Gary Keith Mize (April 29, 1961 – November 23, 2002), better known by his

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons, or projecting ...

Billy Travis or Billy Joe Travis, was an American professional wrestler. He is most known for his time in

Continental Wrestling Association Continental Wrestling Association (later the Championship Wrestling Association) was a wrestling promotion managed by Jerry Jarrett. The CWA was the name of the "governing body" for the Championship Wrestling, Inc. promotion which was usually ref ...

(CWA) and the United States Wrestling Association (USWA) holding several tag team championships over the years.

Professional wrestling career

Mize grew up watching wrestling and was trained by MWA Championship Wrestling owner and promoter Dale Mann for his professional wrestling career and began working for MWA in 1981 as a face (wrestling term for those that portray the "good guys") known as Billy Travis. When wrestling under the Billy Travis moniker, he teamed up with Mike Mann, forming a tag team known collectively as the Southern Sensations, a team that won the MWA Tag Team Championship. In 1984 he began working in the Memphis, Tennessee area for the

(CWA) and later on worked for the World Wrestling Federation, both places gaining experience while losing to established stars. In 1985 he returned to the CWA, working as "Billy Joe Travis", adopting a conceited, egotistical

heel The heel is the prominence at the posterior end of the foot. It is based on the projection of one bone, the calcaneus or heel bone, behind the articulation of the bones of the lower Human leg, leg. Structure To distribute the compressive for ...

("bad guy") ring character. Travis teamed up with Ron Sexton to form a team known as "Hot Property", the young duo was paired up with veteran Buddy Wayne to act as their manager. Travis also briefly teamed with Norvell Austin during the summer of 1985 as he worked a storyline feud with The Fabulous Ones ( Stan Lane and

Steve Keirn Stephen Paul Keirn (born September 10, 1951) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances in multiple National Wrestling Alliance territories as Steve Keirn as one-half of the tag team The Fabulous Ones, as we ...

). In 1986 he started working as a singles wrestler for Texas USA All-Star Wrestling, working storylines opposite

Al Madril Alberto "Al" Madril (born March 20, 1950) is an American retired professional wrestler. Professional wrestling career Madril began his wrestling career in 1970. During the first half of the decade, he competed in Pacific Northwest Wrestling, t ...

Lord Jonathon Boyd Jonathan Barry Boyle (21 October 1944 – 7 August 1999) was an Australian professional wrestler who is known worldwide under the name "Lord" Jonathan Boyd. Initially Boyd competed both in North American and international promotions as part of ...

and Big Bubba. In 1987 Travis returned to Memphis, this time with Frank Morell as his mentor. During his stint in the CWA he teamed with another young wrestler, Jeff Jarrett forming a very popular team that won the AWA Southern Tag Team Championship three times. He would also win the International Championship from

Austin Idol Michael McCord (born October 26, 1949) is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Austin Idol. He is best known for his appearances in the Mid-South with the Continental Wrestling Association, in particular his rec ...

and worked an extended storyline against

Phil Hickerson Phil Hickerson (born October 4, 1946) is an American retired professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in b ...

. Travis and a rookie Scott Steiner won the CWA Tag Team Championship twice. Travis would suffer from drug abuse around this time, which ruined his professional reputation, but he continued to work in several smaller promotions. He gained notoriety in 1997 while working for the USWA, where he was arrested when his ex wife was reportedly seeking overdue child support payments and had tipped off Memphis police that Travis would be on location for saturday tapings at the WMC TV studios in Memphis. Police took this tip seriously and were actually on the scene when Travis arrived. This arrest was enough for Jerry Lawler, the booker, to turn this arrest into a storyline. Travis continued wrestling after this incident, but never experienced break-out success. He retired in 1999. In 2001, he returned to wrestling and had his last match on July 26, 2002 losing to Jerry Lawler.

Personal life

Mize graduated from Madison Central High School in 1979. His mother was Bonnie Todd, who worked for Eastern Kentucky University, and his stepfather was Walter Todd, part owner of a local funeral home in

Richmond, Kentucky Richmond is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Madison County, Kentucky, United States. It is named after Richmond, Virginia, and is home to Eastern Kentucky University. In 2019, the population was 36,157. Richmond is the fourth-la ...

Death

Mize died of an apparent heart attack on November 23, 2002, shortly after arriving at his mother's home in Kentucky; attempts by paramedics to revive him were unsuccessful.

Championships and accomplishments

*Americas Wrestling Federation (Puerto Rico) ** AWF Junior Heavyweight Championship (

2 times "2 Times" is a song co-written and recorded by British Italian-based singer Ann Lee. It was released in 1999 as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999). The single entered and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. Outside ...

) *

** AWA Southern Tag Team Championship ( 4 times) – with Jeff Jarrett (3) and Mark Starr (1) ** CWA Tag Team Championship ( 3 times) – with Scott Steiner (2) and Action Jackson (1) *Mountain Wrestling Association **MWA Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Michael Ray * Power Pro Wrestling ** PPW Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) – with Bulldog Raines * Pro Wrestling Illustrated **PWI ranked Billy Travis # 139 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI 500 in 1993 * United States Wrestling Association ** USWA Southern Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) ** USWA World Tag Team Championship (

) – with Flash Flanagan (2) * World Wrestling Council ** WWC Junior Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) ** WWC World Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) – with El Gran Mendoza *

Texas All-Star Wrestling Texas All-Star Wrestling (TASW) is a professional wrestling promotion that was established by Bob Murphy in Humble, Texas in 1994. It is the oldest independent promotion in the state of Texas and one of three based in the Greater Houston area a ...

**Texas All-Star USA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

References

External links