World Wrestling Insanity: Couture's Championship Profiles: AWA Champion Steve Corino

Couture's Championship Profiles: AWA Champion Steve Corino

By James E. Couture Oct 11, 2007 - 8:45 AM

Folks, it’s the man less timely than a “Two Guys, A Girl, and a Pizza Place” reference, me, James E. Couture. Now I don’t know if you realize this, but a war is being waged. No, I’m not talking about the one in Iraqistan, this one is being waged in the courtroom. World Wrestling Entertainment is suing Dale Gagner and AWA Superstars of Wrestling over the use of the initials, name, and logo of the American Wrestling Association, which, like every other piece of wrestling history produced before 2002, is owned by the ‘Ent. Apparently Dale lived up to his lackadaisical chipmunk namesake and only licensed the name to use it without actually owning it. Given that the World Wildlife Fund got the “F” out of Federation despite not having the same name or being in a remotely related field (and by the way, kudos to the Fund for keeping its eye on its true mission: copyright protection), I would fully expect to see a newly formed AWE next year. To go with the “new” “AWA’s” loose patchwork of indy promotions, including the wrestling hotbed of northern Maine, was a ramshackle version of the AWA Championship. And shackle it did ram. With so many luminaries holding the AWA crown, like Evan Karagias and THE Larry Gligorovich, who is worthy of a Profile? It’s the man legally required to hold a belt at least old school in name at least once a year, that’s right, it’s Steve Corino, AWA Champion!

The year was 2007, and Steve Corino was at rock bottom. Well, not really. But while he wasn’t at the top of the American wrestling scene, he had steady work and a greater following overseas, much akin to Huey Lewis and The News. Unlike H. Lew and The New, though, Corino would claw and scrape his way up to possibly the 14th most prestigious title in America, the AWA World Heavyweight Championship, besting Ric Converse in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, a town that only wishes it could be Pottsville, home of the former NFL Champion Maroons.

Now, I bore witness to an AWA World Title match earlier this year. While mostly a rockin’ contest between Steve and Cameron Matthews, your typical hyper-athletic but undersized guy, I was deeply disturbed by a spot involving Corino sticking his thumb up the guy’s butt, then being forced to suck his own thumb. I guess he felt his match only needed one thumb up to be a success.

But, to paraphrase one of the six times JBL uses the phrase whenever Rey Mysterio appears anywhere, ever, Cinderella struck midnight. Wait, that doesn’t make any sense. I mean the clock struck midnight for Corinorella. Just as ignominiously as it had started, Corino’s reign ended when he walked into Yokohama, Japan, on April Fool’s Day and faced Takao Ohmori, the Japanese version of Chris Curtis (who?).

This begs the age old question: if a title changes and nobody gives a fig, why am I Profiling it? Cuz that’s how I roll (what happened to that phrase?).

Well, until the Colorado Rockies release the “World Series Shuffle”, I am, in fact, James E. Couture.

Help support the AWA by buying a “Vince Fears The AWA and Dale Gagne” t-shirt. All your friends will ask what the hell you’re talking about, but not really care about the answer!