| Acronym | AWA |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1931 |
| Style | Professional wrestling |
| Headquarters | Boston,Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Founder | Paul Bowser |
| Owner | Paul Bowser (1931–1958) |
TheAmerican Wrestling Association (AWA) was an Americanprofessional wrestling promotion founded byPaul Bowser and based inBoston,Massachusetts that ran from 1931 until 1958. From 1949 to 1958 the promotion was the Boston office of theNational Wrestling Alliance (NWA), before breaking from the NWA and shortly afterward succeeded by the independentAtlantic Athletic Corporation. The AWA held events at venues throughoutNew England, its primary buildings being theBoston Garden and theBoston Arena.
In 1922 veteran wrestler and promoterPaul Bowser moved his wrestling base of operations fromNewark, Ohio to theGrand Opera House inBoston,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.[1] Bowser allied himself with theGold Dust Trio (world championEd "Strangler" Lewis, his manager Billy Sandow and wrestlerToots Mondt), taking onNew York based promoterJack Curley. In 1923 Curley-backedNat Pendleton was defeated in alegitimate contest by Bowser'sJohn Pesek at the Opera House.[2] Two years later, Curley would get his revenge by payingStanislaus Zbyszko to double-cross and defeat Sandow/Lewis/Bowser-backed world championWayne Munn inPhiladelphia.
On March 11, 1926, Bowser planned to regain control of the title by havingJoe Malcewicz ambush championJoe 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.[3] Malcewicz and Lewis clashed in Boston atBraves Field on July 1, advertised for the "world's heavyweight championship".[4] 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.[5] Malcewicz was disqualified in their return match inTulsa, Oklahoma and lost the match (and title claim) to Lewis[6] Strangler Lewis regained the main line world title in 1928 from Stecher.
Bowser clientGus 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 withPennsylvania 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 theNational Boxing Association's offshootNational Wrestling Association.[G]
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."[7]
Ed Don George was recruited and trained by Bowser after the former has represented the United States in the1928 Summer Olympics. After a majorpush by the promotion, George was victorious over Sonnenberg on December 10, 1930, before 10,000 fans at theGrand 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 theMount 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'ssecond,Dan Koloff, Bowser's renownedpoliceman 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 atBraves Field in Boston on July 30, 1935. This show ranks in thelist of professional wrestling attendance records in the United States. On June 27, 1935 O'Mahony defeated Jim Londos for theNew York State Athletic Commission World Heavyweight Championship andNational Wrestling Association world title atFenway 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.
Dick Shikat's March 2, 1936 defeat of O'Mahony in New York created a controversy that ended up inOhio Federal Court. Bowser's matchmaker Joe Alvarez produced a document supposedly signed by the new champion proving ownership of Shikat's contract. Before any decision could be rendered, the title was passed to Ali Baba. Shortly thereafter, Alvarez and Bowser lost interest and dropped the suit. Throughout the legal wranglings, the AWA continued to recognize O'Mahony as world champion.[G]
Another young prodigy being pushed by the Boston office wasYvon Robert ofVerdun, Quebec. Robert was a candidate being considered to replace O'Mahony prior to the loss to Shikat, and was getting victories throughout the northeast. Bowser's ownership of Robert's contract gave him financial interest in Montreal, where Yvon was already drawing significant numbers. On July 16, 1936, he captured the AWA Title from O'Mahony at theMontreal Forum in two-of-three-falls, and at 21 years of age became one of history's youngest heavyweight champions.
Steve "Crusher" Casey fromSneem,Ireland made his professional wrestling debut in 1933, and debuted for the AWA on October 30, 1936 in Boston.
On January 25, 1938, the AWA stripped Yvon Robert of his championship and recognizedLou Thesz, who had dethronedEverett Marshall for the National Wrestling Association world title on December 29, 1937. Thesz's AWA supremacy was short, dropping his claim to Casey on February 11, 1938 before more than 10,000 fans at the Boston Garden. On March 2, 1939, Casey lost the title to a masked individual working under the guise of "The Shadow" (Marvin Westenberg). The Shadow became the first masked man to win a claim to a world heavyweight title. Westenberg was dethroned by Sonnenberg two weeks later, only to drop the championship back to Casey on March 29. Casey passed the title to George on April 18 and regained it on November 3.
In 1940,Maurice "The Angel" Tillet joined the AWA. Shortly after his debut, Tillet stripped Casey of the AWA belt in Boston on May 13, 1940, and remained undefeated for next 19 months.
Frank Sexton beatSándor Szabó for the AWA belt on May 2, 1945 in Boston. In June, he traded the title with Crusher Casey, and on June 27 Sexton began a streak that lasted a total of 1,791 days.[G]
Bowser and his booking office joined theNational Wrestling Alliance in 1949. This ensured the territory would have access to top talent in the business for the fans in Boston and New England. However, a principal rule of NWA was the recognition of an undisputed world heavyweight champion that all members would recognize and promote. Although agreeing to the fundamental rules of the Alliance verbally, Bowser refused to sign the official By-Laws because of the AWA's recognition of Sexton. On May 23, 1950, Sexton dropped the title, not toNWA champion Thesz in a unification match, but to "Chief" Don Eagle in Cleveland. Outside of New England, Eagle defended the AWA title in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois and New York. Eagle appeared before large audiences in New York City as part of a talent sharing deal with Toots Mondt. Among his showings were matches atMadison Square Garden and atYankee Stadium withAntonino Rocca. Late in 1949 the NWA issued a final edict regarding members with other world title claimants. With Eagle out injured since November, Bowser simply dropped the AWA world title and created a new top championship, the AWA "Eastern Heavyweight" title.
After a period of lean years, the AWA had a resurgence in the early 1950s using imported talent fromFred Kohler in Chicago that were appearing nationally on theDuMont Television Network.Buddy Rogers,Killer Kowalski,Don Leo JonathanPat O'Connor (wrestler),Yukon Eric andVerne Gagne all appeared at the Garden and Arena. On April 7, 1953 Gagne and Thesz wrestled to an hour draw before 8,000 fans at the Garden.[G]
Edouard Carpentier beat Thesz in Chicago'sInternational Amphitheatre two months later, capturing the NWA title. The Alliance pulled its recognition of Carpentier after a falling out between Bowser's partnerEddie Quinn andSam Muchnick at the annual convention in St. Louis. Quinn left the NWA and Bowser followed, dropping his membership in protest. Bowser continued to acknowledge Carpentier as the heavyweight titleholder in his territory, building up for a May 3, 1958 showdown with Killer Kowalski at the Boston Garden. The match, which was won by the challenger, drew 10,267 fans and was refereed by former world boxing championJack Sharkey. Kowalski's world heavyweight title was thereafter referred to as being under the auspices of theAtlantic Athletic Corporation, bringing a quiet end to the AWA.
Bowser would suffer a heart attack and die several days later on July 17, 1960 following surgery atMassachusetts General Hospital at age 74.[8] Following his death, Tony Santos'Big Time Wrestling (BTW) assumed promoting in the New England area and continued the lineage of the AAC world title. BTW enjoyed success before losing ground permanently to promoter Abe Ford and theWorld Wide Wrestling Federation, the currentWWE.
| Championship | Last Champion | Image | Active | Defunct | Notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AWA World Heavyweight Title | Don Eagle |  | March 11, 1926(de facto) | November, 1952 | [a] | [3][9] |
| June 15, 1931(de jure) | ||||||
| AWA Eastern Title | Yvon Robert | .jpg) | December 12, 1952 | 1954 | [b] | [10] |
| AWA Duration Title | Sándor Szabó |  | December 8, 1943 | April 4, 1945 | [c] | [11] |
Outside of New England, the following promoters were associated with the AWA and featured contracted talent from Bowser's Boston booking office:
[G] -Hornbaker, Tim (February 24, 2010)."Paul Bowser Biography".legacyofwrestling.com. RetrievedSeptember 6, 2025.
