CWA Heavyweight Championship

CWA Heavyweight Championship
Details
PromotionChampionship Wrestling Association
Date establishedDecember 7, 1987
Date retiredOctober 1989
Statistics
First champion(s)Jerry Lawler
Final champion(s)Tony Anthony
Most reignsDutch Mantel/Texas Dirt (3 reigns)
Longest reignPhil Hickerson (127 days)
Shortest reignBlack Bart (7 days)

The CWA Heavyweight Championship was a major professional wrestling title defended in the Championship Wrestling Association. It was created through the unification of the NWA Mid-America Heavyweight, AWA Southern Heavyweight and CWA/AWA International Heavyweight championships.

The title was thus considered the most important title in the promotion until Jerry Lawler won the AWA World Heavyweight Championship on May 5, 1988. On December 13, 1988, Lawler defeated Kerry Von Erich to win the World Class Heavyweight Championship and effectively rename the latter title the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship and make it the new top championship in Memphis. The CWA title continued as the secondary title until late 1989 when it was replaced with the USWA Southern Heavyweight Championship.

Title history

Key
No. Overall reign number
Reign Reign number for the specific champion
Days Number of days held
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign Days
1 Jerry Lawler December 7, 1987 House show Memphis, Tennessee 1 63 Lawler, the reigning AWA Southern Heavyweight Champion, defeated Jeff Jarrett to win the NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Championship and Manny Fernandez to win the CWA/AWA International Heavyweight Championship. The titles are all unified, creating the new title. [1][2]
2 Max Pain February 8, 1988 House show Memphis, Tennessee 1 105 [1][2]
3 Brickhouse Brown May 23, 1988 House show Memphis, Tennessee 1 35 Won by forfeit. [1][2][3]
4 Max Pain June 27, 1988 House show Memphis, Tennessee 2 13 [1][2]
5 Phil Hickerson July 10, 1988 House show Memphis, Tennessee 1 127 [1][2]
— Vacated November 14, 1988 — — — — Vacated after a match with Brian Lee. [1][2]
6 Brian Lee November 19, 1988 TV Studio show Memphis, Tennessee 1 21 Defeated Mike Miller in a tournament final. [1][2]
7 Sid Vicious December 10, 1988 House show Memphis, Tennessee 1 30 [1][2]
8 Wendell Cooley January 9, 1989 House show Memphis, Tennessee 1 [Note 1] [1][2]
9 Dutch Mantell January 1989 N/A N/A 1 [Note 2] Awarded the title after Cooley left the company. [1][2]
10 Jeff Jarrett March 11, 1989 House show Memphis, Tennessee 1 107 [1][2]
11 Black Bart June 26, 1989 House show Memphis, Tennessee 1 70 [1][2]
12 Texas Dirt September 4, 1989 House show Memphis, Tennessee 2 7 [1][2]
13 Black Bart September 11, 1989 House show Memphis, Tennessee 2 7 [1][2]
14 Texas Dirt September 18, 1989 House show Memphis, Tennessee 3 5 [1][2]
— Vacated September 23, 1989 Championship Wrestling TV Show — — — Championship vacated by the promotion after Texas Dirt gave the championship to Dutch Mantell [4] [1][2]
15 Tony Anthony October 9, 1989 House show Memphis, Tennessee 1 47 Defeated Dustin Rhodes in a one night tournament final. [1][2]
— Deactivated November 1989 — — — — On the December 16, 1989 episode of Championship Wrestling, Bill Dundee is named as both “CWA Champion” and “Southern Champion” interchangeably. Dundee in a promo mentioned he won the title in Texas. Retired in favor of the USWA Southern Heavyweight Championship. [1][2]

Footnotes

  1. ^ The exact date were Cooley left CWA is uncertain which means that his championship reign lasted between 1 and 21 days.
  2. ^ The date that Mantel was awarded the championship is uncertain which means that the championship reign lasted between 39 and 60 days.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Will, Gary; Duncan, Royal (2000). "Tennessee (Memphis): CWA Heavyweight Title [Lawler and Jarrett]". Wrestling Title Histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present. Pennsylvania: Archeus Communications. p. 195. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "CWA Heavyweight Championship history". Wrestling-Titles. Retrieved March 30, 2017.
  3. ^ Hoops, Brian (May 23, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history (May 23): Antonio Inoki Vs. Hulk Hogan, Andre Vs. Sakaguchi, Frank Gotch in a 57-minute match". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 16, 2017.
  4. ^ "Memphis Wrestling September 23, 1989 (WMC Edition)". September 23, 1989. Archived from the original on 2021-12-14. Retrieved September 28, 2017.

See also