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Post by Jay Cal on Dec 31, 2021 12:12:53 GMT -8
Here's a modest idea, for those of you who still visit this board.
Our pal Fred is a wealth of knowledge. His tenure with the NWA lasted probably longer than just about anybody's.
Maybe if Fred's up to it... we can ask him questions about his tenure with the NWA. Obviously some things Fred won't be able to answer.
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Post by Jay Cal on Dec 31, 2021 12:13:27 GMT -8
My first question to Fred would be... what was the deal with "When Paul Anthony was declared NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion in 1999." The best I can put the piece together was that he was supposed to get a shot at Naoya Ogawa for the Worlds Heavyweight Championship. There were some issues with a missed flight or something.
Do you have any insight?
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Post by Fred Richards on Jan 2, 2022 13:32:11 GMT -8
Hi Jay and All,
I begin by conveying my best wishes for a Healthy, Happy and Prosperous 2022 to everyone and your families! Let this be the year we drive Covid into the mat!!!
I believe you mean Brian, not Paul, Anthony. Brian was booked for a title shot versus Ogawa in Pennsylvania. Seems Ogawa's plane (kind of like what we've seen over the past few days) was canceled, and he could not get from Texas to Pennsylvania.
This is what led to the three-way at the NWA 51st Anniversary show on 9/25/1999
I had the honor of officiating that three-way dance.
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Post by Jay Cal on Jan 5, 2022 12:44:32 GMT -8
Hi Jay and All, I begin by conveying my best wishes for a Healthy, Happy and Prosperous 2022 to everyone and your families! Let this be the year we drive Covid into the mat!!! I believe you mean Brian, not Paul, Anthony. Brian was booked for a title shot versus Ogawa in Pennsylvania. Seems Ogawa's plane (kind of like what we've seen over the past few days) was canceled, and he could not get from Texas to Pennsylvania. This is what led to the three-way at the NWA 51st Anniversary show on 9/25/1999 I had the honor of officiating that three-way dance. I mixed up Paul Atlas and Brian Anthony. You are correct. But for a brief time there was a "disputed" NWA World Champion. Brian Anthony claimed he should have been champion by forfeit. I don't know how wide his reign was recognized, but I know he was declared champion when he defeated Lucifer Grimm on May 21st, 1999 at PWX. He defended his "NWA Championship" against; Paul Atlas, Sean Evans, and Headshrinker Samu in 1999. Again, I don't know if this was sanctioned by the NWA in its entirety or just a PWX Stunt. |
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Post by Wrestling-Titles.com on Jan 18, 2022 8:59:35 GMT -8
Sorry to interrupt. I'm trying to refresh my memory here...
I think Ogawa had flight issues twice in 1999 which forced him to miss several title defenses: one in May which included his defense against Anthony and another one in September due to Hurricane Floyd. During one of those trips, he couldn't get to the show in Boston until it was almost over but still stayed at the venue to greet to the fans.
I remember reading that there were several NWA members who were against the idea of having someone based in Japan as their world champ. I guess some of them followed PWX and recognized Anthony as the champ. Depending on the promoter/card, Anthony was billed as the "real NWA world champion" or "NWA American world champion (or something silly like that)".
BTW, I was at NWA New England's card on Oct 2nd in Thomaston, CT where Ogawa regained the title from Gary Steele in front of several hundreds (or maybe more, but that's what it looked to me) at a high school gym. Just nine days later, he was defending the title against Hashimoto at Tokyo Dome in front of 58,500 people.
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Post by MKCS on Jan 25, 2022 14:26:57 GMT -8
BTW, I was at NWA New England's card on Oct 2nd in Thomaston, CT where Ogawa regained the title from Gary Steele in front of several hundreds (or maybe more, but that's what it looked to me) at a high school gym. Just nine days later, he was defending the title against Hashimoto at Tokyo Dome in front of 58,500 people. That's one of the coolest things about wrestling if you ask me. Similar situation for my promotion, we had a wrestler compete here, wrestled in front of 300 fans and a month later he won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title at the Tokyo Dome in front of 5500 people. |
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