Title History
- Key
| Reign | The reign number for the specific set of wrestlers listed |
| # | Indicates what number the reign is |
| Event | The event promoted by the respective promotion in which the titles were won |
| N/A | The information is not available or is unknown |
| # | Wrestlers | Reign | Date | Location | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 !1 | Hackenschmidt, GeorgGeorg Hackenschmidt | 01 !1 | 01905-05-04May 4, 1905 | New York City, New York | Live event | Hackenscmidt won a world championship tournament to become the first champion. Hackenschmidt won several other tournaments in Paris, France; Hamburg, Germany; Saint Petersburg, Russia; Elberfeld, Germany; and Berlin, Germany in the same year. He also won the European Greco-Roman Heavyweight Championship title from Tom Cannon on September 4, 1902 in Liverpool, England. He won the recognition of being the World Heavyweight Champion on January 30, 1904 in London, England by defeating Ahmed Madrali. Hackenschmidt defeated American Heavyweight Champion, Tom Jenkins, on May 4, 1905 in New York City, New York to become the recognized World Champion in North America. |
| 02 !2 | Gotch, FrankFrank Gotch | 01 !1 | 01908-04-03April 3, 1908 | Chicago, Illinois | Live event | Gotch held the title for five years until April 1, 1913. He was the fifth longest reigning World Heavyweight Champion in history behind Bruno Sammartino, Lou Thesz, Verne Gagne (who all held their World Titles for over seven years) and Bob Backlund (who held his for nearly six years). |
| 03 !3 | Stecher, JoeJoe Stecher | 01 !1 | 01915-07-05July 5, 1915 | Omaha, Nebraska | Live event | Stecher defeated Charlie Cutler to become the first widely recognized world heavyweight champion after the retirement of Frank Gotch. |
| 04 !4 | Caddock, EarlEarl Caddock | 01 !1 | 01917-04-09April 9, 1917 | Omaha, Nebraska | Live event | |
| 05 !5 | Stecher, JoeJoe Stecher | 02 !2 | 01920-01-30January 30, 1920 | New York City, New York | Live event | |
| 06 !6 | Ed Lewis !Ed Lewis | 01 !1 | 01920-12-13December 13, 1920 | New York City, New York | Live event | |
| 07 !7 | Zbyszko, StanislausStanislaus Zbyszko | 01 !1 | 01921-05-06May 6, 1921 | New York City, New York | Live event | |
| 08 !8 | Ed Lewis !Ed Lewis | 02 !2 | 01922-03-03March 3, 1922 | Witchita, Kansas | Live event | |
| 09 !9 | Munn, WayneWayne Munn | 01 !1 | 01925-01-08January 8, 1925 | Witchita, Kansas | Live event | |
| 10 !10 | Zbyszko, StanislausStanislaus Zbyszko | 02 !2 | 01925-04-15April 15, 1925 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Live event | Though Zbyszko defeated Munn to win the championship, Munn continued to be recognized as World Heavyweight Champion in Michigan and in Illinois. |
| 11 !11 | Stecher, JoeJoe Stecher | 03 !3 | 01925-05-30May 30, 1925 | Saint Louis, Missouri | Live event | |
| 12 !12 | Ed Lewis !Ed Lewis | 03 !3 | 01928-02-21February 21, 1928 | Saint Louis, Missouri | Live event | Lewis defeats Wayne Munn on February 2, 1928 in Michigan City, Indiana for the Michigan/Illonois World Heavyweight Championship version. Lewis defeats Stecher on February 21, 1928 to end the dispute. |
| 13 !13 | Sonnenberg, GusGus Sonnenberg | 01 !1 | 01929-01-04January 4, 1929 | Boston, Massachusetts | Live event | The recognition of being the World Heavyweight Champion was withdrawn from Gus Sonnenberg by the wrestling section of the National Boxing Association in 1929 for failing to meet real title contenders. |
| 14 !14 | Ed Don George !Ed Don George | 01 !1 | 01930-12-10December 10, 1930 | Los Angeles, California | Live event | |
| 15 !15 | Ed Lewis !Ed Lewis | 04 !4 | 01931-04-13April 13, 1931 | Los Angeles, California | Live event | Lewis lost the American Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Championship by disqualification to Henri Deglane on May 4, 1931 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, but still recognized as World Heavyweight Champion in Illinois. Lewis also defeated the title claimer, Wladek Zbyszko, on November 2, 1931 in Chicago, Illinois for the title. Lewis continued to win the New York State Athletic Commission World Title by defeating Jack Sherry on October 10, 1932. |
| 16 !16 | O'Mahoney, DannoDanno O'Mahoney | 01 !1 | 01935-06-27June 27, 1935 | Boston, Massachusetts | Live event | O'Mahoney defeated Jim Londos to win the New York State Athletic Commission World Title. Mahoney continues to win Boston's American Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Title by defeating Ed Don George (who had beat Deglane on February 9, 1933) on July 30, 1935 in Boston, Massachusetts to become the Undisputed World Heavyweight Champion. |
| 17 !17 | Shikat, DickDick Shikat | 01 !1 | 01936-03-02March 2, 1936 | New York City, New York | Live event | |
| 18 !18 | Baba, AliAli Baba | 01 !1 | 01936-04-25April 25, 1936 | Detroit, Michigan | Live event | On April 29, 1936 it was announced by the New York Times that Ali Baba would not be recognized as World Heavyweight Champion in the New York State by The New York Athletic Commission however it was announced that Ali Baba and Dave Shikat would face each other on May 5, 1936 at Madison Square Garden for the World Heavyweight Championship. Ali Baba went on to win the professional wrestling bout and thus be recognized as the World Heavyweight Champion. |
| 19 !19 | Levin, DaveDave Levin | 01 !1 | 01936-06-12June 12, 1936 | Newark, New Jersey | Live event | |
| 20 !20 | Detton, DeanDean Detton | 01 !1 | 01936-09-29September 29, 1936 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Live event | Detton defeated Ed Lewis in a tournament final to win the title. |
| 21 !21 | Nagurski, BronkoBronko Nagurski | 01 !1 | 01937-06-16June 16, 1937 | Minneapolis, Minnesota | Live event | Nagurski was recognized as the Undisputed World Heavyweight Champion by "The Ring" magazine. |
| 22 !22 | Londos, JimJim Londos | 01 !1 | 01938-11-18November 18, 1938 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Live event | Londos retires as World Heavyweight Champion in 1946. |
| 23 !23 | Thesz, LouLou Thesz | 01 !1 | N/A | N/A | Live event | Thesz unified 3 championships to become the Undisputed World Heavyweight Champion, the National Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Championship which he won on July 20, 1948 by defeating Bill Longson, the National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Championship which was awarded to him on November 27, 1949, and the Los Angeles Olympic Auditorium World Heavyweight Championship which he won on May 21, 1952 by defeating Baron Michele Leon. |
| 24 !24 | Whipper Billy Watson !Whipper Billy Watson | 01 !1 | 01956-03-15March 15, 1956 | Toronto, Ontario, Canada | Live event | Watson defeated Lou Thesz by Count Out to win the world title. |
| 25 !25 | Thesz, LouLou Thesz | 02 !2 | 01956-11-09November 9, 1956 | Saint Louis, Missouri | Live event | Édouard Carpentier defeated Lou Thesz by disqualification on June 14, 1957 in Chicago, Illinois when Thesz cannot continue the match due to a back injury. The NWA rules states that a title cannot change on a Disqualification and Carpentier gives the title back to Thesz. Edouard Carpentier was then recognized as World Heavyweight Champion in Omaha, Nebraska and in Boston, Massachusetts. He was then later recognized as the World Heavyweight Champion by the World Wrestling Association in Los Angeles, California. This was the last time the World Heavyweight Title has been unified and to date has never been fully unified again. The Omaha version of the World Title was later unified with the AWA World Heavyweight Championship of Boston. Lou Thesz defeated Edouard Carpentier in a rematch by disqualification on July 24, 1957 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada for the title. |
Read more about this topic: List Of Early World Heavyweight Champions In Professional Wrestling
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