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 of the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now known as WWE). However, Watts' business strategy quickly swung from "overnight" success to catastrophic failure, resulting in the 1987 sale of the UWF to another rival: Jim Crockett Promotions (owner of Mid-Atlantic Wrestling,

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 ...

, the

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling promotion and former professional wrestling governing body operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA began as a governing body for a ...

(NWA)'s most important championships, and the predecessor of

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Natio ...

). The promotion began as an NWA territory, NWA Tri-State, founded by Leroy McGuirk in the 1950s. Tri-State/Mid-South/UWF promoted in Oklahoma,

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a U.S. state, state in the Deep South and South Central United States, South Central regions of the United States. It is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 20th-smal ...

and

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Mis ...

until 1987. Because Watts did not register the "Universal Wrestling Federation" name with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, businessman Herb Abrams was able to use it to launch an unrelated wrestling promotion of the same name in 1990.

History

NWA Tri-State (1950s–1979)

A former territory wrestler who was blinded in a 1950 auto accident, Leroy McGuirk eventually took over promoting a wrestling circuit covering Oklahoma,

and

. Until 1973, "Cowboy" Bill Watts had been one of Tri-State's most popular wrestlers. After leaving Tri-State for Eddie Graham's Championship Wrestling from Florida, Watts returned to Tri-State in 1975.

Mid-South Wrestling (1979–1986)

In 1979, Bill Watts bought the Tri-State Wrestling territory from Leroy McGuirk, and re-branded it Mid-South Wrestling (MSW; officially, the Mid-South Wrestling Association). One of Watts' first acts as owner was to withdraw the company from the

(NWA). However, MSW would remain loosely aligned with the NWA, continuing to have the NWA World Heavyweight Champion defend the title on MSW shows, which spiked live event sales. (During the "territory" system

940s-1980s 94 may refer to: * 94 (number) * one of the years 94 BC, AD 94, 1994, 2094, etc. * Atomic number 94: plutonium * Saab 94 See also * * List of highways numbered A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: Peopl ...

the NWA World Heavyweight Champion would travel to each NWA-affiliated territory to defend the title against its top-drawing local star.) MSW then added

to its circuit. In 1982, MSW expanded to Oklahoma when McGuirk closed his personal, Oklahoma-based promotion. McGuirk also formed an alliance with

Houston Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...

promoter Paul Boesch to feature Mid-South talent on shows at the Sam Houston Coliseum (one of the most famous arenas in professional wrestling), and other parts of southeastern

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 ...

. Mid-South used Shreveport, Louisiana as the base for its television tapings, which were first housed in the studios of KTBS-TV until they were moved around 1982 to the Irish McNeel Sports for Boys club, located on the Louisiana State Fairgrounds. Instead of the cartoon-ish characters and interviews common to the Hulkamania-era WWF, Mid-South Wrestling's content focused on: energetic matches performed before raucous and packed crowds; characters whose personas blurred the line between good and evil; an intensely physical, athletic wrestling style; and an episodic TV show format. The promotion ran shows in a mix of small venues and gigantic arenas. In 1980, a card pitting a "blinded"

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 ...

against Freebird Michael Hayes in the main event drew nearly 30,000 fans for a show presented by a promotion less than one year old. In 1984, Watts came out of retirement to team with a masked Junkyard Dog (under the name Stagger Lee) to face the Midnight Express to cap an angle in which the Express and manager

Jim Cornette James Mark "Jim" Cornette (born September 17, 1961) is an American author and podcaster who has previously worked in the professional wrestling industry as an agent, booker, color commentator, manager, promoter, trainer, and occasional prof ...

beat Watts on TV. Its undercard featured a showdown between Magnum T.A. and Mr. Wrestling II. The 1984 show drew 22,000 fans—an unimaginably large crowd for a regional territory show. In the mid-1980s, MSW began to expand nationally. In 1985, longtime wrestling fan

Ted Turner Robert Edward "Ted" Turner III (born November 19, 1938) is an American entrepreneur, television producer, media proprietor, and philanthropist. He founded the Cable News Network (CNN), the first 24-hour cable news channel. In addition, he ...

invited Watts to air MSW's weekly TV show on Turner's SuperStation TBS network. Turner wanted an alternative to the World Wrestling Federation show airing in the coveted 2-hour, Saturday-evening timeslot, which the WWF had acquired when it bought out the majority ownership of

. (see: Black Saturday) Turner was angered by the WWF show because McMahon had promised him it would feature matches and promos taped in TBS' Atlanta studios (as Georgia Championship Wrestling had done for years). But instead of fresh, locally-produced content, the WWF's TBS show only presented clips and highlights from ''other'' WWF TV shows – some, depending on TV market, airing at the same time the TBS show did. (Eventually, the WWF would shoot local, in-studio matches, but only infrequently, and they were usually predictable squash matches.) MSW quickly became TBS' highest-rated show, so Watts positioned MSW to take over once Turner could force the WWF off his network. Watts' luck ran out, however, when former

co-owner Jim Barnett helped broker a deal enabling North Carolina-based Jim Crockett Promotions' (led by Jim Crockett, Jr.) to buy the Saturday timeslot from McMahon, and become TBS' sole pro wrestling show. Watts made one more attempt at going national the following year. As part of that plan, Watts replaced Mid-South Wrestling's parochial brandname with a more corporate, ambitious (and WWF-like) one: the Universal Wrestling Federation.

Universal Wrestling Federation (1986–1987)

In March 1986, MSW "went national" (the goal of the most ambitious regional promotions of this era), re-launching as the Universal Wrestling Federation, and securing a syndication deal airing their two one-hour, weekly TV programs (the lesser show, ''Power Pro Wrestling'' debuted in 1984) in major markets across the United States. The TV tapings were also taken out of Shreveport and moved on location at various live shows throughout the Mid-South/UWF territory. New wrestlers, mostly from

World Class Championship Wrestling World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), later known as the World Class Wrestling Association (WCWA) (1986–1991) was an American professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. Originally owned by promoter E ...

(WCCW), joined the company, as did former WCCW co-promoter Ken Mantell. Despite the UWF's strong early ratings and critical praise, it could not compete nationally with Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) and the WWF, as both had stronger TV distribution and larger live event, pay-per-view (and, in the WWF's case, merchandise licensing) revenue streams. The UWF was further hurt when the oil-based economy of its richest local market—Oklahoma—fell into a severe recession in fall, 1986. This left the blue collar core of the UWF's fanbase with far less disposable income to spend on things like attending wrestling shows. Watts sold the UWF to JCP on April 9, 1987, and many of the UWF's top stars were either retained by JCP, or immediately left for the WWF or WCCW. Unlike the other NWA-affiliated promotions JCP had bought out in the mid-1980s, the UWF did not immediately end; JCP kept its brand—and its three championships—alive in TV storylines until December 1987, when JCP's NWA-affiliated characters defeated all of the UWF characters in a series of "title vs. title" unification matches, among others. Only a few UWF wrestlers were well-received by JCP's fanbase; they included: the Fabulous Freebirds, Shane Douglas,

Rick Steiner Robert Rechsteiner (born March 9, 1961) is an American real estate broker and retired professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Rick Steiner. Steiner is best known for his tenure with World Championship Wrestling (WCW), where he wa ...

, Eddie Gilbert, and UWF centerpiece "Dr. Death" Steve Williams. Most UWF imports were gone from JCP's roster within a year; however, one wrestler would go from UWF midcarder/tag team act, to breakout star in JCP, and the wrestling industry as a whole: Sting. Sting's UWF tag team (as

The Blade Runners The Blade Runners were a professional wrestling tag team consisting of future superstars Steve Borden and Jim Hellwig that existed in 1985 and 1986. Their look was from the new wave music scene with black eye paint and spiked hair with a rattai ...

) partner would later become a WWF wrestling legend, too:

The Ultimate Warrior Warrior (born James Brian Hellwig; June 16, 1959 – April 8, 2014) was an American professional wrestler and bodybuilder. Best known by his ring name The Ultimate Warrior, he wrestled for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) from 1 ...

. In April 1988, JCP, one of the biggest and late stage casualties of the "going national" war with the WWF, sold its collection of territories and titles to Ted Turner's TBS. Turner re-branded JCP "World Championship Wrestling," naming the new company after its TBS TV show. Ironically, "Cowboy" Bill Watts ended up running the same business that had swallowed his own: In spring of 1992, WCW hired Watts was as its latest Executive Vice President; he held the role less than a year. World Wrestling Entertainment acquired most of the Mid-South/UWF video archive, absorbing it into its WWE Libraries collection in 2012 -- with a notable exception: Mid-South/UWF matches taped for '' Houston Wrestling'' which aired on KHTV in

. Those rights are held by the estate of Paul Boesch, who was the Houston territory's promoter.Corrigan's Corner: Bruce Tharpe Talks NWA - Then and Now (Part 1)
/ref> Select episodes of Mid-South are available for viewing on the

WWE Network WWE Network is a subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and digital television network owned by the American entertainment company WWE. It primarily distributes original professional wrestling events, films, television an ...

Storylines

The ''Battle of New Orleans'' was a long-playing brawl between Eddie Gilbert, Terry Taylor, Chris Adams and Sting, which began in the ring and spilled out into the concession area. Beer kegs, chairs, tables, popcorn machine and anything the four wrestlers could get their hands on were used in the brawl which lasted nearly 15 minutes. Sting and Gilbert fought outside the ring, when Rick Steiner came in and piledrived Shane Douglas. With Taylor on top, referee Randy Anderson made the pinfall. Later, Adams came out and told Anderson what had happened, which prompted Gilbert and Taylor to gang-up on Adams. Sting came in to even the sides, and that resulted in an all-out brawl outside the ring. Gilbert was the mastermind of this famous angle and received huge praise from fellow promoters and wrestlers. Adams was engaged in a storyline involving Iceman King Parsons and Taylor, which evolved out of the UWF Tag Team Championship tournament in February 1987. Originally, Adams and Iceman were one of the eight teams participating, and Taylor was teamed with

Sam Houston Samuel Houston (, ; March 2, 1793 – July 26, 1863) was an American general and statesman who played an important role in the Texas Revolution. He served as the first and third president of the Republic of Texas and was one of the first two i ...

. In a semi-finals match, Adams and Iceman wrestled against "Dr Death" Steve Williams and

Ted DiBiase Theodore Marvin DiBiase Sr. (born January 18, 1954) is an American retired professional wrestler, manager, ordained minister and color commentator. He is currently signed to WWE working in their Legends program. DiBiase achieved championship ...

until Skandor Akbar's Devastation Inc. charged the ring to attack Williams and DiBiase. The match ended when Williams and DiBiase were counted out, and Adams and Parsons won the match. Adams, who was helping Williams and DiBiase fight off Akbar and his army, wanted the match to continue, but Parsons wanted the win. After a lengthy argument, Adams and Parsons split, and Chris chose Savannah Jack as his new tag team partner. Iceman sucker-punched Savannah during a match and injured him, thus Adams had to choose another tag partner. He chose Terry Taylor, whose team lost a semi-final match to Rick Steiner and Sting. Taylor and Adams eventually won the UWF tag team titles, and held the belts for two months. Meanwhile, Adams and Parsons engaged in a lengthy feud, which lasted for more than a decade (the two had feuded earlier in WCCW when Adams was the heel and Parsons was the babyface), with Parsons frequently referring to Adams as "Jailbird," a reference to Adams serving jail time in 1986 on an assault conviction. Taylor and Adams, who dominated the UWF tag team scene, lost a match to Steiner and Sting when Taylor kicked Adams foot off the rope as he was being pinned by Sting. A face-vs-face bout between Adams and Taylor marked Taylor's heel

turn Turn may refer to: Arts and entertainment Dance and sports * Turn (dance and gymnastics), rotation of the body * Turn (swimming), reversing direction at the end of a pool * Turn (professional wrestling), a transition between face and heel * Turn, ...

as he piledrived Adams on the floor. The Taylor-Adams war proved to be one of the most violent feuds in the UWF, with an equal intensity to the feud Adams had with the

Von Erichs The Von Erich family is an American professional wrestling family. Originally from Texas, their actual surname is Adkisson, but every member who has been in the wrestling business has used the ring name "Von Erich," after the family patriarch, Fri ...

in World Class. The feud did have a short interruption when Taylor was injured in an automobile accident, but picked up again by the summer and carried over to World Class by 1988. Taylor and Adams promoted a famous angle in August which involved a press conference, where Taylor spoke about his situation with Adams and then left. Chris later took questions, which prompted Taylor to attack Adams with a chair. The following week, Adams conducted an interview vowing revenge against both Taylor and Eddie Gilbert. Other famous UWF angles included promoter Bill Watts being attacked and having the

flag of the Soviet Union The State Flag of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (), commonly known as the Soviet flag (), was the official state flag of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) from 1922 to 1991. The flag's design and symbolism are derived fro ...

draped on him by Eddie Gilbert, Missy Hyatt cold-cocking John Tatum after joining forces with Gilbert, Skandor Akbar throwing a fireball at Hacksaw Jim Duggan ("blinding" him temporarily), and the Freebirds breaking Steve Williams' arm. Williams recruited

Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the " Sooners", a reference to a nickname given to the early participants in the Land R ...

(and future

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divis ...

head coach)

Barry Switzer Barry Layne Switzer (born October 5, 1937) is a former American football coach and player. He served for 16 years as head football coach at the University of Oklahoma and four years as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Footbal ...

into training and getting back into the ring. It paid off on July 11, 1987 when Dr. Death defeated Big Bubba Rogers (Ray Traylor) to win the UWF Heavyweight Championship. The Freebirds became faces around that time, as they began feuding with Skandor Akbar's army as well as The Angel of Death. A prelim wrestler, Mike Boyette, wrestled in the UWF and is believed to be one of the very few wrestlers to never win a match. Video editors for the show even put together a music video of his various losses in the ring, set to the

Little River Band Little River Band (LRB) are a rock band originally formed in Melbourne, Australia, in March 1975. The band achieved commercial success in both Australia and the United States. They have sold more than 30 million records; six studio albums r ...

song "

Lonesome Loser "Lonesome Loser" is a song written by David Briggs and performed by Australian rock music group Little River Band. Released in July 1979 as the lead single from their fifth studio album ''First Under the Wire'', the song peaked at number 19 on the ...

". "Gorgeous" Gary Young also competed in the UWF, claiming that he was a rookie. He actually had five years experience under his belt. Young's claims prompted Jim Ross to begin referring to him as a "five-time rookie of the year." As the UWF's merge with "the NWA" was taking place, Terry Taylor, who held the UWF Television Championship, began an angle with the

NWA World Television Champion The NWA World Television Championship is a world television championship owned and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The inaugural champion was Ricky Starks. The current champion is Jor ...

, Nikita Koloff. Taylor stole the NWA TV title belt during an NWA show, but Koloff (with help from Dusty Rhodes) reclaimed it before their official in-ring encounter. They met at

Starrcade 1987 Starrcade '87: Chi-Town Heat was the fifth annual Starrcade professional wrestling supercard event produced by Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) under the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) banner. It took place on November 26, 1987, from the UIC ...

, and Nikita unified the two titles as the final leg of the NWA-UWF merger was finished. Williams would successfully defend the UWF Heavyweight Title on the same show versus Barry Windham. Williams immediately left to do a series of lucrative performances in Japan; the title was retired while he was in Asia. Sting, Rick Steiner, Eddie Gilbert, Missy Hyatt, announcer

Jim Ross James William Ross (born January 3, 1952) is an American professional wrestling commentator currently signed with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a commentator, analyst, and senior advisor. Ross is best known for a long and distinguished career a ...

, Brad Armstrong and the aforementioned Taylor became permanent NWA roster members, among others. The Freebirds, Savannah Jack, Iceman King Parsons, matchmaker Frank Dusek, and promoter Ken Mantell joined the new Wild West Wrestling promotion, which later merged with

. "Gentleman" Chris Adams, who initially stayed with Jim Crockett Promotions post-UWF, left due to a money dispute and returned to World Class in November 1987. DiBiase, Big Bubba Rogers, One Man Gang, and Sam Houston joined the WWF, joining fellow UWF alumnus " Hacksaw Jim Duggan", who the WWF had signed in February 1987. The Sheepherders, who originally joined Crockett after the merger, left in mid-1988 for the WWF, where they were renamed the Bushwhackers. Terry Taylor also departed, appearing in World Class for a few months (feuding with Chris Adams and Kevin Von Erich), then the WWF in mid-1988 as ''The Red Rooster''. Taylor would go on to have a long WWF/WWE career behind-the-scenes, holding various management and creative team roles.

Former personnel

Announcers

Mid-South's main television broadcasting team included Bill Watts and Boyd Pierce, with KTBS-TV staff announcer Reisor Bowden serving as ring announcer.

joined Mid-South after the closure of Leroy McGuirk's Tri-State promotion in Oklahoma, and remained through the transition to UWF. Bill Watts's son Joel Watts was later added to the Mid-South/UWF broadcasting team, and also worked behind-the-scenes as a producer of the TV program. Following Jim Crockett Promotions' purchase of the UWF, both Bill and Joel Watts exited the promotion and Jim Ross was joined by various partners including Magnum T. A.,

Michael P.S. Hayes Michael Seitz (born March 29, 1959) is an American retired professional wrestler and former musician. Seitz is best known for leading The Fabulous Freebirds under the ring name Michael "P.S." ("Purely Sexy") Hayes and for his role as an announc ...

and Missy Hyatt. Veteran JCP announcer Bob Caudle became Ross's permanent partner near the closure of UWF. Frank Dusek and Toni Adams also served as ringside commentators during the course of its UWF tenure; both of whom moved on to World Class.

Wrestlers of NWA Tri-State/Mid-South/UWF

* Chris Adams * Toni Adams *

Afa Afa or AFA may refer to: Mythology and religion *Afa (mythology), in the Polynesian mythology of Samoa * Afá, a West African religion, also known as Ifá in some languages Governmental * Agence française anticorruption, the French Anti-Corrupti ...

* Skandor Akbar *

André the Giant André René Roussimoff (; 19 May 1946 – 28 January 1993), better known by his ring name André the Giant, was a French professional wrestler and actor. Roussimoff was known for his great size, which was a result of gigantism caused by exces ...

Angel of Death Angel of Death may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Aviation *"Angel of Death", AC130 gunship's nickname Fictional characters * Adam or Andrew, in ''Touched by an Angel'' * Azrael, in ''Lucifer'' * Loki, in the film ''Dogma'' * Jaff ...

* Brad Armstrong * Bill Ash * The Assassin * "Mr USA" Tony Atlas * Ox Baker * The Barbarian *

Jessie Barr Jessie Barr (born 24 July 1989 in Waterford, Ireland) is an Irish athlete who competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Early life Jessie is from Dunmore East in Waterford and she attended the local girls primary school, the Light of Christ Natio ...

* Pat Barrett * Black Bart * Don Bass * Brian Blair * Tully Blanchard * Nick Bockwinkel * Mike Bond * Matt Borne * Mike Boyer *

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 year ...

* Leroy Brown * The Brute * King Kong Bundy *

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 Croc ...

* Coco Samoa *

Charlie Cook Charles Edward Cook Jr. (born November 20, 1953) is an American political analyst who specializes in election forecasts and political trends. Cook writes election forecasts and rankings in the publication he founded, ''The Cook Political Report'' ...

* Wendell Cooley * Tiger Conway Jr. *

(Manager) * Dennis Condrey * Art Crews * Dark Journey * John Davidson * Rick Davidson *

* Shane Douglas *

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, whi ...

* Bobby Duncum * Frank Dusek * Bobby Eaton * Eli the Eliminator *

Paul Ellering Paul Ellering (born August 22, 1953) is an American professional wrestling manager and former professional wrestler. He is currently signed with WWE to a legends contract. Ellering spent most of his wrestling career managing the Road Warriors (An ...

* Fishman *

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 French Angel *

The Grappler Edward Lynn "Len" Denton (born August 25, 1958) is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, The Grappler. Professional wrestling career Len Denton worked early in his career under a few different monikers and wre ...

* The Grappler II * "Gorgeous" Jimmy Garvin * Mike George * Robert Gibson * Eddie Gilbert * Terry "Bam Bam" Gordy * "Crazy" Luke Graham * The Great Kabuki * Chavo Guerrero * Hector Guerrero * "Playboy" Garry Hart * Stan "The Lariat" Hanson * Freebird Michael "P. S." Hayes * "Gorgeous" Gino Hernandez * Hercules Hernandez (Hercules WWE) * Tim Horner * Mike Hudspeth * Rock Hunter (wrestler turned manager) * Missy Hyatt (Manager) *

The Iron Sheik Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri ( fa, حسین خسرو علی وزیری, romanized: Hossein Xosrô 'Ali Vaziri; born March 15, 1942), better known by his ring name the Iron Sheik, is an Iranian retired professional wrestler, amateur wrestler and a ...

Bill Irwin William Mills Irwin (born April 11, 1950) is an American actor, clown, and comedian. He began as a vaudeville-style stage performer and has been noted for his contribution to the renaissance of American circus during the 1970s. He has made a nu ...

* Savannah Jack *

Cactus Jack Cactus Jack may refer to: People with the nickname * Mick Foley (born 1965), American actor, writer, professional wrestler, and color commentator * John Nance Garner (1868–1967), American politician * Jack Wells (sportscaster) (1911–1999), Ca ...

* Leilani Kai *

Kamala Kamala refers to: People * Kamala (name), given name and surname, includes list of people and characters with the name ** Kamala Harris, the 49th and current Vice President of the United States * Kamala (wrestler) (1950–2020), American profe ...

* Cajun Kenly * Killer Khan * King Cobra * Krusher Khruschev * Sonny King * Kelly Kiniski * "The Russian Bear" Ivan Koloff * Nikita Koloff * "Killer" Karl Kox * Kortsia Korchenko * "The Big Cat" Ernie Ladd * Buddy Landel * Charlie Lane * Jose Lothario *

Arn Anderson Martin Anthony Lunde (born September 20, 1958), better known by the ring name Arn Anderson, is an American professional wrestling road agent, author, and retired professional wrestler. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a ...

* Mad Dog Boyd * Velvet McIntyre * Dutch Mantel * Judy Martin * Mil Máscaras * The Masked Superstar * Hiro Matsuda *

Shawn Michaels Michael Shawn Hickenbottom (born July 22, 1965), better known by his ring name Shawn Michaels, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE as Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative. Widely regarded as one ...

* Butch Miller * The Missing Link *

The Mongolian Stomper Archibald Edward Gouldie (November 22, 1936 – January 23, 2016) was a Canadian professional wrestler. He wrestled for Stampede Wrestling for decades as Archie "The Stomper" Gouldie, with the nickname coming from the wrestler's reputation of ...

* Ricky Morton * "King Kong" Mosca * "Captain Redneck" Dick Murdoch * Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart * Mr. Olympia) * One Man Gang * Paul Orndorff * Bob Orton, Jr. *

Pork Chop Cash Bobby Cash (born October 22, 1947) is an American semi-retired professional wrestler. He competed primarily in promotions operated by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), like the Continental Wrestling Association and Georgia Championship Wres ...

* "Iceman" King Parsons * Tank Patton * Al Perez *

David Peterson David Robert Peterson (born December 28, 1943) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who served as the 20th premier of Ontario from 1985 to 1990. He was the first Liberal officeholder in 42 years, ending the so-called Tory dynasty. Backg ...

* "Leaping" Lanny Poffo * Big John Quinn * Tom Renesto jr * Johnny "Crash" Rich *

Wendi Richter Victoria "Wendi" Richter (born September 8, 1961) is an American retired professional wrestler. She began her professional wrestling career in companies such as the National Wrestling Alliance, where she teamed with Joyce Grable, with whom she ...

* "Hacksaw" Butch Reed * "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes * Buddy Roberts *

Jake Roberts Aurelian Smith Jr. (born May 30, 1955), better known by the ring name Jake "The Snake" Roberts, is an American professional wrestler and actor currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) where he performs as manager to Lance Archer. He is b ...

* Col. Buck Robley * "Blade Runner" Rock (The Ultimate Warrior) *

Big Boss Man Ray Washington Traylor Jr. (May 2, 1963 – September 22, 2004) was an American professional wrestler best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) under the ring name Big Boss Man, as well as for his appearances wit ...

* Bob Roop * Billy Romeo * Vinnie Romeo * Nelson Royal * The Russian Brute * Brett Sawyer * Buzz Sawyer * Sika * "Iron" Mike Sharpe * Dick Slater * Vladic Smirnoff * Bob Stabler * Joe Stark * Tom Statan * Dennis Stamp *

* Sting * Adrian Street * Chief Jay Strongbow *

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 W ...

* Sunshine * The Super Destroyer * Bob Sweetan * Magnum T. A. * "Hollywood" John Tatum * Terry Taylor * "Big" Tug Taylor * Tony Torres * The Turk * "Handsome" Johnny Valentine * Jack Victory * Doug Vines *

Nikolai Volkoff Josip Hrvoje Peruzović (October 14, 1947 – July 29, 2018), better known by his ring name Nikolai Volkoff, was a Yugoslav-American professional wrestler best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Although Volkoff often p ...

* Kerry Von Erich * Koko B. Ware * "Cowboy" Bill Watts * Luke Williams * "Dr. Death" Steve Williams * Barry Windham * Ed Wiskoski * Mr. Wrestling II * Yoshiaki Yatsu *Gary Young * Oliver Humperdink

Tag teams and stables

* The Fabulous Freebirds ( Michael Hayes, Terry Gordy, and Buddy Roberts) * The Samoan Warriors (

and Sika) * Devastation Inc. ( Skandor Akbar, The Samoan Warriors, One Man Gang, Killer Khan, Vladic Smirnoff, Savannah Jack, Leroy Brown,

, The Missing Link, and

) * The Rat Pack (

Hacksaw 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, wh ...

, and Matt Borne) * Ted DiBiase and Hacksaw Duggan * Ted DiBiase and "Dr. Death" Steve Williams *

Ivan Ivan () is a Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name (English: John) from Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. The earliest person known to bear the name was Bulga ...

and Nikita Koloff *

The Lightning Express ''The Lightning Express'' is a 1930 American pre-Code Universal film serial, featuring the adventures of "Whispering Smith" (played by Al Ferguson). This serial is considered a lost film. The serial's story focuses on whether a railroad wil ...

( Brad Armstrong and Tim Horner) *

Rock 'N Roll Express The Rock 'n' Roll Express is a professional wrestling tag team consisting of professional wrestlers Robert Gibson and Ricky Morton. The duo began teaming together in Memphis in the early 1980s, followed by Mid-South Wrestling (later to be kno ...

( Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson) * The Jive Tones ( Pez Whatley and Tiger Conway) * The Midnight Express ( Bobby Eaton and Dennis Condrey) *

and Dick Murdoch * Junkyard Dog and Mr. Olympia * Junkyard Dog and Killer Karl Kox * The Sheepherders ( Butch Miller and Luke Williams) * Terry Taylor and Chris Adams *

( "Blade Runner" Rock and "Blade Runner" Flash) * Hot Stuff International, Inc. (

Hot Stuff Eddie Gilbert Thomas Edward Gilbert Jr. (August 14, 1961 – February 18, 1995) better known by his ring name "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert, was an American professional wrestler and booker. Gilbert started his wrestling career for the Continental Wrestling Asso ...

, "Blade Runner" Rock, and "Blade Runner" Sting) * H & H International, Inc. (Hot Stuff Eddie Gilbert, Missy Hyatt, Rick Steiner, Sting, and Jack Victory) * John Tatum and Jack Victory * The Bruise Brothers (

and Mad Dog Boyd) * The Super Destroyer and

* The Graplers (The Grappler and The Grappler #2) * Mr. Wrestling II and Tiger Conway Jr * Mr. Wrestling II and Col. Buck Robley * One Man Gang and Killer Khan * Hiro Matsuda and Yoshi Yatsu * The Davidsons (Rick Davidson and John Davidson) * "Hacksaw" Butch Reed and Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart * The Pretty Young Things (

Koko 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) * The Fantastics ( Bobby Fulton and Tommy Rogers)

Championships

NWA Tri-State

Mid-South Wrestling

Universal Wrestling Federation

References

External links

TRIBUTE PAGES for Legends of Mid-South

Tri-State/Mid-South Title Histories

UNIVERSAL WRESTLING ARCHIVES
{{Jim Crockett Promotions Independent professional wrestling promotions based in the Southwestern United States Jim Crockett Promotions National Wrestling Alliance members Professional wrestling in Arkansas Professional wrestling in Louisiana Professional wrestling in Mississippi Professional wrestling in Oklahoma de:Universal Wrestling Federation#UWF (Bill Watts)