AWA World Heavyweight Championship

The AWA World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship and the highest ranked championship in the defunct American Wrestling Association (AWA). All AWA trademarks, including the AWA World Heavyweight Championship, are now owned by WWE. The championship was generally contested in professional wrestling matches, in which participants execute worked finishes rather than contend in direct competition.

Not to be confused with AWA World Heavyweight Championship (Boston version).
AWA World Heavyweight Championship
Details
PromotionAWA
Date establishedMay 18, 1960
Date retiredDecember 12, 1990
Statistics
First champion(s)Pat O'Connor
Final champion(s)Larry Zbyszko
Most reignsVerne Gagne (10 reigns)
Longest reignVerne Gagne (2625 days)
Shortest reignVerne Gagne, Mighty Igor Vodic and Dick the Bruiser (7 days)

History
A diagram showing the evolution of various world heavyweight championships.

The AWA World Heavyweight Championship was established in May 1960, after the AWA became a separate promotion from the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA); the AWA had previously been a part of the NWA as its Minneapolis, Minnesota-area territory. 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. The AWA and the title became inactive in late 1990 and the organization officially closed down in August 1991 with the title also being decommissioned. The championship is featured in the video games WWE '13 as a downloadable title and as an unlockable title in WWE 2K14 and the seventh generation versions of WWE 2K15, WWE 2K16, and WWE 2K17.

Trademark infringement

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

Title history
Key
No. Overall reign number
Reign Reign number for the specific champion
Days Number of days held
† Championship change is unrecognized by the promotion
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign Days
1 Pat O'Connor May 18, 1960 N/A N/A 1 90 O'Connor held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, which he 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 August 16, 1960 N/A N/A 1 329 Gagne was awarded the championship after Pat O'Connor failed to defend the title. [5]
3 Gene Kiniski July 11, 1961 Live event Minneapolis, Minnesota 1 28 [5]
4 Verne Gagne August 8, 1961 Live event Minneapolis, Minnesota 2 154 [5]
5 Mr. M January 9, 1962 Live event Minneapolis, Minnesota 1 224 [5]
6 Verne Gagne August 21, 1962 Live event Minneapolis, Minnesota 3 322 [5]
7 The Crusher July 9, 1963 Live event Minneapolis, Minnesota 1 11 The Crusher also won Omaha version of World Heavyweight Championship from Verne Gagne on February 15, 1963, in Omaha, Nebraska. [5]
8 Verne Gagne July 20, 1963 Live event Minneapolis, Minnesota 4 7 Gagne won both the AWA Championship and the Omaha Championship. [5][6]
9 Fritz Von Erich July 27, 1963 Live event Omaha, Nebraska 1 12 Von Erich won both the AWA Championship and the Omaha Championship. [5]
10 Verne Gagne August 8, 1963 Live event Amarillo, Texas 5 100 Fritz Von Erich's Omaha Championship was not at stake. On September 7, 1963, Gagne defeated Von Erich in Omaha in a title unification match and the AWA World Heavyweight Championship becomes the surviving title. [5]
11 The Crusher November 16, 1963 Live event Saint Paul, Minnesota 2 28 [5]
12 Verne Gagne December 14, 1963 Live event Minneapolis, Minnesota 6 140 [5]
13 Mad Dog Vachon May 2, 1964 Live event Omaha, Nebraska 1 14 [5]
14 Verne Gagne May 16, 1964 Live event Omaha, Nebraska 7 157 [5]
15 Mad Dog Vachon October 20, 1964 Live event Minneapolis, Minnesota 2 207 [5]
16 Mighty Igor Vodic May 15, 1965 Live event Omaha, Nebraska 1 7 [5]
17 Mad Dog Vachon May 22, 1965 Live event Omaha, Nebraska 3 91 [5]
18 The Crusher August 21, 1965 Live event Saint Paul, Minnesota 3 83 [5]
19 Mad Dog Vachon November 12, 1965 Live event Denver, Colorado 4 365 (57)† [5]
† Mr. Wrestling January 8, 1966 Live event Omaha, Nebraska 1† 6 [5]
† Mad Dog Vachon January 14, 1966 Live event Omaha, Nebraska 5† 302 AWA president Stanley Blackburn reviews the match from January 8, 1966, and declares it "no contest" on January 14, 1966, since Mr. Wrestling's legs are on the rope while pinning Vachon during the final fall. Vachon later defeats Mr. Wrestling decisively for the title. [5]
20 Dick the Bruiser November 12, 1966 Live event Omaha, Nebraska 1 7 [5]
21 Mad Dog Vachon November 19, 1966 Live event Omaha, Nebraska 5 99 [5]
22 Verne Gagne February 26, 1967 Live event Saint Paul, Minnesota 8 538 [5][7]
23 Dr. X August 17, 1968 Live event Bloomington, Minnesota 1 14 [5]
24 Verne Gagne August 31, 1968 Live event Minneapolis, MN 9 2625 [5]
25 Nick Bockwinkel November 8, 1975 Live event Saint Paul, Minnesota 1 1714 [5]
26 Verne Gagne July 18, 1980 Live event Chicago, Illinois 10 305 Gagne retired from active wrestling while still the champion. [5][8]
27 Nick Bockwinkel May 19, 1981 N/A N/A 2 467 (334)† Bockwinkel was awarded the championship when Verne Gagne retired from professional wrestling. [5][8]
† Hulk Hogan April 18, 1982 Live event Saint Paul, Minnesota 1† 6 Hogan defeated Nick Bockwinkel, with both parties using a foreign object during the match, and is declared by the referee as champion. [5]
† Nick Bockwinkel April 24, 1982 — — 3† 127 Bockwinkel was awarded the championship back by AWA president Stanley Blackburn due to the involvement of a foreign object during the match. [5]
28 Otto Wanz August 29, 1982 Live event Saint Paul, Minnesota 1 41 [5][9]
29 Nick Bockwinkel October 9, 1982 Live event Chicago, Illinois 3 501 The championship is held up on December 27, 1982, after a match with Jerry Lawler; it was given back to Bockwinkel after defeating Lawler in a rematch on January 10, 1983. Bockwinkel is retroactively recognized as having continued been champion during the period the title was held up. [5]
30 Jumbo Tsuruta February 22, 1984 Live event Tokyo, Japan 1 81 [5][10]
31 Rick Martel May 13, 1984 Live event Saint Paul, Minnesota 1 595 [5][11]
32 Stan Hansen December 29, 1985 Live event East Rutherford, NJ 1 181 Hansen took the championship belt and defended it on All Japan Pro Wrestling's cards in July 1986. [5]
33 Nick Bockwinkel June 28, 1986 Live event Denver, Colorado 4 308 Bockwinkel was awarded the championship when Stan Hansen left the AWA. [5][12]
34 Curt Hennig May 2, 1987 SuperClash II Daly City, CA 1 373 The championship was 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 rules that there was no evidence of interference. On February 16, 1988, the title was again held up, this time due to a no-contest between Hennig and The Grappler in Portland, Oregon. Hennig would regain the title on March 5 in Portland, thanks to his replacement The Assassin defeating The Grappler in a decision match. AWA did not recognize this, which makes Hennig a one-time champion. [5][13]
35 Jerry Lawler May 9, 1988 Live event Memphis, TN 1 256 Jackie Fargo was the special guest referee after getting more votes in a national telephone poll than Hennig's father, Larry "The Axe" Hennig. CWA (Memphis) owner Jerry Jarrett announced weeks before the match that Lawler promised to retire if he lost. Lawler later defeated Kerry Von Erich on December 13, 1988, in Chicago to win the WCCW World Heavyweight Championship, and become the first Unified AWA World Heavyweight Champion. [5][14]
— Vacated January 20, 1989 — — — — Jerry Lawler was stripped of the championship after the Continental Wrestling Association (CWA) split from the AWA. [5]
36 Larry Zbyszko February 7, 1989 Live event Saint Paul, Minnesota 1 368 Zbyszko won a battle royal, last eliminating Tom Zenk to win the vacant championship. [5][15]
37 Mr. Saito February 10, 1990 Super Fight in Tokyo Dome Tokyo, Japan 1 57 [5][16]
38 Larry Zbyszko April 8, 1990 SuperClash IV Saint Paul, Minnesota 2 248 [5]
— Vacated December 12, 1990 — — — — The championship was stripped when Larry Zbyszko left the inactive AWA for World Championship Wrestling (WCW). Official kayfabe reason was that Zbyszko refused to defend the title on a tour of Japan.
— Deactivated January 12, 1991 — — — — The championship was deactivated when AWA closed on January 12, 1991. [5]

Combined reigns
Inaugural champion Pat O'Connor
Record 10-time, longest reigning and longest combined champion Verne Gagne
Final champion Larry Zbyszko
Rank Wrestler No. of
reigns		 Combined
days
1 Verne Gagne104,677
2 Nick Bockwinkel42,990
3 Mad Dog Vachon5776
4 Larry Zbyszko2616
5 Rick Martel1595
6 Curt Hennig1373
7 Jerry Lawler1256
8 Mr. M1224
9 Stan Hansen1181
10 The Crusher3122
11 Pat O'Connor190
12 Jumbo Tsuruta181
13 Mr. Saito157
14 Otto Wanz141
15 Gene Kiniski128
16 Dr. X114
17 Fritz Von Erich112
18 Dick the Bruiser17
Mighty Igor Vodic17
— Mr. Wrestling16
Hulk Hogan16

See also

References
  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. Archived from the original on 2021-09-17. Retrieved 2009-10-22.
  3. Ryder, Bob (2007-04-26). "WWE Files Lawsuit Against "Gagne" For Trademark Violations Associated With AWA". 1wrestling.com. Archived from the original on 2008-01-02.
  4. "WWE wins trademark infringement lawsuit over AWA". wrestleview.com. 2008-10-28.
  5. Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2006). Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  6. Hoops, Brian (July 20, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history: Brisco beats Race for NWA title, Gagne beats Crusher for AWA title, Robinson vs. Gagen". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
  7. Hoops, Brian (February 26, 2017). "Daily pro wrestling history (02/26): Verne Gagne wins AWA title on his birthday". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  8. Hoops, Brian (May 10, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history: Gagne retires as AWA champion, Austin's ex-wife beats Lesnar's wife for WWF title, Steamboat & Youngblood, Thesz Vs Rogers". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
  9. Oliver, Greg (September 14, 2017). "Former AWA World champion Otto Wanz dies". SLAM Wrestling. Retrieved September 23, 2017.
  10. Hoops, Brian (February 22, 2017). "Daily pro wrestling history (02/22): Sting defeats Hogan to win vacant WCW title". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  11. Hoops, Brian (May 13, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history (May 13): Rick Martel wins AWA gold, Kurt Angle wins TNA title, Nash & Hall beat one man to win tag titles". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
  12. Hoops, Brian (June 29, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history: 2nd Steve Austin WWE title reign begins, infamous Stan Hansen AWA title belt stripping story". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  13. "The Grappler's Cagematch Profile". cagematch.net. 2019-01-21.
  14. "Lead up to Lawler's AWA title win 1". YouTube.
  15. Hoops, Brian (February 7, 2017). "On this day in pro wrestling history (Feb 7): Bobby Roode & Austin Aries wins tag gold". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 15, 2017.
  16. Hoops, Brian (February 10, 2017). "DAILY PRO WRESTLING HISTORY (02/10): MASA SAITO WINS AWA GOLD AT THE TOKYO DOME". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 10, 2017.
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