Subsequently, after Ric Flair left WCW and was stripped of the WCW World Heavyweight Championship in July 1991, "PWI" and its sister publications nonetheless continued to recognize the WCW title as held by Lex Luger, Sting, Vader and Ron Simmons as the rightful continuation of the historic NWA World Heavyweight Championship. When Masa Chono won an NWA World title tournament in Japan in August 1992, "PWI" and its sister publications only recognized Chono's title as the "NWA Championship" and rejected it as a World title or as a continuation of the historic NWA World title.