This mass exodus of stars weighed heavily on the AWA. The once-thriving organization that began in 1960 had lost much ground to Vince McMahon’s WWF, and they were searching for ways to survive.
Now devoid of name wrestlers, the AWA could not bank on their young and upcoming talent such as Todd Becker, The Russian Brute, The Trooper (Del Wilkes), and many more.
In the dying days of the AWA, a desperate Verne Gagne saw his once-powerful promotion bereft of most of its big-name talent and bleeding red ink thanks to soft house show attendance.
To counter the growing dominance of the then WWF, the AWA had to do something different that would again capture wrestling fans’ hearts and minds. Thus, the AWA Team Challenge Series was born.