WSL World Heavyweight Championship

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WSL World Heavyweight Championship
Details
PromotionWrestling Superstars Live
Date establishedJune 6, 1996
Date retiredFebruary 21, 2009
Other name(s)
AWA Superstars of Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship
AWA World Heavyweight Championship

The WSL World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world championship in the Wrestling Superstars Live promotion. It was originally known as the AWA Superstars of Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship.

History[]

In 1996, Dale Gagner and his associate Jonnie Stewart, former American Wrestling Association (AWA) employees, filed corporate papers to license the AWA name in the state of Minnesota and formed an organization known as AWA Superstars of Wrestling. In April 2007 World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) filed a lawsuit against Dale Gagner and Jonnie Stewart, citing trademark infringement, as WWE owned all American Wrestling Association properties due to their purchase after the AWA's closure.[1][2][3]

In October 2008, the court ruled that although Gagner and Stewart had licensed the AWA in the state of Minnesota, they had never filed for a federal trademark and ruled in favor of WWE. The court ruling prohibits Gagner and his associate from exploiting or trading on the AWA name or any other derivatives.[4] As a result, the organization was renamed to Wrestling Superstars Live. Due to there being no connection to the American Wrestling Association, Wrestling Superstars Live championship reigns are recognized from 1996 and forward.

Title history[]

Key
No. Overall reign number
Reign Reign number for the specific champion
Days Number of days held
+ Current reign is changing daily
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign Days
AWA Superstars of Wrestling (AWA)
1 Jonnie Stewart June 6, 1996 N/A Rochester, Minnesota 1 1,028 Defeated Larry Gligorovich to win the AWA Superstars of Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship. [5]
2 King Kong Bundy March 31, 1999 N/A Oshkosh, Wisconsin 1 486
— Vacated July 29, 2000 — — — —
3 Dale Gagne July 29, 2000 N/A Pine Bluff, Arkansas 1 0 The owner stripped Bundy from the title and declared himself the champion.
4 The Patriot (Danny Dominion) July 29, 2000 N/A Pine Bluff, Arkansas 1 0
5 Larry Gligorovich July 29, 2000 N/A Pine Bluff, Arkansas 1 309
6 Eric Priest June 3, 2001 N/A Hillside, Illinois 1 292
7 Evan Karagias March 22, 2002 N/A Casa Grande, Arizona 1 41
8 Danny Dominion May 2, 2002 N/A Cottonwood, Arizona 2 2
9 Evan Karagias May 4, 2002 N/A Casa Grande, Arizona 2 161
10 Horshu October 12, 2002 N/A Mercedes, Texas 1 267 Stripped of the title due to missing mandatory title defenses.
— Vacated July 6, 2003 — — — —
11 Evan Karagias July 6, 2003 N/A Lemoore, California 3 567 Defeated Eric Priest to win the vacated title. Karagias was fired in January 2005 by Dale Gagne for misconduct and refusal of defending the title as scheduled.
— Vacated January 23, 2005 — — — —
AWA Superstars of Wrestling (AWA) / Pro Wrestling Zero1 (Zero1)
12 Takao Omori January 23, 2005 Zero1-Max Ground Max Tokyo, Japan 1 139 Defeated Steve Corino in the finals of a tournament when Pro Wrestling Zero1 joins AWA Superstars of Wrestling.
13 Steve Corino June 11, 2005 N/A Bay City, Michigan 1 225
14 Shinjiro Otani January 22, 2006 Zero1-Max Faithfully Tokyo, Japan 1 69
15 Takao Omori April 1, 2006 Zero1-Max Yasukuni Shrine Festival Tokyo, Japan 2 64
16 Ric Converse June 4, 2006 N/A Indianapolis, Indiana 1 217
17 Steve Corino January 7, 2007 N/A Pottstown, Pennsylvania 2 83 On March 23, 2007, Corino lost the title to TNT at an AWF event in Sydney, Australia; however, on March 28, the AWA Superstars of Wrestling Board of Directors returned the title to Corino when the proper paperwork for the match could not be found.
18 Takao Omori March 31, 2007 Zero1-Max Max Satisfaction Yokohama, Japan 3 209
19 Masato Tanaka October 26, 2007 Zero1-Max Innovation Tokyo, Japan 1 46 Zero1 ends business relationship with AWA Superstars of Wrestling on December 15, 2007 but Tanaka's reign continues recognized as the Zero1 World Heavyweight Championship.
AWA Superstars of Wrestling (AWA)
— Vacated December 11, 2007 — — — —
20 Larry Zbyszko February 5, 2008 N/A Minneapolis, Minnesota 1* 75 Title awarded.
† Brian Logan† April 20, 2008 — Fayetteville, West Virginia
0 Logan defeated Zbyszko and Ricky Landell in a triple threat match. Shortly thereafter, Mountaineer Wrestling Association of West Virginia, the promotion for which Logan primarily performs, pulled out of AWA Superstars of Wrestling to form American Wrestling Affiliates with several other promotions. The title was returned to Zbyszko, and Logan's reign was never officially recognized by AWA Superstars of Wrestling.
Wrestling Superstars Live (WSL)
21 Larry Zbyszko February 5, 2008 N/A Minneapolis, Minnesota 2* 249 Title returned to Zbyszko.
22 Ricky Landell October 11, 2008 N/A Indianapolis, Indiana 1 133 Title becomes known as the WSL World Heavyweight Championship when the promotion is forced to rename.
23 Keith Walker February 21, 2009 N/A Michigan City, Indiana 1 0
— Deactivated February 21, 2009 — Michigan City, Indiana — —

* Wrestling Superstars Live considers Zbyszko's reign before and his reign after his loss to Brian Logan to be one continuous reign.
† Unofficial title changes not recognized by Wrestling Superstars Live.

Combined reigns[]

Rank Wrestler No. of
reigns 		Combined days
1 Jonnie Stewart 1 1,028
2 Evan Karagias 3 775
3 King Kong Bundy 1 486
4 Takao Omori 3 412
5 Larry Zbyszko 2* 324
6 Larry Gligorovich 1 309
7 Steve Corino 2 308
8 Eric Priest 1 292
9 Horshu 1 267
10 Ric Converse 1 217
11 Ricky Landell 1 133
12 Shinjiro Otani 1 69
13 Masato Tanaka 1 46
14 Danny Dominion 2 2
15 Dale Gagne 1 0
Keith Walker 1 0
— Brian Logan† 0 0

American Wrestling Affiliates / Championship Wrestling Alliance[]

Key
No. Overall reign number
Reign Reign number for the specific champion
Days Number of days held
+ Current reign is changing daily
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign Days
American Wrestling Affiliates (AWA) / Championship Wrestling Alliance (CWA) / Southern States Wrestling (SSW)
1 Brian Logan† April 20, 2008 N/A Fayetteville, West Virginia 1 195 Logan defeated Zbyszko and Ricky Landell in a triple threat match. Shortly thereafter, Mountaineer Wrestling Association of West Virginia, the promotion for which Logan primarily performs, pulled out of AWA Superstars of Wrestling to form American Wrestling Affiliates with several other promotions. The title was returned to Zbyszko, and Logan's reign was never officially recognized by AWA Superstars of Wrestling. [6]
2 Tony Givens November 1, 2008 N/A Kingsport, Tennessee 1 20
3 Brian Logan November 21, 2008 N/A Buckhannon, West Virginia 2 70 Logan, the reigning AWA World Heavyweight Champion, was awarded the title, then known as the CWA World Heavyweight Championship
— Deactivated January 30, 2009 — Kingsport, Tennessee — —
(CWA) Championship Wrestling Alliance (CWA World Heavyweight Championship / CWA Heavyweight Championship)
4 Brian Logan January 30, 2009 N/A Kingsport, Tennessee 1 120 Logan, the reigning AWA World Heavyweight Champion, was awarded the title, then known as the CWA World Heavyweight Championship
5 Robbie Cassidy May 30, 2009 N/A Kingsport, Tennessee 1 385 [7]
6 Chris Richards June 19, 2010 N/A Kingsport, Tennessee 1 230 Title retired and replaced with the NWA Smoky Mountain Heavyweight Championship on February 4, 2011; when CWA joined the National Wrestling Alliance and became NWA Smoky Mountain Wrestling
— Deactivated February 4, 2011 — Kingsport, Tennessee — —

Combined reigns[]

Rank Wrestler No. of
reigns 		Combined days
1 Robbie Cassidy 1 385
Brian Logan† 3 385
3 Chris Richards 1 230
4 Tony Givens 1 20

References[]

  1. ^ Browning, Dan (2007-04-28). "World Wrestling sues promoter". Star Tribune. Archived from the original on 2007-04-28.
  2. ^ "News and Notes, May 4, 2007". GeorgiaWrestlingHistory.com. 2007-05-04.
  3. ^ Ryder, Bob (2007-04-26). "WWE Files Lawsuit Against "Gagne" For Trademark Violations Associated With AWA". 1wrestling.com. Archived from the original on 2008-01-02. Retrieved 2009-10-22.
  4. ^ "WWE wins trademark infringement lawsuit over AWA". wrestleview.com. 2008-10-28.
  5. ^ "AWA World Heavyweight Championship". cagematch.net. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
  6. ^ "AWA World Heavyweight Championship". cagematch.net. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
  7. ^ "American Wrestling Affiliates (2008/04-2009/01)Championship Wrestling Alliance (2009/01-2011/02) World Heavyweight Title". wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
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