Guest Professor X Report post Posted March 30, 2005 NWA CHAMPIONS Lou Thesz (3) January 24, 1963 Toronto, Ontario, Canada 5 Gene Kiniski January 7, 1966 Saint Louis, Missouri Dory Funk Jr. February 11, 1969 Tampa, Florida Harley Race March 24, 1973 Kansas City, Missouri Jack Brisco July 20, 1973 Houston, Texas Giant Baba December 2, 1974 Kagoshima, Japan Jack Brisco (2) December 9, 1974 Toyohashi, Japan Terry Funk December 10, 1975 Miami, Florida Harley Race (2) February 6, 1977 Toronto, Ontario, Canada Dusty Rhodes August 21, 1979 Tampa, Florida Harley Race (3) August 26, 1979 Orlando, Florida Giant Baba (2) October 31, 1979 Nagoya, Japan Harley Race (4) November 7, 1979 Amagasaki, Japan Giant Baba (3) September 4, 1980 Saga, Japan Harley Race (5) September 9, 1980 Ohtsu, Japan Tommy Rich April 27, 1981 Augusta, Georgia Harley Race (6) May 1, 1981 Gainsville, Georgia Dusty Rhodes (2) June 21, 1981 Atlanta, Georgia Ric Flair September 17, 1981 Kansas City, Missouri 6 and 7 Jack Veneno January 15, 1983 Santo Domingo, Dominica 8 Ric Flair January 16, 1983 San Juan, Puerto Rico 8 Victor Jovica February 8, 1983 Couva, Trinidad 8 Ric Flair February 11, 1983 Manati, Puerto Rico 8 Harley Race (7) February 10, 1983 Saint Louis, Missouri Ric Flair (2) November 24, 1983 Greensboro, North Carolina Harley Race (8) March 21, 1984 Wellington, New Zealand Ric Flair (3) March 23, 1984 Kallang, Singapore Kerry Von Erich May 6, 1984 Irving, Texas Ric Flair (4) May 24, 1984 Yokosuka, Japan 9 Dusty Rhodes (3) July 25, 1986 Greensboro, North Carolina Ric Flair (5) August 7, 1986 Saint Louis, Missouri Ronnie Garvin September 25, 1987 Detroit, Michigan Ric Flair (6) November 26, 1987 Chicago, Illinois Ricky Steamboat February 20, 1989 Chicago, Illinois Ric Flair (7) May 7, 1989 Nashville, Tennessee Sting July 7, 1990 Baltimore, Maryland Ric Flair (8) January 11, 1991 East Rutherford, New Jersey Tatsumi Fujinami March 21, 1991 Tokyo, Japan Ric Flair (9) May 19, 1991 Saint Petersburg, Florida 10 Masahiro Chono August 12, 1992 Tokyo, Japan 11 The Great Muta January 4, 1993 Tokyo, Japan Barry Windham February 21, 1993 Ashville, North Carolina Ric Flair (10) July 18, 1993 Biloxi, Mississippi 12 Shane Douglas August 27, 1994 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 13 Chris Candido November 19, 1994 Cherry Hill, New Jersey 14 Dan Severn February 24, 1995 Erlanger, Kentucky Naoya Ogawa March 14, 1999 Yokohama, Japan Gary Steele September 25, 1999 Charlotte North Carolina 15 Naoya Ogawa (2) October 2, 1999 Thomaston, Connecticut 16 Mike Rapada September 19, 2000 Tampa, Florida 17 Sabu November 14, 2000 Tampa, Florida Mike Rapada (2) December 22, 2000 Nashville, Tennessee Steve Corino April 24, 2001 Tampa, Florida 18 Shin’ya Hashimoto December 15, 2001 McKeesport, Pennsylvania 19 Dan Severn (2) March 9, 2002 Tokyo, Japan 20 Ken Shamrock June 19, 2002 Huntsville, Alabama 21 Ron Killings August 7, 2002 Nashville, Tennessee Jeff Jarrett November 20, 2002 Nashville, Tennessee 22 A.J. Styles June 11, 2003 Nashville, Tennessee Jeff Jarrett (2) October 22, 2003 Nashville, Tennessee A.J. Styles (2) April 21, 2004 Nashville, Tennessee 23 Ron Killings (2) May 19, 2004 Nashville, Tennessee 24 Jeff Jarrett (3) June 2, 2004 Nashville, Tennessee 25 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Precious Roy 0 Report post Posted March 30, 2005 The NWA Title, at one point was very prestigious, and it does have an impressive lineage, but titles do get devalued, and if any title has been devalued over the years it's the NWA's belt. From the debacle with WCW, to Shane Douglas throwing the belt down in favor of the newly dubbed Extreme Championship Wrestling Heavyweight Title, to Dan Severn's long and severely low profile reign...the late 20th century was not kind to this belt. And frankly, TNA has been extremely hit and miss in their presentation and booking of the belt. It's apples and oranges compared to the ROH belt, which based on the booking surrounding it and matches dedicated to it, is far and away the better prize. The question in this thread is whether or not the ROH title is "bigger" I'd have to say that while to the casual fan it would not be, as TNA is on tv and has bigger names involved in programs for the belt, but in purist/smart circles the ROH title is clearly the more prestigious belt. It doesn't have to be that way, but the TNA booking has been so abysmal, I don't see how anyone can value that belt right now Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JustJoe2k5 0 Report post Posted March 30, 2005 Don't know where I got Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage from, but it's really irrelevant. You put the NWA World Champion and the RoH World Champion on national television, people are going to think more highly of the man holding the NWA title belt. RoH hasn't done anything to deserve being considered above the NWA World title. Samoa Joe was a great champion but his title reign was pretty ridiculous as they pretty much recycled the same guys over and over again, then had someone out of left field win it from him. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hunter's Torn Quad 0 Report post Posted March 30, 2005 Samoa Joe was a great champion but his title reign was pretty ridiculous as they pretty much recycled the same guys over and over again, then had someone out of left field win it from him. More ridiculous than the NWA Champion using the title as a vanity belt ? Samoa Joe's ROH Title reign did more for the ROH Title within ROH than Jarrett's NWA Title reign did for the NWA Title within TNA, or the NWA for that matter. Historically, yes, the NWA Title means more than that ROH Title, but credibility wise, in the here and now, the ROH Title is far above the NWA Title, because it's been handled in a far better manner. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jingus 0 Report post Posted March 30, 2005 This is kinda like arguing over whether Pearl Harbor was a better movie than Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Yeah, one is obviously higher quality in terms of how well the execution is handled, but then again, the other one made a LOT more money. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mystery Eskimo 0 Report post Posted March 30, 2005 Samoa Joe was a great champion but his title reign was pretty ridiculous as they pretty much recycled the same guys over and over again, then had someone out of left field win it from him. Erm, how is that ridiculous? Joe was dominant, but finally a new guy broke through who could beat him. Should Aries have had 3 title shots first? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JustJoe2k5 0 Report post Posted April 1, 2005 So now that Samoa Joe has beaten C.M. Punk and Homicide numerous times, and Austin Aries should be considered better than Samoa Joe since he beat them. Who is left to challenge Aries? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mystery Eskimo 0 Report post Posted April 1, 2005 There's loads of guys that would be believable in beating Aries. Dragon, Punk, Homicide, Alex Shelley even. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest NateRizzle Report post Posted April 1, 2005 So now that Samoa Joe has beaten C.M. Punk and Homicide numerous times, and Austin Aries should be considered better than Samoa Joe since he beat them. Who is left to challenge Aries? Aries' whole character right now is focused around getting out of Joe's shadow. At this point, kayfabe wise, Aries is below Joe. Joe-Aries III, a rubber match with Punk, Homicide, Shelley, Gibson, Spanky, a rubber match with Danielson, Low Ki would all work as credible title defenses. As far as the original point of the thread, at this point the ROH title is much more credible. ROH doesn't touch the NWA title in its prime though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iggymcfly 0 Report post Posted April 2, 2005 Samoa Joe was a great champion but his title reign was pretty ridiculous as they pretty much recycled the same guys over and over again, then had someone out of left field win it from him. More ridiculous than the NWA Champion using the title as a vanity belt ? Samoa Joe's ROH Title reign did more for the ROH Title within ROH than Jarrett's NWA Title reign did for the NWA Title within TNA, or the NWA for that matter. Historically, yes, the NWA Title means more than that ROH Title, but credibility wise, in the here and now, the ROH Title is far above the NWA Title, because it's been handled in a far better manner. What the hell is this vanity belt shit supposed to mean? Jarrett's the most recognizable name in TNA that's still in good physical condition, and can wrestle a full schedule, so he spends the lion's share of the time with the belt, but it's not like no one else has has possession of it. Samoa Joe spent a longer time with the ROH title than Jarrett did with the NWA belt. Is it just that Jarrett's time was split up into multiple reigns? I actually think that it's more logical to do it that way, because that just means that you're the best wrestler, but you can still lose. If you ask me, it's a lot more realistic to do it that way than it is to be undefeatable for a year and a half, and then suddenly be unable to win the title, while someone else is undefeatable. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hunter's Torn Quad 0 Report post Posted April 2, 2005 Go and read some of the threads in the TNA Forum, and you'll find a number of people point out that the NWA Title is a vanity belt for Jeff Jarrett, and why it's been allowed to become so. Things get clearly explained, so you should be able to understand. And if you actually paid attention to ROH, you would know that Samoa Joe was not unbeatable during his title reign. He lost many non-title matches, where the guy who pinned him would actually get put over, to set up title matches. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mystery Eskimo 0 Report post Posted April 2, 2005 It's that Jarret has kept the belt on himself when he's had minimal heat and average at best matches. I can't think of a single Joe bad title match. Maybe Trent Acid, but then you have to take injury into account. Joe could have carried the ROH title another 6 months and still sold tapes and tickets for his title matches. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
