KrisZ

Ken Patera was on the short list of candidates for the title in 1981. Patera walking out of GCW with the Georgia Heavyweight Title instead of jobbing to Tommy Rich right before Flair won the title didn't help his cause either

Well Starrcade wasn't nationally on Closed Circuit then....just in certain areas. Lawler is an option as the title switch was done 4 days after the LLT match with Dundee so they could've had Dundee take that match with Lawler leaving town going for the NWA title. Jumbo is an interesting candidate but I don't think the NWA promoters wanted a Japanese guy touring with the belt. Baba winning it and losing it was fine but the promoters wanted a touring champ who could cut promos. Regarding KC......it was one of the lowest territories on the totem pole but they were helped by Geigel being the NWA President for sure.

Joe Malenko never worked a territory other than his father's and they were complete outlaws going against the legendary Eddie Graham.

1981 is more intriguing and something we can visit for sure but Race seemed kinda odd at the time because of his lack of being around the big territories months before winning the title back. Terry Funk "retired" during the time period so he isn't really a viable option. Jack Brisco had turned heel yes but was a JCP guy then just like Dory. Ivan Koloff was working for Vince and Patera was working for Verne. Dusty had already had his run in 1981. If you are going with the Starrcade talking point then a former champion as the champ is key to the cause but here is the thing....if they went with David Von Erich winning the title at Reunion Arena at the Star Wars show on June 17th in a way where Flair could come out looking cheated to the JCP audience then you have a heel DVE coming with Flair going for his revenge.

I liked it more than you did and I haven't done my final rankings yet but it's definitely in my Top 50. That's the best thing about these projects as we have sometimes great differing opinions and it's not all a mob mentality when it comes to rankings. Variety is the spice of life.

June 10th, 1983 saw Harley Race become a 7th time NWA champ beating Ric Flair in St. Louis in a result that was actually surprising at the time. Sure Race had the cache but other than a couple of guest shots on some big shows, Race was under the radar as he was only working Central States, St. Louis, and even Bruiser's WWA. Harley was always the safe choice to hold the title because of his rep and history but there were other guys who could've really benefited from having the 5 month run that he had as the champion. I don't think that a Crockett wrestler would be in play to win the title because Flair just had it so.... David Von Erich = logical choice and subject of many rumors that he would win the title in 1984 but why not give it to him in June 1983. World Class was molten hot and DVE had proven the year prior that he could work easily as a heel as well as face. NWA champ at that time definitely had to work both roles but even more so a heel because babyface challengers = money. Stan Hansen = Stan is another guy who is a logical choice and fits the criteria of working both ways. Hansen was also a Baba guy which was very important in your standing of being the NWA champ. Ted DiBiase = DiBiase was working for non-NWA member Mid-South at the time but he was still a serious candidate for the spot and again his standing with AJPW helped. Now there are three off the top of my head, there are others and you can bring up JCP guys I guess but I just don't think the members would've voted that way at the time.

Backlund definitely would've been the AWA champ by 1980 if he stayed.

NWA Wildside at it's peak was maybe the best indy promotion in the country. Great storylines and Jeff G. Bailey as a GOD. Anything with Jason Cross & AJ Styles in the same match was guaranteed money.

I'll admit I didn't look it up so that is kinda surprising to me. He had been working for VJM since 1972 so he had been around there a while.

Orndorff was just starting up working Memphis Adonis then working as Keith Franks was one of the top heels for Mike LeBell in Los Angeles.

Muraco's problem was that he took sometimes up to 6 months a year to stay in Hawaii. VJM wasn't going for that. Snuka was the worst thing to happen to Backlund because he totally eclipsed him in popularity. Backlund was over for sure but Snuka was another level. It was kinda like Hogan/Warrior in a way. Backlund's best town was NYC and JS is right if you watch the Spectrum shows you see Backlund's popularity visibly wane in 83-84.

Garea was too old for what they wanted as well.

Meltz's argument was that you might as well put in Liz Carmouche as well since she was Rousey's opponent and to a degree Vince McMahon for allowing TUF Season 1 to air after RAW

Yeah Snuka was the top babyface for PNW

So if Race was Missouri champ he didn't defend in Kansas City? Interesting. Well here is the thing that people don't look at.....the venue they ran in Kansas City was Memorial Hall which was in Kansas City, Kansas. They would run Kemper Arena on rare occasions but they were on the Kansas side mostly. This has me wondering what it would've been like if Paul Boesch had his own title like Sam for Houston.

Missouri title was only defended in St. Louis. Kansas City was Bob Geigel & Harley Race's territory where the Central States titles were defended.

I understand that is the perception. And maybe it is true. But does that stand under scrutiny? Was Dick Slater a made man anywhere he went? Murdoch? DiBiase? They seemed to fluctuate up and down the card depending on how they got over in any given place. The only guy he really seemed to "make" with the belt was Race, who was the local star. (Please keep in mind that these are real questions and not snarky questions. The internet isn't always good about making that clear.) Sure a lot of big names got the title but those guys were some of Sam's favorites and they were always going to be on top. Slater was a hot act at that time as he was coming off a very good run for GCW and was an Eddie Graham guy. The mags loved him too and it made since that he would get run in St. Louis because he was a Terry Funk clone. Backlund obviously was boosted in VJM's mind since Bob had Sam's blessing. Kevin Von Erich got boosted when he got it, sure he was a famous son but giving him that title gave him credibility. DiBiase & Patera both didn't get any NWA World title consideration until they got the belt. What you said about perception is the absolute truth

DiBiase got over fairly well in 1979 when he had the WWF North American title feuding with Patterson. If they had held Graham's reign another year going into 79, DiBiase could've worked for sure.

Dusty couldn't work in one place consistently for a long period of time. Sure he dominated Florida for 10 years but he spent a lot of time spread around JCP, GCW, & Watts not to mention working WWF tours.

I think in wrestling lore more than anything else. Was it a big deal the next year when Dick the Bruiser and Dick Murdoch traded it back and forth? Or the main belt for a small territory that happened to be run by the President of the NWA? It was a big deal because it was Sam's title and he pushed it as the #2 title in the world. Now was it a big deal everywhere else in the public's eyes absolutely not but with the power of St. Louis it was a big deal with the promoters because if Sam was high on you then you were just about a made man in most places.

Keirn definitely had amateur success...Coach John Heath would spew all the awards he won on commentary. How bout an unmasked Bill Eadie

Well that should be great

Backlund was Missouri heavyweight champ for like 8 months getting multiple wins over Race but the one thing he had against him in that run was his other opponents were Lord Alfred Hayes, Roger Kirby, Killer Karl Krupp which at the time those guys were midcard guys. Still though the Missouri title was a big deal even in 1976.

Steamer was just starting to come into his own for JCP in 1977. I think if they waited a year then he would've been someone to think about but he didn't make his first MSG appearance until 1980. Gino was pushed huge by the NYC centric Apter mags and he was a major player in the dying days of Detroit even winning their US title at 19 years old which at that time was insane. Also Dylan mentioned Terry Funk earlier....there were a lot of talks of Terry coming into WWF for a run with Backlund in the fall of 1980 but they fell apart.

Steering this away from this topic......Dave is currently going off right now on Twitter about UFC announcing Stephan Bonner for their HOF. Bonner of the 8-7 record and zero title fights.