AWA World Light Heavyweight Championship
The AWA World Light Heavyweight Championship was a title in the American Wrestling Association from 1981 until it closed in 1991. In 1988 Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling claimed that Jim Backlund won the championship, something not officially acknowledged by the AWA. From 1988 through the closure of the AWA in 1991 there were two separate lineages, with the championship recognized by FMW being renamed in 1991 to become the FMW World Light Heavyweight Championship and then later on the WWA World Martial Arts Junior Heavyweight Championship before being abandoned altogether in 1993.[1]
Title history
- Key
Symbol |
Meaning |
No. |
The overall championship reign |
Reign |
The reign number for the specific wrestler listed. |
Event |
The event in which the championship changed hands |
N/A |
The specific information is not known |
— |
Used for vacated reigns in order to not count it as an official reign |
[Note #] |
Indicates that the exact length of the title reign is unknown, with a note providing more details. |
± |
Indicates that the title was promoted by Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling at this point in time. |
§ |
Indicates that the title was promoted as the WWA World Martial Arts Junior Heavyweight Championship |
# |
Wrestler |
Reign |
Date |
Days held |
Location |
Event |
Notes |
Ref. |
1 |
Graham, MikeMike Graham |
1 |
000000001981-06-11-0000June 11, 1981< |
1 ![Note 1] |
|
AWA House show |
Graham was awarded the title. |
[1] |
2 |
Zumhofe, BuckBuck Zumhofe |
1 |
000000001983-06-19-0000June 19, 1983 |
280 |
Hamburg, Minnesota |
AWA House show |
Bobby Heenan defeated Zumhofe several times but was over the Light Heavyweight weight limit. |
[1] |
3 |
Regal, SteveSteve Regal |
1 |
000000001984-03-25-0000March 25, 1984 |
613 |
Saint Paul, Minnesota |
AWA House show |
|
[1] |
4 |
Zumhofe, BuckBuck Zumhofe |
2 |
000000001985-11-28-0000November 28, 1985 |
215 ![Note 2] |
Saint Paul, Minnesota |
AWA House show |
|
[1] |
04.5 !- |
Vacated |
- |
000000001986-07-01-0000July 1986 |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
The title was vacated when Zumhofe was sent to prison. |
[1] |
5 |
Graham, MikeMike Graham |
2 |
000000001988-12-13-0000December 13, 1988 |
0 ![Note 3] |
Chicago, Illinois |
AWA House show |
Records are unclear on how Graham won the championship |
[1] |
05.5 ! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
06 !6 |
Zumhofe, BuckBuck Zumhofe |
3 |
000000001990-08-11-0000August 11, 1990 |
0 ![Note 4] |
Rochester, Minnesota |
AWA House show |
Defeated Jonnie Stewart to win the title in AWA. |
[1] |
05.5 ! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
06.2 !6§ |
Backlund, JimJim Backlund § |
1 |
000000001988-12-01-0000December 1988 |
456 ![Note 5] |
Tampa, Florida |
House show |
Recognized as the sixth champion by FMW in Japan but not by AWA; may have defeated Graham for the title. |
[1] |
7 |
Gak !Lee Gak-soo § |
1 |
000000001990-04-01-0000April 1, 1990 |
518 ![Note 6] |
Tokyo, Japan |
FMW House show |
|
[1] |
07.5 !- |
Vacated |
- |
000000001990-09-01-0000September 1990 |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
Lee left FMW |
[1] |
8 |
Ueda !Katsuji Ueda § |
1 |
000000001990-09-25-0000September 25, 1990 |
41 |
Nagoya, Japan |
FMW House show |
Defeated Jim Backlund to win the vacant championship |
[1] |
9 |
Backlund, JimJim Backlund § |
2 |
000000001990-11-05-0000November 5, 1990 |
205 |
Tokyo, Japan |
FMW House show |
AWA officially closes in 1991 after not promoting shows since the fall of 1990. The championship is renamed the FMW World Light Heavyweight Championship at some point during Backlund's reign |
[1] |
10 |
Fuji, RickyRicky Fuji § |
1 |
000000001991-05-29-0000May 29, 1991 |
87 |
Tokyo, Japan |
FMW House show |
|
[1] |
11 |
Starr, MarkMark Starr § |
1 |
000000001991-08-24-0000August 24, 1991 |
7 |
Tokyo, Japan |
FMW House show |
|
[1] |
12 |
Ueda !Katsuji Ueda § |
2 |
000000001991-08-31-0000August 31, 1991 |
205 |
Chiba, Japan |
FMW House show |
|
[1] |
13 |
Luther !Dr. Luther § / ± |
1 |
000000001992-03-23-0000March 23, 1992 |
197 |
Saitama, Japan |
FMW House show |
Renamed WWA World Martial Arts Junior Heavyweight Title in April 1992. |
[1] |
14 |
Ueda !Katsuji Ueda ± |
3 |
000000001992-09-07-0000September 7, 1992 |
1 ![Note 7] |
Saitama, Japan |
FMW House show |
|
[1] |
14.5 !- |
Title Retired |
- |
000000001993-01-01-00001993 |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
|
[1] |
Footnotes
- ↑ 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 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 won is unknown, which means that the reign lasted between 456 and 486 days.
- ↑ 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.
References
See also