NWA World Middleweight Championship

NWA World Middleweight Championship
A close of up of a masked wrestler, wearing a blue fabric mask with white horns.
Averno, the 85th NWA World Middleweight Champion
Details
Current champion(s) Vacated
Date won 02007-11-30November 30, 2007
Promotion Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre
(1939—1990)
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
(1990—1994, 2003—2010)
Último Dragón
(1994—2003)
Date established 1939
Other name(s) World Middleweight Championship (Creation—1952)

The NWA World Middleweight Championship is a currently inactive professional wrestling championship, promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). For the majority of its existence it has been promoted by Mexican promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), where it was known as the Campeonato Mundial Peso Medio de NWA. The title, being a professional wrestling championship, it is not won legitimately: it is instead won via a scripted ending to a wrestling match. The official definition of the middleweight weight class in Mexico is between 82 kg (180 lb) and 87 kg (190 lb), but is not always strictly enforced.[Note 1][1]

The Championship was originally called the "World Middleweight Championship", and was created by Salvador Lutteroth, owner of Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (EMLL). Lutteroth awarded the title to Gus Kallio, a five-time National Wrestling Association World Middleweight Champion and the "king of the middleweights" in the United States.[2] The title was created at an unknown point before March 29, 1939. When Octavio Gaona defeated Kallio on March 29, 1939 he also won Kallio's other World Middleweight Championship. Kallio's original world middleweight title was retired in 1940 to keep the focus on the Mexican version of the championship. When EMLL became a member of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) in 1952 the belt was given the "NWA" prefix.[3] In the early 1990s EMLL withdrew from the NWA and changed their name to Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre in order to create a clean break from their past NWA association.[4] While they withdrew from the NWA, they retained the ownership of three NWA-labelled championships that all originated in EMLL. The other two titles were the NWA World Welterweight Championship and the NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship. The titles are still promoted as "NWA Championships" by CMLL despite not being officially recognized by the NWA since the early 1990s. In 1994 Último Dragón paid CMLL for the rights to the NWA World Middleweight Championship, giving him control of the Championship. Dragón won the title from Corazón de León on November 8, 1994, after which he began promoting the belt in Japan; where it and the title remained in Japan for almost ten years (although Dragon did not defend it in his quest for both the J-Crown and the WCW World Cruiserweight Championship). In 2003 Último Dragón signed with World Wrestling Entertainment and sold the title back to CMLL. Averno defeated Zumbido to win the vacant title in the first CMLL-based title match since 1994.[5] In March 2010 Blue Demon, Jr., the president of NWA Mexico, sent letters to CMLL, telling them to stop promoting the NWA-branded championships since they were not part of the NWA. NWA Mexico has previously tried to reclaim the three NWA-branded championships promoted by CMLL, but was ignored by CMLL. The promotion did not directly respond to the latest claim either; the NWA Welterweight Champion, Mephisto, commented, simply stating that the titles belonged to CMLL.[6] Finally, on August 12, 2010, CMLL debuted the new NWA World Historic Middleweight Championship and returned the old belt to NWA.[7] NWA has not determined a new champion since getting the title back from CMLL. There have been 84 reigns between 45 different wrestlers. René Guajardo has held the championship on six separate occasions, the most by any wrestler. Tarzán López's four reigns combine for 2,977 days, the longest of any champion, while the Great Sasuke's single reign is the longest individual reign with 1,487 days. Oro is the person who has held the title the shortest time, 41 days.

Title history

Key
Symbol Meaning
# The overall championship reign
Reign The reign number for the specific wrestler listed.
Event The event promoted by the respective promotion in which the title changed hands
N/A The specific information is not known
Used for vacated reigns in order to not count it as an official reign
[Note ] Indicates that the exact length of the title reign is unknown, with a note providing more details.
# Wrestler Reign Date Days
held
Location Event Notes
1 Kallio, GusGus Kallio 1 N/A Unknown
[Note 2]
N/A Live event Gus Kallio was awarded the championship in late 1938 or early 1939 due to the fact that he already held the World Middleweight Championship in the United States.
2 Gaona, OctavioOctavio Gaona 1 01939-02-19February 19, 1939 7002350000000000000350 Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event Octavio Gaona won the championship to permanently establish it as an EMLL title. He also won Kallio's other World Middleweight Championship.
3 Tarzán López 1 01940-02-04February 4, 1940 7002681000000000000681 Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event López won both versions of the World Middleweight Championship. After this title change only the Mexican version remained active.
4 Guzmán, BlackBlack Guzmán 1 01941-12-16December 16, 1941 700157000000000000057 Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event  
5 Tarzán López 2 01942-02-11February 11, 1942 70031473000000000001,473 Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event  
6 Guerrero, GoryGory Guerrero 1 01946-02-23February 23, 1946 7002782000000000000782 Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event  
7 Mike Kelly 1 01948-04-12April 12, 1948 7002411000000000000411 Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event  
8 Tarzán López 3 01949-05-28May 28, 1949 7002481000000000000481 N/A EMLL 15th Anniversary Show  
9 Sito, SugiSugi Sito 1 01950-09-21September 21, 1950 7002368000000000000368 N/A Live event  
10 Llanes, EnriqueEnrique Llanes 1 01951-09-24September 24, 1951 7002132000000000000132 Mexico City, Distrito Federal EMLL 18th Anniversary Show  
Vacated 01952-02-03February 3, 1952 N/A N/A EMLL vacated the championship for unknown reasons.
11 Tarzán López 4 01952-07-13July 13, 1952 7002342000000000000342 Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event Tarzán López won a tournament to win the vacant title.
12 Sito, SugiSugi Sito 2 01953-06-20June 20, 1953 7002195000000000000195 Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event  
13 Santo, ElEl Santo 1 01954-01-01January 1, 1954 70031021000000000001,021 Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event  
14 Vera, RolandoRolando Vera 1 01956-10-19October 19, 1956 70031455000000000001,455 Monterrey, Nuevo León Live event  
15 Guajardo, RenéRené Guajardo 1 01960-10-13October 13, 1960 7002415000000000000415 Monterrey, Nuevo León Live event  
16 Antonio Posa 1 01961-12-02December 2, 1961 7002140000000000000140 Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event  
17 Guajardo, RenéRené Guajardo 2 01962-04-18April 18, 1962 7002190000000000000190 Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event  
18 Rayo de Jalisco 1 01962-10-25October 25, 1962 7002583000000000000583 Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event  
19 Benny Galant 1 01964-05-30May 30, 1964 7002118000000000000118 Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event  
20 Rayo de Jalisco 2 01964-09-25September 25, 1964 7002196000000000000196 N/A Live event  
21 Guajardo, RenéRené Guajardo 3 01965-04-09April 9, 1965 7002400000000000000400 Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event  
22 Jerry London 1 01966-05-14May 14, 1966 700148000000000000048 Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event  
23 Guajardo, RenéRené Guajardo 4 01966-07-01July 1, 1966 7002253000000000000253 Monterrey, Nuevo León Live event  
24 Mendoza, RayRay Mendoza 1 01967-03-11March 11, 1967 [Note 3] Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event  
Vacated 01967-05-01May 1967 N/A N/A EMLL vacated the championship for unknown reasons.
25 Guajardo, RenéRené Guajardo 5 01967-07-29July 29, 1967 7002629000000000000629 N/A Live event Guajardo won a decision match for the vacant title.
26 Rayo de Jalisco 3 01969-04-18April 18, 1969 7002119000000000000119 Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event  
27 Solitario, ElEl Solitario 1 01969-08-15August 15, 1969 7002378000000000000378 Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event  
28 Mashio Koma 1 01970-06-28June 28, 1970 7002161000000000000161 Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event  
29 Aníbal 1 01970-12-06December 6, 1970 7002845000000000000845 Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event  
30 Guajardo, RenéRené Guajardo 6 01973-03-30March 30, 1973 [Note 4] Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event  
Vacated 01974-01-011974 N/A N/A EMLL vacated the championship for unknown reasons.
31 Aníbal 2 01974-09-20September 20, 1974 [Note 5] Mexico City, Distrito Federal EMLL 41st Anniversary Show Aníbal defeated El Cobarde in a decision match to win the title.
Vacated 01975-05-01May 1975 N/A N/A The championship was vacated when Aníbal left EMLL to work for the Universal Wrestling Association.
32 Aguayo, PerroPerro Aguayo 1 01975-07-04July 4, 1975 7002476000000000000476 Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event Perro Aguayo won a tournament to claim the vacant championship.
33 Faraón, ElEl Faraón 1 01976-10-22October 22, 1976 7002140000000000000140 Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event  
34 Aguayo, PerroPerro Aguayo 2 01977-03-11March 11, 1977 7002114000000000000114 Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event  
35 Mendoza, RingoRingo Mendoza 1 01977-07-03July 3, 1977 7002101000000000000101 Guadalajara, Jalisco Live event  
36 Joe Plardy 1 01977-10-12October 12, 1977 700144000000000000044 Acapulco, Guerrero Live event  
37 Faraón, ElEl Faraón 2 01977-11-25November 25, 1977 700184000000000000084 Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event  
38 Mendoza, RingoRingo Mendoza 2 01978-02-17February 17, 1978 700151000000000000051 Los Angeles, California Live event  
39 Aguayo, PerroPerro Aguayo 3 01978-04-09April 9, 1978 700175000000000000075 Guadalajara, Jalisco Live event  
40 Mendoza, RingoRingo Mendoza 3 01978-06-23June 23, 1978 700151000000000000051 Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event  
41 Salazar, TonyTony Salazar 1 01978-08-13August 13, 1978 7002174000000000000174 Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event  
42 Mendoza, RingoRingo Mendoza 4 01979-02-03February 3, 1979 7002218000000000000218 Acapulco, Guerrero Live event  
43 Sayama, SatoruSatoru Sayama 1 01979-09-09September 9, 1979 7002201000000000000201 Guadalajara, Jalisco Live event  
44 Satánico, ElEl Satánico 1 01980-03-28March 28, 1980 700120000000000000020 Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event  
45 Mendoza, CachorroCachorro Mendoza 1 01980-04-17April 17, 1980 700159000000000000059 Monterrey, Nuevo León Live event  
46 Sangre Chicana 1 01980-06-15June 15, 1980 7002217000000000000217 Monterrey, Nuevo León Live event  
47 Salazar, TonyTony Salazar 1 01981-01-18January 18, 1981 700154000000000000054 Monterrey, Nuevo León Live event  
48 Sangre Chicana 2 01981-03-13March 13, 1981 700121000000000000021 Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event  
49 Mendoza, RingoRingo Mendoza 5 01981-04-03April 3, 1981 7002240000000000000240 Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event  
50 Faraón, ElEl Faraón 3 01981-11-29November 29, 1981 7002124000000000000124 Guadalajara, Jalisco Live event  
51 César Curiel 1 01982-04-02April 2, 1982 7002206000000000000206 Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event  
52 Satánico, ElEl Satánico 2 01982-10-25October 25, 1982 50000000000000000000 Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event  
53 El Jalisco 1 01982-10-25October 25, 1982 7002139000000000000139 Guadalajara, Jalisco Live event  
54 Satánico, ElEl Satánico 3 01983-03-13March 13, 1983 700182000000000000082 N/A Live event  
55 Lizmark 1 01983-06-03June 3, 1983 7002182000000000000182 Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event  
56 Satánico, ElEl Satánico 4 01983-12-02December 2, 1983 7002250000000000000250 Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event  
57 Gran Cochisse 1 01984-08-08August 8, 1984 700137000000000000037 Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event  
58 Satánico, ElEl Satánico 5 01984-09-14September 14, 1984 700116000000000000016 Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event  
59 Gran Cochisse 2 01984-09-30September 30, 1984 700149000000000000049 Guadalajara, Jalisco Live event  
60 Gran Hamada 1 01984-11-18November 18, 1984 7002138000000000000138 Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event  
61 Fiera, LaLa Fiera 1 01985-04-05April 5, 1985 7002106000000000000106 Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event  
62 Valaguez, ChamacoChamaco Valaguez 1 01985-07-20July 20, 1985 7002302000000000000302 Puebla, Puebla Live event  
63 Gran Cochisse 3 01986-05-18May 18, 1986 7002152000000000000152 N/A Live event  
64 Kung Fu 1 01986-10-17October 17, 1986 7002273000000000000273 Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event  
65 Dandy, ElEl Dandy 1 01987-07-17July 17, 1987 700181000000000000081 Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event  
66 Kung Fu 2 01987-10-06October 6, 1987 7002248000000000000248 Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event  
67 Atlantis 1 01988-06-10June 10, 1988 700137000000000000037 Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event  
68 Charles, Jr., EmilioEmilio Charles, Jr. 1 01988-07-17July 17, 1988 700111000000000000011 N/A Live event  
69 Atlantis 2 01988-07-28July 28, 1988 700115000000000000015 N/A Live event  
70 Charles, Jr., EmilioEmilio Charles, Jr. 2 01988-08-12August 12, 1988 7002259000000000000259 Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event  
71 Ángel Azteca 1 01989-04-28April 28, 1989 7002400000000000000400 N/A Live event  
72 Dandy, ElEl Dandy 2 01990-06-02June 2, 1990 700160000000000000060 Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event  
73 Atlantis 3 01990-08-01August 1, 1990 7002945000000000000945 Acapulco, Guerrero Live event  
74 Mano Negra 1 01993-03-03March 3, 1993 700181000000000000081 Acapulco, Guerrero Live event  
75 Oro 1 01993-05-23May 23, 1993 700141000000000000041 N/A Live event  
76 Mano Negra 2 01993-07-03July 3, 1993 7002155000000000000155 Puebla, Puebla Live event  
77 Corazón de León 1 01993-12-04December 4, 1993 7002339000000000000339 Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event  
78 Último Dragón 1 01994-11-08November 8, 1994 [Note 6] Tokyo, Japan Live event Match promoted by WAR. Último Dragón stops defending the title around 1996.
Vacated 01998-01-011998 N/A N/A Último Dragón was forced to vacate the championship due to an arm injury.
79 Great Sasuke 1 01999-02-07February 7, 1999 70031487000000000001,487 Yokohama, Japan Live event Great Sasuke defeated Tokyo Magnum in tournament final to win the championship.
80 Último Dragón 2 02003-03-05March 5, 2003 [Note 7] Sendai, Miyagi, Japan Live event [8]
Vacated 02003-04-01April 2003 N/A N/A The championship was vacated when Último Dragon began to work for World Wrestling Entertainment.[8]
81 Averno 1 02004-09-03September 3, 2004 7002161000000000000161 Mexico City, Distrito Federal Live event Averno defeated Zumbido in a decision match for the vacant championship.[5]
82 Místico 1 02005-02-11February 11, 2005 7002455000000000000455 Mexico City, Distrito Federal CMLL Super Viernes [9]
83 Black Warrior 1 02006-05-12May 12, 2006 7002474000000000000474 Mexico City, Distrito Federal CMLL Super Viernes [10]
84 Místico 2 02007-04-29April 29, 2007 7002215000000000000215 Mexico City, Distrito Federal Dia de los Niños [11]
85 Averno 2 02007-11-30November 30, 2007 7002986000000000000986 Mexico City, Distrito Federal CMLL Super Viernes Title renamed the NWA World Historic Middleweight Championship on August 12, 2010.[11]
Vacated 02010-08-12August 12, 2010 N/A N/A The championship was vacated when CMLL returned it to NWA.[12]
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Reigns by combined length

Key
Symbol Meaning
Indicates the current champion
¤ The exact length of at least one title reign is uncertain, so the shortest possible length is used.
+ Indicates that the date changes daily for the current champion.
Rank Wrestler # Of Reigns Combined Days
1 Tarzán López 4 2,977
2 Guajardo, RenéRené Guajardo 5 1,938¤
[Note 4]
3 Great Sasuke 1 1,487
4 Vera, RolandoRolando Vera 1 1,455
5 Último Dragón 2 1,177¤
[Note 6]
[Note 7]
6 Aníbal 2 1122¤
[Note 5]
7 Santo, ElEl Santo 1 1,021
8 Atlantis 3 997
9 Averno 2 986
10 Rayo de Jalisco 3 898
11 Guerrero, GoryGory Guerrero 1 782
12 Místico 2 670
13 Aguayo, PerroPerro Aguayo 3 665
14 Mendoza, RingoRingo Mendoza 5 661
15 Sito, SugiSugi Sito 2 564
16 Kung Fu 2 521
17 Black Warrior 1 474
18 Mike Kelly 1 411
19 Ángel Azteca 1 400
20 Satánico, ElEl Satánico 5 388
21 Solitario, ElEl Solitario 1 378
22 Gaona, OctavioOctavio Gaona 1 350
23 Faraón, ElEl Faraón 3 348
24 Corazón de León 1 339
25 Valaguez, ChamacoChamaco Valaguez 1 302
26 Charles, Jr., EmilioEmilio Charles, Jr. 2 270
27 Gran Cochisse 3 238
28 Sangre Chicana 2 237
29 Mano Negra 2 236
30 Salazar, TonyTony Salazar 2 228
31 César Curiel 1 206
32 Sayama, SatoruSatoru Sayama 1 201
33 Lizmark 1 182
34 Mashio Koma 1 161
35 Dandy, ElEl Dandy 2 141
36 Antonio Posa 1 140
37 El Jalisco 1 139
38 Gran Hamada 1 138
39 Llanes, EnriqueEnrique Llanes 1 132
40 Benny Galant 1 118
41 Fiera, LaLa Fiera 1 106
42 Mendoza, CachorroCachorro Mendoza 1 59
43 Guzmán, BlackBlack Guzmán 1 57
44 Mendoza, RayRay Mendoza 1 51¤
[Note 3]
45 Jerry London 1 48
46 Joe Plardy 1 44
47 Oro 1 41
48 Gus Kallio 1 Unknown¤
[Note 2]
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Footnotes

  1. ^ The most recent case of this is Mephisto holding the CMLL World Welterweight Championship, a belt with a 78 kg (170 lb) upper limit, despite weighing 90 kg (200 lb).
  2. ^ a b The length of Gus Kallio's title reign is too uncertain to calculate.
  3. ^ a b The exact date on which Ray Mendoza vacated the championship is unknown, which means the title reign lasted between 700151000000000000051 and 700181000000000000081 days.
  4. ^ a b The exact date on which René Guajardo vacated the championship is unknown, which means the title reign lasted between 7002277000000000000277 and 7002538000000000000538 days.
  5. ^ a b The exact date on which René Guajardo vacated the championship is unknown, which means the title reign lasted between 7002223000000000000223 and 7002253000000000000253 days.
  6. ^ a b The exact date on which Último Dragon vacated the championship is unknown, which means the title reign lasted between 70031150000000000001,150 and 70031514000000000001,514 days.
  7. ^ a b The exact date on which Último Dragon vacated the championship is unknown, which means the title reign lasted between 700127000000000000027 and 700157000000000000057 days.
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References

General source for title changes before 2000
  • Royal Duncan & Gary Will (4th Edition 2006). "Mexico: EMLL NWA World Middlweight Title". Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. pp. 389–390. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4. 
Specific
  1. ^ Arturo Montiel Rojas (2001-08-30). "Reglamento de Box y Lucha Libre Professional del Estado de Mexico" (PDF) (in Spanish). Comisión de Box y Lucha Libre Mexico D.F. Archived from the original on November 30, 2006. Retrieved 2009-04-03. "Articulo 242: "Super welter 82 kilos / Medio 87 kilos"" 
  2. ^ "Londos Rated Champ By National Association". Reading Eagle. September 20, 1933. Retrieved February 20, 2010. 
  3. ^ Hornbaker, Tim (2007). "International Expansion". National Wrestling Alliance: the untold story of the monopoly that strangled pro wrestling. ECW Press. pp. 24–25. ISBN 978-1-55022-741-3. 
  4. ^ Madigan, Dan (2007). "The start of the journey". Mondo Lucha a Go Go: the bizare & honorable world of wild Mexican wrestling. HarperColins Publisher. pp. 15–28. ISBN 978-0-06-085583-3. 
  5. ^ a b SuperLuchas staff (January 24, 2005). "Número Especial - Lo mejr de la lucha ilbre mexicana durante el 2004". Super Luchas (in Spanish). 91. 
  6. ^ Ruiz Glez, Alex (March 12, 2010). "Mephisto responde a Blue Demon Jr.: "No tengo que entrar a ninguna eliminatoria porque yo soy el campeón..."" (in Spanish). SuperLuchas Magazine. Retrieved March 14, 2010. 
  7. ^ "Campeones" (in Spanish). Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre. Retrieved December 16, 2010. 
  8. ^ a b SuperLuchas staff (January 5, 2004). "Número Especial - Lo mejr de la lucha ilbre mexicana durante el 2003". Super Luchas (in Spanish). 40. 
  9. ^ SuperLuchas staff (January 3, 2006). "2005 Lo Mejor de la Lucha Mexicana". SuperLuchas (in Spanish). 140. 
  10. ^ SuperLuchas staff (December 23, 2006). "Lo Mejor de la Lucha Libre Mexicana duranted el 2006". SuperLuchas (in Spanish). 192. Retrieved July 11, 2009. 
  11. ^ a b SuperLuchas staff (December 26, 2007). "2007 Lo Mejor de la Lucha Mexicana". SuperLuchas (in Spanish). 244. Retrieved July 11, 2009. 
  12. ^ Boutwell, Josh (August 20, 2010). "Viva La Raza! Lucha Weekly". WrestleView. Retrieved June 26, 2011. 
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Last modified on 16 September 2012, at 19:09