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. 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 |
| 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
- NXT North American Championship
- NXT Women's North American Championship
- NWA North American Heavyweight Championship
References
- ^ Shields, Brian; Sullivan, Kevin (2009). WWE Encyclopedia. Dorling Kindersley. p. 227. ISBN 978-0-7566-4190-0.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "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
- ^ WWF Championship Wrestling, transmitted August 25 1979, Pat Patterson and The Grand Wizard interviewed by Vince McMahon retrieved April 10, 2024
- ^ a b c d e "WWF North American Heavyweight Title". WrestlingTitles. Retrieved 2008-02-02.
- ^ 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.
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