The Heartland Wrestling Association (HWA) was a Midwestern independent

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 man ...

based in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

. A former developmental territory for

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 Nation ...

and 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 vario ...

during the 1990s and 2000s, it was listed as one of the top independent promotions in the United States by ''The Professional Wrestlers' Workout & Instructional Guide'' by

Harley Race Harley Leland Race (April 11, 1943 – August 1, 2019) was an American professional wrestler, promoter, and trainer. Race wrestled in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), the American Wrestling Association (AWA), the World Wrestling Federatio ...

Ricky Steamboat Richard Henry Blood Sr. (born February 28, 1953), better known by his ring name Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, is an American retired professional wrestler best known for his work with the American Wrestling Association (AWA), Jim Crockett Promot ...

, and

Les Thatcher Leslie Malady (born October 28, 1940), better known by the name Les Thatcher, is an American former professional wrestler. He helps run Elite Pro Wrestling Training, a professional wrestling school in his hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio, with Ricky S ...

in 2005.

History

The Heartland Wrestling Association was started in 1996 by

and Brady Laber, in association with his wrestling school Main Event Pro Wrestling Camp, and held the first annual

Brian Pillman Memorial Show The Brian Pillman Memorial Show was an annual professional wrestling event held between 1998 and 2001 benefiting the children of Brian Pillman and featuring talent from World Championship Wrestling (WCW), the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and Ex ...

in 1998. The promotion served as the developmental territory for both

(WCW) (during the 1990s) and

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 vario ...

(WWE) (from 2001–2002), with alumni including wrestlers such as Mike Sanders,

Shannon Moore Shannon Moore (born July 27, 1979) is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his work with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) between 1999 and 2001 and with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) for several years in the 2000s. H ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

The Hardy Boyz The Hardys, also known as The Hardy Boyz, are an American professional wrestling tag team consisting of real-life brothers Matt and Jeff Hardy, who are currently appearing in All Elite Wrestling (AEW). The team is currently inactive due to Jeff ...

and brothers Charlie and

Russ Haas Thomas Russell Haas (March 11, 1974 – December 15, 2001) was an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his work alongside his older brother Charlie in Memphis Championship Wrestling and Jersey All Pro Wrestling. Haas was a col ...

, as well as former WCW veterans

Bill DeMott William Charles DeMott II (born November 10, 1966) is an American retired professional wrestler and road agent and trainer. He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as Hugh Morrus and World Wrestling Federatio ...

and

Elix Skipper Elix Skipper (born December 15, 1967) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling, where he was a one-time WCW Cruiserweight Champion and a one-time WCW Cruiserweight Tag ...

. Among the top independent wrestlers to have competed in the promotion are

Nigel McGuinness Steven Haworth (born 23 January 1976), better known by his ring name Nigel McGuinness, is an English actor, professional wrestling commentator and retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his time with WWE where he worked as a color ...

B. J. Whitmer Benjamin Whitmer (born January 25, 1978), better known by the ring name B. J. Whitmer, is an American professional wrestler, producer, trainer, and color commentator. He is currently signed with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a producer. He is bes ...

Matt Stryker Brian Woermann (born July 21, 1979) is a former American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Matt Stryker. Professional wrestling career Brian Woermann attended Milford High School, where he played basketball and Diving. Af ...

Shark Boy Dean Matthew Roll (born January 28, 1975) is an American professional wrestler, best known for his appearances in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) under the ring name Shark Boy. Prior to his appearances in TNA, Roll competed on the independen ...

, Cody Hawk and

Chad Collyer Chad Collyer (born December 12, 1974) is an American professional wrestler. Professional wrestling career Collyer attended Manchester College, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree. He was an accomplished amateur wrestler, winning mult ...

. WWE would later end its relationship and pulled financial support out of the HWA to cut their budget. The HWA was once featured in an episode of

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

's ''

True Life ''True Life'' is an American documentary television series that aired on MTV from March 31, 1998 to June 21, 2017. Each episode follows a particular topic, such as heroin addiction as in the first episode – "Fatal Dose". The show is created by ...

'' in the episode "True Life: I'm A Pro Wrestler". HWA aired a weekly TV program "Adrenaline" nationally on the

affiliate of

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

and

America One America One was an American television network established in 1995 by USFR Media Group through its America One Television subsidiary.

television networks. As of early 2007, HWA has produced three online pay-per-view events: "CyberClash" from the HWA Arena in Evendale, Ohio, on March 17, 2006, "Road to Destiny" from the Dayton Gym Club in

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Day ...

on June 10, 2006, and "CyberClash 2.0" from the HWA Arena in Evendale, Ohio on March 10, 2007. In August 2007, majority owner Cody Hawk left HWA, launching a new promotion called EGO Pro Wrestling. However, HWA continued running events. HWA produced new episodes of ''HWA Adrenaline'' through 2008. Starting in September 2008, HWA performed at The Sorg Opera House in Middletown, Ohio. After a brief hiatus from weekly shows HWA returned starting on May 31, 2011 at the Great Miami Event Center in Hamilton, Ohio on a weekly basis known as "''Adrenaline"'' which was every Tuesday. In addition to these events HWA ran weekend events regularly in Norwood, Ohio and in Hamilton, Ohio respectively. In Autumn 2014, HWA's current owner Brandon Charles announced operations were moving to Georgia in 2015. In June 2015, Heartland Wrestling Association was sold to wrestler and promoter, Philip Stamper.

Championships

References

External links

{{Professional wrestling in the United States Independent professional wrestling promotions based in the Midwestern United States Defunct companies based in Cincinnati WWE

History

Championships

See also

References

External links