The American Wrestling Association (AWA) was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 until 1991. It was owned and founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo. The promotion was born out of the Minneapolis Boxing & Wrestling Club, originally the Minnesota-based territory of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), breaking away from the NWA and becoming an independent territory in 1960.
Pro Wrestling USA was a professional wrestling promotion in the United States of America in the mid-1980s. It was an attempt to unify various federations, including the American Wrestling Association (AWA), Jim Crockett Promotions and other members of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), against the national expansion of the World Wrestling Federation.
The Universal Wrestling Federation was a 1986 re-branding of wrestler-turned-owner Bill Watts' Mid-South Wrestling promotion. Watts' goal was to elevate his promotion from a relatively smaller, regional-level business, to a national-level rival of the World Wrestling Federation. However, Watts' business strategy quickly swung from "overnight" success to catastrophic failure, resulting in the 1987 sale of the UWF to another rival: Jim Crockett Promotions. The promotion began as an NWA territory, NWA Tri-State, founded by Leroy McGuirk in the 1950s. Tri-State/Mid-South/UWF promoted in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi until 1987.
Eldridge Wayne Coleman Jr., better known by his ring name "Superstar" Billy Graham, was an American professional wrestler. He gained recognition for his tenure as the WWWF Heavyweight Champion from 1977 to 1978. He was a three-time world champion in major professional wrestling promotions. As an award-winning bodybuilder, he was a training partner and close friend of Arnold Schwarzenegger. He was most remembered for revolutionizing the interview, which resembled the interviewing style of boxer Muhammad Ali, and physique aspects of the professional wrestling industry, and for his charismatic performance style.
Joseph Raymond "Toots" Mondt was an American professional wrestler and promoter who revolutionized the wrestling industry in the early to mid-1920s and co-promoted the World Wide Wrestling Federation. Some of the stars Mondt helped create from the 1920s through the 1960s included Wayne Munn, Jim Londos, Antonino Rocca, Bruno Sammartino, Stu Hart and Cowboy Bill Watts.
Laverne Clarence Gagne was an American amateur and professional wrestler, football player, wrestling trainer and wrestling promoter. He was the owner and promoter of the Minneapolis-based American Wrestling Association (AWA), the predominant promotion throughout the Midwest and Manitoba for many years. He remained in this position until 1991, when the company folded.
Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF) was the corporate and brand name of the Tampa, Florida wrestling office existing from 1961, when Eddie Graham first bought into the promotion, until 1987, when it closed down. It is also referred to as Florida Championship Wrestling. When Mike Graham tried a return to promoting, the rights to the name had been acquired by an outside party, forcing him to use another name, Florida Championship Wrestling.
Gregory Alan Gagne is an American retired professional wrestler. He is the son of Verne Gagne. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, he achieved his biggest success as one-half of tag team the High Flyers with Jim Brunzell. The High Flyers enjoyed a number of high-profile feuds within the American Wrestling Association (AWA) with the likes of Bobby Duncum and Blackjack Lanza, Pat Patterson and Ray "The Crippler" Stevens, the East-West Connection, and the Sheiks.
James Grady Johnson was an American professional wrestler, best known by his ring name, "Crazy" Luke Graham. As Luke Graham, Johnson was part of the Graham family, a stable of wrestlers. All members were billed as kayfabe brothers. He worked extensively for various National Wrestling Alliance territories as well as the World Wide Wrestling Federation, where he was a three-time tag-team champion and the inaugural WWWF World Tag Team Champion.
William Alfred Robinson was a British professional and catch wrestler, wrestling instructor and trainer. Robinson was one of the few wrestlers who was successful in several continents, winning titles in promotions nearly everywhere he wrestled. One of the leading practitioners of catch wrestling and a seven-time world champion, Robinson is considered to be one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, with legendary champion Lou Thesz once saying he was the greatest ever. Robinson was also well known in Japan where he trained mixed martial artists and professional wrestlers in catch wrestling.
Maple Leaf Wrestling was the unofficial name in the 1970s and 1980s of the professional wrestling promotion run by Frank Tunney in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Eddie Sharkey is an American professional wrestling trainer. He is often called "The Trainer of Champions". He has been instrumental in training some of the biggest names in the sport. He was also the owner of Pro Wrestling America.
Anthony Wayne Osborne was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, "Tough" Tony Borne.
A promoter works with event production and entertainment industries to promote their productions, including in music and sports. Promoters are individuals or organizations engaged in the business of marketing and promoting live, or pay-per-view and similar, events, such as music concerts, gigs, nightclub performances and raves; sports events; and festivals.
Les Wolff was an American football player and professional wrestler, known by his ring name "Beautiful" Buddy Wolfe, who competed in North American regional promotions including the American Wrestling Association, National Wrestling Alliance and the World Wide Wrestling Federation during the 1970s and 80s.
Frederick Koch, known professionally as Fred Kohler, was an American professional wrestling promoter. The owner of Fred Kohler Enterprises, Kohler produced the popular DuMont Television Network program Wrestling From Marigold (1949-1955). Kohler promoted matches in Chicago, Illinois for close to 40 years and was responsible for such talents as Verne Gagne and promoter Jim Barnett. He was also president of the National Wrestling Alliance from 1961 to 1962.
50th State Big Time Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii in the United States that promoted professional wrestling matches throughout Hawaii. The promotion was founded by Al Karasick in 1936 and became a member of the National Wrestling Alliance in 1949. In 1961, Karasick sold the promotion to "Gentleman" Ed Francis. Along with his business partner Lord James Blears, Francis created a "golden age" of professional wrestling in Hawaii that lasted throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, with 50th State Big Time Wrestling becoming one of Hawaii's most-watched programs. The promotion came to an end in 1979 when Francis sold his interest to Steve Rickard.
Big Time Wrestling – also known as the American Wrestling Alliance (AWA) or National All-Star Wrestling – was a professional wrestling promotion headquartered in San Francisco, California in the United States. Founded by "Professor" Roy Shire (1921–1992) in 1960, the promotion emerged as one of the most profitable in the United States thanks to its "red hot angles" and "good TV". The promotion's heartland was the San Francisco Bay Area, with the Cow Palace as its core venue, but it also ran regular shows in cities including Fresno, Las Vegas, Oakland, San Jose, and Sacramento. Shire folded the promotion in 1981.
Horst Hoffman, is a former German professional wrestler. Hoffman worked in Germany, Europe, Japan and American Wrestling Association in the United States during his 20 year career.
