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76-740: (Redirected from AWA Light Heavyweight Championship ) Professional wrestling championship AWA World Light Heavyweight Championship [REDACTED] Details Promotion American Wrestling Association Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling Date established June 1981 Date retired 1993 Other name(s) WWA World Martial Arts Junior Heavyweight Championship Statistics First champion(s) Mike Graham Most reigns Buck Zumhofe and Katsuji Ueda (3 reigns) Longest reign Steve Regal (613 days) Shortest reign Mark Starr ( 7 days) The AWA World Light Heavyweight Championship

152-527: A green screen with footage of fans at sports bars who were supposedly watching the matches live inserted on the screen using Chroma-Key. The pilot can be viewed in the "WWE Hidden Gems" section of the "Vault" menu on WWE Network . In 1996, Dale Gagner, a former AWA employee but no relation to Verne despite the similar surname, removed the "r" from his name and formed an organization in Minnesota known as AWA Superstars of Wrestling . In April 2007, WWE filed

228-592: A lawsuit against Gagner, citing trademark infringement, as WWE owned all AWA properties due to their purchase after the AWA's closure. In a move to sidestep WWE, former AWA wrestler Jonnie Stewart trademarked the name "American Wrestling Alliance" but the United States Patent and Trademark Office later indicated that the request was abandoned in February 2008. In October 2008, the lawsuit against Gagner

304-791: A "Different Style Match" tournament final.  9   Jim Backlund   November 5, 1990   FMW 1st Anniversary Show Tokyo, Japan  2  205  10   Ricky Fuji   May 29, 1991   House show Tokyo, Japan  1  87  11   Mark Starr   August 24, 1991   House show Tokyo, Japan  1  7  12   Katsuji Ueda   August 31, 1991 House show Chiba, Japan  2  205  13   Dr. Luther   March 23, 1992   House show Saitama, Japan  1  197 The title

380-603: A 50/50 split instead. Gagne refused, and kept the belt from him. However, Hogan did admit in his autobiography My Life Outside the Ring that he still intended to stay with AWA and that Gagne had planned to book him in steel cage matches with Bockwinkel in an effort to expand the AWA to the New York market, but he decided to leave when Vincent K. McMahon of the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) offered him

456-408: A chilling phone call where Mike was emotional and told Kevin he loved him; he killed himself six days later. In addition to his wrestling career, Graham also competed in offshore power boat racing. In 1993, Graham throttled Kiely Motorsports' 35' Offshore Class C catamaran to multiple championship finishes: Graham maintained position as the throttle man for each finish. On October 19, 2012, Graham

532-567: 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: In 1985, Gagne began airing weekly programming on ESPN , hoping to help the promotion compete with the national exposure already enjoyed by the WWF on USA Network and the NWA member Jim Crockett Promotions on TBS . However, weekly AWA shows were not treated with any priority by

608-424: A new title belt of similar design. In February 1989, Larry Zbyszko , a one-time employee and Verne's son-in-law, returned to the AWA and won the vacated 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 Blackburn as AWA President. Zbyszko's first title reign would last for a little over one year. During this time, he would defend

684-577: A relationship with Memphis-based promoter Jerry Jarrett and the CWA and even allowed Mid-Southern territory legend Jerry "The King" Lawler to win the AWA World Title from Hennig in May 1988. This was after the AWA flirted for months with the idea of giving Greg the belt, even awarding the belt to Gagne at a couple of house shows, only to return it to Hennig on a technicality. It was widely speculated that

760-400: A result, he lost the financial resource he was using to keep the AWA up and running and had no choice but to shut down the promotion. In an interview during the late 1990s with Minneapolis television station KARE , Gagne spoke of the devoted fan base in Minnesota and joked about how he may promote again some day, but nothing ever materialized. In 2003, World Wrestling Entertainment purchased

836-595: A role in the hit film Rocky III , 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 and was well aware of his potential drawing power, but still believed a wrestling company should be built around one of its best technical wrestlers (e.g., himself and Bockwinkel). On

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912-406: A roll of dimes. After further review by on-air AWA President Blackburn, and following weeks of speculation by AWA fans, the decision was upheld and Hennig was the new champion. Gagne pushed Hennig and The Midnight Rockers throughout 1987 and into 1988, but the WWF came calling and all three of his top stars would soon be gone. During 1987, in an attempt to remain relevant and survive, Gagne renewed

988-561: 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. The pay-per-views ceased following the acquisition of the AWA tape library by World Wrestling Entertainment . The AWA World Tag Team Tournament was a one-night single elimination tag team tournament held in Saint Paul, Minnesota , on January 15, 1962, for

1064-466: A six-week notice upon leaving the company for booking and syndication -based reasons, most of the talent reportedly told Gagne that McMahon offered them more money to not work out their notices and previously-scheduled appearance dates, which has been disputed by McMahon. Of the talent to leave AWA for the WWF in this time, only Heenan worked out his notice in good faith to the Gagne family. The sting of

1140-551: A successful tag team with Kevin Sullivan . Sullivan eventually turned on him to form his "Satanic cult", The Army of Darkness. After getting turned on, Graham teamed with the likes of Steve Keirn and Barry Windham to feud with Sullivan's team and to capture several tag team titles over the years. He was a mainstay on the Florida circuit during the ’70s and early 80’s and was a favorite of Gordon Solie and Dory Funk Jr. He

1216-572: A tour of Japan and left with the championship belt. Hansen argued that he was booked as AWA Champion in Japan and was therefore fulfilling his commitment. Gagne disagreed and awarded the AWA Championship to Bockwinkel, using one of the tag team title belts on a temporary basis. Gagne threatened legal action if Hansen continued to keep the belt and it was returned to the AWA as a result (although according to Bockwinkel on The Spectacular Legacy of

1292-767: A trainer in WCW as part of the WCW Power Plant . At Slamboree 1993 , Mike represented his deceased father when he was inducted into the WCW Hall of Fame . He was reportedly responsible for causing Chris Benoit , Eddie Guerrero , Dean Malenko , and Perry Saturn to leave the company for the WWF, granting their releases. In the early 2000s, Graham was a road agent for the short-lived Xcitement Wrestling Federation and for Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling . Graham defeated his arch rival Kevin Sullivan at WrestleReunion 3 on September 10, 2005. He made occasional appearances for

1368-752: Is renamed to the WWA World Martial Arts Junior Heavyweight Championship in April 1992.  14   Katsuji Ueda   September 7, 1992   House show Saitama, Japan  3   — Deactivated   1993 — — — — The title is retired and replaced with the Independent World Junior Heavyweight Championship . Footnotes [ edit ] ^ The location of

1444-539: The Spectacular Legacy of the AWA DVD, Bischoff revealed that one of the main reasons the AWA shut down was that Gagne was leveraging money against a valuable property he owned along Lake Minnetonka . Local officials wanted to turn the property into a park. Gagne fought the decision for several years, but eventually lost the eminent domain case, leading to the creation of Lake Minnetonka Regional Park . As

1520-568: The AWA World Tag Team Championship ). Gagne was an amateur wrestling champion who had earned a spot on the U.S. team at the 1948 Summer Olympics ; he ran the AWA with a conservative sensibility, firmly believing that sound technical wrestling should be the basis of a pro-wrestling company. Starting in the 1970s, Gagne trained his newcomer wrestlers from his farm in Chanhassen, Minnesota . Under Gagne and Karbo,

1596-569: The Spectacular Legacy of the AWA DVD , Gagne denied bias against Hogan and defended his actions by reasoning that he believed that Hogan's pursuit of the title was the draw for the audience and that "we really didn't need him to be champion". On two occasions, Gagne went so far as to tease AWA title wins for Hogan, only to return the title to Bockwinkel via technicalities. The first was on April 18, 1982. Hogan defeated Bockwinkel with

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1672-526: The University of Tampa to turn professional against the wishes of his mother Lucy. Mike was also an accomplished powerlifter who set state records in the bench press. Michael Gossett started wrestling in 1972 in his father's Championship Wrestling from Florida , which was a National Wrestling Alliance territory. He was trained by his father, Boris Malenko and Hiro Matsuda . He would often tag team with his father upon his arrival, but also formed

1748-506: The WWF World Heavyweight Championship . As McMahon and his Connecticut -based WWF attempted to end pro wrestling's regional era in the mid-1980s (by establishing the WWF as a national promotion), Gagne made several decisions that caused his AWA to lose momentum in the emerging wrestling promotion war, including overemphasizing his son Greg Gagne in AWA storylines (which led to charges of nepotism within

1824-658: The "real" world champion . Bockwinkel, accompanied by then manager Bobby "The Brain" Heenan , traveled to Mississippi several times to defend his title. After Gagne's retirement in 1981, he focused the promotion on Nick Bockwinkel , a loyal employee of several years who was a mat-wrestling technician like Gagne had been. Bockwinkel faced numerous challengers for the title during the early 1980s including eventual champions Rick Martel and Otto Wanz , champion Mad Dog Vachon , and perennial contenders Wahoo McDaniel , and Brad Rheingans , but perhaps his most famous opponent would be Hulk Hogan . Starting in 1982 and accelerated by

1900-689: The 1950s as a result of his appearances on the DuMont Network . He aspired to become NWA World Champion , but political sentiment within the NWA prevented it. In 1959, Dennis sold his majority stake in the Minneapolis Boxing and Wrestling Club to Karbo and Gagne. They then became co-owners of the promotion. In 1960, after unsuccessfully lobbying the NWA for a title match between Gagne and the NWA World Champion Pat O'Connor , Gagne and Karbo led certain territories out of

1976-460: The 1990s. The AWA would become inactive in the fall of 1990 (the last television taping occurred on August 11). As a result, Zbyszko signed with WCW. As his last official act, Gagne stripped the already-departed Zbyszko of the AWA World Title in December 1990. In 1991, Gagne and his inactive promotion officially filed for bankruptcy. Gagne did promote two cards in Minnesota in May 1991, featuring

2052-504: The AWA , Hansen had run over the belt with his truck before returning it ). The AWA also had a brief relationship with the European promotion Catch Wrestling Association , through which its promoter, wrestler Otto Wanz , was given a brief AWA World Title reign in 1982. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, AWA television production was headquartered at Minneapolis independent station WTCN-TV , then owned by Metromedia . The ring announcer

2128-464: The AWA and CWA, and Lawler would challenge WCCW Heavyweight champion Kerry Von Erich to a title unification match at SuperClash III in December. Super Clash III was the AWA's first venture into the Pay-Per-View market and wrestling's first collaborative PPV between several promotions. However, after months of hype, the end results were somewhat contentious and relatively unsuccessful. Following

2204-638: The AWA became one of the most successful and expansive single territories in North America, promoting shows in such major cities as Minneapolis, St. Paul, Milwaukee , Chicago , Omaha , Winnipeg , Denver , Salt Lake City , Las Vegas , San Francisco , Phoenix and throughout the Midwest region. Relationships were also developed with existing promotions in Houston , Memphis and San Antonio . Gagne's westward expansion into traditional NWA territories

2280-567: The AWA began to lose audiences, as the WWF was gaining wrestling superiority due to the success of WrestleMania I . Later in the year, as this struggle against the WWF progressed, Karbo also sold all his stock to Gagne as well. In September 1985, Pro Wrestling USA would respond to McMahon's rising success by promoting the first SuperClash . Despite this success, the Pro Wrestling USA collaboration did not last, as Gagne accused David Crockett of trying to sign away AWA talent over to

2356-560: The AWA forged an alliance with several NWA promoters, including Jim Crockett Promotions , Mid-South Wrestling , Pacific Northwest Wrestling , World Class Championship Wrestling , and the Continental Wrestling Association . This new promotion was known as Pro Wrestling USA and came about in an attempt to establish a national presence to compete against the WWF. The AWA was also able to sign top wrestlers like Sgt. Slaughter and Bob Backlund . By 1985, however,

AWA World Light Heavyweight Championship - Misplaced Pages Continue

2432-518: The AWA had working agreements with Japanese promotions International Wrestling Enterprise (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 . On June 29, 1986, in Denver, Colorado , Hansen refused to lose the AWA World Title to Bockwinkel prior to

2508-667: The AWA in 1988, where he won the Light Heavyweight Title again. In the following years, Graham & Keirn wrestled in Memphis as a tag team, and Graham went back to Florida to the newly renamed Florida Championship Wrestling, where he briefly teamed with Dustin Rhodes . Graham retired as an in-ring competitor in 1992. He became a road agent for World Championship Wrestling . Along with the likes of Paul Orndorff , Pez Whatley and DeWayne Bruce , Graham also worked as

2584-447: The AWA itself.  7   Lee Gak-soo   April 1, 1990   House show Tokyo, Japan  1   — Vacated   September 1990 — — — — Title vacated after Lee left FMW.  8   Katsuji Ueda   September 25, 1990   Battle Field Nagoya, Japan  1  41 Defeated Jim Backlund in

2660-4766: The AWA stops promoting on a regular basis is unknown making the length of the reign too uncertain to calculate. ^ The exact date the championship was vacated which means that the reign lasted between 518 and 542 days. ^ The date the title is abandoned is not documented making the championship reign too uncertain to calculate. See also [ edit ] Independent World Junior Heavyweight Championship WSL World Light Heavyweight Championship References [ edit ] ^ "American Wrestling Association World Light Heavyweight Title" . Wrestling-titles.com . Retrieved December 27, 2015 . ^ Hoops, Brian (August 11, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history (August 11): Verne Gagne vs. Lou Thesz for AWA title, first ever G1 final" . Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online . Retrieved February 18, 2017 . v t e AWA World Light Heavyweight Champions AWA (1984–1991) Mike Graham Buck Zumhofe Steve Regal FMW (1989–1993) Jimmy Backlund Lee Gak-soo Katsuji Ueda Ricky Fuji Mark Starr Dr. Luther v t e American Wrestling Association Championships World World Heavyweight World Heavyweight ( Omaha version ) World Light Heavyweight World Women's Secondary America's Brass Knuckles British Empire International Heavyweight International Television Midwest Heavyweight Southern Heavyweight United States Heavyweight Tag team International Tag Team Midwest Tag Team NWA World Tag Team ( Minneapolis version ) Southern Tag Team World Tag Team Major shows Super Sunday SuperClash 1985 II III IV WrestleRock '86 Television shows AWA All-Star Wrestling AWA Championship Wrestling Key people Verne Gagne Greg Gagne Wally Karbo List of personnel Partnerships All Japan Pro Wrestling Catch Wrestling Association International Pro Wrestling New Japan Pro-Wrestling Southwest Championship Wrestling Universal Wrestling Association Other Attendance records AWA Superstars of Wrestling Pro Wrestling USA Remco Action Figure line v t e Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling Championships World heavyweight WWA World Martial Arts / Brass Knuckles Heavyweight (1990–1999) Independent Heavyweight (1996–1999) WEW Single / World Heavyweight (1999–2002) Junior heavyweight AWA World Light Heavyweight / WWA World Martial Arts Junior Heavyweight (1989–1993) Independent World Junior Heavyweight (1993–1999) Tag team WWA World Martial Arts Tag Team / Brass Knuckles Tag Team (1991–1999) World Street Fight 6-Man Tag Team (1996–1998; 2015–2016) WEW World Tag Team (1999–2002) WEW 6-Man Tag Team (1999–2002) WEW Hardcore Tag Team (2000–2002) World Street Fight 8-Man Tag Team (2016–2017) Other Women's (1990–1998) Hardcore (1999–2001) Related articles Events FMW Productions Onita Atsushi FMW Tournaments Key people Atsushi Onita Tarzan Goto Hayabusa Kodo Fuyuki Shoichi Arai Ricky Fuji Megumi Kudo Partnerships All Japan Pro Wrestling All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling Big Japan Pro Wrestling Dramatic Dream Team Extreme Championship Wrestling IWA Japan Ladies Legend Pro-Wrestling Michinoku Pro Wrestling Pro Wrestling Noah Super World of Sports WAR W*ING World Wrestling Association Xtreme Pro Wrestling Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=AWA_World_Light_Heavyweight_Championship&oldid=1258813935 " Categories : American Wrestling Association championships Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling championships Light heavyweight wrestling championships Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description matches Wikidata Articles with hCards American Wrestling Association Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Anton Stecher , brother and manager of former World Heavyweight Champion Joe Stecher ,

2736-478: The AWA to return to the World Wrestling Federation shortly after WrestleMania VI , and Colonel DeBeers took over as the team captain for the Snipers (the team name was changed to "DeBeers' Diamondcutters" and Slaughter was said on air to have "gone AWOL " to explain his departure). Babyfaces and heels alike were assigned to teams, forcing bitter rivals to work together, and due to main talent losses many of

2812-827: The NWA backstage at numerous Pro Wrestling USA shows. The AWA released an AWA Remco Action Figure line with the toy company Remco and a series of 30 minute videos entitled "Wrestling Classics", primarily featuring wrestlers such as Sgt. Slaughter, the Road Warriors, Jimmy Garvin and Steve Regal , and World Champion Martel. Despite falling behind the WWF and NWA as a major promotion throughout 1986 and 1987, Gagne still managed to find and/or develop legitimate young talent like Scott Hall (later known as Razor Ramon ), The Midnight Rockers ( Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty ), "Bull Power" Leon White (later known as Big Van Vader ), The Nasty Boys ( Brian Knobs and Jerry Sags ), and Madusa Miceli during that timeframe. With

2888-440: The NWA forming the AWA. 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 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 considered the first AWA Champion, he didn't wrestle in the AWA until later in the 1960s (when he teamed with Wilbur Snyder to win

2964-512: The WWF expansion was not shouldered by the AWA alone. The Mid-Atlantic , Georgia , and Florida territories of the NWA also lost top stars such as "Rowdy" Roddy Piper , Greg "The Hammer" Valentine , Jack Brisco , Jerry Brisco , Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat , "Cowboy" Bob Orton , Barry Windham , and Mike Rotunda to the WWF during that same time. Despite this talent raid, the AWA went on to have another successful year in 1984, mainly because of

3040-515: 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. The second such occasion was on a "Super Sunday" card in St. Paul, Minnesota, 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 retroactively disqualified for throwing

3116-540: The arrival of The Road Warriors and an angle uniting longtime heel Jerry Blackwell with Greg and feuding with former manager Sheik Adnan El-Kaissey . Although aging, most of the AWA's longtime core talent still remained. Stars like Bockwinkel, Ray "The Crippler" Stevens , The Crusher , Dick the Bruiser , Baron von Raschke , Mad Dog Vachon , and Larry Hennig were all still active at this time despite all being in their 40s or 50s. In response to McMahon's expansion,

AWA World Light Heavyweight Championship - Misplaced Pages Continue

3192-555: The assets of the AWA from the Gagnes. All footage of the AWA is owned by WWE. 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, along with 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. Abroad,

3268-405: The cable network, sometimes being delayed, preempted by live programming, or suffering from occasional changes in time slot, making it difficult for fans to tune in on a regular basis. On February 26, 2008, ESPN Classic began reairing AWA Championship Wrestling episodes, circa 1986-1990. The AWA ran only one pay-per-view card, SuperClash III, during its 30-year run. However, From 1999 to 2002,

3344-399: 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. The crowd (which had exploded in cheers when Hogan appeared to have won) almost rioted when learning that Hogan was once again cheated out of

3420-570: 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. Title history [ edit ] Key No. Overall reign number Reign Reign number for

3496-501: The company) and failing to make Hogan the top star of his company when he had the chance. Frustrated by Gagne's business decisions, Hogan accepted an offer from rival promoter McMahon to wrestle for the WWF, in December 1983. One month later, Hogan became the WWF World Heavyweight Champion . He and the WWF soon became a mainstream media phenomenon and virtually synonymous with professional wrestling in much of

3572-518: The event, the collaborative effort was over and Lawler was stripped of the title in January 1989. Lawler kept the AWA Title belt and continued promoting himself in Tennessee, Texas, and on the independent circuit as the unified World Heavyweight Champion. Lawler did this in an attempt to leverage PPV revenue from Gagne that was allegedly owed to him, but Gagne never paid him and eventually commissioned

3648-478: The help of a foreign object that Bockwinkel's manager Bobby "the Brain" 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 referee 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

3724-425: The idea of the younger Gagne as heavyweight champion did not play well with AWA fans, who seemed more interested in the involvement of Verne and Larry Hennig in the feud than they did with Greg actually winning the title, so Verne decided to go with Lawler instead. Michaels and Jannetty would drop the titles to Badd Company around that same time. Facing financial trouble of their own, WCCW then allied themselves with

3800-421: The national consciousness, vaulting past the AWA and NWA as the premier promotion in wrestling. Hogan wasn't alone in leaving the AWA. Some of the AWA's other top talent, including announcer "Mean Gene" Okerlund , manager Heenan, and wrestlers Adrian Adonis , Ken Patera , Tito Santana , Jim Brunzell , David Schultz , Wendi Richter and Jesse Ventura also jumped to the WWF. As the AWA required talent to place

3876-480: The next two years. Graham headed back to Florida in 1983, where he primarily worked as a tag team wrestler. His father Eddie died after committing multiple gunshot suicide on January 21, 1985, leading to Mike taking over his Championship Wrestling from Florida territory. In the late 1980s, he would again team with Keirn and wrestled in the NWA's Jim Crockett Promotions (who he sold his father's territory to), with Keirn briefly around this time. He then went back to

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3952-426: The participants were jobbers , such as Jake Milliman , Tom Stone , etc. 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 , within the story line. 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

4028-401: The retirement of Bockwinkel, Gagne tapped Curt Hennig (later known as Mr. Perfect ) as his next champion and future of the company. Hennig, a talented and popular second generation wrestler, defeated Bockwinkel at Super Clash 2 . The overall card was relatively weak, but the title match was a critical success, although the title change was not without controversy, involving Larry Zbyszko and

4104-447: The return of Greg Gagne and Wahoo McDaniel and other stars such as Baron von Raschke , Buck Zumhofe , and The Destruction Crew ( Mike Enos & Wayne Bloom ), but he was unable to revive the promotion. Despite this, the AWA continued re-running matches in their weekly ESPN time slot, and on their syndicated All-Star Wrestling show. The company also managed to release a commercial tape ( Hulk Hogan's Highlights ) during 1991. On

4180-438: The revived Florida Championship Wrestling. Mike Graham worked with World Wrestling Entertainment in early 2006, on a DVD about Dusty Rhodes , which was released on June 6, 2006. He made several appearances on WWE 24/7's Legends of Wrestling series as part of a panel which discussed famous pro wrestlers of the 1980s. He also hosted classic episodes of Championship Wrestling from Florida on WWE 24/7 Classics . Graham's father

4256-402: The specific champion Days Number of days held No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref. Date Event Location Reign Days American Wrestling Association (AWA)  1   Mike Graham   June 1981   House show  1   Graham was awarded

4332-547: The title against Zenk, Greg, Wahoo McDaniel , Ken Patera , Nikita Koloff , Brad Rheingans , The Trooper Del Wilkes , and Masa Saito . Zbyszko would eventually lose the title to Saito in February 1990 in front of 65,000 fans at the Tokyo Dome at the NJPW/AJPW Supershow. Zbyszko would regain the title in April 1990 at SuperClash IV . During 1989 and 1990, the AWA also pushed Mike Enos and Wayne Bloom as

4408-456: The title change is not documented. ^ The date the title is changed is not documented making the championship reign too uncertain to calculate. ^ The exact date the championship was vacated is unknown, which means that the reign lasted between 215 and 244 days. ^ The length Graham's reign has not been verified by documentation, making the length of the actual reign too uncertain to calculate. ^ The exact date

4484-540: The title in AWA. AWA goes out of business on January 12, 1991. Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW)  6   Jim Backlund December 10, 1988   House show Tampa, Florida  1  477 Backlund defeated Tyree Pride for the FCW Light Heavyweight Championship; because of this victory Backlund is recognized as the sixth AWA champion by FMW in Japan during 1989 but not by

4560-699: The title, and Bockwinkel later had to do damage control with the rabid crowd, telling the audience to calm down afterwards as well. Hogan attacked Bockwinkel and his manager Heenan. On the DVD The Spectacular Legacy of the AWA , it was revealed that Gagne planned to have Hogan win the belt that night, but only if he would give Gagne the bulk of the revenues that Hogan was earning from merchandise and his periodic main-event performances in New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Outraged at being strongarmed, Hogan refused, but nonetheless offered

4636-564: The title.  2   Buck Zumhofe   June 19, 1983   House show Hamburg, Minnesota  1  280  3   Steve Regal   March 25, 1984   House show Saint Paul, Minnesota  1  613  4   Buck Zumhofe   November 28, 1985   House show Saint Paul, Minnesota  2   — Vacated Earlier than 04/20/1986 — — — — Zumhofe

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4712-421: The top tag team. In early 1989, Eric Bischoff , who was performing office work for the AWA at the time, mostly in sales and syndication, was placed in front of the camera to replace Larry Nelson as interviewer and occasional commentator. The AWA was Bischoff's first exposure to the world of pro wrestling. He would later become a dominant force in the industry, leading World Championship Wrestling to prominence in

4788-622: The vacant AWA World Tag Team Championship . The AWA World Tag Team Tournament was a one-night single elimination tag team tournament held in Rochester, Minnesota , on October 1, 1989, for the vacant AWA World Tag Team Championship . 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 , "Sarge's Snipers", originally headed by Sgt. Slaughter , and "Baron's Blitzers", headed by Baron von Raschke . Slaughter left

4864-406: The win by eliminating DeBeers at the end, winning the series and the supposed one-million-dollar check for Larry's Legends. An unsold pilot for a weekly syndicated "Team Challenge Series" television show was taped in 1989 with hosts Ralph Strangis and Greg Gagne at "Satellite Base" calling matches recorded in an empty TV studio with no ring announcer. All wrestler entrances were done in front of

4940-472: Was a Florida high school wrestling district champion his senior year in 1969 for Thomas Richard Robinson High School in Tampa, Florida . He became a three-time state AAU champion and a Junior Olympics champion at 198 pounds. Graham was a state champion in the 154-pound weight class and, as a sophomore, defeated senior Richard Blood (later to become Ricky Steamboat ) in the finals of a district meet. He left

5016-489: 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 his son Dennis and Wally Karbo . Stecher died on October 9, 1954, and control of the promotion passed to Karbo and Dennis. Verne Gagne, an amateur wrestling champion, had become a well-known and popular wrestler nationally in

5092-591: 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 Florida Championship Wrestling/Professional Wrestling Federation champion Jim Backlund as the AWA champion, something not acknowledged by the AWA; the title became FMW's lower weight division title. From 1988 through

5168-696: 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 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

5244-542: Was already mentioned as a former champion at Wrestle Rock '86  5   Mike Graham   December 13, 1988   House show Chicago, Illinois  2   Records are unclear on how Graham won the championship. Championship history is unrecorded from December 13, 1988 to August 11, 1990 . †   Buck Zumhofe   August 11, 1990   House show Rochester, Minnesota  3   Defeated Jonnie Stewart to win

5320-417: Was also intoxicated, and according to his toxicology report, his blood-alcohol concentration was at 0.259. Graham suffered business misfortunes years prior to his death, and a restaurant he owned in Florida closed in 2011 after about two years of operation. He and his wife were also invested in Florida's real estate market, which suffered during the recession. His friends also said that he had struggled with

5396-518: Was also respected by Ric Flair , who noted "Mike Graham was as tough as they come, a phenomenal performer who never got the recognition he deserved because he was considered too small to be a championship contender. His reputation was legit for his size. He was very tough”. In 1981, Graham wrestled in the American Wrestling Association and feuded with Buck Zumhofe over the AWA Light Heavyweight Championship over

5472-518: Was found dead by his wife of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head at their residence in Daytona Beach, Florida during Biketoberfest . He was 61 years old. His father and son had committed suicide in similar manners on January 21, 1985, and December 14, 2010 (some sources state the 15th), respectively. At the time of Graham's death, he was wearing his son's old work boots, and also frequently threatened committing suicide to his wife. He

5548-527: Was longtime Minneapolis - Saint Paul 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 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

5624-593: Was made possible due to relationships and business partnerships he had forged for decades—more the result of other promoters struggling to survive rather than by purchase or hostile takeover by Gagne. The AWA would also benefit from, among other things, the profits which was made from matches that occurred in 1973 and 1974 between Superstar Billy Graham and Wahoo McDaniel. The promotion was briefly affiliated with International Championship Wrestling (ICW), which had broken away from NWA Tri-State in 1977, and recognized then AWA World Heavyweight Champion Nick Bockwinkel as

5700-502: Was posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2008, with Mike representing him at the ceremony and the following night at WrestleMania XXIV . Graham then competed in a Legends Battle Royal won by Roddy Piper for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla on January 29, 2011. He also held a weekly radio show called Talking Wrestling with Mike Graham. His former tag team partner Kevin Sullivan was the last ever guest in his radio show, recalling

5776-432: Was settled. The court ruling prohibits Dale Gagner and his associates from certain uses of the AWA name or any other derivatives. As a result, the organization was renamed to "Wrestling Superstars Live". Mike Graham (wrestler) Edward Michael Gossett (September 22, 1951 – October 19, 2012), better known as Mike Graham , was an American professional wrestler who was the son of Eddie Graham . Mike Graham

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