NWA World Heavyweight Champion, Whipper Billy Watson
September 1956
September 1956 was one of the most revealing months of Whipper Billy Watson’s reign as NWA World Heavyweight Champion. Seven months removed from his historic victory over Lou Thesz in Toronto, Watson was no longer simply the popular Canadian champion defending his title in his home country. He was functioning as exactly what the National Wrestling Alliance needed its world champion to be: a traveling representative of the Alliance, moving from territory to territory, defending the championship against established local stars and carrying the NWA banner across a remarkably broad geographic footprint.
He was doing the job of an NWA World Champion at an extraordinary level.
But by September, the Alliance was already beginning to move toward the restoration of its traditional standard-bearer. Organizational habits die hard and the National Wrestling Allince had a “Lou Thesz-habit.” Even though the relationship was very contentious from both sides, like a lot of relationships with a high lvel of toxicity, breaking up for good is hard to do.
And that makes Watson’s September tour one of the most important chapters in the entire story of his 1956 championship reign.
When the entire month is reconstructed, Watson’s September schedule becomes extraordinary. He worked at least sixteen identifiable dates during the month, traveling through Newfoundland, Quebec, Ontario, New York, Missouri, Kansas, California, Alberta and Saskatchewan. Even more significantly, the month included matches with several of the most important wrestlers in the NWA, including Buddy Rogers, Dick Hutton, Dr. Lee Grable, Enrique Torres and, most importantly, Lou Thesz.
September was therefore not merely another month in Watson’s reign. It was a snapshot of the NWA championship machine at work during one of the most important transitional periods in the organization’s history.
The Canadian beginning
It opened at the far edge of the map. On September 4 in St. John’s, Watson met Hard Boiled Haggerty. Newfoundland was not on every champion’s circuit. Getting there meant the world title had to go where the Alliance’s Canadian reach still mattered, even if the next night required another long hop west. Haggerty was already a regular thorn in Watson’s year: a heavy, rough challenger who could sell a title defense in any building.
