The World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship was the first recognized professional wrestling world heavyweight championship created in 1905 to identify the best catch-as-catch-can wrestler in the worl
Frank Gotch and George Hackenschmidt were the first two champions
Hackenschmidt and Jenkins on the front page of the Daily Mirror, July 2, 1904
Lou Thesz was the final champion
Ed Lewis had most reigns and the longest combined reign
The NWA World's Heavyweight Championship is a men's professional wrestling world heavyweight championship owned and promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance, an American professional wrestling prom
World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship (original version)
…various promotions until the formation of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) in 1948. The last several reigns are recognized by the NWA under the NWA World Heavyweight Championship's lineage. The first recognized World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion was George Hackenschmidt, who officially won the championship on May 4, 1905, by…
Inaugural champion Orville Brown.
Longest reigning and six-time champion, by retrospective lineage traced back to 1904, Lou Thesz (wearing the second version of the belt) pictured with manager Ed Lewis in the 1950s
8-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion Harley Race pictured with the "Crown Belt" during his first reign in 1973
Former NWA World's Heavyweight champions Sting and Ric Flair pose with a replica of the "Big Gold Belt", which represented the championship during their reigns in WCW