Theodore Russell (October 15, 1948 - January 17, 2012) was an American professional wrestler, best known under the

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name or nickname 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 ...

of "Savannah Jack" in

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" Glos ...

' Universal Wrestling Federation in the Mid-South from 1986 to 1987. He won the

UWF Television Championship The UWF Television Championship, promoted by the Universal Wrestling Federation, started out as the Mid-South Television Championship in 1984 and was then represented by a medal. It was renamed when Mid-South Wrestling changed its name to the UW ...

Early life

Russell started playing football for the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

for the

Minnesota Golden Gophers The Minnesota Golden Gophers (commonly shortened to Gophers) are the college athletics, college sports teams of the University of Minnesota. The university fields a total of 21 (9 men's, 12 women's) teams in both men's and women's sports and com ...

from 1969 to 1970.

Pro wrestling career

Trained by

Verne Gagne the Minnesota Golden Gophers wrestling, Minnesota Golden Gophers Laverne Clarence "Verne" Gagne ( ; February 26, 1926 – April 27, 2015) was an American amateur wrestling, amateur and professional wrestling, professional wrestler, Amer ...

and

Eddie Sharkey Eddie Sharkey (born February 4, 1936) is an American former professional wrestler, promoter, and trainer, widely recognized as "the Trainer of Champions". Eddie Sharkey began his career as a wrestler in the 1950s, but it is his contributions ...

in Minnesota. He worked for 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 founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo. The promotion was born out of the Minneapolis ...

as T-Bone Brown in 1985. In 1986 he made his debut as "Savannah Jack" in Universal Wrestling Federation working for

. At first he was a member of

Skandor Akbar Jimmy Saied Wehba (September 29, 1934 – August 19, 2010) was an American professional wrestler and professional wrestling manager better known by his ring name Skandor Akbar (which translates as "Alexander the Great"). Akbar led the villaino ...

's stable Devastation, Inc.. He defeated

Buddy Roberts Dale Hey (June 16, 1947 – November 26, 2012) was a Canadian-American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Buddy "Jack" Roberts. Primarily a tag team wrestler, Roberts is known for his appearances as one of The Hollywood Blon ...

The Fabulous Freebirds The Fabulous Freebirds were a professional wrestling tag team who attained fame in the 1980s, performing into the 1990s. The team usually consisted of three wrestlers, although in different situations and points in its history, just two performed ...

for the

on November 9, 1986 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He would feud with Chris Adams,

One Man Gang George Gray (born February 12, 1960) is an American retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, better known by his ring name (The) One Man Gang. For three years in the WWE, World Wrestling Federation (WWF), he was Akeem "The Africa ...

Iceman Parsons King Bailey Parsons Jr. (born June 11, 1950) is a former professional wrestler better known by his ring name Iceman King Parsons. Professional wrestling career Parsons started wrestling in 1979 after being trained by Nick Kozak. King started ...

and

Sting Stimulator of interferon genes (STING), also known as transmembrane protein 173 (TMEM173) and MPYS/MITA/ERIS is a regulator protein that in humans is encoded by the STING1 gene. STING plays an important role in innate immunity. STING induces typ ...

. He lost the title to Eddie Gilbert on March 8, 1987. Later that year he retired from wrestling due to health problems that caught up with him in Fort Worth, Texas, where he coughed up a blood clot shortly before a match. He returned to Minnesota and was diagnosed with

cardiomyopathy Cardiomyopathy is a group of primary diseases of the heart muscle. Early on there may be few or no symptoms. As the disease worsens, shortness of breath, feeling tired, and swelling of the legs may occur, due to the onset of heart failure. A ...

caused by years of steroid abuse.

Death

After many years of health problems he suffered a stroke in 2001. On January 17, 2012 Jack died from

after 25 years of heart problems in his home in Minneapolis. He was 63.

Championships and accomplishments

Pro Wrestling America Pro Wrestling America is an independent wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, MN during the 1980s and early 1990s. Founded and promoted by retired wrestler Eddie Sharkey, a longtime veteran of the American Wrestling Association and owner of t ...

PWA Tag Team Championship PWA may refer to: Aviation * Wiley Post Airport (IATA airport code), Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S. * Pacific Western Airlines Computing * Pirates with Attitudes, a warez release group * Picasa Web Albums * Progressive web app * Project Web Acces ...

(1 time) - with Ed Roberts *

Universal Wrestling Federation (Bill Watts) 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 ri ...

( 1 time)

References

General * * Specific

External links

*
Savannah Jack at Cagematch.netSavannah Jack at OWW.comSavannah Jack at WrestlingData.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jack, Savannah 1948 births 2012 deaths Sportspeople from Saint Paul, Minnesota American male professional wrestlers African-American professional wrestlers Minnesota Golden Gophers football players Players of American football from Minnesota 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American people Professional wrestlers from Minneapolis Deaths from cardiomyopathy