NWA International Heavyweight Championship
| NWA International Heavyweight Championship | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Details | |||||||||||||||||||
| Promotion | Japan Wrestling Association, All Japan Pro Wrestling, NWA Hollywood Wrestling & Championship Wrestling from Florida | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date established | November, 1957 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date retired | April 18, 1989 | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Statistics | |
|---|---|
| First champion(s) | Lou Thesz |
| Most reigns | Giant Baba, Dory Funk, Jr., Bruiser Brody & Jumbo Tsuruta (3 reigns) |
| Longest reign | Giant Baba (944 days) |
| Shortest reign | Jumbo Tsuruta (Less than 1 day) |
| Oldest winner | Bobo Brazil (48 years, 144 days) |
| Youngest winner | Giant Baba (27 years, 305 days) |
| Heaviest champion | Giant Baba (330 lb (150 kg; 24 st)) |
| Lightest champion | Lou Thesz (225 lb (102 kg; 16.1 st)) |
The NWA International Heavyweight Championship was a singles title recognized by the National Wrestling Alliance through its partnership with the Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance, and later by All Japan Pro Wrestling. It is one of the three titles that were unified into the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship in 1989. From 1981 to the creation of the Triple Crown, All Japan considered the NWA International title to be its top singles championship.
Under Rikidōzan the belt had a design similar to Lou Thesz's original NWA World Heavyweight Championship belt during the 1950s, but after Rikidōzan's death, the belt given to Giant Baba had the design seen on the belt part of the Triple Crown until 2013. The original design was later used on the PWF Heavyweight Championship, the UWFI belt (which was the original Lou Thesz belt), and a belt later given to Kazushi Sakuraba for show.
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