| American Wrestling Association | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Details | |
| Acronym | AWA |
| Established | 1960 |
| Style | American Wrestling |
| Location | Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Founder(s) | Verne Gagne & Wally Karbo |
| Owner(s) | Verne Gagne |
| Formerly | NWA Minneapolis Boxing & Wrestling Club |
The American Wrestling Association (AWA) was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 to 1991. It was owned and founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo. The territory was originally part of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), becoming an independent territory in the late 1950s.
Early years
Anton "Tony" Stecher was a founding member of the NWA in 1948 and had promoted wrestling in Minneapolis since 1933 through his Minneapolis Boxing and Wrestling Club. In 1952, he sold a one third interest in the promotion to Wally Karbo and his son Dennis Stecher. On October 9, 1954, Tony Stecher died and control of the promotion passed to Karbo and Dennis Stecher. Verne Gagne, a former amateur wrestling champion, had become a well known and popular wrestler nationally in the 1950s as a result of his appearances on the DuMount Network. He aspired to become NWA World Champion but for various reasons to do with politics inside the NWA, he never became champion. On June 14, 1957, Edouard Carpentier defeated NWA Champion Lou Thesz in Chicago. The NWA later overruled the decision of the referee in Chicago and gave the title back to Thesz. However, certain wrestling territories of the NWA including Nebraska refused to go along with the decision and continued to recognize Carpentier. Carpentier lost his title to Verne Gagne in Omaha in August 1958 making Verne Gagne the recognized NWA world champion in the NWA territories that had recognized Carpentier. In 1959, Dennis Stecher sold his majority stake in the Minneapolis Boxing and Wrestling club to Karbo and Gagne. They became co-owners of the promotion from that point onward.
Breaking away from the NWA
In 1960, after unsuccessfully lobbying the NWA for for a title match between Verne Gagne and the NWA World Champion, Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo led certain territories out of the NWA forming the American Wrestling Association. The AWA unilaterally recognized NWA World Champion Pat O'Connor as AWA world champion and gave him 90 days to defend the AWA title against Vern Gagne. The NWA ignored the challenge. O'Connor was stripped of the AWA title and it was awarded to Gagne on August 16, 1960. While O'Connor was the first AWA champion, he never wrestled in the AWA. Gagne was a former amateur-wrestling champion who had earned a spot on the U.S. team at the 1948 Summer Olympics; he ran the AWA with a traditionalist sensibility, firmly believing that sound technical wrestling -- not flashy "(sports-) entertainment" -- should be the basis of a pro-wrestling company. Verne would also train his newcomer wrestlers from his farm in Chanhassen, Minnesota as well. Over the years, Gagne feuded against Gene Kiniski, Dr. Bill Miller, Fritz Von Erich, Dr. X (Dick Beyer under a mask), The Crusher, Ray Stevens and Nick Bockwinkel, he won the AWA World Heavyweight Championship a record ten times before retiring from full-time competition in 1981. He would go on to wrestle a few matches a year until his final match at WrestleRock 86 against Sheik Adnan El Kassey. Verne would also co-promote shows with the NWA and WWWF as well. After finally stepping aside in the early 1980s, he focused the promotion on Bockwinkel, a loyal employee of several decades who was a mat-wrestling technician like Verne had been. Under Gagne and Karbo, the AWA became one of the most successful territories in the country, promoting shows in such major cities as Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Chicago, Omaha, Winnipeg, Denver, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, San Francisco, and throughout the Midwest region.
1982
Starting in 1982, and accelerated by a role in the hit film Rocky III, Hulk Hogan rapidly caught on as a babyface with AWA fans, and became the AWA's top draw. But even as his popularity grew to unprecedented levels, Gagne refused to make him the AWA World Heavyweight Champion, as Hogan was a powerhouse wrestler. He recognized Hogan's showmanship and charisma, but believed a wrestling company should be built around one of its best technical wrestlers, (e.g., himself and Bockwinkel); on the Spectular Legacy of the AWA DVD, Gagne said he would only let Hogan have a feud with Bockwinkel for the title due to the fact that it would draw in audiences. On two occasions, Gagne went so far as to tease AWA Title wins for Hogan, only to renege each time via technicalities. The first was on April 18, 1982. Hogan defeated Bockwinkel with the help of a foreign object that Bockwinkel's manager Bobby Heenan had interjected into the match. After the three count the belt was awarded to Hogan and he was announced as the new champion. Heenan informed the referee of the object and the ref questioned Hogan about this, but the blood on Hogan's face was evidence that the object had also been used on him. The ref stood by his decision and Hogan left the arena as the new AWA World champion. Six days later on AWA television, AWA President Stanley Blackburn stripped Hogan of the title and returned it to Bockwinkel.
1983
The second such occasion was on a "Super Sunday" card in St. Paul, MN in 1983. Hogan again pinned Bockwinkel, was awarded the belt and announced as the new champion. This time Blackburn came to the ring moments after the match and tried to have Hogan retoactively disqualified for throwing the champion over the top rope a few minutes before the pinfall occurred. However this match had been booked as a no disqualification match, which prevented this, so Blackburn simply stripped Hogan of the title and once again handed it back to Bockwinkel. (NOTE: Blackburn had a history of making biased decisions in favor of Bockwinkel. On two other occasions -- once prior and once after the Hogan incidents -- he simply handed the title to Bockwinkel with no match.) The crowd (which had exploded in cheers when Hogan appeared to have won) almost rioted, as an upset Hogan attacked Bockwinkel and his manager Bobby Heenan, and Hogan was on microphone telling the audience to calm down afterwards as well. On the DVD The Spectacular Legacy of the AWA, it was revealed that Verne planned to have Hogan win the belt that night, but only if he would give Verne the bulk of the revenues that Hogan was earning from merchandise and his periodic main-event performances for Japanese promoters. Hogan refused, wanting a 50/50 split instead, so Verne kept the belt from him.
Talent jumps to the WWF
But as Vince McMahon and his northeastern-based World Wrestling Federation attempted to end pro wrestling's regional era in the mid-1980s (by establishing the WWF as the dominant national promotion), Gagne made several decisions that caused his AWA to lose momentum in the emerging wrestling promotion war. Among them was overemphasizing his son Greg in AWA storylines (which led to speculation of nepotism by Verne within the company); and failure to make Hulk Hogan the focus of his company when he had the chance. Frustrated by Verne Gagne's business decisions, Hogan accepted an offer from rival promoter Vince McMahon, Jr. to wrestle for the WWF, in December 1983. One month later, Hogan was made the focus of the company and its dominant heavyweight champion. He and the WWF soon became mainstream media phenomena and virtually synonymous with professional wrestling in much of the national consciousness, vaulting past the AWA and NWA as the premier promotion in wrestling. Hogan wasn't alone in leaving the AWA, either. Soon after him, some of the AWA's other top talent, including announcer "Mean" Gene Okerlund, manager Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, and wrestlers Adrian Adonis, Ken Patera, Jim Brunzell, and Jesse Ventura, also jumped to the WWF.
1984
Despite this huge talent raid, the AWA went on to have its most successful year in 1984 -- mainly because of: the arrival of the phenomenally popular Road Warriors; Jerry Blackwell being tapped as lead babyface, turning against his manager Sheik Adnan El Kassey; and the alliance with the NWA known as Pro Wrestling USA, which was a union between the AWA and NWA territory promoters in the summer of 1984 to establish a national presence to compete against the WWF. By 1985, the AWA was also able to sign wrestlers like Sgt. Slaughter, Bob Backlund, and the Tonga Kid, and was influential in Pro Wrestling USA; the alliance would also reach its pinnacle with the supercard known as SuperClash. However, this collaboration didn't last, with Gagne accusing David Crockett of trying to sign away AWA talent backstage at Pro Wrestling USA shows.
International working agreements
Abroad, the AWA had working agreements with Japanese promotions International Pro Wrestling (1969 to 1980), then All Japan Pro Wrestling (1980 to 1988, although the relationship was strained in 1986 by the AWA Title debacle surrounding Stan Hansen), and, near the end, New Japan Pro Wrestling. The debacle was that on June 29, 1986, Hansen refused to lose the AWA Heavyweight Title to Nick Bockwinkel and left the Denver Arena that night, and continued to defend the old AWA Title in Japan, despite the fact that Bockwinkel was awarded the AWA Championship and given a different belt- one of the tag team title belts- as a result; Gagne threatened legal action if Hansen continued to keep the old AWA belt and the old belt was returned to the AWA as a result, despite the fact that Hansen had also ran over the belt with his truck before mailing it back and the AWA had to restore the belt as a result. It also had a brief relationship with the European promotion Catch Wrestling Association, through which its promoter, wrestler Otto Wanz, was given an AWA World Title reign.
ESPN television deal
It was around that time that the AWA began airing weekly programming on ESPN, the network which formally aired Pro Wrestling USA programming, giving the promotion the national exposure already enjoyed by the WWF (on USA Network) and the NWA's Georgia/World Championship Wrestling (on TBS).
1986-1989
However, the AWA continued to fall behind the WWF and NWA as a major promotion, throughout 1986 and 1987. Despite this, Gagne still managed to develop legitimately strong young talent like Scott Hall, Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty, Leon White, Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags, and Madusa Miceli during this time period. Gagne also forged a relationship with Memphis based promoter Jerry Jarrett and even allowed Mid-Southern territory legend Jerry Lawler to win the AWA World Title from Curt Hennig (who was about to depart for the WWF) in May 1988. The struggling WCCW also formed an alliance with the AWA as well, and Jerry Lawler would challenge WCCW Heavyweight champion Kerry von Erich in a title unification match at SuperClash III as well. However, that December, following a contentious and relatively unsuccessful PPV, SuperClash III, the collaborative effort was over and Lawler was stripped of the title in January 1989. Worse still, Lawler kept the AWA Title belt and continued promoting himself on the independent circuit United States Wrestling Association as World Heavyweight Champion as well. Lawler did this in an attempt to leverage PPV revenue from Gagne that he claimed was owed him, but Gagne eventually commissioned a new title belt of the same design. In February 1989, Larry Zbyszko, a longtime employee and Verne's son-in-law, won the vacated AWA World Title in an 18-man Battle Royal, eliminating Tom Zenk to end the match. It was also during this time that Joe Blanchard replaced Stanley Blackburn as AWA President, and the desperate Gagne's began to develop the Team Challenge Series concept. The Team Challenge Series was a flop, and the AWA would continue to lose audiences as a result.
1990-1991
The AWA would become inactive in the fall of 1990. As a result, Larry Zbyszko signed with WCW. As his last official act, Verne Gagne stripped the already-departed Zbyszko of the AWA World Title in December 1990. Gagne did promote a card in Rochester, MN in May 1991, featuring the return of Greg Gagne and Wahoo McDaniel against the The Destruction Crew (Mike Enos & Wayne Bloom) in the main event, but he was unable to revive the promotion. However, the AWA continued re-running matches in their weekly ESPN time slot, and on their syndicated All-Star Wrestling show; plus, the company managed to release a commercial tape (Hulk Hogan Highlights) during 1991.
Influence and legacy
The influence of Verne Gagne and the AWA as a whole in professional wrestling is immeasurable. Countless wrestlers and personalities were either trained by (e.g., Ric Flair) or received their first big breaks under Gagne, an influence that is felt to this day.
AWA Team Challenge Series
The AWA held a "Team Challenge Series" from October 1, 1989 through August 11, 1990. All of the available wrestlers were divided into three teams, "Larry's Legends", headed by Larry Zbyszko, "Slaughter's Snipers", headed by Sgt. Slaughter, and "Baron's Blitzers", headed by Baron Von Raschke. (Sgt. Slaughter left the AWA before the TCS ended, and Colonel DeBeers was named the new team captain.) Babyfaces and heels alike were assigned to teams, forcing bitter rivals to work together. The winners of Team Challenge matches would earn points for their team; at some unspecified point the highest-scoring team would share one million dollars. Some of the earlier TCS matches took place in a TV studio without an audience; the announcers claimed it was part of an effort to stop wrestlers from interfering, but it was actually due to poor ticket sales for arena shows. The remainder of the matches took place at the Rochester Civic Center, where the AWA taped live matches for its television program from 1989-1990. The Team Challenge Series was promoted by the AWA as revolutionary, but once underway, it appeared to be little more than a long series of gimmick matches and traditional matches with gimmicky names. Rather than showcasing technical wrestling, as the AWA had done for decades, wrestlers wore football helmets and pads in matches, or fought in a "Behind the 8-Ball Battle Royal." Perennial loser Jake "The Milkman" Milliman defeated Colonel DeBeers in the "Great American Turkey Hunt," where the one who got a stuffed, uncooked turkey off of the top of a pole first would win. The final match in the TCS was a royal rumble style battle royal featuring Brad Rheingans, The Destruction Crew, Colonel DeBeers, the Texas Hangmen, the Trooper Del Wilkes, and several others. Jake Milliman again came away with the win by eliminating DeBeers at the end, winning the Series and the supposed $1,000,000 check for Larry's Legends. The final point tally for the TCS:
| Larry's Legends | 56 |
| Baron's Blitzers | 51 |
| DeBeers' Diamondcutters (formerly Slaughter's Snipers) |
48 |
The TCS concept was ill-conceived and poorly presented; many wrestling fans feel that it hastened the AWA's demise. Yet elements of the series (e.g., having separate "teams" within one company, a "draft," etc.) have parallels to the brand extension (RAW, SmackDown!, and ECW) employed by World Wrestling Entertainment. For years, Eric Bischoff was credited (or blamed) with having developed the TCS -- even cited as such in several books. However, in both his autobiography and The Spectacular Legacy of the AWA, Bischoff denied having anything to do with it. Instead, Greg Gagne takes responsibility for coming up with the idea, and developing it with his father.
Super cards
- AWA SuperSunday
- WrestleRock 86
- SuperClash
- SuperClash 3 - The first and only AWA PPV. The PPV was built around talent from the AWA, WCCW out of Texas, and the CWA out of Memphis.
Alumni
The AWA roster throughout the 1970s and early 1980s was a virtual who's who in professional wrestling. By 1983, Gagne had assembled the largest and deepest roster in the business, featuring everyone from stalwarts like Bockwinkel, Mad Dog Vachon, and Baron Von Raschke, to up and comers like Hulk Hogan, Jerry Blackwell, Rick Martel, and Curt Hennig.
AWA on television
| AWA All-Star Wrestling | |
|---|---|
| Format | Professional wrestling |
| Starring | American Wrestling Association roster |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| Production | |
| Running time | 120 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original run | 1960 – 1990 |
| External links | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, AWA television production was headquartered at Minneapolis independent station WTCN-TV, then owned by Metromedia. The ring announcer was longtime St. Paul-Minneapolis sports broadcaster Marty O'Neill, who also conducted the post-match interviews. O'Neill announced the matches for the local WTCN audience. But fans watching the syndicated version of the show heard hold-by-hold commentary provided by Rodger Kent. In the mid-1970s, during a prolonged illness, O'Neill was occasionally replaced as ring announcer by program producer Al DeRusha and interviews were conducted by both Kent and Gene Okerlund. By 1979, Okerlund had permanently replaced O'Neill, who died a couple of years later, and production was transferred to Minneapolis station KMSP-TV. During the AWA's existence, it produced or had a hand in production of several TV programs:
- AWA All-Star Wrestling, the promotion's syndicated program, which aired from 1960 until 1991.
- AWA Championship Wrestling, which aired on cable sports network ESPN from 1986 to 1990; it was a continuation of the earlier ESPN program Pro Wrestling USA, the co-operative venture between the AWA and several NWA affiliates (most notably Jim Crockett Promotions).
- AWA Major League Wrestling, a Canadian program produced in Winnipeg, Manitoba for that city's station, CKND, and syndicated across Canada during the 1980s.
AWA titles
AWA Classic Wrestling
From 1999 to 2002, a series of AWA-related pay-per-views were produced. Titled AWA Classic Wrestling, they featured compilations of old AWA footage, hosted by Greg Gagne and Todd Okerlund (son of Gene Okerlund), with occasional appearances by Verne Gagne. [1] The pay-per-views ceased following the acquisition of the AWA tape library by World Wrestling Entertainment.
The AWA video library and WWE
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) inducted Verne Gagne into the WWE Hall of Fame on April 1, 2006. Verne's son Greg Gagne introduced Verne at the ceremony. Gagne's induction was part of the first two hours of the live event shown on the promotion's official website, and was not aired live on the USA Network with the latter inductions of Gene Okerlund, Eddie Guerrero (both former employees of his), and Bret Hart. Currently, all footage for the AWA prior to the formation of AWA Superstars of Wrestling (See below) is owned by World Wrestling Entertainment. The WWE released The Spectacular Legacy of the AWA on November 21, 2006. The DVD includes a documentary on the amateur and professional career of Verne Gagne, the rise and fall of the AWA over its 30 year history, and numerous interviews and features with Gagne, Hulk Hogan, Jim Brunzell, Michael Hayes, Baron Von Raschke, Greg Gagne, Eric Bischoff, Bobby Heenan, Gene Okerlund and Nick Bockwinkel.
AWA Superstars of Wrestling
In 1996, former AWA workers Dale Gagne (actually Gagner) and Jonnie Stewart relicensed the American Wrestling Association name in the state of Minnesota and the "AWA" re-opened as an independent promotion called AWA Superstars of Wrestling. On April 26, 2007 it was revealed that WWE has sought legal action against Dale Gagne for the use of the AWA name, citing trademark infringement. The trademarks for the AWA logo and the name American Wrestling Association are owned by WWE.[2][3]
References
- ^ Keith, Scott. Best of the AWA review. Kayfabe Memories.
- ^ Trademark Applications and Registrations Retrieval (TARR). Latest Status Info. United States Trademark and Patent office. Retrieved on 2007-08-20. “(words only): AWA AMERICAN WRESTLING ASSOCIATION.”
- ^ Trademark Applications and Registrations Retrieval (TARR). Latest Status Info. United States Trademark and Patent office. Retrieved on 2007-08-20. “United States Trademark and Patent office
Current Status: This registration has been renewed.”
Gagne has contested the validity of the trademark and the trademarks have not received final approval.
