Following the name of the champion(s): Indicates the number of times the wrestler has held that title at that point.
[...]
Indicates a gap in the listing where title changes are not known.
*
If used next to the names of the wrestlers, they may, in fact, not have held the title in the period indicated. If used next to the dates or places, either they are possibly wrong or the title changes are fictitious.
<
Title was held or changed hands no later than this. In these cases, it is known that a wrestler held the title at a certain time but not when he/she won it.
+
Broadcast date; the actual recording date is unknown.
@
Order uncertain. Different titleholders may be known for the same year, for example, but it is not known who held the title before whom.
#
Unofficial or disputable claims. These are usually matches that certainly took place, but where there is doubt that the wrestler shown should be recognized as a true title holder. These listings are also italicized in HTML files
Defeats Herman Bernau in mixed style match; reported as a championship match on The Galveston Daily News (Galveston, TX) but no title is mentioned on the local papers in New Orleans, LA.
[...]
Otto Schoenfeld
1905-10-10<
Retains the title by defeating Al Christensen on 05-10-14 in New Orleans, LA.
[...]
Emile Kopp
1908-01<
Claims the title in New Orleans, LA; defeats another claimant Adam Smith on 08-01-30 in New Orleans, LA.
Wins "a recent tournament in San Antonio to crown the Southern Mat King" (The Times, Shreveport, LA, 35-09-07).
George Mansor #
1935-09-02
Shreveport, LA
Defeats Sarpolis in non-title match but claims the title; in Baton Rouge, LA, Mansor is billed has champion "following his victory over the logical claimant to the clown in Houston" (Advocate, 35-09-17).
Ernest Kelly #
1935-09-16
Shreveport, LA
Defeats Mansor and claims the title; listed as a contendor as of 35-09-22.
Billed as having won a tournament "more than a year ago" in Houston, TX (The Times, Shreveport, LA, 35-09-22, which also lists Paul Jones as a claimant).
Still champion as of 37-02-12; no longer champion as of 37-09-15, for not wrestling in the south.
[...]
In 37-07, the title is claimed by Chief Little Beaver in Alexandria, LA and Bill Lee in Shreveport, LA respectively; Lee defeats Beaver in non-title match on 37-07-19 in Shreveport, LA but both continue to claim the title; Beaver defeats Carl Davis for Texas version on 37-09-07 in Dallas, TX; Beaver and another claimant Jim Henry wrestle to a draw on 37-09-21 in Shreveport, LA.
