In 1931, Haft created the Midwest Wrestling Association and booked a match pitting Pesek against Joe Stecher to crown the initial champion.
The newly formed outfit was to operate talent exchanges, establish a territorial system and recognise one world champion per weight class.
The NWA soon grew to become the largest body in professional wrestling, with recognised territories throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico and Japan.
Towards the end of November 1949, Brown suffered injuries in an automobile accident and the promoters of the NWA met in St. Louis to recognize Lou Thesz as the World Heavyweight Champion.
[8] The organization remained the largest governing body in the sport until the mid-1980s national expansion of Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Federation.