PWF World Heavyweight Championship explained
| Championshipname: | Pacific Wrestling Federation (PWF) World Heavyweight Championship |
| Promotion: | All Japan Pro Wrestling |
| Created: | February 27, 1973 |
| Mostreigns: | Stan Hansen/Giant Baba (4 reigns) |
| Firstchamp: | Giant Baba |
| Longestreign: | Giant Baba (1920 days) |
| Shortestreign: | Jumbo Tsuruta (<1 day) |
| Titleretired: | 1989 |
The Pacific Wrestling Federation (PWF) World Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship and one of the three titles that make up the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship. It was created in 1973 by All Japan owner Giant Baba, after he won a series of ten matches against Bruno Sammartino (twice - one win, one draw), Terry Funk, Abdullah the Butcher, The Destroyer, Wilbur Snyder (twice - one win, one draw), Don Leo Jonathan, Pat O'Connor and Bobo Brazil.
The title, which had originally been classed as a world title, was downgraded to regional status after All Japan joined the National Wrestling Alliance but retained its status as the top All Japan singles title until 1983. In 1989 Jumbo Tsuruta and Stan Hansen would unify this, the NWA United National Championship and the NWA International Heavyweight title to create the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship. The original belt remained in use as part of the Triple Crown until 2013, when the three belts were replaced by a single belt. As the original top belt in All Japan, its design formed the front plate of the new belt; the other two belts' designs took the sides.[1]
Title history
- Key
| Symbol | Meaning |
| No. | The overall championship reign |
| Reign | The reign number for the specific wrestler listed. |
| Event | The event in which the championship changed hands |
| N/A | The specific information is not known |
| — | Used for vacated reigns in order to not count it as an official reign |
[Note #]|Indicates that the exact length of the title reign is unknown, with a note providing more details.|}| width=0 data-sort-type="number" | | Wrestler | Reign | Date | Days held | Location | Event | Notes | Ref. |
|---|
| 1 | | 1 | | | Tokyo, Japan | House show | Baba originally defeats The Destroyer on December 19, 1972 via count out in a decision match. Unsatisfied with the result, Baba decides to earn the championship by winning a series of 10 matches, the last against Bobo Brazil. | [2] |
|---|
| 2 | | 1 | | | Akita, Japan | House show | | [3] |
|---|
| 3 | | 1 | | | Ichinomiya, Japan | House show | | |
|---|
| 4 | Abdullah the Butcher | 1 | | | Utsunomiya, Japan | House show | | |
|---|
| 5 | | 2 | | | Chicago, Illinois, United States | House show | | [4] |
|---|
| 6 | | 1 | | | Obihiro, Japan | House show | | |
|---|
| 7 | | 3 | | | St. Louis, Missouri, United States | House show | | [5] |
|---|
| 8 | | 1 | | | Chiba, Japan | House show | | |
|---|
| 9 | | 4 | | | Tokyo, Japan | House show | | [6] |
|---|
| 10 | | 2 | | | Fukuoka, Japan | House show | | |
|---|
| 11 | | 1 | | [7] | Yokohama, Japan | House show | Hansen's AWA World Heavyweight Championship was also on the line. The match ended in a disqualification. Because the PWF Championship could be won by disqualification but the AWA Championship could not, Choshu only won the PWF Championship. | |
|---|
| Vacated | - | | - | N/A | N/A | Vacated when Choshu left for New Japan Pro-Wrestling. | | | 12 | | 3 | | | Yokohama, Japan | House show | Defeated Hiroshi Wajima in a decision match. | |
|---|
| 13 | | 1 | | | Yokohama, Japan | House show | Tenryu also held the NWA United National Championship at this point in time | |
|---|
| 14 | | 4 | | | Nagano, Japan | House show | Won the PWF World Heavyweight and NWA United National Championship. | |
|---|
| 15 | | 1 | | | Tokyo, Japan | House show | Tsuruta was the NWA International Heavyweight Champion. | |
|---|
| Unified | - | | - | N/A | N/A | The PWF World Heavyweight Championship, NWA International Heavyweight Championship and NWA United National Championship unified to become the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship. | | |
Combined reigns
| Rank | Wrestler | No. of
reigns | Combined
days |
|---|
| 1 | | 4 | 3,847 |
|---|
| 2 | | 4 | 1,161 |
|---|
| 3 | | 1 | 330 - 360 |
|---|
| 4 | | 140 |
|---|
| 5 | | 128 |
|---|
| 6 | | 115 |
|---|
| 7 | | 108 |
|---|
| 8 | | 11 |
|---|
| 9 | | <1 | |
|---|
See also
External links
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Notes and References
- Book: Royal Duncan & Gary Will . Wrestling Title Histories . Archeus Communications . 2006. 4th . 0-9698161-5-4 .
- Web site: Daily pro wrestling history (02/27): NXT takes over . February 28, 2017 . February 27, 2017 . Brian . Hoops . Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online.
- Web site: On this day in pro wrestling history (June 1): Rogers beats Gomez, Gordman & Goliath, Baba loses PWF Title, Flair Vs. KVE, Lawler Vs. Son, Undertaker Vs. Edge . June 1, 2015 . February 11, 2017 . Brian . Hoops . Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online.
- Web site: DAILY PRO WRESTLING HISTORY (02/10): MASA SAITO WINS AWA GOLD AT THE TOKYO DOME . February 10, 2017 . February 10, 2017 . Brian . Hoops . Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online.
- Web site: On this day in pro wrestling history (Feb 11): AJ Styles wins the IWGP Title. February 11, 2017 . February 15, 2017 . Brian . Hoops . Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online.
- Web site: On this day in pro wrestling history (July 31): Stan Hansen wins NWA International title, Giant Baba, Hulk Hogan in AWA . July 31, 2015 . February 11, 2017 . Brian . Hoops . Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online.
- The exact date the championship was vacated is uncertain, which put the championship reign at between and days.
