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NWA Georgia Heavyweight Championship
The GCW Heavyweight Championship is the major title in the Georgia Championship Wrestling professional wrestling promotion. It started in 1964 and was unified in 1981 with the NWA National Heavyweight Championship. The title was picked back up in 1998 by NWA Georgia, which became NWA Wildside in September 1999 when it merged with National Championship Wrestling. Along with this change, the championship became known as the NWA Wildside Heavyweight Championship. The title continued until Wildside ceased operations on April 30, 2005. In 2012, NWA Action (later renamed NWA Atlanta) picked up the title and restored its original name. Cru Jones won the reactivated title by defeating Steve Stiles on June 23, 2012, in Stockbridge, Georgia, and vacated it in 2013. It was either unified with the Atlanta Heavyweight Championship in June 2015 or retired in February 2016. Under the resurrection of Georgia Championship Wrestling, an announcement was made that the Georgia Heavyweight Champion ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Wrestling Alliance
The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and governing body owned by Billy Corgan and operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA began as the governing body for a group of regional promotions, the heads of which made up the board of directors. The group operated a List of National Wrestling Alliance territories, territory system which sanctioned their own company Championship (professional wrestling), championships while recognizing a singular world champion who defended his title across all the territories, participated in talent exchanges, and collectively protected the territorial integrity of member promotions. Prior to the 1960s, it acted as the sole governing body for professional wrestling in the United States. It remained the largest and most influential body in wrestling until the mid-1980s by which time most of the original member promotions went out of busin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johnny Valentine
John Theodore Wisniski (September 22, 1928 – April 24, 2001), better known by his ring name Johnny Valentine, was an American professional wrestler with a career spanning almost three decades. He has been inducted into four halls of fame for his achievements in wrestling. Wisniski is the father of professional wrestler Greg "The Hammer" Valentine. He held numerous regional titles, including the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship. He had long running rivalries with Bobo Brazil, Pat O'Connor, Buddy Rogers, Antonio Rocca, Lou Thesz, Harley Race, The Sheik, Wahoo McDaniel, Fritz von Erich, Bruno Sammartino, Johnny Powers, Antonio Inoki, Jack Brisco, and Jerry Brisco. He alternated between being a villain and a hero (babyface) during the Golden Era in the 1940s through 1960s of wrestling. In 1975, he was injured in a plane crash; he suffered a broken back and was forced to retire from wrestling. He worked briefly as a manager before retiring altogether. He ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ron Fuller (wrestler)
Ronald Welch (born March 3, 1948) is a retired professional wrestler and manager better known by his ring names Ron Fuller and Tennessee Stud. He is the elder brother of Robert Fuller ("Col. Robert Parker").Foley, Mick. Have A Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks (p.119) The brothers co-owned Continental Championship Wrestling for a time. Early life At 6'9", Fuller was a basketball stand-out at Briarcliff High School in Atlanta and won a scholarship to the University of Miami where he was a three-year letterman. Professional wrestling career Upon graduating from the University of Miami, Fuller followed in his family's footsteps and became a professional wrestler. He started out with his grandfather and father's promotion in Tennessee and eventually bought it out. In the 1970s and early 1980s, Fuller expanded his territory from Tennessee to the Florida panhandle, naming it Southeastern Championship Wrestling and making it a "hot spot" for Southern wrestling. In the ear ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bill Watts
William F. Watts Jr. (born May 5, 1939), better known under the ring name Bill Watts, is a retired American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, promoter and former American football player. Watts garnered fame under his "Cowboy" Glossary of professional wrestling terms#Gimmick, gimmick in his wrestling career, and then as a promoter in the Mid-South United States, which grew to become the Universal Wrestling Federation (Bill Watts), Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF). Watts also worked under the ring name Doctor Scarlett which was sometimes stylised as Dr. Scarlett. In 1992, Watts was the Executive Vice President of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) but after clashes with management over a number of issues, as well as feeling pressure from Hank Aaron over a racially insensitive interview, he resigned. He was subsequently replaced by Ole Anderson. In 1995, Watts briefly worked as a booker for the WWE, World Wrestling Federation (WWF; now WWE). In 2009, he was induc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Invader II
Roberto Soto (born September 12, 1948) is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Invader II. Soto was one-half of the tag team "The Invaders" with Invader I. Professional wrestling career Although competing primarily in the Puerto Rican-based World Wrestling Council with José González, Soto would also wrestle in International World Class Championship Wrestling and Continental Championship Wrestling during the 1980s. In 1988, he was among those present when wrestler Bruiser Brody was stabbed to death by Soto's tag team partner González while at a WWC event in San Juan, Puerto Rico and interpreted for American wrestlers after police officers arrived on the scene. Competing in Japan during the 1990s, he would later return to the WWC teaming with Invader III in a feud against González . However, their alliance was short-lived, with Soto eventually defeating Invader III in a mask vs. mask match at WWC Anniversary on August 1, 1998. Championshi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Griffin, Georgia
Griffin is a city in and the county seat of Spalding County, Georgia, Spalding County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. It is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 23,478. Griffin was founded in 1840 and named for landowner Col. Lewis Lawrence Griffin. Griffin Technical College was located in Griffin from 1963 and a branch of Southern Crescent Technical College is in Griffin. The Griffin Synodical Female College was established by Presbyterians, but closed.Florence Fleming Corley, "The Presbyterian Quest: Higher Education for Georgia Women," ''American Presbyterians,'' 1991, Vol. 69 Issue 2, pp 83-96 The University of Georgia maintains a branch campus in Griffin. History The Macon and Western Railroad was extended to a new station in Griffin in 1842. In 1938, Alma Lovell had been distributing religious Jehovah's Witnesses publications, Bible tracts as a Jehovah's Witness but was arres ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ray Gunkel
Raymond Fred Gunkel (February 16, 1924 - August 1, 1972) was an American amateur and professional wrestler and promoter in the state of Georgia. Gunkel was a two-time AAU national champion and, as a professional, a three-time NWA Texas Heavyweight Champion. He died of heart trauma after a match in Savannah, Georgia, in which he defeated Ox Baker. Amateur wrestling career Gunkel was born on February 16, 1924, in Chicago, Illinois. He attended Kelvyn Park High School before attending Purdue University. He competed on the university's wrestling and football teams. As an All-American wrestler, he was undefeated in his junior and senior years and helped his team win the Big Ten Conference twice. As an individual, he finished second in the NCAA final to Dick Hutton. He also won the Amateur Athletic Union national championship in both 1947 and 1948. Professional wrestling career Texas Gunkel originally wanted to become a teacher, but he entered professional wrestling immediatel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fred Blassie
Frederick Kenneth Blassie (February 8, 1918 – June 2, 2003) was an American professional wrestler and manager, known by the ring name "Classy" Freddie Blassie. Renowned as "The Hollywood Fashion Plate","Classy" Freddie Blassie with Keith Elliot Greenberg, ''Listen, You Pencil Neck Geeks'', (WWE Books, 2003). he was a one-time NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion, and was inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame in 1994. He is regarded as one of the greatest wrestling heels, or villains, of all time. Early life Blassie was born Frederick Kenneth Blassie in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1918. His parents, Anna (née Szind) and Jacob Blassie (né Blaszi), were immigrants from Austria-Hungary who arrived in the United States in 1912 via Hamburg, Germany. Frederick was an only child. His father was an abusive alcoholic, prompting Frederick to stay with his grandparents whenever Jacob beat Anna. His parents repeatedly separated, only to reconcile. At the age of 13, after Jacob had beaten A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buddy Colt
Ron Read (January 13, 1936 – March 3, 2021), known professionally as Buddy Colt, Ty Colt and "Cowboy" Ron Read, was an American professional wrestler who worked in NWA promotions including the St. Louis Wrestling Club, Championship Wrestling from Florida and Georgia Championship Wrestling. Among others, he won the NWA Georgia Heavyweight Championship seven times, the NWA Florida Southern Heavyweight Championship four and the NWA North American Heavyweight Championship once. Early life Read grew up in Bladensburg, Maryland, before becoming an aviation mechanic and sergeant in the United States Marines, discharging in January 1957. Professional wrestling career Trained by Killer Karl Krupp, Read made his professional wrestling debut in 1962 in Nick Gulas and Bob Welch's NWA Mid-America in the Tennessee region, worked under the name “Cowboy” Ron Reed. Aside from NWA Mid-America, he also worked St. Louis Wrestling Club, went to the West Coast to work for the World ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
The ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON'') is a newsletter that covers professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Founded in print in 1982 by Dave Meltzer, the ''Wrestling Observer'' website merged with Bryan Alvarez's ''Figure Four Weekly'' website in 2008, becoming ''Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online''. The newsletter is often considered the first "dirt sheet", which is a wrestling publication covering the art from a real-life perspective. History The beginnings of the ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' date back to 1980, when Meltzer began an List of Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards, annual poll amongst those with whom he corresponded regarding professional wrestling. According to Meltzer, he was just a fan at first. A short time later, he began maintaining a tape-trading list, and would occasionally send match results and news updates along with tape updates. Meltzer stated that he wanted to keep his friends in college "in the loop" for his tape trading as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nick Bockwinkel
Nicholas Warren Francis 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 had a lengthy professional wrestling career with matches in 34 consecutive years. Debuting in 1954, Bockwinkel spent the first half of his career as a journeyman babyface, wrestling primarily in California and Hawaii with stints in Texas, Georgia, and the Pacific Northwest as well as excursions to Canada and Australia. In 1970, he joined the Minneapolis, Minnesota-based AWA, where he was based for the remainder of his career. Swiftly rising to prominence as a main event heel, Bockwinkel held the AWA World Tag Team Championship three times, then the AWA World Heavyweight Championship four times, before retiring in 1987. Bockwinkel was recognized for his exceptional technical wrestling ability, mastery of in-ring psychology, and even-toned, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chief Jay Strongbow
Luke Joseph Scarpa (October 4, 1928 – April 3, 2012) was an American professional wrestler and WWE Hall of Famer who was best known by the ring name Chief Jay Strongbow. Much like his contemporary Wahoo McDaniel, he portrayed a Native American wrestler, who wore a war bonnet to the ring and would "go on the warpath" when the fans started cheering him against an opponent. In reality (and unlike McDaniel, who was an actual Choctaw-Chickasaw Native-American), Scarpa was an Italian-American who much like actor Iron Eyes Cody portrayed an Indian to stand out more. His best accomplishments are in WWF where he was a four-time World Tag-Team Champion. Professional wrestling career National Wrestling Alliance (1947–1970) Scarpa's wrestling career began in 1947, under his real name. He was trained by second generation Native American wrestler Chief Don Eagle. He was a standout in the Georgia and Florida territories of the National Wrestling Alliance throughout the 1950s and 1960s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
