The World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship was the first recognized professional wrestling world heavyweight championship created in 1905 to identify the best catch-as-catch-can wrestler in the world.

The subsequent legacy of the championship is not linear, with the champion being disputed among various promotions until the formation of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) in 1948. The last several reigns are recognized by the NWA under the NWA World Heavyweight Championship's lineage.PWI Almanac 1996 NWA World Heavyweight Championship lineageHistory of the World Heavyweight Championship, Whatever happened to Gorgeous George, Joe Jares 1977 This effectively makes it the oldest surviving wrestling championship in the world. name="officialnwa">

The first recognized World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion was George Hackenschmidt, who officially won the championship on May 4, 1905, by defeating Tom Jenkins in New York City."Champion Wrestler Quits, Exhausted" (PDF). The New York Times. April 4, 1908. Retrieved May 24, 2009. The championship remained active for the next 51 years, with the last recognized reign being disputed between Lou Thesz and Édouard Carpentier after a match between the two ended in a legitimate disqualification.

History

George Hackenschmidt won a world championship tournament to become the first champion. Hackenschmidt won several other tournaments in Paris, France; Hamburg, Germany; Saint Petersburg, Russia; Elberfeld, Germany; and Berlin, Germany in the same year. He also won the European Greco-Roman Heavyweight Championship title from Tom Cannon on September 4, 1902, in Liverpool, England. He won the recognition of being the World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion on January 30, 1904, in London, England by defeating Ahmed Madrali. Hackenschmidt defeated American Heavyweight Champion Tom Jenkins on May 4, 1905, in New York City to become the recognized world champion in North America.

Frank Gotch won the title from Hackenschmidt on April 3, 1908, and he held the title for five years until his retirement on April 1, 1913. He was the sixth longest reigning world heavyweight champion in history behind Bruno Sammartino, Jim Londos, Lou Thesz, Verne Gagne (who all held their world titles for over seven years) and Bob Backlund (who held his for nearly six years).

Joe Stecher defeated American Heavyweight Champion Charlie Cutler to become the first widely recognized world heavyweight champion after the retirement of Frank Gotch.

After Joe Stecher lost the title to Johan Olin by countout, Olin started his own line, with both iterations of the title being defended. Ed Lewis defeated Olin while Earl Caddock defeated Stecher. Lewis and Wladek Zbyszko traded the title on multiple occasions between 1917 and 1919, making Zbyszko a three-time unofficial champion and Lewis a two-time unofficial champion, while Caddock debatably held the title for a period of 23 days - 1,027 days, depending on which iteration of the title is deemed official. Joe Stecher was able to defeat both Wladek Zbyszko and Ed Lewis to unify both titles in 1920.

On April 15, 1925, Stanislaus Zbyszko defeated previous champion Wayne Munn to win the championship. However, Munn continued to be recognized as the World Heavyweight Champion in Michigan and in Illinois. Ed Lewis defeated Wayne Munn on February 2, 1928, in Michigan City, Indiana for the Michigan/Illinois World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship version. Joe Stetcher then defeated Zbyszko to become widely recognized champion. The dispute ended when Lewis defeated Stetcher on February 21, 1928.

Gus Sonnenburg won the title from Lewis on January 4, 1929, but the recognition of being the world champion by the wrestling section of the National Boxing Association was withdrawn from Sonnenberg for failing to meet real title contenders.

Lewis won the title again on April 13, 1931. Lewis was also AWA World Heavyweight Champion in Boston at the time, but lost that title by disqualification to Henri Deglane on May 4, 1931, in Montreal. However, Lewis was still recognized as the World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion in Illinois. Lewis then defeated Wladek Zbyszko (who was widely considered the World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion) on November 2, 1931, in Chicago, ending the dispute. Lewis then continued by winning the New York State Athletic Commission World Heavyweight Championship by defeating Jack Sherry on October 10, 1932, for the vacant title. but lost it to Jim Browning.

Danno O'Mahony won the title from Lewis on July 30, 1935. O'Mahony defeated Londos to win the New York State Athletic Commission world title. O'Mahony also won the AWA world title by defeating Ed Don George on July 30, 1935, in Boston, Massachusetts to become the undisputed World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion. On March 2, 1936, Dick Shikat beat O'Mahony in New York, but the AWA continued to recognize O'Mahony as champion, splintering the "undisputed" nature of the title once again.

Ali Baba won the title on April 24, 1936. Four days later it was announced by The New York Times that Baba would not be recognized as the World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion in New York State by the New York Athletic Commission. However, it was announced that Baba and Shikat would face each other on May 5, 1936, at Madison Square Garden for the world title. Baba went on to win the bout and thus be recognized as the World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion.

Bronko Nagurski won the title on June 29, 1937. Nagurski was recognized as the undisputed World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion by The Ring magazine.

Londos won the title again on November 18, 1938, and retired as the World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion on January 28, 1946. Londos wrestled his last match on this date by defeating Lord Albert Mills.

Lou Thesz won the title on May 21, 1952. Thesz unified three championships to become the undisputed world heavyweight champion in wrestling: the National Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Championship (which he won on July 20, 1948, by defeating Bill Longson), the National Wrestling Alliance World Championship (which was awarded to him on November 27, 1949) and the Los Angeles Olympic Auditorium World Heavyweight Championship, which he won on May 21, 1952, by defeating Baron Michele Leone).

Whipper Billy Watson won the title on March 15, 1956, by defeating Thesz by countout.

Thesz won the title back from Watson on November 9, 1956. Édouard Carpentier defeated Lou Thesz by disqualification on June 14, 1957, in Chicago, Illinois once Thesz could not continue the match due to a back injury. The NWA rules stated that a title could not change on a disqualification and Carpentier awarded the NWA world title back to Thesz. Carpentier was still recognized as the World Heavyweight Champion in Omaha, Nebraska and in Boston, Massachusetts. He was then later recognized as the World Heavyweight Champion by Worldwide Wrestling Associates in Los Angeles, California. This ended the last time the World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship was unified and to date has never been fully unified again. The Omaha version of the World Heavyweight Championship was later unified with the AWA World Heavyweight Championship. Thesz defeated Carpentier in a rematch by disqualification on July 24, 1957, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada for the title.

The title was unofficially retired on July 24, 1957, and its lineage continued over to the National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Championship.

Reigns There were a total of 28 reigns and 3 vacancies. The first recognized World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion was George Hackenschmidt, who officially won the championship on May 4, 1905, by defeating Tom Jenkins in New York City, New York, the championship remained active for the next 51 years with the last recognized reign beginning on November 9, 1956.

Ed Lewis holds the record for most reigns as the World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion with four. Lewis also holds the record for most combined days as champion with 3,073 days, while Jim Londos holds the record for longest reign at 2,628 days. Stanislaus Zbyszko holds the record for shortest reign at 45 days and is also the oldest champion, winning at the age of 46 years, 15 days, while Joe Stecher is the youngest champion, winning at the age of 22 years, 103 days.

The final reign was disputed between Lou Thesz and Edouard Carpentier. All matches were held at house shows.

List of combined reigns (excluding unrecognised) RankWrestlerNo. of reignsCombined days1Ed Lewis 4 3,0732Jim Londos 1 2,6284Joe Stecher 3 1,9594Frank Gotch 1 1,8245Lou Thesz 2 1,6516George Hackenschmidt 1 1,0657Earl Caddock 1 1,0268Gus Sonnenberg 1 7059Bronko Nagurski 1 50710Stanislaus Zbyszko 3 49311Dean Detton 1 27312Whipper Billy Watson 1 23913Danno O'Mahoney 1 21614Charlie Cutler 1 17815Ed Don George 1 12416Dave Levin 1 10917Wayne Munn 1 9718Americus 1 5519Dick Shikat 1 5420Ali Baba 1 48

List of combined reigns (including unrecognised) RankWrestlerNo. of reignsCombined days1Ed Lewis 6 3,6822Jim Londos 1 2,6283Joe Stecher 4 2,1184Frank Gotch 1 1,8245Lou Thesz 2 1,6516George Hackenschmidt 1 1,0657Earl Caddock 1 1,0268 Gus Sonnenberg 1 7059Bronko Nagurski 1 50710Stanislaus Zbyszko 3 49311Dean Detton 1 27312Whipper Billy Watson 1 23913Wladek Zbyszko 3 23614Danno O'Mahoney 1 21615Charlie Cutler 1 17816John Olin 1 14217Ed Don George 1 12418Dave Levin 1 10919Wayne Munn 1 9720Americus 1 5521Dick Shikat 1 5422Ali Baba 1 48

Belt designs The standard Championship belt has three plates on a black leather strap.

Legacy

Various promotions have been home to world heavyweight championships with origins that can also be traced back to the World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship.

NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship

The National Wrestling Alliance Worlds Heavyweight Championship assumed the original world championship's position as the preeminent wrestling championship, and claimed its lineage. Most of the following championships, all based in North America, arose out of the NWA championship. "World" heavyweight championships in Japan, Mexico, and the US Independent circuit were created ex novo after promotions started.

AWA World Heavyweight Championship

The AWA World Heavyweight Championship was established in May 1960, after the NWA's Minnesota member territory withdrew from the NWA and established the American Wrestling Association. The first champion was Pat O'Connor, who was recognized upon the AWA's secession from the NWA as O'Connor held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship as well, which he won on January 9, 1959. The creation of the AWA World Heavyweight Championship along with the NWA World Heavyweight Championship would pave the way for the creation of many other world championships in other wrestling promotions. The American Wrestling Association and the title became inactive in 1990 and the organization officially closed down in 1991 with the title also being decommissioned.

WWE Championship