Acronym WWA Style American Wrestling | Founded March 1964 Headquarters Indiana | |
Founder(s) Dick the Bruiser
Wilbur Snyder Owner(s) Dick the Bruiser
Wilbur Snyder | ||
The World Wrestling Association was an Indianapolis-based pro wrestling promotion which was operated by Dick "The Bruiser" Afflis and his business partner Wilbur Snyder. The WWA was affiliated with the larger American Wrestling Association and recognized its champions, though the WWA also had its own champions. The WWA also recognized the championships of the Indianapolis-based Powerful Women of Wrestling promotion as their women's champions in the late 1980s.
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The World Wrestling Association (WWA) - operating under the legal name Championship Wrestling of Indiana, Inc.[1] - was established in 1964 by Dick Afflis and Wilbur Snyder. The duo purchased the Indianapolis NWA promotion in 1964 from its longtime owner Jim Barnett, who at that time was attempting to start up a promotion in Australia. The name of the promotion was taken from the former promotions in the Chicago and Los Angeles areas.
In 1965, the WWA purchased the Chicago wrestling promotion of Fred_Kohler. In May of the same year, the promotion ceased promoting events in Detroit.
The promotion developed wrestlers such as Bobby Heenan and amateur wrestler Greg Wojciechowski. Wojciechowski wrestled for the WWA under the name "The Great Wojo" and held the WWA World Heavyweight Championship three times. In later years, Scott Steiner got his start in the WWA under his real name, Scott Rechsteiner.
A talent sharing agreement with American Wrestling Association (AWA) head (and longtime champion) Verne Gagne brought forth other talent, including The Crusher and Baron von Raschke. The WWA also put on joint wrestling events with the AWA starting in 1966. In 1971, the WWA returned to promoting events in Detroit in competition with NWA Detroit until 1975.
The WWA tried to make a go of it in the mid-1980s, when Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Federation was buying regional promotions across the country, but the Bruiser's advancing age and the talent drain to the WWF was too much and the WWA ceased promoting matches in 1989.