W.W.A Heavyweight Title History
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(INDIANA VERSION) (DETROIT VERSION) (CHICAGO VERSION)
Indianapolis Heavyweight Title:
6/14/57:Edouard Carpentier defeats Lou Thesz on ref's decision Chicago
12/60:Carpentier recognized as North American Wrestling Alliance champion in southern California allegedly because of the Thesz victory. Name of the organization later changes to Worldwide Wrestling Associates
6/12/61:Fred Blassie defeats Carpentier in Los Angeles, California
3/28/62:Rikidozan defeats Fred Blassie in Los Angeles
7/25/62:Blassie rewins title from Rikidozan Los Angeles
7/27/62:The Destroyer (Dick Beyer) defeats Blassie in San Diego, California
5/10/63:Fred Blassie defeats the Destroyer in Los Angeles
8/23/63:Bearcat Wright defeats Fred Blassie in Los Angeles
12/16/63:Edouard Carpentier wins title on forfeit when Bearcat Wright no shows Indio, California
1/30/64:Fred Blassie defeats Carpentier in Los Angeles
4/22/64:Dick the Bruiser defeats Fred Blassie in Los Angeles (Dick opens his own promotion in Indianapolis and uses the title belt, but changes the name of the organization, which alternates between Worldwide Wrestling Alliance, World Wrestling Alliance, and the more commonly accepted World Wrestling Association. The new promotion uses to the L.A. title history, but does not recognize the Destroyer's title win over Dick on 7/22/64 in Los Angeles.)
3/12/65:Title held up between Bruiser and Johnny Valentine when Dick is disqualified for attacking Valentine with a chair. Bout was held at the Fairgrounds Coliseum before 5,000. Valentine was taken to General (now Wishard) Hospital for observation, and given stitches and treatment for a knot on the head,legit.
4/10/65:Bruiser defeats Valentine at the Coliseum before 9,000 fans when Valentine gets counted out of the ring while fighting Wilbur Snyder.
7/17/65:Bruiser and Lou Thesz meet in a "title unification " bout, with the WWA belt vs. the NWA belt at Victory Field. 1st fall was won by Thesz over the Bruiser with a Lou Thesz press, 2nd fall Bruiser defeated Thesz on a count out in 5 minutes, 3rd fall ended with both wrestlers counted out of the ring after 3 minutes. A crowd of 9,000 attended.
8/21/65:Gene Kiniski defeats Dick the Bruiser on a 3rd fall count out at the Coliseum. Like the L.A. WWA title, the belt can change hands on a count out.
12/25/65:Dick the Bruiser defeats Gene Kiniski 2/3 falls before 5,200 at the Coliseum in 18 minutes. On 1/7/66,Kiniski would go on to defeat Lou Thesz for the NWA title in St.Louis.
8/20/66:Dick the Bruiser and Gene Kiniski meet in a title vs. title bout at Victory Field. The crowd of 7,000 saw them split falls before the 60 minute time limit ran out.
10/8/66:Mitsu Arakawa defeated Dick the Bruiser at the Coliseum 2/3 falls in 16 minutes, when Mitsu won the 3rd fall using "illegal" karate chops, undetected by the ref.
12/29/66 Dick the Bruiser loses title to Mitsu Arakawa in Elkhart.
9/30/67:Wilbur Snyder defeated Mitsu Arakawa at the Coliseum 2/3 falls, taking the 3rd fall with a "reverse body press".
12/27/67:Blackjack Lanza defeated Wilbur Snyder before 5,500 at the Coliseum when Snyder couldn't continue in the 3rd fall after a "neck injury".
8/29/69:Dick the Bruiser defeated Blackjack Lanza in a steel cage bout at Bush Stadium.
3/7/70:Baron Von Raschke defeated Dick the Bruiser in a German Death bout at the Coliseum before 5,900.
10/14/71:Dick the Bruiser defeated Baron Von Raschke at the Coliseum.
11/29/71:Baron Von Raschke defeated Dick the Bruiser at the Coliseum.
3/21/72:Billy Red Cloud defeated Baron Von Raschke at the Northside Tyndall Armory.
3/25/72. Art Thomas defeated Baron Von Raschke in Elkhart. The rest of the card was Al Barr vs. Ricki Cortez, Billy Red Cloud defeated Bobby Heenan, Bruiser and Cholak vs.the Black Jacks no contest and the title change.
6/2/72:Baron Von Raschke defeated Billy Red Cloud at the then new Convention Exposition Center.1st fall saw Von Raschke attack Red Cloud before the bell, and defeated him in about 3 minutes with 3 elbow drops and a pin. Red Cloud stormed back in about 2 minutes to win with an Indian Deathlock. Raschke won the 3rd fall in about 6 minutes with a foreign object to the throat of Red Cloud while Raschke's manager, Bobby Heenan distracted the referee. Red Cloud was helped from the ring.
3/31/73:Cowboy Bob Ellis defeated Baron Von Raschke 2/3 falls at the Expo Center.
8/10/74:Ox Baker defeated Bob Ellis at the Expo Center 2/3 falls before 9,100. Ox won the 1st fall when he threw Ellis off as he attempted the "bulldog headlock". Ellis rode Ox shoulders ala Antonio Rocca and rolled forward, cradling Ox for the 2nd fall. Ox hit Ellis in the head with a "loaded" elbow pad to win the 3rd.
11/29/75:Pepper Gomez defeated Ox Baker in a no dq. bout at the Expo Center before 5,500 when Ox's second, Chuck O'Connor interfered, accidentally hitting Ox with a foreign object.
5/1/76:The Masked Strangler (Guy Mitchell) defeated Pepper Gomez at Market Square Arena before 8,100 when Strangler hit Gomez with a "loaded headbutt".
3/5/77:Dick the Bruiser defeated the Strangler in a chain bout that had both men wearing masks, and Bruiser putting up $6,000 against the title. The crowd at the Expo Center was 8,500.
4/30/77:Title held up between Dick the Bruiser and Ivan Koloff when there was a dispute between the two referees at the Expo Center.
6/18/77:Ivan Koloff won a Texas Death Match to defeat Dick the Bruiser to win the held up title when the Valiant brothers interfered, causing Bruiser to be counted out of the ring before 7,500.
11/12/77:Title again held up between Dick the Bruiser and Ivan Koloff when Dick applied an "illegal" piledriver hold after the ref was knocked down, and scored the pin. A crowd of 8,100 was on hand at the Expo Center.
12/26/77:Dick the Bruiser defeated Ivan Koloff in a cage bout before 8,000 at the Expo Center to rewin the title. Ivan jumped off the top of the cage ala Jimmy Snuka (and before Snuka) to set himself up for the piledriver, which was not illegal in a no dq. bout.
4/28/79:Title held up between Bruiser and King Kong Brody when Dick attacks Brody with a chair during a match at the Expo Center, getting himself disqualified.
6/9/79:Dick the Bruiser stops King Kong Brody when Bobo Brazil interferes to rewind the title at the Expo Center.
8/4/79:King Kong Brody stops Dick the Bruiser in a Texas Death Match to win the title at the Expo Center before 8,100. Roger Kirby interfered on the part of Brody, hold Bruiser's legs while Brody delivered several knee drops. Bruiser couldn't continue and was counted out.
5/31/80:Dick the Bruiser beats Bruiser Brody in a cage bout to rewind the title at the Expo Center.
7/19/80:Dick the Bruiser meets Nick Bockwinkel in an AWA vs. WWA title vs. title bout at the Expo Center, the match ending in a double count out. Of course, the night before, Nick lost the title back to Verne Gagne at Comiskey Park. Nothing was said to the throng in attendance.
11/1/80:Ernie Ladd defeated Dick the Bruiser for the belt at the Expo Center.
11/29/80:Dick the Bruiser upended Ladd to reclaim the belt in 18:00 minutes. The bout was supposed to be a handicap match, with Bruiser against Ladd and his manager, Tiny Hampton, but Bruiser got into the ring and challenged Ladd to a rematch, and Sam Menacker lead a chant against Ladd ("Ernie Ladd, you're a yellow dog") until Ladd accepted, and Bruiser won the bout. (In actual fact, Ladd was coming off the road to work with Bill Watts full time, but came back to fulfill his obligations to Bruiser.)
4/25/81:Jon Valiant defeated Dick the Bruiser at the Expo Center to win the title.
7/24/81:Bobo Brazil defeated Jon Valiant in Bartonville, Illinois to win the title before approximately 420 fans.
10/11/81:Blackjack Mulligan defeated Bobo Brazil at Market Square Arena to win the title. Brazil continued to reign as champ on all of the smaller shows.
11/81:Bobo Brazil is given back the title as Bruiser/Mulligan promotional partnership ends, allegedly Brazil rewins the title in Knoxville, Tennessee.
1/16/82:Both Brazil and challenger Roger Kirby no show their Indianapolis main event due to bad weather.
2/13/82:Harley Race defeats Bobo Brazil at Market Square Arena before 4,100, but the title is held up due to Race using the piledriver.
4/24/82:Harley Race wins a 2/3 fall no disqualification match at Market Square Arena to win the WWA belt. 1st fall went to Race when he beat Bobo with a diving headbutt from the top rope. 2nd went to Brazil with the coco butt. 3rd went to Race when he pushed off of the ropes as Bobo was bringing him back into the ring. During all of this time, Brazil continued to defend the WWA belt in all of the towns on the circuit.
7/10/82:Race and the Bruiser go to a double count out at the final show at Market Square Arena before Dick entered into his ill fated partnership with Jerry Jarrett. It would be the last WWA title defense until the following year. The title history gets really spotty after this as Dick would have title changes in different towns on the circuit. See results section for more info.
1/15/83:Bruiser recognized as champ when he starts working again, allegedly beats Race for it.
6/25/83:Bobby Colt defeats Dick the Bruiser at the Tyndall Armory.
1/7/84:Spike Huber beats Bobby Colt at the Armory to win the title.
2/84:Stormy Granzig "wins" the title in Terre Haute. In actual fact, Huber split from his wife, Bruiser's daughter, and leaves the promotion, and Bruiser gives the title to Granzig.
7/28/84:The Great Wojo beats Granzig in a cage match to win the title at the Armory in Indianapolis.
1/19/85:Bruiser beats Wojo in Indianapolis to regain the title.
9/85:Wojo beats Bruiser to get the title again.
8/14/86:Scott Rexsteiner (Scott Steiner) beats Wojo in Dearborn, Michigan.
5/3/87:Wojo beats Rexsteiner in Toledo to rewin the title.
Spring 1988, Wojo retires as champ.
4/16/89 Golden Lion W/Calypso Jim in Toledo to win vacant title.
After this period, the title is still used at various fair dates and other shows.
Portions of this title history derived from the Duncan and Will book "Wrestling Title Histories 4th Edition".
1965:Dick the Bruiser recognized as WWA champion on cards presented in Detroit. Promotion stopped running Detroit in 1965.Only 3 cards have been documented for 1965.
1971:Promotion reopens at the Olympia against the established NWA office ran by Eddie Farhat (The Sheik). First card presented at the Olympia on 10/21/71, with Bruiser upending Baron Von Raschke for the WWA title. Attendance listed as 4,125.
11/26/71:Baron Von Raschke defeats Dick the Bruiser in a German Death Match.
3/18/72:Dick the Bruiser beats Von Raschke in a German Gestapo Death match in a cage. The only way to win the bout was for the second of one of the wrestlers to wave a white flag. Bruiser beat up Heenan and put the flag in Raschke's second, Bobby Heenan and waved it to get the win. Attendance listed as 8,247
4/8/72:Dick the Bruiser and Blackjack Mulligan went to a 2/3 fall double dq. in Dick's first defense of the WWA title before 7,142 fans
4/72:It was "ruled" that since the Gestapo Death Match had no falls, and WWA rules stated that a title match had to have 2/3 falls, Dick was stripped of the title. Since Art Thomas had beaten Raschke in a 2/3 falls bout the following week in "Milwaukee"( in actual fact, it happened in Elkhart, Indiana 3/25/72) Thomas was recognized as new champ. (Raschke at the time was on a tour of Japan, although he was said to be in "Europe".)
4/22/72:Thomas, on the anniversary of Bruiser winning his original title in L.A. defends the belt against Killer Cortez, getting a double dq. before 8,692
6/3/72:Raschke returned from Japan, and stopped Thomas using a foreign object in the 3rd fall. As a matter of fact, the match finishes were almost exactly like the one from the night before in Indianapolis, where Raschke defeated Billy Red Cloud for the Indianapolis WWA title.
5/12/73:Bob Ellis defeats Raschke for the title.
There are reports that Jimmy Valiant and Wilbur Snyder traded the belt at this time. Anyone having any info it would be greatly appreciated. I have found no evidence of such a title change. Promotion closed in February 1974.
Chicago Heavyweight Title:
In 1964, Dick the Bruiser went into partnership with Fred Kohler after Kohler had a failed partnership with Jack Pfefer and his soundalike troup, and was recognized as WWA champ. In 1966, Kohler sold the rest of his interest in the office out, presumably to Verne Gagne, and Dick went into partnership in Chicago with Verne Gagne and his AWA, with the WWA belts being phased out of Chicago. On 3/26/66,Bruiser met in a title unification bout with AWA champ Mad Dog Vachon, with Mad Dog winning both titles and being recognized as a dual champion until he lost the AWA title on 2/26/67.After that, the WWA belt was no longer defended in Chicago on a regular basis.
