Wrestling Superstars Live

Wrestling Superstars Live
Acronym	WSL
Founded	1996
Defunct	2009
Style	American wrestling
Headquarters	Rochester, Minnesota
Founder(s)	Dale Gagne; Jonnie Stewart
Owner(s)	Dale Gagne
Formerly	AWA Superstars of Wrestling
Predecessor	Unofficial:; American Wrestling Association

Wrestling Superstars Live (WSL), previously known as AWA Superstars of Wrestling (AWA), was a governing body for a group of independent professional wrestling promotions that sanctioned various championships. It was founded in 1996 by Dale Gagne and Jonnie Stewart and closed in 2009.

History

Early history

In 1996, Dale Gagner, billing himself as "Dale Gagne", and his associate Jonnie Stewart, former American Wrestling Association (AWA) employees, began using the AWA name in the state of Minnesota, falsely claiming authorization from the Minnesota Secretary of State, and formed an organization known as AWA Superstars of Wrestling. They billed the organization as a continuation of the American Wrestling Association, which closed in 1991.

By 2005, the organization began to franchise the AWA Superstars of Wrestling name, selling memberships to existing independent promotions around the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and Japan. Several members of AWA Superstars of Wrestling were former members of the National Wrestling Alliance. In a press release sent out on October 30, 2007, the organization announced that it would no longer sanction independent promotions. Gagner and Stewart noted that each of the remaining territories would be individually assessed.^[1]

Lawsuit, renaming, reorganization, and closure

On April 26, 2007 World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) filed a lawsuit against Dale Gagner, citing trademark infringement, as WWE owned some American Wrestling Association properties due to their purchase of AWA from Verne Gagne.^[2]^[3]^[4] In a move to sidestep WWE, Jonnie Stewart, with the help of a Chicago-based copyright law firm, attempted to trademark the name "American Wrestling Alliance" instead.

On October 29, 2008, a settlement was reached between Gagner and WWE. The court ruling prohibits Gagner from use of the AWA name or any other derivatives.^[5] As a result, the organization was renamed to Wrestling Superstars Live (WSL). In 2009, WSL went out of business.

Championships

When the organization was formed in 1996, Wrestling Superstars Live claimed the lineages and names of the original American Wrestling Association (AWA) championships. However, following WWE's lawsuit against Gagner and Stewart, Wrestling Superstars Live ignored the AWA championship reigns and only the reigns from 1996 and forward were recognized.

Championship	Final champion(s)	Date won	Location	Previous holder
World Heavyweight Championship	Keith Walker	February 21, 2009	Michigan City, Indiana	Ricky Landell
World Fighting Championship	Keith Walker	September 13, 2008	Waukesha, Wisconsin	Ricky Landell
World Light Heavyweight Championship	Kirby Mack	January 7, 2007	Pottstown, Pennsylvania	T.J. Mack
World Tag Team Championship	Team Vision (Chasyn Rance and Mister Saint Laurent)	April 18, 2008	Fayetteville, West Virginia	The championship was vacant; Team Vision won the 2008 Mountain Mayhem tournament by defeating Team Macktion (Kirby Mack and T.J. Mack) in the finals

Four championships were retired prior to WSL's closure:

The AWA Superstars of Wrestling International Heavyweight Championship was retired in 2005.
The AWA Japan Women's Championship was replaced by the HCW World Women's Championship in December 2007.
The AWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship was re-branded as the "Zero1-Max International Junior Heavyweight Championship" in 2008.
The AWA Superstars of Wrestling United States Championship was replaced by the WSL World Fighting Championship in March 2008.

Championship history

International Heavyweight Championship

Title history

Wrestler:	Times:	Date:	Location:	Notes:
Title created by AWA Superstars of Wrestling, with the promotion claiming lineage to the original AWA International Heavyweight Championship.
Jonnie Stewart	1	April 23, 1999	—	Stewart defeated George Petroski to become the inaugural champion.^[6]^[7]^[8]
Title vacated on April 14, 2000 after Stewart failed to make a defense.^[6]^[7]^[8]
Danny Dominion	1	April 14, 2000	Blythe, California	Dominion defeated Navajo Warrior to win the vacant championship.^[6]^[7]^[8]
Title vacated in 2002.^[6]^[7]^[8]
Erik Watts	1	February 4, 2005	Tucson, Arizona	Watts defeated Diamond Dallas Page to win the vacant championship.^[7]^[8]
The championship was retired in 2005 following a declaration of the AWA Board of Directors.^[8]

Members

Wrestling Superstars Live had members in the United States, Canada, England, Japan, and Australia.^[9]

Promotion	Location	Years
All Action Wrestling	Western Australia	November 2007 – 2009
AWA Florida	Florida	2005 – 2009
AWA Rush	Minnesota	2007
AWA United Kingdom	England	2005 – 2006
Brew City Wrestling	Wisconsin	2005 – 2008
Canadian Wrestling Federation	Manitoba	August 2005 – April 2007
Carolina Wrestling Federation	North Carolina	2005 – 2007
Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling	British Columbia	2006
Hawai'i Championship Wrestling	Hawaii	2006 – 2007
Millennium Wrestling Federation	Massachusetts	March 2005 – 2007
Mountaineer Wrestling Association	West Virginia	2005 – 2008
National Championship Wrestling	Tennessee	2007 -
Pinnacle Pro Wrestling	Washington	2005 – 2007
Platinum Pro Wrestling	Indiana	2009
Pro-Wrestling World-1	Pennsylvania	2005 – 2007
Pro Wrestling Zero1-Max	Japan	2005 – December 2007
Rocky Mountain Championship Wrestling	Colorado	January 2005 – 2008
Spinebuster/World-1 South	Georgia	July 2005 – 2008
Supreme Championship Wrestling	Indiana	2005 – 2007
Ultra Championship Wrestling-Zero	Utah	February 2005 – 2007
West Coast Wrestling Connection	Oregon	2007 – 2008