| WSL World Heavyweight Championship | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Details | |||||||||||
| Current champion(s) | Keith Walker | ||||||||||
| Date won | February 21, 2009 | ||||||||||
| Promotion | Wrestling Superstars Live | ||||||||||
| Date established | June 6, 1996 | ||||||||||
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The WSL World Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in the Wrestling Superstars Live promotion. It was originally known as the AWA Superstars of Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship.
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In 1996, Dale Gagner and his associate Jonnie Stewart, former American Wrestling Association (AWA) employees, began using the AWA name in the state of Minnesota and formed an organization known as AWA Superstars of Wrestling, infringing on the AWA name. Finally, 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 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.
The current recognized WSL World Heavyweight Champion is Keith Walker. He defeated Ricky Landell for the title on February 21, 2009 in Michigan City, Indiana.
| Wrestler: | Times: | Date: | Location: | Notes: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jonnie Stewart | 1 | June 6, 1996 | Rochester, Minnesota | Defeated Larry Gligorovich to win the AWA Superstars of Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship. |
| King Kong Bundy | 1 | March 31, 1999 | Oshkosh, Wisconsin | Later stripped of the title by owner Dale Gagne. |
| The Patriot (Danny Dominion) |
1 | July 29, 2000 | Pine Bluff, Arkansas | Defeated Dale Gagne in an impromptu match to win the title. |
| Ricky Enrique | 1 | July 29, 2000 | Pine Bluff, Arkansas | |
| Eric Priest | 1 | June 3, 2001 | Hillside, Illinois | |
| Evan Karagias | 1 | March 22, 2002 | Casa Grande, Arizona | |
| Horshu | 1 | October 12, 2002 | Mercedes, Texas | Stripped of the title due to missing mandatory title defenses. |
| Evan Karagias | 2 | July 6, 2003 | Lemoore, California | 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. |
| Takao Ōmori | 1 | February 15, 2005 | Tokyo, Japan | Defeated Steve Corino in the finals of a tournament when Pro Wrestling Zero1 joins AWA Superstars of Wrestling. |
| Steve Corino | 1 | June 11, 2005 | Bay City, Michigan | |
| Shinjiro Otani | 1 | January 22, 2006 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| Takao Ōmori | 2 | April 1, 2006 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| Ric Converse | 1 | June 14, 2006 | Indianapolis, Indiana | |
| Steve Corino | 2 | January 7, 2007 | Pottstown, Pennsylvania | On March 23, 2007, Corino lost the title to TNT at an AWF event; 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. |
| Takao Ōmori | 3 | March 31, 2007 | Yokohama, Japan | |
| Masato Tanaka | 1 | October 26, 2007 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| Tanaka is stripped of the title on December 10, 2007, when the Zero1 severs ties with AWA Superstars of Wrestling. Tanaka is still recognized as AWA Superstars of Wrestling World Heavyweight Champion in Japan, the title is called the Zero1 World Heavyweight Championship in the US. | ||||
| Larry Zbyszko | 1* | February 5, 2008 | Minneapolis, Minnesota | Title awarded. |
| Brian Logan† | # | April 20, 2008 | Fayetteville, West Virginia | 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. |
| Larry Zbyszko | 1* | Title returned to Zbyszko. | ||
| Ricky Landell | 1 | October 11, 2008 | Indianapolis, Indiana | Title becomes known as the WSL World Heavyweight Championship when the promotion is forced to rename. |
| Keith Walker | 1 | 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.
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