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Buzz Sawyer
Bruce Alan Woyan (June 14, 1959 – February 7, 1992) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, "Mad Dog" Buzz Sawyer. Professional wrestling career Sawyer started wrestling in 1978 (other sources state 1979) in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) affiliate Jim Crockett Promotions. He stayed there with some stints in Georgia Championship Wrestling until 1984. He mainly teamed with his brother, Brett Sawyer. Buzz had a feud with The Road Warriors after he left their manager Paul Ellering's The Road Warriors, Legion of Doom. Pez Whatley was the first wrestler to pin Sawyer on live television. He also had a feud with Tommy Rich that led to many bloody matches, the most notable of which was billed as the "Last Battle of Atlanta" and for the first time featured a completely enclosed cage; Rich won the match. It also featured manager Paul Ellering suspended 20 feet above the ring in a smaller cage. This is the match that Shawn Michaels credits for inspiri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dorling Kindersley
Dorling Kindersley Limited (branded as DK) is a British multinational publishing company specialising in illustrated reference books for adults and children in 63 languages. It is part of Penguin Random House, a subsidiary of German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. Established in 1974, DK publishes a range of titles in genres including travel (including Eyewitness Travel Guides, DK Eyewitness Travel), history, geography, science, space, nature, sports, gardening, cookery, parenting and many others. The worldwide CEO of DK is Paul Kelly. DK has offices in New York, Melbourne, London, Munich, New Delhi, Toronto, Madrid, Beijing, and Jiangmen. DK works with licensing partners such as The Walt Disney Company, Disney, Lego, LEGO, DC Comics, the Royal Horticultural Society, MasterChef, and the Smithsonian Institution. DK has commissioned authors such as Mary Berry, Monty Don, Robert Winston, Huw Richards, and Steve Mould for a range of books. History DK was founded in 1974 by Chri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maurice 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 wrestler Luna Vachon. Vachon started his career as an amateur wrestler, participating in the 1948 Summer Olympics and winning a gold medal at the 1950 British Empire Games. He made the switch to professional wrestling and spent time in various promotions in the United States while occasionally teaming with his brother Paul. In Portland, Oregon, he received the name "Mad Dog" Vachon. In the early 1960s, Vachon became a main eventer in the American Wrestling Association. He was one of the promotion's all-time great heels, known for his wild style and intense interviews. He was a five-time AWA World Heavyweight Champion. Starting in the 1970s, Vachon became a fan favourite, particularly in his home province of Quebec. After a stint in the World W ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
WCWA Tag Team Championship
The WCWA World Tag Team Championship was the primary professional wrestling tag team championship (professional wrestling), championship promoted by the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex area–based World Class Wrestling Association (WCWA). The championship was originally introduced as the NWA United States Tag Team Championship in 1967, when the promotion was known as World Class Championship Wrestling#Big Time Wrestling: 1966-81, NWA Big Time Wrestling. It was later renamed the NWA American Tag Team Championship in 1969. In 1982 Big Time Wrestling, changed their name to World Class Championship Wrestling and the title became the WCCW American Tag Team Championship. In 1986 WCCW became World Class Wrestling Association and the championship was rebranded as the WCWA World Tag Team Championship. In 1989 the title was won by Mick Foley, Cactus Jack and Scott Braddock, where it was transformed into the USWA World Tag Team Championship. As it is a professional wrestling championship, it i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matt Osborne
Matthew Wade Osborne (July 27, 1957 – June 28, 2013), known professionally as Matt Borne, was an American professional wrestler. Osborne was a second generation wrestler, the son of Tony Borne, and is best known as being the first wrestler to portray the character of Doink the Clown. Professional wrestling career National Wrestling Alliance (1978–1984) Under the ring name Matt Borne, Osborne debuted on December 6, 1978 and wrestled for various National Wrestling Alliance territories, most prominently for Pacific Northwest Wrestling, where he was their heavyweight and four-time tag champion. Borne also would regularly referee matches while in Portland as that territory had only one primary referee (Sandy Barr) and it was not uncommon for wrestlers there to ref when not working a match: his officiating indeed became part of several major angles. In Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling on June 6, 1980, he won his first championship, also the first of two tag titles he would ho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World Class Championship Wrestling
World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), later known as the World Class Wrestling Association (WCWA), was an American professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. Originally owned by promoter Ed McLemore, by 1966 it was run by Southwest Sports, Inc., whose president, Jack Adkisson, was better known as wrestler Fritz Von Erich.Foley, Mick. Have A Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks (p.129) Beginning as a territory of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), it went independent in 1986 in a bid to become a major national promotion, but was unsuccessful in its attempts and eventually went out of business in 1990. Rights to the pre-1989 WCCW tape library belong to WWE (the post-1988 rights are owned by International World Class Championship Wrestling) and select episodes from 1982 to 1988 are available on the WWE Network. World Class Championship Wrestling experienced tremendous success from 1981–1985, shattering attendance records and ac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dick Slater
Richard Van Slater (May 19, 1951 – October 18, 2018) better known by his ring name "Dirty" Dick Slater, was an American professional wrestler who wrestled in the 1970s, 1980s, and mid-1990s for various promotions including Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling (WCW). Slater began wrestling with Mike Graham at Robinson High School, in Tampa, Florida. He attended the University of Tampa with Paul Orndorff. From there he began wrestling in Championship Wrestling from Florida and Georgia Championship Wrestling. He worked as a booker in Knoxville, Tennessee after Ron Fuller sold his promotion to Jim Barnett. He wrestled in Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling (later World Championship Wrestling), where he appeared on the first Starrcade. He also worked in Mid-South Wrestling Association, where he was managed by Dark Journey. Slater made some trips to the World Wrestling Council in Puerto Rico. He wrestled briefly in the World Wrestling Federa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 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, the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA)'s most important championships, and the predecessor of World Championship Wrestling). 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, Louisiana and Mississippi until 1987. Because Watts did not register the "Universal Wrestling Federation" name with the United States Patent and Trademark Office ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adrian Street
Adrian Street (5 December 1940 – 24 July 2023) was a Welsh Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and author nicknamed "Exotic" who came to prominence in the 1970s and 1980s. During his career, Street was best known for his Androgyny, androgynous and flamboyant gimmick (professional wrestling), wrestling persona. Street was often accompanied to the ring by his long-time manager (professional wrestling), manager and wife Miss Linda, and the two worked primarily as heel (professional wrestling), heels. Early life Street was born on 5 December 1940 in Brynmawr in South Wales. His family was in the coal mining business; his father was a miner for 51 years. Street began bodybuilding as a teenager, and in 1957 – at age 16 – he left home to begin his career in professional wrestling. His early inspirations were American wrestlers Lou Thesz, Buddy Rogers (wrestler), Buddy Rogers, and Don Leo Jonathan, from whom he adopted his first moniker: Kid Tarzan Jonathan. Profession ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dusty Rhodes
Virgil Riley Runnels Jr. (October 11, 1945 – June 11, 2015), better known as "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, was an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, booker, and trainer who worked for the National Wrestling Alliance and the World Wrestling Federation, later known as WWE. Rhodes was considered a star wrestler and presented the persona of an American everyman, the American Dream personified. Rhodes is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time. Rhodes was a three-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion, and during his time in Jim Crockett Promotions/World Championship Wrestling, he was a WWE United States Championship, United States Heavyweight Champion, and multi-time WCW Television Championship, World Television, WCW World Tag Team Championship, World Tag Team and NWA World Six-Man Tag Team Championship, World Six-Man Tag Team Champion. He also won many regional championships, and is one of seven men inducted into each of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mike Graham (wrestler)
Edward Michael Gossett (September 22, 1951 – October 19, 2012), better known as Mike Graham, was an American professional wrestler who was the son of Eddie Graham. Amateur wrestling Mike Graham was a Florida high school wrestling district champion his senior year in 1969 for Thomas Richard Robinson High School in Tampa, Florida. He became a three-time state AAU champion and a Junior Olympics champion at 198 pounds. Graham was a state champion in the 154-pound weight class and, as a sophomore, defeated senior Richard Blood (later to become Ricky Steamboat) in the finals of a district meet. He left the University of Tampa to turn professional against the wishes of his mother Lucy. Mike was also an accomplished powerlifter who set state records in the bench press. Professional wrestling career Michael Gossett started wrestling in 1972 in his father's Championship Wrestling from Florida, which was a National Wrestling Alliance territory. He was trained by his father, Boris ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kevin Sullivan (wrestler)
Kevin Francis Sullivan (October 26, 1949 – August 9, 2024) was an American professional wrestler and booker, best known for his role in World Championship Wrestling. Professional wrestling career Early career (1970–1982) Sullivan had been an amateur wrestler in the Boston area, and was not trained professionally. His first professional match was in Montreal, beating Fernand Frechette. Sullivan wrestled as "Johnny West" in the National Wrestling Alliance's Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling in the early 1970s, capturing the NWA Gulf Coast Tag Team Championship with Ken Lucas, defeating Jack Morrell and Eddie Sullivan on March 11, 1971. Next, he went to Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF) in 1972 and captured the NWA Florida Tag Team Championship with Mike Graham. He then went north to join the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) as a mid-card face from 1974 to 1977. He had a (rare for the time) face versus face battle with Pete Sanchez on a Madison Squ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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] |
