NWA World Title Tournament

booker Paul Heyman, who orchestrated Douglas' throwing down of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship belt. The NWA World Heavyweight Championship was the principal championship recognized by professional wrestling promotions affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), then the governing body of the American professional wrestling industry. By the early 1990s, the largest NWA affiliate was World Championship Wrestling (WCW). In 1993, the relationship between WCW and the NWA board of directors began to deteriorate. In September 1993, WCW withdrew from the NWA and the NWA World Heavyweight Championship – held by WCW employee Ric Flair – was vacated. After the title had been vacant for several months, NWA board member Dennis Coralluzzo proposed holding a tournament to crown a new NWA World Heavyweight Champion. Tod Gordon and Paul Heyman – the owner and booker of the NWA affiliate Eastern Championship Wrestling (ECW) – wrote to the board of directors proposing that ECW host the tournament given that it had more television exposure than any other NWA affiliate. The board of directors accepted the proposal. Ostensibly unbeknownst to them, Gordon and Heyman – who had previously had disagreements with Coralluzzo – planned to use the tournament to publicly break away from the NWA and springboard ECW to prominence. Gordon and Heyman approached Shane Douglas, the planned winner of the tournament, who agreed to their plan. ==Event==

The event featured an eight-man tournament for the vacant championship. The tournament began with Dean Malenko defeating the Japanese wrestler Osamu Nishimura by submission using a standing figure-four leglock, followed by 911 squashing the surprise wild card entrant, Doink the Clown, with a series of chokeslams. Douglas, the-then ECW Heavyweight Champion, pinned the Tazmaniac with a roll-up, followed by 2 Cold Scorpio defeating Chris Benoit in an "aerial showcase" by reversing Benoit's superplex into a small package. In the semi-finals, 2 Cold Scorpio defeated 911 by count-out after 911 was distracted by Douglas (disguised as Doink the Clown), while Douglas pinned Malenko following two piledrivers. In between the semifinals and the finals, there was a scheduled tag team bout for the ECW Tag Team Championship between champions the Public Enemy (Johnny Grunge and Rocco Rock) and challengers Cactus Jack and Terry Funk. After Funk was forced to withdraw from the event due to missing a flight, Tommy Dreamer was teased as Funk's replacement but was attacked by the Public Enemy, with Rocco Rock putting him through a table using a diving senton. Mikey Whipwreck was then announced as Funk's surprise replacement. Cactus Jack and Whipwreck went on to score an upset victory over the Public Enemy, with Whipwreck pinning Rock after Cactus Jack jostled him while he was on the top rope, causing him to fall and hit his groin on the ring rope. In the final bout of the tournament, Douglas pinned 2 Cold Scorpio following a belly-to-belly suplex. After being presented with the NWA World Heavyweight Championship belt, Douglas began to deliver an acceptance speech before abruptly throwing down the title belt and instead picking up the ECW Heavyweight Championship belt, proclaiming himself to be the "ECW Heavyweight Champion of the world". ==Aftermath==

Coralluzzo was interviewed immediately after the event, referring to Douglas' actions as "a disgrace" and stating that he would move to have Douglas stripped of both championships. On the August 29, 1994, episode of ECW Hardcore TV, Tod Gordon delivered a promo stating that ECW had withdrawn from the NWA, had renamed itself Extreme Championship Wrestling and would recognise Douglas as its world heavyweight champion. in the finals. Douglas' actions have been described as "killing the title's credibility forever". == Results ==

Tournament brackets ==See also==