10 Wrestling Promotions You Never Knew Existed

9. World Wrestling All-Stars

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q48HOUm-tRs The WWA promotion, or World Wrestling All-Stars, was an attempt to steal away some viewers from the WWE following ECW€™s closure and the buyout of World Championship Wrestling. In 2001, WWE was attempting to integrate former WCW stars into its programming via the lackluster Invasion -- and subsequently, Alliance -- storyline. However, the Federation was unable to sign many of WCW€™s top stars because of their costly contracts with the Turner organization -- which came separate from WWE€™s purchase of the WCW library and trademarks. As such, World Wrestling All-Stars was created in late 2001. The promotion quickly featured many former WWE and WCW stars, as well as untapped younger talent. Essentially, the WWA promotion acted as a precursor to TNA Wrestling -- featuring many of the same stars and behind-the-scenes personalities. While the company was primarily based in Australia, they aired all of their pay-per-view events in the United States and toured both Europe and the U.S. before folding in 2003. The company got off to a rocky start as it didn€™t seem to have much going for it other than its dependence on established stars. For example, the WWA World Heavyweight Championship was held by Jeff Jarrett, the Road Dogg, Scott Steiner, Sting, Lex Luger, and even short-lived WWE talent, Nathan Jones. Bret Hart was also named as the original commissioner for the company. The WWA held its fifth and final PPV event in May of 2003. The promotion€™s closure had already been announced, and as such, the WWA titles were unified with TNA€™s belts. Jarrett unified the WWA Championship with his NWA World title when he defeated Sting. Meanwhile, Chris Sabin won a four-man match to unify the WWA International Cruiserweight belt with the TNA X-Division title.