The NWA United States Junior Heavyweight Championship was a National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) sanctioned professional wrestling championship promoted by NWA Mid-America in and around their Tennessee and Kentucky territory from 1955 until 1974. The championship was limited to wrestlers in the Junior Heavyweight division, limited to wrestlers weighing less than 220 lb (100 kg). The NWA also sanctioned the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship, with the United States version serving as one of several local level Junior Heavyweight Championships. Because the championship was a professional wrestling championship, it was not won or lost competitively but instead by the decision of the bookers of a wrestling promotion. The championship was awarded after the chosen wrestler "won" a match to maintain the illusion that professional wrestling is a competitive sport.[1]

Quick Facts Details, Promotion ...
NWA United States Junior Heavyweight Championship
Details
PromotionNWA Mid-America
Date established1955
Date retired1974
Statistics
First champion(s)Jesse James
Most reignsDon Greene (9 reigns)
Close

Title history

Key
More information Symbol, Meaning ...
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.
Close
More information #, Team (members) ...
# Team
(members)
Reign Date Days
held
Location Event Notes
1 Jesse James 1 February 15, 1959 (NLT) [Note 1] [Note 2] N/A Announced as a new champion; still billed as champion as of on February 23, 1959
 
2 Yoshinosato 1 February 1962 (NLT) [Note 3] [Note 2] Live event  
 
3 Johnny Walker 1 May 1967 [Note 4] [Note 2] Live event Won a tournament sometime after May 16, 1967
4 Kenny Mack 1 June 14, 1967 14 Kingsport, Tennessee Live event  
5 Johnny Walker 2 June 28, 1967 [Note 5] Kingsport, Tennessee Live event Still billed as champion on October 17, 1967
 
5 Johnny Walker 3 February 9, 1970 (NLT) [Note 6] Hawaii Live event Defeated Johnny Valentine.
7 Bobby Hart 1 May 27, 1970 62 Nashville, Tennessee Live event The title change was repeated in Memphis on May 30, 1970
8 Johnny Walker 4 July 28, 1970 [Note 7] Louisville, Kentucky Live event  
Vacated N/A 1970 N/A N/A N/A Championship vacated for undocumented reasons
9 Don Greene 1 September 14, 1970 [Note 8] Memphis, Tennessee Live event Defeated Dennis Hall in 4-man tournament final.
10 Johnny Walker 5 September 21, 1970 (NLT) [Note 9] [Note 2] Live event  
11 Bobby Hart 2 November 25, 1970 [Note 10] Nashville, Tennessee Live event  
 
12 Don Greene 2 March 23, 1971 (NLT) [Note 11] [Note 2] Live event Still billed as champion on October 27, 1971
 
13 Len Rossi 1 February 3, 1972 (NLT) [Note 12] [Note 2] Live event  
 
14 Tony Charles 1 May 10, 1972 (NLT) [Note 13] [Note 2] Live event  
 
15 Don Greene 3 August 1972 (NLT) [Note 14] [Note 2] Live event  
16 Johnny Walker 6 October 6, 1972 (NLT) [Note 15] [Note 2] Live event Change took place sometime between September 28 and October 16, 1972
17 Don Greene 4 October 17, 1972 279 Memphis, Tennessee Live event  
18 Lorenzo Parente 1 July 23, 1973 [Note 16] Memphis, Tennessee Live event  
19 Don Greene 5 July 1973 [Note 17] [Note 2] Live event  
20 Lorenzo Parente 2 August 1, 1973 [Note 18] Nashville, Tennessee Live event  
 
21 Don Greene 6 October 2, 1973 (NLT) [Note 19] [Note 2] Live event  
22 Intern #1 1 October 25, 1973 [Note 20] Chattanooga, Tennessee Live event  
23 Don Greene 7 December 23, 1973 (NLT) [Note 21] [Note 2] Live event  
24 Ali Baba 1 March 11, 1974 [Note 22] Birmingham, Alabama Live event  
25 Don Greene 8 March 1974 [Note 23] Birmingham, Alabama Live event  
26 Ali Baba 2 March 21, 1974 20 Florence, Alabama Live event Title change was repeated on March 27 in Nashville
27 Steve Kovac 1 April 10, 1974 24 Nashville, Tennessee Live event  
28 Jerry Lawler 1 May 4, 1974 [Note 24] Chattanooga, Tennessee Live event  
 
29 Don Greene 9 June 6, 1974 (NLT) [Note 25] [Note 2] Live event Still billed as champion in July 1974
Abandoned N/A 1974 N/A N/A N/A Championship abandoned.
Close

Footnotes

  1. The date the championship was lost has not been documented and is too uncertain to calculate, at the least Jesse James held the championship for 8 days.
  2. The location of the match was not captured as part of the championship documentation.
  3. The date the championship was won and lost has not been documented and is too uncertain to calculate.
  4. The date the championship was won has not been documented which means the championship reign lasted anywhere between 14 days and 44 days.
  5. The date the championship was lost has not been documented which means the championship reign lasted anywhere between 1 day and −139 days.
  6. The date the championship was won has not been documented which means the championship reign lasted anywhere at most 107 days.
  7. The date the championship was vacated has not been documented which means the championship reign lasted anywhere between 1 day and 47 days.
  8. The date the championship was lost has not been documented which means the championship reign lasted anywhere between 1 day and 7 days.
  9. The date the championship was won has not been documented which means the championship reign lasted anywhere between 65 days and 72 days.
  10. The date the championship was lost has not been documented which means the championship reign lasted anywhere between 1 day and 118 days.
  11. The date the championship was won and lost has not been documented which means the championship reign lasted anywhere between 1 day and 317 days.
  12. The date the championship was won and lost has not been documented which means the championship reign lasted anywhere between 1 day and 97 days.
  13. The date the championship was won and lost has not been documented which means the championship reign lasted anywhere between 1 day and 113 days.
  14. The date the championship was won and lost has not been documented which means the championship reign lasted anywhere between 1 day and 66 days.
  15. The date the championship was lost has not been documented which means the championship reign lasted anywhere between 11 days and 77 days.
  16. The date the championship was lost has not been documented which means the championship reign lasted anywhere between 1 day and 7 days.
  17. The date the championship was lost has not been documented which means the championship reign lasted anywhere between 1 day and 31 days.
  18. The date the championship was lost has not been documented which means the championship reign lasted anywhere between 1 day and 61 days.
  19. The date the championship was lost has not been documented which means the championship reign lasted anywhere between 23 days and 84 days.
  20. The date the championship was lost has not been documented which means the championship reign lasted anywhere between 1 day and 59 days.
  21. The date the championship was won has not been documented which means the championship reign lasted anywhere between 78 days and −58 days.
  22. The date the championship was lost has not been documented which means the championship reign lasted anywhere between 1 day and 9 days.
  23. The date the championship was won has not been documented which means the championship reign lasted anywhere between 1 day and 8 days.
  24. The date the championship was lost has not been documented which means the championship reign lasted anywhere between 1 day and 33 days.
  25. The date the championship was abandoned has not been documented which means the championship reign lasted anywhere between 25 days and 208 days.

See also

References

Wikiwand in your browser!

Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.

Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.

Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.