| 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 lineage 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]
| No. | Overall reign number |
|---|---|
| Reign | Reign number for the specific champion |
| Days | Number of days held |
| No. | Champion | Championship change | Reign statistics | Notes | Ref. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Event | Location | Reign | Days | ||||||
| National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) | ||||||||||
| 1 | Verne Gagne | September 3, 1953 | House show | N/A | 1 | 947 | Gagne was awarded the championship | [1] [2] | ||
| 2 | Wilbur Snyder | April 7, 1956 | House show | Chicago, Illinois | 1 | 195 | [1] [2] | |||
| 3 | Hans Schmidt | October 19, 1956 | House show | Chicago, Illinois | 1 | 123 | [1] [2] | |||
| 4 | Wilbur Snyder | February 19, 1957 | House show | Chicago, Illinois | 2 | 298 | [1] [2] | |||
| 5 | Dick the Bruiser | December 14, 1957 | House show | Chicago, Illinois | 1 | 119 | [1] [2] | |||
| American Wrestling Association (AWA) | ||||||||||
| 6 | Verne Gagne | April 12, 1958 | House show | Chicago, Illinois | 2 | 857 | The title was split from the original championship, which retained the same joint lineage in the Chicago territory. Minneapolis version renamed "AWA United States Championship" in 1960. | [1] [2] | ||
| — | Vacated | August 16, 1960 | — | — | — | — | Vacated when Gagne won AWA World Heavyweight Championship. | [1] [2] | ||
| 7 | Gene Kiniski | November 19, 1960 | House show | Minneapolis, Minnesota | 1 | 17 | Defeated Nick Roberts in a house show in St. Paul, Minnesota; match was not billed for the title. | [1] [2] | ||
| 8 | Wilbur Snyder | December 6, 1960 | House show | Minnesota | 3 | 7 | [1] [2] | |||
| 9 | Gene Kiniski | December 13, 1960 | House show | Minneapolis, Minnesota | 2 | 64 | [1] [2] | |||
| 10 | Wilbur Snyder | February 15, 1961 | House show | Duluth, Minnesota | 4 | [Note 1] | [1] [2] | |||
| 11 | Gene Kiniski | February 1961 | House show | [Note 2] | 3 | [Note 3] | [1] [2] | |||
| 12 | Wilbur Snyder | March 1, 1961 | House show | Duluth, Minnesota | 5 | 31 | [1] [2] | |||
| 13 | Gene Kiniski | April 1, 1961 | House show | Saint Paul, Minnesota | 4 | [Note 4] | [1] [2] | |||
| 14 | Hard Boiled Haggerty | September 1961 | House show | Minnesota | 1 | [Note 5] | Sometime after September 5, 1961. | [1] [2] | ||
| 15 | Mr. M | October 17, 1961 | House show | Minneapolis, Minnesota | 1 | 84 | [1] [2] | |||
| — | Vacated | January 9, 1962 | — | — | — | — | Vacated when Mr. M won the AWA World Heavyweight Championship. | [1] [2] | ||
| 16 | Pat O'Connor | February 17, 1962 | House show | St. Paul, Minnesota | 1 | [Note 6] | Was awarded the NWA (Central States) version of the US Championship on August 24, 1961; defends title against Bob Geigel. | [1] [2] | ||
| — | Deactivated | 1962 | — | — | — | — | O'Connor spent the rest of his AWA stint challenging Mr. M unsuccessfully for the AWA World championship, while defending his title in other NWA territories until he lost it to Hans Schmidt on July 5, 1962, in Greensboro, North Carolina in a Jim Crockett Promotions card; AWA abandons recognition. | [1] [2] | ||
The AWA World Light Heavyweight Championship was a title in the American Wrestling Association (AWA) from 1981 until it closed in 1991. In 1989, the Japan-based Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) promotion began billing Jim Backlund as the champion, something not acknowledged by the AWA. From 1988 through the closure of the AWA in 1991, there were two separate lineages, with the FMW version of the championship being sometimes referred to as the FMW World Light Heavyweight Championship. In 1992, FMW renamed the title to the WWA World Martial Arts Junior Heavyweight Championship before retiring it in 1993.
The NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship promoted in Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP), a territory-promotion governed by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA).
The Texas version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship was the main tag team professional wrestling championship in the Dallas/Houston-based Southwest Sports territory of the National Wrestling Alliance. While the name indicates that it was defended worldwide, this version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship was mainly defended in the eastern part of Texas. The championship was created in 1957 and actively promoted by Southwest Sports until 1968, when it was abandoned. The championship was later brought back by the Dallas-based World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) promotion in 1981, and was used until 1982 when WCCW decided to use the NWA American Tag Team Championship as their top tag team championship. As it is a professional wrestling championship, it is won not by actual competition, but by a scripted ending to a match.
The Chicago version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling championship promoted by the Chicago-based Fred Kohler Enterprises, a member of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The championship was for two-man tag teams only. While the NWA Board of Directors mandated that there would only be one NWA World Heavyweight Championship, they did not regulate the use of championships labeled "NWA World Tag Team Championship", allowing any member that so desired to create their own local version. As a result, as many as 13 different, regional versions were active in 1957, the highest number of active NWA World Tag Team Championships in existence at the same time.[Championships]
Between May 1955 and 1969 the professional wrestling promotion ABC Booking promoted their own regional version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship, a professional wrestling championship for teams of two wrestlers. When the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) was founded in 1948, its board of directors decided to allow any NWA member, referred to as an NWA territory, to use an NWA World Tag Team Championship within their region, essentially making it a regional championship despite the "World" label applied to it. Since the NWA World Tag Team Championships were professional wrestling championships, they were not won or lost in legitimate competitive matches but decided by booker(s) of a wrestling promotion instead.
The NWA Missouri Heavyweight Championship was the secondary singles championship in the National Wrestling Alliance's St. Louis Wrestling Club and Central States Wrestling promotions in the 1970s and 1980s. It was usually dominated by the area's top star, Harley Race, and as such it was considered a "stepping stone" to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. A version of the Missouri Championship has been documented to exist in 1899, 1921, 1933 to 1934, 1937, 1947, 1950, and 1954 to 1955, but it was only in 1972 that a serious championship was established. Prior to the creation of the NWA the championship was not recognized outside of the region and used by regional promoters, it is even possible that competing Missouri Heavyweight Championships existed. The championship was abandoned in 1986, as the Central States promotion was being consolidated under Jim Crockett Promotions in order to counter the World Wrestling Federation's national expansion.
From January 8, 1957, through August 1960 the NWA Minneapolis Wrestling and Boxing Club promoted the Minneapolis version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship as the main professional wrestling championship for tag teams on their shows held in and around Minneapolis. The Minneapolis Wrestling and Boxing Club was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) from its formation in 1948, but left the group in 1960 to help form the American Wrestling Association (AWA). The NWA Board of Directors allowed each member, referred to as a NWA territory, to create and control its own individual "NWA World Tag Team Championship" to be defended within its territory. At one point in 1957, no less than 13 different versions of the NWA World Tag Team Championship were recognized across the United States.[Championships] As with all professional wrestling championships, this championship was not contested for in competitive matches, but in matches with predetermined outcomes to maintain the illusion that professional wrestling is a competitive sport.
The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) member NWA San Francisco promoted a professional wrestling tag team championship under the name NWA World Tag Team Championship from 1950 until 1961 in and around their local territory until it closed. When San Francisco based Big Time Wrestling became a member of the NWA in 1968 they began promoting their version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship as part of their shows until the championship was abandoned in 1979. The NWA rules allowed each individual member to promote a championship under that name, which meant there were several NWA World Tag Team Championships promoted across North America at some point between 1950 and 1982, with two different versions being promoted in San Francisco, although not at the same time. At one point in 1957 no less than 13 different versions of the NWA World Tag Team Championship were recognized across the United States.[Championships] At least 21 different regional branches of the NWA World Tag Team Championship have identified as being active at some point between 1950 and 1991. In 1992 the NWA Board of Directors sanctioned one main NWA World Tag Team Championship under their control. As it is a professional wrestling championship, it is not won via legitimate competition; it is instead won via a scripted ending to a match or on occasion awarded to a wrestler because of a storyline.
The Mid-America version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship was a regional professional wrestling championship for tag teams that was used in the National Wrestling Alliance's (NWA) NWA Mid-America professional wrestling promotion from 1957 until 1977.[G1][G2] The championship, promoted by Nick Gulas, was one of many NWA World Tag Team Championships in existence in the period between 1949 and 1992, each of which was a regional championship restricted to an NWA territory and not a true "world" championship. At one point in 1957 there were at least 13 different, concurrently promoted NWA World Tag Team Championships across the United States.[Championships] The Mid-America version was in use for 20 years, the second longest of any of the NWA World Tag Team Championships of that era, only behind the Central States version. Being a professional wrestling championship, the NWA World Tag Team Championship was not won or lost in competitive matches, but determined by the decision of the bookers of NWA Mid-America.
The Central States version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship was the main professional wrestling championship for tag teams in Heart of America Sports Attractions, later known as Central States Wrestling (CSW) from 1951 to 1959, then again from 1962 to 1963 and then finally from 1973 to 1979. CSW was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), whose bylaws allowed any of their members, referred to as NWA territories, to create their own version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship that would be promoted within their territory. The Central States version was primarily defended in CSW's home town of Kansas City and during their shows across Missouri, Kansas and Iowa. As it was a professional wrestling championship, it was not won or lost competitively but instead by the decision of the bookers. The title was awarded after the chosen team "wins" a match to maintain the illusion that professional wrestling is a competitive sport. In 1957 there were at least 13 different versions of the NWA World Tag Team Championship being promoted in various NWA territories across the United States.[Championships]
The WWWF United States Heavyweight Championship was a singles title used sporadically in the World Wide Wrestling Federation between 1960 and 1976. During the variable periods in which it was used, the title served as the promotion's secondary singles championship to the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship. Three years after the title was retired for good, it was replaced by the WWF North American Heavyweight Championship as the promotion's secondary title.
The WWWF United States Tag Team Championship was the first version of the main tag team title in the World Wide Wrestling Federation from 1963 until 1967. Originally, the WWWF was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance operating out of the Northeast and was called the Capitol Wrestling Corporation. The championship began as Capitol Wrestling's territorial version of the NWA United States Tag Team Championship from 1958 until 1963.
The AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship was a major professional wrestling title in the Continental Wrestling Association during the 1970s and 1980s. The title is part of a long lineage that was started when the NWA Southern Junior Heavyweight Championship, in use since 1939, was renamed the NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (Memphis version) in 1974. The title's name changed again in 1978, when it was renamed the AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship due to a partnership with the American Wrestling Association. It was also called the Mid-Southern Heavyweight Championship in Pro Wrestling Illustrated and its sister publications, in order for this title to not be confused with Championship Wrestling from Florida's version of the title.
The National Wrestling Association World Light Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship originally sanctioned by the National Boxing Association (NBA) and subsequently sanctioned by the National Wrestling Association (NWA), an offshoot of the NBA. The championship had an upper limit of 175 lb (79 kg), anyone above that limit was considered a heavyweight. The championship was created in 1930 and abandoned in the early 1960s.
The NWA Tri-State Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling heavyweight championship in Tri-States Wrestling. The original version was created in 1954, however, it was phased out in favor of the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship.
The Mid-America version of the NWA United States Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling tag team championship and promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA)'s NWA Mid-America territory from 1962 until 1976. The title was intended solely for tag teams in tag team matches, not individuals, and was the secondary tag team championship in NWA Mid-America, with the Mid-America version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship being the primary championship. The promotion also had a third tag team championship at its peak, a testament to the popularity of tag team wrestling in the territory, as they promoted the NWA Mid-America Tag Team Championship as well. The championship was established around March 6, 1962, when Yoshinosato and Taro Sakuro were named champions upon arrival by NWA Mid-America instead of holding a tournament to establish the championship. With a number of NWA territories active at the time this version of the United States Tag Team Championship was one of at least six championships that shared the same name under the NWA's supervision. The team of Dennis Condrey and Phil Hickerson, also known as "The Bicentennial Kings", held the championship the most times, five in total including the last reign when the titles were abandoned in 1976. Because the championship was a professional wrestling championship, it was not won or lost competitively but instead by the decision of the bookers of a wrestling promotion. The championship was awarded after the chosen wrestler "won" a match to maintain the illusion that professional wrestling is a competitive sport.
The Amarillo version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship was the main tag team professional wrestling championship for the Amarillo, Texas-based Western States Sports promotion, a member of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). Promoters Doc Sarpolis and Dory Funk introduced the championship in 1955 and continued to use it as their main tag team championship until 1969. The NWA Board of Directors dictated that there would be only one NWA World Heavyweight Champion but allowed any NWA member, also known as a NWA territory, to create its own local version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship. In 1957 no less than 13 different versions of the NWA World Tag Team Championship were promoted across the United States.[Championships] This even included another version in East Texas, which was used mainly in Houston and Fort Worth at the time.
The Indianapolis version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship, which was actively used between 1951 and 1960, was a professional wrestling championship exclusively for two-man tag teams. As a member of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), the NWA Indianapolis territory was entitled to create an NWA World Tag Team Championship that they could promote within the boundaries of their territory, in this case Indiana, making it a "regional" championship despite being labeled a "world championship". Because the use of the championship was not restricted to one overall championship, a large number of different, regional championships bore the name "NWA World Tag Team Championship" between 1949 and 1992. In 1957 as many as 13 different versions were promoted across the United States.[Championships] As it is a professional wrestling championship, it is not won or lost competitively but instead by the decision of the bookers of a wrestling promotion. The title is awarded after the chosen team "wins" a match to maintain the illusion that professional wrestling is a competitive sport.
The Salt Lake Wrestling Club version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling championship for tag teams that was promoted between 1955 and 1959 in the Salt Lake Wrestling Club territory of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). Local promoter Dave Reynolds promoted the championship primarily in Utah, but would occasionally runs shows in Idaho and Washington state. Since the promotion was a member of the NWA, the Salt Lake Wrestling Club was entitled to promote their local version of the championship, as the NWA bylaws did not restrict the use of that championship in the same way they restricted the NWA World Heavyweight Championship to one nationally recognized championship. In 1957 there were no less than 13 distinct versions of the NWA World Tag Team Championship promoted across the United States.[Championships] Because the championship was a professional wrestling championship, it was not contested for in legitimate sporting events, but instead determined by the decision of the bookers of a wrestling promotion.
The Iowa/Nebraska version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship was a National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) professional wrestling tag team championship that was active between 1953 and 1958. The championship was controlled by the NWA's Iowa booking office under Pinkie George and the Nebraska booking office under Max Clayton. Both George and Clayton were founding members of the NWA in 1948 and served on the Board of Directors that decided to let any NWA member, known as a NWA territory to create a local version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship. The Iowa/Nebraska version was one of at least 13 championships bearing that name in 1957.[Championships] As with all professional wrestling championships, this championship was not won or lost competitively but instead based on the decisions of the bookers of a wrestling promotion which determines the outcome of the matches.
