It was commonplace to see both an NWA and AWA title match on the same Pro Wrestling USA card. Pro Wrestling USA’s Monumental Challenge to WrestleMania and Starrcade Photo Credit: WWE. Often promoting in Northeastern cities that were the heart of the WWF, the Baltimore Arena became their most successful venue in the area.
With the WWF going national and determined to become the only wrestling product, a joint effort spearheaded by various promoters like Jim Crockett Jr., Verne Gagne, Ole Anderson, Jerry Lawler, and Jerry Jarrett saw the creation of Pro Wrestling USA.īorn out of necessity, the new organization would co-promote cards and stack them with such talent that not even the WWF would be able to match up. Pro Wrestling USA: The Alliance that Challenged the WWF’s Dominance Photo Credit: WWE. It painted somber writing on the wall for the remaining territories in dire need of a plan.
AWA CHAMPIONSHIP BELT TV
The WWF juggernaut bought TV time on stations like TBS (July 14th, 1984 became known as Black Saturday) and MTV, ensuring unequaled national exposure. No longer respecting the system, the WWF began raiding talent and eating up the smaller, weaker territories of the NWA and even the AWA. The 1980s Wrestling Revolution Photo Credit: WWE.ĭuring the mid-’80s, Vince McMahon’s WWF (later WWE) propelled a forceful shift in the wrestling business that shook things up from its very foundations. And still, they kayfabed most of their content. Until national TV networks and later cable TV came into existence, wrestling magazines were the only media outlet that removed the veil from the fan’s eyes and made them aware of other promotions. Each territory had its champions and operated in an insular environment where they presented their product as if wrestling didn’t exist outside of their product.
Pro Wrestling USA and the End of the Wrestling Territories Photo Credit: WWE.įor decades, the NWA and AWA operated under a territory system that divided the United States into well-defined markets. Out of the blue, he was ordered to drop the belt to Nick Bockwinkel, but he wasn’t thrilled and took matters into his own hands! What he did to the belt afterward is now forever a part of wrestling lore. But when Stan Hansen was given the opportunity to become AWA World Heavyweight Champion, he believed there would be a financial reward in his future. Stan Hansen’s Controversial Reign as AWA Champion Photo Credit: Pro Wrestling Stories.Īlthough Stan Hansen earned countless championships over the span of his 28-year career, he was always a man who knew where he stood and never needed a belt to validate his place on the roster.
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