AWA World Heavyweight Title (original) (raw)
| × date The format is either YYYY-MM-DD or YY-MM-DD. [ ] Following the name of the champion(s): Indicates the number of times the wrestler has held that title at that point. [...] Indicates a gap in the listing where title changes are not known.* If used next to the names of the wrestlers, they may, in fact, not have held the title in the period indicated. If used next to the dates or places, either they are possibly wrong or the title changes are fictitious. < Title was held or changed hands no later than this. In these cases, it is known that a wrestler held the title at a certain time but not when he/she won it. + Broadcast date; the actual recording date is unknown. @ Order uncertain. Different titleholders may be known for the same year, for example, but it is not known who held the title before whom. # Unofficial or disputable claims. These are usually matches that certainly took place, but where there is doubt that the wrestler shown should be recognized as a true title holder. These listings are also italicized in HTML files × Code Country AFGAfghanistan ALBAlbania ALGAlgeria ANDAndorra ANGAngola ANTAntigua and Barbuda ARGArgentina ARMArmenia ARUAruba ASAAmerican Samoa AUSAustralia AUTAustria AZEAzerbaijan BAHBahamas BANBangladesh BARBarbados BDIBurundi BELBelgium BENBenin BERBermuda BHUBhutan BIHBosnia and Herzegovina BIZBelize BLRBelarus BOLBolivia BOTBotswana BRABrazil BRNBahrain BRUBrunei BULBulgaria BURBurkina Faso CAFCentral African Republic CAMCambodia CANCanada CAYCayman Islands CGORepublic of the Congo CHAChad CHIChile CHNChina CIVIvory Coast CMRCameroon CODDemocratic Republic of the Congo COKCook Islands COLColombia COMComoros CPVCape Verde CRCCosta Rica CROCroatia CUBCuba CYPCyprus CZECzech Republic DENDenmark DJIDjibouti DMADominica DOMDominican Republic ECUEcuador EGYEgypt ERIEritrea ESAEl Salvador ESPSpain ESTEstonia ETHEthiopia FIJFiji FINFinland FRAFrance FSMFederated States of Micronesia GABGabon GAMThe Gambia GBRGreat Britain GBSGuinea-Bissau GEOGeorgia GEQEquatorial Guinea GERGermany GGYGuernsey GHAGhana GREGreece GRNGrenada GUAGuatemala GUIGuinea GUMGuam GUYGuyana HAIHaiti HKGHong Kong, China HONHonduras HUNHungary INAIndonesia INDIndia IRIIran IRLIreland IRQIraq ISLIceland ISRIsrael ISVVirgin Islands ITAItaly IVBBritish Virgin Islands JAMJamaica JORJordan JPNJapan KAZKazakhstan KENKenya KGZKyrgyzstan KIRKiribati KORKorea, South KOSKosovo KSASaudi Arabia KUWKuwait LAOLaos LATLatvia LBALibya LBNLebanon LBRLiberia LCASaint Lucia LESLesotho LIELiechtenstein LTULithuania LUXLuxembourg MADMadagascar MARMorocco MASMalaysia MAWMalawi MDAMoldova MDVMaldives MEXMexico MGLMongolia MHLMarshall Islands MKDNorth Macedonia MLIMali MLTMalta MNEMontenegro MONMonaco MOZMozambique MRIMauritius MTNMauritania MYAMyanmar NAMNamibia NCANicaragua NEDNetherlands NEPNepal NGRNigeria NIGNiger NORNorway NRUNauru NZLNew Zealand OMAOman PAKPakistan PANPanama PARParaguay PERPeru PHIPhilippines PLEPalestine PLWPalau PNGPapua New Guinea POLPoland PORPortugal PRKKorea, North (DPR of Korea) PURPuerto Rico QATQatar ROURomania RSASouth Africa RUSRussia RWARwanda SAMSamoa SENSenegal SEYSeychelles SGPSingapore SKNSaint Kitts and Nevis SLESierra Leone SLOSlovenia SMRSan Marino SOLSolomon Islands SOMSomalia SRBSerbia SRISri Lanka SSDSouth Sudan STPSão Tomé and Príncipe SUDSudan SUISwitzerland SURSuriname SVKSlovakia SWESweden SWZSwaziland SYRSyria TANTanzania TGATonga THAThailand TJKTajikistan TKMTurkmenistan TLSEast Timor TOGTogo TPETaiwan (Republic of China) TTOTrinidad and Tobago TUNTunisia TURTurkey TUVTuvalu UAEUnited Arab Emirates UGAUganda UKRUkraine URUUruguay USAUnited States UZBUzbekistan VANVanuatu VENVenezuela VIEVietnam VINSaint Vincent and the Grenadines YEMYemen ZAMZambia ZIMZimbabwe Last updated on 2021-05-25 | [ 日本語 ] |
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AMERICAN WRESTLING ASSOCIATION
WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE
| Verne Gagne | 1960-08-01 | |
|---|---|---|
| Awarded after NWA World Heavyweight champion Pat O'Connor fails to defend the title against Gagne within 90-day period (Star Tribune, Minneapolis, MN, 60-08-03); one source says O'Connor is actually recognized as the first champion when AWA is formed in 60-05. | ||
| Gene Kiniski | 1961-07-11 | Minneapolis, MN |
| Verne Gagne [2] | 1961-08-08 | Minneapolis, MN |
| Mister M (Bill Miller) | 1962-01-09 | Minneapolis, MN |
| Verne Gagne [3] | 1962-08-21 | Minneapolis, MN |
| Also wins Omaha version from Fritz Von Erich on 63-08-25 in Omaha, NE. | ||
| Crusher Lisowski | 1963-07-09 | Minneapolis, MN |
| Wins AWA World Title only. | ||
| Verne Gagne [4] | 1963-07-20 | Minneapolis, MN |
| Also holds Omaha version. | ||
| Fritz Von Erich | 1963-07-27 | Omaha, NE |
| Wins both titles. | ||
| Verne Gagne [5] | 1963-08-08 | Amarillo, TX |
| Wins AWA world title; defeats Von Erich on 63-09-07 in Omaha, NE to unify Omaha version. | ||
| Crusher Lisowski [2] | 1963-11-16 | St. Paul, MN |
| Verne Gagne [6] | 1963-12-14 | Minneapolis, MN |
| Mad Dog Vachon # | 1964-05-02 | Omaha, NE |
| Wins via KO in the 3rd round; initially reported as a title change (Sunday World Herald, Omaha, NE, 64-05-03); also reported in Minneapolis that Gagne has been "kayoed in Omaha Satuday night" (The Minneapolis Star, 64-05-05); declared vacant by AWA president Stanley Blackburn on 64-05-05 due to the use of a "foreign object" by Vachon during the match (Sunday World Herald, Omaha, NE, 64-05-06). | ||
| Verne Gagne [7] | 1964-05-16 | Omaha, NE |
| Defeats Mad Dog Vachon via COR for the vacant title; Vachon pins Gagne with his feet on the rope and leaves the ring with the belt; the referee restarts the match and counts Vachon out. | ||
| Mad Dog Vachon | 1964-10-20 | Minneapolis, MN |
| Mighty Igor Vodic | 1965-05-15 | Omaha, NE |
| Local recognition only. | ||
| Mad Dog Vachon [2] | 1965-05-22 | Omaha, NE |
| Local recognition only. | ||
| Crusher Lisowski [3] | 1965-08-21 | St. Paul, MN |
| Mad Dog Vachon [3] | 1965-11-12 | Denver, CO |
| Tim Woods defeats Vachon on 66-01-08 in Omaha, NE but the title is returned to Vachon after AWA president Stanley Blackburn reviews the match and declares it "no contest" on 66-01-14 since Woods's legs are on the rope while pinning Vachon during the final fall; Vachon defeats Woods on 66-01-14. | ||
| Dick the Bruiser | 1966-11-12 | Omaha, NE |
| Local recognition only. | ||
| Mad Dog Vachon [4] | 1966-11-19 | Omaha, NE |
| Local recognition only. | ||
| Verne Gagne [8] | 1967-02-26 | St. Paul, MN |
| Dr. X (Dick Beyer) | 1968-08-17 | Bloomington, MN |
| Verne Gagne [9] | 1968-08-31 | Minneapolis, MN |
| Nick Bockwinkel | 1975-11-08 | St. Paul, MN |
| Wrestle to a double cout-out against WWF Heavyweight champion Bob Backlund on 79-03-25 in Toronto, ON. | ||
| Verne Gagne [10] | 1980-07-18 | Chicago, IL |
| Nick Bockwinkel [2] | 1981-05-19 | |
| Awarded after Gagne retires (The Minneapolis Star, 81-05-20); Hulk Hogan defeats Bockwinkel on 82-04-18 in St. Paul, MN, with both parties using a foreign object during the match, and is declared as champion; Bockwinkel is awarded back by AWA President Stanley Blackburn on 82-04-24 due to the involvement of a foreign object during the match; Hulk Hogan defeats Bockwinkel on 82-04-18 in St. Paul, MN, but Bockwinkel is awareded the title back by AWA President Stanley Blackburn on 82-04-24 due to the involvement of a foreign object during the match. | ||
| Otto Wanz | 1982-08-29 | St. Paul, MN |
| Nick Bockwinkel [3] | 1982-10-09 | Chicago, IL |
| Jerry Lawler # | 1982-12-27 | Memphis, TN |
| Held up afterwards. | ||
| Nick Bockwinkel # | 1983-01-10 | Memphis, TN |
| Defeats Lawler in rematch; Hulk Hogan defeats Bockwinkle on 83-04-24 in Minneapolis, MN in a no DQ match; however, AWA President Stanley Blackburn, unable to disqualify Hogan for throwing Bockwinkle over the tope rope, strips Hogan of the title anyway and returns it to Bockwinkle right after the match. | ||
| Jumbo Tsuruta | 1984-02-23 | Tōkyō, JPN |
| Rick Martel | 1984-05-13 | St. Paul, MN |
| Wrestles to a double count-out against NWA World heavyweight champion Ric Flair on 85-10-21 in Tōkyō, JPN. | ||
| Stan Hansen | 1985-12-29 | E. Rutherford, NJ |
| Nick Bockwinkel [3] | 1986-06-29 | Denver, CO |
| Awarded after Hansen refuses to drop the belt; Hansen takes the belt and defends it on All Japan cards in 86-07 as he has been scheduled. | ||
| Curt Hennig | 1987-05-02 | San Francisco, CA |
| Jerry Lawler | 1988-05-09 | Memphis, TN |
| Unifies WCWA World title defeating Kerry Von Erich on 88-12-13 in Chicago, IL to become Unified World Heavyweight Champion, but stripped of AWA title on 89-01-20 after CWA splits with AWA. | ||
| Larry Zbyszko | 1989-02-07 | St. Paul, MN |
| Wins title in battle royal, eliminating Tom Zenk. | ||
| Mr. Saitō (Masa Saitō) | 1990-02-10 | Tōkyō, JPN |
| Larry Zbyszko [2] | 1990-04-08 | St. Paul, MN |
| Stripped on 90-12-12 when Zbyszko leaves inactive AWA for WCW; AWA closes in 91; still claims the title as of 95-01. |
* See also AWA World Heavyweight Title (AWA Superstars of Wrestling).
* Thanks to Kriss Knights for the additional information.
The Records of the AWA World Heavyweight Title Matches
