1 Buddy Rogers 1 April 25, 1963 22 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil — Won a fictional tournament in Rio de Janeiro after the WWWF left the National Wrestling Alliance, of which Rogers was the 7th champion since defeating Pat OConnor on 30 June 1961. 2 Bruno Sammartino 1 May 17, 1963 2,803 New York, NY House show 3 Ivan Koloff 1 January 18, 1971 21 New York, NY House show 4 Pedro Morales 1 February 8, 1971 1,027 New York, NY House show Title renamed WWWF Heavyweight Championship when WWWF rejoined the NWA in 1971. 5 Stan Stasiak 1 December 1, 1973 9 Philadelphia, PA House show 6 Bruno Sammartino 2 December 10, 1973 1,237 New York, NY House show 7 Billy Graham 1 April 30, 1977 296 Baltimore, MD House show 8 Bob Backlund 1 February 20, 1978 2,135 (648) New York, NY House show The title was renamed the WWF Heavyweight Championship when the World Wide Wrestling Federation became the World Wrestling Federation in March 1979. — Antonio Inoki 1 November 30, 1979 6 Tokushima, Japan House show Reign is not recognized by WWE. — Vacated — December 6, 1979 — Tokyo, Japan House show Inoki immediately vacated the title after a rematch with Backlund ended in a no contest due to the interference of Tiger Jeet Singh. — Bob Backlund 2 December 17, 1979 1,470 New York, NY House show WWE recognizes Backlunds first and second reigns as being uninterrupted, and considers this a continuation of the first. Backlund defeated Bobby Duncum in a Texas Death match to fill the vacancy. During this reign a controversial ending to a bout between Backlund and Greg Valentine took place on October 19, 1981 at Madison Square Garden, in which the dazed referee raised Valentines arm in victory, thinking it was Backlund, after the champion had scored the pinfall. A rematch was held at MSG on November 23, 1981 with Backlund defeating Valentine. Backlund defended the belt in other arenas between the two matches taking place, indicating that he was still the recognized champion. 9 The Iron Sheik 1 December 26, 1983 28 New York, NY House show The Iron Sheik won by forfeit after Backlunds manager Arnold Skaaland threw in the towel on his behalf to prevent any major injury as a result of Sheiks signature move The Camel Clutch, but Backlund never officially submitted. 10 Hulk Hogan 1 January 23, 1984 1,474 New York, NY House show 11 André the Giant 1 February 5, 1988
Posted on: Thu, 11 Dec 2014 11:01:44 +0000
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