WCW International Championship
The WCW International Championship was a bogus wrestling championship that was created from the original NWA World Heavyweight Title when World Championship Wrestling split from the National Wrestling Alliance in 1993.
The creation and subsequent unification of WCW International Championship with the WCW World Heavyweight Championship added another long and confusing chapter to the legacy of the NWA World Heavyweight Title.
In 1991, Ted Turner bought what was then Jim Crockett Promotions, the flagship of the National Wrestling Alliance, and renamed it World Championship Wrestling.
Ric Flair was declared the first WCW World Heavyweight Champion on January 11, 1991 after defeating Sting for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Even though WCW was still a member the belt was that of the recognized NWA World Champion, WCW considered it "their" world title as well, and the organization claimed the lineage of the NWA Title. While WCW controlled the NWA Board of Directors, it is important to remember that WCW and NWA were essentially two different organizations.
The Ric Flair Controversy
In September of 1991, Ric Flair jumped to the rival World Wrestling Federation due to several disputes with WCW Executive Vice President Jim Herd . Although Flair was stripped of the WCW/NWA Title, he took with him to the WWF the NWA's title belt. Flair was permitted to do so by the NWA due to the fact that WCW had not paid back Flair's $25,000 deposit on the Title Belt (it was customary for the man designated to be NWA World Champion to put a $25,000 deposit on the Title which would be paid back when he lost the Championship). Flair paraded around with the belt on WWF television and declared himself "The Real World Heavyweight Champion"
The NWA and WCW Titles Are Split in two
Meanwhile, the NWA Title was vacant for the first time in its long history. WCW created a new title belt to represent the WCW World Title, which was won by Lex Luger. Although Luger was the WCW World Champion, the NWA Title was still declared to be vacant by the NWA. The decision effectively split the Championships.
Flair eventually returned the NWA Title Belt when his deposit (which came to over $35,000 with interest), and the NWA held a tournament won by Masahiro Chono to crown a new champion. The NWA Title was then defended on WCW television for a year.
WCW Leaves the NWA
After Rick Rude won the NWA Title in 1993, WCW made the decision to leave the NWA since some regarded it as a defunct organization that had long lost its prestige. In retaliation, the NWA declared that it would not recognize Rude as the NWA World Heavyweight Champion. Since WCW had purchased the "Big Gold Belt" that had represented the NWA title for so long, the organization let Rude retain the belt, and declared the belt to be the "WCW International Championship". This new championship, along with the "proper" WCW World Title, were both regarded as top belts and were defended as such.
Unification of the Titles
Sting eventually won the International Title from Rick Rude, while Ric Flair had possession of the "regular" WCW World Title. It was decided that the two titles would be unified, and Sting and Flair faced off at Clash of the Champions XVII. Flair came away with the victory and united the two belts, effectively killing the WCW International Title once and for all.
A year later, the NWA attempted a resurgence by holding a tournament to name a new NWA Champion, which was won by Shane Douglas. In a post match speech, Douglas famously threw down the title and declared himself the new World Champion of ECW and destroyed almost any credibility the title had left.
The former NWA Title/WCW International Championship belt came to represent the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, and it remained that way until WWE purchased the dying WCW in 2001. The belt was defended for a time under the WCW moniker on WWE television, but was later re-named the World Heavyweight Championship and is now defended as the top title on WWE's RAW brand.
