In 1991 the NWA title was sent into confusion as Ric Flair lost in Japan to Tatsumi Fujinami.
WCW continued to recognise Flair as champion but NJPW (and retrospectively the NWA) recognised Fujinami. It was the first time WCW (or its predecessor JCP) had recognised a champion distinct from the NWA.
A few months later Flair left WCW and was stripped of the title but the NWA still recognised him as champion. He joined the WWF taking the NWA belt with him.
Eventually he was stripped of the title by the NWA as well as Lex Luger defeated Barry Windham to become WCW champion. It was assumed by many that Luger was also recognised by the NWA but this, at least retrospectively, was not the case.
The WCW title went from Luger to Sting to Vader to Ron Simmons and back to Vader but meanwhile it was announced that a tournament would be held to determine the NWA champion. WCW was still a member of the NWA and in the final a NJPW wrestler named Masa Chono defeated WCW's Rick Rude meaning Chono was the first NWA champion since Ric Flair.
But while Flair was in the WWF (where he won the world title twice) Lou Thesz declared his student Nobuhiko Takada was the rightful world champion and gave him the original NWA belt.
So in Japan were two former students of Lou Thesz, both wearing historic NWA belts, claiming to be the world heavyweight champion. Takada even defeated WCW champion Vader to solidify his claim.
Meanwhile Chono lost to the Great Muta and he to Barry Windham and he to Ric Flair.
Takada was eventually stripped of his title by Thesz and subsequently lost his status as kingpin to NJPW (IWGP) champion Muta.
WCW withdrew from the NWA and once again the title was vacated. Flair again kept the big gold belt until losing it to Rick Rude, and Thesz's belt was periodically displayed by his students Mark Coleman and Kazushi Sakuraba.
Vader lost the WCW title to Flair who defeated Sting to once again take possession of the big gold belt.
As WCW began to descend into the Hulk Hogan era, the NWA once again announced the championship was coming back.
NWA affiliate Eastern Championship Wrestling held a tournament to crown a new champion which was won by Shane Douglas. The promotion however rejected and left the NWA, leaving another vacation. NWA affiliates and outside promotion SMW held another tournament and Chris Candido won the world title.
Candido lost the belt to Dan Severn, a shooter and MMA fighter who would win the Ultimate Fighting Championship as NWA champion.
Severn's era was one of the darkest for the NWA, on one hand the Alliance had someone who may have been the toughest champion in 50 years, on the other hand he was defending against small time wrestlers before tiny crowds.
As the belt was passed from the likes of Shinya Hashimoto and Steve Corino to less well known wrestlers like Mike Rapada, Naoya Ogawa and Gary Steele, a new NWA affiliate was formed called TNA.
Ken Shamrock won the title that had been stripped from his UFC rival Dan Severn and the TNA era began.
Jeff Jarrett and AJ Styles engaged in a notable rivalry over the title and it was also held by the likes of Raven, Abyss, Ron Killings, Rhyno and Christian Cage and Sting, the only man to win the title in the WCW era and the TNA era.
Christian Cage was stripped of the title by the NWA, before losing the actual belt to Kurt Angle who retained recognition by TNA, leading to the launch of the TNA title which was again held by the likes of Sting.
The NWA title was won by Adam Pearce, a rugged rulebreaking champion in the Harley Race mould who defended the title across the territories like Race and the belt was traded between the likes of Brent Albright, Blue Demon, Colt Cobana and the Sheik.
Albright like Brisco before him was presented with a red NWA championship.
When the Sheik was stripped of the title despite unifying it with one version of the AWA title, once again Pearce became NWA champion.
WCW continued to recognise Flair as champion but NJPW (and retrospectively the NWA) recognised Fujinami. It was the first time WCW (or its predecessor JCP) had recognised a champion distinct from the NWA.
A few months later Flair left WCW and was stripped of the title but the NWA still recognised him as champion. He joined the WWF taking the NWA belt with him.
Eventually he was stripped of the title by the NWA as well as Lex Luger defeated Barry Windham to become WCW champion. It was assumed by many that Luger was also recognised by the NWA but this, at least retrospectively, was not the case.
The WCW title went from Luger to Sting to Vader to Ron Simmons and back to Vader but meanwhile it was announced that a tournament would be held to determine the NWA champion. WCW was still a member of the NWA and in the final a NJPW wrestler named Masa Chono defeated WCW's Rick Rude meaning Chono was the first NWA champion since Ric Flair.
But while Flair was in the WWF (where he won the world title twice) Lou Thesz declared his student Nobuhiko Takada was the rightful world champion and gave him the original NWA belt.
So in Japan were two former students of Lou Thesz, both wearing historic NWA belts, claiming to be the world heavyweight champion. Takada even defeated WCW champion Vader to solidify his claim.
Meanwhile Chono lost to the Great Muta and he to Barry Windham and he to Ric Flair.
Takada was eventually stripped of his title by Thesz and subsequently lost his status as kingpin to NJPW (IWGP) champion Muta.
WCW withdrew from the NWA and once again the title was vacated. Flair again kept the big gold belt until losing it to Rick Rude, and Thesz's belt was periodically displayed by his students Mark Coleman and Kazushi Sakuraba.
Vader lost the WCW title to Flair who defeated Sting to once again take possession of the big gold belt.
As WCW began to descend into the Hulk Hogan era, the NWA once again announced the championship was coming back.
NWA affiliate Eastern Championship Wrestling held a tournament to crown a new champion which was won by Shane Douglas. The promotion however rejected and left the NWA, leaving another vacation. NWA affiliates and outside promotion SMW held another tournament and Chris Candido won the world title.
Candido lost the belt to Dan Severn, a shooter and MMA fighter who would win the Ultimate Fighting Championship as NWA champion.
Severn's era was one of the darkest for the NWA, on one hand the Alliance had someone who may have been the toughest champion in 50 years, on the other hand he was defending against small time wrestlers before tiny crowds.
As the belt was passed from the likes of Shinya Hashimoto and Steve Corino to less well known wrestlers like Mike Rapada, Naoya Ogawa and Gary Steele, a new NWA affiliate was formed called TNA.
Ken Shamrock won the title that had been stripped from his UFC rival Dan Severn and the TNA era began.
Jeff Jarrett and AJ Styles engaged in a notable rivalry over the title and it was also held by the likes of Raven, Abyss, Ron Killings, Rhyno and Christian Cage and Sting, the only man to win the title in the WCW era and the TNA era.
Christian Cage was stripped of the title by the NWA, before losing the actual belt to Kurt Angle who retained recognition by TNA, leading to the launch of the TNA title which was again held by the likes of Sting.
The NWA title was won by Adam Pearce, a rugged rulebreaking champion in the Harley Race mould who defended the title across the territories like Race and the belt was traded between the likes of Brent Albright, Blue Demon, Colt Cobana and the Sheik.
Albright like Brisco before him was presented with a red NWA championship.
When the Sheik was stripped of the title despite unifying it with one version of the AWA title, once again Pearce became NWA champion.