10 Things You Didn't Know About The NWA World Heavyweight Championship

6. It Was The First Ever Wrestling Title With A Nameplate

Cody Ron Killings
Pro Wrestling Illustrated

Now a routine feature of most major titles (particularly due to the merchandising potential, in the case of WWE), nameplates on titles weren't commonplace until the NWA Heavyweight Title briefly made it so in July 1973.

The 'Domed Globe' title was introduced ahead of the match and awarded to Race before the 'Handsome' Champion dropped it immediately to Jack Brisco. As per National Wrestling Alliance rules at the time, the titleholder had to be agreed by the committee of officials, so Jack's 500-day tenure was as worthy as any to debut both the new belt and the personalised branding.

Along with the red leather, the name plate didn't survive the rigours of his reign. As a first edition, the belt wasn't quite sturdy enough, with minor adjustments to it including a new black leather strap as well as fixes and alterations to the damaged gold plates. The name plate was a casualty of his wars, with vacant screw holes remaining a feature of the title until it was cleaned up during a mid-1990s remodelling.

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back almost 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 60,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett