The World Heavyweight Championship was 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...

 sanctioned by a group of 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) promoters led by the NWA affiliate in Omaha, Nebraska

Omaha, Nebraska

Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...

. These promoters chose to recognize Édouard Carpentier

Édouard Carpentier

Édouard Ignacz Weiczorkiewicz was a Québécois professional wrestler better known by his ring name Édouard Carpentier. In a career that spanned from the 1950s into the 1970s, he garnered several world championships.-Early life:...

 as world heavyweight champion following his disputed win over NWA World Heavyweight Champion

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...

 Lou Thesz

Lou Thesz

Aloysius Martin "Lou" Thesz was a United States professional wrestler and 18-time world heavyweight champion, most notably holding the NWA World Heavyweight Championship three times. Combined, he held the NWA Championship for 10 years, three months and nine days , longer than anyone else in history...

 on June 14, 1957. The majority of NWA promoters continued to recognize Thesz as their champion.

It was often contested alongside the AWA World Heavyweight Championship

AWA World Heavyweight Championship

The American Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship and the highest ranked championship in the defunct American Wrestling Association. All AWA trademarks, including the AWA World Heavyweight Championship, are now owned by WWE...

, and the two titles were finally unified when AWA champion Verne Gagne

Verne Gagne

Laverne Clarence "Verne" Gagne , is a retired American professional wrestler, football player, and professional wrestling trainer and promoter. He was the former owner/promoter of the American Wrestling Association , based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which was the predominant promotion throughout...

 defeated Omaha champion Fritz Von Erich

Fritz Von Erich

Jack Barton Adkisson was an American professional wrestler under the ring name Fritz Von Erich, better known today as a wrestling promoter and the patriarch of the Von Erich family...

 on September 7, 1963.

Title history

Wrestler:	Times:	Date:	Location:	Notes:
Édouard Carpentier Édouard Carpentier Édouard Ignacz Weiczorkiewicz was a Québécois professional wrestler better known by his ring name Édouard Carpentier. In a career that spanned from the 1950s into the 1970s, he garnered several world championships.-Early life:...	1	June 14, 1957	Chicago, Illinois
Verne Gagne Verne Gagne Laverne Clarence "Verne" Gagne , is a retired American professional wrestler, football player, and professional wrestling trainer and promoter. He was the former owner/promoter of the American Wrestling Association , based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which was the predominant promotion throughout...	1	August 9, 1958	Omaha, Nebraska Omaha, Nebraska Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
Wilbur Snyder Wilbur Snyder Wilbur Snyder was an American football player and professional wrestler.-Wrestling career:Snyder's wrestling debut occurred during the 1953 offseason. He was trained by Sandor Szabo and Warren Bockwinkel in Southern California. In 1954, Snyder retired from football completely to pursue a full-time...	1	November 15, 1958	Omaha, Nebraska
Dick the Bruiser William Afflis William Fritz Afflis , best known as Dick the Bruiser, was an American football player and professional wrestler.-Early life:...	1
Wilbur Snyder	2	July 25, 1959	Omaha, Nebraska
Dr. X Bill Miller (wrestler) William M. Miller , better known as Dr. Bill Miller or Mr. M, was a former professional wrestler. He is a one time American Wrestling Association World champion and also wrestled in the National Wrestling Alliance, the World Wrestling Association in Indianapolis and the World Wide Wrestling...	1	October 3, 1959	Omaha, Nebraska
Don Leo Jonathan Don Leo Jonathan Don Heaton , also known as Don Leo Jonathan, is an American former professional wrestler.-Professional wrestling career:...	1	January 7, 1961	Omaha, Nebraska
Dr. X	2	February 4, 1961	Omaha, Nebraska
Don Leo Jonathan	2	April 3, 1961	Omaha, Nebraska
Vacated		1961
Don Leo Jonathan	3	May 20, 1961	Omaha, Nebraska
Verne Gagne	2	September 16, 1961	Omaha, Nebraska
Fritz Von Erich Fritz Von Erich Jack Barton Adkisson was an American professional wrestler under the ring name Fritz Von Erich, better known today as a wrestling promoter and the patriarch of the Von Erich family...	1	July 31, 1962	Omaha, Nebraska
Verne Gagne	3	August 25, 1962	Omaha, Nebraska
The Crusher Reginald Lisowski Reginald Lisowski was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, The Crusher ....	1	February 15, 1963	Omaha, Nebraska
Verne Gagne	4	July 20, 1963	Minneapolis, Minnesota
Fritz Von Erich	2	July 27, 1963	Omaha, Nebraska
Verne Gagne	5	September 7, 1963	Omaha, Nebraska
Title retired		September 7, 1963	Omaha, Nebraska