The WSL World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world championship in the Wrestling Superstars Live promotion. It was originally known as the AWA Superstars of Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship.
History In 1996, Dale Gagner and his associate Jonnie Stewart, former American Wrestling Association (AWA) employees, filed corporate papers to license the AWA name in the state of Minnesota and formed an organization known as AWA Superstars of Wrestling. On June 6 of that year, Gagner and Stewart created their version of the AWA World Heavyweight Championship, recognizing all previous AWA world champions.
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 of the company after the original AWA's closure. In October 2008, a court ruled against Gagner and Stewart and ruled in favor of WWE. The court ruling prohibited Gagner and his associates from exploiting or trading on the AWA name or any other derivatives. As a result, the organization was renamed to Wrestling Superstars Live (WSL). Due to there no longer being connections to the original AWA, WSL began only recognizing championship reigns from 1996 and forward.
Title history
Combined reigns RankWrestlerNo. ofreignsCombined days1Jonnie Stewart 1 1,0282Evan Karagias 37753King Kong Bundy 1 4864Takao Omori34125Larry Gligorovich13096Steve Corino 23087Eric Priest1 2928Horshu12679Larry Zbyszko1(2)24910Ric Converse121711Ricky Landell113312Shinjiro Otani16913Masato Tanaka15014The Patriot/Danny Dominion2215Dale Gagne10Keith Walker10—Brian Logan 1 0
American Wrestling Affiliates version
Combined reigns RankWrestlerNo. ofreignsCombined days1Robbie Cassidy 1 385Brian Logan 3 3853Chris Richards 12304Tony Givens120
References