World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship (original version)

World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship
One of the title belts used to represent the original World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship in the early 20th century
Details
Date established	May 4, 1905
Date retired	July 24, 1957
Statistics First champion(s) George Hackenschmidt Final champion(s) Lou Thesz Most reigns Ed Lewis (4 reigns) Longest reign Jim Londos (2,628 days) Shortest reign Stanislaus Zbyszko (45 days) Oldest champion Stanislaus Zbyszko (46 years, 15 days) Youngest champion Joe Stecher (22 years, 103 days)

The World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship was the first recognized professional wrestling world heavyweight championship created in 1905 to identify the best catch as catch can wrestler in the world.

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. The last several reigns are recognized by the NWA under the NWA World Heavyweight Championship's lineage.^[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.