American Wrestling Association

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American Wrestling Association was a professional wrestling organization, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The AWA operated mainly in the midwestern United States and central Canada. Wrestling bouts were promoted in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Bloomington (Minnesota), Winnipeg, Chicago, Omaha, Milwaukee, Denver, Las Vegas, and San Francisco. From 1957 to 1991 it was owned by Verne Gagne.

Contents

History

Until the 1980s, the AWA was considered one of the top wrestling companies in the world. Verne Gagne had been its biggest star even before he took control of the company, and his position at the top only solidified with him as owner. Feuding against Gene Kiniski, Dr. Bill Miller, Fritz Von Erich, Dr. X (Dick Beyer under a mask), The Crusher, Ray Stevens and Nick Bockwinkel, he won the AWA World Heavyweight Championship 10 times before retiring from in-ring competition in 1981. Gagne was a former amateur-wrestling champion who had earned a spot on the U.S. team at the 1948 Summer Olympics, and he ran the AWA with a traditionalist sensibility, firmly believing that good wrestling, not flashy entertainment, should be the basis of a pro-wrestling company. When his career wound down, he turned the company's focus to Bockwinkel, also a skilled mat technician.

But as Vince McMahon and the northeastern-based World Wrestling Federation attempted to end pro wrestling's regional era and establish the WWF as the dominant national promotion, Gagne made several decisions that caused the AWA to lose momentum in the emerging wrestling war. Among them was overemphasizing his son Greg in AWA storylines, but his biggest misstep was his failure to make Hulk Hogan the focus of his company. Starting in 1982, Hogan rapidly caught on as a babyface with AWA fans, but even as his popularity grew to unprecedented levels, Gagne refused to give him the AWA championship. He recognized Hogan's showmanship and charisma but believed a wrestling company should be built around the best wrestler in the company, such as himself and Bockwinkel. Gagne did not respect Hogan as a pure wrestler, and in an interview years later, rated his wrestling ability as "a one or a zero" on a scale of one to 10. On two occasions, the AWA went so far as to tease title wins for Hogan only to strip him of the championship.

Frustrated, Hogan accepted McMahon's offer to go to the WWF. Within months, he had become the focus of the company and its dominant world champion. He and the WWF soon became mainstream media phenomena and virtually synonymous with professional wrestling in much of the country, leaving the AWA a second-tier promotion. As the situation worsened, much of the AWA's other top talent, including announcer "Mean" Gene Okerlund, manager Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, and wrestlers Curt Hennig, Rick Martel and Shawn Michaels, also left for the WWF.

The AWA was influential in Pro Wrestling USA, an attempt to co-promote with the NWA and establish a national presence to compete against the WWF, in 1985. Abroad it had working agreements with Japan-based promotions International Pro-Wrestling (1969 to 1980), then All Japan Pro Wrestling (1980 to 1988), and, near its end, New Japan Pro Wrestling.

Currently, all copyrights and footage for the AWA are owned by the former WWF, now known as World Wrestling Entertainment.

AWA Superstars of Wrestling

The AWA was restarted in 1996 under the ownership of Dale Gagner with new owners as an independent promotion called AWA Superstars of Wrestling. On April 4, 2005, the owners changed its history books and named Hulk Hogan a two time AWA World Heavyweight Champion.

AWA Super Cards & PPV's

AWA Team Challenge Series

The AWA held a "Team Challenge Series" from October 1 1989 through August 11 1990. All of the wrestlers were divided into three teams, which were headed by an AWA star. They were "Larry's Legends", headed by Larry Zbyszko, "Slaughter's Snipers", headed by Sgt. Slaughter, and "Baron's Blitzers", headed by Baron Von Raschke. Numerous well-known wrestlers, including Big Van Vader and "Cowboy" Bob Orton, Jr. were drafted to participate in the TCS, but never took part in any of the matches.

Many of the matches that made up the TCS were unconventional. Greco Roman Rules, Mixed Tag Team, Tag Team Elimination, even a match where the participants (Mike Enos and the Trooper Del Wilkes) wore football helmets and pads, to name a few. The most famous match of the series was a match between Jake Milliman and Col. DeBeers. Instead of a standard wrestling match, it was a "Great American Turkey Hunt" match where the one who got a stuffed, uncooked turkey off of the top of a pole first would be declared the winner. Millman took the turkey from DeBeers when the referee's back was turned and was declared the winner. The match took place in a TV studio without an audience (the announcers claimed it was in an effort to stop wrestlers interfering, but it was actually due to poor ticket sales).

The final match in the TSC was a royal rumble style battle royal featuring Brad Rheingans, the Destruction Crew, Col. DeBeers Ed Wiskoski, the Texas Hangmen, the Trooper Del Wilkes, and others. Jake Milliman again came away with the win by eliminating DeBeers at the end, winning the Series and supposed $1,000,000 check for Larry's Legends.

The final points tally was as follows: Larry's Legends (56), Baron's Blitzers (51), Slaughter's Snipers/DeBeers' Diamondcutters (48). Sgt. Slaughter left the AWA and headed to the WWE before the TCS ended and Col. DeBeers became the new team captain. The TCS concept was not a success and many fans feel that it hastened the AWA's demise.

AWA Wrestlers

The following wrestlers were active in the AWA in the 1970s, especially in the Chicago area. These wrestlers often performed at the International Amphitheater in Chicago.

AWA Titles

External Links

Retrieved from "http://en.freepedia.org/American_Wrestling_Association.html"


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