World Heavyweight Title (Los Angeles) (original) (raw)
| × date The format is either YYYY-MM-DD or YY-MM-DD. [ ] Following the name of the champion(s): Indicates the number of times the wrestler has held that title at that point. [...] Indicates a gap in the listing where title changes are not known.* If used next to the names of the wrestlers, they may, in fact, not have held the title in the period indicated. If used next to the dates or places, either they are possibly wrong or the title changes are fictitious. < Title was held or changed hands no later than this. In these cases, it is known that a wrestler held the title at a certain time but not when he/she won it. + Broadcast date; the actual recording date is unknown. @ Order uncertain. Different titleholders may be known for the same year, for example, but it is not known who held the title before whom. # Unofficial or disputable claims. These are usually matches that certainly took place, but where there is doubt that the wrestler shown should be recognized as a true title holder. These listings are also italicized in HTML files × Code Country AFGAfghanistan ALBAlbania ALGAlgeria ANDAndorra ANGAngola ANTAntigua and Barbuda ARGArgentina ARMArmenia ARUAruba ASAAmerican Samoa AUSAustralia AUTAustria AZEAzerbaijan BAHBahamas BANBangladesh BARBarbados BDIBurundi BELBelgium BENBenin BERBermuda BHUBhutan BIHBosnia and Herzegovina BIZBelize BLRBelarus BOLBolivia BOTBotswana BRABrazil BRNBahrain BRUBrunei BULBulgaria BURBurkina Faso CAFCentral African Republic CAMCambodia CANCanada CAYCayman Islands CGORepublic of the Congo CHAChad CHIChile CHNChina CIVIvory Coast CMRCameroon CODDemocratic Republic of the Congo COKCook Islands COLColombia COMComoros CPVCape Verde CRCCosta Rica CROCroatia CUBCuba CYPCyprus CZECzech Republic DENDenmark DJIDjibouti DMADominica DOMDominican Republic ECUEcuador EGYEgypt ERIEritrea ESAEl Salvador ESPSpain ESTEstonia ETHEthiopia FIJFiji FINFinland FRAFrance FSMFederated States of Micronesia GABGabon GAMThe Gambia GBRGreat Britain GBSGuinea-Bissau GEOGeorgia GEQEquatorial Guinea GERGermany GGYGuernsey GHAGhana GREGreece GRNGrenada GUAGuatemala GUIGuinea GUMGuam GUYGuyana HAIHaiti HKGHong Kong, China HONHonduras HUNHungary INAIndonesia INDIndia IRIIran IRLIreland IRQIraq ISLIceland ISRIsrael ISVVirgin Islands ITAItaly IVBBritish Virgin Islands JAMJamaica JORJordan JPNJapan KAZKazakhstan KENKenya KGZKyrgyzstan KIRKiribati KORKorea, South KOSKosovo KSASaudi Arabia KUWKuwait LAOLaos LATLatvia LBALibya LBNLebanon LBRLiberia LCASaint Lucia LESLesotho LIELiechtenstein LTULithuania LUXLuxembourg MADMadagascar MARMorocco MASMalaysia MAWMalawi MDAMoldova MDVMaldives MEXMexico MGLMongolia MHLMarshall Islands MKDNorth Macedonia MLIMali MLTMalta MNEMontenegro MONMonaco MOZMozambique MRIMauritius MTNMauritania MYAMyanmar NAMNamibia NCANicaragua NEDNetherlands NEPNepal NGRNigeria NIGNiger NORNorway NRUNauru NZLNew Zealand OMAOman PAKPakistan PANPanama PARParaguay PERPeru PHIPhilippines PLEPalestine PLWPalau PNGPapua New Guinea POLPoland PORPortugal PRKKorea, North (DPR of Korea) PURPuerto Rico QATQatar ROURomania RSASouth Africa RUSRussia RWARwanda SAMSamoa SENSenegal SEYSeychelles SGPSingapore SKNSaint Kitts and Nevis SLESierra Leone SLOSlovenia SMRSan Marino SOLSolomon Islands SOMSomalia SRBSerbia SRISri Lanka SSDSouth Sudan STPSão Tomé and Príncipe SUDSudan SUISwitzerland SURSuriname SVKSlovakia SWESweden SWZSwaziland SYRSyria TANTanzania TGATonga THAThailand TJKTajikistan TKMTurkmenistan TLSEast Timor TOGTogo TPETaiwan (Republic of China) TTOTrinidad and Tobago TUNTunisia TURTurkey TUVTuvalu UAEUnited Arab Emirates UGAUganda UKRUkraine URUUruguay USAUnited States UZBUzbekistan VANVanuatu VENVenezuela VIEVietnam VINSaint Vincent and the Grenadines YEMYemen ZAMZambia ZIMZimbabwe Last updated on 2021/12/26 | [ 日本語 ] |
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WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE
[Los Angeles]
| Ed "Strangler" Lewis | 1928-02-20 | St. Louis, MO |
|---|---|---|
| Defeats another title claimant Joe Stecher for the undisputed World Title. | ||
| Gus Sonnenberg | 1929-01-04 | Boston, MA |
| Ed Don George | 1930-12-10 | Los Angeles, CA |
| Ed "Strangler" Lewis [2] | 1931-04-13 | Los Angeles, CA |
| Loses American Wrestling Association World title to Henri Deglane by DQ on 31-05-04 in Montreal, QC but is still recognized as champion in California. | ||
| Jim Londos | 1932-03 | |
| Has defeated Dick Shikat on 30-06-06 in Philadelphia, PA to be recognized as world champion by the state athletic commissions of New York and Pennsylvania; has also been recognized by NWA since 31-09-30; recognized in Southern California from 32-03 when Lewis moves to the east coast (although Lewis defends his title once again on 32-03-30 in Los Angeles, CA); recognition withdrawn in 33-04 when the Los Angeles promoter Lou Daro switches his affiliation from NWA to Jack Curley's group. | ||
| Jim Browning | 1933-05 | |
| Has defeated Ed "Strangler" Lewis on 33-02-20 in New York, NY to be recognized as world champion by the state athletic commissions of New York and Pennsylvania; recognized as champion in Los Angeles, CA from 33-05. | ||
| Jim Londos [2] | 1934-06-25 | New York, NY |
| Suspended by the California Athletic Commission when Londos fails to appear for the scheduled title defense against Chielf Little Wolf on 35-02-27; recognition officially withdrawn in Los Angeles in 35-05 for failure to enter an international tournament. | ||
| Vincent Lopez | 1935-07-24 | Los Angeles, CA |
| Defeats Man Mountain Dean in tournament final. | ||
| Dave Levin | 1936-08-19 | Los Angeles, CA |
| Has won the world title, defeating Ali Baba on 36-06-12 in Newark, NJ; defeats Lopez on 36-08-19 to end the dispute temporarily; loses to Dean Detton on 36-09-28 in Philadelphia, PA but continues to be recognized in California when the state commission does not recognize the title switch due to the match being one-fall (The Los Angeles Times, 36-10-01). | ||
| Vincent Lopez [2] | 1936-09-30 | Los Angeles, CA |
| Recognition dropped on 36-10-10 by the California commission which recognizes Dean Detton for defeating Dave Levin on 36-09-28 in Philadelphia, PA (The Los Angeles Times, 36-10-11). | ||
| Dean Detton | 1936-10-10 | |
| Officially recognized by the California commission for defeating Dave Levin on 36-09-28 in Philadelphia, PA (The Los Angeles Times, 36-10-11); Lopez is scheduled to challenge Detton on 36-10-28 in Los Angeles, CA but is injured on 36-10-24 by Kimon Kudō (The Los Angeles Times, 36-10-26) who substitutes in the title match and loses; Detton retains the title against Lopez in Los Angeles, CA on 37-02-24 and 37-03-03. | ||
| Bronko Nagurski | 1937-06-29 | Minneapolis, MN |
| Jim Londos [3] | 1938-11-18 | Philadelphia, PA |
| Sandor Szabo | 1940-11-27 | |
| Declared as champion when Londos no-shows his scheduled defense against Szabo; recognition withdrawn in 41-01 when Londos is reinstated as the champion; defeats Bobby Managoff on 41-01-08 in Los Angeles, CA to become the challenger for Londos' title. | ||
| Jim Londos [4] | 1941-01 | |
| Reinstated as the champion; defeats Sandor Szabo on 41-02-12 in Los Angeles, CA to retain the title. | ||
| Rube Wright # | 1942-08-19 | Los Angeles, CA |
| Defeats Swedish Angel in tournament final; promoted as a tournament to replace Jim Londos as World champion; however, the State Commission refuses to recognize Wright as World champion; starts claiming California state title by 43-01 instead (or Wright simply starts claiming the state title); also billed as Pacific Coast Title; recognized as world champion in New York. | ||
| Jim Londos # | 1942-11 | |
| Again claims the title in California; recognition most likely withdrawn by the California commission in late 46-10 when George Becker, holder of the Pacific Northwest version, is recognized in the state (see below). | ||
| George Becker | 1946-09-11 | Portland, OR |
| Defeats Babe Sharkey to win a local version in Pacific Northwest; recognized as champion in Southern California in late 46-10. | ||
| Enrique Torres | 1946-12-11 | Los Angeles, CA |
| Baron Michele Leone | 1950-11-22 | Los Angeles, CA |
| Lou Thesz | 1952-05-21 | Los Angeles, CA |
| Unified with NWA World Title. | ||
| Whipper Billy Watson | 1956-03-15 | Toronto, ON, CAN |
| Wins by count out. | ||
| Lou Thesz [2] | 1956-11-09 | St. Louis, MO |
| Edouard Carpentier | 1957-06-14 | Chicago, IL |
| Wins when Thesz cannot continue due to a back injury; loses to Thesz by DQ on 57-07-24 in Montreal, QC but continues to be recognized by the NWA; NWA withdraws his title claim on 57-08-25 when his manager and Montreal promoter Eddie Quinn leaves the NWA; officially recognized as world champion in Los Angeles in 59-10 by the North American Wrestling Alliance for being the top contender who has met the most title claimants, including Thesz. |
* See NAWA/WWA World Heavyweight Title.
* Thanks to Paul Sosnowski and Steve Yohe for additional information.
