Roland C. Daniels (November 30, 1950 – September 6, 1988) was an American
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 boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...
, 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 ...
, Leroy Brown. He took his ring name from the
Jim Croce
James Joseph Croce (; January 10, 1943 – September 20, 1973) was an American folk and rock singer-songwriter. Between 1966 and 1973, he released five studio albums and numerous singles. During this period, Croce took a series of odd jobs to p ...
song about
"Bad, Bad" Leroy Brown, which also became his theme song for a lot of his in ring appearances. He later used the ringname Elijah Akeem as he adopted a more militaristic black Muslim character, teaming with
Kareem Muhammad as the Muslim Connection and later the Zambuie Express.
Brown started out his career working as a
face
The face is the front of an animal's head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may aff ...
in the south, portraying a simple, honest man who always backed up his friends. He later portrayed a
heel, acting like an arrogant, rich, self-obsessed character. During his career he won a number of singles championships such as
NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship and the
NWA Mid-Atlantic Television Championship as well as a number of
tag team
Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establish ...
championships, teaming with Muhammad to win the
NWA Florida Global Tag Team Championship
The NWA Florida Global Tag Team Championship was a major tag team title in Florida Championship Wrestling from 1982 until fall 1983, when it was replaced by the NWA Florida United States Tag Team Championship.
Title history
See also
* List o ...
,
NWA United States Tag Team Championship
The NWA United States Tag Team Championship is a name used for several secondary tag team championship used by various National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) members since 1958. There are eleven different versions of the NWA United States Tag Team Champ ...
and
AWA Southern Tag Team Championship
The AWA Southern Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling tag team title in the Tennessee area from the 1940s through the late 1980s. It was originally named the NWA Southern Tag Team Championship ''(Mid-America version)'' from its ince ...
s.
Professional wrestling career
Daniels made his professional wrestling debut in 1977, adopting the
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 ...
"Bad Bad" Leroy Brown, based on the
Jim Croce
James Joseph Croce (; January 10, 1943 – September 20, 1973) was an American folk and rock singer-songwriter. Between 1966 and 1973, he released five studio albums and numerous singles. During this period, Croce took a series of odd jobs to p ...
song
of the same name.
[ In September, 1977 he took part in a tournament for the vacant NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship, his first major title opportunity, but he was eliminated in the early rounds.] Next he traveled to Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
to work for Fritz Von Erich
Jack Barton Adkisson Sr. (August 16, 1929 – September 10, 1997), better known by his ring name Fritz Von Erich, was an American professional wrestler, wrestling promoter, and the patriarch of the Von Erich family. He was a 3-time world champio ...
's NWA Big Time Wrestling. On March 31, 1978 Brown and Killer Tim Brooks
Timothy Paul Brooks (December 4, 1947 – June 30, 2020), better known by his ring name Killer Tim Brooks, was an American professional wrestler. He competed in North American regional promotions, including the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), P ...
teamed up to defeat José Lothario
Guadalupe Robledo (December 12, 1933 – November 6, 2018) was a Mexican professional wrestler, best known by the ring name of José Lothario. He performed for such promotions as the NWA and the WWF.
Professional wrestling career
Lothario st ...
and 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 ...
to win the NWA Texas Tag Team Championship
The WCWA Texas Tag Team Championship was the secondary professional wrestling tag team championship promoted by the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex area-based World Class Wrestling Association (WCWA). The championship was originally known as the NW ...
, Brown's first championship.[ The reign only lasted a week before Brown and Brooks lost the championship to ]David
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
and Kevin Von Erich
Kevin Ross Adkisson (born May 15, 1957) is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Kevin Von Erich. A member of the Von Erich family, Von Erich is best known for his appearances with his father's World Class C ...
.[
By 1979 Leroy Brown began working in San Francisco for NWA Hollywood. Brown teamed up with ]Allen Coage
Allen James Coage (October 22, 1943 – March 6, 2007) was an American judoka and professional wrestler. He won medals for the United States at several international judo competitions, including the heavyweight bronze medal at the 1976 S ...
and together they defeated ''Los Guerreros
Los Guerreros (English: The Warriors) was an American professional wrestling tag team, which consisted of Eddie Guerrero and his nephew Chavo Guerrero Jr. Both wrestlers were members of the Guerrero family. They wrestled as a team in World Champi ...
'' (Héctor
Hector () is an English, French, Scottish, and Spanish given name. The name is derived from the name of Hektor, a legendary Trojan champion who was killed by the Greek Achilles. The name ''Hektor'' is probably derived from the Greek ''ékhein'', m ...
and Mando Guerrero
Armando Guerrero Llanes (born June 9, 1950), better known as Mando Guerrero, is a retired Mexican American professional wrestler. He also was the trainer for the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, an all-female professional wrestling promotion. He ...
) to win the NWA Americas Tag Team Championship
The NWA Americas Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling tag team title in the National Wrestling Alliance's NWA Hollywood Wrestling based out of Los Angeles, California.
The championship began as the WWA World Tag Team Championship ...
. They would later lose the belts to Mando Guerrero and Carlos Mata.[ Working for NWA Hollywood also allowed Brown to travel to Japan, touring with ]New Japan Pro-Wrestling
(NJPW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Nakano, Tokyo. Founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, the promotion was sold to Yuke's, who later sold it to Bushiroad in 2012. TV Asahi and Amuse, Inc. own minority shares ...
(NJPW). During the tour he challenged Seiji Sakaguchi for the NWF North American Heavyweight Championship in July 1979 but Sakaguchi retained the title by disqualification. In his book ''Animal'', George Steele
William James Myers (April 16, 1937 – February 16, 2017), better known by his ring name George "The Animal" Steele, was an American professional wrestler, school teacher, author, and actor. His career lasted from 1967 until 1988, though he mad ...
describes Brown's problems in Japan, including how during a match a Japanese wrestler was trying to break a bottle over Brown's head but had not prepared it properly and it took several hard blows to break the bottle. The following day several Japanese wrestlers would watch the tape of the match over and over again, laughing at Brown's misfortune and pain. Back in San Francisco Brown defeated Chavo Guerrero
Salvador Guerrero IV (born October 20, 1970) better known by his ring names Chavo Guerrero and Chavo Guerrero Jr., is an American professional wrestler. He has previously worked for World Championship Wrestling (WCW), World Wrestling Federati ...
to win the WWA Americas Heavyweight Championship, holding it for 50 days before losing it to 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 ...
.[ In late 1979 Brown returned to the eastern coast, competing for ]Championship Wrestling from Florida
Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF) was the corporate and brand name of the Tampa, Florida wrestling office existing from 1961, when Eddie Graham first bought into the promotion, until 1987, when it closed down. It is also referred to as ...
. Initially he became involved in a feud with then NWA Florida Heavyweight Champion, Manny Fernandez facing him on several occasions during January. After that he moved on to facing Sweet Brown Sugar, whom he defeated to win the NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship.[ He would later lose it to ]Dusty Rhodes
Virgil Riley Runnels Jr. (October 11, 1945 – June 11, 2015), better known as "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, was an American professional wrestler, booker, and trainer who most notably worked for the National Wrestling Alliance, Jim Crocket ...
on February 16, 1980 Jacksonville, Florida. By late 1980 Brown ended up working for Bill Watts
William F. Watts Jr. (born May 5, 1939) is a retired American professional wrestler, promoter and former American football player. Watts garnered fame under his "Cowboy" gimmick in his wrestling career, and then as a promoter in the Mid-South Un ...
' Mid-South Wrestling
The Universal Wrestling Federation was a 1986 re-branding of wrestler-turned-owner Bill Watts' Mid-South Wrestling promotion. Watts' goal was to elevate his promotion from a relatively smaller, regional-level business, to a national-level rival ...
, teaming with Ernie Ladd
Ernest Ladd (November 28, 1938 – March 10, 2007), nicknamed "The Big Cat", was an American professional football player and professional wrestler. A standout athlete in high school, Ladd attended Grambling State University on a basketball sc ...
for most of his time in Mid-South. The two defeated Junkyard Dog
Sylvester Ritter (December 13, 1952 – June 1, 1998) was an American professional wrestler and college football player, best known for his work in Mid-South Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation as the Junkyard Dog (or JYD), a nickname ...
and Terry Orndorff to win the Mid-South Tag Team Championship. They later trade the championship with Junkyard Dog and other partners such as Killer Karl Kox
Herbert Alan Gerwig (April 26, 1931 – November 10, 2011) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name of Killer Karl Kox, who competed in the National Wrestling Alliance as well as international promotions such as All ...
and Dick Murdoch
Hoyt Richard Murdoch (August 16, 1946 – June 15, 1996) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring names "Dirty" Dick Murdoch and "Captain Redneck". He was best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation and New Jap ...
.[
In 1981 ]Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling
Jim Crockett Promotions Inc. is a family-owned professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, restarted by Jim Crockett's son and Jim Crockett Jr's brother, David Crockett. Founded in 1931, the promoti ...
(MACW) based in the Carolinas brought Leroy Brown on as a regular worker. They presented him as a blue collar hero, wearing coveralls and a hard hat to the ring. He showed up to help the good guys take on Sgt. Slaughter
Robert Rudolph Remus (born August 27, 1948), best known by his ring name Sgt. Slaughter, is a voice actor and retired American professional wrestler who is currently signed to WWE in the ambassador program.
From the late 1970s to the early 198 ...
and his army, backing them up whenever Slaughter's army tried to use the numbers to their advantage. Brown and various partners such as Ricky Steamboat
Richard Henry Blood Sr. (born February 28, 1953), better known by his ring name Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, is an American retired professional wrestler best known for his work with the American Wrestling Association (AWA), Jim Crockett Promot ...
and Sweet Ebony Diamond would challenge The Minnesota Wrecking Crew
The Minnesota Wrecking Crew is a Canadian sketch comedy troupe, featuring members John Catucci, Josh Glover, Mike 'Nug' Nahrgang and Ron Sparks. They all met as members of The Vanier Improv Company. The group won two consecutive Canadian Comed ...
(Gene
In biology, the word gene (from , ; "...Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a ba ...
and Ole Anderson
Alan Robert Rogowski (born September 22, 1942), better known by the ring name Ole Anderson (), is an American retired professional wrestler, referee, manager, and promoter. Part of the Anderson family, Anderson was a founding member of the influen ...
) for the Mid-Atlantic version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship
The NWA World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship created by the National Wrestling Alliance. From 1948 to 1982, the NWA allowed member promotions to create their own territorial version of the "NWA World ...
. In 1982 Leroy Brown became involved in a storyline feud with then NWA World Heavyweight Champion
The NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship is a world heavyweight professional wrestling championship owned and promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), an American professional wrestling promotion. The current champion is Tyrus, who is i ...
Ric Flair
Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949), known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American professional wrestler. Regarded by multiple peers and journalists as the greatest professional wrestler of all time, Flair has had a career spanni ...
. The storyline started with an arm wrestling
Arm wrestling (also spelled armwrestling) is a sport with two opponents who face each other with their bent elbows placed on a table and hands firmly gripped, who then attempt to force the opponent's hand down to the table top ("pin" them). The s ...
challenge laid out by Flair. Brown won the challenge, leading to Flair demand a rematch that Brown also won. During a third arm wrestling challenge Brown was attacked by Big John Studd
John William Minton (February 19, 1948 – March 20, 1995) was an American professional wrestler and actor, better known by his ring name, Big John Studd. Studd is best known for his appearances with the World Wide Wrestling Federation/World Wr ...
, beating Brown up prior to a Brown wrestling Flair for the championship at the Omni Coliseum, Georgia Championship Wrestling
Georgia Championship Wrestling was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Atlanta, Georgia. The promotion was affiliated with what had been the world's top sanctioning body of championship titles for decades before, the National W ...
's venue for major shows. Despite the attack Brown would go on to win the match, but the victory was by disqualification as Flair intentionally got himself disqualified to keep the championship. Subsequently, Flair would frustrate Brown at every turn, using underhanded tactics and placing a bounty of Brown to keep him away from the championship. During the feud Flair would try to tempt Brown with fancy suits and the "jet set" lifestyle, hoping to tempt Brown to side with him. After losing to Flair in June, 1982 Brown shocked his fans when he accepted the offer, turning heel as he became enamored with fine clothes, jewelry and fast cars. Brown took Oliver Humperdink as his manager, becoming part of the heel group "House of Humperdink". On November 27, 1982 Brown won a 20-man battle royal
Battle royal (; also royale) traditionally refers to a fight involving many combatants that is fought until only one fighter remains standing, usually conducted under either boxing or wrestling rules. In recent times, the term has been used in a ...
to win the vacant NWA Mid-Atlantic Television Championship. His reign as the TV champion lasted only 28 days, losing the championship on December 25 to Mike Rotunda
Lawrence Michael Rotunda (born March 30, 1958) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling in the 1980s and 1990s under the ring names Mik ...
.[ Following the loss of the championship Brown left JCP and traveled to Florida.
]
Zambuie Express/Muslim Connection
In 1983 the Florida bookers came up with a storyline where Daniels announced that he had changed his name to "Eljiah Akeem", referring to it as his Muslim name. He became the bodyguard for the hated heel "Exotic" Adrian Street
Adrian Street (born 5 December 1940) is a retired Welsh professional wrestler and author known for his flamboyant, androgynous wrestling persona, brought to prominence in the 1970s and 1980s. Street was often accompanied to the ring by his long- ...
. A couple of months later he was teamed up with Ray Candy
Ray Canty (December 3, 1951 – May 23, 1994), better known by the ring name Ray Candy, was an American professional wrestler who worked for a variety of different wrestling promotions in the United States, Japan and Puerto Rico such as Jim Crocke ...
to form the "Zambuie Express", which was at times billed as "The Muslim Connection" in some promotions. Candy took the name "Kareem Muhammad". The duo began to wear camouflage pants and shirts to the ring, adopting militaristic Muslim in ring characters, based to some extent on the Black Panther Party
The Black Panther Party (BPP), originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was a Marxist-Leninist and black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, Califo ...
. The two toured mainly in the southern parts of the United States where their racially charged characters made them very hated. The team was often managed by Humperdink and was part of the "House of Humperdink". In Florida the duo defeated Mike Graham and Scott McGhee to win the NWA Florida Global Tag Team Championship
The NWA Florida Global Tag Team Championship was a major tag team title in Florida Championship Wrestling from 1982 until fall 1983, when it was replaced by the NWA Florida United States Tag Team Championship.
Title history
See also
* List o ...
on July 31, 1983.[ The duo held the championship until September of that year, when it was replaced by the Florida version of the ]NWA United States Tag Team Championship
The NWA United States Tag Team Championship is a name used for several secondary tag team championship used by various National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) members since 1958. There are eleven different versions of the NWA United States Tag Team Champ ...
. The Zambuie Express were declared the United States Champions, with the storyline being that they won a tournament.[ Two months later the Zambuie Express lost the championship to the team of ]Dusty Rhodes
Virgil Riley Runnels Jr. (October 11, 1945 – June 11, 2015), better known as "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, was an American professional wrestler, booker, and trainer who most notably worked for the National Wrestling Alliance, Jim Crocket ...
and Blackjack Mulligan
Robert Deroy Windham (November 25, 1942 – April 7, 2016), better known by his ring name Blackjack Mulligan, was an American professional wrestler and American football player. He was the father of wrestlers Barry and Kendall Windham, father-in ...
on November 5, 1983[
From Florida the team traveled to Memphis to compete for the Continental Wrestling Association (CWA) where they were immediately pitted against the top face team of the territory ]The Fabulous Ones
The Fabulous Ones were a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Stan Lane and Steve Keirn that was active between 1982 and 1991 with brief reunions during the 1990s. The Fabulous Ones competed primarily in North American territories such as ...
(Stan Lane
Wallace Stanfield "Stan" Lane (born August 5, 1953) is an American retired professional wrestler and color commentator. He is best known for his appearances with the Continental Wrestling Association (CWA), Jim Crockett Promotions and World Champi ...
and Steve Keirn). On January 24, 1984, the Zambuie Express were awarded the AWA Southern Tag Team Championship
The AWA Southern Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling tag team title in the Tennessee area from the 1940s through the late 1980s. It was originally named the NWA Southern Tag Team Championship ''(Mid-America version)'' from its ince ...
when the Fabulous Ones failed to show up for a match, but the titles were declared vacant instead of giving them to Akeem and Muhammad.[ The CWA held a tournament for the vacant championship, a tournament won by the Zambuie Express as they defeated the Pretty Young Things (]Koko B. Ware
James W. Ware, Jr. (born June 20, 1958), better known by his ring name Koko B. Ware is an American retired professional wrestler. He debuted in 1978 and became widely popular in 1986. He later went on to the World Wrestling Federation, where he ...
and Norvell Austin
Norvell Austin (born March 9, 1951) is a retired American professional wrestler. Austin worked for most of his career in the Southern United States, most often in tag team competition. Norvell Austin is most famous for teaming with Sputnik Monro ...
) in the final match.[ The Pretty Young Things won the championship only a week later, defeating the Zambuie Express on CWA's weekly show at the Mid-South Coliseum. Eight days later the Zambuie Express regained the championship. The duo held on to the belts until March 12, 1984 when they lost to ]Jerry Lawler
Jerry O'Neil Lawler (born November 29, 1949), better known as Jerry "The King" Lawler, is an American color commentator and professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, although he has not performed as a full-time commentator since Ap ...
and Jos LeDuc
Michel Pigeon (August 31, 1944 – May 1, 1999) was a Canadian professional wrestler better known by his ring name, Jos LeDuc.
Wrestling with a lumberjack gimmick, he debuted in Stampede Wrestling with his kayfabe brother, Paul LeDuc. The pair l ...
.[ The team toured with New Japan Pro-Wrestling in the spring of 1984 and then ended up working for ]Jim Crockett Promotions
Jim Crockett Promotions Inc. is a family-owned professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, restarted by Jim Crockett's son and Jim Crockett Jr's brother, David Crockett. Founded in 1931, the promot ...
based in the Carolinas by the summer of 1984. The team sided with Paul Jones and became part of Paul Jones' Army
Paul Jones' Army was a professional wrestling heel stable in the NWA's Jim Crockett Promotions in the mid-1980s led by manager Paul Jones. The group's primary storyline was against "The Boogie Woogie Man" Jimmy Valiant in a long running storyli ...
as they fought against Jimmy Valiant
James Harold Fanning (born August 6, 1942) is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Jimmy Valiant.
Early life
Fanning was born in Tullahoma as the youngest of five children of James and Effie Fanning. He later incorpo ...
and Valiant's friends. The Express competed on the 1984 version of Starrcade
Starrcade was a recurring professional wrestling event, originally broadcast via closed-circuit television and eventually broadcast via pay-per-view. It was originally held from 1983 to 2000, first by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) from 1 ...
, where they lost to the team of Buzz Tyler
Buzz Tyler (November 4, 1948 – November 11, 2021) was an American professional wrestler who competed in North American regional promotions during the 1970s and 1980s including the National Wrestling Alliance, most notably teaming with J. J. Di ...
and The Masked Assassin #1. The loss to Tyler and the Assassin was one of the last matches the Zambuie Express worked together, splitting up a short time later.[
]
Return to Leroy Brown
In 1985 Daniels resumed working as Leroy Brown, travelling to Japan to work a tour for NJPW, often teaming with "Bad News" Allen Coage
Allen James Coage (October 22, 1943 – March 6, 2007) was an American judoka and professional wrestler. He won medals for the United States at several international judo competitions, including the heavyweight bronze medal at the 1976 S ...
. By 1986 Brown began working for the Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF), formerly Mid-South Wrestling. In the UWF teamed up with "Wild" Bill Irwin and won the UWF Tag Team Championship
The UWF Tag Team Championship was the tag team title in the Universal Wrestling Federation from 1986 until the promotion closed in 1987. It was formerly known as the Mid-South Tag Team Championship from 1979 until 1986 when Mid-South Wrestling b ...
from the team of John Tatum and Jack Victory
Kenneth Rinehurst (born July 3, 1964) is an American professional wrestler and manager, better known by his ring name, Jack Victory. He is perhaps best known for his appearances with the Universal Wrestling Federation and the World Class Wrestlin ...
on November 9, 1986.[ The team successfully defended the championship against Gary Young and ]Joe Savoldi
Joseph Anthony Savoldi Jr., (born Giuseppe Antonio Savoldi; March 5, 1908 – January 25, 1974) more commonly known by his nickname "Jumping Joe" Savoldi, was an Italian-American professional wrestler, football player, and Special Ops agent fo ...
as part of the UWF Superdome Extravaganza, held at the ' Superdome on November 27. The team held the title for 48 days in total, until they were defeated by Terry Taylor
Paul Worden Taylor III (born August 12, 1955) is an American retired professional wrestler better known by his ring name Terry Taylor and for his time as an in-ring performer in National Wrestling Alliance, World Championship Wrestling, and Wo ...
and Jim Duggan
James Edward Duggan Jr. (born January 14, 1954), better known by his ring name "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE on a Legends contract. His best-known character is that of an American patriot, which ...
on December 27, 1986.[
]
Death
Daniels died on September 6, 1988, as the result of a stroke and subsequent heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...
caused by severe cirrhosis
Cirrhosis, also known as liver cirrhosis or hepatic cirrhosis, and end-stage liver disease, is the impaired liver function caused by the formation of scar tissue known as fibrosis due to damage caused by liver disease. Damage causes tissue rep ...
at a hospital in Savannah, Georgia at the age of 37.[
]
Other Leroy Browns
Daniels was not the only wrestler to use the ring name "Leroy Brown", Polynesian wrestler Leroy Tuifao also used the name "Leroy Brown" as he wrestled primarily in Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
. British wrestler Oliver Biney, better known as Rampage Brown
Oliver Biney (born 8 August 1983) is a British professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, performing under the ring name Rampage Brown. He is known for his work throughout the European and British independent wrestling circuit. However, R ...
, also used the name "Leroy Brown" for a period of time. The Junkyard Dog
Sylvester Ritter (December 13, 1952 – June 1, 1998) was an American professional wrestler and college football player, best known for his work in Mid-South Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation as the Junkyard Dog (or JYD), a nickname ...
originally wrestled under the name "Leroy Rochester", which has led some sources to mistakenly list Roland Daniels' birth name as "Leroy Rochester". In addition, Allen Coage wrestled under the name "Bad News Brown".
Championships and accomplishments
*Championship Wrestling from Florida
Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF) was the corporate and brand name of the Tampa, Florida wrestling office existing from 1961, when Eddie Graham first bought into the promotion, until 1987, when it closed down. It is also referred to as ...
**NWA Florida Global Tag Team Championship
The NWA Florida Global Tag Team Championship was a major tag team title in Florida Championship Wrestling from 1982 until fall 1983, when it was replaced by the NWA Florida United States Tag Team Championship.
Title history
See also
* List o ...
( 1 time) – with Kareem Muhammad
** NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship ''(Florida version)'' ( 1 time)
** NWA United States Tag Team Championship ''(Florida version)'' ( 1 time) – with Kareem Muhammad
* Continental Wrestling Association
**AWA Southern Tag Team Championship
The AWA Southern Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling tag team title in the Tennessee area from the 1940s through the late 1980s. It was originally named the NWA Southern Tag Team Championship ''(Mid-America version)'' from its ince ...
(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 ...
) – with Kareem Muhammad
*Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling
Jim Crockett Promotions Inc. is a family-owned professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, restarted by Jim Crockett's son and Jim Crockett Jr's brother, David Crockett. Founded in 1931, the promoti ...
** NWA Mid-Atlantic Television Championship ( 1 time)
*Mid-South Wrestling
The Universal Wrestling Federation was a 1986 re-branding of wrestler-turned-owner Bill Watts' Mid-South Wrestling promotion. Watts' goal was to elevate his promotion from a relatively smaller, regional-level business, to a national-level rival ...
** Mid-South Tag Team 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 ...
) – with Ernie Ladd
Ernest Ladd (November 28, 1938 – March 10, 2007), nicknamed "The Big Cat", was an American professional football player and professional wrestler. A standout athlete in high school, Ladd attended Grambling State University on a basketball sc ...
**UWF Tag Team Championship
The UWF Tag Team Championship was the tag team title in the Universal Wrestling Federation from 1986 until the promotion closed in 1987. It was formerly known as the Mid-South Tag Team Championship from 1979 until 1986 when Mid-South Wrestling b ...
( 1 time) – with Bill Irwin
* NWA Big Time Wrestling
**NWA Texas Tag Team Championship
The WCWA Texas Tag Team Championship was the secondary professional wrestling tag team championship promoted by the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex area-based World Class Wrestling Association (WCWA). The championship was originally known as the NW ...
( 1 time) – with Killer Tim Brooks
Timothy Paul Brooks (December 4, 1947 – June 30, 2020), better known by his ring name Killer Tim Brooks, was an American professional wrestler. He competed in North American regional promotions, including the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), P ...
*NWA Hollywood Wrestling
NWA Hollywood Wrestling (sometimes referred to as NWA Los Angeles) was a professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Los Angeles, California in the United States that promoted professional wrestling matches throughout Southern California. It ...
** WA Americas Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time)
**NWA Americas Tag Team Championship
The NWA Americas Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling tag team title in the National Wrestling Alliance's NWA Hollywood Wrestling based out of Los Angeles, California.
The championship began as the WWA World Tag Team Championship ...
( 1 time) – with Allen Coage
Allen James Coage (October 22, 1943 – March 6, 2007) was an American judoka and professional wrestler. He won medals for the United States at several international judo competitions, including the heavyweight bronze medal at the 1976 S ...
*''Pro Wrestling Illustrated
''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publish ...
''
**PWI ranked him # 484 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI Years
''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publi ...
in 2003.
See also
* List of premature professional wrestling deaths
According to a 2014 study by Eastern Michigan University examining professional wrestlers who were active between 1985 and 2011, mortality rates for professional wrestlers are up to 2.9 times greater than the rate for men in the wider United State ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Leroy
1950 births
1988 deaths
20th-century American male actors
20th-century professional wrestlers
African-American male professional wrestlers
American male professional wrestlers
NWA/WCW World Television Champions
Professional wrestlers from Georgia (U.S. state)
Sportspeople from Savannah, Georgia
NWA Florida Global Tag Team Champions
NWA Southern Heavyweight Champions (Florida version)
NWA United States Tag Team Champions (Florida version)
NWA Americas Tag Team Champions
NWA Americas Heavyweight Champions