AWA World Heavyweight Championship
The AWA World Heavyweight Championship, the most prestigious championship in the American Wrestling Association, was established in May 1960, after the first champion, Pat O'Connor, was crowned on January 9, 1959.
It had World Title status for its entire existence until the promotion folded in January 1991. The title was revived in 1996 for AWA Superstars of Wrestling but it is generally not considered to be a World Title.
Title History
American Wrestling Association
| Wrestler: | Times: | Date: | Place: | Notes: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pat O'Connor | 1 | January 9, 1959 | St. Louis, MO | Recognized as the first Champion in May 1960, but was given 90 days to defend the title against Verne Gagne or be stripped of the title. |
| Verne Gagne | 1 | August 16, 1960 | Awarded after O'Connor failed to defend the title. | |
| Gene Kiniski | 1 | July 11, 1961 | Minneapolis, MN | |
| Verne Gagne | 2 | August 8, 1961 | Minneapolis, MN | |
| Mr. M (Bill Miller) | 1 | January 9, 1962 | Minneapolis, MN | |
| Verne Gagne | 3 | August 21, 1962 | Minneapolis, MN | |
| The Crusher | 1 | July 9, 1963 | Minneapolis, MN | Also won Omaha version of World Heavyweight Championship from Fritz Von Erich on February 15, 1963 in Omaha, NE. |
| Verne Gagne | 4 | July 20, 1963 | Minneapolis, MN | Wins both the AWA title and the Omaha title. |
| Fritz Von Erich | 1 | July 27, 1963 | Omaha, NE | Wins both the AWA title and the Omaha title. |
| Verne Gagne | 5 | August 8, 1963 | Amarillo, TX | Also won Omaha version of World Heavyweight Championship from Fritz Von Erich on September 7, 1963 in Omaha, NE to unify the titles. |
| The Crusher | 2 | November 28, 1963 | St. Paul, MN | |
| Verne Gagne | 6 | December 14, 1963 | Minneapolis, MN | |
| Maurice Vachon | 1 | May 2, 1964 | Omaha, NE | |
| Verne Gagne | 7 | May 15, 1964 | Omaha, NE | |
| Maurice Vachon | 2 | October 20, 1964 | Minneapolis, MN | |
| Mighty Igor Vodic | 1 | May 15, 1965 | Omaha, NE | |
| Maurice Vachon | 3 | May 22, 1965 | Omaha, NE | |
| The Crusher | 3 | August 21, 1965 | St. Paul, MN | |
| Maurice Vachon | 4 | November 12, 1965 | Denver, CO | |
| Dick The Bruiser | 1 | November 12, 1966 | Omaha, NE | |
| Maurice Vachon | 5 | November 19, 1966 | Omaha, NE | |
| Verne Gagne | 8 | February 26, 1967 | St. Paul, MN | |
| Dr. X (Dick Beyer) | 1 | August 17, 1968 | Bloomington, MN | |
| Verne Gagne | 9 | August 31, 1968 | Minneapolis, MN | |
| Nick Bockwinkel | 1 | November 8, 1975 | St. Paul, MN | Wrestled to a double countout against WWF Champion, Bob Backlund, on March 25, 1979 in Toronto, Canada. |
| Verne Gagne | 10 | July 18, 1980 | Chicago, IL | |
| Nick Bockwinkel | 2 | May 19, 1981 | Awarded the title when Gagne retired. | |
| Hulk Hogan | 1 | April 18, 1982 | St. Paul, MN | During this match, manager Bobby Heenan hit Hogan with a foreign object. When he attempted to throw it to Bockwinkel a second time, Hogan caught it and used it himself. Since both men had used the object, the referee allowed Hogan's victory to stand. |
| Nick Bockwinkel | 3 | April 24, 1982 | After hearing Heenan’s claims that Hogan won the title unfairly, AWA President Stanley Blackburn made the controversial decision to strip Hogan of the title and return it to Bockwinkel. | |
| Otto Wanz | 1 | August 29, 1982 | St. Paul, MN | |
| Nick Bockwinkel | 4 | October 9, 1982 | Chicago, IL | |
| Hulk Hogan | 2 | April 24, 1983 | Minneapolis, MN | To insure that the controversy of their previous encounter would not happen again, this was a no disqualification match. |
| Nick Bockwinkel | 5 | April 24, 1983 | Minneapolis, MN | After the match Blackburn tried to have Hogan disqualified for having thrown Bockwinkel over the top rope. However, 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. |
| Jumbo Tsuruta | 1 | February 22, 1984 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| Rick Martel | 1 | May 13, 1984 | St. Paul, MN | Wrestled to a double countout against NWA World Heavyweight Champion, Ric Flair, on October 2, 1985 in Tokyo, Japan. |
| Stan Hansen | 1 | December 29, 1985 | East Rutherford, NJ | |
| Nick Bockwinkel | 6 | June 28, 1986 | Denver, CO | Awarded when Hansen left the AWA. |
| Curt Hennig | 1 | May 2, 1987 | San Francisco, CA | |
| Jerry Lawler | 1 | May 9, 1988 | Memphis, TN | Lawler defeated Kerry Von Erich on December 13, 1988 in Chicago, IL to win the WCWA Heavyweight Championship, and become the first Unified World Heavyweight Champion. He was stripped of the AWA title on January 20, 1989 after the Championship Wrestling Association split with the AWA. |
| Larry Zbyszko | 1 | February 7, 1989 | St. Paul, MN | Zbyszko won the vacant title by winning a battle royal, last eliminating Tom Zenk. |
| Masa Saito | 1 | February 10, 1990 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| Larry Zbyszko | 2 | April 8, 1990 | St. Paul, MN | Title was stripped on December 12, 1990 when Zbyszko left the inactive AWA for WCW. The AWA closed in 1991. |
AWA Superstars of Wrestling
| Wrestler: | Times: | Date: | Place: | Notes: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jonnie Stewart | 1 | June 6, 1996 | Rochester, Minnesota | Defeated Larry Gligorovich to win the revived title after the AWA reopened as AWA Superstars of Wrestling. |
| King Kong Bundy | 1 | March 31, 1999 | Oshkosh, WI | Later stripped of the title by AWA Superstars owner Dale Gagne. |
| The Patriot (Danny Dominion) |
1 | July 29, 2000 | Pine Bluff, AR | Defeated Dale Gagne in an impromptu match to win the title. |
| Ricky Enrique | 1 | July 29, 2000 | Pine Bluff, AR | |
| Eric Priest | 1 | June 3, 2001 | Hillside, IL | |
| Evan Karagias | 1 | March 22, 2002 | Casa Grande, AZ | |
| Danny Dominion | 2 | May 2, 2002 | Cottonwood, AZ | |
| Evan Karagias | 2 | May 4, 2002 | Lemoore, CA | |
| Horshu | 1 | October 12, 2002 | Mercedes, TX | Stripped of the title due to missing mandatory title defenses. |
| Evan Karagias | 3 | July 6, 2003 | Lemoore, CA | Defeated Eric Priest to win the vacated title. Karagias was fired in January 2005 by Dale Gagne for misconduct and refusal of defending the title as scheduled. |
| Takao Omori | 1 | February 15, 2005 | Tokyo, Japan | Defeated Steve Corino in the finals of a tournament when Pro Wrestling ZERO-ONE purchased the rights to control the title. |
| Steve Corino | 1 | June 11, 2005 | Bay City, MI |
Trivia
- The first champion was Pat O'Connor.
- O'Connor was holding the NWA World Heavyweight Championship at the time the AWA title was awarded to him.
- The last champion was Larry Zbyszko.
- Verne Gagne held the title the most times with 10 championship reigns.
- Hulk Hogan's two overturned title reigns were made official nearly 25 years after the fact, by the new owner of the AWA properties, Dale Gagne.