Deep South Heavyweight Championship

The Deep South Heavyweight Championship was the primary championship in Deep South Wrestling, a former developmental territory of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) between 2005 and 2007. When the title was first introduced, it was awarded to Tommy Rich, who won a tournament to determine the inaugural champion. The final champion of its first run was The Assassin, who vacated the title due to injury and folded the promotion in October 1988.

Deep South Heavyweight Championship
Details
Promotion	Deep South Wrestling
Date established	February 12, 1986
Current champion	Jacob Johnson
Date won	July 27, 2024
Statistics First champion Tommy Rich Most reigns Bradley Jay and Assassin #1 (3 reigns) Longest reign Randy Rose (341 days) Shortest reign Roughhouse O'Reilly and Bradley Jay (7 days)

In 2005, after seventeen years of inactivity, Deep South Wrestling was revived as a developmental territory for WWE and revived the championship. It was awarded to Mike Mizanin, who won a tournament to become champion.^[1] The title was vacated on April 18, 2007, when WWE ceased using DSW as a developmental territory.^[1][2] On July 12, 2007, a tournament was held to crown a new champion, which was won by Austin Creed.^[1] In October 2007, DSW closed down a second time. In March 2023, Nick Patrick revealed a brand-new Deep South Heavyweight Championship belt. In August 2023, it was announced that a new champion would be determined the following month in an eight-man tournament that was subsequently won by Skrilla the Great.

Tournaments

WWE Developmental years

November 23 – December 1, 2005

The title was first awarded to the winner of an 8-Man Single Elimination Tournament, held over a 2-week period, with the first-round matches being held November 23, 2005, and the semi-final and final matches on December 1.

First Round

Semifinals

Final

Mike Mizanin

Eric Pérez

Mike Mizanin

Kid Kash†

Mac Daddy Johnson

"Silverback" Ryan Reeves

Mike Mizanin

Mike Knox

Mike Knox

Mike Taylor

Mike Knox

Tony Santorelli

Tony Santorelli

Palmer Cannon

Post-WWE

July 12, 2007

The title was "held-up" after the agreement between WWE and DSW ended in March 2007, and another tournament was held in on July 12 to crown the new champion.

First Round

Semifinals

Final

Austin Creed

Simon Sermon

Austin Creed

Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great

Salvatore Rinauro†

Austin Creed

Murder One

Murder One

J-Rod

Murder One

Rick Michaels

Rick Michaels

Pretty Boy Floyd

↑Alexander the Great defeated Salvatore Rinauro by Coin Toss

September 9, 2023

After nearly 16 years of inactivity, a tournament to determine a new champion took place on September 9, 2023. Lamar Diggs was the wild card entrant.

First Round

Semifinals

Final

Najasism

Chad Skywalker

Najasism

Skrilla the Great

Skrilla the Great

Shoot Taylor

Skrilla the Great

Jacob Johnson

Lamar Diggs

Tyson Maddux

Lamar Diggs

Jacob Johnson

Jacob Johnson

Tyler the Wall

Title history

Key

No.	Overall reign number
Reign	Reign number for the specific champion
Days	Number of days held
<1	Reign lasted less than a day

No.	Champion	Championship change			Reign statistics		Notes	Ref.
		Date	Event	Location	Reign	Days
1	Tommy Rich	February 12, 1986	N/A	Marietta, Georgia	1	142	Wins tournament to become the first champion
2	Flame	July 4, 1986	N/A	Albany, Georgia	1	83
3	Mr. Wrestling II	September 25, 1986	N/A	Carrollton, Georgia	1	45
4	Flame	November 9, 1986	N/A	Athens, Georgia	2	77
5	Ranger Ross	January 25, 1987	N/A	Athens, Georgia	1	35
6	Botswana Beast	March 1, 1987	N/A	Rome, Georgia	1	87
7	Tommy Rich	May 27, 1987	N/A	Marietta, Georgia	2	35
8	Randy Rose	July 1, 1987	N/A	Columbia County, Georgia	1	341
9	Assassin #1	June 6, 1988	N/A	Atlanta, Georgia	3	134	Formerly known as Flame
—	Vacated	October 18, 1988	—	—	—	—	Promotion closed
10	Mike Mizanin	December 1, 2005	DSW	McDonough, Georgia	1	21	Defeated Mike Knox in a tournament final when the promotion reopens as a talent developmental league of WWE	[3][4]
11	Derek Neikirk	December 22, 2005	DSW	McDonough, Georgia	1	182		[5]
12	Roughhouse O'Reilly	June 22, 2006	DSW	McDonough, Georgia	1	77		[6]
13	Bradley Jay	September 7, 2006	DSW TV #21	McDonough, Georgia	1	140		[7]
14	Vito	January 25, 2007	DSW TV #40	McDonough, Georgia	1	28	Defeated Bradley Jay and Roughhouse O'Reilly in a three-way round robin match.	[8]
15	Bradley Jay	February 22, 2007	DSW TV #43	McDonough, Georgia	2	7		[9]
16	Roughhouse O'Reilly	March 1, 2007	DSW TV #44	McDonough, Georgia	2	7		[10]
17	Bradley Jay	March 8, 2007	DSW TV #44	McDonough, Georgia	3	7		[11]
—	Vacated	March 15, 2007	—	—	—	—	Title held-up after a match with Roughhouse O'Reilly when the agreement between WWE and DSW ends.
18	Austin Creed	July 12, 2007	DSW	Locust Grove, Georgia	1	91	Defeated Murder One in tournament final.	[12][13]
—	Vacated	October 11, 2007	—	—	—	—	Promotion closed
19	Skrilla the Great	September 9, 2023	DSW THE GRAND PRIX	Atlanta, Georgia	1	42	Defeated Jacob Johnson in a tournament final for the reactivated title.
20	Najasism	October 21, 2023	DSW October Rust	Atlanta, Georgia	1	56
21	Skrilla the Great	December 16, 2023	DSW FINAL CONFLICT	Atlanta, Georgia	2	224
22	Jacob Johnson	July 27, 2024	DSW NO ESCAPE	Atlanta, Georgia	1	381	It was a Barbed wire steel cage match.

Combined reigns

Rank	Wrestler	No. of reigns	Combined days
1	Randy Rose	1	341
2	Jacob Johnson	1	381
3	Flame/Assassin #1	3	294
4	Skrilla the Great	2	266
5	Derek Neikirk	1	182
6	Tommy Rich	2	177
7	Bradley Jay	3	154
8	Austin Creed	1	91
9	Botswana Beast	1	87
10	Roughhouse O'Reilly	2	84
11	Najasism	1	56
12	Mr. Wrestling II	1	45
13	Ranger Ross	1	35
14	Vito	1	28
15	Mike Mizanin	1	21