8.) Dory Funk Jr.
Total Days: 1,563
Number of Reigns: 1
Now we’re getting more into familiar old school names starting with the great Dory Funk Jr. He is a second generation wrestler with his father: Dory Funk being a legend of the Texas territory in his heyday and founder of the Amarillo territory: Western States Sports. Later on as his career progresses, Dory formed a rivalry against Harley Race. These two were now leading the charge as the NWA moves on from the past generation towards the new around the 1970’s. In 1969 Dory ended Kiniski’s three year run with the belt and had himself an even longer four and a half year reign, which is the second longest individual run behind Lou Thesz’s 2,300 days. From 1969 until 1973, Dory had a total of 484 title defenses across multiple states and countries, primarily for the Texas and Florida territories. He has pretty much faced every wrestler there was to challenge at the time. An impressive uninterrupted reign which really solidified his career in the long run. That run however would end at the hands of Harley Race in Kansas and Dory would never get a hold of the title again. But that lone reign was enough for him to be considered as one of the greatest champions to ever wear the belt. He would go on to have a successful career in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) mainly with his brother Terry as a tag-team, while also competing in the States including the WWF during the mid 80’s. To this day at the age of 78, Dory Funk Jr. still sporadically wrestles from time to time, pro wrestling truly runs in the blood of the Funk family.
9.) Harley Race
Total Combined Days: 1,801
Number of Reigns: 8
One of the men whose legacy will forever be synonymous with the championship and the organization is Harley Race. After the days of Lou Thesz and Buddy Rogers, it was Harley who became the top star for the NWA. Throughout the 60’s until the 80’s, Harley consistently wrestled for the NWA and many of its territories. At this point, he was already seen as an innovator as he wasn’t only just a traditional wrestler in a sense with his in-ring style but he also started incorporating top rope maneuvers more into his arsenal and overall just changing the way pro wrestling is being presented. He is second behind Ric Flair with the most reigns with the belt at 8. I wouldn’t go extensively into every single one of his runs but let’s just say around the late 70’s until the early 80’s, Harley was feuding for the belt against other top names such as Jack Brisco, Giant Baba, and later on Dusty Rhodes and Ric Flair. His longest run was his second reign at an impressive 926 days. In his 354 title defenses, Harley defended the belt not only in the US but in Japan and New Zealand as well. He’d then drop it to Dusty after two years.
Harley Race really brought a whole new aura of what a World Champion is. He carried himself like one and believed in what the Ten Pounds of Gold stood for. Plus it helps that he was a legitimate tough guy in his prime and a universally respected figure among his peers. Even after retiring in 1990, he still continued his involvement with the wrestling business by starting his own training school for aspiring wrestlers. Sadly Harley passed away just a few months ago in August, but certainly someone who will never be forgotten by the wrestling community.
10.) Jack Brisco
Total Combined Days: 866
Number of Reigns: 2
In 2005 Don Leo Jonathan called Jack Brisco as “the greatest champion of the 20th century” which says a lot but it is a little unfortunate that he barely gets any recognition nowadays. Jack and his brother Jerry Brisco both entered the professional wrestling business at the same time. They were a successful tag-team but Jack went on to become the much bigger star especially around the 70’s where he gained plenty of success both in the US and Japan. In 1973 Jack Brisco became NWA World Heavyweight Champion for the first time by defeating Harley Race, he would go on to have a two year run with the belt (exactly 500 days) whilst successfully winning 219 matches for the belt until he dropped it to Giant Baba in All Japan. Baba would only hold the belt for a week before giving the belt back to Brisco, this time his second and last run lasted for 366 days, where he mainly feuded against the Funk Brothers, Johnny Valentine, and even fought a young Jumbo Tsuruta. After his years at the top of the NWA, Brisco mainly focused competing for Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF) as well as other territories such as Mid-Atlantic, Georgia Championship Wrestling, All Japan, and Puerto Rico. He spent his final years in the ring with the WWF, his last match he won a tag-team match with his brother Gerald against the team of Dick Murdoch and Adrian Adonis in 1985. He would then be inducted into their Hall of Fame in 2009 but sadly a year later would pass away.
Being a fellow Oklahoma native, Jim Ross always credits Jack Brisco as one of the greatest to ever put on a pair of wrestling boots. I think the term “underrated” does not really fit him as he had an illustrious and decorated career, he just mainly goes under the radar for a lot of modern fans but Jack Brisco was indeed just as much of a wrestling legend as his contemporaries.
11.) Giant Baba
Total Combined Days: 19
Number of Reigns: 3
One of the most influential professional wrestlers of all time especially for the world of Puroresu was Shohei “Giant” Baba. Him and Antonio Inoki were both students of the great Rikidozan and once their master died, Baba and Inoki would go on their separate ways and start their own promotions: All Japan Pro Wrestling and New Japan Pro Wrestling respectively, as they say the rest is history. Most fans only remember Giant Baba in his final years where he could barely move and only have limited time in the ring, but in his prime the man was agile and athletic for standing at 6’10” and weigh in at 311 lbs. Baba was the biggest draw for All Japan throughout the 70’s and even early 80’s. The Japanese fans adored him and NWA took notice and partnered up with the promotion there. He had three runs with the belt, all of which he won in his promotion, but they were mainly just “feel good moments” for the Japanese crowd as they didn’t really last long as you can see with the total combined days. He mainly feuded with Jack Brisco and Harley Race for the belt and their matches would always guarantee a sell out. Baba never really got a proper run with the belt, probably because he never wanted to travel elsewhere and focus his career in his home country which is pretty respectable. He would go on to wrestle towards the tail end of his life with his final match being in 1998 and passed away just a year later due to cancer. If it wasn’t for Giant Baba many wrestlers such as Jumbo Tsuruta, Genichiro Tenryu, The Four Pillars, and even gaijins like Stan Hansen, Abdullah the Butcher, Ric Flair, Bruiser Brody, among many others wouldn’t have much successful careers if it wasn’t for AJPW. He was a great wrestler and an even greater promoter, an individual that a lot of his peers respected.
12.) Terry Funk
Total Days: 424
Number of Reigns: 1
Before he became all “middle aged and crazy” there was a point in time wherein Terry Funk was a youngster believe it or not. Because of his brother Dory’s rivalry against Jack Brisco, Terry automatically got involved in it during the 70’s. When Dory failed to attend the title shot he had against Jack, Terry replaced him and won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in Miami Beach. It would be his lone reign with the belt but this victory really solidified Terry’s career in the long run and it showed that he is just as good as his older brother. During his 424 day run he defended the belt not only in the US and Canada but also in countries like Japan, Australia, and Singapore. He had a total of 191 recorded title defenses according to cagematch.net before eventually losing the belt to Harley Race. After his NWA Title run Terry began wrestling all over the world for many different promotions: WWF, AJPW, WCW, and most notably ECW where he is best known for his hardcore legend gimmick. What makes Terry great especially something that stands out among his peers is his sheer passion for the business. Every time I watch a shoot interview involving Terry Funk talking about the wrestling, you just hear the passion and love he has for it. It is literally his life, which is he himself morbidly said that if he were to die, it is best for it to be in the squared circle. His last match was two years ago in 2017, is it safe to say he is retired? Nah. It’s Terry Funk we’re talking about, retirement is not a part of his vocabulary for crying out loud!
13.) Dusty Rhodes
Total Combined Days: 107
Number of Reigns: 3
The American Dream! One of, if not the, greatest babyface in all of wrestling. Dusty Rhodes was able to capture the hearts of many, especially all throughout the US! He was the perfect character to go up against dastardly and flamboyant heels, Dusty wasn’t born rich, he himself said it he was a son of a plumber. A common man. Naturally, many people related to his story and thus supported him throughout his career. In an era where muscle and good looks were a prominent feature in the wrestling world, Dusty stood out from the rest. While he did not have the chiseled body of a Greek God, he was able to get the crowd off their feet and feed off of their emotions, every time he wrestles in the ring. Which is why he was so successful and gained him three championship runs with the NWA Title. However, similar to Giant Baba, Dusty’s title reigns weren’t really about the “length” they were about the moments. A win by Dusty was a victory for the fans as well. Going over his two heated rivals: Harley Race and Ric Flair were always a delight to watch just for the sheer joy the crowd gets whenever the heel they despised finally gets taken down by someone they absolutely love. Dusty’s longest run with the belt was in his second reign which lasted for 88 days beating numerous challengers like The Iron Sheik, Ken Patera, Ivan Koloff, Bruiser Brody, and Jimmy Snuka just to name a few. Despite having short reigns with the belt, Dusty always remained on top and was a consistent main event level player in his prime. Around the 80’s it’s where all things started to slow down a bit. In his WWF run he was no longer the sympathetic babyface but rather a yellow polka dot jiving wrestler, which was fun and all and what most fans remember him for, but before all of that, Dusty’s character was that of a fighter as well. It’s what he should be best known for in my opinion. He wrestled his final match in 2007 in a Texas Bullrope match against Randy Orton at The Great American Bash PPV. Later on Dusty mentored many of the wrestlers we see in the WWE today thanks to his involvement with NXT. Sadly in 2015 we loss one of the most iconic personalities the wrestling world has ever seen.
14.) Tommy Rich
Total Days: 4
Number of Reigns: 1
The dishonor of having the second shortest reign for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship goes to “Wildfire” Tommy Rich. In his prime, Tommy was actually a pretty decent wrestler but he is best remembered for his charisma, having the “good looks” and all, making him a fan favorite amongst the women demographic. However his reign with the NWA Title was an odd one and mostly due to backstage politics. On April 1981 Tommy Rich defeated Harley Race at Augusta, Georgia for the belt but just four days later dropped it right back to Harley. It was Jim Barnett’s decision to “pop” the territory and have a change within the landscape of things, also it helps that he was the head booker of the Georgia territories at the time but it was obvious the experiment did not last long. There were even conspiracies that Barnett (a closeted gay man) did this because he had affections for Tommy Rich but these were never truly confirmed. Tommy didn’t really capture the same level of success, albeit only a short one, he had again for the rest of his career. He still sporadically wrestles from time to time for small independent promotions to this day.
15.) Ric Flair
Total Combined Days: 3,114
Number of Reigns: 10
Here we are, the man that will forever be synonymous with the NWA World Heavyweight Champion, the greatest wrestler to ever hold the belt, who else could it be other than the “Nature Boy” Ric Flair. I wouldn’t even go into detail about every reign he had with the belt, there’s way too many, even more than 10 but that is the officially recognized number. What else hasn’t been said about Ric Flair though? I still stand by my opinion with him as the greatest wrestler of all time. Wrestling skills, promos, being a draw, accolades, you name it, the man has it all. To me he is the embodiment of what a perfect professional wrestler should aspire to be. Flair also took the term “World Champion” to another level, even further than Lou Thesz. He did travel around the world and was a reliable champion, often taking on local heroes for different countries and familiar foes like Dusty Rhodes, Harley Race, and later on Ricky Steamboat, Sting, and The Von Erichs just to name a few. Whether as a heel you loved to hate or a babyface you sympathize for (although pretty rare in his prime) Flair mastered the ways of controlling the crowd just by his mere presence in the ring and the way he interacted with his opponents. He would do everything to always put the match over, one way or another. Now let us go over some crazy stats, his longest run with the belt was in his fourth reign at 793, he is second behind Lou Thesz for total combined days at 3,114 across his 10 official reigns, and across those 10 reigns he defended the belt 1,041 times! (At least that is what is recorded on cagematch.net, there could be more for all we know.) For most fans the NWA World Title will always be Ric Flair’s belt. Whether they grew up on him or just found out later on as a wrestling fan. With all the respect in the world that held the belt before and after Flair, he will always be the one that will be intertwined with the title. Their legacies are forever connected and not a lot of wrestlers, or athletes for that matter, could accomplish such a feat. He truly is the greatest of all time. WOOOO!
16.) Kerry Von Erich
Total Days: 18
Number of Reigns: 1
Just like with other previous cases, Kerry Von Erich’s title reign was more about the moment. Originally, his brother David was the one projected to be the next big superstar in wrestling, but his unexpected passing halted all of those plans. It was Kerry who took on the torch his brother left and on May 1984 at the first ever Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions, one of the best feel good moments in wrestling history took place when Kerry Von Erich defeated Ric Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. The event overall was great but it was concluded beautifully with the Von Erich victory in tribute to his late brother, with the rest of the family celebrating with Kerry. In his short run with the belt, Kerry impressively managed to defend the belt 13 times, primarily in his father’s promotion: WCCW. He mainly faced “Superstar” Billy Graham as well as Terry Gordy, Mike Rotundo, and Ron Bass. He even defended it in Japan against Jumbo Tsuruta before dropping the belt back to Ric Flair. I think the pressure plus his unhealthy habits kept Kerry from being able to continue his duties as a World Champion. Around the early 90’s he wrestled briefly for the WWF as “The Texas Tornado” and is a former Intercontinental Champion before returning back to the territories. Sadly those aforementioned habits would take his life as well as his two other brothers. One of wrestling’s unfortunate tragedies.
