AWA World Heavyweight Championship

The American Wrestling Association (AWA) World Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship and the highest ranked championship in the defunct American Wrestling Association. All AWA trademarks, including the AWA World Heavyweight Championship, are now owned by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). AWA World Heavyweight Championship reigns were determined by professional wrestling matches, in which competitors are involved in scripted rivalries. These narratives create feuds between the various competitors, which cast them as villains and heroes.

History

The AWA World Heavyweight Championship was established in May 1960, after the AWA became a separate promotion from the National Wrestling Alliance, which had previously been a part of the NWA's Minneapolis, Minnesota-area presence. The first champion was Pat O'Connor, who was recognized as the first champion upon the AWA's secession from the NWA as O'Connor held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship as well, which he won on January 9, 1959. The creation of the AWA World Heavyweight Championship along with the NWA World Heavyweight Championship would pave the way for the creation of many other world championships in other wrestling promotions. American Wrestling Association and the title became inactive in 1990 and the organization officially closed down in 1991 with the title also being decommissioned.

Trademark infringement

In 1996, Dale Gagner and his associate Jonnie Stewart, former American Wrestling Association employees, began using the AWA name in the state of Minnesota and formed an organization known as AWA Superstars of Wrestling, infringing on the AWA name. Finally, in April 2007 World Wrestling Entertainment filed a lawsuit against Dale Gagner and Jonnie Stewart, citing trademark infringement, as WWE owned all American Wrestling Association properties due to their purchase after the AWA's closure.^[1]^[2]^[3] In October 2008, the court ruled in favor of WWE. The court ruling prohibits Gagner and his associate from exploiting or trading on the AWA name or any other derivatives.^[4]

Title history

†Title changes not officially recognized by the American Wrestling Association.

#	Wrestler	Reigns	Date	Days held:	Location	Event	Notes
1	Pat O'Connor	1	May 18, 1960	90	St. Louis, MO	Live event	Held NWA World Heavyweight Championship, won on January 9, 1959 in St. Louis, Missouri; recognized as the first AWA World Champion in May 1960, but was given 90 days to defend the title against Verne Gagne or be stripped of the title.^[5]
2	Verne Gagne	1	August 16, 1960	329	N/A	N/A	Awarded after O'Connor failed to defend the title.^[5]
3	Gene Kiniski	1	July 11, 1961	28	Minneapolis, MN	Live event	^[5]
4	Verne Gagne	2	August 8, 1961	154	Minneapolis, MN	Live event	^[5]
5	Mr. M	1	January 9, 1962	224	Minneapolis, MN	Live event	^[5]
6	Verne Gagne	3	August 21, 1962	322	Minneapolis, MN	Live event	^[5]
7	The Crusher	1	July 9, 1963	11	Minneapolis, MN	Live event	Also won Omaha version of World Heavyweight Championship from Verne Gagne on February 15, 1963 in Omaha, Nebraska.^[5]
8	Verne Gagne	4	July 20, 1963	7	Minneapolis, MN	Live event	Wins both the AWA title and the Omaha title.^[5]
9	Fritz Von Erich	1	July 27, 1963	12	Omaha, NE	Live event	Wins both the AWA title and the Omaha title.^[5]
10	Verne Gagne	5	August 8, 1963	100	Amarillo, TX	Live event	Wins AWA title only; also wins Omaha title from Fritz Von Erich on September 7, 1963 in Omaha, NE to unify the titles.^[5]
11	The Crusher	2	November 16, 1963	28	St. Paul, MN	Live event	^[5]
12	Verne Gagne	6	December 14, 1963	140	Minneapolis, MN	Live event	^[5]
13	Mad Dog Vachon	1	May 2, 1964	14	Omaha, NE	Live event	^[5]
14	Verne Gagne	7	May 16, 1964	157	Omaha, NE	Live event	^[5]
15	Mad Dog Vachon	2	October 20, 1964	207	Minneapolis, MN	Live event	^[5]
16	Mighty Igor Vodic	1	May 15, 1965	7	Omaha, NE	Live event	^[5]
17	Mad Dog Vachon	3	May 22, 1965	91	Omaha, NE	Live event	^[5]
18	The Crusher	3	August 21, 1965	83	St. Paul, MN	Live event	^[5]
19	Mad Dog Vachon	4	November 12, 1965	365	Denver, CO	Live event	^[5]
-	Tim Woods	1^†	January 8, 1966	6	Omaha, NE	Live event	AWA president Stanley Blackburn reviews the match from January 8, 1966 and declares it "no contenst" on January 14, 1966 since Woods' legs are on the rope while pinning Vachon during the final fall.^[5]
-	Mad Dog Vachon	4⁽⁵⁾	January 14, 1966	302	Omaha, NE	Live event	Vachon defeats Woods in a rematch on January 14, 1966.^[5]
20	Dick The Bruiser	1	November 12, 1966	7	Omaha, NE	Live event	^[5]
21	Mad Dog Vachon	5⁽⁶⁾	November 19, 1966	99	Omaha, NE	Live event	^[5]
22	Verne Gagne	8	February 26, 1967	538	St. Paul, MN	Live event	^[5]
23	Dr. X	1	August 17, 1968	14	Bloomington, MN	Live event	^[5]
24	Verne Gagne	9	August 31, 1968	2625	Minneapolis, MN	Live event	^[5]
25	Nick Bockwinkel	1	November 8, 1975	1714	St. Paul, MN	Live event	Wrestled WWF Heavyweight Champion Bob Backlund to a double count-out on March 25, 1979 in Toronto, ON.^[5]
26	Verne Gagne	10	July 18, 1980	305	Chicago, IL	Live event	Gagne retired from active wrestling while still the champion.^[5]
27	Nick Bockwinkel	2	May 19, 1981	467	N/A	N/A	Awarded the title when Gagne retired.^[5]
-	Hulk Hogan	1^†	April 18, 1982	6	St. Paul, MN	Live event	Hogan's victory was overturned by AWA President Stanley Blackburn on April 24, 1982 as a result of the use of a foreign object by Hogan on Bockwinkel in the course of the bout, with Hogan's reign being unrecognized.^[5]
-	Nick Bockwinkel	2⁽³⁾	April 24, 1982	127	N/A	N/A	Returned to Bockwinkel by AWA president Stanley Blackburn due to the involvement of a foreign object in the match. Since Hogan was never recognized as a champion, Bockwinkel was only recognized as a two-time champion.^[5]
28	Otto Wanz	1	August 29, 1982	41	St. Paul, MN	Live event	^[5]
29	Nick Bockwinkel	3⁽⁴⁾	October 9, 1982	501	Chicago, IL	Live event	^[5]
-	Jerry Lawler	1^†	December 27, 1982	14	Memphis, TN	Live event	Title held up after the match.^[5]
-	Nick Bockwinkel	3⁽⁵⁾	January 10, 1983	408	Memphis, TN	Live event	Defeats Lawler in a rematch.^[5]
-	Hulk Hogan	2^†	April 24, 1983	0	Minneapolis, MN	Live event	Hogan's victory was overturned by Stanley Blackburn immediately following the bout, with Hogan's reign unrecognised.^[5]
-	Nick Bockwinkel	3⁽⁶⁾	April 24, 1983	304	Minneapolis, MN	Live event	After the match Blackburn came down to the ring and tried to have Hogan disqualified for having thrown Bockwinkel over the top rope, but since this was a no disqualification match, Blackburn simply stripped Hogan of the belt and again returned it to Bockwinkel. Understandably upset at the way he had been treated, Hogan left the AWA shortly thereafter. Neither of the Hogan's wins were officially recognized by the AWA.^[5]
30	Jumbo Tsuruta	1	February 22, 1984	81	Tokyo, Japan	Live event	^[5]
31	Rick Martel	1	May 13, 1984	595	St. Paul, MN	Live event	Wrestled NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair to a double count-out on October 2, 1985 in Tokyo, Japan.^[5]
32	Stan Hansen	1	December 29, 1985	181	East Rutherford, NJ	Live event	^[5]
33	Nick Bockwinkel	4⁽⁷⁾	June 28, 1986	308	Denver, CO	Live event	Awarded when Hansen left the AWA.^[5]
34	Curt Hennig	1	May 2, 1987	373	San Francisco, CA	SuperClash 2	Title held up immediately after the match due to controversy over interference by Larry Zbyszko on Hennig's behalf, but the title is returned to Hennig days later after the AWA Championship Committee (perhaps learning from their mistakes with Hogan) rules that there was no evidence of interference.^[5]
35	Jerry Lawler	1⁽²⁾	May 9, 1988	256	Memphis, TN	Live event	Lawler defeated Kerry Von Erich on December 13, 1988 in Chicago to win the WCWA World Heavyweight Championship, and become the first USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship.^[5]
-	Vacated	-	January 20, 1989	0	N/A	N/A	Lawler was stripped of the title after the Continental Wrestling Association split from the AWA.^[5]
36	Larry Zbyszko	1	February 7, 1989	368	St. Paul, MN	Live event	Zbyszko won a battle royal, last eliminating Tom Zenk.^[5]
37	Mr. Saito	1	February 10, 1990	57	Tokyo, Japan	Live event	^[5]
38	Larry Zbyszko	2	April 8, 1990	248	St. Paul, MN	SuperClash 4	^[5]
-	Title retired	-	December 12, 1990	0	N/A	N/A	Title stripped when Zbyszko left the inactive AWA for WCW. The AWA closed in 1991.^[5]

List of top combined reigns

Rank	Wrestler	# Of Reigns	Combined Days
1.	Verne Gagne	10	4,677
2.	Nick Bockwinkel	4	2,990
3.	Mad Dog Vachon	5	776
4.	Larry Zbyszko	2	616
5.	Rick Martel	1	595
6.	Curt Hennig	1	373
7.	Jerry Lawler	1	256
8.	Mr. M	1	224
9.	Stan Hansen	1	181
10.	The Crusher	3	122
11.	Pat O'Connor	1	90
12.	Jumbo Tsuruta	1	81
13.	Mr. Saito	1	57
14.	Otto Wanz	1	41
15.	Gene Kiniski	1	28
16.	Dr. X	1	14
17.	Fritz Von Erich	1	12
18.	Mighty Igor Vodic	1	7
19.	Dick The Bruiser	1	7

References

^ Browning, Dan (2007-04-28). "World Wrestling sues promoter". Star Tribune. Archived from the original on 2007-04-28.
^ "News and Notes, May 4, 2007". GeorgiaWrestlingHistory.com. 2007-05-04.
^ Ryder, Bob (2007-04-26). "WWE Files Lawsuit Against "Gagne" For Trademark Violations Associated With AWA". 1wrestling.com.
^ "WWE wins trademark infringement lawsuit over AWA". wrestleview.com. 2008-10-28.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac ^ad ^ae ^af ^ag ^ah ^ai ^aj ^ak ^al ^am ^an ^ao ^ap ^aq ^ar ^as ^at ^au ^av Royal Duncan & Gary Will (4th Edition 2006). Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)

External links

[1] Browning, Dan (2007-04-28). "World Wrestling sues promoter". Star Tribune. Archived from the original on 2007-04-28.

[2] "News and Notes, May 4, 2007". GeorgiaWrestlingHistory.com. 2007-05-04.

[3] Ryder, Bob (2007-04-26). "WWE Files Lawsuit Against "Gagne" For Trademark Violations Associated With AWA". 1wrestling.com.

[4] "WWE wins trademark infringement lawsuit over AWA". wrestleview.com. 2008-10-28.

[Titles-5] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac ^ad ^ae ^af ^ag ^ah ^ai ^aj ^ak ^al ^am ^an ^ao ^ap ^aq ^ar ^as ^at ^au ^av Royal Duncan & Gary Will (4th Edition 2006). Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)

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