WWF North American Heavyweight Championship

Not to be confused with NXT North American Championship or NXT Women's North American Championship.
WWF North American Heavyweight Championship
The North American Heavyweight Championship belt.
Details
PromotionWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF)
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW)
Date establishedFebruary 13, 1979
Date retiredApril 23, 1981
Other name(s)
  • WWWF North American Heavyweight Championship
    (1979)
  • WWF North American Heavyweight Championship
    (1979–1981)
Statistics
First champion(s)Ted DiBiase
Final champion(s)Seiji Sakaguchi
Most reignsAll titleholders
(1)
Longest reignSeiji Sakaguchi
(532 days)
Shortest reignTed DiBiase
(126 days)
Oldest championPat Patterson
(38 years, 152 days)
Youngest championTed DiBiase
(25 years, 26 days)
Heaviest championSeiji Sakaguchi
(287lb (130kg))
Lightest championPat Patterson
(237lb (108kg))

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 and NXT Women's North American Championship. This new title, however, does not carry the lineage of the promotion's original North American championship.[6]

  1. ^ Shields, Brian; Sullivan, Kevin (2009). WWE Encyclopedia. Dorling Kindersley. p. 227. ISBN 978-0-7566-4190-0.
  2. ^ 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.
  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
  4. ^ WWF Championship Wrestling, transmitted August 25 1979, Pat Patterson and The Grand Wizard interviewed by Vince McMahon retrieved April 10, 2024
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference w was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ 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.