OVW Heavyweight Championship explained

Championshipname:OVW Heavyweight Championship
Currentholder:Crixus
Won:May 30, 2024
Promotion:Ohio Valley Wrestling
Created:August 17, 1997
Mostreigns:Nick Dinsmore (10 reigns)
Firstchamp:Trailer Park Trash
Longestreign:Rocco Bellagio (322 days)
Shortestreign:Rob Conway, Chet the Jett and Vladimir Kozlov (<1 day)
Pastnames:
  • NWA-OVW Heavyweight Championship (1997–2001)
  • OVW Heavyweight Championship (2001–present)

The OVW Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling heavyweight championship owned by the Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) promotion. The original championship was designed and created in 1997 by Reggie Parks. The title was introduced on August 17, 1997, at an OVW live event, then known as the NWA-OVW Heavyweight Championship due to OVW's relationship with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) governing body. OVW eventually parted ways with the NWA in October 2001, and the title was renamed the OVW Heavyweight Championship. OVW later became a developmental territory for the World Wrestling Entertainment organization, but their partnership eventually ceased on February 7, 2008.[1] The title has no known weight-limit, even though it is a heavyweight championship. The title has also went through almost 3 different versions in its current twenty-four year run. With The first being made by Reggie Parks in 1997, which was then retired and vacated in early 2012. The second version would then be made by Reggie Parks and Dave Millican for OVW.[2] The current version however was designed and created by Top Rope Belts, and ended up being used from 2012 to the present day.[3]

Title changes happen mostly at OVW-promoted events. The inaugural champion was a man known as Trailer Park Trash. His reign began on August 17, 1997, but ended in a vacancy for unknown reasons; it is also unknown how he became the first champion. Nick Dinsmore holds the record of most reigns, with ten. At 322 days, Rocco Bellagio's reign is the longest in the title's history. Rob Conway's fourth reign, Chet the Jett's second reign, and Vladimir Kozlov's only reign are all tied for the record of shortest reign in the title's history at less than one day each. Nick Dinsmore's combined ten reign lengths add up to 529 days—the most of any wrestler. The current champion is Crixus; the previous champion was Tony Evans, who lost the championship on May 30, 2024. Overall, there have been 143 reigns shared between 77 wrestlers, with 13 vacancies. One of those vacancies was due to then-champion Matt Cappotelli being diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor, and thus he chose to vacate the championship.

Title history

Names

NameYears
NWA-OVW Heavyweight ChampionshipAugust 17, 1997 – 2001
OVW Heavyweight ChampionshipOctober 2001 – present

Reigns

Combined reigns

Indicates the current champion(s)
¤The exact length of at least one title reign is uncertain, so the shortest possible length is used.
<1Indicates that the combined total is less than one day.
RankWrestlerNo. of
reigns
Combined
days
110 529
24 411
32 333
43 329
53 322
1 322
74 316
83 305
94 271
102 266
113 245
124 239
134 228
143 218
151 210
162 196
171 175
185 167
192 161
2 161
212 154
222 143
232 139
242 137
254 135
261 134
273 130
1 130
293 128
302 126
1 126
321 122
332 119
2 119
1 119
361 117
372 106
382 105
392 97
403 93
411 91
1 91
431 86
441 84
1 84
461 81
471 80
481 +
492 78
501 76
511 75
521 70
1 70
541 63
1 63
561 56
1 56
581 49
1 49
601 47
612 43
621 35
1 35
642 33
651 28
1 28
1 28
681 25
691 18
701 17
711 14
721 7
1 7
1 7
1 7
761 1
771 <1

See also

References

Specific
General

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: WWE to cease affiliation with Ohio Valley Wrestling. February 7, 2008. January 23, 2010. World Wrestling Entertainment Corporate. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20080309213846/http://corporate.wwe.com/news/2008/2008_02_07.jsp. March 9, 2008.
  2. Web site: Ohio Valley Wrestling Heavyweight Championship. Millican. Dave. June 12, 2012. www.davemillicanbelts.com. Dave Millican Belts. August 10, 2021.
  3. Web site: TRB OVW Heavyweight Championship. TopRope Belts. June 14, 2017. topropebelts.com/. Top Rope Belts. August 10, 2021.