The American Wrestling Association (AWA) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Paul Bowser and based in Boston, Massachusetts that ran from 1931 until 1958. From 1949 to 1958 the promotion was the Boston office of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), before breaking from the NWA and shortly afterward succeeded by the independent Atlantic Athletic Corporation. The AWA held events at venues throughout New England, its primary buildings being the Boston Garden and the Boston Arena.
Contents
History
Origins (1922–1931)
In 1922 veteran wrestler and promoter Paul Bowser moved his wrestling base of operations from Newark, Ohio to the Grand Opera House in Boston, Massachusetts, running shows in opposition to the area's established promoter George V. Tuohey. After a brief, intense competition between the two promoters, Tuohey declared bankruptcy the following year and was no longer in business. Bowser allied himself with the Gold Dust Trio (world champion Ed "Strangler" Lewis, his manager Billy Sandow and wrestler Toots Mondt), taking on New York based promoter Jack Curley. In 1923 Curley-backed Nat Pendleton was defeated in a legitimate contest by Bowser's John Pesek at the Opera House. Two years later, Curley would get his revenge by paying Stanislaus Zbyszko to double-cross and defeat Sandow/Lewis/Bowser-backed world champion Wayne Munn in Philadelphia.
On March 11, 1926, Bowser planned to regain control of the title by having Joe Malcewicz ambush champion Joe Stecher (also aligned with Curley) who was expecting a different opponent. The plan failed when Stecher walked out of the ring and left before the match started. Bowser issued a press release recognizing Malcewicz as world champion based on Stecher forfeiting the match, marking the first Bowser attempt to have his own world title claimant. Malcewicz and Lewis clashed in Boston at Braves Field on July 1, advertised for the "world's heavyweight championship". Both men had separate world title claims, essentially making the matchup a title vs. title unification match.[G] The match was declared a draw at 2:00 A.M. after taking one fall apiece. Malcewicz was disqualified in their return match in Tulsa, Oklahoma and lost the match (and title claim) to Lewis Strangler Lewis regained the main line world title in 1928 from Stecher.
Bowser client Gus Sonnenberg became the world heavyweight champion by defeating Lewis on a January 4, 1929 card at the Boston Garden. In July 1929 Sonnenberg was stripped of recognition by several state athletic commissions (beginning with Pennsylvania and shortly afterward, New York) after it was deemed that he had not faced worthy challengers. Bowser continued to recognize Sonnenberg and in 1931 branded his organization as the American Wrestling Association, in response to the NYSAC, and the National Boxing Association's offshoot National Wrestling Association.[G]
American Wrestling Association (1931–1958)
On June 15, 1931 a press release announced the formation of the American Wrestling Association:
"In an effort to straighten out the heavyweight wrestling situation that the State Athletic Commissions and the National Boxing Association have failed to do, many of the foremost promoters of the country, at a recent gathering, decided to organize and put their experience to work out a solution. The first step was the formation of the American Wrestling Association, Inc., a charter for which has been secured from the secretary of state of Massachusetts. A meeting at which all the outstanding promoters of the United States and Canada will be invited to attend will be held shortly for the purpose of electing officers, choosing headquarters and outlining plans for the future. Tentative plans are to have every wrestling center in each state in the Union and in every province of Canada represented in the membership."
Ed Don George was recruited and trained by Bowser after the former has represented the United States in the 1928 Summer Olympics. After a major push by the promotion, George was victorious over Sonnenberg on December 10, 1930, before 10,000 fans at the Grand Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles. George met Lewis on April 13, 1931 at Los Angeles' Wrigley Field, and Lewis won two straight falls against the wishes of Bowser, capturing the title. In Lewis' opinion Bowser violated an earlier agreement that Lewis was to regain the championship from Sonnenberg, and therefore took the title back himself in the ring.[G]
On May 4 in Montreal at the Mount Royal Arena, promoters Louis Letourneau and Lucien Riopel booked Lewis in a title defense against former Olympic champion, Henri DeGlane. DeGlane took the first fall and Lewis won the second, both according to plan, but the second fall was reversed when Henri informed the referee that he had been bitten. Claiming that Lewis had caused the injury, the referee disqualified the "Strangler" and awarded the match and the championship to Deglane. Sandow and Lewis disputed the decision and declared that DeGlane had bitten himself or that the latter's second, Dan Koloff, Bowser's renowned policeman was the culprit. Bowser pushed Ed Don George back to the top of his territory, going over DeGlane for the AWA world title on February 10, 1933 in Boston.[G]
Danno O'Mahony became Bowser's latest young sensation in 1935, winning the AWA belt from George before 40,000 paying customers at Braves Field in Boston on July 30, 1935. This show ranks in the list of professional wrestling attendance records in the United States. On June 27, 1935 O'Mahony defeated Jim Londos for the New York State Athletic Commission World Heavyweight Championship and National Wrestling Association world title at Fenway Park in front of an estimated crowd of 30,000. With three world titles to his credit O'Mahony was recognized at the rightful, undisputed world heavyweight champion.
Affiliated promoters
Outside of New England, the following promoters were associated with the AWA and featured contracted talent from Bowser's Boston booking office:
New York:
Jack Herman (Buffalo)
California:
Lou Daro (Los Angeles)
Joe Malcewicz (San Francisco)
John Poole (Santa Barbara)
Canada:
Jack Ganson/Lucien Riopel/Eddie Quinn (Montreal)
Ivan Mickailoff (Toronto)