||
| Ron Etchison | 2 | January 1955 | ||
| Title became inactive between 1955 and 1972. | ||||
| Harley Race | 1 | September 16, 1972 | St. Louis, Missouri | Defeated Pak Song in a tournament final to win the reactivated title. |
| Title held up after a match against Johnny Valentine on December 16, 1972 in St. Louis, Missouri. | ||||
| Johnny Valentine | 1 | January 19, 1973 | St. Louis, Missouri | Defeated Race in a rematch to win the held up title. |
| Terry Funk | 1 | February 10, 1973 | St. Louis, Missouri | |
| Gene Kiniski | 1 | March 16, 1973 | St. Louis, Missouri | |
| Harley Race | 2 | October 13, 1973 | St. Louis, Missouri | |
| Dory Funk, Jr. | 1 | May 24, 1974 | St. Louis, Missouri | |
| Harley Race | 3 | February 21, 1975 | St. Louis, Missouri | |
| Bob Backlund | 1 | April 23, 1976 | St. Louis, Missouri | |
| Jack Brisco | 1 | November 26, 1976 | St. Louis, Missouri | |
| Dick Slater | 1 | August 12, 1977 | St. Louis, Missouri | |
| Ted DiBiase | 1 | February 12, 1978 | St. Louis, Missouri | |
| Dick Murdoch | 1 | February 26, 1978 | St. Louis, Missouri | |
| Dick the Bruiser | 1 | July 14, 1978 | St. Louis, Missouri | |
| Dick Murdoch | 2 | March 17, 1979 | St. Louis, Missouri | |
| Dick the Bruiser | 2 | May 18, 1979 | St. Louis, Missouri | |
| Dick Murdoch | 3 | July 13, 1979 | St. Louis, Missouri | |
| Kevin Von Erich | 1 | November 23, 1979 | St. Louis, Missouri | |
| Ken Patera | 1 | April 25, 1980 | St. Louis, Missouri | |
| Ted DiBiase | 2 | November 21, 1980 | St. Louis, Missouri | |
| Jack Brisco | 2 | October 2, 1981 | St. Louis, Missouri | |
| Ken Patera | 2 | October 23, 1981 | St. Louis, Missouri | |
| Dick the Bruiser | 3 | January 1, 1982 | St. Louis, Missouri | |
| Harley Race | 4 | September 17, 1982 | St. Louis, Missouri | |
| Kerry Von Erich | 1 | January 23, 1983 | St. Louis, Missouri | |
| Jerry Blackwell | 1 | April 15, 1983 | St. Louis, Missouri | |
| Harley Race | 5 | May 13, 1983 | St. Louis, Missouri | |
| Title vacated after Race won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship on June 10, 1983 in St. Louis, Missouri. | ||||
| Ric Flair | 1 | July 15, 1983 | St. Louis, Missouri | |
| David Von Erich | 1 | September 16, 1983 | St. Louis, Missouri | |
| Harley Race | 6 | January 6, 1984 | St. Louis, Missouri | |
| Jerry Blackwell | 2 | November 16, 1984 | St. Louis, Missouri | |
| Harley Race | 7 | August 2, 1985 | St. Louis, Missouri | |
| Title abandoned in February 1986 when Jim Crockett, Jr. becomes part owner of the NWA's St. Louis office and uses his own titles. | ||||
| NWA Midwest revived the title in 2002. | ||||
| Gary Jackson | 1 | July 27, 2002 | St. Robert, Missouri | Defeated Steve Stone to win the revived title. |
| Jackson was stripped of the title on June 3, 2003 due to lack of title defenses. | ||||
| Shane Somers | 1 | June 17, 2003 | Rolla, Missouri | Defeated John Epperson, Dingo, Yukon Eric, Jr., Rick Norris and Tony Luza in a six-way match to win the vacant title. |
| Somers was immediately stripped of the title after winning it due to use of an illegal choke hold. | ||||
| Shane Somers | 2 | June 17, 2003 | Rolla, Missouri | Defeated John Epperson in a tag team match to win the vacant title.. The match was Somers and The Mad Hatter vs. Epperson and Ricky Murdock. |
| Ricky Murdock | 1 | October 10, 2003 | Parkersburg, West Virginia | |
| Shane Somers | 3 | March 27, 2004 | Plato, Missouri | |
| Title vacated in 2005. | ||||
| Abyss | 1 | December 7, 2005 | Lawrence, Kansas | Defeated Tyler Cook to win the vacant title. |
| Title vacated on December 29, 2006. | ||||
| Dingo | 1 | January 19, 2007 | St. Joseph, Missouri | Defeated Mark Sterling, Kraig Keesman and Jeremy Wyatt in a four-way match to win the vacant title. |
