AWA World Heavyweight Championship should not be confused with AWA World Heavyweight Championship (Boston version).
| Championshipname: | AWA World Heavyweight Championship |
| Promotion: | AWA |
| Created: | May 18, 1960 |
| Titleretired: | December 12, 1990 |
| Mostreigns: | Verne Gagne (10 reigns) |
| Firstchamp: | Pat O'Connor |
| Finalchamp: | Larry Zbyszko |
| Longestreign: | Verne Gagne (2625 days) |
| Shortestreign: | Verne Gagne, Mighty Igor Vodic and Dick the Bruiser (7 days) |
The AWA World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship and the highest ranked championship in the defunct American Wrestling Association (AWA). All AWA trademarks, including the AWA World Heavyweight Championship, are now owned by WWE. The championship was generally contested in professional wrestling matches, in which participants execute worked finishes rather than contend in direct competition.
The AWA World Heavyweight Championship was established in May 1960, after the AWA was formed by the departure of the Minneapolis, Minnesota-area territory from the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). Pat O'Connor was conditionally recognized as the first champion upon the AWA's secession from the NWA as O'Connor held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, which he had won on January 9, 1959, though he was ordered to defend against Verne Gagne within 90 days or he would forfeit the AWA title to Gagne.
The creation of the AWA World Heavyweight Championship along with the NWA World Heavyweight Championship would pave the way for the creation of many other world championships in other wrestling promotions. The AWA and the title became inactive in late 1990 and the organization officially closed down in August 1991 with the title also being decommissioned. The championship is featured in the video games WWE '13 as a downloadable title and as an unlockable title in WWE 2K14 and the seventh-generation console versions of WWE 2K15, WWE 2K16, and WWE 2K17.
In 1996, Dale Gagner and his associate Jonnie Stewart, former AWA employees, began using the AWA name in the state of Minnesota and formed a promotion known as AWA Superstars of Wrestling, infringing on the AWA name. The promotion also created their own version of the AWA World Heavyweight Championship. In April 2007, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) filed a lawsuit against Dale Gagner citing trademark infringement, as WWE owned all American Wrestling Association properties due to their purchase after the AWA's closure,[1] [2] [3] including the AWA World Heavyweight Championship. In October 2008, the court ruled in favor of WWE. The court ruling prohibits Gagner from exploiting or trading on the AWA name or any other derivatives.[4]
| Rank | Wrestler | No. of reigns | Combined days |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | 4,677 | |
| 2 | 4 | 2,990 | |
| 3 | 5 | 776 | |
| 4 | 2 | 616 | |
| 5 | 1 | 595 | |
| 6 | 1 | 373 | |
| 7 | 1 | 256 | |
| 8 | 1 | 224 | |
| 9 | 1 | 181 | |
| 10 | 3 | 122 | |
| 11 | 1 | 90 | |
| 12 | 1 | 81 | |
| 13 | 1 | 57 | |
| 14 | 1 | 41 | |
| 15 | 1 | 28 | |
| 16 | 1 | 14 | |
| 17 | 1 | 12 | |
| 18 | 1 | 7 | |
| 1 | 7 | ||
| — | 1 | 6 | |
| 1 | 6 |