NWA World Women's Championship
| NWA World Women's Championship | |||||||||||||||
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 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 | |||||||||||||||
| Promotion | National Wrestling Alliance | ||||||||||||||
| Date established | 1950 | ||||||||||||||
| Current champion(s) | Kenzie Paige | ||||||||||||||
| Date won | August 27, 2023 | ||||||||||||||
| Other name(s) | |||||||||||||||
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The NWA World Women's 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.[1] The current champion is Kenzie Paige, who is in her first reign.
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.
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 December 19, 2024, 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
Notes
See also
References
- General
- Ellison, Lillian (2003). The Fabulous Moolah: First Goddess of the Squared Circle. ReaganBooks. ISBN 978-0-06-001258-8.
- Specific
- ^ Malnoske, Andrew. "Mildred Burke". Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum. Archived from the original on 2016-06-18. Retrieved 2009-02-20.
- ^ "The Fabulous Moolah's first reign". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on 2007-05-07. Retrieved 2007-04-24.
- ^ Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2006). Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
- ^ "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.
External links