Catch Wrestling Association
 | |
| Acronym | CWA |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1973–1999 |
| Headquarters |
Austria Germany |
| Founder(s) | Otto Wanz |
| Owner(s) | Otto Wanz |
The Catch Wrestling Association was a professional wrestling organization based in Austria and Germany and was founded in 1973. It was formerly run by famous AWA champion Otto Wanz. The CWA featured a traditional brand of mat wrestling mixed with various “Strong Man” competitions. The company was engaged in talent-share agreements with other wrestling promotions, including New Japan Pro Wrestling and the American Wrestling Association. These agreements expanded the opportunities given to many European wrestlers.
CWA's biggest card was the Euro Catch Festival, which was held twice a year (it was held in Graz, Austria in the summer, while in the winter, it was held in Bremen, Germany).
Tragedy struck the promotion in December 1993, when Larry Cameron suffered a heart attack during a match with Tony St. Clair, and died in the ring.
Matches were fought using European rules, including dividing the match into rounds and having the possibility of a victory by knockout. The CWA World Heavyweight Championship was recognized as the legitimate European World Championship as counterpart to the AWA-, NWA- and WWF-titles in North America and NJPW's IWGP Heavyweight Championship in Japan.
List of CWA alumni
Championships
- CWA World Heavyweight Championship [8]
- CWA Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship[9]
- CWA Submission Shootfighting Championship
- CWA British Commonwealth Championship
- CWA German Championship
- CWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship[10]
- CWA World Middleweight Championship[11]
- CWA World Tag Team Championship[12]
Tournaments
| Tournament | Current winner(s) | Date won | Previous winner | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| VDB European Heavyweight Tournament | Charles Verhulst | 3 March 2016 | Hermann Iffland | [13] |
| Hanover Tournament | Ecki Eckstein | 10 October 2015 | Dave Taylor | [14] |
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Catch Wrestling Association". Online World Of Wrestling. Retrieved 2008-02-12.
- ↑ "Larry Cameron". Archived from the original on 2011-03-28. Retrieved 2011-03-29.
- ↑ "Mile Zrno". Archived from the original on 2011-03-28. Retrieved 2011-03-29.
- ↑ "Randy Culley". Archived from the original on 2011-03-28. Retrieved 2011-03-29.
- ↑ "Dan Collins". Archived from the original on 2011-03-28. Retrieved 2011-03-29.
- ↑ "Mike Anthony". Archived from the original on 2011-03-28. Retrieved 2011-03-29.
- ↑ http://www.cagematch.net/?id=2&nr=5208&page=4
- ↑ "Catch Wrestling Association Heavyweight Title". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2009-09-26.
- ↑ "Catch Wrestling Association Intercontinental Heavyweight Title". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2009-09-26.
- ↑ "Catch Wrestling Association World Junior Heavyweight Title". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2009-09-26.
- ↑ "Catch Wrestling Association World Middleweight Title". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2009-09-26.
- ↑ "Catch Wrestling Association World Tag Team Title". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2009-09-26.
- ↑ http://www.wrestling-titles.com/europe/germany/cwa/t-vdb-eu-h.html
- ↑ http://www.wrestling-titles.com/europe/germany/t-hannover.html
External links
- Catch Wrestling Association at Online World Of Wrestling
- Catch Wrestling Association on Pro-Wrestling Title Histories