The AWA World Women's Championship was the women's professional wrestling title in the American Wrestling Association (AWA) from 1961 until 1990.
| AWA World Women's Championship | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Details | |||||||||||
| Promotion | American Wrestling Association (AWA) | ||||||||||
| Date established | 1954 | ||||||||||
| Date retired | 1991 | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Title history
edit| No. | Overall reign number |
|---|---|
| Reign | Reign number for the specific champion |
| Days | Number of days held |
| No. | Champion | Championship change | Reign statistics | Notes | Ref. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Event | Location | Reign | Days | ||||
| 1 | June Byers | August 20, 1954 | House show | Atlanta, GA | 1 | 2563 | Byers defeated Mildred Burke for the NWA World Women's Championship and continues to be recognized by AWA after it splits from NWA in 1960. | [1] |
| 2 | Penny Banner | August 26, 1961 | House show | Angola, IN | 1 | 493 | AWA ceased to recognize June Byers as women's champion after she no-showed a title defense. Banner won a battle royal to become the new AWA World Women's Champion. | |
| — | Vacated | January 1, 1963 | — | — | — | — | The AWA vacated the championship on January 1, 1963, but June Byers continued to be recognized as champion by the NWA until she retired in January 1964. | |
| 3 | Kay Noble | April 13, 1963 | House show | Saint Paul, MN | 1 | 3127 | Defeated Kathy Starr to win the vacant championship. | [2] |
| 4 | Vivian Vachon | November 4, 1971 | House show | Winnipeg, Manitoba | 1 | 651 | ||
| 5 | Betty Nicoli | August 16, 1973 | House show | Winnipeg, Manitoba | 1 | 587 | ||
| — | Vacated | March 27, 1975 | — | — | — | — | The championship was vacated when Betty Nicoli retired. | |
| 6 | Candi Devine | November 2, 1984 | House show | Minneapolis, MN | 1 | [Note 1] | Devine won a battle royal to win the vacant championship. | |
| 7 | Sherri Martel | September 28, 1985 | SuperClash | Chicago, IL | 1 | 5 | [3] | |
| — | Vacated | October 3, 1985 | — | — | — | — | The championship was vacated for undocumented reasons. | |
| 8 | Candi Devine | October 14, 1985 | House show | Memphis, TN | 2 | 3 | Devine was awarded the championship without title match. | |
| 9 | Sherri Martel | October 17, 1985 | House show | Winnipeg, Manitoba | 2 | 91 | [4] | |
| 10 | Candi Devine | January 16, 1986 | House show | Winnipeg, Manitoba | 3 | 163 | [5] | |
| 11 | Sherri Martel | June 28, 1986 | Battle by the Bay | Oakland, CA | 3 | 391 | ||
| — | Vacated | July 24, 1987 | — | — | — | — | The championship was vacated when Sherri Martel went to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). | |
| 12 | Madusa Miceli | December 27, 1987 | AWA Championship Wrestling | Las Vegas, NV | 1 | 335 | Defeated Candi Devine to win the vacant championship. | [6][7] |
| 13 | Wendi Richter | November 26, 1988 | House show | Bloomington, MN | 1 | [Note 2] | [8] | |
| — | Vacated | N/A | — | — | — | — | The championship was vacated when Wendi Richter left the promotion; she was still advertised as champion for the show where Devine wins the vacant title. | |
| 14 | Candi Devine | December 6, 1989 | House show | Toronto, ON | 4 | [Note 3] | Devine defeated Judy Martin to win the vacant championship; Monster Ripper defeated Devine on July 7, 1990 at the WWC 17th Anniversary show in Bayamón, Puerto Rico to claim the title,[9] but Ripper was never officially recognized as champion by the AWA. | |
| — | Deactivated | January 12, 1991 | — | — | — | — | The championship retired when the AWA closed. | [10] |
Combined reigns
edit| ¤ | The exact length of a title reign is uncertain; the combined length may not be correct. |
| Rank | Wrestler | No. of reigns |
Combined days |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kay Noble | 1 | 3,127 |
| 2 | June Byers | 1 | 2,563 |
| 3 | Candi Devine | 4 | 859–918¤ |
| 4 | Vivian Vachon | 1 | 651 |
| 5 | Betty Nicoli | 1 | 587 |
| 6 | Penny Banner | 1 | 493 |
| 7 | Sherri Martel | 3 | 487 |
| 8 | Wendi Richter | 1 | 370–375¤ |
| 9 | Madusa Miceli | 1 | 335 |
Notes
edit- ^ The exact date that Devine won the championship is unknown, meaning that her reign lasted between 302 and 331 days.
- ^ The exact date the championship was vacated is unknown, which means the title reign lasted between 370 and 375 days.
- ^ The exact date the AWA ceased operating is unknown, putting the reign at somewhere between 391 and 421 days.
References
edit- ^ Hoops, Brian (August 20, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history (August 20): June Byers wins NWA Women's belt, Michael Shane wins TNA X-Division title". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Archived from the original on February 13, 2017. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
- ^ Hoops, Brian (April 13, 2016). "Daily pro wrestling history (04/13): Samoa Joe wins TNA World Title; Terry Funk wins ECW World Title". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Archived from the original on July 12, 2023. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
- ^ "SuperClash I". Pro Wrestling History. September 28, 1985. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
- ^ Hoops, Brian (October 17, 2016). "Daily Pro Wrestling History (10/17): Triple H vs. Steve Austin at No Mercy 1999". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Archived from the original on September 26, 2022. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
- ^ Hoops, Brian (January 16, 2019). "Pro wrestling history (01/16): Arn Anderson & Bobby Eaton win WCW Tag Team Titles". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved January 18, 2019.
- ^ Hoops, Brian (December 27, 2016). "Daily Pro Wrestling History (12/27): Kevin Nash ends Goldberg's streak at Starrcade". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Archived from the original on June 30, 2022. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
- ^ "CvC: Made In USA, the Greatest Women's Champion is Debra Miceli". Bleacher Report. July 30, 2009. Archived from the original on January 16, 2018. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
- ^ Hoops, Brian (November 26, 2015). "Daily pro wrestling history (11/26): Scott Steiner wins WCW World Title, WCW vs. WWF on PPV". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Archived from the original on December 7, 2022. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
- ^ ClassicsWWC (2012-07-23), WWC: Monster Ripper vs. Candi Devine (1990), archived from the original on 2021-12-13, retrieved 2018-01-23
- ^ Hoops, Brian (February 4, 2008). "PWTorch.com Nostalgia: AWA History: The Rise, The Fall and the Legacy". PWTorch.com. Archived from the original on April 17, 2023. Retrieved July 14, 2023.