AWA World Women's Championship

The AWA World Women's Championship was the women's professional wrestling title in the American Wrestling Association (AWA) from 1961 until 1990.

AWA World Women's Championship
Details
Promotion	American Wrestling Association (AWA)
Date established	1954
Date retired	1991
Statistics First champion(s) June Byers Most reigns Candi Devine (4 times) Longest reign Kay Noble (3,127 days) Shortest reign Candi Devine (3 days)

Title history

Key

No.	Overall reign number
Reign	Reign number for the specific champion
Days	Number of days held

No.	Champion	Championship change			Reign statistics		Notes	Ref.
		Date	Event	Location	Reign	Days
1	June Byers	August 20, 1954	House show	Atlanta, GA	1	2563	Byers defeated Mildred Burke for the NWA World Women's Championship and continues to be recognized by AWA after it splits from NWA in 1960.	^[1]
2	Penny Banner	August 26, 1961	House show	Angola, IN	1	493	AWA ceased to recognize June Byers as women's champion after she no-showed a title defense. Banner won a battle royal to become the new AWA World Women's Champion.
—	Vacated	January 1, 1963	—	—	—	—	The AWA vacated the championship on January 1, 1963, but June Byers continued to be recognized as champion by the NWA until she retired in January 1964.
3	Kay Noble	April 13, 1963	House show	Saint Paul, MN	1	3127	Defeated Kathy Starr to win the vacant championship.	^[2]
4	Vivian Vachon	November 4, 1971	House show	Winnipeg, Manitoba	1	651
5	Betty Nicoli	August 16, 1973	House show	Winnipeg, Manitoba	1	587
—	Vacated	March 27, 1975	—	—	—	—	The championship was vacated when Betty Nicoli retired.
6	Candi Devine	November 2, 1984	House show	Minneapolis, MN	1	^[Note 1]	Devine won a battle royal to win the vacant championship.
7	Sherri Martel	September 28, 1985	SuperClash	Chicago, IL	1	5		^[3]
—	Vacated	October 3, 1985	—	—	—	—	The championship was vacated for undocumented reasons.
8	Candi Devine	October 14, 1985	House show	Memphis, TN	2	3	Devine was awarded the championship without title match.
9	Sherri Martel	October 17, 1985	House show	Winnipeg, Manitoba	2	91		^[4]
10	Candi Devine	January 16, 1986	House show	Winnipeg, Manitoba	3	163		^[5]
11	Sherri Martel	June 28, 1986	Battle by the Bay	Oakland, CA	3	391
—	Vacated	July 24, 1987	—	—	—	—	The championship was vacated when Sherri Martel went to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF).
12	Madusa Miceli	December 27, 1987	AWA Championship Wrestling	Las Vegas, NV	1	335	Defeated Candi Devine to win the vacant championship.	^[6]^[7]
13	Wendi Richter	November 26, 1988	House show	Bloomington, MN	1	^[Note 2]		^[8]
—	Vacated	N/A	—	—	—	—	The championship was vacated when Wendi Richter left the promotion; she was still advertised as champion for the show where Devine wins the vacant title.
14	Candi Devine	December 6, 1989	House show	Toronto, ON	4	^[Note 3]	Devine defeated Judy Martin to win the vacant championship; Monster Ripper defeated Devine on July 7, 1990 at the WWC 17th Anniversary show in Bayamón, Puerto Rico to claim the title,^[9] but Ripper was never officially recognized as champion by the AWA.
—	Deactivated	January 12, 1991	—	—	—	—	The championship retired when the AWA closed.	^[10]

Combined reigns

¤	The exact length of a title reign is uncertain; the combined length may not be correct.

Rank	Wrestler	No. of reigns	Combined days
1	Kay Noble	1	3,127
2	June Byers	1	2,563
3	Candi Devine	4	859–918¤
4	Vivian Vachon	1	651
5	Betty Nicoli	1	587
6	Penny Banner	1	493
7	Sherri Martel	3	487
8	Wendi Richter	1	370–375¤
9	Madusa Miceli	1	335

Notes

1. The exact date that Devine won the championship is unknown, meaning that her reign lasted between 302 and 331 days.
2. The exact date the championship was vacated is unknown, which means the title reign lasted between 370 and 375 days.
3. The exact date the AWA ceased operating is unknown, putting the reign at somewhere between 391 and 421 days.

References

1. Hoops, Brian (August 20, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history (August 20): June Byers wins NWA Women's belt, Michael Shane wins TNA X-Division title". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. from the original on February 13, 2017. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
2. Hoops, Brian (April 13, 2016). "Daily pro wrestling history (04/13): Samoa Joe wins TNA World Title; Terry Funk wins ECW World Title". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. from the original on July 12, 2023. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
3. "SuperClash I". Pro Wrestling History. September 28, 1985. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
4. Hoops, Brian (October 17, 2016). "Daily Pro Wrestling History (10/17): Triple H vs. Steve Austin at No Mercy 1999". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. from the original on September 26, 2022. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
5. Hoops, Brian (January 16, 2019). "Pro wrestling history (01/16): Arn Anderson & Bobby Eaton win WCW Tag Team Titles". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved January 18, 2019.
6. Hoops, Brian (December 27, 2016). "Daily Pro Wrestling History (12/27): Kevin Nash ends Goldberg's streak at Starrcade". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. from the original on June 30, 2022. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
7. "CvC: Made In USA, the Greatest Women's Champion is Debra Miceli". Bleacher Report. July 30, 2009. from the original on January 16, 2018. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
8. Hoops, Brian (November 26, 2015). "Daily pro wrestling history (11/26): Scott Steiner wins WCW World Title, WCW vs. WWF on PPV". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. from the original on December 7, 2022. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
9. ClassicsWWC (2012-07-23), WWC: Monster Ripper vs. Candi Devine (1990), archived from the original on 2021-12-13, retrieved 2018-01-23
10. Hoops, Brian (February 4, 2008). "PWTorch.com Nostalgia: AWA History: The Rise, The Fall and the Legacy". PWTorch.com. from the original on April 17, 2023. Retrieved July 14, 2023.

External links

• AWA World Women's Title History