[4][5][6] With many territorial promotions appearing across the United States, the NWA was formed in 1948 as a professional wrestling governing body.

As Lou Thesz continued to hold the title, other popular wrestlers such as Verne Gagne became frustrated over the lack of change.

On June 14, 1957, in Chicago, Thesz defended the world title against Canadian wrestler Édouard Carpentier in a two out of three falls match.

Quinn started promoting Carpentier as the true NWA world champion based on the match with Thesz.

Verne Gagne, who had been trying to become NWA World Heavyweight Champion for some time, defeated Carpentier in Omaha, Nebraska, on August 9, 1958.

The Boston NWA affiliate known as the Atlantic Athletic Commission (AAC) arranged a match between Killer Kowalski and Carpentier in 1958.

On June 12, 1961, Carpentier lost a match to Freddie Blassie which created the basis for the Los Angeles version of the WWA World Heavyweight Championship.

At the event, NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair successfully defended the title against Barry Windham.

A match was held for the vacated WCW World Heavyweight Championship within two weeks of the departure, but no mention was made of the NWA title.

Flair displayed the Big Gold Belt on WWF television, calling himself the "Real World's Heavyweight Champion".

Despite losing WCW as its flagship promotion, the NWA picked up new members and remained in existence as a governing body.

[10][11] Despite this blow to the organization, the NWA held another tournament three months later in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, hosted by Coralluzzo and Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW) owner Jim Cornette.

Chris Candido won this tournament[13] and the title was recognized and defended in promotions such as SMW and the United States Wrestling Association.

Candido held the belt for a few months before dropping it to Dan Severn of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in February 1995.

Trying to get back in the national spotlight, the NWA made a deal in 1997 with Vincent K. McMahon to appear on World Wrestling Federation (WWF) television.

The champions nonetheless remained wrestlers from independent promotions, regardless of whether they were from North America (Severn, Mike Rapada, Sabu), Asia (Ogawa, Shinya Hashimoto), or Europe (Gary Steele).

In June 2002, Jeff and Jerry Jarrett formed NWA: Total Nonstop Action (NWA-TNA; was known as Impact Wrestling 2017-2024).

Ken Shamrock was then declared the new NWA World Heavyweight Champion after winning a Gauntlet for the Gold battle royal.

Sixteen men competed for the championship, with Adam Pearce, filling in for an injured Bryan Danielson, winning the belt by defeating Brent Albright on September 1, 2007, in Bayamón, Puerto Rico.

On October 25, 2008, Blue Demon Jr. became the first Mexican professional wrestler, as well as first masked luchador, to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship when he defeated champion Adam Pearce in Mexico City.

With both Cabana and Pearce even at three victories in their “Seven Levels of Hate” series, the final match was scheduled for October 27, 2012, in Melbourne, Australia, at an NWA Warzone Wrestling event.

[17] On May 1, 2017, Billy Corgan's company, Lightning One, Inc., purchased the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), including its name, rights, trademarks, and championships.

Continuing to operate as a governing body, Billy Corgan's NWA worked collaboratively with various promotions to sanction Storm's championship matches.

[22] Ten Pounds of Gold continued to cover subsequent defenses at the NWA 70th Anniversary Show, the New Year's Clash pop-up event, and the 2019 Crockett Cup.

[23][24][25] During the October 15, 2019 episode of Powerrr, it was announced that the NWA would be holding a pay-per-view (PPV) called Into the Fire on December 14, 2019.

The championship belt, which was a holdover from Thesz's reign as the National Wrestling Association's champion, consisted of seven plates and a leather strap.

The main plate had a royal crown, a wrestling ring, and a five-pointed star in a vertical alignment, top to bottom down the center.

It had a prominent royal crown at its top, a globe underneath it, and the letters "NWA" horizontally across the center behind two wrestlers.

[29] It has also been referred to on Championship Wrestling from Hollywood, NWA Powerrr, and in other NWA-related media as "Sweet Charlotte", a nickname coined by Adam Pearce in 2008 as a nod to the hometown of Ric Flair, one of the belt's most famous holders.

Shane Douglas and Ray González share the record for the shortest reign as champion, with both men holding the title for less than 1 day.