NWA International Heavyweight Championship
The NWA International Heavyweight Championship was a singles title recognized by the National Wrestling Alliance through its partnership with the Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance, and later by All Japan Pro Wrestling. It is one of the three titles that were unified into the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship in 1989. From 1981 to the withdrawal of All Japan from the NWA in 1988, the National Wrestling Alliance considered the NWA International title to be its top singles championship in Japan. In 1983, Giant Baba would elevate the title even further in the eyes of many when he, as the reigning PWF Heavyweight Champion, declared Jumbo Tsuruta to be the new "Ace" of All Japan after Jumbo won the NWA International Heavyweight Championship from Bruiser Brody. Following the withdrawal of All Japan from the NWA, the International title was briefly sanctioned by the Pacific Wrestling Federation until the unification of the Triple Crown could be completed.
Under Rikidōzan the belt had a design similar to Lou Thesz's original NWA World Heavyweight Championship belt during the 1950s, but after Rikidōzan's death, the belt given to Giant Baba had the design seen on the belt part of the Triple Crown until 2013. The original design was later used on the PWF Heavyweight Championship, the UWFI belt, and a belt later given to Kazushi Sakuraba for show.
Title history
| # | Wrestler | Reign | Date | Days held | Location | Event | Notes | Ref. |
| 1 | 1 | N/A | N/A | Thesz was awarded the championship by the NWA after losing the World Heavyweight Championship to Dick Hutton. Houston NWA promoter Morris Sigel claimed that Thesz has won the title by defeating Antonino Rocca in 1949. | ||||
| 2 | Rikidōzan | 1 | Los Angeles, California, United States | House show | Thesz claims the match was not for the title and continues defending the title in the U.S. until regaining the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in January 1963. | |||
| - | - | N/A | N/A | Vacated following Rikidōzan's death from stab wounds suffered one week earlier in Tokyo, Japan. | ||||
| 3 | 1 | Osaka, Japan | House show | Defeated Dick the Bruiser for the vacant title. | ||||
| 4 | 1 | Nagoya, Japan | House show | |||||
| 5 | 2 | Tokyo, Japan | House show | |||||
| 6 | 1 | Osaka, Japan | House show | |||||
| 7 | 3 | Los Angeles, California, United States | House show | |||||
| - | - | N/A | N/A | Vacated when Baba left the Japan Wrestling Association to start All Japan Pro Wrestling. | ||||
| 8 | 2 | Yokohama, Japan | House show | Defeated Kintaro Ohki for the vacant title. | ||||
| 9 | 1 | Hiroshima, Japan | House show | |||||
| - | - | N/A | N/A | After the JWA closed in 1973, Ohki took the belt to South Korea from where he defended it. After briefly returning to Japan and making some defenses in IWE, Ohki vacated the title on April 13, 1981 under orders from the NWA. | ||||
| 10 | 1 | Matsudo, Japan | House show | Won tournament for the vacant title when Bruiser Brody was injured and unable to wrestle in the finals. Defeated Terry Funk for his first title defense instead. | ||||
| 11 | 1 | June 1981 | Florida, United States | House show | Title reign not recognized in Japan. | |||
| 12 | 2 | August 1981 | Florida, United States | House show | ||||
| 13 | Bruiser Brody | 1 | Tokyo, Japan | House show | ||||
| 14 | 3 | Tokyo, Japan | House show | |||||
| 15 | Bruiser Brody | 2 | Osaka, Japan | House show | ||||
| 16 | 1 | Tokyo, Japan | House show | |||||
| 17 | 1 | Tokyo, Japan | House show | |||||
| 18 | 2 | Tokyo, Japan | House show | |||||
| 19 | Bruiser Brody | 3 | Tokyo, Japan | House show | ||||
| 20 | 3 | Sendai, Japan | House show | |||||
| Unified | - | - | N/A | N/A | Unified with PWF Heavyweight Championship and NWA United National Championship to create the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship. |