NWA World Historic Welterweight Championship

The NWA World Historic Welterweight Championship (Campeonato Mundial Historico de Peso Welter de la NWA in Spanish) is a professional wrestling championship governed by Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). CMLL had held the NWA World Welterweight Championship for over 53 years even after leaving the NWA in 1989. In 2010 the National Wrestling Alliance, represented by Blue Demon Jr., the president of NWA Mexico, sent letters to CMLL telling them to stop promoting NWA-branded championships since CMLL was not part of the NWA any longer. On August 12, 2010, CMLL debuted the new NWA World Historic Welterweight Championship belt and named Mephisto, the final CMLL-recognized NWA World Welterweight Champion, as the inaugural champion. The championship was initially announced as the CMLL Historic Welterweight Championship, but when the belt was unveiled, it was labelled the "NWA World Historic Welterweight Championship".

This article is about the current NWA welterweight title that CMLL introduced in 2010. For the original NWA welterweight title created in 1946, see NWA World Welterweight Championship.

NWA World Historic Welterweight Championship
A championship belt with a silver front plate
The belt design of all three NWA Historic championships
Details
PromotionConsejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
Date establishedAugust 12, 2010[1]
Current champion(s)Rocky Romero
Date wonJanuary 20, 2023
Other name(s)
CMLL Historic Welterweight Championship[1]
Statistics
First champion(s)Mephisto[1]
Most reignsVolador Jr. (3 reigns)
Longest reignVolador Jr. (3,369)[2]
Shortest reignLa Sombra (56 days)[2][3]
Oldest championNegro Casas (52 years, 34 days)[lower-alpha 1]
Youngest championLa Sombra (21 years, 130 days)[lower-alpha 2]
Heaviest championMatt Taven (99 kg (218 lb))[6]
Lightest championMáscara Dorada (80 kg (180 lb))[lower-alpha 3]

In Mexico, the lucha libre commission's definition of the welterweight weight class is between 70 kg (150 lb) and 78 kg (172 lb). Rocky Romero is the current NWA World Historic Welterweight Champion, having defeated Volador Jr. on January 20, 2023. This is Romero's first reign with the title; he is the tenth overall champion. Volador Jr.'s third reign was the longest of any NWA World Historic Welterweight Champion at 1,631 days. All title matches take place under best two-out-of-three falls rules when they take place in Mexico, but has been defended in single fall matches in Japan.

History
The masked wrestler Mephisto in the ring during a match.
Mephisto, the last NWA World Welterweight Champion

In 1948 the Mexican lucha libre or professional wrestling promotion Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (EMLL; Spanish for "Mexican Wrestling Enterprise") created the World Welterweight Championship.[lower-alpha 4] When EMLL became a member of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) in 1952 the championship was given the "NWA" prefix and became known as the NWA World Welterweight Championship. In the late 1980s, EMLL left the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) to avoid the politics of the NWA.[lower-alpha 5] While they left the NWA they did retain control of the NWA World Welterweight Championship as their main championship of the welterweight division. They also promoted the Mexican National Welterweight Championship as a secondary title in the Welterweight division.[lower-alpha 6] In 1992 EMLL changed their name and became known as Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL; "World Wrestling Council") to rebrand themselves as a separate entity after leaving the NWA.[lower-alpha 7] They added a third welterweight championship to the promotion when they created the CMLL World Welterweight Championship on February 15, 1992.[12]

After the introduction of the CMLL championship, the then-reigning NWA World Welterweight Championship Misterioso left CMLL, vacating the championship.[lower-alpha 8] For the subsequent three years, CMLL did not promote the NWA World Welterweight Championship until bringing it back in the winter of 1995. Negro Casas won the championship, holding it until August 1996 where he lost it as part of a tournament to create the J-Crown, eight championships unified as one.[13] from 1996 through 2007 the championship was promoted in Japan, but on November 27, 2007, La Sombra defeated Hajime Ohara to bring the championship back to CMLL.[14]

In 2010 the NWA, represented by NWA Mexico president Blue Demon Jr., reached out to CMLL and asked them to stop using the NWA-branded championships since they were not part of the NWA. Blue Demon Jr. was in the process of establishing NWA Mexico as a promotion and wanted to use the championship.[lower-alpha 9] There had been previous attempts by the NWA to gain back control of the three NWA-branded championships that CMLL used, the welterweight championship as well as the NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship and the NWA World Middleweight Championship, but in those instances, CMLL had not responded to those requests at all. The promotion did not directly respond to the latest claim; the NWA Welterweight Champion, Mephisto, commented instead, simply stating that the championships belonged to CMLL.[lower-alpha 10] Finally, on August 12, 2010, CMLL debuted the new NWA World Historic Welterweight Championship belt and named Mephisto, the final CMLL-recognized NWA World Welterweight Champion, as the inaugural champion.[1] The championship was initially announced as the CMLL Historic Welterweight Championship,[1] but when the belt was unveiled, it was called the NWA World Historic Welterweight Championship.[1]

Reigns
Masked wrestler La Sombra posing on the ropes during an outdoor wrestling event
La Sombra, the youngest wrestler to win the championship

Rocky Romero is the current NWA World Historic Welterweight Champion, having won the title on January 20, 2023, defeating Volador Jr. He is the tenth overall champion. Volador Jr. and La Sombra are the only two wrestlers to hold the championship at least twice. Volador Jr's second reign is the longest individual reign while La Sombra's 56-day reign in 2014 is the shortest of all championship reigns.[3][2] On January 22, 2012, La Sombra became the first champion to defend the NWA World Historic Welterweight Championship outside of Mexico as he defeated Volador Jr. during the CMLL and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) co-promoted Fantastica Mania 2012 in Tokyo, Japan.[lower-alpha 11][lower-alpha 12]

At the age of 21 years, 130 days when he won the championship the first time, La Sombra is the youngest wrestler to win the championship.[5] At 52 years, 34 days at the time of his title win, Negro Casas is the oldest wrestler to win the championship.[4]

Rules

As a professional wrestling championship, it is not won legitimately; it is instead won via a predefined outcome of matches.[lower-alpha 13] The Championship is designated as a welterweight title, which means that the championship can officially only be competed for by wrestlers weighing between 70 kg (150 lb) and 78 kg (172 lb).[lower-alpha 14] In the 20th century Mexican wrestling enforced the weight divisions more strictly, but in the 21st century the rules have occasionally been ignored for some of the weight divisions. The heaviest welterweight champion on record is Mephisto who was announced as weighing 90 kg (200 lb), 12 kg (26 lb) above the official maximum weight limit.[6] While the heavyweight championship is traditionally considered the most prestigious weight division in professional wrestling, CMLL places more emphasis on the lower weight divisions.[lower-alpha 15] All title matches promoted in Mexico take place under best two-out-of-three falls rules,[lower-alpha 16] while championship matches promoted in Japan followed the local custom and were only one fall matches.[17][18]

Title history
Key
No. Overall reign number
Reign Reign number for the specific champion
Days Number of days held
+ Current reign is changing daily
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign Days
1 Mephisto August 12, 2010 Press conference at Arena México Mexico City 1 213 Mephisto was the final CMLL-recognized NWA World Welterweight Champion and was thus named the first NWA World Historic Welterweight Champion. [1]
2 La Sombra March 13, 2011 Domingo Familiar Mexico City 1 337 [lower-alpha 17]
3 Negro Casas February 13, 2012 Live event Puebla, Puebla 1 475 [lower-alpha 18]
4 Máscara Dorada June 2, 2013 Sin Salida Mexico City 1 170 [lower-alpha 19]
5 Volador Jr. November 19, 2013 Martes Popular Mexico City 1 199 [lower-alpha 20]
6 La Sombra June 6, 2014 Super Viernes Mexico City 2 56 This match was also for La Sombra's NWA World Historic Middleweight Championship. [lower-alpha 21]
7 Volador Jr. August 1, 2014 El Juicio Final Mexico City 2 1,337 [lower-alpha 22]
8 Matt Taven March 30, 2018 Super Viernes Mexico City 1 126
9 Volador Jr. August 3, 2018 Negro Casas 40th Anniversary Show Mexico City 3 1,631 [26]
10 Rocky Romero January 20, 2023 Super Viernes Mexico City 1 274+ [27]

Combined reigns
Mexican wrestler Negro Casas in the ring during an outdoor wrestling event.
Negro Casas, the oldest wrestler to win the championship
Key
† Indicates the current champion
Rank Wrestler No. of reigns Combined
days		 Ref(s).
1 Volador Jr. 3 3167 [2][3][25]
2 Negro Casas 1 475 [23][24]
3 La Sombra 2 393 [2][3][22][23]
4 Rocky Romero † 1 274+
5 Mephisto 1 213 [1][22]
6 Máscara Dorada 1 170 [24]
7 Matt Taven 1 126

Footnotes
  1. PWI Almanac p. 69: "Date of birth: January 10, 1960"[4]
  2. "Fuego en el Ring": "Fecha de nacimiento: 03 de Noviembre de 1983" ("Date of Birth: November 3, 1983")[5]
  3. NJPW: "体重 80kg" ("Weight 80 kg")[7]
  4. Duncan & Will (2000) p. 390, Chapter name "EMLL NWA Welterweight Title"[8]
  5. Hornbakker (2006) p 305: "EMLL was a member of the NWA from 1952 to 1986, and Lutteroth controlled the Alliance world light heavyweight, middleweight and welterweight titles."[9]
  6. Duncan & Will (2000) p. 392 chapter name "Mexico: National Welterweight Title[10]
  7. Madigan "in the late 1980s EMLL withdrew from the National Wrestling Alliance"[11]
  8. Duncan & Will (2000) p. 390 "Vacant in 92/05 when Misterioso leaves EMLL."[8]
  9. Súper Luchas (March 4, 2010): "Blue Demon Jr. informó que NWA México desconoce los títulos mundiales que tienen los elementos del CMLL" ("Blue Demon Jr. Reported that NWA Mexico does not recognize the world championships controlled by CMLL")[15]
  10. Súper Luchas (March 12, 2010): "esos campeonatos siempre han estado en luchadores del CMLL" ("those championships have always belonged to CMLL wrestlers")[16]
  11. NJPW (January 22, 2012): "メインイベントは、現在のCMLLでトップ2と言われるラ・ソンブラとボラドール・ジュニアが、NWA世界ヒストリック・ウェルター王座を懸けて激突。" ("In the main event, La Sombra and Volador Jr., who are said to currently be the top 2 in CMLL, met in a match for the NWA World Historic Welterweight Championship. ")[17]
  12. Súper Luchas (January 22, 2012): "NWA World Historic Welterweight Title: La Sombra (c) vence a Volador Jr. (21:47) con un Moonsault Press defendiendo el título." ("NWA World Historic Welterweight Title: La Sombra (c) defeated Volador Jr. (21:47) with a Moonsault Press defending the title.")[18]
  13. Hornbaker (2016) p. 550: "Professional wrestling is a sport in which match finishes are predetermined. Thus, win–loss records are not indicative of a wrestler's genuine success based on their legitimate abilities - but on now much, or how little they were pushed by promoters"[19]
  14. Comisión de Box y Lucha Libre p. 42 "Welter77 kilos" ("Welterweight 77 Kilos")[20]
  15. Madigan (2007): "Traditionally the heavyweight division was not considered the biggest draw, nor the most important division in Mexico"[21]
  16. Comisión de Box y Lucha Libre p. 44 "ARTICULO 258.- Cada combate de lucha libre tendrá como limite tres caídas; cada caída será sin limite de tiempo, ganará quien obtenga dos caídas de las tres en disputa" ("ARTICLE 258.- Each wrestling match shall have as limit three falls; Each fall will be without time limit. The winner will be the one to first obtain two of the three falls in the match,")[20]
  17. Súper Luchas (March 14, 2011): "5.- Campeonato mundial histórico NWA peso Welter: Sombra nuevo campeón al vencer a Mephisto" ("5 NWA World Historic Welterweight Championship Sombra became the new champion with a victory over Mephisto")[22]
  18. Cinco Radio: "obtuvo el histórico campeonato mundial welter de la NWA" ("he won the historic NWA welterweight championship ")[23]
  19. CMLL (June 3, 2013): "El Campeonato Mundial Histórico NWA de Peso Welter tiene un nuevo dueño: Máscara Dorada." ("The NWA Welterweight World Championship has a new owner: Máscara Dorada")[24]
  20. CMLL (November 20, 2013): "uego de haber transcurridos varios minutos y con una caída por bando, Máscara Dorada no pudo soportar más y tras ser impactado de forma brutal con un Canadian Destroyer perdió el título" ("After several minutes and with a fall by side, Máscara Dorada could not take any more and after being brutally hit with a Canadian Destroyer lost the title")[25]
  21. CMLL (June 6, 2014): "Pero al final con la ayuda de Rush y La Máscara; La Sombra se convierte en doble campeón." ("in the end with the help of Rush and La Máscara; La Sombra becomes a double champion")[3]
  22. CMLL (August 2, 2014): "pero Volador reaccionó y clavó a La Sombra en la lona, el toque de espaldas fue inminente. Hay nuevo Campeón." ("but Volador reacted and drove La Sombra into the canvas, the pinfall followed. There is new Champion.")[2]

References
  1. Boutwell, Josh (August 20, 2010). "Viva la Raza! Lucha Weekly". Wrestleview. Archived from the original on August 23, 2010. Retrieved September 13, 2014.
  2. Reducindo, Miguel (August 2, 2014). "Resultados Arena México Viernes 1º de Agosto '14" [Results from Arena México Friday August 1 '14]. Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (in Spanish). Archived from the original on July 2, 2014. Retrieved August 2, 2014.
  3. Salazar López, Alexis A. (June 6, 2014). "Resultados Arena México Viernes 6 de Junio '14" [Results from Arena México June 6 '14]. Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (in Spanish). Archived from the original on July 2, 2014. Retrieved June 6, 2014.
  4. "Statistics for Professional wrestlers". PWI Presents: 2008 Wrestling Almanak and book of facts. Kappa Publications. p. 69. 2008 Edition.
  5. "Tecnicos – La Sombra". Fuego en el ring (in Spanish). Archived from the original on July 11, 2011. Retrieved October 17, 2009.
  6. "Statistics for Professional wrestlers". PWI Presents: 2007 Wrestling Almanak and book of facts. Kappa Publications. p. 72. 2007 Edition.
  7. マスカラ・ドラダ [Mascara Dorada]. New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Archived from the original on April 13, 2014. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  8. Duncan & Will 2000, p. 390.
  9. Hornbaker 2006, p. 305.
  10. Duncan & Will 2000, p. 392.
  11. Madigan 2007, p. 32.
  12. Duncan & Will 2000, p. 396.
  13. "J-Crown Tournament". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved June 8, 2017.
  14. "NWA World Welterweight Championship > Title Reigns > 27.11.2007 - 27.05.2009: La Sombra". CageMatch. Retrieved June 5, 2017.
  15. Ruiz, Alex (March 4, 2010). "Blue Demon Jr. no reconoce los títulos de NWA que están en el CMLL- Realizará eliminatorias para sacar a los nuevos campeones" [Blue Demon Jr. does not recognize the NWA titles held by CMLL- Will hold tournaments to determine new champions]. Súper Luchas (in Spanish). Retrieved June 25, 2015.
  16. Ruiz Glez, Alex (March 12, 2010). "Mephisto responde a Blue Demon Jr.: "No tengo que entrar a ninguna eliminatoria porque yo soy el campeón..."" [Mephisto responds to Blue Demon Jr .: "I do not have to enter a tournament because I am the champion ..."]. Súper Luchas (in Spanish). Retrieved March 14, 2010.
  17. "NJPW Presents CMLL Fantastica Mania 2012". New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). January 22, 2012. Archived from the original on January 25, 2012. Retrieved January 22, 2012.
  18. Soy Rudo (January 22, 2012). "NJPW-CMLL: Resultados "Fantasticamanía 2012″ Día 2" [NJPW-CMLL "Fantasticamania 2012" Results day 2]. Súper Luchas (in Spanish). Retrieved January 22, 2012.
  19. Hornbaker 2016, p. 550.
  20. Arturo Montiel Rojas (August 30, 2001). "Reglamento de Boy Y Lucha Libre Professional del Estado de Mexico" (PDF) (in Spanish). Comisión de Box y Lucha Libre Mexico D.F. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 30, 2006. Retrieved April 3, 2009.
  21. Madigan 2007, p. 115.
  22. Ruiz Glez, Alex (March 14, 2011). "Arena México (resultados 13 de Marzo) ¡La Sombra nuevo campeón mundial histórico NWA de peso Welter!" [Arena México (results from March 13) ¡La Sombra is the new NWA World Historic Welterweight Champion]. Súper Luchas (in Spanish). Retrieved June 26, 2011.
  23. Blanco, Alejandro (February 14, 2012). "Negro Casas Nuevo Campeón Mundial Welter" [Negro Casas is the new world welterweight champion]. Cinco Radio (in Spanish). Archived from the original on October 20, 2013. Retrieved February 14, 2012.
  24. Salazar López, Alexis A. (June 3, 2013). "Resultados Arena México Domingo 2 de Junio '13" [Results from Arena México Saturday June 2 '13]. Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (in Spanish). Archived from the original on June 20, 2013. Retrieved June 3, 2013.
  25. Salazar López, Alexis A. (November 20, 2013). "Resultados Arena México Martes 19 de Noviembre '13" [Results from Arena México November 19 '13]. Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (in Spanish). Archived from the original on October 14, 2013. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
  26. Rosas Plata, Arturo (August 4, 2018). "¡Aceptan el reto!". Ovaciones (in Spanish). Archived from the original on September 23, 2018. Retrieved September 21, 2018.
  27. "Resultados CMLL Viernes Espectacular 20 de enero del 2023". 21 January 2023.

Bibliography
  • Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2000). Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present. Waterloo, ON: Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  • Hornbaker, Tim (2016). "Statistical notes". Legends of Pro Wrestling - 150 years of headlocks, body slams, and piledrivers (Revised ed.). New York, New York: Sports Publishing. ISBN 978-1-61321-808-2.
  • Madigan, Dan (2007). ""Okay... what is Lucha Libre?"". Mondo Lucha a Go Go: the bizarre & honorable world of wild Mexican wrestling. New York, New York: HarperCollins Publishers. p. 31. ISBN 978-0-06-085583-3. featuring clearly distinguished good guys and bad guys, or técnicos and rudos
  • Hornbaker, Tim (2007). "International Expansion". National Wrestling Alliance: the untold story of the monopoly that strangled pro wrestling. ECW Press. ISBN 978-1-55022-741-3.
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