Youth And The World Championship: How 10 Top Wrestling Companies Book New Stars

The long and complicated history of NWA could form the basis of its own university dissertation, with ebbs and flows constantly effected by working relationships, wrestler uprisings, unofficial title changes and cruel capitalist business.

Sticking with the NWA-recognised timeline, the 70+ year lineage of the NWA Championship – across its various iterations – stands with an average age of 34 for a new World Champion.

The early days quickly moved from the mid 30s-40-year-old Champions of Whipper Billy Watson, Pat O'Connor and Buddy Rodgers, to 36 being the oldest new champion the NWA would see in a period between 1969 and 1984.

The Jim Crockett Promotion/World Championship Wrestling affiliate days seemed to have a vested interest in the new generation of stars as they began competition with WWE, averaging 32 for a new champion, before dropping further following WCW's abdication from NWA in 1993.

As previously mentioned, the TNA days were pretty wild with youthful exuberance of AJ Styles, Ron Killings and Rhino being matched by Jeff Jarrett, Raven and Ken Shamrock, and as NWA sought independence once again, the average age has steadily risen, with 29 being the youngest new champion since 2007, include four over forty and 52-year-old Tim Storm.