Date established October 1, 1990 Most reigns Beau James (5) | First champion(s) Tennessee Equalizer Shortest reign Beau James (7 days) | |
Promotion Southern States Wrestling Longest reign Wayne Rogers (336 days) | ||
The Southern States Wrestling (SSW) Heavyweight Championship is the primary professional wrestling championship in Southern States Wrestling. It was first won by The Tennessee Equalizer when he defeated George Hiatt in Elizabethton, Tennessee on February 16, 1991. The title is generally defended in the Southern United States, most often in its home base in East Tennessee, but also as far away as Virginia and West Virginia. In August 2004, then champion Ray Idol began wrestling for rival promotion NWA Championship Wrestling. Although he was immediately stripped of the title, Idol continued defending a different NWA Championship Wrestling-version under the SSW name. However, this was short-lived and the title became a regular title within the main promotion. There are 31 recognized champions with a total of 48 title reigns.
The current champion is Eric Darkstorm, who regained the title from Kyle Matthews on November 29, 2013 in a one-hour Iron Man match, defeating Matthews six falls to five.