{{TitleDefenseLine|4|[[Tony Salazar]]|[[1979]].[[07.14]]|[[Puebla]]|<ref>Box y Lucha 1394</ref>}}
{{TitleDefenseLine|4|[[Tony Salazar]]|[[1979]].[[07.14]]|[[Puebla]]|<ref>Box y Lucha 1394</ref>}}
{{TitleDefenseLine|5|[[Sangre Chicana]]|[[1979]].[[08.26]]|[[Arena Coliseo]]|<ref>[http://wrestlingclassics.com/.ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=10;t=004609 Matt Farmer]</ref>}}
{{TitleDefenseLine|5|[[Sangre Chicana]]|[[1979]].[[08.26]]|[[Arena Coliseo]]|<ref>[http://wrestlingclassics.com/.ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=10;t=004609 Matt Farmer]</ref>}}
{{TitleHistorySpan|'''[[NWA World Middleweight Contender Tournament, 1979|8 man tournament for title match]]'''}}
{{TitleDefenseSpan|'''[[NWA World Middleweight Contender Tournament, 1979|8 man tournament for title match]]'''}}
{{TitleDefenseLine|1|[[Ringo Mendoza]]|[[1979]].[[09.21]]|[[Arena México]]|<ref>[http://www.cronicasyleyendasdelaluchalibre.com/?p=3781 Cronicas Y Leyendas], Box Y Lucha 1214</ref>}}
{{TitleDefenseLine|1|[[Ringo Mendoza]]|[[1979]].[[09.21]]|[[Arena México]]|<ref>[http://www.cronicasyleyendasdelaluchalibre.com/?p=3781 Cronicas Y Leyendas], Box Y Lucha 1214</ref>}}
El Averno was the 85th champion, having won it on November 30, 2007 in Arena Mexico. The championship is current inactive.
History of Championship
The NWA World Middleweight Championship dated back to the early 1920s. The NWA name only existed to establish it as a world championship; since the 30s, it has been property of EMLL (much later CMLL.) It's one of the oldest active wrestling championships in the world.
Corazon de Leon won the championship on December 7, 1993 by defeating Mano Negra. Negra had defeated Bestia Salvaje in a hair match the night prior, but suffered an ankle injury during the match. Leon attacked the hurt ankle, beating Negra in the same straight falls via anklelock. This would be the last time this title would change hands in a CMLL ring for over a decade.
For most of it's existence, the NWA World Middleweight Championship been held by Mexican wrestlers and defended in Mexico. In 1994, the title was sold to Ultimo Dragon, who brought it to Japan to be defended first by himself, and later as a championship belt for his promotions. When Ultimo Dragon left Japan to join WWE in 2003, he sold the belt back to CMLL. CMLL did nothing with it for a year, before doing a decision match with no particular build up.
On 01/01/05, Mistico beat Averno for the NWA World Middleweight Championship, using it as a launch point for his rise to the top of the promotion. Mistico winning was not an upset, but it signaled his transition from a momentarily favored young wrestler to a new permanent star. The match was well received, and the two met many times the rest of the year in rematches of the initial title match (which has never been shown on television.)
Black Warrior won the belt from Mistico, as part of the lead up to their mask match, and to provide big rematches after Mistico won the mask. Mistico was finally able to get the belt back on Kid's Day, 2007.
Averno won the belt back from Mistico in November of 2007. Despite holding the belt for almost 3 years, defenses were rare and the championship was rarely considered.
On August 12, 2010, CMLL announced a change with the NWA group of championships. The current physical title belts were all retired, replaced by newly belts with a different design. The old belts are now part of CMLL's mobile museum, though copies of them have turned up elsewhere.
CMLL referred to the new championships as the CMLL Historic Championships and said the former NWA champions would be the first champions of the new belts. Outside not getting the physical belt back, that appeared to satisfy the NWA's complaints about using their trademarks. However, since within weeks of that press conference, CMLL had changed course. The championships were referred to as NWA World Historic Championships.
This title has not been revived by NWA Mexico.
Champions Listing
#
Champion(s)
Defeated
Date
Location
reigning National Wrestling Association champion declared first champion
↑Rolando Vera defeated El Santo in Arena Coliseo Monterrey on 1956.08.19, but the Mexico City commission rules it not to be a title match after the fact, declaring Santo had defended the title too many times recently and Vera had lost in two previous title challenges. The commission attempted to return the belt to Santo, who refused it. The title was vacant going into a rematch two months later - SuperLuchas
↑Matt Farmer; Guajardo quits EMLL in April 1974 to start a rival promotion but attempts to continue defending this title following the precedent of Gori Guerrero a decade prior with the NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship. A Guajardo defense on July 5th in Monterrey leads to NWA stripping the title 12 days later. Guajardo continues defending the belt until the introduction of the UWA championships
Guajardo left EMLL in 1974 to work as an independent, a decision that would eventually lead to LLI. Guajardo was NWA Middleweight Championship at the time, though the championship had basically become an in-house EMLL title. Guajardo, following the precedent set by Gori Guerrero over the NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship a decade prior, declared only the NWA could decide when he was no longer champion and kept the physical belt. He proceeded to defend the championship against fellow recent EMLL departure El Solitario multiple times. The NWA eventually ruled Guajardo invalidated his claim on the NWA championship by defending the belt on non-NWA shows. That ruling means Guajardo technically vacated the championship by accepting the first defense on July 5th, though he continued to promote champion until a January 29, 1975 'unification' match.
NWA authorized EMLL to hold a tournament to determine a new champion. Anibal won the vacant championship on September 20, 1974. He was given a new championship belt, Guajardo still holding on to the previous one. Anibal himself quit EMLL around January 24, 1975, signing with Promociones Mora to immediately face Guajarado in a "champion" versus "champion". Like Guajardo, Anibal held onto the belt and proclaimed himself still champion. The precedent set with Guajardo meant Anibal was automatically stripped for the 'unification' match, and it is not considered an official defense. (The reality was the show drew an estimated 21,000 fans to see who was the real champion.) Anibal defeated Guajardo by disqualification when Guajardo knocked out Anibal with an illegal punch.
Guajardo didn't honor that as a title change due to the finish and defended it once more before losing the title in Monterrey two months later. Guajardo later regained it in October.
Despite losing, Rene Guajardo would again defend his version of the title again on March 3rd against Dory Dixon in Ciudad Juarez.
The UWA World Middleweight Championship was announced soon after the last title change, supplanting the role for this unrecognized championship. Guajardo would again beat Anibal (though by countout), implicitly carrying the lineage of this championship into the new title.
