Troy Rolland Thompson Jr. (October 26, 1949 – March 7, 2002) 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 ...

, better known by 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 ...

s Troy Graham and The Dream Machine.

Professional wrestling career

Thompson was discovered by

Jimmy Hart James Ray Hart (born January 1, 1944) is an American professional wrestling manager, executive, composer, and musician. He is signed to WWE in a Legends deal. He is best known for his work in WWE when it was still known as the World Wrestling ...

and first came into wrestling as Troy 'The Hippie' Graham. During his initial career, he fulfilled the role of a

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 ...

. Wrestling as the masked Dream Machine, Thompson captured the

AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship The AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship was a major professional wrestling championship (professional wrestling), title in the Continental Wrestling Association during the 1970s and 1980s. The title is part of a long lineage that was started wh ...

in 1981 after defeating

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 the final bout of a one-night tournament. Promoter

Eddie Marlin Edward Marlin (August 13, 1930 – August 15, 2019) was an American promoter and professional wrestler. He was the father-in-law of promoter and professional wrestler Jerry Jarrett and the grandfather of professional wrestler and promoter Jeff ...

awarded the belt to Dream Machine and his manager Jimmy Hart during an episode of Championship Wrestling that aired soon after the tournament. Also in 1981, Thompson held 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 ...

title while teamed with "Superstar"

Bill Dundee William Cruickshanks (born 24 October 1943) is an Australian retired professional wrestler and author better known by his ring name Bill Dundee. Cruickshanks is the father of Jamie Dundee and was the father-in-law of wrestler Bobby Eaton. Ca ...

. They were defeated by Kevin Sullivan and Wayne Farris during a televised match on May 2, 1981. From 1982 to 1983, Thompson teamed with

Porkchop Cash Bobby Cash (born October 22, 1947) better known by his ring name Porkchop Cash is an American retired professional wrestler. He competed primarily in professional wrestling promotions aligned with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), includin ...

as The Bruise Brothers, as part of Hart's First Family stable. They defeated

Dutch Mantell Wayne Maurice Keown (born November 29, 1949) is an American professional wrestling manager, booker and retired professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Dutch Mantel (also spelled Dutch Mantell). Since May 2022, Mantell has co-host ...

and Koko B. Ware for their first

titles. They also went on to compete against the Rock and Roll Express, exchanging the Southern Tag Team Titles with them. As the Dream Machine, Thompson (sans mask) was one-half of the tag team known as "The New York Dolls". The Dolls had a longstanding 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 ...

, Steve Keirn and

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 ...

. In 1984 Troy Graham was replaced in the Bruise Brothers and left the Memphis territory. Graham reappeared in the Memphis territory, in a wheelchair, as the manager of the Interns. The Interns feuded with the Dirty White Boys and Rock n Roll RPMs. The Interns won the Southern tag titles early in 1985. In 1994, Graham returned to the Memphis territory, where he won a battle royal by eliminating

Brian Christopher Brian Christopher Lawler (January 10, 1972 – July 29, 2018) was an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is best remembered for his career in the World Wrestling Federation (now WWE), where he performed as "Too Sexy" Brian ...

. This earned him a shot at the Unified World Heavyweight Championship held by

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 ...

.Archived a
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and th
Wayback Machine
Troy Graham died on March 7, 2002, of a heart attack, leaving behind a seven-year-old daughter Charlie Sue, his mother and great grandmother.

Championships and accomplishments

* Memphis Wrestling Hall of Fame **Class of 2022 *

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 ...

( 3 times) **

( 4 times) – with Porkchop Cash (2 times) and Bill Dundee (2 times) *

Southeastern 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 W ...

** NWA Southeastern Television Championship ( 1 time) *

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 Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) *

World Wrestling Association The World Wrestling Association (WWA) (Asociación Mundial de Lucha Libre in Spanish language, Spanish) is a lucha libre promotion based in the Tijuana-area of Mexico. It was founded in 1986 by Benjamin Mora Jr.. It featured some of Mexico's best ...

** WWA World Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) – with Rick McGraw

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Graham, Troy 1949 births 2002 deaths American male professional wrestlers First Family (professional wrestling) members Graham family (professional wrestling) Masked wrestlers NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Champions Professional wrestlers from Tennessee Sportspeople from Memphis, Tennessee