Catch Wrestling Association

Professional wrestling organisation

The Catch Wrestling Association (CWA) was a professional wrestling organization based in Austria and Germany that was founded in 1973. It was run by Otto Wanz. The CWA featured a traditional brand of mat wrestling mixed with various “Strong Man” competitions. During the late 1970s it overtook the old Verband der Berufsringer to become the dominant promotion in the German/Austrian wrestling territory, maintaining a high profile even after the invasion of WWF circa 1990. After its closure it was replaced in 2000 by the European Wrestling Promotion (EWP), which was renamed the Catch Wrestling Promotion (CWP) in 2023. The company was engaged in talent share agreements with other wrestling promotions, including New Japan Pro Wrestling and the American Wrestling Association. These agreements expanded the opportunities given to many European wrestlers. CWA's biggest card was the Euro Catch Festival, which was held twice a year (it was held in Graz, Austria in the summer, while in the winter, it was held in Bremen, Germany). Matches were fought using European rules, including dividing matches into three minute rounds and having the possibility of a victory by knockout. One distinct feature of the CWA, later bequeathed to EWP, was the playing of pop music records during the breaks between rounds. Rings were noticeably larger than in other European territories and often were covered in advertising/sponsorship messages. The CWA World Heavyweight Championship was recognized as the legitimate European World Championship as counterpart to the AWA, NWA and WWF titles in North America, the Universal Wrestling Association title in Mexico, NJPW's IWGP Heavyweight Championship in Japan and the Mountevans "WWA" World Heavyweight title in the UK. A championship claimed to be the CWA version was contested between Kendo Nagasaki and Giant Haystacks at Fairfield Halls Croydon in 1991 before BBC cameras for the documentary "Masters of the Canvas" screened the following year. (although at the time the actual holder was Rambo). Until the launch of Eurosport's New Catch programme which it shared with the French EWF, the promotion did not have its own TV show but nonetheless taped many of its matches for the home video market in variable setups ranging from single handheld camcorders to highly professional multi camera arrangements. Some of these matches were aired in Wales, United Kingdom, on Orig Williams Welsh language wrestling show Reslo on S4C. Many have since been uploaded to YouTube.

ChampionshipDate of entryFirst champion(s)Date retiredLast champion(s)Years activeCWA World Heavyweight ChampionshipAugust 14, 1973Otto WanzDecember 4, 1999Rambo1973–1999CWA Intercontinental Heavyweight ChampionshipDecember 21, 1991Bull PowerDecember 4, 1999Tony St. Clair1991–1999CWA World Tag Team ChampionshipNovember 23, 1988Mile Zrno and Tony St. ClairDecember 4, 1999Black Navy Seal and Ricky Santana1988–1999CWA British Commonwealth ChampionshipOctober 11, 1992Tony St. ClairDecember 4, 1999Tony St. Clair1992–1999CWA German ChampionshipOctober 10, 1998Christian EcksteinDecember 4, 1999Christian Eckstein1998–1999CWA Submission Shootfighting ChampionshipSeptember 21, 1997Osamu NishimuraDecember 4, 1999Tony St. Clair1997–1999CWA World Junior Heavyweight ChampionshipJuly 3, 1993Hiroyoshi YamamotoSeptember 1, 2000Eric Schwarz1993–2000CWA World Middleweight ChampionshipDecember 22, 1984Tony St. ClairDecember 4, 1999Franz Schumann1984–1999