IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Championship

The IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Championship is the major title in the Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South based in Louisville, Kentucky. The title debuted at the "Crowning of a Champion" event on April 3, 1997, when Tower of Doom won a twelve man tournament.

IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Championship
Details
Promotion	Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South
Date established	April 3, 1997
Current champion(s)	Jake Crist
Date won	July 31, 2020
Statistics First champion(s) Tower of Doom Most reigns Ian Rotten (8 reigns) Longest reign Kongo Kong (518 days)

Title history

#	Order in reign history
Reign	The reign number for the specific wrestler listed
Event	The event in which the title was won
—	Used for vacated reigns so as not to count it as an official reign
N/A	The information is not available or is unknown
+	Indicates the current reign is changing daily

Rank	Wrestler	Reign	Date	Days held	Location	Event	Notes
1	Tower of Doom	1	April 3, 1997	21	Louisville, KY	Crowing Of A Champion	Defeated Ox Harley and Bull Pain in a tournament final three-way match to become inaugural champion.
2	Doug Gilbert	1	April 24, 1997	86	Louisville, KY	N/A
—	Vacated	—	July 19, 1997	—	Louisville, KY	Extreme Heaven 1997
3	Ian Rotten	1	July 19, 1997	12	Louisville, KY	Extreme Heaven 1997	Defeated Bull Pain in a No Ropes Barbed Wire match for the vacated title.
4	Bull Pain	1	July 31, 1997	42	Louisville, KY	N/A
5	Tracy Smothers	1	September 11, 1997	7	Louisville, KY	Live Event
6	Salvatore Sincere	1	September 18, 1997	47	Louisville, KY	Live Event	[1]
7	Bull Pain	2	November 4, 1997	3	Louisville, KY	1st Anniversary Show	This was a three-way match, also involving Tracy Smothers.
8	Buddy Landel	1	November 7, 1997	1	Lexington, KY	Live Event
9	Bull Pain	3	November 8, 1997	3	Bardstown, KY	Live Event
—	Vacated	—	November 11, 1997	—	Louisville, KY	Live Event	Held up following a match against Paul Diamond, that ended on a double pinfall.
10	Bull Pain	4	December 9, 1997	66	Louisville, KY	Live Event	Defeated Paul Diamond in a rematch for the vacated title.
11	Axl Rotten	1	February 13, 1998	70	Lexington, KY	Live Event
—	Vacated	—	April 24, 1998	—	Louisville, KY	Heavyweight Title Tournament
12	Ox Harley	1	April 24, 1998	34	Louisville, KY	Heavyweight Title Tournament	Defeated Harry Palmer in a tournament final for the vacated title.
13	The Midnight Rider (Ian Rotten)	2	May 28, 1998	45	Louisville, KY	Live Event	Defeated Tower of Doom, who had been given authority to defend Harley's title.
14	Billy Joe Eaton	1	July 12, 1998	18	Kalamazoo, MI	N/A
15	Ian Rotten	3	July 30, 1998	7	Louisville, KY	Extreme Heaven 1998
16	Harry Palmer	1	August 6, 1998	99	Louisville, KY	Live Event
17	Corporal Robinson	1	November 13, 1998	21	West Point, KY	Live Event
18	Ian Rotten	4	December 4, 1998	33	Salem, IN	Live Event
19	Corporal Robinson	2	January 6, 1999	1	Charlestown, IN	Live Event
20	Ian Rotten	5	January 7, 1999	7	Louisville, KY	Live Event	This was a Title vs. Title match, also contested for Ian Rotten's MAW Heavyweight Championship.
21	Suicide Kid	1	January 14, 1999	7	Louisville, KY	Live Event	[2]
22	Chip Fairway	1	January 21, 1999	7	Louisville, KY	Live Event
23	Suicide Kid	2	January 28, 1999	5	Louisville, KY	Live Event
—	Vacated	—	February 2, 1999	—	N/A	Live Event	Held up by Ian Rotten following a Two Out Of Three Falls match between Suicide Kid and Chip Fairway due to several interferences.
24	Chip Fairway	2	February 3, 1999	85	Charlestown, IN	Live Event	Defeated Suicide Kid in a ladder match for the vacated title.
25	Ian Rotten	6	April 29, 1999	100	Salem, IN	Showdown in Salem	1
26	Rollin' Hard	1	August 7, 1999	53	Oolitic, IN	Hardcore Throwdown
27	Mad Man Pondo	1	September 29, 1999	147	Louisville, KY	N/A
28	2 Tuff Tony	1	February 23, 2000	31	Charlestown, IN	Live Event	This was a Fans Bring The Weapons match. On March 4, 2 Tuff Tony defeated reigning Hardcore Champion Delilah Starr and Mad Man Pondo in a two-on-one handicap match to unify the IWA Mid-South Hardcore Championship and IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Championship.
29	Blaze	1	March 25, 2000	7	Charlestown, IN	The Out Back Brawl	This was a Falls Count Anywhere match.
30	Axl Rotten	2	April 1, 2000	0 – 70	Charlestown, IN	No Jokes, Just Pain	This was a Lumberjack Strap match.
—	Vacated	—	April / June 2000	—	N/A	N/A
31	Rollin' Hard	2	June 10, 2000	14	Charlestown, IN	N/A	Defeated Ian Rotten in a tournament final for the vacated title.
32	Ian Rotten	7	June 24, 2000	7	Charlestown, IN	No Blood No Guts No Glory 2	This was a Four Corners Of Pain Salt match.
33	Rollin' Hard	3	July 1, 2000	30	Charlestown, IN	Heroes, Hurt & Hot Wax	This was a Four Corners Of Pain match.
34	Mitch Page	1	July 31, 2000	5	N/A	N/A	Awarded the title by Ian Rotten due to Rollin' Hard's inability to defend the title due to injury.
35	Bull Pain	5	August 5, 2000	35	Charlestown, IN	From Hardcore Hell And Back 2000
—	Vacated	—	September 9, 2000	—	Charlestown, IN	N/A	Bull Pain was stripped of the title due to a no-show.
36	Harry Palmer	2	September 22, 2000	1	Charlestown, IN	Heavyweight Title Tournament	Defeated Cash Flo in a tournament final for the vacated title.
—	Vacated	—	September 23, 2000	—	Charlestown, IN	Live Event	Held up following a lumberjack match against Cash Flo.
37	Harry Palmer	3	September 27, 2000	16	Charlestown, IN	Live Event	Defeated Cash Flo and Rollin' Hard in a Belt On A Pole three-way match for the vacated title.
38	Suicide Kid	3	October 13, 2000	8	Charlestown, IN	4th Anniversary Show
—	Vacated	—	October 21, 2000	—	Charlestown, IN	King Of The Death Matches 2000 – Day 2	Held up following a match against Todd Morton.
39	Todd Morton	1	October 25, 2000	42	Charlestown, IN	Live Event	Defeated Suicide Kid in a ladder match for the vacated title.
40	Ian Rotten	8	December 6, 2000	24	Charlestown, IN	Live Event
41	Cash Flo	1	December 30, 2000	39	Charlestown, IN	For The Love Of Money
42	Blaze	2	February 7, 2001	24	Charlestown, IN	N/A
43	2 Tuff Tony	2	March 3, 2001	35	Charlestown, IN	Nightmare on Highway 62
44	Mitch Page	2	April 7, 2001	42	Charlestown, IN	April Bloodshowers 2001	This was a three-way match, also involving Rollin' Hard.
45	Trent Baker	1	May 19, 2001	56	Charlestown, IN	Live Event
46	Hido	1	July 14, 2001	4	Charlestown, IN	Live Event	This was a three-way match, also involving Chip Fairway.
—	Vacated	—	July 18, 2001	—	Charlestown, IN	Live Event	Vacated after Hido's loss to Necro Butcher in a "loser leaves town" match.
47	Suicide Kid	4	July 21, 2001	14	Charlestown, IN	Heavyweight Title Tournament	Defeated Mitch Page in a tournament final Fans Bring The Weapons Falls Count Anywhere match for the vacated title.
48	Trent Baker	2	August 4, 2001	77	Charlestown, IN	N/A
49	Chris Hero	1	October 20, 2001	46	Charlestown, IN	5th Anniversary Show
50	CM Punk	1	December 5, 2001	86	Indianapolis, IN	Live Event
51	Eddie Guerrero	1	March 1, 2002	1	Indianapolis, IN	Spring Heat	This was a three-way match, also involving Rey Mysterio.
52	CM Punk	2	March 2, 2002	48	Morris, IL	Morris Mayhem
53	Colt Cabana	1	April 19, 2002	84	Dayton, OH	Live Event	This was a three-way match, also involving Eddie Guerrero.
54	Chris Hero	2	July 12, 2002	85	Clarksville, IN	King Of The Death Matches 2002 – Day 1
55	M-Dogg 20	1	October 5, 2002	21	Clarksville, IN	6th Anniversary Show
56	CM Punk	3	October 26, 2002	7	Clarksville, IN	Live Event	This was a gauntlet match, also involving Bull Pain, Danny Daniels, Ian Rotten and Necro Butcher.
57	B.J. Whitmer	1	November 2, 2002	42	Clarksville, IN	Ted Petty Invitational 2002 – Day 2	Defeated CM Punk in the finals of the Ted Petty invitational tournament.
58	CM Punk	4	December 14, 2002	55	Clarksville, IN	Live Event
59	Chris Hero	3	February 7, 2003	120	Clarksville, IN	When Hero Met Punk	This was a Two Out Of Three Falls match.
60	Mark Wolf	1	June 7, 2003	35	Clarksville, IN	When Good Friends Go Bad
—	Vacated	—	July 12, 2003	—	Clarksville, IN	Live Event	Title vacated due to numerous injuries to Wolf.
61	Chris Hero	4	July 12, 2003	21	Clarksville, IN	Live Event	Defeated Danny Daniels in a Two Out Of Three Falls match for the vacated title.
62	Danny Daniels	1	August 2, 2003	167	Clarksville, IN	King Of The Death Matches 2003 – Day 2	This was a Texas Death match.
63	Jerry Lynn	1	January 16, 2004	84	Oolitic, IN	A Matter Of Pride	[3]
64	B.J. Whitmer	2	April 9, 2004	50	Oolitic, IN	April Bloodshowers 2004	This was a 30 Minute Iron Man match.
65	Petey Williams	1	May 29, 2004	112	Highland, IN	A Shot Of Southern Comfort
66	Arik Cannon	1	September 18, 2004	33	Highland, IN	Ted Petty Invitational 2004 – Day 2
—	Vacated	—	October 21, 2004	—	Evansville, IN	Autumn Armageddon	Title vacated due to Cannon suffering a broken collarbone.
67	A.J. Styles	1	October 21, 2004	2	Evansville, IN	Autumn Armageddon	Defeated Petey Williams, Christopher Daniels and Chris Sabin in a four-way match for the vacated title.
68	CM Punk	5	October 23, 2004	104	Highland, IN	8th Anniversary Show: Dreams Do Come True
69	Danny Daniels	2	February 4, 2005	56	Valparaiso, IN	Indiana State Title Tournament
70	Jimmy Jacobs	1	April 1, 2005	295	Herrin, IL	April Bloodshowers 2005
71	Arik Cannon	2	January 21, 2006	91	Midlothian, IL	No Retreat... No Surrender	This was a Falls Count Anywhere match.
72	Darin Corbin	1	April 22, 2006	42	Midlothian, IL	Any Given Saturday
73	Trik Davis	1	June 3, 2006	14	Plainfield, IN	King Of The Death Matches 2006 – Day 2	This was a three-way elimination match, also involving Arik Cannon.
74	Toby Klein	1	June 17, 2006	105	Streamwood, IL	School's Out	Won title shot by eliminating Chris Hero in previous night battle royal.
75	Chuck Taylor	1	September 30, 2006	364	Midlothian, IL	Ted Petty Invitational 2006 – Day 2
76	Mike Quackenbush	1	September 29, 2007	69	Midlothian, IL	Ted Petty Invitational 2007 – Day 2	This was a three-way match in the finals of the Ted Petty Invitational, also involving Claudio Castagnoli, where Quackenbush's IWA Mid-South Light Heavyweight Championship was also on the line.
77	Eddie Kingston	1	December 7, 2007	127	Plainfield, IL	A Rotten Farewell	This was a multiple Title Four Corners Elimination match, also involving Chris Hero and Chuck Taylor, where Taylor also won Quackenbush's IWA Mid-South Light Heavyweight Championship.
—	Vacated	—	April 12, 2008	—	Joliet, IL	April Blood Showers 2008	IWA Mid-South promoter Ian Rotten declared the title vacant due to Kingston missing two consecutive events due to flight problems.
78	Chuck Taylor	2	May 3, 2008	48	Joliet, IL	A Night Of Champions	Defeated Claudio Castagnoli in an eight-man one-night tournament final for the vacated title.
79	Dingo	1	June 20, 2008	518	Sellersburg, IN	King Of The Death Matches 2008 – Day 1
—	Vacated	—	November 20, 2009	—	Addison, IL	Chapter 2: In The Beginning	Dingo vacated the title after sustaining a broken neck a month prior.
80	Kongo Kong	1	June 29, 2014	336	Clarksville, IN	Suicidal Tendencies 2014	Defeated Hy-Zaya in a tournament final for the vacated title.
81	Hy-Zaya	1	May 31, 2015	103	New Albany, IN	Bad Intentions 2015
82	Shane Mercer	1	September 11, 2015	28	Clarksville, IN	Home Sweet Home
83	John Wayne Murdoch	1	October 9, 2015	0	Clarksville, IN	19th Anniversary Show
84	Reed Bentley	1	October 9, 2015	49	Clarksville, IN	19th Anniversary Show
85	John Wayne Murdoch	2	November 27, 2015	7	Clarksville, IN	Young Guns Shoot Out	This was a Texas Death match.
86	Reed Bentley	2	December 4, 2015	7	Clarksville, IN	Unfinished Business
87	Kongo Kong	2	December 11, 2015	142	Clarksville, IN	Ted Petty Invitational 2015
88	Reed Bentley	3	May 1, 2016	67	New Albany, IN	Derby Madness 2016
89	John Wayne Murdoch	3	July 7, 2016	0	Clarksville, IN	The Star Spangled Spectacular
90	JJ Garrett	1	July 7, 2016	91	Clarksville, IN	The Star Spangled Spectacular
91	Tracy Smothers	2	October 6, 2016	77	Clarksville, IN	20th Anniversary Show	Owner and operator of rival promotion D1W (Destination One Wrestling) interfered and cost Garrett the Championship and proclaimed it as the D1W Championship.
92	Mitch Page	3	December 22, 2016	0	Jeffersonville, IN	Winter Tryout Show
—	Vacated	—	December 22, 2016	—	Jeffersonville, IN	Winter Tryout Show	Immediately vacated due to Mitch Page retiring from wrestling.
93	John Wayne Murdoch	4	January 5, 2017	51	Jeffersonville, IN	Out With The Old, In With The New 2017	Defeated Aaron Williams in a tournament final for the vacated title.
94	Dave Crist	1	February 25, 2017	73	Memphis, IN	Ruler Of Men
—	Vacated	—	May 9, 2017	—	N/A	N/A	Vacated due to injury.
95	Aaron Williams	1	May 25, 2017	0	Jeffersonville, IN	The Champ Is Here	Defeated Larry D in a tournament final for the vacated title.
96	Larry D	1	May 25, 2017	7	Jeffersonville, IN	The Champ Is Here	Cashed in his Opportunity In A Box contract.
97	Michael Elgin	1	June 1, 2017	92	Jeffersonville, IN	Ian Rotten Birthday Bash
—	Vacated	—	September 1, 2017	—	N/A	N/A
98	Aaron Williams	2	September 9, 2017	75	Jeffersonville, IN	Crowning A Champion 2017	Defeated Dingo in a tournament final for the vacated title.
99	Jimmy Jacobs	2	November 23, 2017	44	Memphis, IN	Bloodfeast 2017
—	Vacated	—	January 6, 2018	—	N/A	N/A	Vacated due to injury.
100	Mance Warner	1	January 11, 2018	7	Memphis, IN	No Easy Road To The Crown	Defeated Ace Perry in a tournament final for the vacated title.
101	Jake Crist	1	January 18, 2018	1	Memphis, IN	800th Show
102	Aaron Williams	3	January 19, 2018	13	Memphis, IN	A Hard Day's Night
103	Mance Warner	2	February 1, 2018	70	Memphis, IN	We Are IWA	This was a three-way elimination match, also involving Jake Crist.
104	Calvin Tankman	1	April 12, 2018	21	Memphis, IN	House show
105	John Wayne Murdoch	5	May 3, 2018	16	Memphis, IN	IWA Mid-South Spring Heat 2018
106	Nick Gage	1	May 19, 2018	104
—	Vacated	—	August 31, 2018	—	N/A	N/A
107	Michael Elgin	2	August 31, 2018	22	Memphis, IN	A Labor Of Love
108	Aaron Williams	4	September 22, 2018	40	Indianapolis, IN	Ted Petty Invitational 2018 - Day 2
109	Logan James	1	November 1, 2018	21	Jeffersonville, IN	November Pain
110	Aaron Williams	5	November 22, 2018	113	Indianapolis, IN	Wrestlefeast 2018
111	Larry D	2	March 15, 2019	97	Jeffersonville, IN	900th Show
112	Kongo Kong	3	June 20, 2019	85	Jeffersonville, IN	This is Us
113	Aaron Williams	6	September 13, 2019	<1	Jeffersonville, IN	Ted Petty Invitational Tournament 2019 Day 2	This was a 3 Way match also including Matthew Justice[4]
114	Larry D	3	September 13, 2019	65	Jeffersonville, IN	Ted Petty Invitational Tournament 2019 Day 2	This was the final of the Ted Petty Invitational Tournament [5]
115	Kevin Giza	1	November 17, 2019	67	Jeffersonville, IN	She's Still Amazing	[6]
116	Aaron Williams	7	January 23, 2020	42	Jeffersonville, IN	No Retreat No Surrender 2020	[7]
117	Ace Perry	1	March 5, 2020	148	Jeffersonville, IN	Let The Madness Begin	[8]
118	Jake Crist	2	July 31, 2020	9+	Jeffersonville, IN	King of Death Matches Day 1	[9]

Combined reigns

As of August 9, 2020.

†	Indicates the current champion

Rank	Wrestler	No. of reigns	Combined days
1	Kongo Kong	3	563
2	Dingo	1	518
3	Chuck Taylor	2	412
4	Jimmy Jacobs	2	339
5	CM Punk	5	300
6	Aaron Williams	7	283
7	Chris Hero	4	272
8	Ian Rotten	8	235
9	Danny Daniels	2	223
6	Larry D	3	169
10	Bull Pain	5	149
11	Mad Man Pondo	1	147
12	Trent Baker	2	133
13	Eddie Kingston	1	127
14	Arik Cannon	2	124
15	Reed Bentley	3	123
16	Harry Palmer	3	116
17	Michael Elgin	2	114
	Mance Warner	2	114
19	Petey Williams	1	112
20	Toby Klein	1	105
21	Nick Gage	1	104
22	Hy-Zaya	1	103
23	Rollin' Hard	3	97
24	Ace Perry †	1	157+
25	B.J. Whitmer	2	92
	Chip Fairway	2	92
27	JJ Garrett	1	91
28	Doug Gilbert	1	86
29	Colt Cabana	1	84
	Jerry Lynn	1	84
	Tracy Smothers	2	84
32	John Wayne Murdoch	5	74
33	Dave Crist	1	73
34	Axl Rotten	2	70–140
36	Mike Quackenbush	1	69
37	Kevin Giza	1	67
38	2 Tuff Tony	2	66
39	Mitch Page	3	47
	Salvatore Sincere	1	47
41	Darin Corbin	1	42
	Todd Morton	1	42
43	Cash Flo	1	39
44	Mark Wolf	1	35
45	Ox Harley	1	34
	Suicide Kid	4	34
47	Shane Mercer	1	28
48	Corporal Robinson	2	22
49	Calvin Tankman	1	21
	Logan James	1	21
	M-Dogg 20	1	21
	Tower of Doom	1	21
53	Billy Joe Eaton	1	18
54	Trik Davis	1	14
55	Hido	1	4
56	A.J. Styles	1	2
57	Buddy Landel	1	1
	Eddie Guerrero	1	1
	Jake Crist	1	1

See also

• Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South
• History of professional wrestling in the United States

References

1. "Pro wrestling history (9/18): Flair pins Dusty, Triple H defeats CM Punk in No DQ". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. September 18, 2015. Retrieved January 25, 2020.
2. Hoops, Brian (January 14, 2019). "Pro wrestling history (01/14): Christian wins NWA World Title". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved January 18, 2019.
3. Hoops, Brian (January 16, 2019). "Pro wrestling history (01/16): Arn Anderson & Bobby Eaton win WCW Tag Team Titles". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved January 18, 2019.
4. https://www.cagematch.net//?id=1&nr=240385
5. https://www.cagematch.net//?id=1&nr=240385
6. https://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=249387
7. https://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=252754
8. https://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=256963
9. https://www.cagematch.net//?id=5&nr=34

External links

• IWA Mid-South Title Histories