World Wrestling All-Stars (WWA) was a

professional wrestling promotion A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling that has little relationship to the rules of the amateur olympic form. "Promotion" also describes a role which entails mana ...

founded by

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

concert promoter Tour promoters (also known as concert promoters or talent buyers) are the individuals or companies responsible for organizing a live concert tour or special event performance. The tour promoter makes an offer of engagement to a particular artist, ...

Andrew McManus Andrew McManus was the owner and promoter of the short lived World Wrestling All-Stars promotion. The WWA toured Australia, Europe and New Zealand airing their shows on USA pay-per-view. McManus appeared on air a few times to make some annou ...

in 2001. The promotion was operated by McManus' International Touring Company. WWA was one of several promotions to come into existence shortly after the closings of

Extreme Championship Wrestling HHG Corporation, doing business as Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), was a professional wrestling promotion and media company that was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The promotion was founded in 1992 by Tod Gordon as National Wrest ...

(ECW) and

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Nati ...

(WCW). The company was in existence from October 2001 to May 2003.

History

WWA recruited former WCW ring announcer

Jeremy Borash Jeremy Borash (born July 19, 1974), is an American professional wrestling play-by-play commentator, announcer, ring announcer, booker, interviewer, and producer who is currently signed to WWE. He is known for his work in Impact Wrestling as ...

as booker and head of talent for its shows. He also acted as ring announcer and commentator for their shows. Borash was recommended to the WWA by

Vince Russo Vincent James Russo (born January 24, 1961) is an American professional wrestling booker, writer, and pundit. He is notable for his tenures with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Total No ...

, who was not able to work with the company as originally planned. WWA focused on signing the wrestlers that did not get signed by the

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and var ...

(WWF) after the WWF-WCW merger. They aimed to fill the gap left by the demise of

and

and provide an alternative to the

(now known as

World Wrestling Entertainment World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and var ...

). Many popular former WWF and WCW wrestlers wrestled for the company during its nearly two-year existence. These included

Jeff Jarrett Jeffrey Leonard Jarrett (born July 14, 1967) is an American professional wrestler and promoter. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he also serves as Director of Business Development. Beginning his career in his father ...

, Road Dogg,

Scott Steiner Scott Rechsteiner (born July 29, 1962), better known by the ring name Scott Steiner, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). Steiner is perhaps best known for his time in World Championshi ...

Sting Sting may refer to: * Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger * Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself Fictional characters and entities * Sting (Middle-earth ...

Psicosis Dionicio Castellanos Torres (born May 19, 1971) is a Mexican professional wrestler, better known by the ring names Psicosis (sometimes Anglicised as Psychosis) and Nicho el Millonario. He is best known for his appearances with the promotions Luc ...

Devon Storm Christopher Ford (born March 4, 1974) is an American professional wrestler, best known for his tenure in World Championship Wrestling under the ring name Crowbar, where he was a one time Hardcore Champion, a one time World Tag Team Champion wi ...

Juventud Guerrera Eduardo Aníbal González Hernández (born November 23, 1974) is a Mexican professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Juventud "Juvi" Guerrera. Guerrera is best known for his appearances with the Mexican professional wrestling prom ...

, Rick Steiner,

Jerry Lynn Jeremy Lynn (born June 12, 1963), better known by the ring name Jerry Lynn, is an American retired professional wrestler currently signed with All Elite Wrestling as a producer and coach. He has worked for promotions such as World Championship ...

Shane Douglas Troy Allan Martin (born November 21, 1964) is an American professional wrestler and promoter, better known by his ring name Shane Douglas. He is best known for his tenures in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), World Championship Wrestling (W ...

Buff Bagwell Marcus Alexander Bagwell (born January 10, 1970) is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name, Buff Bagwell. He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) from 1991 to 2001, where he was a fiv ...

Lex Luger Lawrence Wendell Pfohl (born June 2, 1958), better known by the ring name Lex Luger, is an American retired professional wrestler, bodybuilder, and football player. In 2011 he began working with WWE on its wellness policy. He is best known for h ...

, Stevie Ray, Sabu and Disco Inferno. They also brought in relatively unknown wrestlers, many of whom went on to make names for themselves for other promotions like

TNA TNA may refer to: Organisations * Tamil National Alliance, a political coalition in Sri Lanka * The National Alliance, a political party in Kenya * The National Archives (United Kingdom), a UK public body * Tonga Nurses' Association, a trade union ...

. These included Low Ki, A.J. Styles,

Christopher Daniels Daniel Christopher Covell (born March 24, 1970), better known by the ring name Christopher Daniels, is an American semi-retired professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and is the Head of Talent Relations. He is best kn ...

Frankie Kazarian Frank Benedict Gerdelman (born August 4, 1977) is an American professional wrestler and musician currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), performing under the ring name Frankie Kazarian. In addition, Kazarian also performs for Impact Wrest ...

, Shark Boy, and Nathan Jones (known as "the Colossus of Boggo Road). Further big names like

Kevin Nash Kevin Scott Nash (born July 9, 1959) is an American actor and retired professional wrestler, currently signed to WWE under a legends contract. He is best known for his tenure with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) where he performed under his ...

Scott Hall Scott Oliver Hall (October 20, 1958 – March 14, 2022) was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his tenures with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) under his real name and under the ring name the Diamond Studd and with the ...

, and

Randy Savage Randall Mario Poffo (November 15, 1952 – May 20, 2011), better known by his ring name "Macho Man" Randy Savage, was an American professional wrestler best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Championship Wrestl ...

were scheduled to appear for WWA at some point but their appearances did not happen. The promotion had three in ring commissioners during its time, namely

Bret Hart Bret Hart (born July 2, 1957) is a Canadian-American retired professional wrestler, currently signed to WWE under a legend's contract. A member of the Hart wrestling family and a second-generation wrestler, he has an amateur wrestling back ...

Sid Vicious John Simon Ritchie (10 May 1957 – 2 February 1979), better known by his stage name Sid Vicious, was an English musician, best known as the bassist for the punk rock band Sex Pistols. Despite dying in 1979 at age 21, he remains an icon of the ...

and Mike Sanders.

First Tour and the Inception PPV

The WWA held its first tour in October 2001, covering dates across Australia. During this time the Road Dogg defeated

to become the first WWA World Champion. However, the title was then vacated to allow for it to be competed for during a title tournament at their first PPV, the Inception. This tournament involved 4 quarterfinals matches (one of which was a battle royal), 2 semi-finals and a final held inside a steel cage. This debut PPV was held inside a full-sized arena in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...

and production values were of a decent standard. However, the event was universally panned by the critics for being short at 2 hours overall and various matches being too short to be able to run to their full potential. The use of WCW style comic story lines also did little to endear themselves to the viewing public as a serious alternative to the WWF. Some such comic storylines involved Australian kids TV performers, The Fruits in suits (who were a parody of The Bananas in Pyjamas), interfering in matches and former WCW joke team Lenny Lane and Lodi being allowed to compete in the semi-final after an injury forced Juventud Guerrera to withdraw. The final of the title tournament saw the Road Dogg face Jeff Jarrett. Commissioner

was at ringside for the match and interfered on a number of occasions to prevent anyone winning the match using his sharpshooter move. In the end Jarrett won the match with his trademark guitar shot and became the champion.

UK Tour

Next the WWA toured the UK in December 2001. This tour largely included the same line up as the Inception PPV tour. Additions to the card were former

WCW World Heavyweight Champion The WCW World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship originally used in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and later, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It was the original world title o ...

Scott Steiner and former WWF tag team competitor Brian Christopher. Although the events drew several thousand fans at times the WWA failed to consistently draw large crowds. The main event on this tour was usually Jeff Jarrett versus Road Dogg versus Scott Steiner for the title in a three-way dance. Jarrett successfully defended his title each time.

Revolution PPV

On 24 February 2002, the WWA held its second PPV, The Revolution. It was the promotion's first and only event to take place in the USA. This event took place in the Aladdin Casino in Las Vegas, NV. This was a smaller venue, which reflected upon the look and style of the show. Months before the event, initial advertisements plugged the reunion of

and

. However, this did not happen due to both men signing contracts to return to the WWF. Then

was advertised to be appearing in the main event against Jeff Jarrett for the WWA Heavyweight Championship. Savage backed out of the event during the weekend and this wasn't announced until the pre-show where a big red "X" and the text "NOT APPEARING" was overlaid on all images of Savage. Road Dogg, also heavily advertised for this show, did not appear either. Andrew McManus opened the show with a prepared statement in his office, confirming that Savage would not be appearing, leading to some fans feeling cheated.

appeared after the opening match as the WWA Commissioner. He announced to the live crowd that Randy Savage was not at the show and was being replaced in the main event by Brian Christopher. An amount of significant talent was arguably underutilized on the show. Former WCW World Tag Team Champions KroniK wrestled an unknown Native-American

gimmick A gimmick is a novel device or idea designed primarily to attract attention or increase appeal, often with little intrinsic value. When applied to retail marketing, it is a unique or quirky feature designed to make a product or service "stand ou ...

tag team called Native Blood and defeated them in less than five minutes. Former

showed up, only to cut a quick promo and beat Disco Inferno in a two-minute match. Former ECW World Heavyweight Champion

also made an appearance in a promo. This was a genuine surprise, as few knew he had been released from his WWF contract before his appearance on this show. Rick Steiner and

Ernest Miller Ernest Clifford Miller (born January 14, 1964) is an American actor and former professional wrestler who worked for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) better known by his ring name, Ernest "The Cat" Miller. ...

defeated Lenny and Lodi in a match that only lasted 58 seconds.

Larry Zbyszko Lawrence Whistler (born December 5, 1951), better known by the ring name Larry Zbyszko, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is perhaps best known for his feud with his mentor, Bruno Sammartino, during the early 1980s as well as his w ...

(who alongside

Arn Anderson Martin Anthony Lunde (born September 20, 1958), better known by the ring name Arn Anderson, is an American professional wrestling road agent, author, and retired professional wrestler. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a ...

formed the legendary tag team The Enforcers) showed up to cut a promo on

Vince McMahon Vincent Kennedy McMahon (; born August 24, 1945) is an American media proprietor and retired professional wrestling promoter, executive, and performer. From 1982 to 2022, he served as the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of WWE, the ...

challenging him to a fight and talking about

Chris Jericho Christopher Keith Irvine (born November 9, 1970), better known by the ring name Chris Jericho, is an American-Canadian professional wrestler and singer. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is the leader of the Jerich ...

, who was WWF Champion at the time, saying that he stole Zbyszko's "Living Legend" moniker. He mocked Jericho by accusing him of "being too short to be a world champion", despite Zbyszko actually being shorter in height than Jericho himself. Jarrett defeated Christopher in the main event to retain the title. Eddie Guerrero became the WWA International Cruiserweight Champion by defeating

and

Eruption PPV and Australian Tour

In April the WWA returned to Australia for a tour and to film its third PPV, The Eruption. During this tour Nathan Jones won the WWA title after winning a 4 corners match against

and Brian Christopher. The Eruption PPV was held at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia. The show started with Jeff Jarrett being escorted away from the building proclaiming he would be back (Jarrett never appeared after this). It presumed this was prerecorded earlier in the week. A new Cruiserweight Champion was crowned at the show after

Eddie Guerrero Eduardo Gory Guerrero Llanes (October 9, 1967 – November 13, 2005) was an American professional wrestler. He was a prominent member of the Guerrero wrestling family, being the son of first-generation wrestler Gory Guerrero. Eddie Guerrero ...

had returned to the WWF. A.J. Styles defeated

in the tournament final to win the title. Another match of note was a cage match between Sabu and Devon Storm. Sabu won the match after leaping from the top of the cage onto Devon Storm, who was laid on top of a double deck of tables. In the main event

defeated Nathan Jones to win the title. He would later give up the title to sign with the WWF. A further UK and European tour was planned for after this event. The WWA postponed the tour from May 2002 to November 2002, citing injuries to its major stars as the reason. However, it is believed that poor ticket sales may be the true reason.

Retribution PPV and European Tour

The WWA toured the UK in December 2002, filming The Retribution PPV in Glasgow Scotland. The WWA title remained vacant for the first half of the tour, with it being held up to be decided at the PPV. Mike Sanders took over as commissioner for this tour and fought

Joe E. Legend Joseph Edward Hitchen (born September 2, 1969) is a Canadian retired professional wrestler and trainer, known under his ring name Joe E. Legend. He also wrestled for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from 2000 to 2001 under the ring name Just J ...

each night. Memorable matches on this tour included a three-way hardcore match including Sabu, Perry Saturn and Simon Diamond. Retribution was broadcast in February 2003. The card included nine matches and two title matches (WWA and TNA), but only ran for 1 hour 45 minutes. This was fifteen minutes shorter than the house show in Newcastle the night before, which only included six matches and no title matches. This tour included an infamous dispute with a seemingly badly out of shape

. He reportedly missed shows due to illness and refused to wrestle for more than five minutes in matches, despite being in the main events. He faced

for the vacant WWA title at the PPV. This match was poorly received and only lasted about 7 minutes, which largely involved Luger pacing around and avoiding wrestling. Luger won this match and became WWA Champion after an interference from

with his guitar. He lost this title to Sting a few days later at a house show in Zurich, Switzerland.

Final Tour and The Reckoning PPV

In May 2003, the WWA embarked on its final tour. This visited Australia and New Zealand. The Reckoning PPV was held in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

in front of a vocal crowd. It was the first to include replays and split screen shots. Before the PPV the decision had been made to fold the WWA, hence the titles were to be unified with the NWA and TNA titles.

Chris Sabin Joshua Harter (born February 4, 1982), better known by his ring name Chris Sabin, is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to Impact Wrestling, and is also known for his work in Ring of Honor. After being trained by Scot ...

won a four corners cruiserweight match to unify the TNA X Division and WWA Cruiserweight titles. In the main event,

was defeated by NWA World Heavyweight Champion

to unify the NWA and WWA World titles.

Championships

* WWA World Heavyweight Championship – last held by

; unified with Jarrett's NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship *

WWA International Cruiserweight Championship The World Wrestling All-Stars (WWA) International Cruiserweight Championship was the cruiserweight championship for the Australian based wrestling promotion World Wrestling All-Stars. History The WWA International Cruiserweight Championship was ...

– last held by

; unified with Sabin's

TNA X Division Championship The Impact X Division Championship is a professional wrestling championship created and promoted by Impact Wrestling. It debuted on June 19, 2002, at the taping of then-TNA's second weekly pay-per-view (PPV) event. The current champion is Trey ...

*WWA Hardcore Championship –

defeated Danny Dominion in a tables match to win the title on October 25, 2001 in

Wollongong Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near w ...

, Australia. Title was then abandoned.

Alumni

Male Wrestlers

* A.J. Styles * Brian Adams * Brian Christopher *

Bryan Clark Bryan Emmett Clark (born March 14, 1964) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling, the World Wrestling Federation and All Japan Pro Wrestling under the ring names The ...

* Chuckie Chaos *

Crowbar A crowbar, also called a wrecking bar, pry bar or prybar, pinch-bar, or occasionally a prise bar or prisebar, colloquially, in Britain and Australia sometimes called a jemmy or jimmy (also called jemmy bar), gooseneck, or pig foot, is a tool ...

*Danny Dominion * Disco Inferno *

* The Funkster *

Gangrel David William Heath (born February 16, 1969) is an American semi-retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from 1998 to 2001 and intermittently throughout the mid-2000s under the ...

* Ghost Walker *

* Joey Legend *

Johnny Swinger Joseph Dorgan (born July 3, 1975) is an American professional wrestler currently under contract to Impact Wrestling, using the ring name Johnny Swinger. Dorgan is also known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling and Extreme Champ ...

* Kazarian * Konnan * Lenny Lane *

* Lodi * Low Ki * Malice *

Mark Mercedes Mark Mercedes is an Australian professional wrestler and promoter, currently owning and promoting the International Wrestling Australia he was one of the few Australians to wrestle for World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling All-Sta ...

* Mike Sanders *Nate Webb * Nathan Jones * The Navajo Warrior * Norman Smiley *

Nova A nova (plural novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", which is Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. Causes of the dramat ...

* PCO *

Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is th ...

* Rick Steiner * Road Dogg * Sabu *

Saturn Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant with an average radius of about nine and a half times that of Earth. It has only one-eighth the average density of Earth; h ...

* Scott D'Amore *

* Shark Boy * Simon Diamond * Stevie Ray *

Tony Mamaluke Charles John Spencer (born July 19, 1977) is a retired American professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling under the ring name Tony Marinara and with Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Wrest ...

Female Wrestlers

* Adara James * Luna Vachon *

Midajah Melinda Midajah Flores (; born March 23, 1970) is an American personal trainer, fitness model, beautician and former professional wrestling manager and actress, better known by her ring name, Midajah. She is best known for her appearances with Wo ...

* Queen Bea * The Nitro Girls * Violet Terossi

Non-Wrestling Performers

Bill Alfonso William Matthew "Bill" Sierra (born August 11, 1957) is an American former professional wrestling referee and manager better known by his ring name Bill Alfonso. He achieved his greatest success in Extreme Championship Wrestling in the mid-to-late ...

- Manager of Sabu *

- 1st WWA Commissioner *

Hiroyoshi Tenzan is a Japanese professional wrestler who currently works for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, and is better known by his ring name . With Satoshi Kojima, in 2008, they won the World's Strongest Tag Determination League in All Japan Pro Wrestling and the ...

- Sat ringside at the ''WWA Revolution'' pay-per-view, later attacking Disco Inferno. *

- Made an appearance at ''WWA Revolution'', challenging

to a street fight. *

- 2nd WWA Commissioner

Broadcast Team

David Penzer David Penzer (born May 22, 1966) is an American professional wrestling ring announcer currently signed to Impact Wrestling. He is also known for his work with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) from 1993 to 2001. Outside of ring announcing, he is ...

Ring announcer A ring announcer is an in-ring (and sometimes on-camera) employee or contractor for a boxing, professional wrestling or mixed martial arts event or promotion, who introduces the competitors to the audience. In boxing and mixed martial arts bou ...

* Mark Madden -

Color commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main ( play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and ...

Play-by-Play commentator In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...

(also booker) *

Jerry Lawler Jerry O'Neil Lawler (born November 29, 1949), better known as Jerry "The King" Lawler, is an American color commentator and professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, although he has not performed as a full-time commentator since Ap ...

(also occasional wrestler) *

Rove McManus John Henry Michael McManus (born 21 January 1974), better known by the stage name Rove McManus, is an Australian triple Gold Logie award-winning comedian, television and radio presenter, producer and media personality. He was the host of the e ...

- Interview correspondent

References

External links

Wrestling Information Archive: World Wrestling All-Stars
{{Professional wrestling in Australia Australian professional wrestling promotions Entertainment companies established in 2001 Entertainment companies disestablished in 2003 Professional wrestling in Australia