10 Obscure International Wrestling Championships
3. America's Championship (AWA)
Much like Dino Bravo’s WWF Canadian Championship, the AWA America’s Championship was created largely as a promotional tool for one particular wrestling superstar - that star being Sgt Slaughter.
At the time, Sgt. Slaughter was billed as the archetypal all-American good guy; playing off this iron-clad background as a flag-waving patriot and a bonafide army drill instructor. Upon signing with the American Wrestling Association, Verne Gagne quickly introduced the AWA America’s Championship as a means of getting Slaughter over with the AWA audience and further reinforcing his character as Uncle Sam’s ultimate babyface
Despite memorable success as a tag practitioner with Don Kernodle, Slaughter also had a solid background as a singles competitor; having already challenged Bob Backlund several times for the WWF Championship during his initial two runs with Vince Sr. from 1980-81 and 83-85. Slaughter had also held the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship for seven months during his time in Mid-Atlantic and had even challenged Ric Flair for his NWA World’s Heavyweight Title on numerous occasions, making him a viable contender and perfect fit for the new AWA America’s Title.
Originally held by Larry Zbyszko, the title debuted in January 1985 but was quickly transitioned over to the Sarge; instantly reinforcing his character as the prototypical role model to anyone that bled red, white and blue. Slaughter would go on to defend the title against numerous luminaries of the AWA - including such notable names as Kamala and Nick Bockwinkel - before the belt was retired in late 1986.
Perhaps the most notable outing for the title came at the very first SuperClash event in front of 21,000 fans on September 28th, 1985 in a true slice of wrestling Americana. On that night, Sgt Slaughter defended the gold against Soviet heel, Boris Zukhov, in a sign of the times as the G.I. Joe alumnus looked to uphold truth, justice and the American way against his Russian adversary amid the backdrop of the Cold War. The title was abandoned soon after without explanation.