A.W.A.C. ZERO1 Championship

The **A.W.A.C. ZERO1 Championship** (Sometimes stylized as "Zero1" and/or "Zero-1") is a belt promoted by A.W.A.C. on the Liberty brand. It was the tertiary title for Liberty, alongside the A.W.A.C. Wildside Championship on Anarchy until Season 3 when the brands merged together and the Wildside Title was retired.

The belt debuted in Season 2 as part of the Liberty brand, but now encompasses all of A.W.A.C..

## History

On October 21, 2019, Liberty General Manager Hugo Strange announced that Cell and Edward Elric would compete in a Best-Of-7 Series for the newly created A.W.A.C. ZERO1 Championship over several upcoming Liberty events.

Unfortunately, on March 6, on Liberty #7, Edward Elric cut a controversial and offensive shoot promo towards A.W.A.C., its management, and the A.W.A.C. ZERO1 division. In the process, Edward Elric quit A.W.A.C. and the future of both the division and the A.W.A.C. ZERO1 Championship came into question. As a result of this, the Best-Of-7 Series was canceled and any further plans for the division and the belt were scrapped.

On August 18, 2020, during the SCAW/A.W.A.C. Challenge Of The Immortals special event, it was hinted at by commentary than A.W.A.C. has "some plans" regarding the A.W.A.C. ZERO1 Championship. These "plans" would be revealed at a later date.

On September 17, 2020 during the Above And Beyond CPV, Liberty General Manager Hugo Strange announced the upcoming ZERO1 Classic Tournament where 32 men unsigned to A.W.A.C. will battle in a single-elimination tournament. The semi-finals would take place at the Liberty-exclusive special event in Tokyo, Japan called "Freedom Navigation", and the finals would take place at Anarchy Rulz 3 where the winner would become the first-ever A.W.A.C. ZERO1 Champion. On July 17, 2021, on Night 3 of Anarchy Rulz 3, Gregory Andrews defeated Keiichiro Asakawa to become the inaugural champion. Out of the tournament participants, 7 wrestlers would be signed to official A.W.A.C. contracts: DS Juego, Fernando Striker, Gregory Andrews, Ishmael, Ryan Skyfire, Vince Ford and Zach Starr (Striker, Skyfire and Ford have yet to debut and are currently working dark matches and house shows in a limited capacity).

## Season 3

On August 2, 2021, on the first CPV of Season 3, Undisputed Universe, DS Juego defeated Gregory Andrews and TJ Nicholson in an Ultimate ZERO1 Match to become the new ZERO1 Champion. On November 13, 2021, on A.W.A.C. Anarchy #66, Gregory Andrews defeated DS Juego to become a 2-time ZERO1 Champion. On November 21, at Collateral Damage, TJ Nicholson defeated Gregory Andrews to win the ZERO1 Title. On November 28, on Anarchy #28, in addition to the All Out War Title, TJ then went on to reveal new design for the A.W.A.C. ZERO1 Championship. The ZERO1 Title would now be renamed to the Avalanche 29 Division Championship, named after NHL player Nathan MacKinnon, number 29 on the Colorado Avalanche NHL team. On December 20, at Resonance, TJ defeated Ryu to retain his title. On April 2, 2022, at Superfight, TJ defeated Ryu Hayabusa and Yoshimitsu in a Triple Threat Match to retain his title. On September 10, 2022, at In Your House: All Night Long, TJ defeated Ori Kahn to retain his title.

On February 18, 2023, at A.W.A.C. presents Saturday Night's Maine Event, TJ defeated Ishmael, Tank Davis, and Zack Bateley in a Four Belt Massacre Match to retain his Centennial, Rocky Mountain National, Avalanche 29 Division, and Kenny McCormick Deathmatch Championships. Additionally, by order of A.W.A.C. COO Revy, TJ had to defend all 4 titles as long as he held all 4 belts.

## Belt Design

The A.W.A.C. ZERO1 Championship shares a heavy resemblance with the Pro Wrestling Zero1 USA World Heavyweight Championship, albeit with a few modifications.

The belt is on a black leather strap and all 3 plates are nickel-plated. The front plate displays the "ZERO1" logo at the top and "Champion" at the bottom. In the middle, there is the anarchy symbol encompassing all of A.W.A.C.. This is also the only belt to not feature the full A.W.A.C. logo with its text, but rather only the anarchy symbol which has been painted white here to make it stand out. This is also a white painted border going around the front plate itself. Behind the anarchy symbol is a red and blue swirl pattern. Across the front plate is a cross with a sunburst pattern and black painted wings (or feathers) on either side. The side plates have a curved and pointed rectangular shape to them. The left side plate shows the Japanese flag while the right side plate shows the US flag. These are identical to the Pro Wrestling Zero1 USA World Heavyweight Championship in real life.

### Avalanche 29 Division Championship Design

On November 28, TJ Nicholson revealed the new Avalanche 29 Division Championship design. The belt is in accordance with the Colorado Avalanche NHL team; the "29" is a reference to team member Nathan MacKinnon who wears "29" on his jersey. The belt is on a maroon strap and the plates are silver. All 3 plates have the Colorado Avalanche logo on them as well as blue stones, all of which match the maroon, white and blue colour scheme of the team's jerseys. The front plate reads "Avalanche 29 Division" in the middle with maroon "champion" banner at the bottom.

## Title Defenses

2 - Ryu Hayabusa and Yoshimitsu
3 - Ori Kahn
4 - Ishmael, Tank Davis, and Zack Bateley
2 - A.W.A.C. Superfight
3 - A.W.A.C. In Your House: All Night Long
4 - A.W.A.C. presents Saturday Night's Maine Event