MikeJordan23 0 Report post Posted January 23, 2005 [email protected] In what was pushed as the revival of one of the three major world titles in North America over a nearly 30 year period, Takao Omori came out as the new AWA champion. Omori won a tournament that had taken places the past few weeks in Japan with the new Zero-One Max promotion. Omori pinned Steve Corino in the finals on Sunday at Korakuen Hall. Corino was involved in brokering the deal for rights to the AWA title name, and was the original planned champion. Earlier on the show, Corino had won a three-way over Simon Diamond and Masato Tanaka. Omori went to the finals in a three-way over Kensuke Sasaki and Kohei Sato. While there have been AWA titles in pro wrestling dating back to the 30s, if not earlier, the most famous version was Verne Gagne's promotion. The title peaked in importance probably in the late 60s until the mid 80s, when it was usually owned by either Gagne or Nick Bockwinkel. Credit: Wrestling Observer Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest LooneyTune Report post Posted January 23, 2005 Way to go AWA... back to doing stupid shit by giving the title to a TALENTLESS Japanese guy. It's 1989 all over again. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jebus 0 Report post Posted January 23, 2005 Way to go AWA... back to doing stupid shit by giving the title to a TALENTLESS Japanese guy. It's 1989 all over again. The last champ was Evan Karagias...trust me, it's a step up! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Slickster 0 Report post Posted January 24, 2005 Well, they can give it to Corino down the line, then bring it back to the US and defend it in their Mid-Atlantic/CA promotions. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
razazteca 0 Report post Posted January 24, 2005 The belt looks like a duplicate mass produced piece of crap that is sold to hardcore fans like that guy Double A from the Howard Stern Show. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest sek69 Report post Posted January 24, 2005 Well Stan Hansen took the original big AWA belt with him when he went back to Japan, and Larry Z probably still wears the last AWA belt under his clothes. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Grenouille 0 Report post Posted January 24, 2005 I thought McMahon owned the AWA name. I can't see this coming back to the US without some kind of lawsuit if they promote it as the AWA. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest LooneyTune Report post Posted January 24, 2005 Eh... they own the video library of AWA, but I don't think they actually own the name AWA. Besides, There have been hundreds of AWA's in the last 80 years, and the company is obviously Independent, so it's not a real problem. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dobbs 3K 0 Report post Posted January 24, 2005 I'm pretty sure the Gagne's still have the rights to the AWA name, but Vince does have at least the rights to the tape library for WWE 24/7. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
