Matt
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AWA President Verne Gagne, Stampede Owner/Promoter Stu Hart, and President of Heartland Wrestling, Bobby Davis, assembled North American media at the newly opened UIC Pavilion. They wait until the media are sitting. AWA president Verne Gagne starts. Verne Gagne: Ladies and gentlemen representing sports media from around the world. As you all well know, the American Wrestling Association is the benchmark in professional wrestling for the last few decades. Others may come and go, but the AWA has been here and set the bar for this sport. Now bringing the best promotions in the world today under one banner has been a goal for the AWA ever since I first got in to this amazing sport, some time ago. We have done just that. With representatives from all over the globe being a part of the AWA, there is no stopping us from achieving anything we want. We were the first to do a league wide closed circuit show. We were the first to unify a world championship by bringing the “other” league’s champion from them and giving him the opportunity to win the top sport in the world, the AWA world heavyweight title. Now...we are going to be revolutionary once again. The AWA has been about opportunities. We have been about giving you the chance to run with the proverbial ball. These two promoters, Stampede owner/promoter and wrestling legend Stu Hart, and AWA Heartland president Bobby Davis, have come together to expand, yet solidify the AWA as a whole. The Media start to buzz with excitement as Verne Gagne continues. Verne Gagne: If you can just hold off for one second please. Stampede Wrestling has a very rich history in this sport. With them promoting across the border, running British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan, as well as the great states of Montana and North Dakota, Wyoming, and the northern part of South Dakota, then you add a promotion that is very special to me, AWA Heartland, promoting such great border states as Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, and the great Canadian province of Manitoba...a marriage is made to happen. With the new year, comes a new opportunity. The media starts asking more questions. Verne Gagne: Please, folks, one more second. This opportunity will be in the form of the AWA Can-Am heavyweight championship, and the Can-Am tag team championship. This title, while available for all AWA promoters to book in, will be set between Stampede and AWA Heartland. It not only brings together two great AWA promotions, but solidifies the friendship and working arraignment between America and Canada. Like these two great nations join together for great things worldwide, these two great promotions will join together for great things in this sport. Now....any questions? Reporter #1: When is this joint effort beginning? Verne Gagne: It actually has started. The contract signing was done this morning, just before the press conference. Reporter #2: When will the champions be crowned? Verne Gagne: I will let Stu Hart field this one. Stu? Stu Hart: Eh....thank you Verne for the kind words and giving us this opportunity to showcase some great Canadian wrestling talent. Eh.....the Can-am Heavyweight title will be up for grabs in an 8 man tournament, containing 4 men from the Stampede promotion and 4 men from AWA Heartland on January 27th in the great wrestling town of Calgary, Alberta. The winner of the one night tournament will be crowned the Can-Am heavyweight champion and will be representing both promotions as a top wrestler. As for the tag belts....Bobby? Bobby Davis: First of all, AWA Heartland would like to thank Manitoba promoter Don Brinton for helping facilitate this joint venture. Without his help, this would not be able to happen. Second, I want to thank Stu Hart for agreeing with this difficult arraignment. Last of all, Verne Gagne and the rest of the AWA for giving us the opportunity to showcase all our talent. As for the question of when the Can-Am tag team titles will be awarded...over the next 3 weeks, starting at the January 1st television taping, we will be doing a 4 team tournament, with one match a week until the champion is crowned. This tournament will encompass both 2 teams from Stampede Wrestling and two from AWA Heartland with one ending up being the AWA Can-Am tag team champions. Verne Gagne: Folks, I am sure there are more questions like who will be in these tournaments, but those answers will come from you tuning in to the various AWA promotions in order to find out. As this comes to a close, remember to keep supporting your local AWA product and keep making the AWA THE best league in the world today. Thank you.
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