 | |
| Acronym | PWA |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2001 [1] |
| Defunct | 2022 |
| Style | American Wrestling |
| Headquarters | Edmonton, Alberta, Canada |
| Founder(s) | Kurt Sorochan Tex Gaines Hercules Ayala |
| Owner(s) | Kurt Sorochan Nizar Watfa |
| Website | www |
The Prairie Wrestling Alliance (PWA, formerly Prairie Wrestling Association) [2] was a independent wrestling promotion based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and founded 2001. The PWA was co-owned, operated, and promoted by Kurt Sorochan. [3] Lance Storm is a former booker with the promotion.
The PWA was established in March 2001 by Kurt Sorochan, Tex Gaines, and Hercules Ayala. [4] Their first shows were outside of Edmonton due to the difficulty of getting a promoter's license. [4] Their first show in Edmonton drew over 700 people. [4]
In 2003, they put on monthly events, which got mostly good reviews. [5] The following year in 2004, however, they put on fewer shows due to scheduling conflicts. [6] The company relaunched its shows in October 2004 with Night of Champions. [6]
The PWA currently runs shows monthly in Edmonton, AB at the Northgate Lions Senior Recreation Center & Calgary, AB at the Century Casino. [7] On January 20, 2014, the PWA announced that they would start running shows in Red Deer, AB on May 22, 2014. [8] On May 31, 2014, the PWA ran its first show in Lloydminster Sask/Ab.
The PWA closed down in 2022.
The PWA Hall of Fame is a professional wrestling hall of fame maintained by the Prairie Wrestling Alliance. It was established in 2008 to honor select wrestling personalities, mostly alumni of the Edmonton-based promotion. The induction ceremony for the Class of 2008, the inaugural inductees into the Hall of Fame, took place at the PWA's "Night of Champions VI" held at the NAIT Gymnasium on June 20, 2008. Duke Durango, a longtime "journeyman" wrestler and former PWA Champion, led the class, which included Stampede Wrestling mainstays Hercules Ayala, The Cuban Assassin, The Great Gama and Gerry Morrow. [10]
| # | Year | Ring name (Real name) [a] | Inducted by | Inducted for | Notes [b] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2008 | Duke Durango [11] (Jordan Clarke) | 2008 | Wrestling | Won the PWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time) |
| 2 | 2008 | Hercules Ayala (Ruben Cruz) | Wrestling | Co-founder of the Prairie Wrestling Alliance; longtime mainstay of Stampede Wrestling [12] | |
| 3 | 2008 | The Great Gama (Gadowar Singh Sahota) | Wrestling | ||
| 4 | 2008 | Gerry Morrow (Gerard Ethifier) | Wrestling | ||
| 5 | 2008 | The Cuban Assassin (Ángel Acevedo) | Wrestling | ||
| 6 | 2009 | Red Thunder [13] | Wrestling | Won the PWA Canadian Tag Team Championship (1 time) | |
| 7 | 2009 | Johnny Devine [13] (John Parsonage) | Wrestling | Won the PWA Canadian Tag Team Championship (1 time) | |
| 8 | 2009 | Michael Fitzpatrick [13] | Refereeing | ||
| 9 | 2010 | Phoenix Taylor [14] | Wrestling | Won the PWA Championship (1 time), PWA Commonwealth Championship (1 time) and PWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) | |
| 10 | 2010 | Chris Steele [14] | Wrestling | Won the PWA Championship (3 times) and PWA Tag Team Championship (2 times) | |
| 11 | 2010 | Hart family [15] | Wrestling | ||
| 12 | 2011 | Marky Mark [16] | Wrestling | Won the PWA Mayhem Championship (1 time), PWA Cruiserweight Championship (1 time) and PWA Canadian Tag Team Championship (2 times) | |
| 13 | 2011 | Tex Gaines [16] | Wrestling and Promoting | Co-founder of the Prairie Wrestling Alliance | |
| 14 | 2011 | Kurt Sorochan [16] | Promoting | Co-founder of the Prairie Wrestling Alliance | |
| N/A | N/A | Samoa Joe (Nuufolau Joel Seanoa) | Wrestling | ||
| N/A | N/A | Jeanette Sorochan | |||
| N/A | N/A | Janie Roznicki | |||
| 15 | 2013 | Sgt. Hazard [11] (Don Ferguson) | Kurt Sorochan | Wrestling | Co-founder of the Prairie Wrestling Alliance |
| 16 | 2013 | Big Bad Boris [11] | Kurt Sorochan | Promoting and Television Production | Longtime head of production for the Prairie Wrestling Alliance |
| 17 | 2013 | Dusty Adonis [11] | Kurt Sorochan | Wrestling | Won the PWA Cruiserweight Championship (3 times) |
| Championship | Final Champion(s) | Previous | Event | Date Won | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PWA Championship | Chris Steele | Michael Allen Richard Clark | PWA Battle at the Dome 2 | March 5, 2022 | Calgary, AB |
| PWA Commonwealth Title | Shawn Spears | Shaun Moore | PWA Night of Champions | June 22, 2019 | Edmonton, AB |
| PWA Canadian Tag Team Titles | The Above Average Joes (Kenny Stryker & Aiden Adams) | The League (Davey O'Doyle & Brayden Parsons) | PWA Night of Champions | June 22, 2019 | Edmonton, AB |
| PWA Mayhem Title | "The Thickness" Reid Matthews | Kenneth Anthony | PWA Fruition | February 23, 2019 | Edmonton, AB |
| PWA Women's Title | Zoe Sager | GiGi Rey | PWA Battle at the Dome 2 | March 5, 2022 | Calgary, AB |
Lance Timothy Evers, known professionally by his ring name Lance Storm, is a Canadian retired professional wrestler. He is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he works as a producer. He is best known for his tenures in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and the World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Entertainment (WWF/WWE), where he held a combined 13 total championships.
Stewart Edward Hart was a Canadian amateur and professional wrestler, wrestling booker, promoter, and coach. He is best known for founding and handling Stampede Wrestling, a professional wrestling promotion based in Calgary, Alberta, teaching many individuals at its associated wrestling school "The Dungeon" and establishing a professional wrestling dynasty consisting of his relatives and close trainees. As the patriarch of the Hart wrestling family, Hart is the ancestor of many wrestlers, most notably being the father of Bret and Owen Hart as well as the grandfather of Natalya Neidhart, Teddy Hart and David Hart Smith.
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Stampede Wrestling was a Canadian professional wrestling promotion based in Calgary, Alberta. For nearly 50 years, it was one of the main promotions in western Canada and the Canadian Prairies. Originally established by Stu Hart in 1948, the promotion competed with other promotions such as NWA All-Star Wrestling and Pacific Northwest Wrestling and regularly ran events in Calgary's Victoria Pavilion, Ogden Auditorium and the Stampede Corral between 1948 until 1984 when bought out by promoter Vince McMahon, the company was briefly run by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) before being sold back to the Hart family the following year. Run by Bruce Hart until January 1990, he and Ross Hart reopened the promotion in 1999 and began running events in the Alberta area.
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Jason Anderson is a Canadian professional wrestler. He is best known for his work in Stampede Wrestling, where he was known under the ring names Blackheart Destruction and Jason Neidhart, being portrayed as the cousin of wrestler Jim Neidhart. He would wrestle internationally.
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| Defunct promotions |
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| Governing bodies and interpromotional alliances |
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