NWA Missouri Heavyweight Championship

NWA Missouri Heavyweight Championship
File:NWA Missouri HEavyweight Championship Belt.jpg The NWA Missouri Heavyweight Championship belt
Details
Current champion(s)	Mitch Johnson
Date won	August 22, 2015
Date established	October - December 1899 (original) September 16, 1972 (current)
Promotion	Central States Wrestling and St. Louis Wrestling Club (through 1986) NWA Midwest (2002-2012) NWA Central-States Championship Wrestling (since 2014)
Other name(s)
Missouri Heavyweight Championship
Statistics First champion(s) George Baptiste Most reigns Harley Race (7) Longest reign Dingo (1,001 days) Shortest reign Shane Somers (3 minutes, 34 seconds)

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 1970s and 1980s. 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). 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 Midwest revived the title in 2002 and promoted it until 2012. On March 29, 2014 the new NWA Central-States Championship Wrestling promotion brought the Missouri Championship back.

Pre National Wrestling Alliance Title history

Key

Symbol	Meaning
#	The overall championship reign
Reign	The reign number for the specific set of wrestlers listed.
Event	The event promoted by the respective promotion in which the title changed hands
—	Used for vacated reigns in order to not count it as an official reign
	Indicates periods of unknown lineage
(NLT)	Indicates that the championship changed hands "No Later Than" a certain date.

#	Wrestler	Reign	Date	Days held	Location	Event	Notes
1	George Baptiste	1	October 1899 (NLT)			Live event	Records are unclear as to whom he defeated.
2	Jake Reed	1	1921			Live event	Defeated Lloyd Carter to win the championship. Unclear if Carter was the champion or if this was a tournament final.
3	Jake Ross	1	March 6, 1930		Chillicothe, Missouri	Live event	Defeated Charles Santen to win the championship, unclear if Santen was the champion or if this was a tournament final.
4	Fred Peterson	1	February 9, 1932			Live event
5	Billy Wolf	1	March 1934			Live event
6	Lou Thesz	1	June 18, 1937		Kansas City, Missouri	Live event	Defeated Warren Bockwinkel to win the championship

National Wrestling Alliance Title history

Key

Symbol	Meaning
#	The overall championship reign
Reign	The reign number for the specific set of wrestlers listed.
Event	The event promoted by the respective promotion in which the title changed hands
—	Used for vacated reigns in order to not count it as an official reign
	Indicates periods of unknown lineage
(NLT)	Indicates that the championship changed hands "No Later Than" a certain date.

#	Wrestler	Reign	Date	Days held	Location	Event	Notes
1	Tommy O'Toole	1	March 10, 1950		St. Joseph, Missouri	Live event	Defeated Sonny Myers in a 10-man tournament final.
2	Sonny Myers	1	April 14, 1950		St. Joseph, Missouri	Live event
3	Ron Etchison	1	January 12, 1951		St. Joseph, Missouri	Live event
4	Sonny Myers	2	January 26, 1951		St. Joseph, Missouri	Live event
5	Ron Etchison	2	February 2, 1951		St. Joseph, Missouri	Live event
6	Ray Eckert	1	February 9, 1951		St. Joseph, Missouri	Live event
7	Ron Etchison	3	March 1, 1951		St. Joseph, Missouri	Live event
—	Vacated	N/A	June 8, 1951	N/A	N/A	N/A	Championship vacated, reason undocumented
8	Sonny Myers	3	February 1, 1952			Live event
9	Joe Dusek	1	February 15, 1952		St. Joseph, Missouri	Live event
10	Sonny Myers	4	November 14, 1952			Live event
11	Ron Etchison	4	December 26, 1952		St. Joseph, Missouri	Live event
—	Vacated	N/A	May 30, 1953	N/A	N/A	N/A	Championship vacated, no reason documented
12	Sonny Myers	5	December 18, 1953			Live event
13	Bob Orton	1	January 1, 1954		St. Joseph, Missouri	Live event
14	Ray Eckert	2	March 5, 1954		St. Joseph, Missouri	Live event
—	Vacated	N/A	April 7, 1954	N/A	N/A	N/A	Championship held up due to a controversial ending of a match against Sonny Myers
15	Sonny Myers	6	April 9, 1954		St. Joseph, Missouri	Live event	Defeated Ray Eckert to win the vacant championship.
16	Larry Hamilton	1	May 22, 1954		St. Joseph, Missouri	Live event
17	Ron Etchison	5	November 5, 1954		St. Joseph, Missouri	Live event
—	Vacated	N/A	September 9, 1955	N/A	N/A	N/A	Championship vacated, reason not documented
18	Joe Dusek	2	April 1956		Sedalia, Missouri	Live event
—	Vacated	N/A	September 19, 1956	N/A	N/A	N/A	Championship inactive.
19	Harley Race	1	September 16, 1972		St. Louis, Missouri	Live event	Defeated Pak Song in a tournament final for the revived championship.
—	Vacated	N/A	December 16, 1972	N/A	N/A	N/A	Championship held up after a match against Johnny Valentine
20	Johnny Valentine	1	January 19, 1973		St. Louis, Missouri	Live event	Defeated Harley Race in a rematch.
21	Terry Funk	1	February 10, 1973		St. Louis, Missouri	Live event
22	Gene Kiniski	1	March 16, 1973		St. Louis, Missouri	Live event
23	Harley Race	2	October 13, 1973		St. Louis, Missouri	Live event
24	Dory Funk, Jr.	1	May 24, 1974		St. Louis, Missouri	Live event
25	Harley Race	3	February 21, 1975		St. Louis, Missouri	Live event
26	Bob Backlund	1	April 23, 1976		St. Louis, Missouri	Live event
27	Jack Brisco	1	November 26, 1976		St. Louis, Missouri	Live event
28	Dick Slater	1	August 12, 1977		St. Louis, Missouri	Live event
29	Ted DiBiase	1	February 12, 1978		St. Louis, Missouri	Live event
30	Dick Murdoch	1	February 26, 1978		St. Louis, Missouri	Live event
31	Dick the Bruiser	1	July 14, 1978		St. Louis, Missouri	Live event
32	Dick Murdoch	2	March 17, 1979		St. Louis, Missouri	Live event
33	Dick the Bruiser	2	May 18, 1979		St. Louis, Missouri	Live event
34	Dick Murdoch	3	July 13, 1979		St. Louis, Missouri	Live event
35	Kevin Von Erich	1	November 23, 1979		St. Louis, Missouri	Live event
36	Ken Patera	1	April 25, 1980		St. Louis, Missouri	Live event
37	Ted DiBiase	2	November 21, 1980		St. Louis, Missouri	Live event
38	Jack Brisco	2	October 2, 1981		St. Louis, Missouri	Live event
39	Ken Patera	2	October 23, 1981		St. Louis, Missouri	Live event
40	Dick the Bruiser	3	January 1, 1982		St. Louis, Missouri	Live event
41	Harley Race	4	September 17, 1982		St. Louis, Missouri	Live event
42	Kerry Von Erich	1	January 23, 1983		St. Louis, Missouri	Live event
43	Jerry Blackwell	1	April 15, 1983		St. Louis, Missouri	Live event
44	Harley Race	5	May 13, 1983		St. Louis, Missouri	Live event
—	Vacated	N/A	June 10, 1983	N/A	N/A	N/A	Championship vacated when Champion Harley Race won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship
45	Ric Flair	1	July 15, 1983		St. Louis, Missouri	Live event	Defeated David Von Erich in a tournament final.
46	David Von Erich	1	September 16, 1983		St. Louis, Missouri	Live event
47	Harley Race	6	January 6, 1984		St. Louis, Missouri	Live event
48	Jerry Blackwell	2	November 16, 1984		St. Louis, Missouri	Live event
49	Harley Race	7	August 2, 1985		St. Louis, Missouri	Live event
—	Vacated	N/A	February 1986	N/A	N/A	N/A	Championship retired when Jim Crockett Promotions bought the St. Louis Wrestling Club. Crockett also bought Central States Wrestling in September.

NWA Midwest Title history

Key

Symbol	Meaning
#	The overall championship reign
Reign	The reign number for the specific set of wrestlers listed.
Event	The event promoted by the respective promotion in which the title changed hands
—	Used for vacated reigns in order to not count it as an official reign

#	Wrestler	Reign	Date	Days held	Location	Event	Notes
1	Gary Jackson	1	July 27, 2002		St. Robert, Missouri	Live event	Defeated Steve Stone after the title was revived by NWA Midwest.
—	Vacated	N/A	June 3, 2003	N/A	N/A	N/A	Championship vacated due to lack of defenses.
2	Shane Somers	1	June 17, 2003	0	Rolla, Missouri	Live event	Defeated Dingo, John Epperson, Tony Luza, Rick Norris and Yukon Eric, Jr. in a six-way match.
—	Vacated	N/A	June 17, 2003	N/A	N/A	N/A	Somers was immediately stripped of the title by Missouri State Commissioner Carl Lauer for using an illegal chokehold.
3	Shane Somers	2	June 17, 2003		Rolla, Missouri	Live event	Teamed up with The Mad Hatter, pinned John Epperson, who was teaming with Ricky Murdock, in a tag team match.
4	Ricky Murdock	1	October 10, 2003		Parkersburg, West Virginia	Live event	Won the title at the NWA 55th Anniversary Show. Murdock's NWA National Heavyweight Championship was also at stake.
5	Shane Somers	3	March 27, 2004		Plato, Missouri	Live event
—	Vacated	N/A	2005	N/A	N/A	N/A	Championship vacated, reason not documented.
6	Abyss	1	December 7, 2005		Lawrence, Kansas	Live event	Defeated Tyler Cook to win the vacant championship
—	Vacated	N/A	December 26, 2006	N/A	N/A	N/A	Championship vacated, reason not documented.
7	Dingo	1	January 19, 2007		St. Joseph, Missouri	Live event	Defeated Kraig Keesman, Mark Sterling and Jeremy Wyatt in a four-way match.
8	Davey Vega	1	October 16, 2009		Glen Carbon, Illinois	Live event
—	Vacated	N/A	2010	N/A	N/A	N/A	Championship vacated as Davey Vega could not commit to NWA Midwest events.
9	Jeremy Wyatt	1	April 30, 2011		Caseyville, Illinois	Live event	Defeated Uhaa Nation, Jonathan Gresham and Trent Stone in a four-way match.
—	Vacated	N/A	May 11, 2011	N/A	N/A	N/A	Jeremy Wyatt won the NWA Central States Championship
10	KC Karrington	1	June 10, 2011		Glen Carbon, Illinois	Live event	Defeated Dan Walsh in tournament final.
11	Makaze	1	September 7, 2012		Glen Carbon, Illinois	Live event	Defeats Karrington, Dan Walsh, and Trent Stone in a 4-way match.
—	Vacated	N/A	November 1, 2012	N/A	N/A	N/A	Championship vacated when Dynamo Pro Wrestling withdraws from the NWA.

Central-States Championship Wrestling Missouri Title history

Key

Symbol	Meaning
#	The overall championship reign
Reign	The reign number for the specific set of wrestlers listed.
Event	The event promoted by the respective promotion in which the title changed hands
—	Used for vacated reigns in order to not count it as an official reign

#	Wrestler	Reign	Date	Days held	Location	Event	Notes
1	Elvis Aliaga	1	March 29, 2014		Richland, Missouri	Live event	Wins 10 man over the top rope battle royal to capture vacant title.
—	Vacated	N/A	April 6, 2014	N/A	N/A	N/A	Championship held up after Aliaga's controversial battle royal victory.
2	Elvis Aliaga	2	June 21, 2014		Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri	Live event	Won a four-man gauntlet match that included the final four men eliminated from the original battle royal.
3	Evan Morris	1	June 6, 2015		Rolla, Missouri	Live event
4	Mitch Johnson	1	August 22, 2015		Newbern, Tennessee	Live event	Won when Morris was attacked by a mysterious masked man.
5	Evan Morris	2	March 5, 2016	+	St. Robert, Missouri	Live event

See also

• National Wrestling Alliance
• St. Louis Wrestling Club
• Heart of America Sports Attractions

References

General references

• (through 2000)