American Wrestling Association was a professional wrestling organization, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The AWA started in the early 1960s. The AWA was mainly based in the midwestern United States and Canada. From 1957 to 1991 it was owned by Verne Gagne.
The AWA was influential in Pro Wrestling USA, an attempt to establish a national federation to compete against the WWF, in 1984.
The AWA lost momentum as Verne Gagne overemphasized his son Greg in AWA storylines, and the promotion folded in the early 1990s after most of its talent had left for the World Wrestling Federation, now World Wrestling Entertainment.
Currently, all copyrights and footage for AWA is owned by World Wrestling Entertainment
AWA Wrestlers
The following wrestlers were active in the A.W.A. in the 1970's especially in the Chicago area: Bobby Heenan,
Dick the Bruiser,
The Crusher,
Moose Cholak,
Seaman Art Thomas,
Bobo Brazil,
Bob Luce (Chicago promoter),
Sam Menaker,
Scrap Iron George Gedasky,
Prince Pullins,
Paul Christy,
Spike Huber,
Angelo Poffo,
Johnny Kace,
Ernie Ladd. These wrestlers often performed at the International Amphitheater in Chicago.
The AWA was restarted in 1996 with new owners as an independent promotion. On April 4, 2005, the owners changed its history books and named Hulk Hogan a two time AWA World Champion.
