March 28, 1988
World Wrestling Federation Title Histories (as of the present day ITTL)
WWF World Heavyweight Championship
“Nature Boy” Buddy Rogers – April 25th, 1963-May 17th, 1963 (22 days) [1]
Bruno Sammartino – May 17th, 1963-January 18th, 1971 (2,803 days) [2]
Ivan Koloff – January 18th, 1971-February 8th, 1971 (21 days)
Pedro Morales – February 8th, 1971-December 1st, 1973 (1,027 days) [3]
Stan “the Man” Stasiak – December 1st, 1973-December 10th, 1973 (9 days)
Bruno Sammartino (2) – December 10th, 1973-April 3rd, 1977 (1,237 days)
“Superstar” Billy Graham – April 3rd, 1977-February 20th, 1978 (296 days)
Bob Backlund – February 20th, 1978-November 30th, 1979 (648 days) [4]
Antonio Inoki – November 30th, 1979-December 6th, 1979 (6 days)
Vacant – December 6th, 1979-December 17th, 1979 [5]
Bob Backlund (2) – December 17th, 1979-December 26th, 1983 (1,470 days) [6]
The Iron Sheik – December 26th, 1983-January 23rd, 1984 (28 days) [7]
Hulk Hogan – January 23rd, 1984-February 18th, 1985 (392 days)
Vacant – February 18th, 1985 [8]
Ricky “the Dragon” Steamboat – February 18th, 1985-May 1st, 1986 (437 days) [9]
Dynamite Kid – May 1st, 1986-October 1st, 1986 (153 days)
Ricky “the Dragon” Steamboat (2) – October 1st, 1986-September 14th, 1987 (348 days)
Hulk Hogan (2) – September 14th, 1987-March 27th, 1988 (195 days)
Ricky “the Dragon” Steamboat (3) – March 27th, 1988-present (2 days+)
[1] Rogers won a fictional tournament in Rio De Janeiro after the WWF split from the NWA.
[2] Longest reign in the championship’s history.
[3] Title was renamed the WWWF Heavyweight Championship in 1971.
[4] Title was renamed the WWF Heavyweight Championship in March 1979.
[5] Title was vacated after a rematch between Inoki and Backlund was ruled a no contest when Tiger Jeet Singh interfered in the match.
[6] Defeated Bobby Duncum in a Texas Death Match to win the vacant title.
[7] Won the title via submission after Backlund’s manager Arnold Skaaland threw the towel in for Backlund.
[8] Hogan vacated the title due to an arm injury.
[9] Defeated Roddy Piper at
War to Settle the Score to win the vacant title.
---
WWF Intercontinental Championship
Pat Patterson – September 1st, 1979-April 21st, 1980 (233 days) [1]
Ken Patera – April 21st, 1980-December 8th, 1980 (231 days)
Pedro Morales – December 8th, 1980-June 20th, 1981 (194 days)
“Magnificent” Don Muraco – June 20th, 1981-November 23rd, 1981 (156 days)
Pedro Morales (2) – November 23rd, 1981-January 22nd, 1983 (425 days)
“Magnificent” Don Muraco (2) – January 22nd, 1983-February 11th, 1984 (385 days)
Tito Santana – February 11th, 1984-September 24th, 1984 (226 days)
Greg “the Hammer” Valentine – September 24th, 1984-April 6th, 1985 (194 days)
“Rowdy” Roddy Piper – April 6th, 1985-April 6th, 1986 (365 days)
Randy “Macho Man” Savage – April 6th, 1986-March 27th, 1988 (721 days) [2]
Bret “Hitman” Hart – March 27th, 1988-present (2 days+)
[1] Patterson defeated Johnny Rodz in a fictional tournament in Rio De Janeiro to unify the WWF North American Championship with the fictional South American Championship.
[2] Longest reign in the championship’s history.
---
WWF Tag Team Championships
Luke Graham & Tarzan Tyler – June 3rd, 1971-December 6th, 1971 (186 days) [1]
Karl Gotch & Rene Goulet – December 6th, 1971-February 1st, 1972 (57 days)
King Curtis Iaukea & “Baron” Mikel Scicluna – February 1st, 1972-May 22nd, 1972 (111 days)
Chief Jay Strongbow & Sonny King – May 22nd, 1972-June 27th, 1972 (36 days)
Mr. Fuji & Professor Toru Tanaka – June 27th, 1972-May 30th, 1973 (337 days)
Haystacks Calhoun & Tony Garea – May 30th, 1973-September 11th, 1973 (104 days)
Mr. Fuji (2) & Professor Toru Tanaka (2) – September 11th, 1973-November 14th, 1973 (64 days)
Tony Garea (2) & Dean Ho – November 14th, 1973-May 8th, 1974 (175 days)
The Valiant Brothers (Jimmy & Johnny Valiant) – May 8th, 1974-May 13th, 1975 (370 days)
Dominic DeNucci & Victor Rivera/Pat Barrett – May 13th, 1975-August 26th, 1975 (67/36 days) [2]
The Blackjacks (Blackjack Lanza & Blackjack Mulligan) – August 26th, 1975-November 8th, 1975 (74 days)
Louis Cerdan & Tony Parisi – November 8th, 1975-May 11th, 1976 (168 days)
The Executioners (Executioner #1 & Executioner #2) – May 11th, 1976-October 26th, 1976 (168 days) [3]
Vacant – October 26th, 1976-December 7th, 1976 [4]
Chief Jay Strongbow (2) & Billy White Wolf – December 7th, 1976-August 1st, 1977 (237 days) [5]
Vacant – August 1st, 1977-September 27th, 1977 [6]
Mr. Fuji (3) & Professor Toru Tanaka (3) – September 27th, 1977-March 14th, 1978 (168 days) [7]
Dominic DeNucci (2) & Dino Bravo – March 14th, 1978-June 26th, 1978 (104 days)
The Yukon Lumberjacks (Yukon Eric & Yukon Pierre) – June 26th, 1978-November 21st, 1978 (148 days)
Tony Garea (3) & Larry Zbyszko – November 21st, 1978-March 6th, 1979 (105 days)
The Valiant Brothers (Johnny (2) & Jerry Valiant) – March 6th, 1979-October 22nd, 1979 (230 days)
Ivan Putski & Tito Santana – October 22nd, 1979-April 12th, 1980 (173 days)
The Wild Samoans (Afa & Sika) – April 12th, 1980-August 9th, 1980 (119 days)
Bob Backlund & Pedro Morales – August 9th, 1980-August 10th, 1980 (1 day) [8]
Vacant – August 10th, 1980-September 9th, 1980 [9]
The Wild Samoans (Afa (2) & Sika (2)) – September 9th, 1980-November 8th, 1980 (60 days) [10]
Tony Garea (4) & Rick Martel – November 8th, 1980-March 17, 1981 (129 days)
The Moondogs (Rex & King/Spot) – March 17th, 1981-July 21, 1981 (45/81 days) [11]
Tony Garea (5) & Rick Martel (2) – July 21st, 1981-October 13th, 1981 (84 days)
Mr. Fuji (4) & Mr. Saito – October 13th, 1981-June 28th, 1982 (258 days)
The Strongbows (Chief Jay (3) & Jules Strongbow) – June 28th, 1982-July 13th, 1982 (15 days)
Mr. Fuji (5) & Mr. Saito (2) – July 13th, 1982-October 26th, 1982 (105 days)
The Strongbows (Chief Jay (4) & Jules Strongbow (2)) – October 26th, 1982-March 8th, 1983 (133 days)
The Wild Samoans (Afa (3) & Sika (3)) – March 8th, 1983-November 15th, 1983 (252 days)
Soul Patrol (“Soul Man” Rocky Johnson & “Mr. USA” Tony Atlas) – November 15th, 1983-April 17th, 1984 (279 days)
The North-South Connection (Adrian Adonis & Dick Murdoch) – April 17th, 1984-January 21st, 1985 (69 days)
The U.S. Express (Barry Windham & Mike Rotundo) – January 21st, 1985-February 18th, 1985 (28 days)
The Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff – February 18th, 1985-March 31st, 1985 (41 days)
Tito Santana (2) & Brutus Beefcake – March 31st, 1985-October 31st, 1985 (214 days)
The Hart Foundation (Bret “Hitman” Hart & Jim “the Anvil” Neidhart) – October 31st, 1985-March 1st, 1986 (121 days)
Tito Santana (3) & Brutus Beefcake (2) – March 1st, 1986-April 6th, 1986 (36 days)
The Hart Foundation (Bret “Hitman” Hart (2) & Jim “the Anvil” Neidhart (2)) – April 6th, 1986-November 26th, 1987 (599 days) [12]
The Fabulous Rougeaus (Jacques & Raymond Rougeau) – November 26th, 1987-present (123 days+)
[1] Defeated Dick the Bruiser & The Sheik in a tournament final.
[2] Victor Rivera left the WWF on July 19th, 1975, and DeNucci chose Barrett as his new tag team partner.
[3] Executioners #1 and #2 were Killer Kowalski and Big John Studd, under masks.
[4] The team were stripped of the titles when a third masked Executioner (Nikolai Volkoff) was discovered.
[5] Defeated The Executioners and Tor Kamata & Nikolai Volkoff in a three-team tournament.
[6] Titles were vacated when Billy White Wolf suffered a neck injury.
[7] Defeated Tony Garea & Larry Zbyszko in a tournament final.
[8] Backlund was the WWF Champion at the time of this reign.
[9] Titles were vacated because Backlund was unable to hold both the WWF Championship and the WWF Tag Team Championship simultaneously.
[10] Defeated Tony Garea and Rene Goulet in a tournament final.
[11] On May 1st, King was replaced with Spot when King couldn’t enter the U.S. from Canada.
[12] Longest reign in the championship’s history.
---
WWF Women’s Championship
The Fabulous Moolah – September 18th, 1956-September 17th, 1966 (3,651 days) [1]
Bette Boucher – September 17th, 1966-October 1st, 1966 (13 days) [2]
The Fabulous Moolah (2) – October 1st, 1966-March 10th, 1968 (504 days)
Yukiko Tomoe – March 10th, 1968-April 2nd, 1968 (23 days) [2]
The Fabulous Moolah (3) – April 2nd, 1968-October 8th, 1978 (2,862 days)
Evelyn Stevens – October 8th, 1978-October 10th, 1978 (2 days) [2]
The Fabulous Moolah (4) – October 10th, 1978-July 23rd, 1984 (2,113 days)
Wendi Richter – July 23rd, 1984-February 18th, 1985 (210 days)
Leilani Kai – February 18th, 1985-March 31st, 1985 (41 days)
Wendi Richter (2) – March 31st, 1985-April 6th, 1986 (371 days)
Misty Blue Simms – April 6th, 1986-March 29th, 1987 (357 days)
Wendi Richter (3) – March 29th, 1987-September 14th, 1987 (169 days)
“Scary” Sherri Martel – September 14th, 1987-present (195 days+)
[1] Longest reign in the championship's history. The title was known as the NWA Women's Championship until Moolah joined the WWF in 1984, taking the championship with her. WWF previously recognized Moolah's four reigns as one continuous reign lasting from September 18th, 1956 to July 23rd, 1984, lasting 10,170 days. Moolah departured the company in late 1985 following the "Moolah Screwjob", and beginning in 1988, the company began to recognize Boucher's, Tomoe's and Stevens' reigns with the championship as official ones.
[2] This reign was not officially recognized by the WWF until March 1988.
---
WWF Women's Tag Team Championships
Velvet McIntyre & Princess Victoria – May 13th, 1983-December 7th, 1984 (574 days) [1]
Velvet McIntyre & Desiree Petersen – December 7th, 1984-August 1st, 1985 (237 days) [2]
The Glamour Girls (Judy Martin & Leilani Kai) – August 1st, 1985-August 7th, 1987 (736 days) [3]
The Jumping Bomb Angels (Itsuki Yamazaki & Noriyo Tateno) – August 7th, 1987-January 24th, 1988 (158 days)
The Glamour Girls (Judy Martin (2) & Leilani Kai (2)) – January 24th, 1988-present (64 days+)
[1] McIntyre & Victoria were the reigning NWA Women's Tag Team Champions upon the WWF's withdrawal from the NWA, and are recognized as the first champions.
[2] Princess Victoria suffered a career-ending neck injury in 1984, and Petersen was chosen as McIntyre's new partner.
[3] Longest reign in the championship's history.
---------------------------------------------------------
A little mini-update to show you how the title scene is going in the World Wrestling Federation, and also to show that the style of the women's division is slowly rebranding itself from the slow, plodding style of the Fabulous Moolah, something that some would argue took nearly 30 years to develop IOTL. Also, I bet you didn't know that the World Tag Team Titles had already changed hands 34 times prior to the first
Wrestlemania!
Coming up: coverage of WCW's first show, Hogan's last actions in the locker room before his (brief) departure, and a few legitimate WWF releases. And after that, more look at pop culture as we look at one of the classic animated films of all time.