AWA World Title


				AWA World Title



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		Name Date/Location Notes 1. Verne Gagne August 16, 1960 1 2. Gene Kiniski July 11, 1961 Minneapolis, MN 3. Verne Gagne August 8, 1961 Minneapolis, MN 4. Mister M (Bill Miller) January 9, 1962 Minneapolis, MN 5. Verne Gagne August 21, 1962 Minneapolis, MN 6. Crusher Lisowski July 9, 1963 Minneapolis, MN 2 7. Verne Gagne July 20, 1963 Minneapolis, MN 3 8. Fritz Von Erich July 27, 1963 Omaha, NB 4 9. Verne Gagne August 8, 1963 Amarillo, TX 5 10. Crusher Lisowski November 28, 1963 St.Paul, MN 11. Verne Gagne December 14, 1963 Minneapolis, MN 12. Maurice " Mad Dog " Vachon May 2, 1964 Omaha, NB 13. Verne Gagne May 15, 1964 Omaha, NB 14. Maurice Vachon October 20, 1964 Minneapolis, MN 15. Mighty Igor Vodic May 15, 1965 Omaha, NB 16. Maurice Vachon May 22, 1965 Omaha, NB 17. Crusher Lisowski August 21, 1965 St.Paul, MN 18. Maurice Vachon November 12, 1965 Denver, CO 19. Dick The Bruiser November 12, 1966 Omaha, NB 20. Maurice Vachon November 19, 1966 Omaha, NB 21. Verne Gagne February 26, 1967 St.Paul, MN 22. Dr. X (Dick Beyer) August 17, 1968 Bloomington, MN 23. Verne Gagne August 31, 1968 Minneapolis, MN 24. Nick Bockwinkle November 8, 1975 St.Paul, MN 6 25. Verne Gagne July 18, 1980 Chicago, IL 26. Nick Bockwinkle May 19, 1981 7 27. Otto Wanz August 29, 1982 St.Paul, MN 28. Nick Bockwinkle October 9, 1982 Chicago, IL 29. Jumbo Tsuruta February 22, 1984 Tokyo, Japan 30. Rick Martel May 13, 1984 St.Paul, MN 8 31. Stan Hansen December 29, 1985 East Rutherford, NJ 32. Nick Bockwinkle June 28, 1986 Denver, CO 9 33. Curt Hennig May 2, 1987 San Francisco, CA 34. Jerry Lawler May 9, 1988 Memphis, TN 10 Title Vacant 35. Larry Zbyszko February 7, 1989 St.Paul, MN 11 36. Masa Saito February 10, 1990 Tokyo, Japan 37. Larry Zbyszko April 8, 1990 St.Paul, MN 12 Title Defunct Notes: 1. Title awarded to Verne Gagne after Pat O'Connor didn't respond to Gagne's challenge to defend his NWA Title against him upon formation of the AWA. 2. Lisowski won the Omaha version of the title from Fritz Von Erich on February 15, 1963 in Omaha, Nebraska. 3. Verne Gange won both the Omaha version and the AWA World title. 4. Fritz Von Erich won both the Omaha version and the AWA World title. 5. Verne Gagne won the AWA World title. He then beat Fritz Von Erich on September 7, 1963 in Omaha, Nebraska to unify both titles. 6. Bockwinkle wrestled to a Double-Count Out against WWF World Champion Bob Backlund on March 25, 1979 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 7. Nick Bockwinkle was awarded the title when Verne Gagne retired. 8. Rick Martel wrestled to a Double Count-Out against NWA World Champion Ric Flair on October 2, 1985 in Tokyo, Japan. 9. Title awarded to Nick Bockwinkle when Stan Hansen left the promotion because he didn't want to do the job to Bockwinkle on June 28, 1986 in Denver, Colorado. Hansen took the belt and defended it on All-Japan cards in July of 1986. 10. Jerry Lawler unified the World Class Wrestling Association World Title by defeating Kerry Von Erich on December 13, 1988 in Chicago, Illinois to become the first Unified World Heavyweight Champion, but was stripped of the AWA World Title on January 20, 1989 after the CWA split with the AWA. 11. Larry Zbyszko wins the title in a battle royal after eliminating Tom Zenk. 12. Larry Zbyszko was stripped of the AWA World title on December 12, 1990 when Zbyszko left the inactive AWA for WCW. The AWA closed in 1991.



		The Minnesota Boxing and Wrestling Club, otherwise known as Verne Gagne's American Wrestling Association, covered the Midwest region of the United States. Our good friend, the late Ron Dobratz, correctly pointed out the weakness of the promotion as a type of vanity tool for the Gagne family. One time Greg decided to get rough with Ron at a show in Rockford, but it still didn't stop both father and son from ruining what was once a major promotion. Regardless of these bizarre affiliates, for all intents and purposes, the AWA is....DEAD! Call the Chicago Center For Killing's Hardcore Hotline at (847)604-DEAD. Leave us a voice mail and use those free nights and weekend minutes. Oh, by the way, Greg...you will be dealt with for the incident with Dobratz.