TNA World Championship
| File:TNA World Heavyweight Championship.JPG The TNA World Heavyweight Championship | |
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The Total Nonstop Action (TNA) World Heavyweight Championship is the primary professional wrestling championship in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.
History
The start of the company
In 2002, Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Jarrett formed TNA, in the process negotiating a licensing deal with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) that granted them rights to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and the NWA World Tag Team Championship.
TNA withdrew from the NWA in 2004, but secured the right to continue to use the two NWA championships until 2014. TNA were permitted to use the titles any way they saw fit, without requiring approval of the NWA Board of Directors. While these titles were still defended in several NWA territories and federations, control of the titles was exclusive to TNA.
Title creation—NWA title vacated
On May 13, 2007, the NWA announced that it had ended their ongoing business relationship with TNA and stripped Christian Cage and Team 3D of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and NWA World Tag Team Championship, respectively, before the TNA pay-per-view event Sacrifice could take place.[1] Despite this, TNA continued to recognize its TNA title holders as "NWA champions", until May 14, when the new TNA titles were officially commissioned and used during television tapings.[2][3] The TNA World Heavyweight Championship was then unveiled on TNAwrestling.com on May 15, and immediately given "World" status by Pro Wrestling Illustrated.[4] On TNA programing, past NWA Champions in TNA are now referred to as former "TNA World Heavyweight Champions" instead of "NWA World Heavyweight Champions".
For previous World Heavyweight Champions in TNA see List of NWA World Heavyweight Champions.
Current champion
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The current champion is Sting, who is in his second reign. He defeated Samoa Joe on October 12, 2008 at Bound for Glory IV.
Title history
| Wrestler: | Reign: | Date: | Location: | Notes: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kurt Angle | 1 | June 17, 2007 | Nashville, TN | This was a King of the Mountain match at Slammiversary, also involving Christian Cage, Chris Harris, Samoa Joe and A.J. Styles.[5] Angle was officially named the first undisputed TNA World Heavyweight Champion by the promotion. |
| Sting | 1 | October 14, 2007 | Duluth, GA | Won at Bound for Glory.[6] |
| Kurt Angle | 2 | October 16, 2007 | Orlando, FL | Won on TNA Impact!, aired October 25.[7] |
| Samoa Joe | 1 | April 13, 2008 | Lowell, MA | Won at Lockdown. |
| Sting | 2 | October 12, 2008 | Chicago, IL | Won at Bound for Glory IV. |
List of individual reigns
As of December 9, 2008
| Wrestler | Days Held | Date Won | Date Lost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Samoa Joe | 182 | April 13, 2008 | October 12, 2008 |
| Kurt Angle | 180 | October 16, 2007 | April 13, 2008 |
| Kurt Angle | 119 | June 17, 2007 | October 14, 2007 |
| Sting | 59 | October 12, 2008 | Current champion |
| Sting | 2 | October 14, 2007 | October 16, 2007 |
List of combined reigns
As of December 9, 2008
| Rank | Wrestler | # Of Reigns | Combined Days |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Kurt Angle | 2 | 299 |
| 2. | Samoa Joe | 1 | 182 |
| 3. | Sting | 2 | 61+ |
See also
References
- ^ "NWA/Trobich strips TNA/Cage/Team 3-D of NWA branded Championships". 2007-05-13. Retrieved 2007-07-19.
- ^ "TNA Wrestling Title History". Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Retrieved 2007-05-15.
- ^ Wojcik, A. (2007-05-14). "TNA iMPACT! Tapings (2 Weeks)". TNA Wrestling News. Retrieved 2007-07-01.
- ^ Banks, B. (2007-05-15). "TNA Today Exclusive: New World Heavyweight Title Revealed". Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Retrieved 2007-05-15.
- ^ "Official TNA Slammiversary 2007 results". TNAwrestling.com. Retrieved 2007-06-18.
- ^ Sokol, Chris (2007-10-14). "Angle gets stung at Bound For Glory". SLAM! Sports. Retrieved 2008-01-15.
- ^ Sokol, Chris (2007-10-25). "Impact: Crowning a new old champion". SLAM! Sports. Retrieved 2008-01-15.