The Rise And Fall Of The AWA

In the 21st century, pro wrestling fans are more likely to remember the American Wrestling Association for its dizzying decline than the genuine glories the promotion experienced, despite Verne Gagne's Minnesota-based powerhouse being one of the few promotions to make an impact nationally in the United States. There were plenty of big moments too, as from the 1970s to early 1980s, the AWA boasted an embarrassment of riches from a talent standpoint, and its supercards drew large crowds. 

From blood feuds to colourful characters to high-quality in-ring action, the AWA could proudly boast they were among the finest entities in pro wrestling. For every asset, however, there seemed to be a pronounced flaw and the protracted limp toward the grave came as AWA felt more and more out of touch with each passing year.

Eventually, that once-impressive roster crumbled when faced with better opportunities elsewhere, conflicts with the boss, or both, leaving Gagne's group as a hollowed-out shell. By the end, the AWA was left with a meagre locker room, next to no audience, and plenty of time to ponder what went wrong. 

The Origins Of The AWA

From 1933, Anthony Stecher - the brother of three-time world champion Joe Stecher - promoted wrestling cards as The Minneapolis Boxing and Wrestling Club. By 1952, he sold one-third of the promotion to his son, Dennis, as well as another promoter in Wally Karbo. Two years later, Stecher passed away, allowing Dennis and Karbo to assume full control of the Minneapolis territory, which had been part of the National Wrestling Alliance since the NWA's 1948 inception.

The gem of the Minnesota territory was local star athlete Verne Gagne, a pro wrestler since 1949 and a bonafide television star. With impressive collegiate and Olympic credentials as a wrestler, Gagne hit the airwaves via the now-defunct DuMont Network, which broadcast matches from Chicago's Marigold Arena.

Gagne became a star through his clean-cut earnestness and superior athleticism which cemented him as a hard-working, "salt of the earth" star athlete that American audiences of the day greatly appreciated. Qualities like these made it seem inevitable that Gagne would one day hold the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Title and serve as the long-term champion. It never came to pass, however, as while Gagne did hold his own in hour-long draws with incumbent champion Lou Thesz, the expected changing of the guard was never approved. 

The tiresome political games played by promoters eventually affected Gagne, who bought out Dennis Stecher’s share of the Minneapolis territory in 1959 along with Karbo. Just one year later, after Gagne unsuccessfully lobbied for a title match with then NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Pat O’Connor, he and Karbo decided to secede from the National Wrestling Alliance. Unlike most splits, this secession was painless as Gagne remained on good terms with the NWA and still attended the group’s meetings as an independent friend. 

Following the split, though, the American Wrestling Association was officially born and founded their own AWA World Heavyweight Championship soon after, recognising Pat O’Connor as the champion even though the man himself had no plans to ever set foot inside an AWA ring. O’Connor was given 90 days to defend the title that had been thrust upon him against Verne Gargne, which was never going to happen. Gagne’s demand also never aired outside of Minnesota or the neighbouring states of North and South Dakota, which comprised the AWA’s TV market, but it did serve to boost Gagne’s credibility. After the 90 days elapsed in August 1960, O’Connor was stripped of the AWA World Heavyweight Title and Verne Gagne was crowned as the new champion. 

The AWA's Popularity Grows During The 1970s With Gagne On Top

What followed was territorial expansion from the AWA as the promotion moved into Wisconsin, Nebraska, Iowa, and Colorado, while a partnership with Wilbur Snyder and Dick the Bruiser allowed AWA to expand into Indiana. Gagne also purchased the Chicago territory, which provided the AWA with TV access in America’s third-biggest media market. 

The AWA was strong and steady business-wise in the 1960s, but the promotion reached another level at the beginning of the 1970s due to a TV angle that didn’t go according to plan.  

Crusher was arguably the biggest star in the history of the AWA. Real name Reginald Lisowski, the beer-guzzling, fight-to-the-death wrestler was a hero to legions of blue collar fans, and remains a mythic figure in his native Milwaukee. Crusher's status as a major box office draw was unquestioned, especially in the Beer Capital of the World.

Crusher soon became involved in an enticing blood feud as he made the save for Edouard Carpentier and the future Buddy Roberts from a post-match beatdown from Mad Dog and Butcher Vachon. As Mad Dog was in the midst of blading during the fracas, though, Crusher stomped a little too snugly on Mad Dog's head, unwittingly causing the blade to embed too deeply, cutting one of Vachon's arteries. The amount of blood loss was near catastrophic, and the studio where the match was filmed looked like a horrific crime scene afterwards.

Gruesome as that melee was, it was responsible for fervent interest. Crusher vs. Mad Dog became a must-see match whenever the two wrestlers came to town, resulting in record business in the AWA's biggest markets.

During this period, the AWA continued to flesh out what was quickly becoming a highly-impressive roster of vibrant characters with Nick Bockwinkel and “Crippler” Ray Stevens managed Bobby “The Brain” Heenan, “Superstar” Billy Graham, Billy Robinson, Ivan Koloff, and Baron von Raschke. Other stars included Red Bastien, Blackjack Lanza, a young Dusty Rhodes, and the ever-popular Wahoo McDaniel.

Primarily on top, though, was Verne Gagne. By 1968, he had held the AWA World Heavyweight Championship across eight reigns, dropping the title to the likes of Crusher, Mad Dog, and even Fritz Von Erich and The Destroyer, before winning the belt back in quick fashion. On August 31, 1968, though, he would begin his ninth reign and Gagne would be the top champion for over seven years, successfully defending the belt against the likes of Koloff, Bockwinkel, Stevens, Mad Dog, von Raschke, Robinson, Harley Race, Strong Kobayashi, and many more. 

Due to primarily focusing on his role as the promoter, though, Gagne didn’t work a full-time schedule, which very much made him and his title matches an extra attraction. The promotion drew 21,000 fans to Chicago’s Comiskey Park for a match between Gagne and Baron Von Raschke, while Gagne vs. Robinson drew 18,000 fans to the same venue in 1974. The Crusher, meanwhile, was responsible for a slew of sellouts at the Milwaukee Arena, where he almost always main evented.

When not wrestling, Gagne helped train a number of future champions alongside Billy Robinson. In the 1970s alone, the AWA’s gruelling camps produced the likes of Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat, The Iron Sheik, Sgt. Slaughter, Ken Patera, Paul Ellering, Jim Brunzell, Buddy Rose, "Wild" Bill Irwin, Curt Hennig, as well as Gagne’s son Greg. 

The wrestlers fit the spirit of what Verne wanted for the AWA of populating his upper card with credible athletes that even sceptical customers would see the validity of. Verne believed while there was always room for gimmicks and novelties, there needed to foremost be believability at the top of the card, which is why so many of the promotion's wrestlers had their own impressive resumes in legitimate sport. 

This also explained, in addition to knowing he was going to be around all of the time, why Gagne’s ninth reign was over seven years as he had the credibility as an Olympic wrestling alternate, professional football prospect, and a large audience that respected those credentials - Verne fit the criterion of what Verne wanted in a champion.

Eventually in late 1975, Verne Gagne dropped the AWA World Heavyweight Championship to Nick Bockwinkel, who would hold the belt for almost five years before losing the title back to Gagne in the summer of 1980. 

The AWA Continues To Expand In The Early 1980s

On May 10, 1981, though, Verne Gagne's 10th and final reign as AWA World Heavyweight Champion came to an end. At 55 years old, the AWA founder was hanging up his boots, and with his retirement came the dropping of the world championship as he vacated the belt after beating Bockwinkel one more time in front of 16,000 fans in St. Paul, Minnesota. One week later, Bockwinkel was simply awarded the AWA World Heavyweight Title. 

By 1981, the AWA was still expanding and the promotion started promoting shows at the Oakland Coliseum in California. One year later, the AWA held a show at San Francisco’s Cow Palace after Roy Shire ended his occupancy of the region. Utah followed shortly after, while the AWA moved into Las Vegas in early 1983, giving Verne Gagne a territory that stretched from Indiana and Illinois to the Pacific coast, with a firm anchor in Minnesota and the Land of 10,000 Lakes' neighbouring states.

By this time, the AWA roster consisted of ageing holdovers and dynamic youngsters, the latter of whom indicated a promising future for Verne's growing empire. In addition to AWA camp graduates in Ken Patera, Jim Brunzell, and Greg Gagne, there was former Greco-Roman wrestler Brad Rheingans, Tito Santana, Rick Martel, Jesse Ventura, Jerry “Crusher” Blackwell, and David Schultz.

Standing out in this vivid fray, though, was the tall, tanned, and muscular Hulk Hogan. In 1981, then-WWF performer Hogan ran afoul of Vince McMahon Sr. when he filmed his scenes for Rocky III against the promoter’s wishes. This led to Hulk jumping to the AWA, where his star presence and rare charisma galvanised the fanbase.

Along with occasional appearances from a barnstorming Andre the Giant, as well as the residence of legendary figures like Mad Dog, Crusher, Baron von Raschke, and Bockwinkel, the case could be made that the AWA had the best roster in all of American wrestling in the early 1980s. Along with an arena and television presence that stretched over much of the United States, the AWA looked like it was positioned to prosper for years to come.

Vince McMahon Enters The Picture

There was another pro wrestling promoter in Vince McMahon Jr. who was looking expand, though, having withdrawn the Northeast-based WWF from the National Wrestling Alliance in 1983, just one year after he purchased the promotion from his father. McMahon’s expansion was rapid too, having bought out Los Angeles from Mike LeBell in 1982 before WWF began to encroach on other’s promoter’s territories in 1983 and 1984, and McMahon, with television and an expanding roster, was able to bring fans to his product. 

The aggressive expansion of WWF ultimately cast Verne Gagne’s AWA as a rival, but McMahon actually tried to buy the AWA in the summer of 1983. Due to Gagne already holding a presence in Minneapolis, Chicago, Denver, Las Vegas, and San Francisco, a deal would have allowed WWF to control the top four media markets in the United States and seven of the top ten. 

Greg Gagne noted the meeting between Verne and Vince was cordial, but there was no pressing reason for the Gagnes to let go of the AWA. As the legend goes, when they dropped Vince off at the airport, he turned to the Gagne men and emphatically stated, "I don't negotiate."

Vince McMahon’s bullish tactics weren’t the reason for the demise of the AWA, however, and it was ultimately internal issues within the promotion that brought it down. 

Hulk Hogan - AWA World Heavyweight Champion?

The issue was evident in the early 1980s when AWA World Heavyweight Champion Nick Bockwinkel was placed in a program with the wildly-popular Hulk Hogan. The Hulkster was like no babyface in AWA history, very much a revelation as a comic book character come to life. 

To AWA fans, there was no more perfect foil to Bockwinkel's condescending arrogance and manager Heenan's underhandedness than a heavy dose of Hulkamania. On April 18, 1982 before 19,000 fans at the St. Paul Civic Center, Hogan challenged Bockwinkel for the AWA World Heavyweight Title. To those 19,000 in attendance, they seemingly witnessed Hogan capture the title, ending Bockwinkel's 11-month reign in grand fashion.

For the week that followed, they even believed Hogan was the champion but on April 24, however, it was announced that the decision was being reversed due to Bockwinkel introducing a foreign object into the match. The altered result was a Hogan win via DQ, which kept the title with Bockwinkel.

Hogan continued to chase the title throughout 1982, but the matches always ended with a screwy finish. Austrian powerhouse Otto Wanz briefly (and randomly) got to hold the AWA World Heavyweight Title later in the year, before dropping the belt back to Bockwinkel. Meanwhile, Hogan remained unable to secure an actual reign with the belt, but the AWA had another opportunity to belt up Hogan again.

One year on from the reversed decision, Hogan challenged Bockwinkel for the AWA World Heavyweight Title at AWA Super Sunday on April 24, 1983. Hogan won the title with his patented leg drop, and got to celebrate in front of an exultant crowd, but only for millisecond as it was announced that during a late-match ref bump, Hogan illegally threw Bockwinkel over the top rope. When everything was sorted out during Hogan's celebration, the decision was reversed, and Bockwinkel was given the DQ victory.

A crowd of 20,000 at the St. Paul Civic Center responded with some of the loudest chants of "bulls**t" to ever grave a pro wrestling venue and they revolted by throwing trash into the ring, sickened that the AWA would screw them in consecutive years. 

One of the main problems behind not elevating Hogan was how Verne Gagne viewed professional wrestling. Though he valued Hogan as a star attraction, Gagne apparently just couldn't bring himself to make Hogan champion, as Hogan didn't possess the legitimate athletic background that Verne unofficially required from his titleholders. As the AWA's world expanded, Hogan was apparently too out-of-this-world, too far removed from gritty, lunch-bucket reality, to be their champion.

Politics were also an issue, however, as the AWA’s deal with All Japan Pro-Wrestling allowed Giant Baba’s promotion to book the AWA World Champion. Hogan, though, had a lucrative deal with New Japan Pro-Wrestling and the Hulkster wasn’t willing to abandon NJPW for AJPW. 

Regardless, the result was the same for fed-up fans as no belt for Hogan meant no satisfaction for the masses of AWA fans. By the end of 1983, Hogan headed to New York and joined Vince McMahon's WWF.  

The biggest factor that drove Hogan away from the AWA wasn't the AWA World Heavyweight Title but his cut of merchandise sales. Hogan wanted a substantial cut and Verne baulked at readjusting the balance he had in place. This was even though Hogan’s presence at arenas would likely continue paying for itself, such was Terry Bollea’s popularity. 

AWA vs. WWF

Hogan wasn't the only one unhappy with how much he was being paid, though. Another AWA star in Jesse Ventura regularly had issues over money, and walked out on multiple occasions as a result, only to come back soon after. The final straw was eventually reached when Ventura and partner Mr. Saito took an unexpected pay cut for a main event match even though ticket sales were higher than usual. According to Ventura, the pay cut was due to the Gagnes going on a skiing trip to Colorado and needing a way to pay it off, so they took the money out of the wrestlers' paycheques. 

With the promise of big money and bigger opportunity, Ventura jumped to the WWF in 1984 along with other AWA regulars like David Schultz, Mad Dog Vachon, Adrian Adonis, Dick Murdoch, Mean Gene Okerlund, and Bobby Heenan. Meanwhile, Andre The Giant began to work exclusively for WWF, with his only outside excursions taking place in Japan and Mexico.

Stories about diminished payoffs and royalty imbalances illustrated the contentiousness that existed between Verne and his wrestlers. Gagne wasn't used to being dictated to by wrestlers seeking better payoffs and in a suddenly competitive marketplace, he was far too hesitant to try and match the ascending price tags.

If it wasn't money, it was a more generalised hostility. As Dave Meltzer later wrote: "McMahon took advantage of the fact that Gagne was hated by much of his talent."

In the summer of 1984, a turf war in Minnesota began as Vince McMahon turned his attention to encroaching on the AWA’s territory. Earlier that year, McMahon managed to usurp the AWA's TV contract in San Francisco, but promoting cards in Minnesota literally hit home. Younger fans also began switching to the WWF due to the higher production value over the AWA’s paltrier studio shows.

On June 17, WWF held a show at Minneapolis' Met Center, drawing 11,000 fans for their first-ever card in the city, headlined by familiar faces with Hulk Hogan vs. David Schultz.

In response to McMahon's calculated expansion, the AWA entered into an arrangement with several NWA groups, including Jim Crockett Promotions, Mid-South, PNW in Oregon, Dallas' World Class Championship Wrestling, and Memphis' Continental Wrestling Association, to form Pro Wrestling USA, a loose super league of the last remaining territories not controlled by Vince. The AWA acquired stars like Sgt. Slaughter and Bob Backlund to aid a roster still heavy on veterans, but also boasted promising youngsters like Rick Martel, Curt Hennig, Scott Hall, The Fabulous Freebirds, Larry Zbyszko, and The Road Warriors, along with the legendary wild man Bruiser Brody, who would work for the promotion when he felt like it.

The AWA were able to fight back too. When the inaugural WrestleMania aired on closed-circuit TV in March 1985, the AWA low-bridged the Federation's Chicago airing by running a card before 10,000 fans at the Rosemont Horizon on the same day. The pro wrestling war then only continued to heat up as WWF and AWA staged events only days apart in Minneapolis and Chicago, and the AWA were able to outdraw the WWF shows in the early going, with Verne coming out of retirement for some of the shows. 

McMahon, however, used arena tactics and WWF secured exclusivity to San Francisco’s Cow Palace, while WWF ended AWA’s exclusivity at the Rosemont Horizon.

From this point on, WWF began overtaking the AWA in the Windy City and by the end of 1985, WWF had started outdrawing AWA in Minneapolis as well.

The Fall Of The AWA

Despite this, the AWA were still in good stead. They secured a time slot on ESPN in August of 1985, securing a foothold on cable TV. Along with an excellent roster and reasonably-strong attendance figures, the AWA may have been losing ground to the WWF, but they were still a sturdy outfit.

The AWA was still working in conjunction with Pro Wrestling USA too and the group had a major event coming up in SuperClash, the outfit’s answer to WrestleMania. The show was held on Saturday, September 28, 1985 at Chicago’s Comiskey Park and more than 20,000 fans attended the 13-match show which included Ric Flair defending the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Title against Magnum TA and what ended up being a two-minute double DQ main event as AWA World Heavyweight Champion Rick Martel put the gold on the line against Stan Hansen. 

Major issues arose from the show, however, and there was a dispute over the show’s gate between Verne Gagne and Jim Crockett, with Gagne claiming a gate of $200,000 while Crockett placed the money brought in at $288,000. It was also rumoured that Jim’s brother David Crockett tried to sign away a number of AWA stars during the course of the evening. Pro Wrestling USA only lasted a few more months when Jim Crockett pulled out and the group disintegrated. 

The situation really began to change for the worse for the American Wrestling Association in 1986. First, Wally Karbo sold his share of the promotion to Verne Gagne, before Blackjack Lanza left and joined WWF as a backstage agent, quickly allegedly helping WWF take over the AWA’s TV slot and local arena in Winnipeg. TV and arena takeovers continued in the AWA's home market too as the WWF's Rock 'n' Wrestling blitz was far too tempting for station and building managers to not climb aboard. 

Seven months after SuperClash, Verne attempted another Mania-level extravaganza with WrestleRock, a 16-match mega-card at The Metrodome in Minneapolis. To promote the event, the AWA put together a music video in the vein of the Chicago Bears' popular 'Super Bowl Shuffle' with the knock-off 'The WrestleRock Rumble', which did no one any favours, especially when Gagne was rapping. 

WrestleRock drew a healthy 23,000 to the dome, though it had the dubious distinction of settling for an ill-fitting musical guest. Instead of getting their first choice of Minneapolis' own Prince, the AWA instead went with country star Waylon Jennings and only a tenth of the audience stayed for his post-show concert.

The event marked another huge exit too as The Road Warriors finished up with the AWA following their Steel Cage Match victory over The Freebirds. Plenty of viable young talent remained in Minnesota in Scott Hall, Curt Hennig, Nord the Barbarian, the future Vader and The Midnight Rockers of Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty. There were, however, issues between Gagne and his now-AWA World Heavyweight Champion Stan Hansen. 

Hansen was ulimately unhappy with his booking as he was given a laundry list of squash wins over locals instead of somebody substantial he could draw money with. Already in a sour mood, when Hansen was informed he would be dropping the AWA belt to Nick Bockwinkel, he walked out of the company, taking the belt with him on a tour of All Japan.

The AWA ended up stripping Hansen of the belt for no-showing a planned title bout in Denver with Bockwinkel, while demanding that Hansen return the belt. Hansen did return the title, but only after running it over repeatedly with his pick-up truck. Reportedly, when Hansen mailed the title back to the AWA offices, there was still mud caked on the belt plates. Hansen has since expressed regret with how he handled the situation, but it didn’t help the AWA at the time, who were beginning to suffer from a credibility deficit, with issues only compounded by the primitive programme the promotion were airing on ESPN. 

With attendances dropping, paycheques were also falling. Jim Brunzell openly admitted that while he was grateful to Verne for giving him his start and putting his faith in him, he had to move to WWF in order to make good money.

Unable and/or unwilling to invest more money in keeping his roster well-stocked, Gagne allegedly put the AWA up for sale in 1986 for $3 million. Reportedly, one of the sale conditions was assuring long-term (if not lifetime) employment for Verne's son Greg. This promised to cause issues as while Greg wasn’t a bad wrestler and was considered a solid technician as one half of the High Flyers with Brunzell, Greg was out of place in the colourful 1980s world of pro wrestling. Gagne reportedly held talks with Vince McMahon for several weeks but a sale failed to materialise.  

While McMahon didn’t secure the AWA, he did sign exclusivity rights to the St. Paul Civic Center, the AWA’s home venue, in late 1986. More talents also fled the territory as The Crusher headed to WWF and worked house shows for Vince McMahon’s promotion in the AWA’s home arenas. The following year, Bockwinkel ended his 17-year association with the AWA, jumping to the WWF after dropping the AWA World Heavyweight Title to 29-year-old Curt Hennig at SuperClash 2 in San Francisco in front of just 2800 fans. Bockwinkel was reportedly once under consideration to play The Million Dollar Man in the WWF, but he instead retired and became a backstage official.

Also making the move to the WWF in this period was former champion Rick Martel, Boris Zhukov and Sensational Sherri. The Midnight Rockers jumped in mid-1987, but eventually returned to the AWA after getting fired one day into their WWF tenure after a bar fight, only to go back to WWF in 1988. Curt Hennig also left after dropping the AWA World Heavyweight Title to Jerry Lawler, while Baron von Raschke was briefly brought in by WWF as a manager for the Powers of Pain, and even announcer Ron Trongard ended up with a job in New York. 

It was a disheartening sign of the times when in February of 1988, Gagne presented a card at the due-to-be-demolished Minneapolis Auditorium - where he began his career - and only 1700 fans showed up to watch the end of the venue. Badly wounded, Gagne did try to boost his hopes with a venture with CWA and World Class, but it fell apart with SuperClash III in AWA’s only pay-per-view at the end of 1988. 

Less than 1700 fans showed up to Chicago's UIC Pavilion to witness a muddled card, complete with a screwy finish in a title unification match pitting AWA champ Lawler against World Class titleholder Kerry Von Erich. Not only was the show poor, but issues between Gagne and co-promoter Jerry Jarrett (as well as Gagne reportedly not paying the visiting performers) led to the destruction of their cooperative. It also led to further devaluation of the AWA belt, as Lawler was stripped of the title when Memphis pulled away from Verne's group.

As 1989 began, the AWA was firmly on life support. Larry Zbyszko (Verne's son-in-law) won the vacant belt in a battle royal. Ageing stars like Patera, McDaniel, Col. DeBeers, and Sgt. Slaughter occupied space with young hopefuls like Kokina Maximus (the future Yokozuna), Tom Zenk, The Destruction Crew, Bad Company, and "The Trooper" Del Wilkes (who would one day become The Patriot). Office worker Eric Bischoff became a TV personality, giving him more experience in a business he would briefly sit atop of with WCW in the 1990s.

Perhaps erroneously, Bischoff has been credited (or blamed) with creating the AWA Team Challenge Series. The Series was a confusing, poorly-constructed competition in which what was left of the roster was divided into three teams, and the participants faced off in a series of random gimmick matches, all for a purported prize of $1 million. The idea was awful. 

By 1990, the writing on the wall had been underlined several times. About the only good news was that Zbyszko's dropping of the title to Mr. Saito took place in front of over 60,000 fans - though that's only because it occurred on the undercard of a New Japan event at the Tokyo Dome. It was far less prestigious when Zbyszko regained the belt that April, in front of just 2000 fans at SuperClash IV in St. Paul, though that was practically WrestleMania when compared to many of the final TV tapings, which were held in an empty TV studio.

The final taping occurred in August 1990. After a few more house shows that year, champion Zbyszko jumped to WCW, causing the belt to be vacated one last time. WWF plucked Slaughter in 1990, as well as Paul Diamond. The following year, WWF brought in Nord the Barbarian to become The Berzerker, and The Destruction Crew to play The Beverly Brothers.

The AWA officially closed in 1991 as the money losses were just too much. Bischoff later explained that one of the reasons Verne had to pull the plug was the loss of one of AWA's main financial resources in property Verne owned near Lake Minnetonka that the government seized in an eminent domain case. When that monetary pipeline was shut off, AWA had next to no fuel left.

The Legacy Of The AWA

Across its 30 year history, the AWA ran the gamut between pro wrestling hotbed and shambling also-ran. So many important stars got their start, or found their first taste of success, in Verne Gagne's American Wrestling Association.

Through some savvy business moves, Gagne grew the territory from its Twin Cities roots to something genuinely resembling a national power, with access to outside regions thanks to friendly working relationships.

The AWA had a cable TV deal, and was home to Hulk Hogan's first big babyface push. They drew big crowds to outdoor stadiums, and could've been the consensus pick for best American promotion in different years during the 1970s and 1980s.

When things went south, though, they went south quickly. Losing Hogan was more than just a crucial gain on Vince's part - it was a tide-turning occurrence that came to define the rise of one promotion and the fall of another's.

When Vince reconfigured the WWF to fit into trendy 1980s pop culture, Verne's company stumbled, unwilling or unsure how to evolve. McMahon did pluck away many valuable AWA talents and did run Verne's strongholds with increased fervour, but this was a case where Vince couldn't really be blamed for destroying another company. The most damaging thing Vince did to the AWA was put on a superior show, one that the AWA looked laughably inferior against when viewed through the same lens.

Verne had a penchant for alienating good talents, particularly when it came to money. He was used to calling the shots, so when the Hogans and the Venturas of the world felt they deserved more, they found a boss willing to give them more. Others made the jump for money, but another motivation was perception; the expanding WWF was the place to be, while the stagnating AWA wasn't.

Audience and talent erosion killed the metrics dead, and Verne found himself throwing money into the fire year after declining year. Strategic alliances quickly failed, leaving the AWA as a dead-end business awaiting the inevitable.

A fair look at history will show that the AWA had a mostly-incredible three-decade run, and was responsible for so much valuable wrestling history. But when times changed, the AWA didn't, and the final years were a painful limp into pro wrestling's beyond.