The subsequent legacy of the championship is not linear, with the champion being disputed among various promotions until the formation of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) in 1948.

[1] The first recognized World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion was George Hackenschmidt, who officially won the championship on May 4, 1905, by defeating Tom Jenkins in New York City.

[2] The championship remained active for the next 51 years, with the last recognized reign being disputed between Lou Thesz and Édouard Carpentier after a match between the two ended in a legitimate disqualification.

He also won the European Greco-Roman Heavyweight Championship title from Tom Cannon on September 4, 1902, in Liverpool, England.

He won the recognition of being the World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion on January 30, 1904, in London, England by defeating Ahmed Madrali.

On April 15, 1925, Stanislaus Zbyszko defeated previous champion Wayne Munn to win the championship.

[6] Ed Lewis defeated Wayne Munn on February 2, 1928, in Michigan City, Indiana for the Michigan/Illinois World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship version.

Lewis was also AWA World Heavyweight Champion in Boston at the time, but lost that title by disqualification to Henri Deglane on May 4, 1931, in Montreal.

Lewis then defeated Wladek Zbyszko (who was widely considered the World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion) on November 2, 1931, in Chicago, ending the dispute.

Lewis then continued by winning the New York State Athletic Commission World Heavyweight Championship by defeating Jack Sherry on October 10, 1932, for the vacant title.

[15] Londos won the title again on November 18, 1938, and retired as the World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion on January 28, 1946.

He was then later recognized as the World Heavyweight Champion by Worldwide Wrestling Associates in Los Angeles, California.

The title was unofficially retired on July 24, 1957,[21] and its lineage continued over to the National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Championship.

The first recognized World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion was George Hackenschmidt, who officially won the championship on May 4, 1905, by defeating Tom Jenkins in New York City, New York,[4] the championship remained active for the next 51 years with the last recognized reign beginning on November 9, 1956.

"World" heavyweight championships in Japan, Mexico, and the US Independent circuit were created ex novo after promotions started.

This was after the WWWF refused to recognize Lou Thesz as the NWA World Heavyweight Champion after he beat Buddy Rogers in a one fall match – the NWA World Heavyweight Championship title matches usually followed a best-of-three fall format – Vincent J. McMahon, the WWWF's owner created the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship and awarded Rogers the championship belt proclaiming he won it in a (apocryphal) tournament in Brazil in April 1963.

[37] He lost the championship to Bruno Sammartino a month later on May 17, 1963, after suffering a heart attack shortly before the match.

[53] Like the original World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship, the title was not prefixed with the name of a promotion, though the physical belt had the WWE logo on it.

[57] Due to its relation to the three titles, its lineage is connected with the earliest recognized world heavyweight championship.