Following the name of the champion(s): Indicates the number of times the wrestler has held that title at that point.
[...]
Indicates a gap in the listing where title changes are not known.
*
If used next to the names of the wrestlers, they may, in fact, not have held the title in the period indicated. If used next to the dates or places, either they are possibly wrong or the title changes are fictitious.
<
Title was held or changed hands no later than this. In these cases, it is known that a wrestler held the title at a certain time but not when he/she won it.
+
Broadcast date; the actual recording date is unknown.
@
Order uncertain. Different titleholders may be known for the same year, for example, but it is not known who held the title before whom.
#
Unofficial or disputable claims. These are usually matches that certainly took place, but where there is doubt that the wrestler shown should be recognized as a true title holder. These listings are also italicized in HTML files
AWA Superstars of Wrestling
World Heavyweight Title
Jonnie Stewart
1996-06-06
Rochester, MN
Defeats Larry Gligorovich when Dale Gagne (Dale Gagner) and Stewart have supposedly purchased the rights to the AWA name (not the promotion itself) and starts his own promotion; the promoters claims the lineage linked to Verne Gagne's AWA World Heavyweight Title.
King Kong Bundy
1999-03-31
Oshkosh, WI
Stripped for no defense.
Dale Gagne (Dale Gagner)
2000-07-29
Pine Bluff, AR
Promoter names himself the champion.
The Patriot (Danny Dominion)
2000-07-29
Pine Bluff, AR
Larry Gligorovich
2000-07-29
Pine Bluff, AR
Eric Priest
2001-06-03
Hillside, IL
Evan Karagias
2002-03-22
Casa Grande, AZ
Danny Dominion[2]
2002-05-02
Cottonwood, AZ
Evan Karagias [2]
2002-05-04
Lemoore, CA
Matt Wiese
2002-10-19
Mercedes, TX
Vacant in 03 when Horshu (Matt Wiese) signs a developmental deal with WWE and is unavailable to drop the title.
Evan Karagias [3]
2003-07-06
Lemoore, CA
Defeats Eric Priest; stripped in 04.
Ōmori Takao
2005-01-23
Tōkyō, JPN
Defeats Steve Corino in a tournament final.
Steve Corino
2005-06-11
Bay City, MI
Also defeats Larry Zbyszko, the last champion of the Verne Gange era who continued to claim the title as of 95-01, on 05-06-25 in Viena, GA.
TNT (Greg Bownds) defeats Corino on 07-03-23 in Cardiff, AUS, but the title is returned to Corino when the AWA board claims "international paperwork for this title match can not be located, and therefore the title change can not be validated."
Ōmori Takao [3]
2007-04-01
Yokohama, JPN
Tanaka Masato
2007-10-26
Tōkyō, JPN
Stripped on 07-12-07 when ZERO1-Max withdraws its affiliation with AWA; ZERO1-Max continues to recognize its own World Title with Tanaka as the champion.
Awarded for claiming that he has never lost the original AWA World Heavyweight Title after the AWA closes in 91; Brian Logan defeats Zbyszko and Ricky Landell in a 3-way match on 08-04-18 in Fayetteville, WV, but the AWA affiliates later splits into two groups: Gagner's AWA Stars continuing to recognize Zbyszko as the champion and American Wrestling Affiliates with Logan as the champion.
