AWA World Heavyweight Championship
Details
Date establishedFebruary 21, 1928
Date retiredNovember 1952
Statistics
First champion(s)Ed Lewis
Final champion(s)Don Eagle
Most reignsSteve Casey (6 reigns)
Longest reignFrank Sexton (1791 days)
Shortest reignDon Eagle (3 days)
Final champion Chief Don Eagle

The AWA World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship promoted by Paul Bowser in Boston.[1]

The title was created by Bowser after Gus Sonnenberg, who had beaten Ed Lewis for the original World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship in 1929,[2] was stripped of recognition as champion by the National Boxing Association. Browser continued to recognize Sonnenberg as champion and named his championship after the "American Wrestling Association" governing body, which hitherto did not actually exist.[3] Rival promoters, including Jack Curley, countered by forming the National Wrestling Association and its NWA World Heavyweight Championship.[4]

During Don Eagle's second reign, splinter titles were created by regional promoters in Chicago and Ohio. Bowser abandoned the championship later in Eagle's reign, while he was rendered inactive due to injuries in November 1952.[5]

Title history

AWA World Heavyweight Championship (Boston version)

Key
No. Overall reign number
Reign Reign number for the specific champion
Days Number of days held
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign Days
1 Ed Lewis February 20, 1928 Live event St. Louis, Missouri 1 319 Defeated Joe Stecher to win the original main line title [1][2]
2 Gus Sonnenberg January 4, 1929 Live event Boston, Massachusetts 1 705 [1]
3 Ed Don George December 10, 1930 Live event Los Angeles, California 1 124 [1]
4 Ed Lewis April 13, 1931 Live event Los Angeles, California 2 21 [1]
5 Henri Deglane May 4, 1931 Live event Montreal, Quebec 1 648 Won by DQ after allegedly being bitten; recognized in Boston and Montreal as AWA champion; Lewis still recognized in California and also wins New York State Athletic Commission World Heavyweight Championship the following year. [1]
6 Ed Don George February 10, 1933 Live event Boston, Massachusetts 2 900 [1]
7 Danno O'Mahoney July 30, 1935 Live event Boston, Massachusetts 1 352 The title was unified with the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and New York State Athletic Commission World Heavyweight Championship to be the Unified World Heavyweight Championship; loses to Dick Shikat on March 2, 1936 in New York, but continues to be recognized as champion by AWA. [1]
8 Yvon Robert July 16, 1936 Live event Montreal, Quebec 1 531 [1]
— Vacated December 1937 — — — — Robert was stripped of the championship for not defending it against Lou Thesz. [1]
9 Lou Thesz December 29, 1937 Live event St. Louis, Missouri 1 44 Defeats Everett Marshall for the MWA World Heavyweight Championship and also recognized by AWA. Retroactively recognized by the National Wrestling Alliance as the real World champion. [1]
10 Steve Casey February 11, 1938 Live event Boston, Massachusetts 1 384 Recognized by MWA and AWA, both belts are presented to him. Retroactively recognized by the National Wrestling Alliance as the real World champion until September 13, 1938 due to Casey being out of the country (actually defending the AWA championship during a tour in Casey's native Irish Free State) Retroactive Alliance recognition switched to NWA World Heavyweight Championship. [1]
11 Marv Westenberg March 2, 1939 Live event Boston, Massachusetts 1 14 [1]
12 Gus Sonnenberg March 16, 1939 Live event Boston, Massachusetts 2 13 [1]
13 Steve Casey March 29, 1939 Live event Boston, Massachusetts 2 20 [1]
14 Ed Don George April 18, 1939 Live event Albany, New York 3 199 [1]
15 Steve Casey November 3, 1939 Live event Buffalo, New York 3 192 [1]
16 The French Angel May 13, 1940 Live event Boston, Massachusetts 1 730 [1][6]
17 Steve Casey May 13, 1942 Live event Boston, Massachusetts 4 811 [1]
18 The French Angel August 1, 1944 Live event San Francisco, California 2 14 [1]
19 Steve Casey August 15, 1944 Live event San Francisco, California 5 253 Casey joined the US Army; Sándor Szabó emerged from a series of elimination bouts as the duration world champion; Casey defeats Szabo in the consolidation match on April 4, 1945 in Boston, Massachusetts. [1][7]
20 Sándor Szabó April 25, 1945 Live event Boston, Massachusetts 1 7 [1]
21 Frank Sexton May 2, 1945 Live event Boston, Massachusetts 1 35 [1]
22 Steve Casey June 6, 1945 Live event Boston, Massachusetts 6 21 [1]
23 Frank Sexton June 27, 1945 Live event Boston, Massachusetts 2 1,791 [1]
24 Don Eagle May 23, 1950 Live event Cleveland, Ohio 1 3 [1]
25 Gorgeous George May 26, 1950 Live event Chicago, Illinois 1 97 This was a screwjob finish orchestrated by promoter Fred Kohler to weaken Eagle's value as an attraction. The title change was initially ignored by Bowser and other promoters. [1][8][9]
26 Don Eagle August 31, 1950 Live event Columbus, Ohio 2 [Note 1] This change re-established the lineage, which was disputed after George defeated Eagle in a screwjob finish. [1][9]
— Deactivated November 1952 — — — — Vacated in November 1952 when Eagle was inactive due to back injuries. [1][5]

Splinter titles

AWA World Heavyweight Championship (Chicago version)

Key
No. Overall reign number
Reign Reign number for the specific champion
Days Number of days held
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign Days
1 Don Eagle August 31, 1950 Live event Cleveland, Ohio 1 244 Defeats Gorgeous George for the main line title (above). [10]
2 Ruffy Silverstein May 2, 1951 N/A Chicago, Illinois 1 105 [10]
3 Dr. Bill Miller August 15, 1951 N/A Chicago, Illinois 1 133 [10]
3 Ruffy Silverstein December 26, 1951 N/A Chicago, Illinois 2 296 [10]
4 Buddy Rogers October 17, 1952 N/A Chicago, Illinois 1 0 [10]
— Deactivated October 17, 1952 — — — — Rogers was already the Ohio AWA Champion (see below) and his reign continued under that lineage.

AWA World Heavyweight Championship (Ohio version)

Ohio-based promoter Al Haft created a splinter version of the title after recognizing Don Eagle's loss to Dr. Bill Miller on May 1, 1952 as a title change. The change was not recognized by Bowser. That title continued until 1954 when incumbent Buddy Rogers was stripped of the title.[5]

Key
No. Overall reign number
Reign Reign number for the specific champion
Days Number of days held
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign Days
1 Don Eagle August 31, 1950 Live event Columbus, Ohio 2 609 [1][5]
2 Dr. Bill Miller May 1, 1952 N/A Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1 124 [5]
3 Don Arnold September 2, 1952 N/A Dayton, Ohio 1 24 [11]
4 Buddy Rogers October 14, 1952 N/A Dayton, Ohio 1 79-107 [11]
5 Don Arnold January 1953 N/A N/A 2 0-28 [11]
6 Buddy Rogers January 29, 1953 N/A Cleveland,Ohio 2 33 [11]
7 Antonino Rocca March 3, 1953 N/A Cleveland Ohio 1 37
8 Buddy Rogers April 9, 1953 N/A Cleveland,Ohio 3 387-417 [11]
— Deactivated May 1954 — — — — Rogers was stripped of the title in 1954 for not defending his championship against Ruffy Silverstein. A tournament was scheduled to crown a new champion in May 1954 but never took place. [11]

Footnotes

  1. ^ Don Eagle's second reign lasted between 759 and 822 days.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad "American Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Title". Pro-Wrestling Title Histories.
  2. ^ a b "Gus Sonnenberg Captures World Wrestling Championship From Strangler Lewis". The Hartford Courant. May 1, 1929. Retrieved June 12, 2009.
  3. ^ Solomon, Brian (2015). Pro Wrestling FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the World's Most Entertaining Spectacle. Backbeat Books. ISBN 978-1617135996.
  4. ^ Beekman, Scott (2006). Ringside: A History of Professional Wrestling in America. Praeger Publishing. pp. 62–63. ISBN 978-0275984014.
  5. ^ a b c d e Oliver, Greg; Johnson, Steven (2012). The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: Heroes & Icons. ECW Press. p. 1800. ISBN 978-1770410374.
  6. ^ Hoops, Brian (May 13, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history (May 13): Rick Martel wins AWA gold, Kurt Angle wins TNA title, Nash & Hall beat one man to win tag titles". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
  7. ^ Hoops, Brian (August 15, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history: IWGP Champ wins 1-G, Orton beats Benoit". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
  8. ^ F4W Staff (May 26, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history (May 26): Dick the Bruiser & Crusher beat Larry Hennig & Harley Race in a nine fall death match, Tiger Mask wins WWF Jr. Heavyweight gold". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved February 11, 2017.((cite web)): CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ a b Laprade, Pat; Hebert, Bertland (2013). Mad Dogs, Midgets and Screw Jobs: The Untold Story of How Montreal Shaped the World of Wrestling. ECW Press. ISBN 1770410945.
  10. ^ a b c d e "American Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Title [Chicago]". Pro-Wrestling Title Histories.
  11. ^ a b c d e f "American Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Title [Ohio]". Pro-Wrestling Title Histories.

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