Often overshadowed by the men’s title, the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, the NWA World Women’s Championship is the top women’s title of the National Wrestling Alliance. It’s about as historically significant too, with a lineage dating back to the first Women’s World Championship in 1910 before it “officially” established in 1953, and with a direct link to the WWE Women’s Championship in the 1980s.
While the NWA as an organization has had its ups and downs, the NWA World Women’s Championship is still going strong as a regular fixture these days in Billy Corgan’s rebooted NWA. Let’s take a look at 10 of the 25 women to hold this historic belt.
10 June Byers
Depending on where one looks, June Byers is either the first or second NWA World Women’s Champion thanks to a controversial finish during a 2/3 falls title match with Mildred Burke, who held the aforementioned Women’s World Championship that predated it. After the second fall, officials stopped the match and simply awarded the title to Byers, basically making her the first “official” NWA Women’s World Champion. After a couple of years, Byers herself would go unrecognized by some NWA territories, reigning until her retirement in 1964.
9 MsChif
While the NWA was certainly on the decline in the 1990s and 2000s when it wasn’t affiliated with a major televised promotion, there were still myriad NWA-affiliated territories across the United States where its titles could be defended. In January 2007, MsChif — an underrated indie wrestler who performed for Ring of Honor and SHIMMER — captured the World Women’s Championship in a bout with Christi Ricci, holding the belt for 98 days. In 2008, she’d win the belt again, with the ensuing 818-day reign being one of the longest of the 21st century.
8 Kamille
With Billy Corgan’s aforementioned NWA reboot came the introduction of Kamille. Sometimes billed as Kamille Brickhouse, Kamille started out as an enforcer for Nick Aldis and his Four Horsemen-esque faction Strictly Business. However, in 2020, she began regularly competing in the women’s division.
It was at June 2021’s When Our Shadows Fall pay-per-view that Kamille finally captured the NWA World Women’s Championship, defeating Serena Deeb to kick off a reign that’s fast approaching 400 days and counting.
7 Allysin Kay
When the NWA Powerrr era started up in 2019, the World Women’s Champion was Allysin Kay, who captured the previously vacant title beating Santana Garrett at 2019’s Crockett Cup. Known for her run in Impact Wrestling as Sienna, Kay held the belt for 272 days before dropping it to Thunder Rosa at the 2020 Hard Times pay-per-view. After losing the title, Allysin Kay has challenged for it twice to date, once in a rematch against Thunder Rosa and then against Serena Deeb in AEW.
6 Mildred Burke
The National Wrestling Alliance’s official lineage for the NWA World Women’s Championship begins with Mildred Burke, who won the original World Women’s Championship belt in 1937. After the aforementioned controversial finish with June Byers in 1954, Burke refused to acknowledge the stripping of the belt, deeming herself the WWWA Champion as part of her promotion, the World Wide Women’s Wrestling Association. Burke would prove a crucial figure in the history of women’s wrestling, helping bring her division to Japan, with the WWWA Title becoming part of the legendary All Japan Women’s Pro-Wrestling.
5 Serena Deeb
After being released from WWE in 2010, Serena Deeb’s pro wrestling career has had several stops and stars, including an entry in the 2017 Mae Young Classic. But in 2020 Deeb made a return to the sport and has been consistently wrestling ever since, first with AEW and then defeating Thunder Rosa for the NWA World Women’s Title on the seventh UWN Primetime Live weekly pay-per-view. Deeb defended the belt numerous times on AEW television, but ultimately lost the title to Kamille after a 228-day run.
4 Amazing Kong (a.k.a. Awesome Kong)
Before becoming part of Impact Wrestling, where she and Gail Kim changed the game for televised women’s wrestling, Awesome Kong (or Amazing Kong) was a sensation in Japan, having captured the aforementioned WWWA World Championship. In North America, she ended up holding two major women’s belts at the same time in 2008: the Impact Knockouts Champion and the NWA World Women’s Championship.
It was at an NWA Midwest show in May 2007 that Kong won the NWA title, defeating MsChif for the belt and holding it for 358 days.
3 Fabulous Moolah
When it comes to 20th century North American women’s wrestling, it’s tough to imagine a more significant figure than Fabulous Moolah, who basically had a stranglehold on not only the entire sport as it related to women, but also the NWA World Women’s Championship. The controversial Moolah held the belt on four occasions — with reigns ranging from 524 to 3,651 days — and when WWE decided to start its own women’s division in the 1980s, it began with Moolah, who brought the NWA World Women’s Title belt with her, and thus debuting as the WWE Women’s Champion.
2 Jazz
When it comes to modern champions, the longest reigning champion of the 21st century is Jazz. Best known for her runs in ECW, WWE, and more recently Impact Wrestling, the severely underrated Jazz held both the WWE and NWA World Women’s Championships. Her NWA reign came in 2016 when she won a three-way match with Christi Jaynes and previous champion Amber Gallows. Her reign lasted an impressive 948 days before she unfortunately vacated the belt for personal reasons.
1 Thunder Rosa
Easily the most popular modern wrestler to hold the NWA World Women’s Championship, Thunder Rosa first appeared on NWA Powerrr as a heel aligned with Melina and Marti Belle. Soon enough it proved that Thunder Rosa was too cool to be somebody’s goon, and quickly became a solo babyface, eventually defeating Allysin Kay to capture the NWA World Women’s Championship. Rosa, like several of her fellow champions, brought the title to AEW, where she defended it against Ivelisse.