Universal Wrestling Association

Mexican professional wrestling promotion

The Universal Wrestling Association (UWA) was a Mexican Lucha Libre or professional wrestling promotion based in Naucalpan, Mexico State that operated from 1975 until 1995. The name of the actual promotion was Promociones Mora y Asociados and later Lucha Libre Internacional (LLI) ("International wrestling") but outside of Mexico it is generally referred to as the UWA as it was the name of the fictional international sanctioning body that in storyline terms oversaw all championships promoted by LLI. The company was founded by wrestler and trainer Ray Mendoza, promoter Francisco Flores and investor Benjamín Mora, Jr. as when they broke away from Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre to form their own promotion. The company had working agreements with wrestling promotions both in the United States and Japan as they worked with Lou Thesz's American based Universal Wrestling Association, New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), Universal Lucha Libre (UWF), and Japan Women's Pro Wrestling (JWP) amongst other promotions.

In 1974, Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (EMLL, later CMLL) founder and owner Salvador Lutteroth González brought his son into the promotion, grooming him to take over when the aging Lutteroth, Sr. eventually had to retire. This action combined with a very rigid and conservative promotional philosophy led EMLL's promoter in Naucalpan, Mexico State, Francisco Flores, EMLL wrestler and trainer Ray Mendoza and investor Benjamin Mora, Jr. to break away from EMLL to form their own company and challenge EMLL's dominance in Mexico. With the impending change of management in EMLL many wrestlers who had previously been loyal to Lutteroth decided to leave with Flores, Mendoza and Mora including Mendoza's close friends Rene Guajardo and Karloff Lagarde and a number of young wrestles, frustrated with the lack of opportunities in EMLL. They formed the company Promociones Mora y Asociados (later Lucha Libre Internacional (LLI)), which would later become widely known as the Universal Wrestling Association (UWA), the name of its fictional governing body which was adopted from the short lived American based UWA promotion ran by Lou Thesz, and held their first show on January 29, 1975, creating the first true rival for EMLL in decades. The UWA also reached out to promotions around the globe and forged working relationships with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in the United States and New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) and Japan Women's Pro Wrestling in Japan. This working relationship resulted in a larger influx of foreign wrestlers than EMLL was ever able to produce and also led to the UWA actually gaining exclusive rights to promote a WWF branded championship, the WWF World Light Heavyweight Championship in the early 1980s, even if the promotion does not acknowledge this lineage in their official title history today. The UWA even began working with EMLL in the 1980s, co promoting shows and allowing EMLL to book UWA wrestlers on their shows. By the early 1990s UWA began to struggle financially as several of their top wrestlers left the company to work for EMLL who could offer them more money. In 1992 Antonio Peña broke away from EMLL, much like the UWA had 18 years earlier, and formed a new company called Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) further affecting the UWA's finances. As the peso devaluated sharply in the mid 1990s, the UWA was forced to close its doors in 1995.

The UWA is remembered as the place where a lot of the main event wrestlers of the 1980s and 1990s for both CMLL and AAA got their starts, including El Canek, now considered a legend in lucha libre.

The Universal Wrestling Association promoted a large number of wrestling championships, spread out over several weight classes like in professional boxing and even co promoted championships with the WWF in the United States and with the UWF and JWP in Japan. Some UWA titles are still being used today, some in Japanese promotions who bought the rights to the belts and the name to give them a lucha libre link, others are considered more "vanity" championships, personally owned by whoever holds them and are often used more as a storyline prop, although they are at times defended and even change hands. In some cases the UWA championship belts are bought and sold by the champions. At times both CMLL and AAA have acknowledged and promoted UWA championships. This has occurred as recently as 2011. +Universal Wrestling Association championshipsChampionship Last official champion(s) Date won Current/last champion(s) Date won Promotion(s) Active?UWA World Heavyweight ChampionshipEl Canek1994Dr. Wagner, Jr.2004PersonalUWA World Junior Heavyweight ChampionshipAero Flash1995The WolfApril 14, 2024Fight of the RingUWA World Light Heavyweight ChampionshipVillano V1994Chessman2007AAAUWA World Junior Light Heavyweight ChampionshipGran Hamada1993Súper Nova2013PersonalUWA World Middleweight ChampionshipEl Texano1995Kyu Mogami2019Active Advance Pro WrestlingUWA World Welterweight ChampionshipShinjiro Otani1994UWA World Lightweight ChampionshipLoco Valentino1994Kancho Nagase 2015Fight of the RingUWA World Featherweight ChampionshipCoralillo1992UWA World Tag Team ChampionshipLos Villanos(Villano IV and Villano V)1993Yapper Man #1 and Yapper Man #22019Michinoku Pro WrestlingUWA World Trios ChampionshipLos Misionares de la Muerte(Negro Navarro, Rocky Santana and El Signo)1994Aagan Iisou2021Big Japan Pro WrestlingPro Wrestling BasaraUWA/UWF Intercontinental Tag Team ChampionshipGran Hamada and Great Sasuke1992Kazma and Kengo Mashimo2005Michinoku Pro WrestlingUWA Intercontinental Tag Team ChampionshipKenichiro Arai and The WolfMay 8, 2023Fight of the RingUWA Asia Pacific Heavyweight ChampionshipShogun OkamotoApril 22, 2021Strong Style Pro WrestlingUWA World Women's ChampionshipZuleyma1991Miss Janeth2002PersonalUWA World Women's Tag Team ChampionshipYumiko Hotta and Takako Inoue1993UWA Women's International ChampionshipHarley Saito1991UWA Women's Junior ChampionshipCutie Suzuki1991WWF Light Heavyweight ChampionshipAero Flash 1995

EventDateCityVenueMain EventUWA Debut Show1975Naucalpan, Mexico StateEl Toreo de NaucalpanAníbal defeated Rene GuajardoUWA 1st Anniversary Show1976Naucalpan, Mexico StateEl Toreo de NaucalpanNo record found for match resultsUWA 2nd Anniversary Show1977Naucalpan, Mexico StateEl Toreo de NaucalpanNo record found for match resultsUWA 3rd Anniversary Show1978Naucalpan, Mexico StateEl Toreo de NaucalpanNo record found for match resultsUWA 4th Anniversary Show1979Naucalpan, Mexico StateEl Toreo de NaucalpanNo record found for match resultsUWA 5th Anniversary Show1980Naucalpan, Mexico StateEl Toreo de NaucalpanNo record found for match resultsUWA 6h Anniversary Show1981Naucalpan, Mexico StateEl Toreo de NaucalpanEl Solitario wrestled Villano III to a time limit draw. UWA 7th Anniversary Show1982Naucalpan, Mexico StateEl Toreo de NaucalpanAbdullah the Butcher and Perro Aguayo defeated Antonio Inoki and Tatsumi FujinamiUWA 8th Anniversary Show1983Naucalpan, Mexico StateEl Toreo de NaucalpanNo record found for match resultsUWA 9th Anniversary Show1984Naucalpan, Mexico StateEl Toreo de NaucalpanEl Canek defeated André the GiantUWA 10th Anniversary Show1985Naucalpan, Mexico StateEl Toreo de NaucalpanNo record found for match resultsUWA 11th Anniversary Show1986Naucalpan, Mexico StateEl Toreo de NaucalpanNo record found for match resultsUWA 12th Anniversary Show1987Naucalpan, Mexico StateEl Toreo de NaucalpanNo record found for match resultsUWA 13th Anniversary Show1988Naucalpan, Mexico StateEl Toreo de NaucalpanNo record found for match resultsUWA 14th Anniversary Show1989Naucalpan, Mexico StateEl Toreo de NaucalpanEl Canek defeated KonnanUWA 15th Anniversary Show1990Naucalpan, Mexico StateEl Toreo de NaucalpanNo record found for match resultsUWA 16th Anniversary Show1991Naucalpan, Mexico StateEl Toreo de NaucalpanEl Canek, Mil Mascaras and Dos Caras defeated The Hawaiian Beasts (Fatu, Great Kokina and The Samoan Savage)UWA 17th Anniversary Show1992Naucalpan, Mexico StateEl Toreo de NaucalpanChris Benoit defeated Villano IIIUWA 18th Anniversary Show1993Naucalpan, Mexico StateEl Toreo de NaucalpanVampiro defeated El CanekUWA 19th Anniversary Show1994Naucalpan, Mexico StateEl Toreo de NaucalpanYamato, Villano III and Villano V defeated El Canek, Gran Hamada and Transformer