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  • 21 Aug, 2019

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NWA World Middleweight Championship
The NWA World Middleweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) between 1939 and 2010. For most of its existence, it was defended in the Mexican lucha libre promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), who called it the Campeonato Mundial Peso Medio de NWA. As it is a professional wrestling championship, its holders were determined by promoters or promotions, not by athletic competition. The official middleweight limits in lucha libre are 82 kg (181 lb) to 87 kg (192 lb), but this rule is broken when convenient.

The championship was created as the "World Middleweight Championship" in early 1939, by Salvador Lutteroth, owner of Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (EMLL). He awarded it to Gus Kallio, a five-time National Wrestling Association World Middleweight Champion, nicknamed "The King of the Middleweights" in the United States. When Octavio Gaona defeated Kallio on March 29, 1939, he won both middleweight championships. The National Wrestling Association title was retired in 1940, to give prominence to Lutteroth's creation. When EMLL joined the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) in 1952, the belt was prefixed with "NWA".

In the late 1980s, EMLL withdrew from the NWA and in the early 1990s changed its name to Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). CMLL retained ownership of three NWA-branded championships which originated in the promotion. The other two were the NWA World Welterweight Championship and the NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship. All continued to be billed as "Campeonatos de NWA". In 1994, Último Dragón bought the NWA World Middleweight Championship and its booking rights from CMLL. He chose to make himself first champion, and won it in a match with Corazón de León at a Wrestle and Romance (WAR) show on November 8, 1994, in Korakuen Hall. At that point he began promoting the title exclusively in Japan, holding it himself until vacating it in 1998. During his run with the championship Último Dragón also won the J-Crown championships, eight unified lightweight championships, but the NWA World Middleweight Championship was never integrated into the J-Crown. In 2003, after ending The Great Sasuke's long reign, Dragón signed with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and returned the championship to CMLL who he worked with off and on until that point. Averno defeated Zumbido to win the vacant title in its first CMLL match since 1994.

In March 2010, Blue Demon Jr., the president of NWA Mexico the local representative of the National Wrestling Alliance, demanded that CMLL (a non-member of NWA Mexico) cease promoting the NWA-branded championships, declaring that all three championships had been vacated as far as the NWA was concerned. NWA Mexico had already tried to reclaim CMLL's three NWA-branded titles on a previous occasion. CMLL ignored both requests; the NWA Welterweight Champion, Mephisto, commented instead that "the titles belong to CMLL", thus the NWA could not vacate them. On August 12, 2010, CMLL unveiled the new NWA World Historic Middleweight Championship to replace the original championship, which it conceded to NWA Mexico.

Since 1939 45 wrestlers have shared 84 NWA Middleweight Championship reigns. René Guajardo held the championship a record six times. Tarzán López' four reigns totalled 2,948 days, the longest of any champion. The Great Sasuke had the longest single reign, at 1,548 days. Emilio Charles, Jr. had the shortest reign at 11 days.

Title history

Key
No. Overall reign number
Reign Reign number for the specific champion
Days Number of days held
N/A Unknown information
(NLT) Championship change took place "no later than" the date listed
† Championship change is unrecognized by the promotion
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign Days
Empresa Mexicana de la Lucha Libre (EMLL)
1 Gus Kallio N/A Live event N/A 1 Gus Kallio was awarded the championship in late 1938 or early 1939 due to the fact that he already held the World Middleweight Championship in the United States.
2 Octavio Gaona February 19, 1939 Live event Mexico City 1 350 Octavio Gaona won the championship to permanently establish it as an EMLL title. He also won Kallio's other World Middleweight Championship.
3 Tarzán López February 4, 1940 Live event Mexico City 1 681 López won both versions of the World Middleweight Championship. After this title change only the Mexican version remained active.
4 Black Guzmán December 16, 1941 Live event Mexico City 1 57  
5 Tarzán López February 11, 1942 Live event Mexico City 2 1,473  
6 Gory Guerrero February 23, 1946 Live event Mexico City 1 782  
7 Mike Kelly April 12, 1948 Live event Mexico City 1 411  
8 Tarzán López May 28, 1949 Live event N/A 3 481  
9 Sugi Sito September 21, 1950 EMLL 17th Anniversary Show Mexico City 1 368  
10 Enrique Llanes September 24, 1951 EMLL 18th Anniversary Show Mexico City 1 132  
— Vacated February 3, 1952 — — — — EMLL vacated the championship for undocumented reasons.
11 Tarzán López July 13, 1952 Live event Mexico City 4 342 Tarzán López won a tournament to win the vacant title.
National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) / Empresa Mexicana de la Lucha Libre (EMLL)
12 Sugi Sito June 20, 1953 Live event Mexico City 2 195  
13 Santo January 1, 1954 Live event Mexico City 1 1,021  
14 Rolando Vera October 19, 1956 Live event Monterrey, Nuevo León 1 1,455  
15 René Guajardo October 13, 1960 Live event Monterrey, Nuevo León 1 415  
16 Antonio Posa December 2, 1961 Live event Mexico City 1 140  
17 René Guajardo April 18, 1962 Live event Mexico City 2 190  
18 Rayo de Jalisco October 25, 1962 Live event Mexico City 1 583  
19 Benny Galant May 30, 1964 Live event Mexico City 1 118  
20 Rayo de Jalisco September 25, 1964 EMLL 31st Anniversary Show Mexico City 2 196  
21 René Guajardo April 9, 1965 Live event Mexico City 3 400  
22 Jerry London May 14, 1966 Live event Mexico City 1 48  
23 René Guajardo July 1, 1966 Live event Monterrey, Nuevo León 4 253  
24 Ray Mendoza March 10, 1967 Live event Mexico City 1  
— Vacated May 1967 — — — — EMLL vacated the championship for undocumented reasons.
25 René Guajardo July 29, 1967 Live event N/A 5 629 Guajardo won a decision match for the vacant title.
26 El Santo December 13, 1968 Super Viernes Mexico City 2 133  
26 Rayo de Jalisco April 18, 1969 13. Aniversario de Arena México Mexico City 3 119  
27 El Solitario August 15, 1969 EMLL 36th Anniversary Show Mexico City 1 378  
28 Mashio Koma June 28, 1970 Live event Mexico City 1 161  
29 Aníbal December 6, 1970 Live event Mexico City 1 845  
30 René Guajardo March 30, 1973 Live event Mexico City 6  
— Vacated 1974 — — — — EMLL vacated the championship for undocumented reasons.
31 Aníbal September 20, 1974 EMLL 41st Anniversary Show Mexico City 2 Aníbal defeated El Cobarde in a decision match to win the title.
— Vacated May 1975 — — — — The championship was vacated when Aníbal left EMLL to work for the Universal Wrestling Association.
32 Perro Aguayo July 4, 1975 Live event Mexico City 1 476 Perro Aguayo won a tournament to claim the vacant championship.
33 El Faraón October 22, 1976 Live event Mexico City 1 140  
34 Perro Aguayo March 11, 1977 Live event Mexico City 2 114  
35 Ringo Mendoza July 3, 1977 Live event Guadalajara, Jalisco 1 101  
36 Joe Plardy October 12, 1977 Live event Acapulco, Guerrero 1 44  
37 El Faraón November 25, 1977 Live event Mexico City 2 84  
38 Ringo Mendoza February 17, 1978 Live event Los Angeles, California 2 51  
39 Perro Aguayo April 9, 1978 Live event Guadalajara, Jalisco 3 75  
40 Ringo Mendoza June 23, 1978 Live event Mexico City 3 51  
41 Tony Salazar August 13, 1978 Live event Mexico City 1 174  
42 Ringo Mendoza February 3, 1979 Live event Acapulco, Guerrero 4 218  
43 Satoru Sayama September 9, 1979 Live event Guadalajara, Jalisco 1 201  
44 El Satánico March 28, 1980 Live event Mexico City 1 20  
45 Cachorro Mendoza April 17, 1980 Live event Monterrey, Nuevo León 1 59  
46 Sangre Chicana June 15, 1980 Live event Monterrey, Nuevo León 1 217  
47 Tony Salazar January 18, 1981 Live event Monterrey, Nuevo León 1 54  
48 Sangre Chicana March 13, 1981 Live event Mexico City 2 21  
49 Ringo Mendoza April 3, 1981 Live event Mexico City 5 240  
50 El Faraón November 29, 1981 Live event Guadalajara, Jalisco 3 124  
51 César Curiel April 2, 1982 Live event Mexico City 1 206  
52 El Satánico October 25, 1982 Live event Mexico City 2 0  
53 El Jalisco October 25, 1982 Live event Guadalajara, Jalisco 1 139  
54 El Satánico March 13, 1983 Live event N/A 3 82  
55 Lizmark June 3, 1983 Live event Mexico City 1 182  
56 El Satánico December 2, 1983 Live event Mexico City 4 250  
57 Gran Cochisse August 8, 1984 Live event Mexico City 1 37  
58 El Satánico September 14, 1984 Live event Mexico City 5 16  
59 Gran Cochisse September 30, 1984 Live event Guadalajara, Jalisco 2 49  
60 Gran Hamada November 18, 1984 Live event Mexico City 1 138  
61 La Fiera April 5, 1985 Live event Mexico City 1 106  
62 Chamaco Valaguez July 20, 1985 Live event Puebla, Puebla 1 302  
63 Gran Cochisse May 18, 1986 Live event N/A 3 152  
64 Kung Fu October 17, 1986 Live event Mexico City 1 273  
Empresa Mexicana de la Lucha Libre (EMLL)
65 El Dandy July 17, 1987 Live event Mexico City 1 81  
66 Kung Fu October 6, 1987 Live event Mexico City 2 248  
67 Atlantis June 10, 1988 Live event Mexico City 1 37  
68 Emilio Charles Jr. July 17, 1988 Live event Mexico City 1 11  
69 Atlantis July 28, 1988 Live event Mexico City 2 15  
70 Emilio Charles Jr. August 12, 1988 Live event Mexico City 2 259  
71 Ángel Azteca April 28, 1989 Live event Mexico City 1 399  
72 El Dandy June 1, 1990 Live event Mexico City 2 61  
73 Atlantis August 1, 1990 Live event Acapulco, Guerrero 3 945  
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL)
74 Mano Negra March 3, 1993 Live event Acapulco, Guerrero 1 81  
75 Oro May 23, 1993 Live event N/A 1 41  
76 Mano Negra July 3, 1993 Live event Puebla, Puebla 2 155  
77 Corazón de León December 4, 1993 Live event Mexico City 1 339  
78 Último Dragón November 8, 1994 WAR WAR-ISM 1994 Tokyo, Japan 1 Match promoted by WAR. Último Dragón stops defending the title around 1997.
— Vacated 1998 — — — — Último Dragón was forced to vacate the championship due to an arm injury.
79 The Great Sasuke February 7, 1999 Toryumon King of Dragon 1999 Yokohama, Japan 1 1,546 Great Sasuke defeated Tokyo Magnum in tournament final to win the championship.
80 Último Dragón May 3, 2003 Live event Sendai, Miyagi, Japan 2  
— Vacated May 2003 — — — — The championship was vacated when Último Dragon began to work for World Wrestling Entertainment.
81 Averno September 3, 2004 Live event Mexico City 1 120 Averno defeated Zumbido in a decision match for the vacant championship.
82 Místico January 1, 2005 Super Viernes Mexico City 1 496  
83 Black Warrior May 12, 2006 Super Viernes Mexico City 1 474  
84 Místico April 29, 2007 N/A Mexico City 2 215  
85 Averno November 30, 2007 Super Viernes Mexico City 2 986 CMLL replaced the championship with the NWA World Historic Middleweight Championship on August 12, 2010.
— Deactivated August 12, 2010 — — — — The championship was retired when CMLL returned it to NWA.

Reigns by combined length

A color photograph of a Japanese man in a black mask with a white front and red and blue markings pointing at the camera
The Great Sasuke, who had the longest individual reign of any NWA World Middleweight Champion.
A color photograph of a Japanese wrestler wearing a light blue mask, cape and trunks posing on a turnbuckle with his hands in the air
Último Dragón, brought the championship to Japan
A color photograph of a Caucasian wrestler smiling as he leans back against the ropes.
Chris Jericho, as Corazón de León, lost the championship in Japan to signal the transition from CMLL's control.
Key
Symbol Meaning
¤ The exact length of at least one title reign is uncertain, so the shortest possible length is used.
Rank Wrestler No. of reigns Combined
days 		Ref(s).
1 Tarzán López 4 2,977
2 René Guajardo 6 1,937¤
3 Great Sasuke 1 1,487
4 Rolando Vera 1 1,455
5 Último Dragón 2 1,177¤
6 Aníbal 2 1,122¤
7 Averno 2 1,106
8 El Santo 2 1,021
9 Atlantis 3 997
10 Rayo de Jalisco 3 898
11 Gory Guerrero 1 782
12 Místico 2 711
13 Perro Aguayo 3 665
14 Ringo Mendoza 5 662
15 Sugi Sito 2 564
16 Kung Fu 2 521
17 Black Warrior 1 474
18 Mike Kelly 1 411
19 Ángel Azteca 1 400
20 El Satánico 5 388
21 El Solitario 1 378
22 Octavio Gaona 1 350
23 El Faraón 3 348
24 Corazón de León 1 339
25 Chamaco Valaguez 1 302
26 Emilio Charles Jr. 2 270
27 Gran Cochisse 3 238
28 Sangre Chicana 2 237
29 Mano Negra 2 236
30 Tony Salazar 2 228
31 César Curiel 1 206
32 Satoru Sayama 1 201
33 Lizmark 1 182
34 Mashio Koma 1 161
35 El Dandy 2 141
36 Antonio Posa 1 140
37 El Jalisco 1 139
38 Gran Hamada 1 138
39 Enrique Llanes 1 132
40 Benny Galant 1 118
41 La Fiera 1 106
42 Cachorro Mendoza 1 59
43 Black Guzmán 1 57
44 Ray Mendoza 1 51¤
45 Jerry London 1 48
46 Joe Plardy 1 44
47 Oro 1 41
48 Gus Kallio 1 ¤

Footnotes

  1. ^ The official weight of some of the champions have not been documented, making it possible that there was a heavier champion
  2. ^ The official weight of some of the champions have not been documented, making it possible that there was a lighter champion
  3. ^ One example of the weight limits being ignored was El Satánico holding the title, despite weighing 97 kg (214 lb).
  4. ^ The length of Gus Kallio's title reign is too uncertain to calculate.
  5. ^ The exact date on which Ray Mendoza vacated the championship is unknown, which means the title reign lasted between 51 and 81 days.
  6. ^ The exact date on which René Guajardo vacated the championship during his sixth reign is unknown, which means the title reign lasted between 277 and 538 days.
  7. ^ The exact date on which Aníbal vacated the championship during his second reign is unknown, which means the title reign lasted between 223 and 253 days.
  8. ^ The exact date on which Último Dragon vacated the championship during his first reign is unknown, which means the title reign lasted between 1,150 and 1,514 days.
  9. ^ The exact date on which Último Dragon vacated the championship during his second reign is unknown, which means the title reign lasted between 1 and 28 days.

See also