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. 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. 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 and NJPW's IWGP Heavyweight Championship in Japan. Championships Alumni Chris Benoit Ludvig Borga (Tony Halme) Robbie Brookside (Robert Brooks) Duke Droese/Marshall Duke (Mike Droese) Dave "Fit" Finlay Tatsumi Fujinami John Hawk (John Layfield) Ulf Herman (Ulf Nadrowski) Barry Horowitz Don Leo Jonathan (Don Heaton) Marty Jones Owen Hart Texas Scott (Scott Hall) Takayuki Iizuka Fuji Yamaha (Michiyoshi Ohara) Jean-Pierre Lafitte/Carl Wallace (Carl Ouellet) Chris Jericho (Chris Irvine) Joe E. Legend (Joe Hitchen) Bob Orton Jr. Baron von Raschke Rhino Richards (Terry Gerin) Road Warrior Hawk (Michael Hegstrand) Paul Roma (Paul Centopani) Lance Storm (Lance Evers) Hiro Yamamoto (Hiroyoshi Yamamoto) Bull Power (Leon White) Otto Wanz Ultimate Warrior (Warrior) Papa Shango (Charles Wright) Larry Cameron Shinya Hashimoto Giant Haystacks Akira Nogami Joe-Joe Lee (Satoshi Kojima) Kendo Kashin (Tokimitsu Ishizawa) Buffalo Peterson/Heavy Metal Buffalo/Maxx Payne (Darryl Peterson) The Warlord (Terry Szopinski) Rambo (Luc Poirier) Mad Bull Buster (Anthony Durante) Osamu Nishimura Bonecrusher Dan Sileo David Taylor Cannonball Grizzly (Paul Neu) Ice Train (Harold Hogue) The Great Kokina (Rodney Anoa'i) Jushin Thunder Liger (Keiichi Yamada) Shaun Koen Mile Zrno Flyin' Scorpio/2 Cold Scorpio (Charles Scaggs) Salvatore Bellomo Drew McDonald Bruiser Mastino (Mike Hallick) Steve Regal (Darren Matthews) Rip Rogers Derrick Dukes Moondog Rex The Barbarian Bastion Booger Dan Collins Tiger Mike (Mike Lozansky) Mark Mercedes Kendo Sasaki (Kensuke Sasaki) Tony St. Clair Franz Schumann Sgt. Slaughter See also List of professional wrestling promotions in Europe References External links Catch Wrestling Association at Online World Of Wrestling