10 Times Wrestlers Unified Titles

By 1988, Vince McMahon's national expansion was an unstoppable juggernaut running through the territory system like Goldberg through Bray Wyatt.

Sensing doom, AWA owner Verne Gagne decided SuperClash III was the way to turn things around. Having lost his ace, Curt Hennig, to WWE, Gagne now had his World title around the waist of Jerry Lawler. In a desperate bid to get butts in seats, a double World title bout between Lawler and WCWA World champ Kerry Von Erich was billed as the headliner (though it didn't even go on last at the event).

With less than 2000 spectators in a venue that could fit 10,000, the show was a disaster from start to finish. Lawler controversially won via ref stoppage and was crowned the inaugural USWA Unified Heavyweight Champion. The match was a disaster due to the future Texas Tornado accidentally blading his arm wide open right before bell time.

Now legendary for the wild level of politicking and backstabbing going on backstage, SuperClash III's attempt at creating a World title big enough to rival WWE's was an unmitigated failure. Gagne later stripped Lawler of the AWA title in a bid to restore it as a separate entity while Fritz Von Erich's WCCW dropped out of the USWA entirely in 1990.

Lawler's painfully brief run as a unified champ was a fascinating booking idea for the time that ultimately flopped harder than anyone could've imagined.