PWA Champions Grail
| PWA Champion's Grail | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||
| Details | |||||
| Promotion | Pro Wrestling Alliance (PWA) Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling (MLP) Oceania Pro Wrestling (OCP) Qatar Pro Wrestling (QPW) Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance (Legacy) Wrestling Retribution Project (Legacy) | ||||
| Date established | October 7, 2024 (MLP) [2] October 13, 2011 (WRP) July 1, 1962 (JWA) | ||||
| Current champion | Rohan Raja | ||||
| Date won | October 19, 2024[1] | ||||
| |||||
The PWA Champion's Grail is a professional wrestling championship established by the Pro Wrestling Alliance (PWA), which was formed through the collaboration of Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling (MLP), Oceania Pro Wrestling (OPW), and Qatar Pro Wrestling (QPW).
History
[edit]On August 19, 2024, Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling (MLP), Oceania Pro Wrestling (OPW), and Qatar Pro Wrestling (QPW) formed the Pro Wrestling Alliance (PWA) to work together on talent exchange and other collaborations.[3]
On October 7, 2024, MLP announced that they would crown an inaugural PWA Champion's Grail holder on October 19, during the first night of Forged in Excellence.[2] The origins of the Champion's Grail goes back to July 1, 1962, when Rikidōzan and Toyonobori defeated Buddy Austin and Mike Sharpe to win the Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance's Toyonaka tournament, awarding them the trophy that would become the first Champion's Grail.[2] On December 15, 1963, Rikidōzan was murdered,[4] and his family preserved his original Champion's Grail trophy in their home for over 60 years.[2]
The 1962 Toyonaka trophy would then be acquired by film producer Jeff Katz and merged with the 2011 Wrestling Retribution Project Champion's Grail tournament title won by Kenny Omega at the Jim Henson Company Lot in Hollywood, CA on October 13, 2011, officially creating the modern PWA Champion's Grail belt that is defended today.
At the first night of Forged in Excellence in Windsor, Ontario, "Ravenous" Rohan Raja defeated Jake Something to become the inaugural champion.[1]
Design
[edit]The PWA Champion's Grail was created by Belts By Dan, designer of championship belts for AEW, New Japan Pro Wrestling and many others. Showcasing a mix of English, Japanese and Latin text, the PWA Champion's Grail title belt boasts three layers, dual plating, hand nugget texturing and Swarovski stones.
The center plate denotes the shared Japanese and Hollywood establishment dates and proclaims the belt, in Japanese, as "チャンピオンの聖杯" or "Holy Grail of Champions." The original merged championship reigns of Rikidozan & Toyonobori in 1962 and Kenny Omega in 2011 are memorialized on the side plates, denoting their historical roles in the lineage of the modern Champion's Grail. The belt's motto is "Per Ardua Ad Astra," which is engraved into the clip of the snap box. Each snap box features a small dog paw print, a tribute to rescue dogs.
The influence of the film The Pope's Exorcist on the creation of the belt is seen in the red bird above the motto on the clip and the text "See Thee Beneath God" carved into the opposite snap box. The cinema roots of the championship belt are further displayed in the other snap box reading, in Japanese text, "リング内 X シネマ内 " or "Inside The Ring X Inside The Cinema."
Design inspirations for the championship belt include World Championship Wrestling's 90's United States championship and Big Gold Belt, WWE's Winged Eagle, New Japan Pro-Wrestling's 2nd and 4th generation IWGP Heavyweight Championship and the current Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship in All Japan Pro Wrestling. The purple colored backing is a nod to both Pro Wrestling Noah's GHC Heavyweight Championship and the original royal purple branding of the Wrestling Retribution Project. The eagle and trophy bowl on the center plate are designed to emulate Rikidozan & Toyonobori's classic 1962 Toyonaka prize.
Reigns
[edit]As of August 5, 2025, there has only been one reign with "Ravenous" Rohan Raja being the inaugural and current champion. He won the title by defeating Jake Something on the first night of MLP Forged in Excellence on October 19, 2024, in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.
| No. | Overall reign number |
|---|---|
| Reign | Reign number for the specific champion |
| Days | Number of days held |
| + | Current reign is changing daily |
| No. | Champion | Championship change | Reign statistics | Notes | Ref. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Event | Location | Reign | Days | ||||
| 1 | Rohan Raja | October 19, 2024 | MLP Forged in Excellence | Windsor, Ontario, Canada | 1 | 290+ | Defeated Jake Something to become the inaugural champion. | [5] |
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Lee, Joseph (October 19, 2024). "MLP Forged in Excellence Night One Results: Takeshita Beats Bailey, Rohan Raja Wins Champion's Grail". 411Mania. Retrieved May 4, 2025.
- ^ a b c d Woodward, Hamish (October 7, 2024). "Maple Leaf Pro Set to Crown Inaugural Champion's Grail Champion". Wrestlezone. Retrieved May 4, 2025.
- ^ Tessier, Colin (August 19, 2024). "Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling, Qatar Pro Wrestling, and Oceania Pro Wrestling Form the Pro Wrestling Alliance". Fightful. Retrieved May 4, 2025.
- ^ Nakano, Kenji (May 10, 2013). "Looking back at the death of Rikidozan". Tokyo Reporter. Retrieved May 4, 2025.
- ^ Vetter, Chris (April 29, 2025). "Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling "Mayhem – Night One" results: Vetter's review of Thom Latimer vs. Bishop Dyer (f/k/a Baron Corbin) for the NWA World Title, women's title tournament first-round matches". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved April 30, 2025.