NWA World Women's Championship

NWA World Women's Championship
The center plate of the championship, introduced September 30, 2019. Pictured in the center is former champion Allysin Kay; the photo gets updated with every champion.
Details
PromotionNational Wrestling Alliance
Date established1950
Current champion(s)Kenzie Paige
Date wonAugust 27, 2023
Other name(s)
  • NWA Women's Championship (1950–2016)
  • NWA World Women's Championship (2016–present)
Statistics
First champion(s)Mildred Burke
Most reignsThe Fabulous Moolah
(4 times)
Longest reignThe Fabulous Moolah
(3rd reign, 3,841 days)
Shortest reignEvelyn Stevens and Malia Hosaka
(1 day)
Oldest championThe Fabulous Moolah
(55 years)
Youngest championKenzie Paige
(21 years, 5 months and 22 days)

The NWA Women's World Championship is a women's professional wrestling world championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The title was first held by Mildred Burke in 1950, who was recognized as champion due to her February 11, 1937 defeat of Women's World Champion Clara Mortensen. The current champion is Kenzie Paige, who is in her first reign.[1]

History

Mildred Burke was recognized as the inaugural champion in 1950. After her Two out of three falls match against June Byers in 1954 ended in a no contest, Byers was recognized as the NWA World Women's Champion, and Burke created the WWWA World Championship and was recognized as its first champion. Upon June Byers's retirement, it was held primarily (and operated) by Lillian Ellison (under the ring name of The Fabulous Moolah), who first won the championship in a battle royal in September 1956.

In 1983, the physical belt was sold by Ellison to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), where it became the WWF Women's Championship. The World Wrestling Federation recognized Moolah as the reigning champion but did not recognize any of the title changes that had occurred since Moolah was first awarded the title in 1956.[2] The NWA Women's title continued its lineage after Moolah's belt was purchased and renamed by the WWF.

The Fabulous Moolah has held the title more times than any other wrestler, with a total of four reigns. She also has the longest reign of 3,651 days, and is the oldest champion after winning the title at 55 years old.[3] Evelyn Stevens and Malia Hosaka have the shortest reign at 1 day each. La Reina de Corazones is the youngest champion after winning the title at 21 years of age. Overall, the title has been held by 25 different women for a total of 35 reigns.

Via various partnerships, the NWA World Women's Championship has also been defended in other promotions.[4]

Belt design

1950 - 1954: Mildred Burke defeated Clara Mortensen on February 11, 1937, to win the original version of the Women's World Championship. Due to her victory, Burke was recognized as the inaugural NWA Woman's Champion in 1950. The original title belt last appeared in an NWA ring on August 20, 1954. In 2021, The main plate of the original belt was given to NWA President, Billy Corgan.

1954 - 1986: Sometime after August 1954, a new design was presented. In 1983, During The Fabulous Moolah's reign as champion, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) withdrew from the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), and The Fabulous Moolah sold the championship to the WWF.

1986 - 2002, 2016 - 2019: In February 1986, a new title was introduced. It featured 3 plates on a black strap. The main plate is circular with the NWA Logo at the top. There are two black banners at the top and bottem, the top reading "WOMANS" and the bottem reading "CHAMPION", both in gold letters. The center of the main plate has a silver oval with a globe on the inside. The side plate are oval shaped. They feature the NWA Logo on both side plates. This design lasted until August 2002. In September 2016, the NWA returned to using this design. The title was then renamed to the NWA Woman's World Championship. This title was mostly used by Jazz during this time. This design lasted until 2019.

2002 - 2010: In August 2002, a new design was created. This design features 5 plates on a black strap. The main plate is gold. The plate features a black oval in the center with the NWA logo on it. The top of the belt reads "World Womans" at the top and has a black banner at the bottem which reads "Champion". Below the black banner, it also has a red crown. Over time, the black oval was changed to red. There are 4 side rectangular side plates that feature the flags of some countries. Those being Switzerland, Japan, America, Italy, Mexico, Germany, Russia, and United Kingdom.

2010 - 2014: In 2010, a large new belt was introduced. This belt, like the previous version, has 5 plates on a black strap, all in gold. The main plate is large. It features the red NWA logo in the center. There are 3 black banners, 1 on the top and 2 at the bottem. The top one reads "Womans". The second banner located at the bottom reads "World". Below that is another black banner that reads "Wrestling Champion". The side plates, like the previous version, are rectangular with the flags of some countries, those being United Kingdom, Australia, America, Italy, Canada, Japan, Mexico, and Brazil. This design lasted until January 2014.

2014 - 2016: In January 2014, another design was introduced. Unlike the previous version, this design is much smaller. The belt has 5 hexagonal plates on a black leather strap. This design was replaced with the '86 - '02 championship in 2016.

The main plate of the belt introduced in 2019 with the picture of former champion, Allysin Kay.

2019–present: On September 30, 2019, NWA President, Billy Corgan presented a new NWA World Womans Championship. The belt was made by Belts By Dan. The design pays homage to the original design of the championship. The belt has 3 plates on a white strap. The plates are silver. The main plate pays homage to the original version of the championship. It features an angel at the top of the plate. There are 2 black banners on the top and bottom. The top banner reads "National Wrestling Alliance" and the bottem reading "Women's World Champion", just like the original design. The center of the plate features a picture frame that has a picture of the wrestler that holds the championship, which changes with each champion, also from the original design. Above the picture frame has the year 1948, which was the year the NWA was founded. Surrounding the picture frame and the 1948 are branches with leaves on them. On the left and right of the belt, there are shields with wrestlers engraved on them. The main plate also features 12 red gems all over the belt. The side plates are oval shaoed and feature the NWA logo on it.

Reigns

As of January 21, 2025, there have been 41 reigns, between 32 wrestlers and eight vacancies. Mildred Burke was the inaugural champion. The Fabulous Moolah holds the record for most recognized reigns at four. Moolah is the oldest champion at 55 years old, while La Reina de Corazones is the youngest at 21 years old. Moolah's third reign is the longest at 3,841 days, while Evelyn Stevens and Malia Hosaka's reigns are the shortest at one day each.

Kenzie Paige is the current champion, in her first reign. She won the title by defeating Kamille at NWA's 75th Anniversary Show on August 27, 2023, in St. Louis, Missouri

Names

Name Year
NWA Women's Championship 1950 – September 16, 2016
NWA World Women's Championship September 16, 2016 – present
Key
No. Overall reign number
Reign Reign number for the specific champion
Days Number of days held
† Championship change is unrecognized by the promotion
+ Current reign is changing daily
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign Days
National Wrestling Alliance (NWA)
1 Mildred Burke 1950 Live event N/A 1 Burke defeated Clara Mortensen on February 11, 1937 to win the original version of the Women's World Championship. Due to her victory, Burke was recognized as the inaugural NWA champion in 1950. [5]
2 June Byers August 20, 1954 Live event Atlanta, GA 2 [Note 1] Byers wrestled Mildred Burke for the NWA World Women's Championship in a two out of three falls match. The commission stopped the match between Burke and Byers at the end of the second fall, stripped Burke of the title, and awarded it to Byers. Burke set up the WWWA World Championship and continued to recognize herself as the World Women's Champion. [1][6][7]
— Vacated 1956/1964 — — — — In 1956, the NWA promoters of New York, New Jersey and Baltimore (led by Vince McMahon Sr.) stopped recognizing June Byers as champion and she was stripped of the championship by the Baltimore Athletic Commission. Byers, with the support of promoter Billy Wolfe, continued to be recognized by the majority of the National Wrestling Alliance until her retirement in 1964. [8][9][10][11][12]
3 The Fabulous Moolah September 18, 1956 Live event Baltimore, MD 1 3,651 Moolah defeated Judy Grable at the end of a 13-woman battle royal. Moolah was not fully recognized by the National Wrestling Alliance as the new NWA World Women's Champion until 1964 because Billy Wolfe, with whom Moolah had a falling-out earlier in her career, still controlled most of the NWA. Penny Banner, the AWA World Women's champion, was also briefly recognized in some NWA territories after Byers' retirement in 1964. [6][12][13][14][15]
4 Bette Boucher September 17, 1966 Live event Seattle, WA 1 16 [9][11]
5 The Fabulous Moolah October 3, 1966 Live event Vancouver BC, Canada 2 524 [9][16]
6 Yukiko Tomoe March 10, 1968 Live event Osaka, Japan 1 23 [9][11]
7 The Fabulous Moolah April 2, 1968 Live event Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan 3 3,841 [9]
8 Evelyn Stevens October 8, 1978 Live event Dallas, TX 1 1 [9][10][17]
9 The Fabulous Moolah October 9, 1978 Live event Fort Worth, TX 4(5) 1,909 [9][10]
— Vacated December 31, 1983 — — — — The World Wrestling Federation (WWF) withdrew from the NWA in 1983, and The Fabulous Moolah sold the championship to the WWF. The WWF recognized Moolah as champion but did not acknowledge previous title changes: see WWE Women's Championship. [8][9][10][11]
10 Debbie Combs February 12, 1986 Live event Honolulu, HI 1 [Note 2] Combs won the vacant championship in a 9-woman battle royal against Candi Devine, Despina Montagos, Eva Savage, Lady Satan, Princess Jasmine, Roxie Rush, Reggie Schwartz, and Sherri Martel.
— Vacated 1987 — — — — The championship was declared vacant in 1987 when the Kansas City promotion withdrew from the NWA.
11 Debbie Combs April 10, 1987 Live event Kansas City, MO 2 [Note 3] Combs defeated Penny Mitchell to win the vacant championship. [9]
12 Bambi 1994 N/A N/A 1 [Note 4] [18]
13 Peggy Lee Leather 1994 N/A N/A 1 [Note 5] [19]
14 Bambi July 26, 1994 NWA TV tapings East Ridge, TN 2 [Note 6] [18]
15 Malia Hosaka May 9, 1996 Live event Johnson City, TN 1 1 Hosaka defeated Debbie Combs, who continued to defend the championship despite Bambi being recognized as the champion by Jim Crockett Promotions. [9]
16 Debbie Combs May 10, 1996 Live event Fall Branch, TN 3 [Note 7] [9]
— Vacated October 1996 — — — — Debbie Combs was stripped of the championship. [9]
17 Strawberry Fields October 14, 2000 NWA 52nd Anniversary Show Nashville, TN 1 [Note 8] Fields defeated Leilani Kai to win the vacant championship. [9]
— Vacated November 2000 — — — — Strawberry Fields vacated the championship due to an injury. [9]
18 Madison August 23, 2002 Live event Surrey, British Columbia, Canada 1 64 Madison defeated Bam Bam Bambi to win the vacant championship. [9]
19 Char Starr October 26, 2002 NWA 54th Anniversary Show Corpus Christi, TX 1 41 [9]
20 Madison December 6, 2002 Live event Port Coquitlam, BC 2 96 [9]
21 Leilani Kai March 12, 2003 NWA:TNA Weekly PPV #36 Nashville, TN 1 465 [9][20]
— Vacated June 19, 2004 — — — — Leilani Kai was stripped after several no-shows [9]
22 Kiley McLean June 19, 2004 Live event Richmond, VA 1 308 McLean defeated Kameo to win the vacant championship. [9]
23 Lexie Fyfe April 23, 2005 Live event Richmond, VA 1 168 [9]
24 Christie Ricci October 8, 2005 NWA 57th Anniversary Show Nashville, TN 1 476 This was a three-way match, also involving Tasha Simone. [9]
25 MsChif January 27, 2007 Live event Lebanon, TN 1 98 [9]
26 Amazing Kong May 5, 2007 Live event Streamwood, IL 1 358 [9]
27 MsChif April 27, 2008 Live event Cape Girardeau, MO 2 818 [9]
28 Tasha Simone July 24, 2010 House show Lebanon, TN 1 70 [21]
29 La Reina de Corazones October 2, 2010 Live event Altus, OK 1 35 [22]
— Vacated November 6, 2010 Live event Lebanon, TN — — La Reina de Corazones was stripped of the championship after refusing to defend it.
30 Tasha Simone November 6, 2010 Live event Lebanon, TN 2 365 Simone defeated Rachel to win the vacant championship. [23]
31 Tiffany Roxx November 6, 2011 Live event Lebanon, TN 1 49 This was a no disqualification match. [24]
32 Tasha Simone December 25, 2011 Live event Lebanon, TN 3 300 This was a steel cage match. [25]
33 Kacee Carlisle October 20, 2012 Live event Lebanon, TN 1 462 [26]
34 Barbi Hayden January 25, 2014 Live event Cypress, TX 1 378 [27]
35 Santana Garrett February 7, 2015 Live event Plant City, FL 1 314 [28]
36 Amber Gallows December 18, 2015 Live event Sherman, TX 1 273 This was a four-way elimination match, also involving Bree Ann and Nikki Knight. Gallows won the championship by lastly eliminating Santana Garrett. [29]
National Wrestling Alliance/Lightning One Inc.
37 Jazz September 16, 2016 Live event Sherman, TX 1 948 This was a three-way match, also involving Christi Jaynes. [30]
— Vacated April 22, 2019 — — — — Jazz vacated the championship due to medical and personal reasons. [31][32]
38 Allysin Kay April 27, 2019 Crockett Cup Concord, NC 1 272 Kay defeated Santana Garrett to win the vacant championship. [33]
39 Thunder Rosa January 24, 2020 Hard Times Atlanta, GA 1 277 [34]
40 Serena Deeb October 27, 2020 UWN Primetime Live Long Beach, CA 1 222 Deeb defended the title on October 22 on an All Elite Wrestling (AEW) Dynamite taping, five days prior to winning the title. The match aired on October 28, 2020, the day after she won the title. [35]
41 Kamille June 6, 2021 When Our Shadows Fall Atlanta, GA 1 812 [36]
42 Kenzie Paige August 27, 2023 NWA 75th Anniversary Show St. Louis, MO 1 513+

Combined reigns

Inaugural champion Mildred Burke
Four-time and longest reigning champion The Fabulous Moolah
† Indicates the current champion.
¤ The exact length of a title reign is uncertain; the combined length may not be correct.
N/A The exact length of a title reign is too uncertain to calculate.
Rank Wrestler No. of
Reigns 		Combined
Days
1 The Fabulous Moolah 4(5) 9,925¤
2 Debbie Combs 2 3,461¤
3 Jazz 1 948
4 MsChif 2 916
5 Kamille 1 812
6 June Byers 1 760¤
7 Tasha Simone 3 735
8 Kenzie Paige † 1 513+
9 Christie Ricci 1 476
10 Leilani Kai 1 465
11 Kacee Carlisle 1 462
12 Barbi Hayden 1 378
13 Amazing Kong 1 358
14 Kiley McLean 1 318
15 Santana Garrett 1 314
16 Thunder Rosa 1 277
17 Amber Gallows 1 273
18 Allysin Kay 1 272
19 Serena Deeb 1 222
20 Lexie Fyfe 1 168
21 Madison 2 160
22 Tiffany Roxx 1 50
23 Char Starr 1 41
24 La Reina de Corazones 1 35
25 Yukiko Tomoe 1 23
26 Strawberry Fields 1 18–47¤
27 Bette Boucher 1 16
28 Evelyn Stevens 1 1
29 Malia Hosaka 1 1
30 Bambi 2 N/A
31 Mildred Burke 1
32 Peggy Lee Leather 1

Notes

  1. ^ The exact date that Byers' championship was vacated is disputed, therefore, it is unknown for how many days Byers held the championship.
  2. ^ The exact date that Combs' championship was vacated is unknown, therefore, it is unknown for how many days Combs held the championship.
  3. ^ The exact date that Combs lost the championship is unknown, therefore, it is unknown for how many days Combs held the championship.
  4. ^ The exact date that Bambi won the championship is unknown, therefore, it is unknown for how many days she held the championship.
  5. ^ The exact date that Leather won the championship is unknown, therefore, it is unknown for how many days she held the championship.
  6. ^ The exact date that Bambi lost the championship is unknown, therefore, it is unknown for how many days she held the championship.
  7. ^ The exact date that Combs lost the championship is unknown, other than it happened in October 1996, which means the title reign lasted between 144 and 174 days.
  8. ^ The exact date that Fields vacated the championship is unknown, other than it happened in November 2000, which means the title reign lasted between 18 and 47 days.

See also

References

General
  • Ellison, Lillian (2003). The Fabulous Moolah: First Goddess of the Squared Circle. ReaganBooks. ISBN 978-0-06-001258-8.
Specific
  1. ^ a b Malnoske, Andrew. "Mildred Burke". Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum. Archived from the original on 2016-06-18. Retrieved 2009-02-20.
  2. ^ "The Fabulous Moolah's first reign". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on 2007-05-07. Retrieved 2007-04-24.
  3. ^ Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2006). Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  4. ^ "411MANIA". NWA Women's Championship Match & More Set For Next Week's AEW Dynamite. Archived from the original on 2020-09-11. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  5. ^ "NWA World Women's Championship – NWA Ringside". July 27, 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-07-27.
  6. ^ a b Ellison, Lillian. First Goddess of the Squared Circle, p.97.
  7. ^ Hoops, Brian (August 20, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history (August 20): June Byers wins NWA Women's belt, Michael Shane wins TNA X-Division title". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Archived from the original on February 13, 2017. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
  8. ^ a b Steve Slagle. "The Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame: Fabulous Moolah". The Ring Chronicle. Archived from the original on 2011-05-26. Retrieved 2007-10-26.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y "NWA World Women's Championship". Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling. Archived from the original on January 18, 2010. Retrieved 2009-03-26.
  10. ^ a b c d Slagle, Steve. "Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame: Fabulous Moolah". Ring Chronicle. Archived from the original on 2011-05-26. Retrieved 2009-03-26.
  11. ^ a b c d Solomon, Brian (2006). WWE Legends. Simon and Schuster. p. 92. ISBN 0-7434-9033-9.
  12. ^ a b Javier Osjt (2 October 2019). "The Fabulous Moolah – Her Career and Controversial Legacy". ProWrestlingStories.com. Archived from the original on 2020-02-06. Retrieved 2020-02-06.
  13. ^ Chris Schramm (October 5, 1998). "Moolah: Twenty-eight years was the reign". SLAM! Wrestling. Archived from the original on 2012-12-08. Retrieved 2007-10-26.
  14. ^ Burke, Tom. "The Fabulous Moolah". Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum. Archived from the original on 2009-03-03. Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  15. ^ Ellison, Lillian. First Goddess of the Squared Circle, p.104.
  16. ^ "NWA World Women's Title". Archived from the original on 2006-03-24. Retrieved 2006-04-20.
  17. ^ "NWA Big Time Wrestling October 9, 1978 Event". cagematch.net. Archived from the original on 2021-10-23. Retrieved 2020-02-05.
  18. ^ a b "Bambi". Online World of Wrestling.
  19. ^ "Peggy Lee Leathers". Online World of Wrestling.
  20. ^ "Madison's profile". GLORY Wrestling. Archived from the original on 2009-02-07. Retrieved 2009-04-12.
  21. ^ Gerweck, Steve (2010-07-25). "New NWA World Women's Champion". WrestleView. Archived from the original on 2012-05-04. Retrieved 2010-07-25.
  22. ^ "Card Results - NWA-OK - Altus, OK - 10/2/2010". oklafan.com. 2010-10-02. Archived from the original on 2010-10-07. Retrieved 2010-10-04.
  23. ^ Meltzer, Dave (2010-11-08). "Mon. update: Ross announcing, Dreamer injury notes, Why people don't watch TNA, Mania tickets". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Archived from the original on 2010-11-10. Retrieved 2010-11-09.
  24. ^ Oliver, Lekisha (2011-11-05). "New NWA World Women's Champion crowned". RingBellesOnline. Archived from the original on 2011-11-12. Retrieved 2011-11-05.
  25. ^ Gerweck, Steve (2011-12-27). "New NWA World Women's Champion". WrestleView. Archived from the original on 2012-01-03. Retrieved 2011-12-27.
  26. ^ "Kacee Carlisle wins the NWA World Women's Championship over Tasha Simone in Lebanon TN". Unlimited Radio 24/7. 2012-10-20. Archived from the original on 2012-11-02. Retrieved 2012-10-20.
  27. ^ Caldwell, James (2014-01-26). "NWA News: New champions determined this weekend, including new NWA Women's Champion". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on 2014-01-29. Retrieved 2014-01-26.
  28. ^ Caldwell, James (2015-02-07). "NWA news: Former TNA KO captures World Women's Title, Jax captures Nat'l Title, Conway defends NWA World Title, two big title matches at NJPW's "New Beginning" next week". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on 2015-02-08. Retrieved 2015-01-08.
  29. ^ Caldwell, James (2015-12-18). "New NWA Women's Champ ends Santana's lengthy reign". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on 2017-06-16. Retrieved 2015-12-19.
  30. ^ @nwa (September 17, 2016). "Jazz defeated @amberoneal1 earlier tonight @NWA_Texoma in #ShermanTX!" (Tweet). Archived from the original on March 4, 2023. Retrieved March 5, 2023 – via Twitter.
  31. ^ "JAZZ VACATES NWA WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP | PWInsider.com". www.pwinsider.com. Archived from the original on 2021-10-23. Retrieved 2019-04-22.
  32. ^ @Phenom_Jazz (22 April 2019). "Due to medical and personal issues in..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  33. ^ Powell, Jason (27 April 2019). "NWA Crockett Cup 2019 results: Powell's live review of Nick Aldis vs. Marty Scurll for the NWA Championship, the eight-team Crockett Cup tag team tournament to crown the new NWA Tag Team Champions, Allysin Kay vs. Santana Garrett for the vacant NWA Women's Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on 24 October 2020. Retrieved April 27, 2019.
  34. ^ Ravens, Andrew (January 24, 2020). "NWA Hard Times PPV Results". sescoops.com. Archived from the original on January 25, 2020. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
  35. ^ Johnson, Mike (October 27, 2020). "NEW NWA WOMEN'S CHAMPION CROWNED". pwinsider.com. Archived from the original on October 31, 2020. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
  36. ^ Powell, Jason (June 6, 2021). "NWA When Our Shadows Fall results: Powell's live review of Nick Aldis vs. Trevor Murdoch for the NWA Championship, Serena Deeb vs. Kamille for the NWA Women's Title, Aron Stevens and Kratos vs. Thom Latimer and Chris Adonis vs. Crimson and Jax Dane for the NWA Tag Titles". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on June 6, 2021. Retrieved June 6, 2021.