TNA World Heavyweight Championship
Encyclopedia
The TNA World Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...

 world heavyweight championship
Championship (professional wrestling)
A Championship or "title" in professional wrestling is a recognition promoted by professional wrestling organizations.Championship reigns are determined by professional wrestling matches, in which competitors are involved in scripted rivalries...

 owned by the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling is a privately held professional wrestling promotion founded by Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Jarrett. The company broadcasts its events on television and the Internet fifty two weeks a year with over a million weekly viewers on its primary television program, Impact...

 (TNA) promotion
Professional wrestling promotion
A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling. Promotion also describes a role which entails management, advertising and logistics of running a wrestling event...

. It is currently the highest ranked championship in TNA and is primarily defended in TNA's heavyweight division. It was unveiled on May 14, 2007 at the taping of TNA's primary television program, TNA Impact!
TNA iMPACT!
Impact Wrestling is a professional wrestling television program for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling that currently airs in the United States and Canada on Spike...

; this episode of Impact! did not air until May 17, 2007. The inaugural champion was Kurt Angle
Kurt Angle
Kurt Steven Angle is an American professional wrestler, amateur wrestler, and 1996 Olympic gold medalist. He is currently under contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he is recognized as a 15-time World Heavyweight Champion...

.

Like most professional wrestling championships, the title is won via the result of a scripted match. Before the TNA World Heavyweight Championship was created, TNA held control over the NWA World Heavyweight Championship
NWA World Heavyweight Championship
The National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in the National Wrestling Alliance. Its lineage has been traced from the first World Heavyweight Championship, which traces its lineage to Georg Hackenschmidt's 1905 title and...

 due to an agreement between TNA and the National Wrestling Alliance
National Wrestling Alliance
The National Wrestling Alliance is a wrestling promotion company and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...

 (NWA), the organization which owned the NWA Championship. In 2007, the agreement between TNA and the NWA ended, leading to the creation of the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. There have been a total of 19 reigns among ten different wrestlers. Bobby Roode is the current champion in his first reign.

History

The Total Nonstop Action Wrestling promotion formed in May 2002. Later that same year TNA was granted control over the NWA World Heavyweight and World Tag Team Championships
NWA World Tag Team Championship
The National Wrestling Alliance World Tag Team Championship is the professional wrestling world tag team championship within the NWA framework.-History:...

 by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) governing body; subsequently becoming an official NWA territory as NWA–TNA. On June 19, 2002, NWA–TNA held its first show; a weekly pay-per-view (PPV) event. The main event of the telecast was a twenty–man Gauntlet for the Gold
Gauntlet for the Gold
The Gauntlet match as defined by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, is a battle royal-style match. When it involves title implications, such as a title on the line or contendership for a title, it is called a Gauntlet for the Gold...

 match—involves all twenty men trying to throw each other over the top rope and down to the floor in order to eliminate them, until there are two men left who wrestle a standard match—to become the first ever TNA–era NWA World Heavyweight Champion. Ken Shamrock
Ken Shamrock
Kenneth Wayne Shamrock is an American mixed martial arts fighter, UFC Hall of Famer and professional wrestler...

 defeated Malice
Jerry Tuite
Jerry Tuite was an American professional wrestler best known by his ring names, The Wall in World Championship Wrestling and Malice while performing for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.-Career:...

 to win the vacant championship with Ricky Steamboat
Ricky Steamboat
Richard Henry Blood , better known by his ring name Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, is a retired American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE working as a road agent. He was one of the few wrestlers who stayed a babyface throughout his career...

 as Special Guest Referee at the event.

Creation

The NWA World Heavyweight and World Tag Team Championships were contested for in TNA until the morning of May 13, 2007. On that day, NWA's Executive Director Robert Trobich announced that the NWA were ending their five–year agreement with TNA, which had allowed them full control over both titles. Trobich went on to state that effective that morning, then-NWA World Heavyweight Champion Christian Cage
Jason Reso
William Jason Reso is a Canadian professional wrestler and actor, better known by his ring names Christian and Christian Cage...

 and the Team 3D
Dudley Boyz
Team 3D was a professional wrestling tag team, consisting of Brother Ray and Brother Devon, formerly sporadically joined into a stable by Brother Runt on several intervals...

 pairing of Brother Ray and Brother Devon, then-NWA World Tag Team Champions, were stripped of their respective championships. The alleged motivation behind these actions was because Cage refused to defend the NWA World Heavyweight Championship against wrestlers from NWA territories. That same day, TNA were scheduled to produce their Sacrifice 2007 PPV event, in which both Cage and Team 3D were to defend their respective championships. On the card
Card (sports)
In sports, a card comprises a listing of the matches taking place in a title-match combat-sport event. Organizers divide overall cards into a main-event match and the undercard, which encompasses the rest of the matches. One can also further subdivide the undercard into midcard and lower card,...

, Cage was scheduled to defend the NWA World Heavyweight Championship against Kurt Angle
Kurt Angle
Kurt Steven Angle is an American professional wrestler, amateur wrestler, and 1996 Olympic gold medalist. He is currently under contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he is recognized as a 15-time World Heavyweight Champion...

 and Sting
Sting (wrestler)
Steven James "Steve" Borden , better known by his ring name Sting, is an American semi-retired professional wrestler, currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling...

 in a match involving three competitors, also known as a Three Way match.

That night before, the onscreen graphic used to refer to the champions and their respective championships credited both Cage and Team 3D as still being NWA Champions. However, the ring announcer
Ring announcer
A ring announcer is a paid in-ring employee for a boxing, professional wrestling, or mixed martial arts event or promotion...

s for the encounters proclaimed the matches as being strictly for the "World Heavyweight Championship" or the "World Tag Team Championship". Angle defeated Cage and Sting to win the "World Heavyweight Championship".

TNA held a set of tapings for the next two episodes of TNA Impact! on May 14, with the episodes set to air on tape delay
Broadcast delay
In radio and television, broadcast delay refers to the practice of intentionally delaying broadcast of live material. A short delay is often used to prevent profanity, bloopers, violence, or other undesirable material from making it to air, including more mundane problems such as technical...

 on May 17 and May 24, 2007. At the first taping, Angle came to the ring with the new TNA World Heavyweight Championship belt and announced that he was the "new TNA World Heavyweight Champion". TNA commentator Mike Tenay
Mike Tenay
Michael William "Mike" Tenay is a professional wrestling play-by-play announcer currently employed by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling . Prior to signing with TNA in 2002, he had a notable tenure with World Championship Wrestling from 1994-2001...

 announced when Angle made his way to the ring that Management Director Jim Cornette
Jim Cornette
James Mark "Jim" Cornette is an American professional wrestling manager, commentator, promoter, and booker. As a manager, he has worked for Jim Crockett Promotions, World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Federation and from 1991 to 1995, was the owner of Smoky Mountain Wrestling...

, TNA's on-screen authority figure at the time, "made the decision that due to TNA's growing worldwide exposure, the company needed to have its own TNA title belts"; there–by not acknowledging the NWA ending their agreement with TNA and giving a storyline explanation as to why the championship was created. Later on during the broadcast, Cornette stripped Angle of the TNA World Heavyweight Championship due to a controversial finish to the match at Sacrifice. Cornette then announced the championship would be contested for at TNA's Slammiversary
Slammiversary (2007)
Slammiversary was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, which took place on June 17, 2007 at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. It was the third event under the Slammiversary chronology and marked the fifth anniversary of...

 PPV event on June 17, 2007 in a King of the Mountain match
King of the Mountain match
The King of the Mountain match is a professional wrestling match exclusive to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling . It consists of five competitors competing for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship or the TNA X Division Championship as of Slammiversary 2009...

—a match which involves five participants racing to gain a pinfall or submission to become eligible to hang a championship belt to win. On May 15, 2007 Jeremy Borash
Jeremy Borash
Jeremy Borash , is an American professional wrestling play-by-play commentator, announcer, ring announcer, booker, interviewer, producer and website designer...

 unveiled the TNA World Heavyweight Championship belt on that day's edition of TNA's online podcast
Podcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...

 TNA Today
TNA Today
TNA Today was a free online professional wrestling program produced by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling . It is hosted by TNA interviewer Jeremy Borash, with occasional appearances by Don West...

.

Championship tournament

The five participants for the King of the Mountain match were determined in a series of standard wrestling matches that took place on Impact! leading up to the event; a small single-elimination tournament
Single-elimination tournament
A single-elimination tournament, also called a knockout, cup or sudden death tournament, is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match or bracket is immediately eliminated from winning the championship or first prize in the event...

. Angle defeated Rhino
Terry Gerin
Terrance "Terry" Gerin is an American professional wrestler and actor, better known by the ring name Rhino . He is best known for his career in Extreme Championship Wrestling, World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling...

 in the first bout to gain entry on the May 17 episode of Impact!. On May 24 episode of Impact!, Samoa Joe
Samoa Joe
Nuufolau Joel "Joe" Seanoa is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Samoa Joe. He is currently under contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling....

 defeated Sting to become the second participant. The third qualification match was held on the May 31 episode of Impact! between A.J. Styles
A.J. Styles
Allen Neal Jones , better known by his ring name A.J. Styles is an American professional wrestler currently working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling...

 and Tomko, which Styles won. The next bout pitted Chris Harris
Chris Harris (wrestler)
Christopher Eric "Chris" Harris is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he was formerly one-half of the tag team America's Most Wanted along with partner & Former TNA World Heavyweight Champion James Storm.-World Championship...

 against James Storm
James Storm
James Allen Cox is an American professional wrestler who competes under the ring name "The Cowboy" James Storm. Since 2002, Storm has been employed by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he, along with A.J...

 on the June 7 episode Impact!, which ended in a double disqualification; neither man advanced to the King of the Mountain match. The final qualification match was won by Christian Cage over Abyss on the June 14 episode of Impact!. Angle ended up winning the King of the Mountain match at Slammiversary over Joe, Cage, Styles, and Harris, who was a mystery participant chosen by Cornette, to become the "undisputed TNA World Heavyweight Champion". Angle's first reign is no longer recognized by TNA according to their official title history as of September 2008.

Belt design

During the championship's four year history, it has had three designs. The original belt, unveiled in May 2007, begins with a leather strap that is covered with four small plates that has an imprint of a globe centered in the middle with TNA's official logo at the top and bottom of each. The center plate of the belt has an imprint of an eagle
Eagle
Eagles are members of the bird family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera which are not necessarily closely related to each other. Most of the more than 60 species occur in Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just two species can be found in the United States and Canada, nine more in...

 with its wings extended, seeming ready for flight. The word "World" is placed above the eagle's head on a ribbon. The ribbon is wrapped around the bird's wings and body. Five stars are engraved on the ribbon when it passes over each of the bird's wings and the word "Champion" as it passes over the bird's talons. The words "Heavyweight Wrestling" is printed across the bird's chest. At the top of the center plate, is TNA's logo. At each end of the belt is a small plate that covers the belt snaps with TNA's logo engraved on each.

At the November 8, 2010, tapings of the November 11 edition of Impact!, TNA introduced a new purple design for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship belt, which the champion Jeff Hardy
Jeff Hardy
Jeffrey Nero "Jeff" Hardy is an American professional wrestler, who is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , where he is a former two–time TNA World Heavyweight Champion...

 dubbed the "Immortal
Immortal (professional wrestling)
Immortal is a villainous professional wrestling alliance in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling . It currently consists of Eric Bischoff, Bully Ray, Gunner, TNA founder and AAA World Heavyweight Champion Jeff Jarrett, his wife and valet Karen Jarrett, Kurt Angle, Ric Flair and Scott Steiner...

 championship". The new design consisted of a silver center plate with a masked head design engraved, the TNA logo on the forehead and blue lines along the mask. There are four irregular dodecagonal side plates on the belt, shaped like stars with rounded edges on two of the sides of these plates.

The Immortal belt was replaced by a new design at the March 14, 2011, tapings of the March 17 edition of Impact!, introduced by the reigning champion at the time, Sting. The new design features eight gold plates over a black leather strap. The largest plate is the center plate with faux diamonds aligned along its multiple rounded edges. Over the center plate is a large TNA Wrestling logo and below it the words "Heavyweight Champion" are engraved. On each side of the center plate is a group of three smaller plates, one with a TNA logo engraved while the other two feature separate corresponding halfs of a globe. The eighth similarly designed plate is nearest to the tip on one end of the strap.

Reigns

The inaugural champion was Kurt Angle, who won the championship by defeating Christian Cage and Sting in a Three Way match on May 13, 2007 at TNA's Sacrifice event. TNA however recognizes Angle becoming the inaugural champion after he defeated Samoa Joe, Chris Harris, Christian Cage, and A.J. Styles in a King of the Mountain match on June 17, 2007 at TNA's Slammiversary 2007 event. At 211 days, Styles' first reign is the longest in the title's history. Angle's first reign holds the record for shortest reign in the title's history at 1 day. Angle also holds record for most reigns, with five, however TNA only recognizes four of them. Bobby Roode is the current champion in his first reign. He defeated James Storm on October 26, 2011 at the tapings of the November 3 edition of Impact Wrestling. Overall, there have been 19 reigns among ten different wrestlers.

See also

  • NWA World Heavyweight Championship
    NWA World Heavyweight Championship
    The National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in the National Wrestling Alliance. Its lineage has been traced from the first World Heavyweight Championship, which traces its lineage to Georg Hackenschmidt's 1905 title and...

  • List of NWA World Heavyweight Champions
  • History of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

External links

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