AWA United States Heavyweight Championship
Appearance
AWA United States Championship | |||||||||||
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Details | |||||||||||
Promotion | National Wrestling Alliance (1953-1960) NWA Minneapolis Wrestling and Boxing Club (1958-1960) American Wrestling Association (1960-1962) | ||||||||||
Date established | September 3, 1953 | ||||||||||
Date retired | 1963 | ||||||||||
Other name(s) | |||||||||||
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The AWA United States Championship was a short-lived title in the early days of the American Wrestling Association. It started out as the NWA United States Championship promoted in the Chicago, Illinois from 1953 until 1958. in 1958 then champion Verne Gagne created the American Wrestling Association (AWA) based on Minneapolis, Minnesota and took the championship with him, claiming the linage of the Chicago version. The Chicago promotion recognized Wilbur Snyder as their next champion, splitting the lineage into their own NWA United States Heavyweight Championship. The Minneapolis version of the championship was renamed the AWA United States Championship in 1960.[1]
Title history
- Key
Symbol | Meaning |
No. | The overall championship reign |
Reign | The reign number for the specific wrestler listed. |
Event | The event in which the championship changed hands |
N/A | The specific information is not known |
— | Used for vacated reigns in order to not count it as an official reign |
[Note #] | Indicates that the exact length of the title reign is unknown, with a note providing more details. |
# | Wrestler | Reign | Date | Days held | Location | Event | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Verne Gagne | 1 | September 3, 1953 | [Note 1] | N/A | House show | Gange was awarded the championship | [1][2] |
2 | Wilbur Snyder | 1 | April 7, 1956 | 195 | Chicago, Illinois | House show | [1][2] | |
3 | Hans Schmidt | 1 | October 19, 1956 | 123 | Chicago, Illinois | House show | [1][2] | |
4 | Wilbur Snyder | 2 | February 19, 1957 | 298 | Chicago, Illinois | House show | [1][2] | |
5 | Dick the Bruiser | 1 | December 14, 1957 | 119 | Chicago, Illinois | House show | [1][2] | |
6 | Verne Gagne | 2 | April 12, 1958 | 857 | Chicago, Illinois | House show | [1][2] | |
- | Vacated | - | August 16, 1960 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Vacated when Gagne won AWA World Heavyweight Championship. | [1][2] |
7 | Gene Kiniski | 1 | November 19, 1960 | 17 | Minneapolis, Minnesota | House show | [1][2] | |
8 | Wilbur Snyder | 3 | December 6, 1960 | 7 | Minnesota | House show | [1][2] | |
9 | Gene Kiniski | 2 | December 13, 1960 | 64 | Minneapolis, Minnesota | House show | [1][2] | |
10 | Wilbur Snyder | 4 | February 15, 1961 | [Note 2] | Duluth, Minnesota | House show | [1][2] | |
11 | Gene Kiniski | 3 | February 1961 | [Note 3] | [Note 4] | House show | [1][2] | |
12 | Wilbur Snyder | 5 | March 1, 1961 | 31 | Duluth, Minnesota | House show | [1][2] | |
13 | Gene Kiniski | 4 | April 1, 1961 | [Note 5] | Saint Paul, Minnesota | House show | [1][2] | |
14 | Hard Boiled Haggerty | 1 | September 1961 | [Note 6] | Minnesota | House show | Sometime after September 5, 1961. | [1][2] |
15 | Mr. M | 1 | October 17, 1961 | 84 | Minneapolis, Minnesota | House show | [1][2] | |
- | Vacated | - | January 9, 1962 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Vacated when Mr. M won the AWA World Heavyweight Championship. | [1][2] |
16 | Pat O'Connor | 1 | February 1962 | [Note 7] | [Note 4] | House show | Was awarded the NWA version of the IS Championship on August 24, 1961; also recognized as champion in the AWA territories. | [1][2] |
- | Title retired | - | 1962 | N/A | N/A | N/A | The United States Championship was abandoned by the AWA. | [1][2] |
Footnotes
- ^ The championship history between 1953 and 1956 has not been documented, making the length of the first reign too uncertain to calculate.
- ^ The exact date that the championship was lost has not been documented, which means that the title reign lasted between 1 day and −14.
- ^ The exact date that the championship was won has not been documented, which means that the title reign lasted between 1 day and 13.
- ^ a b The location of the match was not captured as part of the championship documentation.
- ^ The exact date that the championship was lost has not been documented, which means that the title reign lasted between −82 days and Error: Second date should be year, month, day.
- ^ The exact date that the championship was won has not been documented, which means that the title reign lasted between Error: Need valid year, month, day days and 41.
- ^ The exact date the championship was abandoned has not been documented, which means that the title reign is too uncertain to calculate.
See also
- American Wrestling Association
- AWA Superstars of Wrestling United States Championship, brief revival.