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.
Edward Hugh McDaniel was an American Choctaw-Chickasaw professional American football player and professional wrestler better known by his ring name Wahoo McDaniel. He is notable for having held the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship five times. McDaniel was a major star in the American Wrestling Association and prominent National Wrestling Alliance affiliated promotions such as Championship Wrestling from Florida, Georgia Championship Wrestling, NWA Big Time Wrestling and, most notably, Jim Crockett Promotions.
Harley Leland Race was an American professional wrestler, promoter, and trainer.
Lawrence Whistler, better known by the ring name Larry Zbyszko, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is perhaps best known for his feud with his mentor, Bruno Sammartino, during the early 1980s as well as his work as a wrestler and color commentator for World Championship Wrestling. Among other accolades, he is a two-time world champion having twice held the AWA World Heavyweight Championship. Zbyszko was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on March 28, 2015 by Sammartino.
James Donald Raschke is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Baron von Raschke.
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.
William Cruickshanks is a Scottish-born Australian professional wrestler and author better known by his stage name Bill Dundee. Cruickshanks is the father of Jamie Dundee and the father-in-law of wrestler Bobby Eaton.
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.
Wrestling Superstars Live (WSL), previously known as AWA Superstars of Wrestling (AWA), was a governing body for a group of independent professional wrestling promotions and sanctioned various championships. It was founded in 1996 by Dale Gagner and Jonnie Stewart and closed in 2009.
Kirby Mack is a retired American professional wrestler, known for his appearances on the independent circuit. He also wrestled for mainstream promotions such as World Wrestling Entertainment, Ring of Honor and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.
Candace Maria Rummel was an American professional wrestler better known by her ring name Candi Devine. She won singles championships in several promotions, most notably in the American Wrestling Association (AWA), where she held the AWA Women's Championship four times.
Douglas Albert Baker Sr. was an American professional wrestler and actor, better known professionally as Ox Baker. He was famous for his distinctive eyebrows and finishing move, the Heart Punch, sometimes called the "Hurt Punch", after Baker's famous catchphrase "I love to hurt people!". He appeared in several movies including Blood Circus and Escape from New York.
The AWA Japan Women's Championship was a women's professional wrestling championship in the AWA Superstars of Wrestling promotion. It was spun off from the AWA Superstars of Wrestling version of the AWA World Women's Championship. The inaugural champion was Sherri Martel.
The WSL World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world championship in the Wrestling Superstars Live promotion. It was originally known as the AWA Superstars of Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship.
The WSL World Tag Team Championship was a tag team championship in the Wrestling Superstars Live promotion. It was created in 1999 as the AWA Superstars of Wrestling World Tag Team Championship.
The WSL World Light Heavyweight Championship was a title in the Wrestling Superstars Live promotion. It was originally known as the AWA Superstars of Wrestling World Light Heavyweight Championship.
The AWA Superstars United States Championship was a secondary championship in the AWA Superstars of Wrestling promotion, later known as Wrestling Superstars Live.
Ricky Landell is an American former professional wrestler. He is best known for competing in various independent promotions, the most notable being Ring of Honor, Pro Wrestling ZERO1-MAX / Pro Wrestling Zero1 and AWA Superstars of Wrestling / Wrestling Superstars Live.
Keith Walker is an American professional wrestler who competes in North American and international promotions including Ring of Honor, Harley Race's World League Wrestling and Pro Wrestling Noah.
Carolina Wrestling Federation Mid-Atlantic is an American independent professional wrestling promotion founded by Jeff Rudd in 2000. The promotion is based in the southeastern United States, largely covering the Carolinas and Virginia, with its headquarters in Burlington, North Carolina. It is one of the oldest "indy" groups in North Carolina, succeeding Count Grog's Southern Championship Wrestling as the state's top promotion shortly before its close in 2004.
