MWA World Heavyweight Championship
The MWA World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in the Kansas City, Kansas-based Midwest Wrestling Association (MWA). It was the direct predecessor of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) World Heavyweight Championship, and a successor of sorts to the early world heavyweight championships. The title was created in 1940, and first held by Bobby Bruns that January.
- At an unknown period, Brown won the Kansas Heavyweight Champion and had a match against 4-time World Heavyweight Champion Ed "Strangler" Lewis.
- 8 November 1933 Brown defeated Chief Chewchki in St. Louis, Missouri in 7 minutes. 11 April and 16 May 1934 in the same city he fought George Zaharias (of Colorado) then "Ray Steele" (Peter Sauer) to thirty-minute draws.
- 29 May 1936 in the Houston Post Brown was specified by Jim Londos as the strongest grappler he had ever faced, and that he had wrestled him "a few nights ago" to a two-hour draw in Detroit. 21 September 1936 Brown was named one of the top twenty contenders for the World’s Heavyweight Championship in Houston, Texas by the members of the National Wrestling Association.
- 1 June 1937 Bruns unsuccessfully challenged World Champion Everette Marshall at the Public Hall in Cleveland, Ohio. The match ended in 44:48 when Bruns was laid out and unable to recover.
- September 1937 John Pesek was award Londos' National Wrestling Association world title.
- 28 October 1937 Brown lost an important Columbus, Ohio match to Everette Marshall, the recognized holder of one of the World Championships. It drew 10,000 people, setting a city record. He lost one other, but then managed to tie Marshall in a third match on 16 December.
- 1 January 1938 Brown wrestled Pesek to a 90-minute draw. 17 August 1938 Pesek was stripped of the NWA world title and immediately awarded the MWA world title (Marshall's old title) instead.
- 10 November 1939 Bruns defeated Maurice Boyer in Bridgeport, Connecticut for the World Light Heavyweight Championship (the Jack Pfeffer version).[1]
| MWA World Heavyweight Championship (Kansas Version) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Details | |||||||||||
| Promotion | Midwest Wrestling Association | ||||||||||
| Date established | January 1940 | ||||||||||
| Date retired | October 1948 | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
The title lasted until the MWA joined the newly formed NWA in October 1948, with the MWA champion, Orville Brown, recognized as the first NWA World Heavyweight Champion.[2][3]
Title history
MWA World Heavyweight Championship (Kansas)
- Key
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| # | The overall championship reign |
| Reign | The reign number for the specific set of wrestlers listed. |
| Event | The event promoted by the respective promotion in which the title changed hands |
| — | Used for vacated reigns in order to not count it as an official reign |
| # | Wrestler | Reign | Date | Days held |
Location | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bobby Bruns | 1 | January 18, 1940 | 147 | Kansas City, Kansas | Live event | Defeated fellow contender Orville Brown to win the vacant championship.[4][5][6][7] |
| 2 | Orville Brown | 1 | June 13, 1940 | 308 | Kansas City, Kansas | Live event | |
| 3 | Lee Wyckoff | 1 | April 17, 1941 | 182 | Kansas City, Kansas | Live event | [8] |
| 4 | Orville Brown | 2 | October 16, 1941 | 140 | Kansas City, Kansas | Live event | |
| 5 | Tom Zaharias | 1 | March 5, 1942 | 112 | Kansas City, Kansas | Live event | |
| 6 | Orville Brown | 3 | June 25, 1942 | 123 | Kansas City, Kansas | Live event | Ed Lewis won a disputed decision over Brown on November 5, 1942. |
| 7 | Ed "Strangler" Lewis | 1 | November 26, 1942 | 80 | Kansas City, Kansas | Live event | Defeated Brown in a rematch. |
| 8 | Lee Wyckoff | 2 | January 14, 1943 | 35 | Kansas City, Kansas | Live event | [9] |
| 9 | Orville Brown | 4 | February 18, 1943 | [Note 1] | Kansas City, Kansas | Live event | |
| 10 | Lee Wyckoff | 3 | May 1943 | [Note 2] | Great Bend, Kansas | Live event | |
| 11 | Orville Brown | 5 | June 17, 1943 | 169 | Kansas City, Kansas | Live event | |
| 12 | The Swedish Angel | 1 | December 3, 1943 | 6 | Kansas City, Kansas | Live event | |
| 13 | Orville Brown | 6 | December 9, 1943 | 147 | Kansas City, Kansas | Live event | Dave Levin defeated Brown in a one-fall match on April 27, 1944 in Kansas City, Kansas, and laid claim to the title. However, Brown claimed that the title could only change hands in a two-out-of-three falls match. |
| 14 | Dave Levin | 1 | May 4, 1944 | 56 | Live event | Defeated Brown in a rematch. | |
| 15 | Lee Wyckoff | 4 | June 29, 1944 | 48 | Topeka, Kansas | Live event | [10] |
| 16 | Orville Brown | 7 | August 16, 1944 | 673 | Topeka, Kansas | Live event | |
| 17 | Bobby Bruns | 2 | June 20, 1946 | 49 | Kansas City, Kansas | Live event | |
| 18 | Orville Brown | 8 | August 8, 1946 | 218 | Kansas City, Kansas | Live event | |
| 19 | Vic Christy | 1 | March 14, 1947 | 16 | St. Joseph, Missouri | Live event | |
| 20 | Roy Graham | 1 | March 30, 1947 | 11 | St. Joseph, Missouri | Live event | |
| 21 | Orville Brown | 9 | April 10, 1947 | 253 | Kansas City, Kansas | Live event | |
| 22 | Tug Carlson | 1 | December 19, 1947 | 7 | St. Joseph, Missouri | Live event | |
| 23 | Orville Brown | 10 | December 26, 1947 | 125 | St. Joseph, Missouri | Live event | |
| 24 | Bobby Bruns | 3 | April 29, 1948 | 5 | Kansas City, Kansas | Live event | Won the title by disqualification. |
| 25 | Orville Brown | 11 | May 4, 1948 | [Note 3] | Kansas City, Kansas | Live event | |
| The title was retired after the MWA joined the National Wrestling Alliance in October 1948, and Brown was recognized as its first champion. | |||||||
Reigns by combined length
- Key
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ¤ | The exact length of at least one title reign is uncertain, so the shortest possible length is used. |
| Rank | Wrestler | # of reigns | Combined days |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Orville Brown | 11 | 2,409¤ |
| 2 | Lee Wyckoff | 4 | 282¤ |
| 3 | Bobby Bruns | 3 | 201 |
| 4 | Tom Zaharias | 1 | 112 |
| 5 | Ed Lewis | 1 | 80 |
| 6 | Dave Levin | 1 | 56 |
| 7 | Vic Christy | 1 | 16 |
| 8 | Roy Graham | 1 | 11 |
| 9 | Tug Carlson | 1 | 7 |
| 10 | The Swedish Angel | 1 | 6 |
See also
Footnotes
- The date the championship was lost has not been documented which means the championship reign lasted anywhere between 102 days and 72 days
- The date the championship was won has not been documented which means the championship reign lasted anywhere between 17 days and 47 days
- The date the championship was won has not been documented which means the championship reign lasted anywhere between 150 days and 180 days
References
- General references
- Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2006). "(Missouri) World Heavyweight Title". Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. p. 255. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
- "Midwest Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Championship [Kansas]". wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved March 24, 2015.
- Specific references
- "Orville Brown - biography". Puroresu Dojo. Retrieved 2008-08-03.
- Duncan, Royal and Gary Will (2006). Wrestling Title Histories, Fourth Edition. Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
- "M.W.A. World Heavyweight Title (Kansas City)". Puroresu Dojo. Retrieved 2008-08-03.
- Wrestling-Titles: Orville Brown - biography: "On Nov. 10, 1939 at Bridgeport, Conn., Bobby Bruns defeated Jack Pfefer's world light heavyweight champion Maurice Boyer. From that point forward in New England and the Atlantic Coast, the title changed to a heavyweight title and Pfefer billed Bruns as heavyweight world champion .. On Jan. 18, 1940, Bruns defended this title in a clean win over Brown."
- LegacyOfWrestling Bobby Bruns Wrestling History: "On January 11, 1940, Bruns beat Andy Mexiner in two-straight falls in Kansas City. A week later, he returned to the Memorial Hall to wrestle Orville Brown for the vacant World Heavyweight Title, recognized by the state of Kansas and by promoter George Simpson. He won the first in 40:30 and then the 3rd in 5:00 to capture the championship."
- LOW Orville Brown Wrestling History
- Hoops, Brian (January 19, 2019). "Pro wrestling history (01/19): Ric Flair wins WWF title in 1992 Royal Rumble". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved January 18, 2019.
- Hoops, Brian (April 17, 2020). "Daily pro wrestling (04/17): WCW Spring Stampede 1994". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
- Hoops, Brian (January 14, 2019). "Pro wrestling history (01/14): Christian wins NWA World Title". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved January 18, 2019.
- Hoops, Brian (June 29, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history: 2nd Steve Austin WWE title reign begins, infamous Stan Hansen AWA title belt stripping story". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
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