NWA United National Championship
| NWA United National Championship | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 The NWA United National Championship belt | |||||||||||
| Details | |||||||||||
| Promotion | NWA Los Angeles Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance All Japan Pro Wrestling | ||||||||||
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The NWA United National Championship (often abbreviated to UN Championship) was a professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance, and best known for being defended in All Japan Pro Wrestling. It was unified into the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, along with the PWF World Heavyweight Championship and the NWA International Heavyweight Championship, in 1989. The original belt remained in use for the Triple Crown until 2013.[1]
Title history
[edit]| Symbol | Meaning |
| No. | The overall championship reign |
| Reign | The reign number for the specific wrestler listed. |
| Event | The event in which the championship changed hands |
| N/A | The specific information is not known |
| — | Used for vacated reigns in order to not count it as an official reign |
| [Note #] | Indicates that the exact length of the title reign is unknown, with a note providing more details. |
| # | Wrestler | Reign | Date | Days held | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dale Lewis | 1 | October 1970 | [Note 1] | Won a tournament to crown the first champion. | |
| 2 | Pantera Negra | 1 | October 23, 1970 | 28 | Los Angeles, CA | |
| 3 | John Tolos | 1 | November 20, 1970 | 14 | Los Angeles, CA | |
| 4 | Ray Mendoza | 1 | December 4, 1970 | [Note 2] | Los Angeles, CA | |
| 5 | John Tolos | 2 | March 1971 | [Note 3] | N/A | Tolos returned the championship when the NWA decided the referee used a fast count during his title defense against Mendoza. |
| 6 | Antonio Inoki | 1 | March 26, 1971 | 262 | Los Angeles, CA | |
| - | Vacated | - | December 13, 1971 | - | N/A | Vacated on December 13, 1971 when Inoki is fired from the JWA, the promotion to which he had brought the title from the United States. |
| 7 | King Krow | 1 | January 1972 | [Note 4] | Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada | Defeated Sailor Thomas in a fictitious tournament final. |
| 8 | Seiji Sakaguchi | 1 | February 11, 1972 | 208 | Los Angeles, CA | |
| 9 | The Sheik | 1 | September 6, 1972 | 1 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| 10 | Seiji Sakaguchi | 2 | September 7, 1972 | 149 | Osaka, Japan | |
| 11 | Johnny Valentine | 1 | February 3, 1973 | 33 | Yokohama, Japan | |
| 12 | Akihisa Takachiho | 1 | March 8, 1973 | 37 | Sano, Japan | |
| - | Deactivated | - | April 14, 1973 | - | N/A | Deactivated on April 14, 1973 when the JWA closed. |
| 13 | Jumbo Tsuruta | 1 | August 28, 1976 | 189 | Tokyo, Japan | Defeated Jack Brisco in an AJPW tournament final to revive the championship. |
| 14 | Billy Robinson | 1 | March 5, 1977 | 18 | Akita, Japan | |
| 15 | Jumbo Tsuruta | 2 | March 23, 1977 | 1,067 | Miami, FL | |
| 16 | Dick Murdoch | 1 | February 23, 1980 | 11 | Kagoshima, Japan | |
| 17 | Jumbo Tsuruta | 3 | March 5, 1980 | 222 | Kuroiso, Japan | |
| 18 | Abdullah the Butcher | 1 | October 13, 1980 | 101 | Nagoya, Japan | |
| 19 | Jumbo Tsuruta | 4 | January 22, 1981 | 556 | Nirasaki, Japan | |
| 20 | Harley Race | 1 | August 1, 1982 | 84 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| 21 | Jumbo Tsuruta | 5 | October 24, 1982 | 236 | Kitami, Japan | |
| - | Vacated | - | June 17, 1983 | - | N/A | Vacated on June 17, 1983 so Tsuruta could focus on defending the NWA International Heavyweight Championship. |
| 22 | Ted DiBiase | 1 | October 14, 1983 | 106 | Sasebo, Japan | Defeated Jerry Lawler in a tournament final via forfeit; wrestled Genichiro Tenryu for his first title defense instead. |
| 23 | Michael Hayes | 1 | January 28, 1984 | 6 | Athens, GA | |
| 24 | David Von Erich | 1 | February 3, 1984 | 7 | Dallas, TX | |
| - | Vacated | - | February 10, 1984 | - | N/A | Vacated on February 10, 1984 when Von Erich dies of an apparent heart attack. |
| 25 | Genichiro Tenryu | 1 | February 23, 1984 | [Note 5] | Tokyo, Japan | Defeated Ricky Steamboat in a tournament final. |
| - | Vacated | - | February 1986 | - | N/A | Voluntarily vacated in February 1986 when Tenryu is pinned by Yoshiaki Yatsu in a tag team match. |
| 26 | Genichiro Tenryu | 2 | April 26, 1986 | 823 | Ōmiya-ku, Japan | Defeated Ted DiBiase in a tournament final. Tenryu won the PWF Heavyweight Championship on March 9, 1988. |
| 27 | Stan Hansen | 1 | July 27, 1988 | 265 | Nagano, Japan | Also won the PWF Heavyweight Championship. |
| 28 | Jumbo Tsuruta | 6 | April 18, 1989 | 0 | Tokyo, Japan | Retained the NWA International Heavyweight Championship and won the PWF Heavyweight Championship and the UN Championship. |
| - | Unified | - | April 18, 1989 | - | N/A | Title was unified with Tsuruta's NWA International Heavyweight Championship and with Hansen's PWF Heavyweight Championship and UN championship to create the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship. |
Combined reigns
[edit]| Rank | Wrestler | No. of reigns |
Combined days |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jumbo Tsuruta | 6 | 2,270 |
| 2 | Genichiro Tenryu | 2 | 1,532 - 1,559 |
| 3 | Seiji Sakaguchi | 2 | 357 |
| 4 | Stan Hansen | 1 | 265 |
| 5 | Antonio Inoki | 1 | 262 |
| 6 | Ted DiBiase | 1 | 106 |
| 7 | Abdullah the Butcher | 1 | 101 |
| 8 | Ray Mendoza | 1 | 87 - 112 |
| 9 | Harley Race | 1 | 84 |
| 10 | Akihisa Takachiho | 1 | 37 |
| 11 | Johnny Valentine | 1 | 33 |
| 12 | Pantera Negra | 1 | 28 |
| 13 | Billy Robinson | 1 | 18 |
| 14 | John Tolos | 2 | 14 - 39 |
| 15 | King Krow | 1 | 11 - 41 |
| 16 | Dick Murdoch | 1 | 11 |
| 17 | David Von Erich | 1 | 7 |
| 18 | Michael Hayes | 1 | 6 |
| 19 | The Sheik | 1 | 1 |
| 20 | Dale Lewis | 1 | 0 - 22 |
See also
[edit]- List of National Wrestling Alliance championships
- Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship
- NWA International Heavyweight Championship
- PWF Heavyweight Championship
- United National Tag Team Championship
- Marigold United National Championship
Footnotes
[edit]- ^ The exact date that Dale Lewis won the championship is uncertain, which puts the title reign at between 0 and 22 days.
- ^ The exact date that John Tolos won the championship is uncertain, which puts the title reign at between 87 and 112 days.
- ^ The exact date that John Tolos won the championship is uncertain, which puts the title reign at between 0 and 25 days.
- ^ The exact date that King Krow won the championship is uncertain, which puts the title reign at between 11 and 41 days.
- ^ The exact date that Genichiro Tenryu vacated the championship is uncertain, which puts the title reign at between 709 and 736 days.
References
[edit]- ^ Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2006). Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.