WWF North American Heavyweight Championship

Not to be confused with NXT North American Championship or NXT Women's North American Championship.
WWF North American Heavyweight Championship
The North American Heavyweight Championship belt.
Details
PromotionWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF)
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW)
Date establishedFebruary 13, 1979
Date retiredApril 23, 1981
Other name(s)
  • WWWF North American Heavyweight Championship
    (1979)
  • WWF North American Heavyweight Championship
    (1979–1981)
Statistics
First champion(s)Ted DiBiase
Final champion(s)Seiji Sakaguchi
Most reignsAll titleholders
(1)
Longest reignSeiji Sakaguchi
(532 days)
Shortest reignTed DiBiase
(126 days)
Oldest championPat Patterson
(38 years, 152 days)
Youngest championTed DiBiase
(25 years, 26 days)
Heaviest championSeiji Sakaguchi
(287lb (130kg))
Lightest championPat Patterson
(237lb (108kg))

The WWF North American Heavyweight Championship was a relatively short-lived title in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) from 1979 until 1981.[1] It was established as the WWWF North American Heavyweight Championship on February 13, 1979 before the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) was renamed to WWF the following month. The inaugural champion was Ted DiBiase and the final champion was Seiji Sakaguchi.[2]

Second champion Pat Patterson was recognized by the WWF as Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship after he reported on WWF television that he had won a (fictitious) one-night tournament in Rio de Janeiro to create a new overall title.[3][4] Nonetheless, the North American title was later awarded to Seiji Sakaguchi after he defeated Patterson on a New Japan Pro-Wrestling house show.[5]

In March 2018, the now WWE established a new North American championship for their NXT brand, the NXT North American Championship and NXT Women's North American Championship. This new title, however, does not carry the lineage of the promotion's original North American championship.[6]

Reigns

Over the championship's two-year history, there were only three reigns among three champions. Ted DiBiase was the inaugural champion, with Seiji Sakaguchi being the last. Sakaguchi has the longest reign at 532 days, while DiBiase has the shortest at 126 days. Pat Patterson was the oldest champion at 38 years old, while DiBiase being the youngest at 25 years old.

Names

Name Years
WWWF North American Heavyweight Championship February 13, 1979 – March 30, 1979
WWF North American Heavyweight Championship March 30, 1979 – June 13, 1980
Key
No. Overall reign number
Reign Reign number for the specific champion
Days Number of days held
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign Days
World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF)
1 Ted DiBiase February 13, 1979 Championship Wrestling tapings Allentown, PA 1 126 Awarded the title when he signed with the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF).
The following month, the WWWF was renamed to World Wrestling Federation (WWF), and the title was renamed accordingly. 		[5]
World Wrestling Federation (WWF)
2 Pat Patterson June 19, 1979 Championship Wrestling tapings Allentown, PA 1 158   [5]
3 Seiji Sakaguchi November 8, 1979 House show Otaru, Japan 1 532 This was a New Japan Pro-Wrestling event. [5]
— Deactivated April 23, 1981 — — — — The WWF abandoned the title. [5]

See also

References

  1. ^ Shields, Brian; Sullivan, Kevin (2009). WWE Encyclopedia. Dorling Kindersley. p. 227. ISBN 978-0-7566-4190-0.
  2. ^ Ted DiBiase: The Million Dollar Man, p.108, Ted DiBiase with Tom Caiazzo, Pocket Books, New York, NY, 2008, ISBN 978-1-4165-5890-3.
  3. ^ "WWF @ Hamburg, PA – Fieldhouse – August 22, 1979 Championship Wrestling taping: 8/25/79 – hosted by Vince McMahon & Pat Patterson: WWF IC Champion Pat Patterson (w/ the Grand Wizard) defeated Johnny Rivera via submission with the Boston Crab at 7:01; after the bout, Vince McMahon interviewed Patterson & Wizard at ringside where Wizard explained how Patterson was now the IC Champion after winning a gruelling tournament last week in Rio de Janeiro with Patterson saying he doesn’t care what happens to the North American title he previously held" - History of WWE - 1979, HistoryofWWE.com, retrieved April 10, 2024
  4. ^ WWF Championship Wrestling, transmitted August 25 1979, Pat Patterson and The Grand Wizard interviewed by Vince McMahon retrieved April 10, 2024
  5. ^ a b c d e "WWF North American Heavyweight Title". WrestlingTitles. Retrieved 2008-02-02.
  6. ^ Johnson, Mike (March 7, 2018). "SPOILER: NEW WWE CHAMPIONSHIP CONFIRMED, HOW FIRST CHAMPION WILL BE CROWNED". PWInsider. Archived from the original on March 8, 2018. Retrieved March 7, 2018.