Albert Joe Criswell (April 30, 1929 – March 13, 2012), better known as Joe McCarthy, 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 ...

who competed in the 1950s and 1960s primarily throughout the

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 be ...

(NWA) where he was a former NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion. He was a prominent competitor for various NWA territories including

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", ...

NWA Mid-America NWA Mid-America was a professional wrestling promotion territory under the umbrella of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) that promoted shows in Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama from 1940 until 1981. The company was founded in 1940 by Nick Gulas ...

and Leroy McGuirk's

NWA Tri-State 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 riv ...

Professional wrestling career

Criswell began his professional wrestling career in the early 1950s, competing primarily within

territory. As Joe McCarthy, he headlined several events in 1954/1955, including tag team bouts with his partner Buddy Fuller. By the late 1950s, he was competing regularly throughout Ohio, North Carolina and Alabama. By 1960, McCarthy began capturing championship gold. On April 20, 1960, he teamed with the Great Bolo to defeat Bobby and Don Fields for both the Gulf Coast and Mid-America NWA Southern Tag Team Championships in Mobile, Alabama. On April 9, 1963, McCarthy won the NWA Georgia Southeastern Heavyweight Championship. By this point, he had become a headliner for

. On February 12, 1966, McCarthy defeated

Lorenzo Parente Lorenzo Parente "Martino" was an Italian professional wrestler who competed throughout the United States from 1958 to 1976. During his career he captured the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship on two occasions (both of which he won from D ...

to win the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship. He defended the title in the Southern United States before eventually losing it to

Danny Hodge Dan Allen Hodge (May 13, 1932 – December 24, 2020) was an American amateur and professional wrestler, who also had a brief professional boxing career. He is in both the U.S. amateur wrestling Hall of Fame, for his three NCAA titles and Ol ...

Little Rock, Arkansas Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...

Championships and accomplishments

NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship The NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world championship in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). Created in 1943, the title is competed for by junior heavyweight wrestlers. History The first NWA World J ...

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 ...

** NWA Georgia Southeastern Heavyweight Championship **

NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Championship The NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Championship or ''Gulf Coast Heavyweight Championship'' was one of two identically named regional championship titles, a Southern and Northern division promoted by Southeast Championship Wrestling. The Southern di ...

NWA Mississippi Heavyweight Championship The NWA Mississippi Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling regional championship in Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling (GCCW). It was a secondary title, complementing the NWA Gulf Coast Heavyweight Championship, and one of several ...

(2 times) **

NWA Gulf Coast Tag Team Championship The NWA Gulf Coast Tag Team Championship was the main tag team championship in Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling or NWA Gulf Coast. The Gulf Coast tag team championship is the successor for GCCW's version of the NWA Southern Tag Team Championship ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCarthy, Joe 1929 births American male professional wrestlers People from Obion County, Tennessee 2012 deaths 20th-century male professional wrestlers 20th-century American professional wrestlers NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champions