Pro Wrestling America is a regional independent wrestling promotion based in
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...
during the 1980s and early 1990s. Founded and promoted by retired wrestler
Eddie Sharkey
Eddie Sharkey (born February 4, 1936) is an American professional wrestling trainer. He is often called "The Trainer of Champions". He has been instrumental in training some of the biggest names in the sport. He was also the owner of Pro Wrestl ...
, a longtime veteran of the
American Wrestling Association
The American Wrestling Association (AWA) was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 until 1991. It was owned and founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo. The territory was originally part o ...
and owner of the Pro Wrestling America Training Center, Pro Wrestling America featured many established wrestlers while in between the then "Big Three" (
American Wrestling Association
The American Wrestling Association (AWA) was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 until 1991. It was owned and founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo. The territory was originally part o ...
,
National Wrestling Alliance
The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and former professional wrestling governing body operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc.
Founded in 1948, the NWA ...
and the
World Wrestling Federation
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...
) as well as providing many lightheavyweight and cruiserweight wrestlers with their first national exposure, most notably,
Sabu,
Jerry Lynn
Jeremy Lynn (born June 12, 1963), better known by the ring name Jerry Lynn, is an American retired professional wrestler currently signed with All Elite Wrestling as a producer and coach. He has worked for promotions such as World Championship ...
and
The Lightning Kid.
Although the promotion stopped running regular events in 1993, it has held sporadic events in the Minneapolis-area with Sharkey's wrestling school since 1996. Among the former students who have appeared for several of these events include
Lacey
Lacey may refer to:
People Surname A–L
* Andrew Lacey (1887–1946), Australian politician
* Bill Lacey (American football) (born 1971), American football player and coach
* Bill Lacey (footballer) (1889–1969), Irish footballer
* Bob Lacey ( ...
and
Austin Aries
Daniel Healy Solwold Jr. (born April 15, 1978), better known by his ring name Austin Aries, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to the Control Your Narrative wrestling promotion. He is best known for his time with Impact Wrest ...
, both being top stars in
Ring of Honor
Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. The promotion was founded by Rob Feinstein on February 23, 2002, and was operated by Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011, when the promotion was so ...
.
History
In 1982, after leaving the AWA as a result of a pay dispute with promoter
Greg Gagne, Sharkey was approached by fifteen other wrestlers similarly upset with Gagne over withholding payment and convinced Sharkey to start his own promotion. Sharkey duly set up his own promotion Pro Wrestling USA, starring his own trainees such as
the two future members of the Road Warriors tag team (at this stage known as
Crusher Von Haig and
The Road Warrior
''Mad Max 2'' (released as ''The Road Warrior'' in the United States) is a 1981 Australian post-apocalyptic action film directed by George Miller. It is the second installment in the ''Mad Max'' franchise, with Mel Gibson reprising his role a ...
respectively) as well as
Rick Rood,
and
Barry Darsow
Barry Allen Darsow (born October 6, 1959) is an American retired professional wrestler who performed as Smash, one half of the tag team Demolition. He also wrestled as Krusher Kruschev, Repo Man, The Blacktop Bully and "Mr. Hole in One" Barry ...
(then still wrestling under his legal name). Sharkey was soon able to sign other wrestlers including
Paul Ellering
Paul Ellering (born August 22, 1953) is an American Manager (professional wrestling), professional wrestling manager and former professional wrestler. He is currently signed with WWE to a legends contract. Ellering spent most of his wrestling car ...
,
Tom Zenk
Thomas Erwin Zenk (November 30, 1958 – December 9, 2017) was an American professional wrestler and bodybuilder. He was best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation from 1986 to 1987, American Wrestling Association (AWA) 198 ...
,
Nikita Koloff
Nikita Koloff (born Nelson Scott Simpson on March 9, 1959) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with Jim Crockett Promotions and its successor, World Championship Wrestling between 1984 and 1992, where ...
,
The Destruction Crew
The Beverly Brothers were a professional wrestling tag team comprising Mike Enos and Wayne Bloom in the World Wrestling Federation. They were also known as The Destruction Crew in the American Wrestling Association and the Minnesota Wrecking Crew ...
(
Mike Enos
Mike may refer to:
Animals
* Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum
* Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off
* Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and documen ...
&
Wayne Bloom
Wayne Bloom (born March 22, 1958) is an American retired professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with the American Wrestling Association (AWA) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW) under his birth name ...
) and the
Steiner Brothers
The Steiner Brothers are an American professional wrestling tag team consisting of brothers Robert "Rick Steiner" Rechsteiner and Scott "Scott Steiner" Rechsteiner.
The brothers wrestled as amateurs at the University of Michigan. The team mad ...
(
Rick
Rick may refer to:
People
*Rick (given name), a list of people with the given name
*Alan Rick (born 1976), Brazilian politician, journalist, pastor and television personality
*Johannes Rick (1869–1946), Austrian-born Brazilian priest and mycol ...
&
Scott Steiner
Scott Rechsteiner (born July 29, 1962), better known by the ring name Scott Steiner, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA).
Steiner is perhaps best known for his time in World Championshi ...
) as well as
Mad Dog Vachon
Joseph Maurice Régis Vachon (September 14, 1929 − November 21, 2013) was a Canadian professional wrestler, best known by his ring name Mad Dog Vachon. He was the older brother of wrestlers Paul and Vivian Vachon, and the uncle of wrestle ...
,
Bruiser Brody
Frank Donald Goodish (June 18, 1946 – July 17, 1988) was an American professional wrestler who earned his greatest fame under the ring name Bruiser Brody. He also worked as King Kong Brody, The Masked Marauder, and Red River Jack. Over the yea ...
,
Larry Cameron
Larry Cameron (November 4, 1952 – December 13, 1993) was an American professional football player and wrestler.
Football career
Larry Cameron was born and raised in Natchez, MS. When he was a teenager, he played football in high school and c ...
often making appearances. Ray Whebbe, Jr. and Dale Gagner, the current owner of
AWA Superstars, was also involved with the promotion. Although a chief rival of the American Wrestling Alliance during the late 1980s, Sharkey and Gagne eventually agreed to a talent exchange deal between the two promotions. A number of PWA veterans were brought into the AWA during its last years including
Derrick Dukes
Derrick Dukes (born January 4, 1965) is an American retired professional wrestler and boxer. He best known for his appearances in the American Wrestling Association in the late-1980s as one-half of the tag team "The Top Guns" with Ricky Rice.
Pr ...
and
Ricky Rice
Ricky Rice is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearance with the Minneapolis-based promotions Pro Wrestling America and the American Wrestling Association.
Professional wrestling career
Early career
Trained ...
.
In 1986, Eddie Sharkey and promoter Tony Condello worked out an agreement for PWA wrestlers to appear in televised wrestling events in central Canada.
Chris Markoff
Chris Markoff is a Yugoslav-American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with professional wrestling promotions in the Midwestern United States in the 1960s.
Early life
Markoff was born in Yugoslavia and raised in ...
,
Buck Zumhofe
Eugene Otto "Buck" Zumhofe (born March 21, 1951) is a convicted sex offender and former American professional wrestler better known as "The King of Rock n' Roll" Buck Zumhofe. In 2014, Zumhofe was sentenced to 25 years in prison for criminal sexu ...
, Ricky Rice & Derrick Dukes and The Terminators (Riggs & Wolff) were among those who appeared in the territory. Pro Wrestling America, among other regional promotions such as Georgia All-Star Wrestling and the
United States Wrestling Association
The United States Wrestling Association (USWA) was a professional wrestling promotion based in Memphis, Tennessee. The company was founded when the Memphis-based Continental Wrestling Association merged with the Dallas-based World Class Wrestling ...
, also had a working relationship with the
Global Wrestling Federation
Global Wrestling Federation was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Dallas, Texas. It started in June 1991 and folded in September 1994. At one time its shows were presented on the ESPN television network. Often the promotion pr ...
during its last years and allowed its own wrestlers compete in GWF tournaments and other events. Jerry Lynn and The Lightning Kid, two of the promotion's top light heavyweight wrestlers, faced each other in a match to crown the first
GWF Light Heavyweight Championship
The GWF Light Heavyweight Championship was the secondary title in the Global Wrestling Federation in Texas. The title existed from 1991 until 1994, when GWF closed. The title was defended on the promotion's show that aired nationally on ESPN.
To ...
. A number of PWA wrestlers often appeared on ''The Prima-Donns'', a long-running
Public-access television
Public-access television is traditionally a form of non-commercial mass media where the general public can create content television programming which is narrowcast through cable television specialty channels. Public-access television was creat ...
cable TV
Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broadc ...
show in the Minneapolis-area, including Eddie Sharkey,
Baron von Raschke
James Donald Raschke (born July 30, 1940) is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Baron von Raschke.
Early life
Raschke was a three-year letterman with the University of Nebraska–Lincoln Cornhuskers wrest ...
,
Nick Bockwinkel
Nicholas Warren Francis "Nick" Bockwinkel (December 6, 1934 – November 14, 2015) was an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with the American Wrestling Association (AWA) in the 1970s and 1980s.
Bockwinkel ...
and Jerry Lynn.
Pro Wrestling America was so successful during its early years, despite no access to television or advertising according to Eddie Sharkey, that the promotion was the first and, as of 1991, the only independent promotion never to lose money. The promotion would eventually cease running shows after 1993, however Sharkey once again began promoting in the area with Terry Fox after a three-year absence, under either Wrestle America 2000 or Pro Wrestling America, with students from their wrestling camp.
The promotion has since occasionally toured Japan and the Middle East.
Alumni
Championships
References
External links
CageMatch.de - Pro Wrestling America
{{Professional wrestling in the United States
Entertainment companies established in 1985
Independent professional wrestling promotions based in the Midwestern United States
Companies based in Minnesota
1985 establishments in Minnesota