Norvell Austin
Norvell Austin (born March 9, 1951) is an American retired 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 Monroe in one of the first "mixed races" villainous teams seen in the south. Austin was also part of the original Midnight Express from 1981 to 1983. Later on he would team with Koko B. Ware as one half of the " Pretty Young Things". Professional wrestling career Early career (1971–1981) Austin began his professional wrestling career in 1971 the Florida/Alabama area. At the time, African American wrestlers in the south were utilized in very specific ways. They were mainly restricted to wrestling other African Americans and if they were to wrestle white opponents, they were always fan favorites who could not cheat or use underhanded means to beat their white opponents. These restrictions meant that Austin worked as a face initially and ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Pensacola, Florida
Pensacola ( ) is a city in the Florida panhandle in the United States. It is the county seat and only incorporated city, city in Escambia County, Florida, Escambia County. The population was 54,312 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Pensacola metropolitan area, which had 509,905 residents in the 2020 census. Pensacola was first settled by the Spanish Empire in 1559, antedating the establishment of St. Augustine, Florida, St. Augustine by six years, but was abandoned due to a significant hurricane and not resettled until 1698. Pensacola is a Port of Pensacola, seaport on Pensacola Bay, which is protected by the barrier island of Santa Rosa Island (Florida), Santa Rosa and connects to the Gulf of Mexico. A large Naval Air Station Pensacola, United States Naval Air Station, the first in the United States, is located in Pensacola. It is the base of the Blue Angels flight-demonstration team and the National Naval Aviation Museum. The Univers ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Championship Wrestling From Florida
Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF) was the corporate and brand name of the Tampa, Florida professional wrestling promotion, 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 ''Florida Championship Wrestling''. When Mike Graham (wrestler), Mike Graham tried a return to promoting, the rights to the name had been acquired by an outside party, forcing him to use another name, ''Florida Championship Wrestling''. History Founding The original owner and promoter was "Cowboy" Clarence Preston Luttrall, a former journeyman heel wrestler who once fought a widely publicized boxing match, resulting from a wrestling angle, with a forty-something Jack Dempsey. Luttrall opened the office in 1949, and Eddie Graham bought into the promotion in 1961, then took over completely in 1971 due to the declining health of Luttrall. The office was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance during the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Push (professional Wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a push is an attempt by the booker to make a wrestler win more matches and become more popular or more reviled with the fans depending on whether they are a heroic character ("face") or a villain ("heel"). It is not uncommon for a push to be accompanied by a turn or a change in the wrestler's gimmick. This is essentially the opposite of a burial, which in contrast to the high profile of a push is typically done with little or no fanfare. Sometimes the fans generate the push for a wrestler themselves when their approval for the wrestler's work generates a positive reaction from them that is not anticipated. History In the Memphis territory, Nick Gulas began to push his son George to a main event spot despite having little in-ring experience and no athletic background. The fans quickly turned on him and the promotion, but Nick Gulas continued to push him despite the negative backlash and financial losses. In the end, Nick's insistence on keeping his son ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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NWA Tennessee Tag Team Championship
The NWA Tennessee Tag Team Championship was a secondary tag team title promoted as the name indicates mainly in the Tennessee region from 1967 until 1977, first by ''Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling'' and occasionally NWA Mid-America from 1967 to 1974 then by its successor '' Southeast Championship Wrestling'' from 1974 to 1977 when it was abandoned. Because the championship was a professional wrestling championship, it was not won or lost competitively but instead by the decision of the bookers of a wrestling promotion. The championship was awarded after the chosen wrestler "won" a match to maintain the illusion that professional wrestling is a competitive sport. Title history See also * Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling / Southeast Championship Wrestling *NWA Mid-America *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 operate ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Continental Wrestling Association
Continental Wrestling Association (later the Championship Wrestling Association) was a wrestling promotion managed by Jerry Jarrett. The CWA was the name of the "governing body" for the Championship Wrestling, Inc. promotion which was usually referred to as Mid-Southern Wrestling or the Memphis territory. This promotion was a chief NWA territory during the 1970s and early 1980s while operating out of Tennessee and Kentucky. The CWA was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance until 1986 and affiliated with the American Wrestling Association until 1989. In 1989, the CWA merged with the World Class Wrestling Association to form the United States Wrestling Association thus ceasing to exist as a separate entity. Lance Russell and Dave Brown were the television commentators and hosts for the Memphis territory, including the Continental Wrestling Association. Throughout the existence of the CWA, there were notable feuds that took place. These feuds included Jerry Lawler vs Bi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jerry Jarrett
Jerry Winston Jarrett (September 4, 1942 – February 14, 2023) was an American businessman, professional wrestling promoter, and professional wrestler. Along with his long-term business partner Jerry Lawler, he was a key figure in the history of professional wrestling in the Mid-Southern United States. Described as a "wrestling genius", he was inducted into the National Wrestling Alliance Hall of Fame in 2009. Jarrett founded the Memphis, Tennessee–based Continental Wrestling Association in 1977. In 1989, he merged the CWA with the Dallas–based promotion World Class Championship Wrestling, creating the United States Wrestling Association which he sold to Lawler in 1997. In 2002, he co-founded NWA:TNA in Nashville with his son Jeff Jarrett, selling his controlling interest to Panda Energy International later in the same year. Early life Jarrett was born to Christine "Teeny" Jarrett (1923–1998) in Nashville on September 4, 1942. His parents divorced when he was three ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Nick Gulas
Nick Gulas (September 3, 1914 – January 21, 1991) was an American professional wrestling promoter in the Southern United States, partnered with Tennessee promoter Roy Welch for decades. Gulas was also known as "The King of Managers", "King B", and the "Dean of Promoters". Gulas helped start the careers of such wrestling stars as Tojo Yamamoto, Jackie Fargo, and Jerry "The King" Lawler in the 1960s and 1970s, the Bounty Hunters with Jimmy Kent, and the Interns with Dr. Ken Ramey in the 1970s and 1980s. Personal life Nick Gulas and his wife Katharine were married until her death in 1986. The couple had one child, a son, George, who would join his father in the wrestling business. Nick Gulas died in 1991, aged 76, in Nashville, Tennessee. He is buried there in Mount Olivet Cemetery. The Nashville Sports Arena at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds was renamed the "Nick Gulas Sports Arena" in his honor. Professional wrestling promoter Gulas became involved in professional wres ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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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]   |
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Continental Championship Wrestling
Continental Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion based in Knoxville, Tennessee, and Dothan, Alabama, from 1985 until 1989, owned by Ron Fuller. The promotion evolved out of the NWA-affiliated Southeastern Championship Wrestling and Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling territories owned by Fuller, who purchased the Knoxville territory from John Cazana in 1974 and the Alabama/Florida territory in 1977. When Fuller sold the promotion to David Woods in 1988, the name was changed to Continental Wrestling Federation. History The Gulf Coast years (1954–1974) Nashville promoter Roy Welch had purchased the Mobile-Pensacola end of Leroy McGuirk's Tri-State Wrestling. Unlike McGuirk, who only promoted in the Mobile-Pensacola area on special occasions called spot shows, Welch decided to make promoting in Mobile-Pensacola a frequent attraction in the summer. However, due to his obligations in Nashville, his son Buddy Fuller (Edward Welch) was made booker for Mobile-P ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gerald Brisco
Floyd Gerald "Jerry" Brisco (born September 19, 1946) is an American retired professional wrestler. Brisco is best known for his time in the wrestling promotion WWE, where he was a backstage producer, and, during the 1990s, an on-screen character, working alongside Pat Patterson as the "stooges" for the Mr. McMahon character (portrayed by former WWE CEO and Chairman Vince McMahon). He was most recently a WWE talent scout where he focused on exclusively recruiting amateur wrestlers into the company. Debuting in 1969, Brisco wrestled for multiple National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) territories throughout the 1970s and early-1980s, in particular Championship Wrestling from Florida and Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, winning dozens of championships. Throughout his career, he teamed with his elder brother Jack as The Brisco Brothers. After retiring in 1985, Brisco moved into a backstage role with the World Wrestling Federation (now WWE). He had a late career resurgence betw ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jack Brisco
Freddie Joe "Jack" Brisco (September 21, 1941 – February 1, 2010) was an American amateur wrestler and professional wrestler. As an amateur for Oklahoma State, Brisco was two-time All-American and won the NCAA Division I national championship. He turned pro shortly after and performed for various territories of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), becoming a two-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion, and multi-time NWA World Tag Team Champion with his brother Gerald Brisco. Brisco is considered one of the greatest wrestlers of his era. Legendary champion Lou Thesz described him as "one of the toughest and most highly skilled wrestlers of the last 50 years". Don Leo Jonathan called him "probably the greatest champion of the 20th century." In the late 1970s, the Brisco brothers discovered Terry Bollea, the future wrestling legend best known as Hulk Hogan, whom they introduced to Hiro Matsuda for training. Amateur wrestling career Brisco was raised in Blackwell, Oklahoma, wit ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jimmy Golden
James "Jimmy" Golden (born August 1, 1950) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) under the ring name Bunkhouse Buck. He also appeared in WWE as Jack Swagger Sr. A member of the Golden wrestling family, he is the son of Billy Golden and the father of Bobby Golden. Golden's cousins are Robert and Ron Fuller, and he is the uncle of Eddie and Evan Golden. His grandfather is Roy Welch and his uncle is Buddy Fuller. Professional wrestling career Early career (1968–1975) Jimmy Golden started wrestling in 1968 in his father (Billy Golden)'s territory in Alabama. He started teaming with his cousin Robert Fuller in the 1970s. Golden also wrestled in the early 1970s in Australia for Jim Barnett. Southeastern Championship Wrestling / Continental Championship Wrestling (1975–1987) Jimmy Golden and Robert Fuller were members of the Stud Stable, managed by Ron Fuller in Southeastern Championship ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |