NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Detroit version)

The NWA Detroit United States Heavyweight Championship was a version of the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship contested in Big Time Wrestling from 1959 until 1980. It was originally known as the Chicago version and contested on shows produced by Fred Kohler Enterprises.[1] While the National Wrestling Alliance recognized only one World Heavyweight Champion, there were multiple "NWA United States Heavyweight Champion"s, as many NWA-affiliated promotions/"territories" across the U.S. each had its own version of an "American" or "United States" championship. For most such territories -- including Detroit -- the U.S. Title was the promotion's primary singles championship. Over its history, the title was held by stars including Bobo Brazil, The Sheik, Wilbur Snyder, Johnny Valentine, and multi-time AWA World Heavyweight Champions Verne Gagne and Dick the Bruiser.

NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Detroit)
Details
PromotionFred Kohler Enterprises
Big Time Wrestling
Date establishedSeptember 3, 1953
Date retiredOctober, 1980
Other name(s)
  • NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Chicago)

Title history
Wrestler: Times: Date: Location: Notes:
NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Chicago Version)
Verne Gagne 1 September 3, 1953 Chicago, IL Awarded the title[2]
Wilbur Snyder 1 April 7, 1956 Chicago, IL
Hans Schmidt 1 October 19, 1956 Chicago, IL
Wilbur Snyder 2 February 19, 1957 Chicago, IL
Dick the Bruiser 1 December 14, 1957 Chicago, IL
Verne Gagne 2 April 12, 1958 Chicago, IL
splits his own version into Minneapolis version, later renamed AWA United States Championship
Wilbur Snyder 3 November 15, 1958 Chicago, IL
Angelo Poffo 1 December 27, 1958 Cincinnati, OH
Renamed NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Detroit version)
Wilbur Snyder 4 May 2, 1959 Detroit, MI
Dick the Bruiser 2 May 23, 1959 Detroit, MI
Bob Ellis 1 June 2, 1960 Windsor, Ontario [3]
Dick the Bruiser 3 June 11, 1960 Detroit, MI
Bobo Brazil 1 January 28, 1961 Detroit, MI
Dick the Bruiser 4 February 28, 1961 Detroit, MI [4]
Fritz Von Erich 1 December 1, 1961 Detroit, MI
Wilbur Snyder 5 1962 ?
Dick the Bruiser 5 June 2, 1962 Detroit, MI [3]
Lord Athol Layton 1 August 4, 1962 ?
Fritz Von Erich 2 June 9, 1963 Detroit, MI
Lord Athol Layton 2 July 20, 1963 Detroit, MI
Fritz Von Erich 3 October 19, 1963 Detroit, MI
Johnny Valentine 1 June 13, 1964 Detroit, MI
The Sheik 1 February 6, 1965 Detroit, MI
Bobo Brazil 2 August 1967 ?
The Sheik 2 October 1967 ?
Bobo Brazil 3 July 29, 1971 Detroit, MI
Pampero Firpo 1 August 12, 1972 Detroit, MI
Bobo Brazil 4 August 19, 1972 Detroit, MI
Pampero Firpo 2 October 28, 1972 Detroit, MI
Bobo Brazil 5 December 23, 1972 Detroit, MI
The Sheik 3 December 30, 1972 Detroit, MI
Bobo Brazil 6 January 13, 1973 Detroit, MI [5]
The Sheik 4 January 27, 1973 Detroit, MI
Johnny Valentine 2 July 7, 1973 Detroit, MI
The Sheik 5 July 21, 1973 Detroit, MI
Johnny Valentine 3 1973 ?
The Sheik 6 September 1973 ?
Tony Marino 1 March 2, 1974 Detroit, MI
The Sheik 7 March 16, 1974 Detroit, MI
Bobo Brazil 7 January 25, 1975 Detroit, MI Awarded when Sheik no-shows title defenses
Abdullah the Butcher 1 February 8, 1975 Detroit, MI
Bobo Brazil 8 April 19, 1975 Detroit, MI
The Sheik 8 July 5, 1975 Detroit, MI
Mark Lewin 1 September 27, 1975 Detroit, MI
"Bulldog" Don Kent 1 November 1, 1975 Detroit, MI
Mark Lewin 2 December 1975 ?
Vacated February 14, 1976 Title vacant
Bobo Brazil 9 April 21, 1976 Awarded when Brute Bernard was injured before tournament final
The Sheik 9 May 15, 1976 Detroit, MI
Pampero Firpo 3 July 17, 1976 Detroit, MI [6]
Don Kent 2 October 16, 1976 Detroit, MI
Gino Hernandez 1 January 8, 1977 Detroit, MI
The Sheik 10 April 2, 1977 Detroit, MI
Ox Baker 1 September 1977 Detroit, MI
The Sheik 11 between 1977 & 1980 ?
Mighty Igor 1 between 1977 & 1980 ?
The Sheik 12 May 3, 1980 Detroit, MI [7]
Title Retired October 1980 Promotion closes, Sheik takes title to International Championship Wrestling

See also

References
  1. Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2006). Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  2. Hoops, Brian (September 3, 2015). "ON THIS DAY IN PRO WRESTLING HISTORY (SEPT. 3): RIC FLAIR VS. TERRY FUNK TEXAS DEATH MATCH, GREAT MUTA VS. STING, TED DIBIASE AND STAN HANSEN WINS AJPW TAG TITLES". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 10, 2017.
  3. Hoops, Brian (June 2, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history (June 2): Hogan beats Inoki to win 1st IWGP tourney, HTM's Intercontinental title reign begins". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
  4. Hoops, Brian (February 28, 2017). "Daily pro wrestling history (02/28): Andersen & Hansen win NWA Tag Titles". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 28, 2017.
  5. Hoops, Brian (January 13, 2019). "Pro wrestling history (01/13): TNA Genesis 2013". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved January 18, 2019.
  6. Hoops, Brian (July 17, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history, Kangaroos, Gagne vs. Kiniski in Hawaii, Gordy wins Triple Crown, Hogan wins WCW title from Flair at Bash at the Beach, famous Punk vs. Cena Chicago bout". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
  7. F4W Staff (May 3, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history: Low Ki Vs. Dewitt, Punk wins OVW title, Mutoh wins IWGP belt, Bret wins NA title, Dibiase & Dr. Death, Sheik, Watts, Fargos". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
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