Over the years — while WWE has continued to thrive as the industry leader for decades — many once-successful pro wrestling companies have gone under. One such company is the American Wrestling Association, which ran for an impressive 31 years, from 1960 to 1991.

RELATED: 10 Best AWA Stars Who Made It Big In WWE, Ranked

At this point, the AWA is on the cusp of being defunct for longer than it’s existed, and its legacy is increasingly forgotten by modern fans. Rather than continue to let it slip away, let’s take a look at the history of the American Wrestling Association, from its beginnings all the way to its conclusion — and what happened after.

10 Founded By Verne Gagne

Verne Gagne

The crucial figure behind the American Wrestling Association is Verne Gagne. An impressive athlete with legitimate skills, Gagne was part of the 1948 Summer Olympics U.S. wrestling team as an alternate and briefly played football for the Chicago Bears. In the squared circle, Verne Gagne became a top star in the midwest wrestling scene in the 1950s, but also contributed to the future of the sport as a trainer, with notable students including Ricky Steamboat, The Iron Sheik, and even Ric Flair.

9 Broke Away From The NWA

NWA National Wrestling Alliance logo

The American Wrestling Association was founded as part of a schism from the National Wrestling Alliance. Gagne wanted a title match with World Champion Pat O’Connor, but the NWA wasn’t biting. In response, Gagne and his business partner Wally Karbo convinced several midwest territories to break from the NWA and organized them in the AWA. In forming the AWA, the organization awarded the AWA World Heavyweight Championship to Pat O’Connor, giving him 90 days to defend the title against Gagne. When O’Connor and the NWA once again didn’t bite, the belt was awarded to Gagne.

8 Verne Gagne Held The World Heavyweight Title Ten Times

Verne Gagne with the AWA World Title

While he’s technically the second AWA World Heavyweight Champion, Verne Gagne is actually the first to hold the belt and defend it. Over the course of the following 26 years, Verne Gagne would become World Champion 10 times, with reigns ranging from 2,625 days to 7 days.

RELATED: 10 Things Wrestling Fans Should Know About Verne Gagne

As World Champion, Gagne would take on all the top heels, with notable opponents being legendary Midwestern heel Baron Von Rashke as well as World Class Championship Wrestling founder Fritz Von Erich.

7 Nick Bockwinkel Was Heir To The AWA Throne

Nick Bockwinkel

Verne Gagne’s final reign with the world title would last from July 1980 to May 1981, ending with Gagne’s retirement as a full-timer. Rather than stage a tournament to determine a new champion, the belt was awarded to Nick Bockwinkel, who’d basically become the focus of the promotion going forward and a four-time World Champion. Previously a babyface in various territories, the technically gifted Bockwinkel debuted for AWA in 1970 and ascended to top heel status, with his receiving of the World Title in 1981 making him even more hated.

6 Hulk Hogan Became A Star in AWA

Hulk Hogan and Mean Gene Okerlund in the American Wrestling Association

A year after being awarded the World Title, Nick Bockwinkel gained an amazing foil in Hulk Hogan, an ex-WWE heel wrestler who became a celebrity thanks to his role as Thunderlips in the film Rocky 3. In the AWA, he quickly became the top babyface in the company, with his World Title challenges against Bockwinkel becoming huge draws. Despite that, Verne Gagne was reportedly unwilling to put the belt on Hogan due to his lack of technical skills, and in kayfabe Hogan was cheated out of huge title wins on several occasions.

5 Suffered Talent Raids By WWE

Mr. Perfect

Before long, Vince McMahon and WWE enticed Hulk Hogan away from the American Wrestling Association in 1983 with a better deal that involved Hogan actually winning the World Title. As the 1980s went on, WWE would expand from being a New York territory to being a national promotion, and pillaged the territories for their top talent. Despite its high profile, AWA spent the decade hemorrhaging talent, with notable losses including not only in-ring performers like Jesse Ventura and Curt Hennig, but also manager Bobby Heenan and backstage interviewer Mean Gene Okerlund.

4 Only Held One PPV

Logo for AWA SuperClash 3

The 1980s also saw the rise of pay-per-view as a new way to hold big matches and make money off wider audiences, with NWA’s Starrcade ‘83 being the first and WWE’s first WrestleMania in 1985 being considered the big game-changer. The American Wrestling Association followed suit in 1988, delivering its only PPV in SuperClash 3.

RELATED: 10 Cross-Promotional Wrestling Events You Completely Forgot About

The only non-WWE, non-NWA/WCW PPV to be held in the 1980s, SuperClash 3 was a multi-promotional affair, with the biggest match being a World Title unification match between World Class’s Kerry Von Erich and AWA’s Jerry Lawler.

3 SuperClash 3 Was The Turning Point

Kerry Von Erich vs. Jerry Lawler at AWA SuperClash 3

In the years since its airing, SuperClash 3 has been considered the big turning point for the American Wrestling Association — in a bad way. Pay-per-view buyrates were low, the event itself was deemed a disappointment, and Verne Gagne reportedly stiffed much of the talent on their paydays — including Jerry Lawler — which killed the company’s reputation with other wrestlers. On top of that, AWA was on a creative decline, having lost many of its stars to WWE while Gagne insisted on pushing his own son, Greg Gagne.

2 What Happened To The AWA

American Wrestling Association logo

Following SuperClash 3, the American Wrestling Association continued on for a few more years, with the final episodes of its weekly television show airing in August of 1990 before devolving into reruns. In 1991, the promotion officially filed for bankruptcy, signaling the end of the AWA as an active promotion. According to former employee and later WCW boss Eric Bischoff, much of AWA’s money came from lakefront property Verne Gagne owned, which he ended up losing via eminent domain when the local government sought to turn the area into a park.

1 Owned By WWE

The Spectacular Legacy Of The AWA (2006)

While the promotion was inactive, AWA content was repackaged into compilation pay-per-views and DVDs until about 2003, when WWE bought the rights to the promotion and its tape library for a reported $3 million. In 2006, WWE put out a documentary, The Spectacular Legacy of the AWA, which tracked the history of Verne Gagne and his promotion, with interviews with the various figures involved, including Gagne himself. Since then, WWE has made much of AWA’s content — including the aforementioned SuperClash 3 — available on the WWE Network and later the NBC streaming app Peacock.