There was a time when house shows were the driving force in the professional wrestling business. All television shows and promos were geared towards advertising upcoming events throughout the country. Fans of the 1980s will remember watching their favorite syndicated show and seeing numerous commercials for cards being held all over the United States. Even if they were not into sports, wrestling fans were familiar with places like the Boston Garden, the Omni, and the Joe Louis Arena.
House shows were the places to see the biggest matches, bloodiest feuds, and all the title changes. The pay-per-view boom of the mid-’80s changed everything. It was pointless to have a world title change on a card where only a few thousand people would see it versus putting it on a show where the entire world had access to it. The days of World Championship changes at house shows are long gone for good reason. (Though, you can make the argument that the random house show title switch of a secondary title is a good way to shake things up – as long as it does not lead to nonsense like WCW pulled with Booker T and Chris Benoit and the WCW TV Title in early 1998.)
So, when was the last time a World Championship was won at a house show? For our purposes, we are going to start from 1985. This means the AWA is not included since they were already surpassed in the arms race by the NWA and WWF. They did have one foray into PPV in 1988, but it was a desperate, last-ditch attempt at relevancy that failed miserably. ECW is also not included as its hard to call a belt that was never defended outside of North America a “world title”. (We won’t even get into WWECW.) AEW would count, but at the time of this writing they have not yet held a house show (though that is set to change next month).
That leaves the NWA (through the Jim Crockett years), WWF/WWE, and perhaps surprisingly, WCW. The three biggest and most important companies in pro wrestling history have seen their most important title change hands at seemingly innocuous house shows. (It is not coincidence they are also the ones who have been around the longest.) And wouldn’t you know it? One name keeps popping up.
Dusty Rhodes: NWA World’s Heavyweight Championship (July 26, 1986; Greensboro, North Carolina)
Before the Great American Bash became an annual PPV, it was a month-long event that saw the stars of the National Wrestling Alliance criss-cross the United States. The second year of the tour consisted of 13 shows that saw Ric Flair defend his World’s Championship at all of them. At least, that was his plan. “The Nature Boy” took on Ricky Morton, Road Warrior Hawk, Ron Garvin, Nikita Koloff, Robert Gibson, Road Warrior Animal, Magnum T.A., and Wahoo McDaniel before taking on Rhodes in the second to the last Bash stop. Dusty beat his long time rival to win his third and final NWA World’s Championship in a classic cage match.
Ric Flair: NWA World’s Heavyweight Championship (August 9, 1986; St. Louis, Missouri)
Though “The American Dream” tried throughout throughout the decade, nobody could keep Flair down in the ’80s. These two title switches actually mirror the matches between Flair and Harley Race in 1983, the difference being that “Handsome” Harley won the title in St. Louis and Flair won it back in Greensboro. This was Flair’s fifth reign with the top title, and fans wondered if it would be his last. In 1986.
Ric Flair: WCW World Heavyweight Championship (January 11, 1991; East Rutherford, New Jersey)
Though Ted Turner had purchased Jim Crockett Promotions at the end of 1987, it was not until Flair’s win over Sting that the title was officially referred to as the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. When Flair had dropped the title to Sting at the Great American Bash (now a PPV in 1990), it seemed like his career as a World Champion was over. When he won the title for a record tying seventh – which later turned out to be his record breaking eighth – time, it was met with shockingly little fanfare. I still remember the letters column in Pro Wrestling Illustrated seething with angry mail since the win only warranted a tiny blurb on the cover.
Bret Hart: WWF Championship (October 12, 1992; Saskatoon, Canada)
Different company, same results. This time Flair lost what would really be his final World Championship. Meanwhile, Hart would capture his first of five WWF Titles. This is also the match that saw the “Hitman” pop one of his fingers back into place after it had been dislocated. A true passing of the torch moment that should have been held on a bigger stage.
In a strange addition to his amazing resume, Flair is the only person to have been involved in World Title changes with all three companies.
Diesel: WWF Championship (November 26 1994; New York, New York)
Finally, a World Title change that does not involve Flair! The last time a World Title changed hands at a house show was almost 30 years ago. It’s only fitting that it would be at the World’s Most Famous arena, and the site of some of wrestling most iconic moments. On that night, “Big Daddy Cool” Diesel would kick off a year-long title reign with an eight-second squash of Bob Backlund. While his reign is not fondly remembered, it was the springboard for bigger and more memorable moments.
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