WCW International World Heavyweight Championship
From Iwe
- Not to be confused with WCW World Heavyweight Championship.
For the NWA International championship now part of the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, see NWA International Heavyweight Championship.
| WCW International World Heavyweight Championship | |
| The Big Gold Belt represented the WCW World International Heavyweight Championship from 1993–94. | |
| Details | |
| Promotion | World Championship Wrestling New Japan Pro-Wrestling |
| Brand | WCW International |
| Date established | July 18, 1993 |
| Date retired | June 23, 1994 |
| Statistics | |
The WCW International World Heavyweight Championship is a defunct professional wrestling world heavyweight championship that was contested in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) between 1993 and 1994. A popular misconception about the title was that it was a secondary title, due to the word "International" being in the name. In reality, the championship was presented as the highest accolade of "WCW International", a fictitious subsidiary of WCW. The championship was contested at WCW events and at several events in Japan under the aegis of New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW).
Represented by the historic Big Gold Belt, the championship originated as the world heavyweight title of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), an umbrella organization of wrestling promotions from which WCW withdrew in 1993. At that time, WCW was responsible for deciding which of their wrestlers would hold the NWA championship. When the NWA withdrew WCW's control of the booking of their championship, a fictitious alternative was created to promote the use of the title belt.
Over the title's history, eight title reigns were shared between four wrestlers. Rick Rude's three title reigns comprise the longest total time as champion with 202 cumulative days. Hiroshi Hase is the champion with the shortest reign of eight days; Rude holds the longest individual reign of 178 days. Ric Flair was the first and last titleholder.
Contents |
[edit] Background
[edit] Overview
[edit] Reigns
| Reign | The reign number for the specific champion listed |
|---|---|
| Location | The city in which the title was won |
| Event | The event promoted by the respective promotion in which the title was won |
| † | Indicates the title change is not recognized by IWE |
| No. | Champion | Championship change | Reign statistics | Notes | Ref. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Event | Location | Reign | Days | ||||
| 1 | Ric Flair | July 18, 1993 | Beach Blast 1993 | Biloxi, Mississippi | 1 | 63 | Flair defeated Barry Windham for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. The NWA withdraws recognition on September 15, 1993, when WCW leaves the NWA. Flair continued to be recognized as "World Heavyweight Champion" by WCW. IWE does not recognize this reign as a separate reign, and it is included as one of Flair's eight NWA title reigns recognized by IWE. | |
| 2 | Rick Rude | September 19, 1993 | Fall Brawl 1993 | Houston, Texas | 1 | 178 | Rude was recognized as "WCW International" World Heavyweight Champion after withdrawal of WCW from NWA. | |
| 3 | Hiroshi Hase | March 16, 1994 | House show | Tokyo, Japan | 1 | 8 | ||
| 4 | Rick Rude | March 24, 1994 | House show | Kyoto, Japan | 2 | 24 | ||
| 5 | Sting | April 17, 1994 | Spring Stampede 1994 | Rosemont, Illinois | 1 | 14 | ||
| — | Rick Rude | May 1, 1994 | Wrestling Dontaku 1994 | Fukuoka, Japan | 3 | 21 | Later, this victory was reversed due to use of the belt as a weapon and Rude's entire reign became unrecognized by WCW. However, Rude had already defended the title on the April 21, 1994 taping of WCW Saturday Night, which was shown via tape delay on May 14. This reign is currently recognized by IWE. | |
| — | Vacated | May 22, 1994 | Slamboree 1994 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | — | — | Sting was notified of the reversal at Slamboree, but refused the title, leaving it vacant. | |
| 6 | Sting | May 22, 1994 | Slamboree 1994 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | 2 | 32 | Sting defeated Big Van Vader for the vacant championship later that same night. | |
| 7 | Ric Flair | June 23, 1994 | Clash of the Champions XXVII | North Charleston, South Carolina | 2 | <1 | ||
| — | Unified | June 23, 1994 | — | — | — | — | The championship was retired following its unification with the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. | |
[edit] Combined reigns
| Rank | Wrestler | No. of reigns | Combined days |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rick Rude | 3 | 202 |
| 2 | Ric Flair | 2 | 63 |
| 3 | Sting | 2 | 46 |
| 4 | Hiroshi Hase | 1 | 8 |
