Harman Patil (Editor)

IWA Undisputed World Heavyweight Championship

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Date established
  
2000

Date retired
  
2012

Promotion
  
International Wrestling Association

Most reigns
  
Glamour Boy Shane (10 reigns)

Longest reign
  
Chris Angel and Ray González (182 days)

Shortest reign
  
Jay-Cobs (Less on 1 day)

The IWA Undisputed World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship contested for in the Puerto Rican professional wrestling promotion, the International Wrestling Association. The championship was established in 2000, as the IWA World Heavyweight Championship.

Contents

Unification with the "Capitol World Heavyweight Championship"

On December 15, 2007, Scott Hall failed to attend a titular defense which led to the fictional local box and wrestling commission's decision to vacate the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship and award it to the number one contender who at the moment was Miguel "Biggie Size" Maldonado. On December 30, the Universal Heavyweight Championship was declared vacant following the events where he was declared the champion following Hall's absence to Lockout. The commission's decision was announced during the company's holiday recess and Maldonado retained the championship belt in custody.

On January 6, 2008, Jack Meléndez who had been managing La Rabia, the stable where he performed abandoned the company citing differences with the company's personnel. Following Meléndez's exit from the company the stable abandoned the company no-showing the a special event scheduled for January 6, 2008. On January 6, Maldonado appeared in the IWA's Histeria Boricua event, with the championship belt still in his possession and challenged Freddie "Blitz" Lozada, who was the IWA World Heavyweight Champion to a unification match. The match took place later in the event with Lozada winning both belts. Following this match WWC's merchandising manager, José Roberto Rodríguez, who had been allowed entry into the building, demanded that the belt was returned to him, but at the moment the IWA's personnel had replaced the belt with Revolution X-Treme Wrestling's championship belt (at the moment in Savio Vega's possession) and had transferred the Universal Heavyweight Championship to a secure location, which led to a discussion between personnel from both companies and Rodríguez's expulsion from the event. After the event's conclusion police officers were deployed and the IWA retained physical possession of the championship. Following this the belt was returned to WWC personnel following an ultimatum, which claimed that the company would take legal action if it wasn't returned within forty-eight hours. However, both the International Wrestling Association and the National Wrestling Alliance recognized the unification match, and considered Lozada the first Undisputed World Heavyweight Champion in Puerto Rico.

International exposure

Beginning in 2009, the IWA Undisputed World Unified Heavyweight Championship began becoming involved in several inter-promotional "champion vs. champion" contests. The first of these took place on January 6, 2009, where Carlos "Chicano" Cotto was booked to defend the title against Total Nonstop Action Wrestling's Legends Champion, Booker T. The contest was part of an annual event titled "Histeria Boricua". The conclusion came when Cotto inverted a "Book End" attempt, scoring a pinfall victory. On February 14, 2009, the promotion held a special event named "Noche de Campeónes". In this card, Cotto defended the championship against Samoa Joe. During the final stages of the fight, Noel Rodríguez intervened, injuring the referee. Both wrestlers continued performing, with Cotto scoring a pinfall victory after reverting a finisher and receiving the count from a substitute referee. On April 18, 2009, Cotto was challenged to an unification contest by Joe Bravo, who held the DWE Dominican National Championship, the major title of Dominican Wrestling Entertainment based in the Dominican Republic. Bravo won with the help of a heel referee, becoming a dual champion. The next titleholder to challenge for the belt was Jerry Lynn, Ring of Honor's World Champion, who unsuccessfully competed against Bravo and Chicano in a three-way match. This was part of the "Juicio Final 2009" card. On May 29, 2009, Bravo defended the IWA and DWE championships in Panama, defeating El Cuervo as part of a Revolution X-Treme Wrestling card. On November 1, 2009, Bravo and the incumbent WWC Universal Heavyweight Champion, Shane Sewell, performed in a DWE event, with the DWE Dominican National Championship being held up after the creative team booked a no contest. This marked the first instance that the two major champions worked together while holding full recognitions by both promotions.

IWA vs. EWO, Clash of the Titans

At Summer Attitude 2011, Chris Angel defeated Hiram Tua to become the first undefeated Undisputed World Champion. He went on to defeat all contenders, one of them being Cotto, who was subsequently fired by Pérez after questioning his involvement in a match between both. This event launched a storyline between the IWA and the Extreme Wrestling Organization, the largest independent company and de facto third main promotion in Puerto Rico. On December 17, 2011, Cotto won the EWO Championship, only to be interrupted by Pérez. This was in response to a previous confrontation between both, that occurred following an unrelated charity card. After defending the title at Tierra de Nadie 2012, Pérez once again reclaimed his contract. At Histeria Boricua, Angel was absent for a scheluded defense due to a storyline injury, which resulted in the title being stripped from him. The interim General Manager went on to proclaim himself champion, issuing an open challenge which was accepted by EWO's first contender, a masked wrestler known only as "Bonecrusher", who won it Ina squash match. The confrontations between Cotto and Pérez continued in two of IWA's events expanding to include EWO's CEO, Richard Rondón, as well. On February 25, 2012, following more intervention from the IWA, Cotto issued a challenge to end the conflict, an unification match for the EWO Championship and IWA Undisputed World Heavyweight Championship. On March 1, 2012, the challenge was accepted by Pérez and Rondón in a backstage segment. At Clash of the Titans, Bonecrusher defeated Cotto, becoming Unified Champion. In 2012, IWA folded, so the title was vacated.

References

IWA Undisputed World Heavyweight Championship Wikipedia


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