AWA World Tag Team Championship | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Details | |||||||||||
Promotion | American Wrestling Association | ||||||||||
Date established | 1960 | ||||||||||
Date retired | 1991 | ||||||||||
|
The American Wrestling Association (AWA) World Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling world tag team championship in the American Wrestling Association from 1960 until the promotion folded in 1991.
When the NWA Minneapolis Wrestling and Boxing Club operated by Verne Gagne withdrew from the National Wrestling Alliance in May 1960, Stan Kowalski and Tiny Mills were the recognized champions of the NWA World Tag Team Championship (Minneapolis version). At the time, the AWA continued to recognize the NWA champions as their World champions. However, by August 1960, and having recently recaptured the NWA Tag Team championships for a second time, Kowalski and Mills were recognized as the first AWA World Tag Team Champions when AWA stopped recognizing NWA champions.
As the promotion grew, the AWA World Tag Team Championship became one of the most coveted tag team titles in the United States from the beginning until the late 1980s, when the AWA's talent roster was depleted by the World Wrestling Federation and Jim Crockett Promotions. This led to the retirement of the titles when the AWA closed. [1]
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 | Murder, Inc. (Stan Kowalski and Tiny Mills) | August 10, 1960 | N/A | N/A | 1 | 55 [Note 1] | Kowalski and Mills were awarded the NWA World Tag Team Championship in August 1960. They were recognized as the first AWA champions when the AWA withdrew from the NWA and recognized its own champions. | |
2 | Hard Boiled Haggerty and Len Montana / Gene Kiniski | October 4, 1960 | Live event | Minneapolis, Minnesota | 1 | 231 | Montana suffered a broken leg in a match against Verne Gagne. On March 18, 1961, Haggerty chose Kiniski as his new partner. | |
3 | Leo Nomellini and Wilbur Snyder | May 23, 1961 | Live event | Minneapolis, Minnesota | 1 | 57 | [2] | |
4 | Hard Boiled Haggerty and Gene Kiniski | July 19, 1961 | Live event | St. Paul, Minnesota | 2 | 20 | [3] | |
— | Vacated | August 8, 1961 | Live event | — | — | — | Title vacated after Haggerty and Kiniski split up when Haggerty's interference in a cage match between Kiniski and Verne Gagne backfires. | |
5 | Hard Boiled Haggerty (3) and Bob Geigel | September 26, 1961 | Live event | St. Paul, Minnesota | 1 | 51 | Haggerty defeated Kiniski for control of the titles and chose Geigel as his new partner. | |
6 | Pat Kennedy and Dale Lewis | November 16, 1961 | Live event | Rochester, Minnesota | 1 | 7 | ||
7 | Bob Geigel (2) and Otto Von Krupp | November 23, 1961 | Live event | Rochester, Minnesota | 1 | 40 [Note 2] | [4] | |
— | Vacated | January 2, 1962 | — | — | — | — | Title vacated when Von Krupp was injured. | |
8 | Larry Hennig and Duke Hoffman | January 15, 1962 | Live event | St. Paul, Minnesota | 1 | 29 | Defeated Ivan and Nikita Kalmikoff in a tournament final. | [5] |
9 | Bob Geigel (3) and Stan Kowalski (2) | February 13, 1962 | Live event | Minneapolis, Minnesota | 1 | 47 [Note 2] | ||
10 | The Neilsons (Art Neilson and Stan Neilson) | April 10, 1962 | N/A | Cincinnati, Ohio | 1 | 250 [Note 1] | This was a "phantom" title change, as no match actually took place. | |
11 | Doug Gilbert and Dick Steinborn | December 16, 1962 | Live event | St. Paul, Minnesota | 1 | 16 | ||
12 | The Kalmikoffs (Ivan and Karol) | January 1, 1963 | Live event | Minneapolis, Minnesota | 1 | 231 | ||
13 | The Crusher and Dick the Bruiser | August 20, 1963 | Live event | Minneapolis, Minnesota | 1 | 173 | [6] | |
14 | Moose Evans and Verne Gagne | February 9, 1964 | Live event | Minneapolis, Minnesota | 1 | 14 | [7] | |
15 | The Crusher and Dick the Bruiser | February 23, 1964 | Live event | St. Paul, Minnesota | 2 | 342 | [8] | |
16 | Larry Hennig (2) and Harley Race | January 30, 1965 | Live event | Minneapolis, Minnesota | 1 | 175 | ||
17 | The Crusher (3) and Verne Gagne (2) | July 24, 1965 | Live event | Minneapolis, Minnesota | 1 | 14 | ||
18 | Larry Hennig (3) and Harley Race | August 7, 1965 | Live event | Minneapolis, Minnesota | 2 | 294 | ||
19 | The Crusher (4) and Dick the Bruiser (3) | May 28, 1966 | Live event | Minneapolis, Minnesota | 3 | 223 | [9] | |
20 | Larry Hennig (4) / Chris Markoff and Harley Race | January 6, 1967 | Live event | Chicago, Illinois | 3 | 301 | On November 1, 1967, Markoff replaced Hennig, who had his leg broken by Verne Gagne in Winnipeg, Manitoba. | |
21 | Pat O'Connor and Wilbur Snyder (2) | November 3, 1967 | Live event | Chicago, Illinois | 1 | 29 | ||
22 | Mitsu Arakawa and Dr. Moto | December 2, 1967 | Live event | Chicago, Illinois | 1 | 392 | ||
23 | The Crusher (5) and Dick the Bruiser (4) | December 28, 1968 | Live event | Chicago, Illinois | 4 | 245 | ||
24 | The Vachons (Butcher and Mad Dog) | August 30, 1969 | Live event | Chicago, Illinois | 1 | 623 | ||
† | The Von Steigers (Karl Von Steiger and Kurt Von Steiger) | February 23, 1971 | Live event | Portland, Oregon | 1† | 23 | ||
† | The Vachons (Butcher and Mad Dog) | March 18, 1971 | Live event | Salem, Oregon | 1(2) | 58 | Defeated The Von Steigers by D.Q. | |
25 | Red Bastien and Hercules Cortez / The Crusher (6) | May 15, 1971 | Live event | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | 1 | 250 | In August 1971, Bastien chose The Crusher as his new partner after Cortez was killed in a car accident on July 23. | |
26 | Nick Bockwinkel and Ray Stevens | January 20, 1972 | Live event | Denver, Colorado | 1 | 345 | [10] | |
27 | Verne Gagne (3) and Billy Robinson | December 30, 1972 | Live event | Minneapolis, Minnesota | 1 | 7 | ||
28 | Nick Bockwinkel and Ray Stevens | January 6, 1973 | Live event | St. Paul, Minnesota | 2 | 561 | ||
29 | The Crusher (7) and Billy Robinson (2) | July 21, 1974 | Live event | Green Bay, Wisconsin | 1 | 95 | ||
30 | Nick Bockwinkel and Ray Stevens | October 24, 1974 | Live event | Winnipeg, Manitoba | 3 | 296 | ||
31 | The Crusher (8) and Dick the Bruiser (5) | August 16, 1975 | Live event | Chicago, Illinois | 5 | 342 | ||
32 | Bobby Duncum and Blackjack Lanza | July 23, 1976 | Live event | Chicago, Illinois | 1 | 349 | ||
33 | The High Flyers (Jim Brunzell and Greg Gagne) | July 7, 1977 | Live event | Winnipeg, Manitoba | 1 | 443 | ||
34 | Pat Patterson and Ray Stevens (4) | September 23, 1978 | N/A | N/A | 1 | 256 | Awarded the titles when Brunzell was injured in a charity softball game. | |
35 | Verne Gagne (4) and Mad Dog Vachon (3) | June 6, 1979 | Live event | Winnipeg, Manitoba | 1 | 410 | ||
36 | East-West Connection (Adrian Adonis and Jesse Ventura) | July 20, 1980 | Live event | Denver, Colorado | 1 | 329 | Won by forfeit when Gagne no-showed scheduled defense. | |
37 | The High Flyers (Jim Brunzell and Greg Gagne) | June 14, 1981 | Live event | Green Bay, Wisconsin | 2 | 742 | ||
38 | The Sheiks (Jerry Blackwell and Ken Patera) | June 26, 1983 | Live event | Minneapolis, Minnesota | 1 | 315 | ||
39 | The Crusher (9) and Baron Von Raschke | May 6, 1984 | Live event | Green Bay, Wisconsin | 1 | 111 | [11] | |
40 | The Road Warriors (Animal and Hawk) | August 25, 1984 | Live event | Las Vegas, Nevada | 1 | 400 | ||
41 | Jimmy Garvin and Steve Regal | September 29, 1985 | Live event | St. Paul, Minnesota | 1 | 111 | ||
42 | Scott Hall and Curt Hennig | January 18, 1986 | Live event | Albuquerque, New Mexico | 1 | 119 | "Phantom match" said to have occurred to cover for Regal leaving the company while still champion. [12] [13] | |
43 | Buddy Rose and Doug Somers | May 17, 1986 | AWA All-Star Wrestling | Hammond, Indiana | 1 | 255 | Rose and Somers won the match by countout and were awarded the title despite titles not allowed to change hands in that way. | |
44 | The Midnight Rockers (Marty Jannetty and Shawn Michaels) | January 27, 1987 | Live event | Bloomington, Minnesota | 1 | 118 | ||
45 | Soldat Ustinov and Boris Zhukov / Doug Somers (2) | May 25, 1987 | Live event | Lake Tahoe, Nevada | 1 | 139 | Somers replaced Zhukov in October 1987 after he jumped to the WWF. | [14] |
46 | Bill Dundee and Jerry Lawler | October 11, 1987 | CWA Live event | Memphis, Tennessee | 1 | 8 | ||
47 | Dr. D and Héctor Guerrero | October 19, 1987 | CWA Live event | Memphis, Tennessee | 1 | 7 | Dr. D was local wrestler Carl Styles under a mask. | |
48 | Bill Dundee and Jerry Lawler | October 26, 1987 | CWA Live event | Memphis, Tennessee | 2 | 4 | ||
49 | The Midnight Express (Dennis Condrey and Randy Rose) | October 30, 1987 | AWA Championship Wrestling | Whitewater, Wisconsin | 1 | 58 | [15] | |
50 | The Midnight Rockers (Marty Jannetty and Shawn Michaels) | December 27, 1987 | AWA Championship Wrestling | Las Vegas, Nevada | 2 | 83 | The Midnight Express defeated The Midnight Rockers on December 27, 1987, and continued to be recognized as AWA World Tag Team Champions into 1988, including making successful title defenses. After a dispute between Dennis Condrey and Verne Gagne over payments, AWA President Stanley Blackburn appeared on television on January 24, 1988, and stated that, after rewatching the December 27, 1987 AWA World Tag Team Title match, he believed that the Midnight Rockers had actually won the match, and they were then retroactively recognized as having been Champions for the past 28 days; Titles were held up on February 15, 1988, after a controversial match with The Rock 'n' Roll Express in Memphis. The Rockers won a rematch on February 22, 1988, also in Memphis, but this was never recognized and they remain two-time champions. [16] | |
51 | Badd Company (Paul Diamond and Pat Tanaka) | March 19, 1988 | AWA Championship Wrestling | Las Vegas, Nevada | 1 | 371 | ||
52 | The Olympians (Ken Patera (2) and Brad Rheingans) | March 25, 1989 | AWA Championship Wrestling | Rochester, Minnesota | 1 | 177 | ||
— | Vacated | September 18, 1989 | — | — | — | — | Title vacated when Patera was injured. | |
53 | The Destruction Crew (Wayne Bloom and Mike Enos) | October 1, 1989 | AWA Championship Wrestling | Rochester, Minnesota | 1 | 314 | Defeated Paul Diamond and Greg Gagne in a tournament final. | |
54 | D.J. Peterson and The Trooper | August 11, 1990 | AWA Championship Wrestling | Rochester, Minnesota | 1 | 123 | ||
— | Deactivated | 1991 [Note 3] | — | — | — | — | The title became inactive when the AWA folded in 1991. |
Rank | Team | # Of Reigns | Combined Days |
---|---|---|---|
1. | The Crusher and Dick the Bruiser | 5 | 1,325 |
2. | Nick Bockwinkel and Ray Stevens | 3 | 1,202 |
3. | The High Flyers (Jim Brunzell and Greg Gagne) | 2 | 1,185 |
4. | Harley Race and Larry Hennig / Chris Markoff [Note 4] | 3 | 777 |
5. | Butcher and Mad Dog Vachon | 2 | 623 |
6. | Verne Gagne and Mad Dog Vachon | 1 | 410 |
7. | Road Warriors (Animal and Hawk) | 1 | 400 |
8. | Mitsu Arakawa and Dr. Moto | 1 | 392 |
9. | Badd Company (Paul Diamond and Pat Tanaka) | 1 | 371 |
10. | Bobby Duncum and Blackjack Lanza | 1 | 349 |
11. | The East-West Connection (Adrian Adonis and Jesse Ventura) | 1 | 329 |
12. | The Sheiks (Jerry Blackwell and Ken Patera) | 1 | 315 |
13. | The Destruction Crew (Wayne Bloom and Mike Enos) | 1 | 314 |
14. | Art and Stan Nielson | 1 | 259 |
15. | Pat Patterson and Ray Stevens | 1 | 256 |
16. | Buddy Rose and Doug Somers | 1 | 255 |
17. | Red Bastien and Hercules Cortez/The Crusher* [Note 5] | 1 | 250 |
Rank | Wrestler | # Of Reigns | Combined Days |
---|---|---|---|
1. | The Crusher | 9 | 1,717 [Note 6] |
2. | Ray Stevens | 4 | 1,458 |
3. | Dick the Bruiser | 5 | 1,325 |
4. | Nick Bockwinkel | 3 | 1,202 |
5. | Jim Brunzell | 2 | 1,185 |
5. | Greg Gagne | 2 | 1,185 |
7. | Mad Dog Vachon | 3 | 1033 |
8. | Larry Hennig | 4 | 797 |
9. | Harley Race | 3 | 777 |
10. | Butcher Vachon | 2 | 623 |
The USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship formed in 1988, which consisted of the WCWA World Heavyweight Championship from World Class Championship Wrestling and the AWA World Heavyweight Championship from the American Wrestling Association. The title was unified on December 13, 1988, when AWA World Champion Jerry Lawler defeated WCWA World Champion Kerry Von Erich in a unification match.
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.
The NWA Missouri Heavyweight Championship was a singles championship in the National Wrestling Alliance's St. Louis Wrestling Club and Central States Wrestling promotions in the 1970s and 1980s. 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.
In professional wrestling, the UWF Tag Team Championship was a tag team championship contested in the Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF) and its predecessor, Mid-South Wrestling. The title was established in 1979 as the Mid-South Tag Team Championship, renamed the UWF Tag Team Championship in 1986, and abandoned the following year when the UWF was acquired by Jim Crockett Promotions.
The NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship was a major title in Championship Wrestling from Florida and is now the major title in NWA Florida Wrestling Alliance. It started in 1937 and was abandoned in 1949. It was picked back up in 1966 by CWF and lasted until 1987 when the company was purchased by Jim Crockett Promotions. In 1988, the newly created Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), soon renamed Pro Wrestling Federation (PWF), picked it back up in 1988 and it continued its lineage through NWA Florida, until they ceased operations in 2006. In 2009, Pro Wrestling Fusion revived the title until they left the NWA in 2011. For several months in 2012, a new Championship Wrestling from Florida affiliated with the NWA, briefly reviving the title until NWA Florida Underground Wrestling took over the championship.
The WCWA World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship promoted by the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex area–based World Class Wrestling Association (WCWA). The championship was originally created in June 1966 by WCWA's predecessor NWA Big Time Wrestling (BTW), billed as the local version of the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship before being renamed the NWA American Heavyweight Championship in May 1968. In 1982, Big Time Wrestling rebranded themselves as "World Class Championship Wrestling" (WCCW) and the championship was renamed the WCCW American Heavyweight Championship. In 1986 WCCW withdrew from the National Wrestling Alliance, creating the World Class Wrestling Association, replacing the WCCW American Heavyweight Championship with the WCWA World Heavyweight Championship, replacing the NWA World Heavyweight Championship as the top title recognized by the promotion. In 1989, the WCWA championship was unified with the AWA World Heavyweight Championship to become the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship as WCWA merged with the Continental Wrestling Association (CWA) to become the United States Wrestling Association. In 1990 WCWA split from the USWA, but the promotion folded without determining a WCWA World Heavyweight Champion. As it is a professional wrestling championship, the WCWA World Heavyweight Championship was not won by actual competition, but by a scripted ending to a match.
The NWA Detroit United States Heavyweight Championship was a version of the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship contested in Big Time Wrestling from 1959 until 1980. It was first introduced as the Chicago version of the championship and contested on shows produced by Fred Kohler Enterprises before moving to Big Time Wrestling in Detroit six years later. While the National Wrestling Alliance recognized only one World Heavyweight Champion, there were multiple "NWA United States Heavyweight Champion"s, as many NWA-affiliated promotions/"territories" across the U.S. each had its own version of an "American" or "United States" championship. For most such territories -- including Detroit -- the U.S. Title was the promotion's primary singles championship. Over its history, the title was held by stars including Bobo Brazil, The Sheik, Wilbur Snyder, Johnny Valentine, and multi-time AWA World Heavyweight Champions Verne Gagne and Dick the Bruiser.
The NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling title that has existed since the 1930s. Though its exact date of creation isn't known, it is among the oldest championships used in professional wrestling today. The title has used a variety of different names over the years, which consists of initial changes to represent the various companies that have controlled the title at different times. Originally, it was simply known as the Texas Heavyweight Championship until its name was changed after the formation of the National Wrestling Alliance in 1948. For most of the title's existence, at least until the early 1990s, it was defended almost exclusively within the Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio areas of Texas. From the 1930s to the mid-1960s, these cities and the surrounding towns were within the territory operated by Ed McLemore, which was known simply as Southwest Sports, Inc. at the time. After McLemore's death, the territory came under the control of Fritz Von Erich and was renamed as Big Time Wrestling. However, the promotion would be renamed World Class Championship Wrestling in the early 1980s, which is the name the territory is best remembered under today. The championship remained an NWA affiliated title until February 1986.
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 NWA Southeastern Tag Team Championship was the major tag team championship in the National Wrestling Alliance's Alabama territory, Southeastern Championship Wrestling (SECW). It existed from 1974 until November 1986, when it became the NWA Continental Tag Team Championship, after SECW changed its name to Continental Championship Wrestling (CCW). In 1988, when CCW changed its name to the Continental Wrestling Federation (CWF), it became the CWF Tag Team Championship. The CWF closed in 1989 and the title was retired.
The USWA World Tag Team Championship was the primary professional wrestling tag team championship promoted by the Memphis, Tennessee-based United States Wrestling Association (USWA). The Continental Wrestling Association and World Class Wrestling Association (WCWA) merged in 1989 to form the USWA. In the merger the USWA replaced both the WCWA World Tag Team Championship and the CWA Tag Team Championship with the USWA version. The promotion awarded Cactus Jack and Scott Braddock the championship after they won the WCWA championship on August 4, 1989. The USWA closed in 1997, with PG-13 as the final champions. There were a total of 116 reigns in the eight year lifetime of the championship.
The World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling World tag team championship in Japanese promotion All Japan Pro Wrestling. It was created on June 10, 1988 as a unification of two previous tag team titles in All Japan; the PWF Tag Team Championship, and the NWA International Tag Team Championship; when the PWF champions Jumbo Tsuruta and Yoshiaki Yatsu defeated NWA champions The Road Warriors. As with the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, it is symbolized by four belts, two for each wrestler, representing the former PWF and NWA titles. It is currently the top of two tag team titles in AJPW, along with the secondary All Asia Tag Team Championship.
The GCW Heavyweight Championship is the major title in the Georgia Championship Wrestling professional wrestling promotion. It started in 1964 and was unified in 1981 with the NWA National Heavyweight Championship.
The Stampede Wrestling North American Heavyweight Championship was the major title in the Canadian professional wrestling promotion Stampede Wrestling. From its establishment in 1968 until 1972, it was Stampede's secondary singles championship, becoming the top title in 1972 after the previous top championship, the Calgary version of the NWA Canadian Heavyweight Championship, was abandoned.
The NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance and defended in its member promotion Pacific Northwest Wrestling, which promoted shows in the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington.
The NWA Mid-America Tag Team championship was a tag team title promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion NWA Mid-America that ran more or less exclusively in Alabama, Tennessee, and Kentucky, United States, from the 1940s until 1980. Originally the NWA Mid-America promoted their version of the NWA World Tag-Team titles but when they became defunct in 1977 the "Mid-America" title became the main title for the promotion. The titles were reactivated in 2001 under NWA Nashville's patronage and continued to exist until 2011 when they were again abandoned.
The NWA Americas Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling tag team title in the National Wrestling Alliance's NWA Hollywood Wrestling based out of Los Angeles, California.
The NWA Gulf Coast Tag Team Championship was the main tag team championship in Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling or NWA Gulf Coast. The Gulf Coast tag team championship is the successor for GCCW's version of the NWA Southern Tag Team Championship that was promoted in the Tennessee, Alabama, Florida and Mississippi region from 1955 until 1967 where it was replaced by the "NWA Gulf Coast Tag Team Championship. The Gulf Coast Tag Team championship was promoted from 1967 until 1978 where Southeast Championship Wrestling took control of the title renaming in back to the "NWA Southern Tag Team Championship" and promoted it in its "Southern Division" in 1978 and 1979. In 1980 the Southern Division was abandoned and the Northern Division of the NWA Southern Tag Team Championship became the main title of SECW.
The NWA Hawaii Tag Team Championship was the primary tag team title of 50th State Big Time Wrestling and was defended between 1952 and 1979 when it was phased out. The title was later revived by the current incarnation of NWA Hawaii in 2000. It is the earliest regional tag team title in to be defended in the Pacific coast of the United States, along with the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship, and was originally defended in Honolulu, Hawaii. As of 2007, it is defended in Kalihi, Kaneohe and Wahiawa, Hawaii.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link){{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)