6 Absurd Wrestling Championships You Won’t Believe Existed

6. NWA Western States Heritage Championship

In 1987, for reasons that aren’t exactly clear, the National Wrestling Alliance determined that the western portion of the United States needed their own title belt. As a result, the NWA Western States Heritage Championship was born.

This particular title almost could have made sense, had it been defended exclusively in the western states. However, this was not the case. In fact, the title was actually won by Larry Zbyszko in Union Dale, New York, which is definitely not a western state. Moreover, Zbyszko was billed as being from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which again is not a western state.

In essence, we had a Western States Heritage Championship being defended in the eastern portion of the United States (by Barry Windham) and won by a man being billed from Pennsylvania.

How does any of this make sense, and why exactly was this title created ?

Unsurprisingly, the it did not gain traction with wrestling fans.

When Zbyszko left the NWA to join the AWA in 1989, the title was officially retired after a life span of roughly a year and a half.