WWF North American Heavyweight Championship

{{Short description|Professional wrestling championship}}

{{distinguish|NXT North American Championship|NXT Women's North American Championship}}

{{Infobox pro wrestling championship

|name = WWF North American Heavyweight Championship

|image = WWF North American Heavyweight Championship.jpg

|caption = The North American Heavyweight Championship belt.

|created = February 13, 1979

|retired = April 23, 1981

|promotion = World Wrestling Federation (WWF)
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW)

|firstchamp = Ted DiBiase

|finalchamp = Seiji Sakaguchi

|youngest = Ted DiBiase
(25 years, 26 days)

|oldest = Pat Patterson
(38 years, 152 days)

|lightest = Pat Patterson
(237lb (108kg))

|heaviest = Seiji Sakaguchi
(287lb (130kg))

|pastlookimages =

|mostreigns = All titleholders
(1)

|longestreign = Seiji Sakaguchi
(532 days)

|shortestreign = Ted DiBiase
(126 days)

|pastnames=

• WWWF North American Heavyweight Championship
  (1979)
• WWF North American Heavyweight Championship
  (1979–1981)

}}

The WWF North American Heavyweight Championship was a relatively short-lived title in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) from 1979 until 1981.{{cite book|title=WWE Encyclopedia|last1=Shields|first1=Brian|last2=Sullivan|first2=Kevin|page=[https://archive.org/details/wweencyclopediad0000shie/page/227 227]|publisher=Dorling Kindersley|year=2009|isbn=978-0-7566-4190-0}} It was established as the WWWF North American Heavyweight Championship on February 13, 1979 before the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) was renamed to WWF the following month. The inaugural champion was Ted DiBiase and the final champion was Seiji Sakaguchi.Ted DiBiase: The Million Dollar Man, p.108, Ted DiBiase with Tom Caiazzo, Pocket Books, New York, NY, 2008, {{ISBN|978-1-4165-5890-3}}.

Second champion Pat Patterson was recognized by the WWF as Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship after he reported on WWF television that he had won a (fictitious) one-night tournament in Rio de Janeiro to create a new overall title.[https://thehistoryofwwe.com/wwf-results-1979 "WWF @ Hamburg, PA – Fieldhouse – August 22, 1979 Championship Wrestling taping: 8/25/79 – hosted by Vince McMahon & Pat Patterson: WWF IC Champion Pat Patterson (w/ the Grand Wizard) defeated Johnny Rivera via submission with the Boston Crab at 7:01; after the bout, Vince McMahon interviewed Patterson & Wizard at ringside where Wizard explained how Patterson was now the IC Champion after winning a gruelling tournament last week in Rio de Janeiro with Patterson saying he doesn’t care what happens to the North American title he previously held" - History of WWE - 1979, HistoryofWWE.com, retrieved April 10, 2024][https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xx7geOFXC04 WWF Championship Wrestling, transmitted August 25 1979, Pat Patterson and The Grand Wizard interviewed by Vince McMahon retrieved April 10, 2024] Nonetheless, the North American title was later awarded to Seiji Sakaguchi after he defeated Patterson on a New Japan Pro-Wrestling house show.

In March 2018, the now WWE established a new North American championship for their NXT brand, the NXT North American Championship, and in 2024, created the NXT Women's North American Championship. These new titles, however, do not carry the lineage of the promotion's original North American championship.{{cite web|title=SPOILER: NEW WWE CHAMPIONSHIP CONFIRMED, HOW FIRST CHAMPION WILL BE CROWNED|url=https://www.pwinsider.com/article/115958/spoiler-new-wwe-championship-confirmed-how-first-champion-will-be-crowned.html?p=1|last=Johnson|first=Mike|date=March 7, 2018|work=PWInsider|access-date=March 7, 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180308103848/https://www.pwinsider.com/article/115958/spoiler-new-wwe-championship-confirmed-how-first-champion-will-be-crowned.html?p=1|archive-date=March 8, 2018}}