The AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship was a major

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

title A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...

in the Continental Wrestling Association during the 1970s and 1980s. The title is part of a long lineage that was started when the

NWA Southern Junior Heavyweight Championship The NWA Southern Junior Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling title for lighter wrestlers, board-controlled by the National Wrestling Alliance since December 1949. It originally was used by various promotions across the Southeaste ...

, in use since 1939, was renamed the NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship ''(Memphis version)'' in 1974. The title's name changed again in 1978, when it was renamed the AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship due to a partnership with the American Wrestling Association. It was also called the Mid-Southern Heavyweight Championship in ''

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publi ...

'' and its sister publications, in order for this title to not be confused with

Championship Wrestling from Florida Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF) was the corporate and brand name of the Tampa, Florida wrestling office existing from 1961, when Eddie Graham first bought into the promotion, until 1987, when it closed down. It is also referred to as ...

's version of the title. The title was revived in the

United States Wrestling Association The United States Wrestling Association (USWA) was a professional wrestling promotion based in Memphis, Tennessee. The company was founded when the Memphis-based Continental Wrestling Association merged with the Dallas-based World Class Wrestlin ...

from 1989 until 1997 when the USWA closed. It was known as the USWA Southern Heavyweight Championship and later simply the USWA Heavyweight Championship during that time; however, unlike the previous Southern title in Memphis, this one played a secondary role to the

USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship The USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship formed in 1988, which consisted of the WCWA World Heavyweight Championship from World Class Championship Wrestling and the AWA World H ...

. It was revived in

Memphis Championship Wrestling Memphis Championship Wrestling (MCW) was a professional wrestling promotion run by Terry Golden, based in Memphis, Tennessee. The promotion's first event was on February 20, 2000, and it remained active until mid-2001. It was employed as a World ...

as the MCW Southern Heavyweight Championship in 2000 and 2001. It was later revived and renamed in 2004 for use in

Memphis Wrestling Memphis Wrestling was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Memphis, Tennessee. History Memphis Wrestling evolved from an earlier short-lived promotion called Memphis Championship Wrestling. In 2019, Dustin & Maria Starr with ...

as the Memphis Wrestling Southern Heavyweight Championship, where the last recorded champion was

Brian Christopher Brian Christopher Lawler (January 10, 1972 – July 29, 2018) was an American professional wrestler. He is best remembered for his career in the World Wrestling Federation (now WWE), where he performed as "Too Sexy" Brian Christopher and Grand ...

, winning the championship on November 4, 2010, but with no recorded championship matches since then. Memphis Wrestling held their last regular in 2009. On October 5, 2019, USA Championship Wrestling is bringing back the Southern Heavyweight Championship with a tournament happening at USA Championship Wrestling's Southern Justice taking place at

Oman Arena The Oman Arena (originally Jackson Coliseum) is a 5,600-seat multi-purpose arena, in Jackson, Tennessee, USA. It was opened in 1967, and is architecturally similar to the Mid-South Coliseum Mid-South Coliseum is an indoor arena in Memphis, T ...

Title history

United States Wrestling Association

Memphis Championship Wrestling

Memphis Wrestling

Footnotes

References

{{NWA Mid-America championships 1974 establishments in Tennessee American Wrestling Association championships Continental Wrestling Association championships Heavyweight wrestling championships Memphis Championship Wrestling championships National Wrestling Alliance championships NWA Mid-America championships Regional professional wrestling championships United States Wrestling Association championships