NWA Roster in 1953: Full List of Wrestlers, Teams, Champions

National Wrestling Alliance: Rosters History Database

On this page you find the full NWA Roster in the year 1953. This includes the list of all NWA Wrestlers, division between Men and Women Rosters, active Tag Teams & Stables, the current reigning Champions, as well as Managers, Announcers, Authority figures, Producers and other personalities in National Wrestling Alliance.

Our complete Pro Wrestlers Database allows you to travel through time and see the NWA Roster by Year or any specific Date in history. Simply use the filters below! You even have the option to view a breakdown of the rosters split by Face and Heel divisions.

See Roster by Date

1953

NWA: All (54)

Men

Women

Champions

NWA World Heavyweight Championship

Lou Thesz

Won: November 27, 1949

Awarded of the title when Orville Brown suffered career-ending injuries in an automobile accident on November 1, 1949. During this reign, Leo Nomellini defeated Lou Thesz and both wrestlers continued to claim the title, then Thesz defeated Nomellini in a rematch. These two title changes were not officially recognized.

1495+

days

NWA Texas Brass Knuckles Championship		Danny Savich Won: October 1, 1953 Texas \| House show	91+ days
NWA Texas Brass Knuckles Championship		Bull Curry Won: March 6, 1953 Houston, Texas \| House show Defeated Danny McShain to become the first champion.	209 days

NWA United States Heavyweight Championship

Verne Gagne

Won: September 3, 1953 Chicago, Illinois | House show

Gagne was awarded the championship

119+

days

NWA United States Tag Team Championship

The Dusek Family Ernie Dusek & Emil Dusek

Won: December 6, 1942 Houston, Texas | House Show

The Duseks were billed as “team match champions of the nation”, listed as a possible predecessor to the American Tag Team Championship

4043+

days

NWA Texas Tag Team Championship	Ray Gunkel & Ricki Starr Ray Gunkel & Ricki Starr Won: December 31, 1953 Austin, Texas \| House show Defeated Duke Keomuka and Kinji Shibuya.	0+ days
	Vacant Won: December 1, 1953 championship vacated for undocumented reasons	30 days
	Rito Romero & Miguel Guzmán Rito Romero & Miguel Guzmán Won: November 3, 1953 Texas \| House show	28 days
	Ray Gunkel & Ricki Starr Ray Gunkel & Ricki Starr Won: January 6, 1953 Texas \| House show Still champions as of April 14, 1953.	301 days
	Vacant Won: December 1, 1952 championship vacated for undocumented reasons	36 days

NWA Mid-Southern Tag Team Championship		Al Smith & John Smith Al Smith & John Smith Won: September 9, 1953 Tennessee \| House Show	113+ days
NWA Mid-Southern Tag Team Championship		Herb Welch & Roy Welch Herb Welch & Roy Welch Won: September 9, 1952 Tennessee \| House Show	365 days

NWA World Tag Team Championship		Pat O'Connor & Tony BaillargeonPat O'Connor & Tony Baillargeon Won: June 20, 1953 Saint Paul, Minnesota \| House show	194+ days
NWA World Tag Team Championship		Al Mills & Tiny Mills Al Mills & Tiny Mills Won: June 10, 1953 Minnesota \| House show Records are unclear on who they defeated to win the championship.	10 days

NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship		Baron Michele Leone Won: August 17, 1953 Memphis, TN \| House show	136+ days
NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship		Danny McShain Won: November 19, 1951 Memphis, TN \| House show McShain unified the Los Angeles version of the title into the NWA title, defeating Rito Romero on 1952-05-25 in Los Angeles, CA. Whitey Whittler then defeated McShain via disqualification on 1952-10-17 in Oklahoma City, OK to claim a disputed unoffical version of the title; then also Red Berry defeated McShain via disqualification on 1952-11-11 in Dallas, TX to claim the disputed unofficial version of the title. McShain then defeated Whittler on 1952-11-14 in Oklahoma City, OK and Berry on 1952-11-27 in Galveston, TX to end their respective claims.	637 days

NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship		Frank Stojack Won: August 10, 1953 Spokane, Washington \| Live event	143+ days
NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship		Gypsy Joe Won: November 6, 1952 Des Moines, Iowa \| Live event Gypsy Joe defeated Johnny Balbo in a decision match to become the inaugural champion.	277 days

NWA World Middleweight Championship		Sugi Sito Won: June 20, 1953 Mexico City, Mexico \| Live event	194+ days
NWA World Middleweight Championship		Tarzán López Won: July 13, 1952 Mexico City, Mexico \| Live event Tarzán López won a tournament to win the vacant title.	342 days

NWA World Welterweight Championship		Blue Demon Won: July 25, 1953 Mexico City, Mexico \| EMLL 20 Aniversario	159+ days
NWA World Welterweight Championship		El Santo Won: September 26, 1952 Mexico City, Mexico \| EMLL 19 Aniversario	302 days

NWA Women's Championship

Mildred Burke

Won: January 1, 1950 Live event

Burke defeated Clara Mortensen in 1937 to win the original version of the Women's World Championship, and due to her victory she was recognized as the inaugural NWA Women's Champion in 1950.

1460+

days

NWA Minnesota Women's Championship

Ramona Rundquist

Won: June 3, 1951 Minnesota | House Show

942+

days

NWA World Ladies Tag Team Championship	June Byers & Mary Jane Mull Won: December 14, 1953 Birmingham, AB \| Live event	17+ days
	Ruth Boatcallie & Carol Cook Won: September 1, 1953 Live event The titles history is unrecorded from 1953-03-01 to 1953-09-01. Boatcallie & Cook were recognized as champions only in Alabama and Tennessee.	104 days
	Daisy Mae & Golden Venus Won: March 1, 1953 Live event The titles history is unrecorded from 1953-03-01 to 1953-09-01. Mae & Venus were recognized as champions only in West Virginia.	184 days
	June Byers & Mary Jane Mull Won: December 1, 1952 Nebraska \| Live event Mull won a tournament to replace Millie Stafford, who had taken time off due to personal reasons.	90 days

Extras

The profile of each NWA wrestler features their Career History, Ring Names, Face / Heel Turns, Accomplishments, Pictures, Bio and more information and statistics.

Also, check out these useful articles we put together:

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This commment is unpublished, pending moderation.
Wright · 6 hours ago
From June 6th, 1993 Diesel (Kevin Nash) sported a mullet up until November 1994. Please change his render to him in that mullet.
- 1 Up 2 Down
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Texas Steve · 9 hours ago
Milosh Jovic is on Evolve he's making his debut tonight
- 0 Up 1 Down
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DJ Aphrodite Henrys Bartholomews The Second Cometh · 13 hours ago
Carmelo Hayes is inactive hasn't been seen for a while
- 2 Up 2 Down
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Davey Castegnaro · 15 hours ago
There were reports awhile back saying Mara Sade is heading to AEW, and another report came out yesterday about Dani Luna also coming to AEW.
Perhaps they should both be inactive on the roster?
- 0 Up 3 Down
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Max · 21 hours ago
Mason Rook is upper card as he is number one contender for the nxt championship
- 8 Up 2 Down
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Texas Steve · 21 hours ago
You might as well put Shawn Spears,Niko Vance,& Reina Volcán on Inactive since they haven't been seen in a while
- 1 Up 2 Down
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Wright · 1 days ago
What are you guys's opinion on my top five WWE favorites?

Sol Ruca
Bron Breakker
Matt Cardona/Zack Ryder
Big Cass
Tank Ledger
- 5 Up 3 Down
- This commment is unpublished, pending moderation.
  Fergus · 20 hours ago
  
  @Wright Sol Ruca: Great talent with tons of potential
  
  Bron Breakker: Underused but is amazing in ring
  
  Matt Cardona: Who doesn’t love this guy! Talented, funny and an underdog
  
  Big Cass: Good upper mid card heel, great since his return
  
  Tank Ledger: Haven’t seen much of him but he’s pretty good from what I have seen
  
  2 Up 3 Down
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Haley McCrary · 1 days ago
Kale dixon and brooks jensen is on evolve full time
- 3 Up 1 Down
- This commment is unpublished, pending moderation.
  Texas Steve · 21 hours ago
  
  @Haley McCrary & Harlem Lewis
  
  0 Up 1 Down
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PrimusVsUnicron · 1 days ago
XWF Alumni Page needs to be worked on
- 1 Up 2 Down
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Annia S. Barrón · 1 days ago
Hi so, a few notes I was thinking....

For the AAA roster Pimpinela Escarlata right now is inactive due to her being in the mexican TV program ''La Granja'' (for those curious, is like big brother but in a farm)
LWO (Joaquin and Cruz) and Lady Shani I think should be tweeners as they have both played heels and faces depending on the rivalry, Adelicious should be face as well as the rest of the psycho circus (Panic , Dave and Murder Clown)
At this point I think both Rey and Dragon Lee shouldn't even be considered part or the LWO lol, it has been ages since the last time they interacted with Joaquin and Cruz
As for the events
-They have confirmed a title match at MITB : LA Knight vs Roman Reigns (c) for the World Heavyweight Champion
- Worlds Collide also has a title match: La Catalina (c) vs Roxanne Perez for the Reina de Reinas. I know there isn't a graphic but the 4-way match at this triplemania was a conteder match
- 2 Up 1 Down
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Constance Affinito · 1 days ago
Wow! Raw was AMAZING! Raw of the year so far!
- 3 Up 5 Down
This commment is unpublished, pending moderation.
Mr Eliezer Mbuku the Rock: HIT THE SUMELL · 1 days ago
The Creed Brothers are fully here at main NXT roster, and Kam Hendrix done with Evolve and now he's fully here at main NXT roster.
- 1 Up 2 Down
This commment is unpublished, pending moderation.
Mr Eliezer Mbuku the Rock: HIT THE SUMELL · 1 days ago
Updated render photos for Akira Towaza, Blake Monre, Brooks Jensen, Channing Stacks Lorenzo, EK Prosper, Finn Balor, Julius Creed, Kam Hendrix, Kevin Owens, Lexis King, Randy Orton, Reina Volcan, Ricky Saints and Uriah Connors for Current WWE Roster for WWE Website tonight!!!!
- 1 Up 4 Down
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TheGreatplaidmoose · 2 days ago
Nino Hamburguesa is back in AAA.
- 2 Up 2 Down
This commment is unpublished, pending moderation.
Davey Castegnaro · 2 days ago
Ilja Dragunov is coming to AEW!!! Inactive for the time being.
Can we also get a profile for Janai Kai? She's signed to AEW now.
- 2 Up 2 Down
- This commment is unpublished, pending moderation.
  Constance Affinito · 1 days ago
  
  @Davey Castegnaro Why do all the former WWE guys go to AEW? There's so many other companies, but they always pick AEW. I'll be honest, Ilja Dragunov would've been excellent in NJPW
  
  2 Up 6 Down
- This commment is unpublished, pending moderation.
  The R · 15 hours ago
  
  @Constance Affinito Primarily, because they know that worst case scenario, Tony Khan will pay them top dollar to sit in catering and do nothing.
  
  If you notice, it follows a pattern: debut on Dynamite, get treated like a big deal for three weeks, then end up appearing sporadically - often in multi-man bouts or the odd singles match.
  
  They all think they'll be the exception who finally ends up the mega star they assume themselves to be. More often than not, they just end up proving why WWE cut them in the first place.
  
  3 Up 2 Down
- This commment is unpublished, pending moderation.
  MIRO · 11 hours ago
  
  @The R is this about ciampa/andrade...? because if it is then it's kinda telling that you're not watching it outside of clips honestly, same with using "mega star" over pro wrestler. this tribalism stuff is super corny man, no need to make stuff up just enjoy what you enjoy
  
  3 Up 3 Down
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  The R · 10 hours ago
  
  @MIRO The only person here engaging in tribalism is you. I'm just being realistic.
  
  2 Up 3 Down
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MrAicrow · 2 days ago
Roman Retains, Expected, But that match was stellar!
- 4 Up 5 Down
- This commment is unpublished, pending moderation.
  Sus · 2 days ago
  
  @MrAicrow Two words, I'm disappointed.
  
  1 Up 11 Down
This commment is unpublished, pending moderation.
Rhea Ripley Fan · 2 days ago
What happened to my name
- 0 Up 9 Down
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MrAicrow · 2 days ago
The pop for El Grande Americano in Mexico was like a Linda McMahon Wrestlemania Level Pop, Oh my god!

Also Penta v Roman is about to go so hard
- 1 Up 3 Down
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Texas Steve · 2 days ago
All I want for my birthday is Lola Vice qualifying for Money in the Bank
- 3 Up 4 Down
- This commment is unpublished, pending moderation.
  Wright · 2 days ago
  
  @Texas Steve Happy birthday, Mr. Steve.
  
  3 Up 1 Down
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  MrAicrow · 2 days ago
  
  @Texas Steve And your Birthday wish came true!
  
  2 Up 0 Down
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Wright · 3 days ago
It seems quite implausible to seriously consider the possibility that Penta could defeat and dethrone Roman Reigns, particularly during a just an episode of Raw.

Even though this event is scheduled to take place in Mexico City, a location known for its energetic crowds, and it is sure to be a match of such significant caliber that is more suitable for a major Premium Live Event....

This is Roman Reigns we are talking about.
- 2 Up 6 Down
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  Sus · 3 days ago
  
  @Wright Well, anything can happen. 946/OTM can interfere and cost Roman, and like what we saw with Vaquer beating Liv for the title at a live event, Penta can possibly dethrone Roman if that certain interference happens. Like I said, it's possible but not guaranteed.
  
  0 Up 1 Down
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  Max · 2 days ago
  
  @Wright That’s reasonable but I feel like that they will do Roman vs Sami at crown jewel because of the history between them
  
  2 Up 0 Down