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| Pete Tripodes # | 1939-03 | |
| Has claimed the International Title in Iowa and Alberta since 38-10; briefly billed as the world champion in Decatur, AL in 39-03. | ||
| Pat O'Shocker | 1940-06 | |
| Billed as champion for a non-title match against Finis Hall on 40-06-14 in Clarksville, TN (Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle, 40-06-11). | ||
| Mel Peters | 1941-05 | |
| Billed as champion on arrival for having won the title from George Becker "nine months ago" in Tulsa, OK and defended "eight times" (The Tennessean, 42-05-31); or from Becker "15 months ago" (The Knoxville Journal, 42-05-28); or from Ben Sherman, who has defeated Dude Chick for the title (The Jackson Sun, Jackson, TN, 42-05-14). | ||
| Gust Johannsen | 1942-06-16 | Nashville, TN |
| Herb Welch | 1942-10-13 | Nashville, TN |
| Johannsen continues to be billed as champion in Knoxville, TN but is stripped on 42-10-24 for missing a scheduled title defence against Neal Laye the previous day; Welch defeats Chief Kirkland in tournament final on 42-12-04 for the recognition in Knoxville, TN; Masked Scorpion (Frank Murphy) also claims the title in Knoxville as of 44-02-20 (Knoxville Journal) but the dispute ends when Welch is announced as being recognized by the National Wrestling Association (Knoxville Journal, 44-03-20); in Louisvlle, KY, Roy Welch is billed champion for having defeated Ike Chacoma (Mike Chacoma) for the junior heavyweight title (The Courier-Journal, Louisville, KY, 43-03-05) although Chacoma is billed as the light heavyweight champion in Tennessee and Alabama during the time period; Chacoma "regains" the title from Roy Welch on 43-03-09 in Louisville, KY but loses to Herb Welch on 43-03-16; Young Frank Gotch III defeats Herb for the title in 43-08-31 for the local recognition in Louisville, KY but the title is never mentioned again. | ||
| Yellow Scorpion | 1943-11-23 | Nashville, TN |
| Herb Welch [2] | 1944-01-18 | Nashville, TN |
| Yellow Scorpion [2] | 1944-02-14 | Nashville, TN |
| Herb Welch [3] | 1944-06-06 | Nashville, TN |
| Roy Allen | 1944-07-07 | Knoxville, TN |
| Herb Welch [4] | 1944-07-28 | Knoxville, TN |
| Red Masked Marvel (Jack LaRue) | 1945-06-05 | Nashville, TN |
| Herb Welch [5] | 1945-06-26 | Nashville, TN |
| Given 60 days by the National Wrestling Association to recover from injuries suffered in a auto accident on 46-03-01 (The Tennessean, Nashville, TN, 46-03-14); Welch voluntarily vacates the title on 46-05-01. | ||
| Tex Riley | 1946-06-11 | Nashville, TN |
| Defeats Gus Johnson in tournament final. | ||
| Jack Wentworth | 1947-01-06 | Birmingham, AL |
| The match is originally declared no contest, but Wentworth is awarded the title by the Alabama Boxing & Wrestling Commission on 47-01-09 (The Birmingham Post, 47-01-10). | ||
| Tex Riley [2] | 1947-01-27 | Birmingham, AL |
| Herb Welch [6] | 1947-07-22 | Nashville, TN |
| Green Shadow | 1948-06-01 | Nashville, TN |
| Herb Welch [7] | 1948-07-06 | Nashville, TN |
| Chris Belkas is billed as champion in Georgia in 48-07 through 48-09. | ||
| Black Phantom (Art Nelson) | 1949-07-11 | Nashville, TN |
| Repeated in Knoxville, TN on 49-07-22; Chris Belkas is billed as champion in Marietta, GA as of 49-07-06; Tex Riley is billed as champion in Kingsport, TN as of 49-11-14; Leroy McGuirk defends the NWA World Title in Tennessee in 50-01 and 50-02. | ||
| Tex Riley [3] | 1950-03-16 | Chattanooga, TN |
| Phantom continues to be billed as champion in Knoxville, TN but loses to Riley on 50-04-14. | ||
| Black Phantom [2] | 1950-06-20 | Nashville, TN |
| Tex Riley [4] | 1950-11-29 | Kingsport, TN |
| Phantom continues to be billed as champion in Knoxville, TN; Riley defeats Phantom on 50-12-23 in Knoxville, TN and is "officially declared" as the National Wrestling Association champion. | ||
| Ali Pasha | 1951-04-26 | Chattanooga, TN |
| Verne Gagne defends NWA World Title in Tennessee from 51-05; Pasha is recognized as mid-south champion in Paducah, KY and southern champion in Knoxville, TN. | ||
| Verne Gagne | 1951-05-24 | Paducah, KY |
| NWA world champion, defeats Pasha to unify the title; Tex Riley defeats Pasha on 51-05-25 in Knoville, TN for the southern title; an official annoucement is made by NWA on 51-05-28 that Gagne is the "national" (world) champion and Tex Riley is the southern champion (The Knoxville Journal, 51-05-29). | ||
* Unified with NWA World Junior Heavyweight Title.
* Local version replaced with NWA Southern Junior Heavyweight Title.
* Thanks to Kriss Knights for the additional information.
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