NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship

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For the Pro Wrestling Zero1 recognized title, see NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship (Zero1).
For the title contested in Los Angeles, see NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship (Los Angeles version).
NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship
NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship belt 2017.png
The latest NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship belt.
Details
PromotionNWA
Date establishedMay 15, 1945

The NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world championship in the National Wrestling Alliance competed for by wrestlers in the Junior Heavyweight division. The title has been in existence from 1945 to the present.[1] The title was unified with the National Wrestling Association's World Junior Heavyweight Championship in 1949.

History[]

The first NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion was Ken Fenelos, who was awarded the title on May 15, 1945 by promoter Paul "Pinkie" George, the co-founder and inaugural president of the National Wrestling Alliance. For the first few years of its existence, the title was contested largely in Iowa, where George's promotion was based. [2]

Between 1948 and 1952, the title was unified with other junior heavyweight titles. After winning the title in December 1948, Leroy McGuirk defeated the National Wrestling Association World Junior Heavyweight Champion Billy Goelz in 1949 to unify the two titles. McGuirk vacated the title in February 1950 after being blinded in a car accident, forcing him to retire. Verne Gagne won the vacant title in November 1950, defeating Sonny Myers in the final of a tournament, after which he was presented with the title belt by McGuirk.[3] Gagne lost the title to Danny McShain one year later in November 1951. In May 1952, McShain unified the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship with the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship (Los Angeles version) by defeating Rito Romero.

Danny Hodge (pictured in June 1972 during his sixth reign) held the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship a record seven times.

In 1960, Danny Hodge had a heated feud with Angelo Savoldi over the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship. During a bout between the two men on May 27, 1960 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Hodge's father Bill Hodge Sr. entered the ring and legitimately stabbed Savoldi.[4]

In 1973, Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling's wrestler Wrestling Pro faced Ken Mantell for the championship. During the match, the referee was knocked out and Pro won the match, but a second referee appeared and declared Mantell as the winner. The promoter Bob Kelly appeared and said that Wrestling Pro was the new champion and gave him a title belt. During that time, Pro was recognized as champion in the GCCW territory, but not recognized by NWA.[5] 49 days later, Mantell defeated Wrestling Pro to claim both titles.

In March 1976, Hodge vacated the title after being injured in a car accident, marking the end of his record seventh reign as champion.[6]

In 1979, after the title was vacated, Steve Keirn defeated Chavo Guerrero Sr. in the finals of a tournament to win the title. However, Keirn was recognized as champion by New Japan Pro-Wrestling, as well as the Los Angeles and Florida NWA territories, but not by the NWA as a whole. The title Keirn held was later renamed the NWA International Junior Heavyweight Title.[7][8][7]

In 1983, the title had two different lineages. The NWA recognized champion was The Cobra, who worked for NJPW. The Cobra held the title from 1983 until 1984, when he lost it against Hiro Saito. However, he regained the title that same day. The Cobra retained the title until 1985, when NJPW separated from NWA. uring that time, in 1983, Les Thatcher was pointed as champion by Georgia Championship Wrestling. The title was vacated when he joined WWF and, Jim Crockett Promotions gave the title to Hector Guerrero in 1984. Guerrero lost the championship against Mike Davis and, at Starrcade 84, Davis lost the title to Denny Brown. When The Cobra was stripped from the title in 1985, NWA vice president Shohei Baba recognized Davis as the official champion.

In 1996, a tournament was held to unify eight different championship belts from five different organizations, including NWA's.[9] The tournament to crown the first champions was held over four nights, from August 2 to August 5, 1996, the same dates that New Japan Pro-Wrestling's annual G1 Climax event took place, promoting two major tournaments on one tour.[9] Jushin Thunder Liger is credited with coming up with the idea for the J-Crown.[9] The inaugural champion was The Great Sasuke.[9] The J-Crown was defended for just over a year. While Ultimo Dragon was champion, the titles appeared on World Championship Wrestling programming, as Dragon also held the WCW Cruiserweight Championship and the NWA World Middleweight Championship at the time.[9] When Liger was champion, he lost the WAR International Junior Heavyweight Championship to Yuji Yasuraoka on June 6, 1997, in Tokyo, Japan. Liger, however, continued to defend the J-Crown with seven titles instead of eight. As part of their introduction of a new WWF Light Heavyweight Championship, the World Wrestling Federation demanded that the then current champion Shinjiro Otani return the belt. Otani dissolved the J-Crown on November 5, 1997, by vacating all of the component titles except for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, with the other belts being restored to their home promotions. When the title was returned to NWA, the held the title vacated until 1999, when Logan Caine won a tournament.

In 2011, The Sheik was the NWA World Heavyweight Champion but was stripped of the championship for refusing to defend against Adam Pearce.[10] The Junior Heavyweight Champion Craig Classic vacated the title in protest and brought his own version of the title to Pro Wrestling Zero1, which later was renamed World Junior Heavyweight Championship (Zero1).

In 2014, NWA began to work with New Japan Pro Wrestling. The champion at that time, Chase Owens, defended the title in several NJPW events. During the working relationship, Jushin Thunder Liger and Tiger Mask held the title. On May 1, 2017, William Patrick Corgan's company, Lightning One, Inc., purchased the NWA, including its name, rights, trademarks, and championships.[11] Corgan's ownership took effect on October 1, 2017.[12] While Corgan promoted other titles, the Junior Heavyweight championship was vacated and wasn't used until 2021, when it was announced a tournament to reinstate the belt.

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 Ken Fenelon May 15, 1945 N/A N/A 1 N/A Fenelon was awarded the title by Pinkie George, founder of the NWA.
2 Marshall Esteppe May 30, 1945 N/A Toronto, Iowa, US 1 216 [13]
3 Larry Tillman January 10, 1946 N/A Des Moines, Iowa, US 1 69
4 Ken Fenelon March 11, 1946 N/A Des Moines, Iowa, US 2 301
5 Marshall Esteppe January 6, 1947 N/A Des Moines, Iowa, US 2 77
6 Ray Steele March 24, 1947 N/A Des Moines, Iowa, US 1 35
7 Marshall Esteppe April 28, 1947 N/A Des Moines, Iowa, US 3 77
8 Billy Goelz March 16, 1948 N/A Des Moines, Iowa, US 1 159
9 Al Williams August 22, 1948 N/A Waterloo, Iowa, US 1 14
10 Billy Goelz September 5, 1948 N/A Waterloo, Iowa, US 2 114 Recognition withdrawn in 49 when NWA selects Leroy McGuirk as champion.
11 Leroy McGuirk December 28, 1948 N/A Des Moines, Iowa, US 1 41 Defeating John Swenski on June 19, 1939 in Hollywood, CA; recognized by National Wrestling Alliance during the convention later defeats Billy Goelz and Unified National Wrestling Association's World Junior Heavyweight Championship into National Wrestling Alliance title.
— Vacated February 7, 1950 — — — — Vacated after Leroy McGuirk was blinded in an auto accident and had to retire.
12 Verne Gagne November 13, 1950 N/A Tulsa, Oklahoma, US 1 371
13 Danny McShain November 19, 1951 N/A Memphis, Tennessee, US 1 637 Promoted by NWA Mid-America. Unifies the Los Angeles version of the world title, defeating Rito Romero on May 25, 1952 in Los Angeles, CA; Whitey Whittler defeats McShain by DQ on October 17, 1952 in Oklahoma City, OK and claims the title; Red Berry defeats McShain by DQ on November 11, 1952 in Dallas, TX and claims the title; McShain defeats Whittler on November 14, 1952 in Oklahoma City, OK and Berry on November 27, 1952 in Galveston, Texas, to regain the respective claims.
14 Baron Michele Leone August 17, 1953 N/A Memphis, Tennessee, US 1 602 Promoted by NWA Mid-America.
15 Ed Francis April 11, 1955 N/A Tulsa, Oklahoma, US 1 365
16 Mike Clancy April 10, 1956 N/A Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, US 1 350
17 Fred Blassie March 26, 1957 N/A Nashville, Tennessee, US 1 <1
— Vacated March 26, 1957 — — — — Vacated after the match between Freddie Blassie and Mike Clancy ended with a controversial finish.
18 Mike Clancy April 9, 1957 N/A Nashville, Tennessee, US 2 217 Defeated Fred Blassie.
— Vacated November 12, 1957 — — — — Held up; Clancy defeated Jackie Fargo by DQ at November 15 in Nashville, TN.
19 Mike Clancy November 19, 1957 N/A Nashville, Tennessee, US 3 101
20 Angelo Savoldi February 28, 1958 N/A Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, US 1 97
21 Dory Funk June 5, 1958 N/A Amarillo, Texas, US 1 36 Promoted by NWA Western States.
22 Angelo Savoldi July 11, 1958 N/A N/A 2 224
23 Ivan the Terrible February 20, 1959 N/A Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, US 1 14
24 Angelo Savoldi March 6, 1959 N/A Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, US 3 84 [14]
25 Mike DiBiase May 29, 1959 N/A N/A 1 84
26 Angelo Savoldi August 21, 1959 N/A N/A 4 336
27 Danny Hodge July 22, 1960 N/A Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, US 1 1,450 Promoted by NWA Tri-State.
28 Hiro Matsuda July 11, 1964 N/A Tampa, Florida, US 1 125 Promoted by Championship Wrestling from Florida.
29 Angelo Savoldi November 13, 1964 N/A Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, US 5 161 [2]
30 Danny Hodge April 23, 1965 N/A Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, US 2 214 [2]
31 Lorenzo Parente November 23, 1965 N/A N/A 1 42
32 Danny Hodge January 4, 1966 N/A Little Rock, Arkansas, US 3 10 [2]
33 Lorenzo Parente January 14, 1966 N/A Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, US 2 29 [2]
34 Joe McCarthy February 12, 1966 N/A Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, US 1 80 [2]
35 Danny Hodge May 3, 1966 N/A Little Rock, Arkansas, US 4 1,361 [2]
36 Sputnik Monroe July 13, 1970 N/A Shreveport, Louisiana, US 1 28 [2]
37 Danny Hodge August 10, 1970 N/A Tulsa, Oklahoma, US 5 283 Also recorded as taking place on September 14, 1970 in Shreveport, Louisiana, US [2]
38 Roger Kirby May 20, 1971 N/A New Orleans, Louisiana, US 1 113 [2]
39 Ramón Torres September 10, 1971 N/A Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, US 1 84 [2]
40 Dr. X December 3, 1971 N/A Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, US 1 108 [2]
41 Danny Hodge March 20, 1972 N/A Shreveport, Louisiana, US 6 639 [2]
42 Ken Mantell December 19, 1973 N/A Jackson, Mississippi, US 1 272 [2]
† Wrestling Pro September 17, 1974 — Mobile, Alabama, US 1† 49 [2]
† Ken Mantell November 5, 1974 — — 1(2) 221
43 Hiro Matsuda June 14, 1975 N/A St. Petersburg, Florida, US 2 262 Promoted by Championship Wrestling from Florida.
44 Danny Hodge March 2, 1976 N/A Shreveport, Louisiana, US 7 13 Promoted by NWA Tri-State.
— Vacated March 15, 1976 — — — —
45 Pat Barrett September 28, 1976 N/A N/A 1 65
46 Ron Starr December 2, 1976 N/A New Orleans, Louisiana, US 1 4
47 Nelson Royal December 6, 1976 N/A New Orleans, Louisiana, US 1 566
48 Chavo Guerrero Sr. February 24, 1978 N/A N/A 1 42
49 Nelson Royal April 7, 1978 N/A N/A 2 79
50 Al Madril June 25, 1978 N/A Houston, Texas, US 1 398 Promoted by Houston Wrestling.
51 Nelson Royal July 28, 1979 N/A N/A 3 134
— Vacated December 9, 1979 — — — — when Royal retires.
† Steve Keirn December 10, 1979 — Los Angeles, California, US 1† 0 Defeated Chavo Guerrero, Sr. to seemingly win the vacant title, but NWA did not recognize the win as being for the title, though it was recognized by Florida, Los Angeles, and New Japan Pro-Wrestling; this version was later renamed the NWA International Junior Heavyweight Championship.
— Vacated December 10, 1979 — — — —
52 Ron Starr February 11, 1980 N/A Tulsa, Oklahoma, US 2 N/A
53 Les Thornton March 1, 1980 N/A N/A 1 N/A
54 Jerry Stubbs January 26, 1981 N/A Mobile, Alabama, US 1 5
55 Les Thornton January 31, 1981 N/A Dothan, Alabama, US 2 127
56 Terry Taylor June 7, 1981 N/A Roanoke, Virginia, US 1 13 Promoted by Southern Championship Wrestling.
57 Les Thornton June 20, 1981 N/A Roanoke, Virginia, US 3 88 Promoted by Southern Championship Wrestling.
58 Gerald Brisco September 16, 1981 N/A Miami, Florida, US 1 30 Promoted by Championship Wrestling from Florida
59 Les Thornton October 16, 1981 N/A Knoxville, Tennessee, US 4 22 Promoted by Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling.
60 Joe Lightfoot November 7, 1981 N/A Bayamon, Puerto Rico 1 7
61 Les Thornton November 14, 1981 N/A San Juan, Puerto Rico 5 192
62 Tiger Mask May 25, 1982 Big Fight Series 1982 Shizuoka, Japan 1 313 Promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling. In 1982, some North American promoters declared the title vacant due to Tiger Mask wrestling for the World Wrestling Federation; however, during an annual meeting between the NWA and New Japan Pro-Wrestling, it's announced that Tiger Mask is still recognized as the official champion. [15]
— Vacated April 3, 1983 — — — — Vacated when Tiger Mask was injured two days prior.
63 Tiger Mask June 2, 1983 N/A N/A 2 71 Defeated Kuniaki Kobayashi in a decision match.
— Vacated August 12, 1983 — — — — Vacated after Tiger Mask retired.
64 The Cobra November 3, 1983 N/A N/A 1 633 Defeated Davey Boy Smith in a decision match. Around this time, Les Thornton is recognized by promoters in the US as champion.
† Les Thornton November 14, 1983 — N/A 6† Wins a fictitious tournament to be recognized by Georgia Championship Wrestling.
— Vacated June 2, 1984 — — — — Thornton joins WWF after its takeover of Georgia Championship Wrestling.
† Hector Guerrero July 13, 1984 — Los Angeles, California, US 1† 81 Wins a fictitious tournament to be recognized by Jim Crockett Promotions.
† Mike Davis October 2, 1984 — Albuquerque, New Mexico, US 1† 112
† Denny Brown November 22, 1984 Starrcade Greensboro, North Carolina, US 1† 248
65 Hiro Saito July 28, 1985 N/A N/A 1 0 Wins the title from The Cobra.
66 The Cobra July 28, 1985 N/A Osaka, Japan 2 4
— Vacated August 1, 1985 — — — —
67 Denny Brown August 1, 1985 N/A N/A 1(2) Won disputed version of title at Starrcade 1984 by defeating Mike Davis; recognized as champion by NWA vice president Shohei Baba, promoter of All Japan Pro Wrestling, after rival promotion New Japan Pro-Wrestling withdraws from the NWA.
68 Gary Royal August 15, 1985 N/A Kansas City, Kansas, US 1 31 Promoted by Central States Wrestling.
69 Denny Brown September 15, 1985 N/A Atlanta, Georgia, US 2(3) 321 Promoted by Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling.

The bout between Brown and Royal aired on NWA World Championship Wrestling.

[2]
70 Steve Regal August 2, 1986 N/A Atlanta, Georgia, US 1 30 Promoted by Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling. [2]
71 Denny Brown September 1, 1986 N/A Greenville, South Carolina, US 3(4) 187 Promoted by Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling. [2]
72 Lazor Tron March 7, 1987 N/A Atlanta, Georgia, US 1(2) N/A Promoted by Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling.

The bout between Lazor Tron and Brown aired on NWA World Championship Wrestling.

[2][16]
— Vacated October 8, 1987 — — — — Vacated when Tron left Jim Crockett Promotions.
73 Nelson Royal October 16, 1987 N/A Columbia, South Carolina, US 4 280 Defeats Denny Brown for the vacant title; takes the title to USA Championship Wrestling in Knoxville in May 1988. Masanobu Fuchi, All Japan Pro Wrestling's reigning World Junior Heavyweight Champion, was then disputably recognized as the new champion; however, Royal continued defending the title across the country until 1989, when it was abandoned. The bout between Royal and Brown aired on NWA World Wide Wrestling.
74 Scott Armstrong July 22, 1988 N/A Knoxville, Tennessee, US 1 1 [2]
75 Nelson Royal July 23, 1988 N/A Hazard, Kentucky, US 5 8 [2]
76 Scott Armstrong July 30, 1988 N/A Chattanooga, Tennessee, US 2 20 [2]
77 Nelson Royal August 2, 1988 N/A Knoxville, Tennessee, US 6 USA Championship Wrestling closes in October 1988; Royal promotes Atlantic Coast Wrestling in the Carolinas and bills himself as world champion. [2]
78 Les Anderson November 18, 1988 N/A N/A 1
79 Rock The Hunter June 15, 1989 N/A N/A 1
80 Les Anderson December 25, 1989 N/A N/A 2 1
— Deactivated December 26, 1989 — — — —
81 Masayoshi Motegi August 30, 1995 WYF Goodbye Summer Holiday / Pro Wrestling Bargain Sale Jump! Fly! Sho! '95 Tokyo, Japan 1 338 Promoted by Motegi's Wrestle Yume (Dream) Factory.

Motegi defeated El Hijo del Santo in a tournament final when the National Wrestling Alliance revived the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship.

[17]
82 The Great Sasuke August 2, 1996 G1 Climax 1996 Tokyo, Japan 1 70 Promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling.

The Great Sasuke won an eight-man tournament to decide the first J-Crown holder, a combination of eight titles categorized junior heavyweight or lower (including the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship). These titles were still technically considered separate, as opposed to one unified championship, and continued to be defended as such.

[17]
83 Último Dragón October 11, 1996 WAR OSAKA CRUSH NIGHT! Osaka, Japan 1 85 Promoted by Wrestle Association-R. [18]
84 Jushin Thunder Liger January 4, 1997 Wrestling World Tokyo, Japan 1 183 Promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling. [19]
85 El Samurai July 6, 1997 Summer Struggle 1997 Sapporo, Japan 1 35 Promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling. [19]
86 Shinjiro Otani August 10, 1997 The Four Heaven in Nagoya Dome Nagoya, Japan 1 87 Promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling. [20]
— Vacated November 5, 1997 — — — — Vacated when the J-Crown was decommissioned and all titles are returned to their home promotions.
87 Logan Caine March 5, 1999 N/A Parkersburg, West Virginia, US 1 237 Defeated Viper in a tournament final.
— Vacated October 28, 1999 — — — — Stripped due to no-showing a title defense against Vince Kaplack.
88 Vince Kaplack October 28, 1999 N/A Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US 1 78 Defeated Chris Hero as a replacement for Logan Caine.
89 Tony Kozina January 14, 2000 N/A North Versailles, Pennsylvania, US 1 190
90 Rockford 2000 July 22, 2000 N/A Surrey, British Columbia, Canada 1 35 Promoted by Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling.
91 Tony Kozina August 30, 2000 N/A N/A 2 39 Awarded when NWA officials review the tape of a title match between Rockford and Kozina on August 26.
92 Vince Kaplack October 14, 2000 NWA 52nd Anniversary Show Nashville, Tennessee, US 2 175
93 Rocky Reynolds April 7, 2001 N/A Pennsboro, West Virginia, US 1 27
94 Mike Thunder May 4, 2001 N/A North Richland Hills, Texas, US 1 109 Promoted by .
95 Lex Lovett August 21, 2001 N/A Tampa, Florida, US 1 53
96 Jason Rumble October 13, 2001 NWA 53rd Anniversary Show Saint Petersburg, Florida, US 1 112 Defeated Lovett, Jimmy Rave, Brandon K & BJ Turner in a five-way match.
97 Rocky Reynolds February 2, 2002 N/A Titusville, Pennsylvania, US 2 14 Promoted by NWA East.
98 Jason Rumble February 16, 2002 N/A Malden, Massachusetts, US 2 49
99 Rocky Reynolds April 6, 2002 N/A Parkersburg, West Virginia, US 3 56
100 Jimmy Rave June 29, 2002 N/A Cornelia, Georgia, US 1 42 Defeated Reynolds and Jeremy Lopez in a three-way match.
101 Star August 10, 2002 N/A Columbia, Tennessee, US 1 7
102 Jimmy Rave August 17, 2002 N/A Columbia, Tennessee, US 2 154
103 Brother Love January 18, 2003 N/A Greenville, Mississippi, US 1 140
104 Rocky Reynolds June 7, 2003 N/A Parkersburg, West Virginia, US 4 56
105 Chris Draven August 2, 2003 N/A Parkersburg, West Virginia, US 1 161
106 Jerrelle Clark January 10, 2004 N/A St. Petersburg, Florida, US 1 281
107 Jason Rumble October 17, 2004 NWA 56th Anniversary Show Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada 3 312 Defeated Clark and Vance Desmond in a three-way match.
108 Black Tiger IV August 25, 2005 N/A Columbia, Tennessee, US 1 178
109 Tiger Mask IV February 19, 2006 Circuit 2006 Acceleration Tokyo, Japan 1 446 Promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling. [21][22]
110 Mike Quackenbush May 11, 2007 Chapter Two Portage, Indiana, US 1 1275 Promoted by Fight Sports Midwest. [22]
111 Craig Classic November 6, 2010 N/A Fort Pierce, Florida, US 1 247
— Vacated September 20, 2011 — — — — Classic relinquished the title in protest of The Sheik being stripped of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Classic brought his own version of the title to Pro Wrestling Zero1 as the New Wrestling Alliance championship.
112 Kevin Douglas October 7, 2011 N/A Charlotte, North Carolina, US 1 373 Defeated Chase Owens in a tournament final.
— Vacated October 14, 2012 — — — — Douglas was stripped of the title for no-showing a scheduled title defense on October 13, 2012 against Chase Owens. A one-night tournament was held in Kingsport, TN in lieu of the Douglas-Owens match.
113 Chase Owens October 13, 2012 N/A Kingsport, Tennessee, US 1 Defeated Matt Conard and Zac Vincent in a tournament final.
114 Jason Kincaid August 10, 2013 N/A Kingsport, Tennessee, US 1 69
115 Chase Owens October 18, 2013 N/A Houston, Texas, US 2 78
116 Ricky Morton January 4, 2014 N/A Kingsport, Tennessee, US 1 62
117 Chase Owens March 7, 2014 N/A Church Hill, Tennessee, US 3 246
118 Jushin Thunder Liger November 8, 2014 Power Struggle 2014 Osaka, Japan 2 156 Promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling. [23]
119 Steve Anthony April 13, 2015 Vendetta Pro Casino Royale Las Vegas, Nevada, US 1 163 Promoted by .
120 Tiger Mask IV September 23, 2015 Destruction in Okayama 2015 Okayama, Japan 2 178 Promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling [24]
121 Steve Anthony March 19, 2016 Road to Invasion Attack 2016 Nagoya, Japan 2 112 Promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling [24]
122 John Saxon July 9, 2016 N/A Pensacola, Florida, US 1 275
123 Arrick Andrews April 8, 2017 N/A Dyersburg, Tennessee, US 1 41 Promoted by .
124 Mr. USA May 19, 2017 N/A Franklin, Kentucky, US 1 85 Promoted by .
125 Barrett Brown August 12, 2017 N/A Dyersburg, Tennessee, US 1 49 Promoted by .
— Vacated September 30, 2017 — — — —

Combined reigns[]

In 1996, The Great Sasuke won an eight-man tournament to win eight junior heavyweight titles, creating the "J-Crown".
Rank Wrestler No. of
reigns 		Combined days
1 Danny Hodge 7 4,134
2 Mike Quackenbush 1 1,275
3 Angelo Savoldi 5 902
4 Nelson Royal 6 846
5 Mike Clancy 3 768
6 Denny Brown 3(4) 756
7 Danny McShain 1 637
The Cobra 2 637
8 Chase Owens 3 626
9 Tiger Mask IV 2 624
10 Baron Michele Leone 1 602
11 Hiro Matsuda 2 548
12 Ken Mantell 1(2) 493
13 Jason Rumble 3 473
14 Les Thornton 6 429
15 Al Madril 1 398
16 Tiger Mask 2 384
17 Kevin Douglas 1 373
18 Verne Gagne 1 371
19 Marshall Esteppe 3 370
20 Ed Francis 1 364
21 Jushin Thunder Liger 2 339
22 Masayoshi Motegi 1 338
23 Ken Fenelon 2 301
24 Jerrelle Clark 1 281
25 Steve Anthony 2 275
John Saxon 1 275
27 Vince Kaplack 2 253
28 Craig Classic 1 247
29 Logan Caine 1 237
30 Tony Kozina 2 229
31 Jimmy Rave 2 196
32 Barrett Brown 1 182
33 Rocky Reynolds 4 181
34 Black Tiger IV 1 178
35 Chris Draven 1 161
36 Billy Goelz 2 159
37 Brother Love 1 140
38 Roger Kirby 1 113
— Mike Davis 1† 112
39 Mike Thunder 1 109
40 Dr. X 1 108
41 Shinjiro Otani 1 87
42 Último Dragón 1 85
Mr. USA 1 85
43 Mike DiBiase 1 84
Ramón Torres 1 84
44 Hector Guerrero/Lazor Tron 1(2) 81
45 Joe McCarthy 1 80
46 Chavo Guerrero Sr. 2 79
47 Lorenzo Parente 2 71
48 The Great Sasuke 1 70
49 Pat Barrett 1 69
Larry Tillman 1 69
Jason Kincaid 1 69
50 Ricky Morton 1 62
51 Lex Lovett 1 53
— Wrestling Pro 1† 49
52 Arrick Andrews 1 41
Leroy McGuirk 1 41
53 Dory Funk 1 36
54 Ray Steele 1 35
El Samurai 1 35
55 Gary Royal 1 31
56 Steve Regal 1 30
57 Sputnik Monroe 1 28
58 Al Williams 1 14
Ivan The Terrible 1 14
59 Joe Lightfoot 1 7
Star 1 7
60 Jerry Stubbs 1 5
61 Ron Starr 2 4
62 Scott Armstrong 2 1
Les Anderson 2 1
63 Hiro Saito 1 <1
Fred Blassie 1 <1
64 Rock The Hunter 1 N/A

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2006). Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w "National Wrestling Alliance World Junior Heavyweight Title". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved December 9, 2021.
  3. ^ Schire, George (2010). Minnesota's Golden Age of Wrestling. Minnesota Historical Society. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-873-51620-4.
  4. ^ Hornbaker, Tim (2020). National Wrestling Alliance: The Untold Story of the Monopoly That Strangled Professional Wrestling. ECW Press. pp. 224–225. ISBN 978-1-554-90274-3. Archived from the original on December 8, 2021.
  5. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20170602065036/http://www.ringside.nwaondemand.com/champions/nwa-world-junior-heavyweight-championship/
  6. ^ Sullivan, Kevin; et al. (2020). WWE Encyclopedia of Sports Entertainment. DK Publishing. p. 21. ISBN 978-0-241-48806-5. Archived from the original on December 8, 2021.
  7. ^ a b "N.W.A. World Junior Heavyweight Title". Wrestling Titles. Retrieved 2007-12-28.
  8. ^ "N.W.A. International Junior Heavyweight Title". Wrestling Titles. Retrieved 2007-12-27.
  9. ^ a b c d e Clevett, Jason (November 4, 2004). "The legend of Jushin "Thunder" Liger". SLAM! Wrestling. Retrieved 2010-03-04.
  10. ^ "Breaking News! NWA World Title Stripped". NWA Wrestling on Facebook. July 11, 2011. Retrieved July 11, 2011.
  11. ^ Johnson, Mike (2017-05-01). "Exclusive: Billy Corgan finalizes deal to purchase..." Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved 2017-05-01.
  12. ^ Johnson, Mike (2017-10-02). "Corgan's reign as NWA owner begins, full details". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
  13. ^ Hoops, Brian (May 30, 2015). "ON THIS DAY IN PRO WRESTLING HISTORY (MAY 30): INOKI BEATS ANDRE TO WIN MSG LEAGUE, GAREA & CALHOUN WIN WWWF TAG TITLES, GAGNE VS. FUNK JR., UFC BOOKER WINS TITLE". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved March 21, 2020.
  14. ^ Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary. "NWA World Junior Heavyweight title history". Solie.org. Retrieved December 9, 2021.
  15. ^ Hoops, Brian (May 25, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history (May 25): Rockers last match in AWA, Tiger Mask wins NWA Jr. Heavyweight gold, Russian amateur wrestler beats Vader". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  16. ^ Hoops, Brian (March 7, 2020). "Daily Pro Wrestling history (03/07): Bruno Sammartino vs. Giant Baba". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved March 8, 2020.
  17. ^ a b Kreikenbohm, Philip. "National Wrestling Alliance World Junior Heavyweight Championship - title reigns - 30.08.1995 - 02.08.1996: Masayoshi Motegi". Cagematch.net. Retrieved December 9, 2021.
  18. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "National Wrestling Alliance World Junior Heavyweight Championship - title reigns - 11.10.1996 - 04.01.1997: Ultimo Dragon". Cagematch.net. Retrieved December 9, 2021.
  19. ^ a b Kreikenbohm, Philip. "National Wrestling Alliance World Junior Heavyweight Championship - title reigns - 04.01.1997 - 06.07.1997: Jushin Thunder Liger". Cagematch.net. Retrieved December 9, 2021.
  20. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "National Wrestling Alliance World Junior Heavyweight Championship - title reigns - 10.08.1997 - 05.11.1997: Shinjiro Otani". Cagematch.net. Retrieved December 9, 2021.
  21. ^ Hoops, Brian (February 19, 2017). "Daily Pro Wrestling History (02/19): Kurt Angle vs. Undertaker at No Way Out 2006". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  22. ^ a b Kreikenbohm, Philip. "National Wrestling Alliance World Junior Heavyweight Championship - title reigns - 19.02.2006 - 11.05.2007: Tiger Mask". Cagematch.net. Retrieved December 16, 2021.
  23. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "National Wrestling Alliance World Junior Heavyweight Championship - title reigns - 08.11.2014 - 13.04.2015: Jushin Thunder Liger". Cagematch.net. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
  24. ^ a b Kreikenbohm, Philip. "National Wrestling Alliance World Junior Heavyweight Championship - title reigns - 23.09.2015 - 19.03.2016: Tiger Mask (2)". Cagematch.net. Retrieved December 15, 2021.

External links[]

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