UPDATED! NWA PRESIDENTS

The NWA Champions During the Mid-Atlantic Period (1973 - 1986)

Top: Jack Brisco, Terry Funk, and Harley Race. Middle: Giant Baba and Dusty Rhodes.

Bottom: Tommy Rich, Ric Flair, and Kerry Von Erich

These eight men were all NWA World Champions during the Mid-Atlantic years (the period of time Jim Crockett Promotions named their programs and events "Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling.") Ironically, these years coincided exactly with the life of the "domed-globe" version of the NWA world championship belt: 1973-1986.

These were the only eight men to hold the domed globe version of the NWA belt for the territorial NWA, which existed from 1948 until 1986. In 1986, NWA member Jim Crockett, Jr. effectively took control of booking the NWA champion, awarding the new "big gold" version of the title to Ric Flair in February of that year. The territorial system had basically died, eventually replaced by two major companies, Crockett's NWA and the WWF, both of which were now promoting nationally.

The modern day NWA (as opposed to the territorial NWA) resurfaced when the remaining members of the old NWA board (and some additional new members as well) reclaimed control of the title which Ric Flair had tried to take with him to the WWF in 1991. The title was dormant until 1992, when Bill Watts and WCW, as members of the NWA, brought it back, represented by the big gold version of the belt.

In 1993, WCW withdrew from the NWA, but retained ownership of the big gold belt. The remaining board members of the NWA, now made up of small independent promoters, brought back the likeness of the original domed-globe design and the title was re-established in ECW in 1994, received national exposure again in the mid-2000s in TNA, and continues to exist on much smaller scale today.

Eventually on the Gateway, we will present a special section devoted to the title reigns of the eight men above who held the domed-globe version of the NWA title during the territorial NWA, including photographs and title statistics.

Notes: Despite holding the title well into 1973, Dory Funk Jr. is not included in the list of men to hold the NWA World title during the Mid-Atlantic Period (1973-1986) since that period began in September of 1973 when the Eastern title was renamed the Mid-Atlantic title and a new belt awarded. Dory lost the NWA title to Harley Race in May 1973.

Jack Veneno and Carlos Colon are not recognized as NWA champions in this list as they were not recognized as NWA champions at the time. Matches and finishes indeed took place, hands were raised, but Colon and Veneno's WWC in Puerto Rico basically went into business for themselves and those switches were not recognized by the NWA board or the majority of its member promoters at that time. Recognition of those changes came many years later, well after the territorial NWA had ceased to exist.

The Race/Flair switches in New Zealand and Singapore in March 1984 are not recognized in this list. The NWA did not officially recognize these title changes at the time, and although they are officially recognized by the NWA today (as well as by Flair and Race themselves), we will present the NWA title history as it was presented at the time as opposed to a history that has been revised years later by those now in control of the modern day NWA. An interesting discussion took place about this on the Fanfest discussion forum. The legacy and heritage of the NWA title are not served well by history revisionists in the modern day NWA and elsewhere who arbitrarily now recognize these changes. We welcome your opinions and input on this matter at midatlanticgateway@gmail.com

NWA TITLE HISTORY DURING THE MID-ATLANTIC YEARS:

THE MEN WHO WORE THE DOMED-GLOBE VERSION OF THE NWA WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE

* While Jack Brisco is remembered as the first NWA champion to wear the domed-globe version of the belt, it was actually Harley Race. Race was presented the new domed-globe version of the title belt by NWA President Sam Muchnick in the ring moments before his title defense against Jack Brisco on 7/20/73 in Houston. Race is technically the first person to wear and defend that version of the belt, though losing it less than an hour later to Brisco that night.

NWA PRESIDENTS DURING THE MID-ATLANTIC PERIOD 1973-1986

Sam Muchnick (1963-1975), Jack Adkisson (1975-1976), Eddie Graham (1976-1978)

Bob Geigel (1978-1980, 1982-1985, 1986-1987), Jim Crockett, Jr. (1980-1982, 1985-1986)

Special Feature: Sam Muchnick Address to a Special Meeting of the NWA in 1953 (Legacy of Wrestling)

Thanks to Eric Melniczek, Steve Hall, Carroll Hall, and Scott Teal with this feature.

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