This is the new Valkyrie throwing axe from the team at WATL (the World Axe Throwing League). It has a specially designed head for throwing, allowing it to stick deeply into the target for scoring.
The World Axe Throwing League has enjoyed astonishingly rapid growth since it was founded in 2017. It survived Covid, got a deal with ESPN, and it now governs the sport in over 500 locations worldwide.
This is the new Valkyrie throwing axe from the team at WATL (the World Axe Throwing League). It has a specially designed head for throwing, allowing it to stick deeply into the target for scoring.
History Speedrun: The World Axe Throwing League
The story of how the World Axe Throwing League (WATL) got its start can be followed all the way back to a bachelor party in the fall of 2014, Mario Zelaya attended an axe throwing event at a club in southern Ontario, Canada, and he was immediately was hooked.
He went on to found Bad Axe Throwing, opening his first venue in Burlington, Ontario, before turning his attention to professionalizing the sport itself. In 2017, Zelaya brought together representatives from five countries – Canada, the United States, Brazil, Ireland, and Denmark – to formally establish WATL as the global governing body of urban axe throwing, with the stated ambition of putting the sport on par with major professional leagues.
WATL held its first World Axe Throwing Championship in its founding year and established International Axe Throwing Day, celebrated annually on June the 13th. By 2018, Evan Walters had been named Commissioner, the first US Open tournament was held, and amazingly the World Championship had secured a broadcast deal with ESPN – the first time competitive axe throwing had ever appeared on the network.
Growth of the league was rapid through the late 2010s – membership expanded from the five founding nations to include nineteen countries, with affiliates joining from the United Kingdom, Turkey, Australia, South Africa, and beyond.
WATL also opened up its competitive offerings, both Big Axe and Duals were introduced as official disciplines in 2019, with Big Axe later becoming eligible for its own World Championship title in 2023. The World Knife Throwing League launched as a sister organization, and everything was going remarkably well for such a young sport. Then the pandemic hit.
Above Video: This is the World Axe & Knife Throwing Championship IX 2026, it was filmed live in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
With venues shuttered or closed down permanently worldwide, WATL pivoted by helping to establish the Quarantine Axe Throwing League (QATL), co-founded by community members Gavin Caissie and Mike Morton, which allowed throwers to compete virtually from home.
The US Open ran as WATL’s second-largest event from 2018 to 2022 before being retired in 2023 in favor of a Pro-Am Championship. WATL then revived the US Open for September of 2025 in Billings, Montana. Separately, WATL introduced an Amateur Championship in 2024, held first in Atlanta, Georgia, with the second edition set to be held alongside the 2026 World Axe and Knife Throwing Championship.
By the end of 2025, WATL had over 500 affiliated participating venues worldwide. The league’s year-end report recorded 202,630 matches played, 3,804,344 axes thrown, and over 5,000 active throwers across 44 tournament events, with 23 new venues joining the network during the year.
In early 2025, Zelaya announced that WATL would be moving away from its ESPN broadcast partnership, citing the changing media landscape and a shift toward live streaming the World Championship on YouTube to reach a much larger, global audience.
The Valkyrie’s blade measures in at 4 inches in length, with a head weight of 1.44 lbs and a total weight of 2.02 lbs. WATL’s throwing axe lineup does away with the wedge shape typical of hardware-store axes in favor of an ultra-thin blade profile developed specifically to stick deep into the target.
The Valkyrie Throwing Axe From WATL
The WATL Valkyrie is a competition-grade throwing axe produced by the World Axe Throwing League as part of their Norse-themed line. It was inspired by Norse folklore and it’s one of the organization’s most unusual designs.
The Valkyrie comes with both an engraved head and an engraved hickory handle, giving it a distinctive look, and ensuring that no one ever mistakes it for a hardware-store hatchet. It’s worth nothing that the Valkyrie (and most throwing axes) are not intended as general-purpose tools – they shouldn’t be used for standard splitting or chopping jobs – it’s been specifically designed and manufactured for the sport.
The Valkyrie’s blade measures in at 4 inches in length, with a head weight of 1.44 lbs and a total weight of 2.02 lbs. WATL’s throwing axe lineup does away with the wedge shape typical of hardware-store axes in favor of an ultra-thin blade profile developed specifically to stick deep into the target.
That thin, sharp blade is a deliberate choice for competitive scoring, though it also means the axe requires more careful handling and maintenance than a casual recreational hatchet might.
The Valkyrie has a straight 17 inch handle designed to provide a consistent and easy release when throwing, with the added benefit of allowing customization – throwers can cut the handle down to a shorter length to better suit their individual preference.
The WATL Valkyrie is a competition-grade throwing axe produced by the World Axe Throwing League as part of their Norse-themed line. It was inspired by Norse folklore and it’s one of the organization’s most unusual designs.
WATL recommends trimming in quarter-inch increments and testing thoroughly between cuts. Variables like height, arm length, throwing distance, and personal style all influence the ideal handle length. The axe also ships with a nylon sheath for safety when being stored or transported.
The WATL Valkyrie is now available to buy direct on the official WATL Amazon store here.
Images courtesy of WATL
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