List of NWA World Heavyweight Champions

The NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship is a world heavyweight championship owned and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). It is the promotion's premier title.

Two-time and current NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis

NWA currently recognizes 97 individual World Heavyweight Championship reigns.[1][2] The inaugural champion was Orville Brown. The longest reigning champion is Lou Thesz, who held the title from November 27, 1949 to March 15, 1956, for a total of 2,300 days (6 years, 3 months, and 16 days); Thesz also holds the record for longest combined reign at 3,749 days. Shane Douglas is the shortest reigning champion with less than 1 day. Ric Flair holds the record for most reigns with 10. The youngest champion is Chris Candido who won the title at the age of 22, while the oldest champion is Tim Storm, who won it at the age of 51.

Nick Aldis is the current champion in his second reign. He won the title on October 21, 2018 during the NWA 70th Anniversary Show in Nashville, Tennessee by defeating Cody.

Title history

Reigns

As of February 6, 2021.

Key
No. Overall reign number
Reign Reign number for the specific champion
Days Number of days held
Days recog. Number of days held recognized by the promotion
N/A Unknown information
† Championship change is unrecognized by the promotion
<1 Reign lasted less than a day
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign DaysDays recog.
National Wrestling Alliance (NWA)
1 Orville Brown July 14, 1948 Live event Des Moines, IA 1 501501 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. [lower-alpha 1]
2 Lou Thesz November 27, 1949 N/A N/A 1 1,9412,300 Awarded when Orville 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 20, 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. The first design of the championship belt would become known as the "Lou Thesz Belt" because of Thesz's long reign. [lower-alpha 2]
† Leo Nomellini March 22, 1955 Live event San Francisco, CA 1 115— Nomellini defeated Lou Thesz by countout in the second fall and disqualification in the third fall. California Athletic Commission recognized the title change by disqualification, but both wrestlers continued to claim the title.
† Lou Thesz July 15, 1955 Live event St. Louis, MO 2 244— Thesz defeated Leo Nomellini in a rematch.
3 Whipper Billy Watson March 15, 1956 Live event Toronto, ON 1 239239 Watson won the match and the championship by count out. [lower-alpha 3]
4 Lou Thesz November 9, 1956 Live event St. Louis, MO 2(3) 217370 Thesz won the match and the championship by count out. [lower-alpha 4]
† Édouard Carpentier June 14, 1957 Live event Chicago, IL 1 40— Carpentier was awarded the title when Lou Thesz could not continue the match due to a back injury. In some territories, Thesz continued to be recognized as NWA World Heavyweight Champion, while in others Carpentier was billed as the champion. [lower-alpha 5]
† Lou Thesz July 24, 1957 Live event Montreal, Quebec 4 113— Thesz won a rematch against Édouard Carpentier by disqualification. The NWA initially continued to recognize Carpentier as the champion, but voided any recognition of Carpentier as champion when he withdrew the claim for the title when Montreal promoter Eddie Quinn quit the NWA in August 1958. Some territories such as Boston (AAC), Nebraska and Los Angeles (NAWA/WWA) continued to recognize Carpentier as NWA World Heavyweight Champion. The AAC recognized Killer Kowalski as world champion when he defeated Carpentier in Boston. Nebraska later recognized Verne Gagne as world champion when he defeated Carpentier in Omaha. The NAWA/WWA recognized Freddie Blassie as world champion when he defeated Carpentier in 1961. [lower-alpha 6]
5 Dick Hutton November 14, 1957 Live event Toronto, ON 1 421421 [lower-alpha 7]
6 Pat O'Connor January 9, 1959 Live event St. Louis, MO 1 903903 The "Crown Belt" version of the championship debuted in 1959. [lower-alpha 8]
7 Buddy Rogers June 30, 1961 Live event Chicago, IL 1 145573
† Killer Kowalski November 22, 1961 Live event Montreal, Quebec 1 425— Kowalski defeated Buddy Rogers on November 21 after Rogers broke his ankle in the first fall. He was only recognized as champion in some states such as Texas until January 21, 1963 when he lost a rematch to Rogers in New York City.
† Bruno Sammartino August 2, 1962 Live event Toronto, ON 1 <1— On August 2, 1962, Bruno Sammartino defeated Buddy Rogers in Toronto, but refused to accept the title because Rogers had wrestled with an injury. The NWA considers Rogers' reign to last until Thesz. [3]
† Bobo Brazil August 18, 1962 Live event Newark, NJ 1 73— Brazil refused the title because of a groin injury that Buddy Rogers had claimed to have. However, on September 6, 1962, Brazil was declared champion because a doctor had determined that Rogers had not suffered an injury. This title change was not recognized by the NWA.
† Buddy Rogers October 30, 1962
(defeat of Brazil)		 Live event Toledo, OH 2 86— Rogers was widely, though not universally, considered champion again after his wins over Bobo Brazil and Kowalski. Killer Kowalski disputed that Rogers had won the title, arguing that the match had not been for the title. As the NWA had recognized none of Rogers's losses, no second title reign was counted for Rogers.
† Buddy Rogers January 21, 1963
(defeat of Kowalski)		 Live event New York City, NY 2 3—
8 Lou Thesz January 24, 1963 Live event Toronto, ON 3(5) 1,0791,079 [lower-alpha 9]
† Buddy Rogers January 24, 1963 — — — 77— Promoters in the northeast United States refused to recognize Buddy Rogers' one-fall loss to Thesz, thus breaking away from the NWA to form the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF). Rogers continued to defend the championship in WWWF until he was declared the first WWWF World Heavyweight Champion on April 11.
9 Gene Kiniski January 7, 1966 Live event St. Louis, MO 1 1,1311,131 [lower-alpha 10]
10 Dory Funk Jr. February 11, 1969 Live event Tampa, FL 1 1,5631,563 [4]
11 Harley Race May 24, 1973 Live event Kansas City, KS 1 5757 The "Ten Pounds of Gold" version of the championship belt debuted on July 20, 1973, having been first presented to Harley Race by then-NWA President Sam Muchnick. [5]
12 Jack Brisco July 20, 1973 Live event Houston, TX 1 500500 [6]
13 Giant Baba December 2, 1974 Live event Kagoshima, Japan 1 77
14 Jack Brisco December 9, 1974 Live event Toyohashi, Japan 2 366366
15 Terry Funk December 10, 1975 Live event Miami Beach, FL 1 424424
16 Harley Race February 6, 1977 Live event Toronto, ON 2 926926
17 Dusty Rhodes August 21, 1979 Live event Tampa, FL 1 55
18 Harley Race August 26, 1979 Live event Orlando, FL 3 6666
19 Giant Baba October 31, 1979 Live event Nagoya, Japan 2 77
20 Harley Race November 7, 1979 Live event Amagasaki, Japan 4 302302
21 Giant Baba September 4, 1980 Live event Saga, Japan 3 55
22 Harley Race September 9, 1980 Live event Ōtsu, Japan 5 230230
23 Tommy Rich April 27, 1981 Live event Augusta, GA 1 44
24 Harley Race May 1, 1981 Live event Gainesville, GA 6 5151
25 Dusty Rhodes June 21, 1981 Live event Atlanta, GA 2 8888
26 Ric Flair September 17, 1981 Live event Kansas City, KS 1 145631 Former champion Lou Thesz was the special referee.
† The Midnight Rider February 9, 1982 Live event Miami, FL 3 <1— On February 9, 1982 in Miami, The Midnight Rider (Dusty Rhodes under a mask due to being under suspension in Florida) defeated Flair for the title, but he returned it when NWA President Bob Geigel asked Rider to unmask or return the championship belt as NWA rules then forbade masked wrestlers from holding it. [7]
† Ric Flair February 9, 1982 Live event Miami, FL 2 150— The championship returned to Flair. This is considered a continuation of Flair's previous reign.
† Jack Veneno September 7, 1982 Live event Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic 1 <1— Jack Veneno defeated Ric Flair in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. As Veneno refused to defend the title outside his native country, the title was returned to Flair on the same day. [lower-alpha 11]
† Ric Flair September 7, 1982 Live event Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic 3 121— The title returned to Flair later on due to the nature of the championship match. This is considered a continuation of Flair's previous reign [lower-alpha 11]
† Carlos Colón January 6, 1983 Live event San Juan, Puerto Rico 1 4— This title change is not recognized by the NWA. Colon's WWC World Heavyweight Championship was also on the line. [lower-alpha 12]
† Ric Flair January 10, 1983 Live event Miami, FL 4 29— This title change is not recognized by the NWA.
† Victor Jovica February 8, 1983 Live event Couva, Trinidad 1 3— This title change is not recognized by the NWA. Victor Jovica defeated Ric Flair on February 8, 1983 in Couva, Trinidad, but the decision was reversed three days later because Jovica's feet were on the rope during the pin. [lower-alpha 13][lower-alpha 14]
† Ric Flair February 11, 1983 Live event Couva, Trinidad 5 119— The championship returned to Flair three days later. This is considered a continuation of Flair's previous reign.
27 Harley Race June 10, 1983 N/A St. Louis, MO 7 167167
28 Ric Flair November 24, 1983 Starrcade Greensboro, NC 2(6) 117117 This was a steel cage match. Former champion Gene Kiniski was the special referee.
29 Harley Race March 20, 1984 Live event Wellington, New Zealand 8 33 This title change was recognized by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and also by the NWA until at least 2011. [8][9][10][11][12]
30 Ric Flair March 23, 1984 Live event Kallang, Singapore 3(7) 4444 This title change was recognized by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and also by the NWA until at least 2011. But it is not recognized by WWE. [8][9][10][11][12]
31 Kerry Von Erich May 6, 1984 1st Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions Irving, TX 1 1818
National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) / Jim Crockett Promotions
32 Ric Flair May 24, 1984 Live event Yokosuka, Japan 4(8) 793793 By early 1985, Jim Crockett Promotions controlled many National Wrestling Alliance territories and attempted going national, thus limiting championship matches to performers under contract with JCP. The "Big Gold Belt" version of the championship belt debuted on February 14, 1986. [5]
33 Dusty Rhodes July 26, 1986 The Great American Bash Greensboro, NC 3(4) 1414
34 Ric Flair August 9, 1986 Live event St. Louis, MO 5(9) 412412
35 Ron Garvin September 25, 1987 NWA World Wide Wrestling Detroit, MI 1 6262
National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) / World Championship Wrestling (WCW)
36 Ric Flair November 26, 1987 Starrcade Chicago, IL 6(10) 452452 On November 21, 1988 the National Wrestling Alliance's flagship promotion Jim Crockett Promotions was purchased by Ted Turner and renamed World Championship Wrestling (WCW).
37 Ricky Steamboat February 20, 1989 Chi-Town Rumble Chicago, IL 1 7676
38 Ric Flair May 7, 1989 WrestleWar Nashville, TN 7(11) 426426
39 Sting July 7, 1990 The Great American Bash Baltimore, MD 1 188188
40 Ric Flair January 11, 1991 House show East Rutherford, NJ 8(12) 6969 After this title win, Flair was also recognized as the first WCW World Heavyweight Champion.
41 Tatsumi Fujinami March 21, 1991 Starrcade in Tokyo Dome Tokyo, Japan 1 5959 Briefly defended along with the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. This title change was originally ignored in the United States, but is retroactively recognized by WWE. [13]
42 Ric Flair May 19, 1991 SuperBrawl I St. Petersburg, FL 9(13) 112112 This title change was originally ignored in the United States, presenting Flair's reign as one continuous reign. This title change was briefly recognized by WCW. But it is not recognized by WWE.
— Vacated September 8, 1991 — — — —— Ric Flair was stripped of the NWA title upon signing with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF).
43 Masahiro Chono August 12, 1992 G1 Climax 1992 – Day 5 Tokyo, Japan 1 145145 Chono defeated Rick Rude in the final of the G1 Climax tournament.
44 The Great Muta January 4, 1993 Fantastic Story in Tokyo Dome Tokyo, Japan 1 4848 Muta's IWGP Heavyweight Championship was also on the line.
45 Barry Windham February 21, 1993 SuperBrawl III Asheville, NC 1 147147 [14]
46 Ric Flair July 18, 1993 Beach Blast Biloxi, MS 10(14) 5959 [15][16]
— Vacated September 15, 1993 — — — —— WCW withdrew from the NWA on September 1, 1993 but the NWA continued to recognize Ric Flair as NWA Champion and tried to reach a deal with WCW for the title to be dropped to a wrestler of NWA's choosing before the end of the year. By September 15, communications broke down and the NWA attempted to obtain a temporary restraining order against WCW to stop them from advertising the scheduled Rick Rude vs. Ric Flair match at Fall Brawl as a world title match and have the belt returned to them. Though WCW managed to keep the belt, they dropped any mentions of the NWA name from that point forward and the title was vacated by the NWA while WCW continued to recognize Flair as their WCW International World Heavyweight Champion. [17][18]
National Wrestling Alliance (NWA)
47 Shane Douglas August 27, 1994 NWA World Title Tournament Philadelphia, PA 1 <1<1 The "Ten Pounds of Gold" version of the championship belt returned on August 27, 1994. Shane Douglas defeated 2 Cold Scorpio in tournament final. [19]
— Vacated August 27, 1994 NWA World Title Tournament Philadelphia, PA — —— Shane 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 NWA-ECW 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. [19]
48 Chris Candido November 19, 1994 NWA World Heavyweight Title Tournament Cherry Hill, NJ 1 9797 Candido defeated Tracy Smothers in tournament final. [lower-alpha 15]
49 Dan Severn February 24, 1995 House show Erlanger, KY 1 1,4791,479 Severn had a customized NWA championship belt during this reign. [20][21]
50 Naoya Ogawa March 14, 1999 House show Yokohama, Japan 1 195195
51 Gary Steele September 25, 1999 51st Anniversary Show Charlotte, NC 1 77 Gary Steele pinned Ogawa in a three-way match, also involving Brian Anthony.
52 Naoya Ogawa October 2, 1999 House show Thomaston, CT 2 274274
— Vacated July 2, 2000 — — — —— Naoya Ogawa vacated the championship.
53 Mike Rapada September 19, 2000 House show Tampa, FL 1 5656 Rapada defeated Jerry Flynn in tournament final.
54 Sabu November 14, 2000 House show Tampa, FL 1 3838
55 Mike Rapada December 22, 2000 House show Nashville, TN 2 123123
56 Steve Corino April 24, 2001 House show Tampa, FL 1 172172
— Vacated October 13, 2001 53rd Anniversary Show St. Petersburg, FL — —— The championship was held up when Steve Corino lost a title match against Shinya Hashimoto when he became unable to compete due to head injury sustained in the match.
57 Shinya Hashimoto December 15, 2001 Clash of the Champions McKeesport, PA 1 8484 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. [22]
58 Dan Severn March 9, 2002 Vast Energy Tokyo, Japan 2 8080 Match ended in controversy, as the referee gave a fast count. [22]
— Vacated May 28, 2002 — — — —— Dan Severn was stripped of the title after failing to make a defense in NWA:Total Nonstop Action (NWA:TNA) at their inaugural PPV.
National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) / Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA)
59 Ken Shamrock June 19, 2002 NWA-TNA Weekly pay-per-view event #1 Huntsville, AL 1 4949 In June 2002, Jeff and Jerry Jarrett formed NWA:Total Nonstop Action (NWA:TNA) and worked out a licensing deal with NWA to control/feature the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship and the NWA World Tag Team Championship as their championships. Ken Shamrock defeated Malice in the finals of a Gauntlet for the Gold.
60 Ron Killings August 7, 2002 NWA-TNA Weekly pay-per-view event #8 Nashville, TN 1 105105
61 Jeff Jarrett November 20, 2002 NWA-TNA Weekly pay-per-view event #22 Nashville, TN 1 203203 [23][24]
62 A.J. Styles June 11, 2003 NWA-TNA Weekly pay-per-view event #48 Nashville, TN 1 133133 This was a three-way match, also involving Raven.
63 Jeff Jarrett October 22, 2003 NWA-TNA Weekly pay-per-view event #67 Nashville, TN 2 182182
64 A.J. Styles April 21, 2004 NWA-TNA Weekly pay-per-view event #91 Nashville, TN 2 2828 This was a steel cage match.
65 Ron Killings May 19, 2004 NWA-TNA Weekly pay-per-view event #95 Nashville, TN 2 1414 This was a four-way match, also involving Chris Harris and Raven
66 Jeff Jarrett June 2, 2004 NWA-TNA Weekly pay-per-view event #97 Nashville, TN 3 347347 This was a King of the Mountain match, also involving A.J. Styles, Chris Harris and Raven. Ron Killings defeated Jarrett on the June 23 TNA Weekly PPV for the title, but due to issues surrounding the title change, the title was held up, before Vince Russo gave Jarrett the title back.[25]
67 Ray González April 3, 2005 Juicio Final 2005 San Juan, Puerto Rico 1 <1<1 González was stripped of the title later in the evening due to the fall having been counted by the wrong referee. This reign was ignored by the NWA and TNA, with Jarrett continuing to be recognized as champion. Retroactively recognized by the NWA beginning February 16, 2015. [26]
† Jeff Jarrett April 3, 2005 Juicio Final 2005 San Juan, Puerto Rico — The title returned to Jarrett later on due to the nature of the championship match. This was originally considered a continuation of Jarrett's previous reign but is no longer recognized.
68 A.J. Styles May 15, 2005 Hard Justice Orlando, FL 3 3535 Styles defeated Jeff Jarrett for the championship. Tito Ortiz was the special guest referee. [27]
69 Raven June 19, 2005 Slammiversary Orlando, FL 1 8888 This was a King of the Mountain match, also involving Abyss, Monty Brown, and Sean Waltman. [28]
70 Jeff Jarrett September 15, 2005 International Incident Windsor, ON 4 3838 [29]
71 Rhino October 23, 2005 Bound for Glory Orlando, FL 1 22 Rhino won the right to face Jeff Jarrett in a Gauntlet for the Gold match after designated challenger Kevin Nash fell ill and withdrew. [30]
72 Jeff Jarrett October 25, 2005 Impact! Orlando, FL 5 110110 Aired November 3, 2005 on tape delay.
73 Christian Cage February 12, 2006 Against All Odds Orlando, FL 1 126126 [31]
74 Jeff Jarrett June 18, 2006 Slammiversary Orlando, FL 6 126126 This was a King of the Mountain match. [32]
75 Sting October 22, 2006 Bound for Glory Plymouth, MI 2 2828 Kurt Angle was the special outside enforcer. This was a Title vs. Career match where Sting put his career on the line. [33]
76 Abyss November 19, 2006 Genesis Orlando, FL 1 5656 Abyss defeated Sting by disqualification after Sting pushed the official. [34]
77 Christian Cage January 14, 2007 Final Resolution Orlando, FL 2 119119 This was a three-way elimination match, also involving Sting. [35]
— Vacated May 13, 2007 — — — —— Christian Cage was stripped of the championship when NWA and TNA ended their business agreement.
† Kurt Angle May 13, 2007 Sacrifice Orlando, FL 1 1— TNA didn't recognize the vacancy. Angle defeated Christian Cage and Sting in a three-way match to win the championship. Next day Angle was recognized as the first TNA World Heavyweight Champion and the NWA World Heavyweight Championship was abandoned.
National Wrestling Alliance (NWA)
78 Adam Pearce September 1, 2007 House show Bayamón, Puerto Rico 1 336336 Pearce 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. [36]
79 Brent Albright August 2, 2008 Death Before Dishonor VI New York City, NY 1 4949 [37]
80 Adam Pearce September 20, 2008 Glory By Honor VII Philadelphia, PA 2 3535 [38][39]
81 Blue Demon Jr. October 25, 2008 House show Mexico City, Mexico 1 505505 [40]
82 Adam Pearce March 14, 2010 House show Charlotte, NC 3 357357 This was a three-way elimination match, also featuring Phill Shatter. [41]
83 Colt Cabana March 6, 2011 NWA Championship Wrestling from Hollywood West Hollywood, CA 1 4848 [42]
84 The Sheik April 23, 2011 Subtle Hustle Jacksonville, FL 1 7979 [43]
— Vacated July 11, 2011 — — — —— The Sheik was stripped of the championship for refusing to defend against Adam Pearce on July 31, 2011. [44]
85 Adam Pearce July 31, 2011 NWA at the Ohio State Fair Columbus, OH 4 252252 Pearce defeated Chance Prophet, Jimmy Rave and Shaun Tempers in a four-way match to win the vacant championship. [45]
86 Colt Cabana April 8, 2012 NWA Championship Wrestling from Hollywood Glendale, CA 2 104104 [46]
87 Adam Pearce July 21, 2012 Metro Pro Wrestling Kansas City, KS 5 9898 This was a two-out-of-three falls match. It was match four of a seven-match series between Cabana and Pearce. On August 30, 2012, a court settlement transferred NWA ownership to International Wrestling Corp. NWA no longer had memberships but instead began licensing the NWA brand to wrestling promotions. [47]
— Vacated October 27, 2012 NWA Warzone Wrestling 14 Berwick, Victoria, Australia — —— Adam 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. [48]
88 Kahagas November 2, 2012 Wrath of Champions Clayton, NJ 1 134134 Kahagas 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. [49]
89 Rob Conway March 16, 2013 A Monster's Ball San Antonio, TX 1 294294 Conway replaced an injured Jax Dane and defeated Kahagas for the championship. [50]
90 Satoshi Kojima January 4, 2014 Wrestle Kingdom 8 in Tokyo Dome Tokyo, Japan 1 149149 [51]
91 Rob Conway June 2, 2014 Cauliflower Alley Club Reunion Show Las Vegas, NV 2 257257 [52]
92 Hiroyoshi Tenzan February 14, 2015 The New Beginning in Sendai Sendai, Japan 1 196196 [53]
93 Jax Dane August 29, 2015 World War Gold San Antonio, TX 1 419419 [54]
National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) / Lightning One
94 Tim Storm October 21, 2016 House show Sherman, TX 1 414414 On October 1, 2017, Billy Corgan's company Lightning One, Inc. purchased the National Wrestling Alliance and gradually transformed it into a singular wrestling promotion. [55]
95 Nick Aldis December 9, 2017 Cage of Death 19 Sewell, NJ 1 266266 [56]
96 Cody September 1, 2018 All In Hoffman Estates, IL 1 5050 [57]
97 Nick Aldis October 21, 2018 NWA 70th Anniversary Show Nashville, TN 2 839+839+ This was a two-out-of-three falls match. [58]

Combined reigns

As of February 6, 2020.

Lou Thesz
Ric Flair, record ten-time champion
Harley Race
Dory Funk Jr
Dan Severn
Gene Kiniski
Adam Pearce
† Indicates the current champion
<1 The reign is shorter than one day.
Rank Wrestler No. of
reigns		 Combined days
1 Lou Thesz33,749
2 Ric Flair103,116
3 Harley Race81,801
4 Dory Funk Jr.11,563
5 Dan Severn21,559
6 Gene Kiniski11,131
7 Nick Aldis †21,105+
8 Adam Pearce51,078
9 Jeff Jarrett61,005
10 Pat O'Connor1903
11 Jack Brisco2866
12 Buddy Rogers1573
13 Rob Conway2551
14 Blue Demon Jr.1505
15 Orville Brown1501
16 Naoya Ogawa2469
17 Terry Funk1424
18 Dick Hutton1421
19 Jax Dane1419
20 Tim Storm1414
21 Christian Cage2245
22 Billy Watson1239
23 Sting2216
24 A.J. Styles3196
Hiroyoshi Tenzan1196
26 Mike Rapada2176
27 Steve Corino1175
28 Colt Cabana2152
29 Satoshi Kojima1149
30 Barry Windham1147
31 Masahiro Chono1145
32 Kahagas1134
33 Ron Killings2119
34 Dusty Rhodes3107
35 Chris Candido197
36 Raven88
37 Shinya Hashimoto84
38 The Sheik79
39 Ricky Steamboat76
40 Ron Garvin62
41 Tatsumi Fujinami59
42 Abyss56
43 Cody50
44 Brent Albright49
Ken Shamrock49
46 The Great Muta48
47 Sabu38
48 Giant Baba319
49 Kerry Von Erich118
50 Gary Steele7
51 Tommy Rich4
52 Rhino2
53 Ray González<1
Shane Douglas<1

Footnotes
  • Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2000). ""United States: 19th century & widely defended titles – NWA, WWF, AWA, IWA, ECW, NWA: NWA World Heavyweight Title"". Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present. Waterloo, ON: Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  1. Duncan & Will (2000) p. 15 "Orville Brown 1948/07 Recognized as the first champion when the National Wrestilng Alliance is founded in 48/07 in Waterloo, IA by Pinkie George with five other promoters."
  2. Duncan & Will (2000) p. 15 "Unifies following titles to become the Undisputed World Heavyweight champion:
    • National Wrestling Association World Heavyweight title, having defeated Bill Longson on 48/07/20 in Indianapolis, IN
    • National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight title, awarded on 49/11/27 when champion Orville Brown is injured in an automobile accident on 49/11/01 before a unification match scheduled on 49/11/25 in St. Louis, MO
    • Los Angeles Olympic Auditorium version of the world title, defeating Baron Michele Leone on 52/05/21 in Los Angeles, CA."
  3. Duncan & Will (2000) p. 15 "Whipper Billy Watson 56/03/15 Toronto, ON"
  4. Duncan & Will (2000) p. 15 "Lou Thesz [2] 56/11/09 St. Louis, MO"
  5. Duncan & Will (2000) p. 15 "Edouard Carpentier # 57/06/14 Chicago, IL"
  6. Duncan & Will (2000) p. 15 "Lou Thesz # 57
    Carpentier withdraws his claim to the title when Montreal promoter Eddie Quinn leaves NWA; NWA voids all recognition of Carpentier as champion"
  7. 'Dick Hutton 57/11/14 Toronto, ON"
  8. Duncan & Will (2000) p. 15 "Pat O'Connor 59/01/09 St. Louis, MO"
  9. Duncan & Will (2000) p. 15 "Lou Thesz [3] 63/01/24 Toronto, ON
    Promoters in northeast refuse to recognize Rogers's one-fall loss to Thesz and start World Wide Wrestling Federation with Rogers as the first WWWF World Heavyweight champion"
  10. Duncan & Will (2000) p. 15 "Gene Kiniski 66/01/07 St. Louis, MO"
  11. Duncan & Will (2000) p. 17 "Flair allows himself to be pinned by Jack Veneno to avoid the riot from the audience, but the title is returned to Flair"
  12. Duncan & Will (2000) p. 17 "Carlos Colon # 1983/01/06 San Juan, PR"
  13. Duncan & Will (2000) p. 17 "Ric Flair # 1983/01/10<"
  14. Duncan & Will (2000) p. 17 "Victor Jovica pins Flair around 83 in TRINIDAD but the decision is reversed because of Jovica's feet being on the rope"
  15. Duncan & Will (2000) p. 19 "Chris Candido 1994/11/19 Cherry Hill, NJ Defeats Tracy Smothers in tournament final."

References
  1. "NWA World Heavyweight Title". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2017-03-04.
  2. https://twitter.com/nwa/status/1157002972494290945
  3. Hoops, Brian (June 30, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history (June 30): CM Punk wins WWE World title, Buddy Rogers beats Pat O'Connor for NWA world tite". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
  4. Hoops, Brian (February 11, 2017). "On this day in pro wrestling history (Feb 11): AJ Styles wins the IWGP TItle". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 15, 2017.
  5. Hoops, Brian (May 24, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history (May 24): Harley Race wins NWA title due to interesting circumstances, Ric Flair beats Kerry Von Erich in Japan". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 18, 2017.
  6. Hoops, Brian (July 20, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history: Brisco beats Race for NWA title, Gagne beats Crusher for AWA title, Robinson vs. Gagen". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
  7. Hoops, Brian (February 9, 2017). "On this day in pro wrestling history (Feb 9): The Midnight Rider defeated Ric Flair". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 15, 2017.
  8. https://web.archive.org/web/20000817233603/http://www.wcw.com/2000/superstars/world/
  9. https://web.archive.org/web/20111017174044/http://nwahollywood.com/main/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=12%3Aworld-heavyweight-championship&catid=5&Itemid=12
  10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-08-05. Retrieved 2017-08-05.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. https://www.wwe.com/article/wwe-hall-of-famer-harley-race-passes-away
  12. https://twitter.com/nwa/status/1157002972494290945
  13. "Tatsumi Fujinami to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame's Class of 2015". WWE.
  14. Hoops, Brian (February 21, 2017). "Daily pro wrestling history (02/21): WCW SuperBrawl 1993". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
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