Gary Keith Mize (April 28, 1961 – November 23, 2002), better known by his

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 ...

Billy Travis or Billy Joe Travis, was an American

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

. He is most known for his time in

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 ...

(CWA) and the

United States Wrestling Association The United States Wrestling Association (USWA) was a professional wrestling promotion based in Memphis, Tennessee. The company was founded when the Memphis-based Continental Wrestling Association merged with the Dallas-based World Class Champions ...

(USWA), holding several tag team championships.

Professional wrestling career

Mize began his career in 1980 and wrestled for Dale Mann's MWA Championship Wrestling as a

face The face is the front of the head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may affect th ...

under the ring name Billy Travis. He formed a

tag team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establis ...

with Mike Mann known collectively as the Southern Sensations, winning the MWA Tag Team Championship. In 1984, Travis made several appearances in the

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

(WWF) as a jobber. He then began working in the

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

area for the

(CWA) as "Billy Joe Travis", adopting a conceited, egotistical

heel The heel is the prominence at the posterior end of the foot. It is based on the projection of one bone, the calcaneus or heel bone, behind the articulation of the bones of the lower leg. Structure To distribute the compressive forces exerted ...

("bad guy") ring character. Travis teamed up with Ron Sexton to form a team known as "Hot Property", the young duo was paired up with veteran Buddy Wayne to act as their manager. Travis also briefly teamed with

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 Monr ...

during the summer of 1985 as he worked a storyline feud with

The Fabulous Ones The Fabulous Ones were a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Stan Lane and Steve Keirn who was active between 1982 and 1991 with brief reunions during the 1990s. The Fabulous Ones competed primarily in North American territories such as ...

(

Stan Lane Wallace Stanfield Lane (born August 5, 1953) is an American former professional wrestler and color commentator. He is best known for his appearances with the Continental Wrestling Association (CWA), Jim Crockett Promotions and World Championship ...

and

Steve Keirn Stephen Paul Keirn (born September 10, 1951) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances in multiple National Wrestling Alliance territories as Steve Keirn as one-half of the tag team The Fabulous Ones, as ...

). In 1986 he started working as a singles wrestler for Texas USA All-Star Wrestling, working storylines opposite

Al Madril Alberto Madril (born March 20, 1950) is an American retired professional wrestler. Professional wrestling career Madril began his wrestling career in 1970. During the first half of the decade, he competed in Pacific Northwest Wrestling, the Po ...

, Lord Jonathan Boyd and Big Bubba. In 1987 Travis returned to Memphis, this time with Frank Morell as his mentor. During his stint in the CWA he teamed with another young wrestler,

Jeff Jarrett Jeffrey Leonard Jarrett (born July 14, 1967) is an American professional wrestler and professional wrestling promoter. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he both wrestles and serves as Director of Business Development. He is also ...

forming a very popular team that won the

AWA Southern Tag Team Championship The AWA Southern Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling tag team title in the Tennessee area from the 1940s through the late 1980s. It was originally named the NWA Southern Tag Team Championship ''(Mid-America version)'' from its ince ...

three times. He would also win the International Championship from

Austin Idol Michael McCord (born October 26, 1949) is an American retired professional wrestler and Current Manager in the National Wrestling Alliance, better known by the ring name Austin Idol. He is best known for his appearances in the Mid-South with the ...

and worked an extended storyline against

Phil Hickerson Phil Hickerson (born October 4, 1946) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with the Tennessee-based NWA Mid-America and Continental Wrestling Association promotions. Professional wrestling career ...

. Travis and a rookie

Scott Steiner Scott Rechsteiner (born July 29, 1962), better known by the ring name Scott Steiner, is an American professional wrestler. Steiner is perhaps best known for his time in World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and has also wrestled for Jim Crockett ...

won the

CWA Tag Team Championship The CWA Tag Team Championship was a major professional wrestling tag team title defended in the Continental Wrestling Association. It lasted from 1988 through 1990, when it was abandoned and replaced with the United States Wrestling Association Ta ...

twice. Travis would suffer from drug abuse around this time, which ruined his professional reputation, but he continued to work in several smaller promotions. He gained notoriety in 1997 while working for the USWA, where he was arrested when his ex-wife was reportedly seeking overdue child support payments and had tipped off Memphis police that Travis would be on location for Saturday tapings at the WMC TV studios in Memphis. Police took this tip seriously and were actually on the scene when Travis arrived. This arrest was enough for

Jerry Lawler Jerry O'Neil Lawler (born November 29, 1949), better known as Jerry "the King" Lawler, is an American retired color commentator and professional wrestler signed to WWE under a Legends contract. Prior to joining the World Wrestling Federati ...

, the booker, to turn this arrest into a storyline. Travis retired from wrestling in 1999, but eventually returned in 2001. His last recorded match took place at a show for New Generation Wrestling on July 26, 2002, where he lost to Lawler.

Personal life and death

Mize and his wife Kathryn had a daughter, Keaton, and two step-daughters, Sydney and Spencer. On November 23, 2002, Mize suffered a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

shortly after arriving at his mother's home. He was taken to the Baptist Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at the age of 41.

Championships and accomplishments

*Americas Wrestling Federation (Puerto Rico) **AWF World Junior Heavyweight Championship (2 times) *

(

4 times "4 Times" (stylized as "4 TIMES") is the 50th single by pop/ R&B singer Koda Kumi. It was released on August 17, 2011 and debuted at No. 6, remaining on the Oricon charts for nine consecutive weeks. In commemoration of it being the fiftieth singl ...

) – with

(3) and

Mark Starr Mark Ashford-Smith (26 December 1962 – 7 June 2013), best known by his ring name Mark Starr, was an English professional wrestler. Early life Mark Ashford-Smith was born in Staffordshire on 26 December 1962. His older brother Chris was also a ...

(1) **

( 3 times) – with

(2) and Action Jackson (1) *

Memphis Wrestling Hall of Fame The Memphis Wrestling Hall of Fame was a professional wrestling hall of fame maintained by the United States Wrestling Association. The induction ceremony for the Class of 1994, the inaugural inductees into the Hall of Fame, took place at the USWA' ...

**Class of 2022 *Mountain Wrestling Association **MWA Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Michael Ray *

Power Pro Wrestling Memphis Power Pro Wrestling (Power Pro Wrestling) was a Memphis, Tennessee based professional wrestling promotion that was founded by Randy Hales. It was affiliated with Memphis Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Federation. It was the ...

** PPW Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) – with Bulldog Raines *

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publishing Group. The maga ...

**PWI ranked Billy Travis # 139 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the

PWI 500 ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publishing Group. The maga ...

in 1993 *

USWA Southern Heavyweight Championship The AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship was a major professional wrestling title in the Continental Wrestling Association during the 1970s and 1980s. The title is part of a long lineage that was started when the NWA Southern Junior Heavyweight ...

( 1 time) **

USWA World Tag Team Championship The USWA World Tag Team Championship was the primary professional wrestling tag team championship promoted by the Memphis, Tennessee-based United States Wrestling Association (USWA). The Continental Wrestling Association and World Class Wrestling ...

(

2 times "2 Times" is the debut single of English singer Ann Lee. It was released in Italy in December 1998 by X-Energy as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999), and was issued worldwide the following year. The single peaked at number tw ...

) – with

Flash Flanagan Christopher Kindred (born April 6, 1974) is an American professional wrestler who has appeared in numerous independent wrestling leagues, such as Xtreme Championship Wrestling, as well as the global phenomenon companies, World Wrestling Entertain ...

(2) *

World Wrestling Council The World Wrestling Council (WWC; Spanish: "Consejo Mundial de Lucha") is a professional wrestling promotion based in Puerto Rico. It was originally established as Capitol Sports Promotions in 1973 by Carlos Colón, Victor Jovica, and Goril ...

** WWC Junior Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) **

WWC World Tag Team Championship The WWC World Tag Team Championship is the tag team title contested for in the Puerto Rico, Puerto Rican professional wrestling promotion, the World Wrestling Council. History Abroad (2017) On February 11, 2017, Thunder and Lightning defended t ...

( 1 time) – with El Gran Mendoza *

Texas All-Star Wrestling Texas All-Star Wrestling (TASW) is a professional wrestling promotion that was established by Bob Murphy in Humble, Texas in 1994. It is the oldest independent promotion in the state of Texas and one of two based in the Greater Houston area al ...

**Texas All-Star USA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Travis, Billy 1961 births 2002 deaths 20th-century male professional wrestlers 21st-century male professional wrestlers American male professional wrestlers Sportspeople from Lexington, Kentucky Professional wrestlers from Kentucky USWA World Tag Team Champions AWA International Heavyweight Champions WWC World Junior Heavyweight Champions WWC World Tag Team Champions

Professional wrestling career

Personal life and death

Championships and accomplishments

See also

References

External links