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
Some reports have title being inactive after Bruno Sammartino takes Pittsburgh territory over in 66; still champion in Pittsburgh as of 66-08-20; still billed as champion as of 69-08-07 (The Courier-Express, Dubois, PA, 69-08-07); Pittsburgh territory is sold to NWF in 72; retrospectively billed as former WWWF champion in Japan when Fujinami Tatsumi wins the title in 78-01.
Has also won NWA World Title on previous day; vacant on 83-04-03 after Tiger Mask is injured by
Dynamite Kid in a tag team match on 83-04-01; Dynamite Kid and Kobayashi Kuniaki
wrestle to a draw for the vacant title on 83-04-04 in Niigata, JPN.
Wins a triangular match defeating Davey Boy Smith
on 84-02-03 in Sappporo and The Cobra on 84-02-07; vacates in 84-11 when
Kid jumps to All Japan.
The Cobra (George Takano)
1984-12-28
New York, NY
Defeats Black Tiger.
Hiro Saitō
1985-05-20
Hiroshima, JPN
The Cobra [2]
1985-07-28
Ōsaka, JPN
Vacates on 85-10-31 when New Japan and WWF end their working agreement;
Koshinaka Shirō defeats The Cobra on 86-02-06 in Tōkyō to become the first IWGP champion.
