NWA Roster in 1961: Full List of Wrestlers, Teams, Champions

National Wrestling Alliance: Rosters History Database

On this page you find the full NWA Roster in the year 1961. 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

1961

NWA: All (94)

"Blond Bomber" Ray Stevens

"High Chief" Peter Maivia

Hiro Matsuda

J. Wellington Radcliffe

"Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers

Men

Women

Teams

Champions

NWA World Heavyweight Championship		"Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers Won: June 30, 1961 Chicago, IL \| House show During this reign, Bruno Sammartino defeated Rogers but refused to accept the title because Rogers had wrestled with an injury, so the title was returned to Rogers. Also Bobo Brazil refused the title because of a groin injury that Rogers had claimed to have; however Brazil was then declared champion because a doctor had determined that Rogers had not suffered an injury, but this title change is not recognized by NWA (and neither Rogers' rematch win). Also Killer Kowalski defeated Rogers after Rogers broke his ankle; NWA does not recognize any of Rogers' losses.	184+ days
NWA World Heavyweight Championship		Pat O'Connor Won: January 9, 1959 St. Louis, MO \| House show During this reign, Gene LeBell defeated O'Connor, but then he struck a Texas wrestling commissioner with the title belt and the decision was reversed. The title was returned to O'Connor and these two title changes were not recognized.	903 days

NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship	Jack Dalton Won: December 1, 1961 Houston, Texas \| House show	30+ days
	Pepe Gonzales Won: November 17, 1961 Houston, Texas \| House show	14 days
	Sputnik Monroe Won: October 27, 1961 Houston, Texas \| House show	21 days
	Dory Dixon Won: July 14, 1961 Houston, Texas \| House show	105 days
	Waldo Von Erich Won: June 23, 1961 Houston, Texas \| House show	21 days
	Pepper Gomez Won: May 23, 1961 Dallas, Texas \| House show Wins rematch.	31 days
	Vacant Won: May 16, 1961 Dallas, Texas \| House show After a match against Angelo Poffo.	7 days
	Pepper Gomez Won: February 10, 1961 Houston, Texas \| House show	95 days

View All Reigns

NWA Louisiana State Championship

Vacant

Won: September 1, 1960

486+

days

NWA United States Heavyweight Championship		Vacant Won: June 30, 1961 Buddy Rogers vacated the championship after defeating Pat O'Connor for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.	184+ days
NWA United States Heavyweight Championship		"Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers Won: April 20, 1960 Rogers was recognized as the inaugural holder of the Northeast version of the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship.	436 days

NWA International Heavyweight Championship

Antonino Rocca

Won: July 2, 1959 New York, NY | House Show

Defeated Buddy Rogers to win the new title.

913+

days

NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Championship

Tor Yamata

Won: April 24, 1958 Chattanooga, TN | House show

The title history is unrecorded from 1958-04-24 to July 1971.

1347+

days

NWA United States Television Championship

Johnny Valentine

Won: September 22, 1960 Richmond, Virginia | CWC House show

465+

days

NWA Texas Brass Knuckles Championship	Waldo Von Erich Won: August 31, 1961 Texas \| House show	122+ days
	Stu Gibson Won: August 1, 1961 Texas \| House show It is not clear who Gibson defeated to win the championship	30 days
	Tony Martin Won: July 13, 1961 Texas \| House show It is not clear who Martin defeated to win the championship	19 days
	Bull Curry Won: December 10, 1960 Beaumont, Texas \| House show	215 days

NWA United States Tag Team Championship

The Fabulous KangaroosAl Costello & Roy Heffernan

Won: December 8, 1960 Washington, D.C. | House Show

Defeated Chief Big Heart & Johnny Valentine to win the titles.

388+

days

NWA World Tag Team Championship

Antonino Rocca and Miguel PérezAntonino Rocca & Miguel Pérez

Won: March 30, 1957 New York City, NY | Manhattan Wrestling Enterprises

This was two-out-of-three falls match, in which Rocca and Pérez won 2–1.

1524

days

NWA Texas Tag Team Championship	Nick Roberts & Stan Kowalski Won: November 16, 1961 Amarillo, Texas \| House show May only be recognized in Amarillo.	45+ days
	Ricky Romero & Eric Rommel Won: November 1, 1961 Texas \| House show	15 days
	The Mighty Yankees Mighty Yankee 1 & Mighty Yankee 2 Won: October 2, 1961 Ft. Worth, Texas \| House show	30 days
	Dick Hutton & Sam Steamboat Won: September 18, 1961 Ft. Worth, Texas \| House show Defeated Duke Keomuka and Kojika Saito in 4-team tournament final.	14 days
	Vacant Won: July 1, 1961 championship vacated for undocumented reasons	79 days
	Pepper Gomez & Dory Dixon Won: June 1, 1961 Houston, Texas \| House show	30 days
	Angelo Poffo & Bronko Lubich Won: May 12, 1961 Houston, Texas \| House show	20 days
	Pepper Gomez & Dory Dixon Won: February 24, 1961 Houston, Texas \| House show	77 days

View All Reigns

NWA World Tag Team Championship	Dalton Brothers Jack Dalton & Jim Dalton Won: November 1, 1961 Texas \| House show	60+ days
	Pepper Gomez & Dory Dixon Won: June 16, 1961 Houston, Texas \| House show	138 days
	Duke Keomuka & Tony Martin Won: May 26, 1961 Houston, Texas \| House show	21 days
	Rito Romero & Dory Dixon Won: May 5, 1961 Houston, Texas \| House show	21 days
	Pepper Gomez & Wilbur Snyder Won: September 1, 1960 Blanco gave his half to Snyder	246 days

NWA Mid-Southern Tag Team Championship	Jackie Fargo & Lester Welch Won: November 30, 1961 Chattanooga, Tennessee \| House Show	31+ days
	Dante & Mephisto Won: November 28, 1961 Chattanooga, Tennessee \| House Show	2 days
	Jackie Fargo & Lester Welch Won: October 17, 1961 Nashville, Tennessee \| House Show	42 days
	Dante & Mephisto Won: September 23, 1961 Chattanooga, Tennessee \| House Show	24 days
	Len Rossi Tex Riley Won: September 16, 1961 Chattanooga, Tennessee \| House Show	7 days
	Dante & Mephisto Won: September 5, 1961 Nashville, Tennessee \| House Show In Chattanooga, Tennessee Riley and Rossi defend the title on September 9, 1961, although Mephisto and Dante are recognized prior to the match on September 16, 1961.	11 days
	Len Rossi Tex Riley Won: August 22, 1961 Nashville, Tennessee \| House Show	14 days
	Dante & Mephisto Won: March 12, 1961 Memphis, Tennessee \| House Show In Chattanooga, TN, Tex Rileyand Len Rossi are announced as having defeated Mephisto and Dante for the title "last week".	163 days

View All Reigns

NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship

Danny Hodge

Won: July 22, 1960 Oklahoma City, OK | House show

527+

days

NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship

Gory Guerrero

Won: July 30, 1960 Mexico City, Mexico | Live event

519+

days

NWA World Middleweight Championship		Antonio Posa Won: December 2, 1961 Mexico City, Mexico \| Live event	29+ days
NWA World Middleweight Championship		René Guajardo Won: October 13, 1960 Monterrey, Nuevo León \| Live event	415 days

NWA World Welterweight Championship

Karloff Lagarde

Won: January 31, 1958 Mexico City, Mexico | EMLL show

1430+

days

NWA Women's Championship

The Fabulous Moolah

Won: September 18, 1956 Baltimore, MD | Live Event

During this reigns the following title changes took place: Bette Boucher, then The Fabulous Moolah, then Yukiko Tomoe, then The Fabulous Moolah, then Evelyn Stevens, then The Fabulous Moolah; however, WWE recognizes Moolah's reign as being uninterrupted until 1984. The title was known as the NWA World Women's Championship until May 19, 1984, when Moolah sold the rights to the championship to the WWF, and the title was renamed to WWF Women's Championship.

1930+

days

NWA Women's Championship

The Fabulous Moolah

Won: September 18, 1956 Baltimore, MD | Live event

Won a 13-Woman Battle Royal to win the vacant title.

1930+

days

NWA United States Women's Championship	Kathy Starr Won: October 4, 1961 Honolulu, HI \| Live event The title history is unrecorded from 1961-10-04 to 1965-05-01.	88+ days
	Judy Glover Won: September 24, 1961 Live event The title history is unrecorded from 1959-07-07 to 1961-09-24. According to The Honolulu Advertiser, Glover won a tournament to win the title.	10 days
	Nell Stewart Won: July 7, 1959 Knoxville, TN The title history is unrecorded from 1957-12-03 to 1959-07-07, and then from 1959-07-07 to 1961-09-24.	810 days

NWA World Ladies Tag Team Championship		Adrienne Ames & Pat Lyda Won: November 23, 1961 Harvey, LA \| Live event The titles history is unrecorded from 1958-12-04 to 1961-11-23, and then from 1961-11-23 to 1967-11-02.Lyda were billed as "NWA titlists" when they defeated Chris Clark & Ann Regan (holders of the Southern Women's Tag Team Championship) to become "undisputed women's tag team champions".	38+ days
NWA World Ladies Tag Team Championship		& Kay Noble & Lolita Martinez Won: December 4, 1958 Amarillo, TX \| Live event The titles history is unrecorded from 1958-06-16 to 1958-12-04, and then from 1958-12-04 to 1961-11-23. As of 1959-02-24, Penny Banner is listed as a co-holder of the titles, since she wasn't involved in losing them.	1085 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:

9944 Comments
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This commment is unpublished, pending moderation.
Wright · 5 hours ago
AJ Styles has been a coach and producer in WWE. There have also been rumors circling that Styles may replace Shawn Michaels as the head of NXT.
- 3 Up 2 Down
- This commment is unpublished, pending moderation.
  MrAicrow · 3 hours ago
  
  @Wright I think it'll be either AJ or Punk
  
  2 Up 1 Down
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Yansy Martínez · 5 hours ago
They still need to add Big Mami to the AAA roster
- 2 Up 2 Down
This commment is unpublished, pending moderation.
Nkrst · 10 hours ago
Yota Tsuji and Tessa Blanchard are going to debut in MLW at SuperFight on november 7.
- 3 Up 2 Down
This commment is unpublished, pending moderation.
Roy · 18 hours ago
there seriously better be a change in locations for crown jewel. idk what tko is tryna do but seriously.
- 2 Up 2 Down
- This commment is unpublished, pending moderation.
  MrAicrow · 3 hours ago
  
  @Roy They did move it
  
  Across the Street
  
  This company is corporate greed personified
  
  1 Up 1 Down
This commment is unpublished, pending moderation.
Lensky · 23 hours ago
Apparently we're gonna get Balor vs Gunther at Crown Jewel. The original plan was Punk vs Owens, but they have no intentions on traveling to Riyadh(at least they care about their health), which explains why their match is on the SmackDown episode before Crown Jewel. Balor and Gunther will replace the two, they've already advertised the match all over Saudi.
- 4 Up 3 Down
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Eddie Sallin · 1 days ago
Dijak attacked Matt riddle during a match with Riddle vs Kross face turn maybe?
- 5 Up 5 Down
This commment is unpublished, pending moderation.
MIAMI DOLPHINS FANS · 1 days ago
Matt Riddle Is A Face!!!
- 6 Up 5 Down
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Haunted Stories · 1 days ago
Matt Riddle is face again he got attacked by Donavon Dijak last episode of MLW
- 6 Up 3 Down
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Draysin Martin · 1 days ago
Will Ospreay vs. Kyle Fletcher for the AEW World Championship at Full Gear
- 3 Up 2 Down
This commment is unpublished, pending moderation.
Constance Affinito · 1 days ago
Hey, guys, I'm back! I've been gone only a few days, too short for you to notice, but the reason its important is because I almost completely lost the account
- 5 Up 3 Down
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  Roy · 1 days ago
  
  @Constance Affinito Welcome back man, Havent seen you here in a while.
  
  2 Up 3 Down
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  Lensky · 23 hours ago
  
  @Constance Affinito Yo the same thing happened to me! I couldn't log into my account for two weeks, thought my stuff got deleted but I've been able to log back in. Thank goodness I wasn't the only one experiencing this
  
  0 Up 1 Down
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DJ Aphrodite Henrys Bartholomews The Second Cometh · 1 days ago
Queen Aminata is new AEW TBS Champion
- 7 Up 2 Down
This commment is unpublished, pending moderation.
Draysin Martin · 1 days ago
I have viewed The R's most recent message & I just want say this.....@Chad I'm Sorry. I didn't want to turn this situation into something bigger than it needed to be, I shouldn't have called you out. I can give you a chance. I just feel like Smackdown hotel is a place to post your wrestling facts, recent information, & all of that. I feel like the negativity was unnecessary to begin with.
- 9 Up 2 Down
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  Roy · 1 days ago
  
  @Draysin Martin Same here, after reading Mr The R.’s comment, i felt like there were times i think was unnecessary of me to have replied back hostile when i could have done something different. But at the same time i felt that there were times Chad should have been picked some of his words better… I apologize for all my nuisance at this website towards Chad and hope that SmackDownHotel still can be a website that everyone can freely share what they think and view.
  
  2 Up 0 Down
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  Chad · 1 days ago
  
  @Roy Oh Roy Boy, that was a sweet comment! I accept your apology.
  
  1 Up 6 Down
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APLDAGOAT · 1 days ago
@Chad Y’all I get it but some people make mistakes give him a second chance
- 3 Up 5 Down
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MrAicrow · 2 days ago
They moved crown jewel to a different location in Riyadh

They aren't fixing the problem, My god 🤦‍♂️
- 8 Up 4 Down
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EverBlast · 2 days ago
Frankie Kazarian turned face, he's supporting Avery Styles and feuded with Mustafa Ali.
- 3 Up 3 Down
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Davey Castegnaro · 2 days ago
TNA roster looks great!
Here are some fixes though for the roster:

For the remaining Men's Mid Card: John Skyler, Joseph Sawyer, Ryan Nemeth, Special Agent 0, Vincent, Rich Swann, Ricky Sosa.

For the Remaining Men's Low Card: Mr. Elegance & Joe Alonzo.

Erick Redbeard should be taken off the roster since I don't believe he's signed to TNA.

For the Women's roster, for the Upper Card: Indi Hartwell, Xia Brookside, should be listed in the upper card.

For the Mid Card: Shayna Baszler, Heather By Elegance, M By Elegance, Tasha Steelz, Kiera Hogan, Harley Hudson, Jada Stone & Rosemary.

For the Low Card: Mila Moore & Gabby Forza.

Hopefully this helps!!
- 4 Up 6 Down
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  Wright · 2 days ago
  
  @Davey Castegnaro Erick Redbeard did sign with TNA.
  
  3 Up 3 Down
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  Vinny · 2 days ago
  
  @Davey Castegnaro Thanks so much for the input Davey! A colleague of mine and I actually just had a conversation about the card status of the roster. So we are currently working on updating the current status of each. Once that's updated I'll go through and do historical card status for the roster.
  
  1 Up 2 Down
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The R · 2 days ago
I've been on this site a very, very, VERY long time. Honestly, I've forgotten how many years.
Over that time, I've seen the same patterns again and again.
Every once in a while, some idiot comes along and tries to be funny or hostile or offensive. And because they get away with it a few times - usually just have comments removed or hidden - they think they can do it forever. Then one day they just......stop posting. Usually because a mod has had enough.
I get that if someone is baiting you it's difficult to hold back, sometimes. But honestly, that's just encouraging the troll more. The best way is to treat them like a ghost; don't respond, flag the comment and let a mod do their job. Trust me - eventually it works. The SDH has a small team, but things have improved a LOT around here in recent years. They do deal with stuff - it just might take a little time.

One other thing I want to say is that the SDH is for everyone. Getting in someone's face because they're attacking you is one thing, but I've seen multiple instances of the same three or four accounts dog-piling someone just for having a different opinion. And that's something the mods will notice, too.
I get that people want this to be a nice place to chat, but there's a fine line between keeping the trash out and smothering anyone who disagrees with you.
- 14 Up 2 Down
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  Roy · 2 days ago
  
  @The R i wouldn’t say dog pile… but i agree with you. I do want to be as positive as i can be on this website. Because everyone here is sharing about what they saw or know, I too do the same. I respect you for your views on this. Thank you for pointing it out.
  
  5 Up 2 Down
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DJ Aphrodite Henrys Bartholomews The Second Cometh · 2 days ago
Elio LeFleur is inactive he confirmed on social media he is medically cleared and had a dark match on NXT
- 2 Up 2 Down
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DJ Aphrodite Henrys Bartholomews The Second Cometh · 2 days ago
Max Caster mentioned on K & S WrestleFest that Anthony Bowens is still signed to AEW which is possibly true as he is still listed on the roster page on the AEW website
- 0 Up 4 Down
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Keith Meyer · 2 days ago
Chantel Monroe is definitely a heal she used the ropes in her match tonight
- 3 Up 3 Down