| WWF North American Heavyweight Championship | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 The North American Heavyweight Championship belt. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Details | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Promotion | World Wrestling Federation (WWF) New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Date established | February 13, 1979 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Date retired | April 23, 1981 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Other names | |||||||||||||||||||||
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TheWWF North American Heavyweight Championship was a relatively short-lived title in theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) from 1979 until 1981.[1] It was established as theWWWF North American Heavyweight Championship on February 13, 1979 before the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) was renamed to WWF the following month. The inaugural champion wasTed DiBiase and the final champion wasSeiji Sakaguchi.[2]
Second championPat Patterson was recognized by the WWF asIntercontinental Heavyweight Championship after he reported on WWF television that he had won a (fictitious) one-night tournament inRio de Janeiro to create a new overall title.[3][4] Nonetheless, the North American title was later awarded to Seiji Sakaguchi after he defeated Patterson on aNew Japan Pro-Wrestlinghouse show.[5]
In March 2018, the now WWE established a new North American championship for theirNXT brand, theNXT North American Championship, and in 2024, created theNXT Women's North American Championship. These new titles, however, do not carry the lineage of the promotion's original North American championship.[6]
Over the championship's two-year history, there were only three reigns among three champions.Ted DiBiase was the inaugural champion, withSeiji Sakaguchi being the last. Sakaguchi has the longest reign at 532 days, while DiBiase has the shortest at 126 days.Pat Patterson was the oldest champion at 38 years old, while DiBiase being the youngest at 25 years old.
| Name | Years |
|---|---|
| WWWF North American Heavyweight Championship | February 13, 1979 – March 30, 1979 |
| WWF North American Heavyweight Championship | March 30, 1979 – June 13, 1980 |
| No. | Overall reign number |
|---|---|
| Reign | Reign number for the specific champion |
| Days | Number of days held |
| No. | Champion | Championship change | Reign statistics | Notes | Ref. | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Event | Location | Reign | Days | |||||||
| National Wrestling Alliance:World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) | |||||||||||
| 1 | Ted DiBiase | February 13, 1979 | Championship Wrestling tapings | Allentown, PA | 1 | 126 | Awarded the title when he signed with the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF). The following month, the WWWF was renamed to World Wrestling Federation (WWF), and the title was renamed accordingly. | [5] | |||
| National Wrestling Alliance:World Wrestling Federation (WWF) | |||||||||||
| 2 | Pat Patterson | June 19, 1979 | Championship Wrestling tapings | Allentown, PA | 1 | 158 | [5] | ||||
| 3 | Seiji Sakaguchi | November 8, 1979 | House show | Otaru,Japan | 1 | 532 | This was aNew Japan Pro-Wrestling event. | [5] | |||
| — | Deactivated | April 23, 1981 | — | — | — | — | The WWF abandoned the title. | [5] | |||
