The NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship is a

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 o ...

world championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

in the

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and former professional wrestling governing body operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA ...

. Created in 1945, the title is competed for by junior heavyweight wrestlers.

History

The first NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion was Ken Fenelon, who was awarded the title on May 15, 1945 by promoter Paul "Pinkie" George, the co-founder and inaugural president of the

. For the first few years of its existence, the title was contested largely in

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

, where George's promotion was based. Between 1948 and 1952, the title was unified with other junior heavyweight titles. After winning the title in December 1948,

Leroy McGuirk Leroy Michael McGuirk (December 13, 1910 – September 9, 1988) was an American amateur and professional wrestler, and wrestling promoter. He was involved in professional wrestling for more than fifty years. As one of the longest surviving member ...

defeated the

National Wrestling Association The National Wrestling Association (NWA) was an early professional wrestling sanctioning body created in 1930 by the National Boxing Association (NBA; now the World Boxing Association, WBA) as an attempt to create a governing body for professional ...

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 Laverne Clarence Gagne (February 26, 1926 – April 27, 2015) was an American amateur and professional wrestler, football player, wrestling trainer, and wrestling promoter. He was the owner and promoter of the Minneapolis-based American Wrestling ...

won the vacant title in November 1950, defeating

Sonny Myers Harold "Sonny" Myers (January 22, 1924 – May 7, 2007) was an American professional wrestler, involved in the business for sixty years. Professional wrestling career Myers held prominent heavyweight championships in several territories, most ...

in the final of a tournament, after which he was presented with the title belt by McGuirk. Gagne lost the title to

Danny McShain Danny McShain (October 30, 1912 – July 14, 1992) was an American professional wrestler. He competed in the southern United States from the 1930s to the 1960s. Early life McShain was born on October 30, 1912, in Little Rock, Arkansas. He made hi ...

one year later in November 1951. In May 1952, McShain unified the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship with the Los Angeles version of the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship ' by defeating

Rito Romero Rito Romero Loza (May 19, 1927 - January 18, 2001) was a successful luchador who wrestled in Mexico and in the NWA territories of Texas and Los Angeles. He appeared in several films in his native country along with a number of other luchadors. H ...

. In 1960,

Danny Hodge Daniel Allen Hodge (May 13, 1932 – December 24, 2020) was an American professional wrestler, amateur wrestler, and boxer. He is renowned primarily for his wrestling career, where he competed both as an amateur and professional. A three-time NC ...

had a heated feud with

Angelo Savoldi Mario Louis Fornini (April 21, 1914 – September 20, 2013) was an Italian/American professional wrestler and wrestling promoter, better known professionally as Angelo Savoldi. At the time of his death, he was known as the world's oldest retired w ...

over the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship. During a bout between the two men on May 27, 1960 in

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, and ...

, Hodge's father Bill Hodge Sr. entered the ring and legitimately stabbed Savoldi. In 1973, Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling (GCCW)'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 the NWA. 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. In 1979, after the title was vacated, Steve Keirn defeated

Chavo Guerrero Sr. Salvador Guerrero Llanes (January 7, 1949 – February 11, 2017), better known as Chavo Guerrero or Chavo Guerrero Sr., and also known during the 21st century as "Chavo Classic", was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for ...

in the finals of a tournament to win the title. However, Keirn was recognized as champion by

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Nakano, Tokyo. Founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, the promotion was sold to Yuke's, who later sold it to Bushiroad in 2012. TV Asahi and Amuse, Inc. own minority shares ...

, 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 Championship The NWA International Junior Heavyweight Championship started in 1979. It was formed by a split in lineage from the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship caused by the retirement of champion Nelson Royal the same year. The first champion, Stev ...

. 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. During that time, in 1983, Les Thornton was recognized 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. The tournament to crown the first champions was held over four nights, from August 2 to August 5, 1996, the same dates that

's annual

G1 Climax The is a professional wrestling tournament held each August by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. Though it has sometimes been held as a single-elimination tournament, it is usually (and currently) held as a round-robin, with winners ...

event took place, promoting two major tournaments on one tour.

Jushin Thunder Liger , better known as and later , is a Japanese retired professional wrestler and mixed martial artist, currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). He is the longest-tenured member of the NJPW roster, having wrestled for the company since h ...

is credited with coming up with the idea for the J-Crown. The inaugural champion was

The Great Sasuke , born July 18, 1969), is a Japanese professional wrestler, promoter and politician, currently wrestling for Michinoku Pro Wrestling (MPW) under the ring name . Aside from professional wrestling, he is also a former Iwate Prefectural Assembly l ...

. The J-Crown was defended for just over a year. While

Ultimo Dragon Ultimo may refer to: * Ultimo, New South Wales * Ulten, comune in Italy, Italian name ''Ultimo'' * Ultimo (Marvel Comics), comic books character * Ultimo (brand), Scottish designer lingerie brand * ''Karakuridôji Ultimo'', a Japanese manga * Ul ...

was champion, the titles appeared on

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Nation ...

programming, as Dragon also held the

WCW Cruiserweight Championship World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Nationa ...

and the

NWA World Middleweight Championship The NWA World Middleweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) between 1939 and 2010. For most of its existence, it was defended in the Mexican '' lucha libre'' promotion Consejo Mundial ...

at the time. When Liger was champion, he lost the

WAR International Junior Heavyweight Championship The is a professional wrestling championship contested for in the Japanese professional wrestling promotion Tenryu Project. The title was established in 1995 in Wrestle Association R (WAR). There have been a total of 24 reigns shared between 17 ...

Yuji Yasuraoka Yuji Yasuraoka (安良岡裕二 ''Yasuraoka Yuji'') (born January 28, 1971) is a retired Japanese professional wrestler. He is best known for his work in Wrestle Association R, where he became a one-time International Junior Heavyweight Champion ...

on June 6, 1997, in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. 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 WWF Light Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) promotion. The title was challenged by light heavyweights at a maximum weight of 215 lbs (before deactivation, ...

, the

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

demanded that the then current champion

Shinjiro Otani is a semi-retired Japanese professional wrestler and the current acting president of Pro Wrestling Zero1 (Zero1). He is currently inactive from pro-wrestling competition due to a cervical spine injury substained in April 2022. A product of the N ...

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 The is a professional wrestling world junior heavyweight championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. "IWGP" is the acronym of NJPW's governing body, the . Only wrestlers under the junior heavyweight weight-limit may ho ...

, 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 Adam John Pearce (born June 24, 1978) is an American professional wrestling executive and former professional wrestler. He is currently employed by WWE as Director of Live Events, producer, trainer, coach, and on-screen authority figure. He is ...

. The Junior Heavyweight Champion Craig Classic vacated the title in protest.

Pro Wrestling Zero1 (stylized as Pro Wrestling ZERO1), formerly known as Pro Wrestling Zero-One and Pro Wrestling Zero1-Max (stylised in all capital letters) and often referred to simply as Zero1, is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded in 2001. I ...

did not recognize the vacancy and recognised Classic as the real champion. 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,

Billy Corgan William Patrick Corgan Jr. (born March 17, 1967) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and professional wrestling promoter. He is best known as the lead singer, primary songwriter, guitarist, and only permanent member of the rock band the ...

's company, Lightning One, Inc., purchased the NWA, including its name, rights, trademarks, and championships. As a result, the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship was vacated. Corgan's ownership took effect on October 1, 2017. The title was vacant until March 2022 when

Homicide Homicide occurs when a person kills another person. A homicide requires only a volitional act or omission that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from accidental, reckless, or negligent acts even if there is no inten ...

won the title on night two of the 2022

Crockett Cup The Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup Tag Team Tournament (also known simply as the Crockett Cup) is a professional wrestling event produced every April by the professional wrestling promotion, National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The event features a ...

Title history

Combined reigns

As of , .

References

External links

National Wrestling Alliance World Junior Heavyweight Title History
{{Jim Crockett Promotions Jim Crockett Promotions championships National Wrestling Alliance championships New Japan Pro-Wrestling championships Junior heavyweight wrestling championships World professional wrestling championships

History

Title history

Combined reigns

See also

References

External links