53-597: Professional wrestling championship NWA Southeast Continental Heavyweight Championship Details Promotion Southeastern Championship Wrestling Date established May 21, 1984 Date retired December 1989 Other name(s) CWF Heavyweight Championship Statistics First champion(s) Ron Fuller Final champion(s) Tom Prichard Most reigns Bob Armstrong (5 reigns) Shortest reign Boomer H. Lynch (0 days) The NWA Continental Heavyweight Championship
106-656: A mask 24 Kevin Sullivan December 15, 1986 House show Birmingham, Alabama 2 51 25 Ron Fuller February 4, 1987 House show Houston, Texas 2 24 26 Buddy Landell February 28, 1987 House show Chattanooga, Tennessee 1 58 27 Wendell Cooley April 27, 1987 House show Birmingham, Alabama 1 vacant October 1987 N/A N/A Cooley vacated due to
159-549: A 40-minute match. By 1957, he had started teaming with his brother Larry and worked as a full-time professional wrestler. The Hamilton Brothers worked for the New York, NY , based Capitol Wrestling , (the precursor to World Wrestling Entertainment), where they were put in a storyline with the top tag team of the promotion Antonino Rocca and Miguel Pérez . In May 1958, the Hamilton Brothers faced Rocca and Pérez in
212-570: A decade, he and Renesto wrestled all over the world with great success. Once Renesto retired, Hamilton kept the Assassins team alive by partnering with wrestlers such as Randy Colley and "Hercules" Hernandez under the trademark gold and black masks of the Assassins. In the late 1980s, Hamilton founded Deep South Wrestling (DSW), where he also wrestled until a back injury forced him to retire in 1988. After Deep South Wrestling closed, he worked extensively for World Championship Wrestling both on
265-651: A falling out with promoters in Louisiana with Mobile-Pensacola only running in the summer months. Kelly turned the promotion around from holding monthly and seasonal shows in a few towns which only drew a few hundred people to holding weekly shows in a different town night after night with local television exposure in each market, which led to each arena drawing thousands. Bob Kelly left the wrestling business in 1976 to enter real estate and spend more time with family, and Lee Fields found it more difficult to operate both his wrestling promotion and Mobile International Speedway at
318-1244: A knee injury. 28 Dutch Mantel October 30, 1987 House show Knoxville, Tennessee 1 Defeated Wendell Cooley. — April 1988 — — CCW changed its name to the CWF on April 30, 1988. Mantel turned the championship belt over to general manager Jack Curtis on May 7, 1988 episode of CWF. CWF Heavyweight Championship 29 Tom Prichard October 3, 1988 House show Birmingham, Alabama 1 186 Defeated Tony Anthony in tournament final. 30 Wendell Cooley April 7, 1989 House show Knoxville, Tennessee 1 77 31 Tom Prichard June 23, 1989 House show Knoxville, Tennessee 2 149 32 Dennis Condrey July 22, 1989 House show Dothan, Alabama 1 137 33 Tom Prichard December 6, 1989 House show N/A 3 — Deactivated December 1989 — — — — The CWF closed. Footnotes [ edit ] ^ The exact date that
371-487: A new version of Deep South Wrestling for WWE to use as a training ground. The company ran shows on a regular basis featuring WWE-contracted talent until April 18, 2007, when WWE ended its relationship with DSW. DSW ceased operations the next day in 2007, having held what turned out to be its final event on April 12. In February 2009, Hamilton officially returned to the business, joining Rampage Pro Wrestling , an independent promotion based out of Warner Robins, Georgia . He
424-603: A reason to end the agreement" without giving the 90-days notice that the contract required. The suit also claimed that WWE illegally entered the Deep South building in McDonough, GA and took property belonging to Hamilton. It also claimed the WWE Executive Vice President of Talent Relations, John Laurinaitis , warned wrestlers who continued to work with Deep South or Hamilton would be blackballed in
477-561: A six-month promotional war over the Knoxville territory. Many of these defectors later joined the Kentucky based outlaw promotion International Championship Wrestling owned and operated by Angelo Poffo . After this, the Knoxville end of Southeastern experienced financial losses, and sold to promotions such as Jim Crockett Promotions and Georgia Championship Wrestling for the next five years. Fuller then made Birmingham his main end of
530-518: A small independent promotion in Georgia called Deep South Championship Wrestling. He worked both backstage and in the ring under his “Flame” ring persona. One night in 1988, he was thrown from the top rope during a match and landed wrong, the fall caused him to break the lumbar vertebrae in his back. Because Hamilton was in no shape to run a wrestling promotion, he sold it to someone else, only to see that person go out of business without ever putting on
583-742: A wrestling show. Once Hamilton recovered from his back injury, he opened the official training center for World Championship Wrestling , the Power Plant . With Hamilton as director of the school it produced talent such as Kevin Nash , Diamond Dallas Page , Bill Goldberg , and the Big Show over the years. As well as working at the Power Plant, Hamilton was also used as a manager in 1993, mainly managing Paul Orndorff , in addition to Orndorff's tag team partners The Equalizer and Paul Roma . He
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#1732802341156636-516: Is credited with turning the territory around with a series of hotly contested angles that brought the fans back. In 1972 after GCW owner Ray Gunkel died Gunkel's widow Ann Gunkel split off from the National Wrestling Alliance associated GCW and started her own company, called "All-South Wrestling", with Tom Renesto as the head booker. With his backstage responsibilities expanded Renesto cut back on his wrestling dates as Hamilton
689-821: Is injured 18 Jerry Stubbs May 12, 1986 House show Mobile, Alabama 1 42 19 Brad Armstrong June 23, 1986 House show Birmingham, Alabama 2 21 20 Jerry Stubbs July 14, 1986 House show Birmingham, Alabama 2 56 21 Brad Armstrong September 8, 1986 House show Birmingham, Alabama 3 4 22 Kevin Sullivan September 11, 1986 House show Birmingham, Alabama 1 88 23 The Bullet December 8, 1986 House show Birmingham, Alabama 5 7 Bob Armstrong wearing
742-592: The NWA Central States Heavyweight Championship , which was the main title for the promotion. After working for Central States Hamilton switched to Bill Watts ’ Mid-South Wrestling promotion. In Mid-South he teamed up the Grappler, and turned on Ernie Ladd. In Jim Crocket promotions in 1984, he teamed with yet another “Assassin #3”, this time it was ”Hercules” Hernandez under the gold and black mask. Hernandez's run under
795-614: The NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship a record-breaking 12 times. While in Georgia the team worked storylines with teams such as ”the Torres Brothers” (Ramon and Alberto), Terry and Dory Funk and the team of Ray Gunkel and Buddy Fuller. Their most successful and profitable feud came against the team of ”Tiny” Smith and Luke Brown known as "The Kentuckians". The matches between the Assassins and
848-775: The Sunshine Network , a regional sports cable channel that served the Southeastern United States . Their last TV episode aired on November 25, 1989. The promotion closed after their final show on December 6, 1989. Despite many huge angles over the years, this territory often has the status as "the lost promotion". Such obscurity was due to the lack of media coverage during the Gulf Coast and Southeastern years since both Lee Fields and Ron Fuller believed that their promotions should not be covered by wrestling magazines and often did not allow reporters in
901-565: The booking team and later on as a trainer at WCW's Power Plant training facility. In 2005, he reopened Deep South Wrestling, this time as an affiliate of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), to train wrestlers the WWE had signed to developmental contracts. In 2007, WWE abruptly ended their contract with DSW and the promotion suspended operations later in the year. Hamilton was born in Saint Joseph, Missouri . Before turning professional, he
954-513: The home video boom of the 1980s, much of the footage from the Gulf Coast era and the Knoxville portion of Southeastern no longer exists, despite a few bits of rare footage turning up here and there. However, almost all of the Dothan portion of Southeastern along with the majority of Continental footage still exists. They are still owned by David Woods and Woods Communications. Jody Hamilton Joseph Hamilton (August 28, 1938 – August 3, 2021)
1007-546: The "Silent" moniker was because he was not very good at interviews and promos. After working in Texas, he worked in Oklahoma and Florida. When he left Florida in 1961 he intended to return to Oklahoma but an offer from Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW) would change the direction of Hamilton's career. The original plan for Hamilton was that he was going to wrestle under a mask as "The Iron Russian", but once he got to Atlanta
1060-515: The Assassins, instead he would team with local stars such as Ron Fuller and Don Carson. By the beginning of the 1980s he decided to return to his roots in Oklahoma, after having worked more or less exclusively in the southeast for ten years or more. First, he worked for Central States Wrestling where he teamed with both Ernie Ladd and Angel to win the local version of the NWA United States Tag Team title. He would also hold
1113-3037: The CWF ceased to operate is uncertain, which means that the championship reign lasted between 1 day and 25 days. See also [ edit ] National Wrestling Alliance Southeast Championship Wrestling References [ edit ] ^ Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2006). "(Alabama) Birmingham: NWA Continental Heavyweight Title". Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4 . ^ Hoops, Brian (February 28, 2017). "Daily pro wrestling history (02/28): Andersen & Hansen win NWA Tag Titles" . Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online . Retrieved February 28, 2017 . v t e Gulf Coast / Southeastern Championship / Continental Championship / Continental Wrestling Federation championships GCCW NWA World Heavyweight Championship NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship NWA World Tag Team Championship NWA United States Tag Team Championship NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Championship NWA Southern Junior Heavyweight Championship NWA Southern Tag Team Championship NWA Gulf Coast Heavyweight Championship NWA Gulf Coast Tag Team Championship NWA Southeast Alabama Heavyweight Championship NWA Louisiana Heavyweight Championship NWA Mississippi Heavyweight Championship NWA Mississippi Tag Team Championship NWA Tennessee Tag Team Championship SCW CCW NWA World Heavyweight Championship AWA World Heavyweight Championship NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Championship NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Championship NWA Southeastern Continental Heavyweight Championship NWA Southeastern Television Championship NWA Southeastern Tag Team Championship NWA Southeastern Continental Tag Team Championship NWA Southern Tag Team Championship NWA Southeastern United States Junior Heavyweight Championship NWA Southeastern Alabama Heavyweight Championship NWA Southeastern Tennessee Heavyweight Championship NWA Tennessee Tag Team Championship CWF AWA World Heavyweight Championship CWF Heavyweight Championship CWF Tag Team Championship United States Junior Heavyweight Championship Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=CWF_Heavyweight_Championship&oldid=1088215350 " Categories : National Wrestling Alliance championships Continental Championship Wrestling championships Heavyweight wrestling championships Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description matches Wikidata Articles with hCards Southeastern Championship Wrestling Continental Championship Wrestling
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#17328023411561166-614: The Eastern Tennessee territory he already established. This was initially labelled ”the Southern Division” of the SECW treating them as two separate entities despite the original plan to run a talent exchange between the two involving talent spending sixteen months in one end of the territory and then spend eight months in another to regain momentum after losing steam in the previous one. In June 1979, several members of
1219-729: The Kentuckians drew sellout crowds up the east coast of the United States from Florida to the Carolinas. At times the Assassins would be backed up by Jody's brother the Missouri Mauler to take on the Kentuckians and their "fellow hillbilly" Haystacks Calhoun . During their time in GCW Renesto became more and more involved in the booking of the promotion in the hopes of turning a decline in attendance around. Renesto
1272-418: The Knoxville end of the territory, with this expansion came a name change to Continental Championship Wrestling . After a failed negotiation with CBS , he settled on moving the television show out of the small television studio and into the big arenas where they did house shows in order to give the promotion a national look and feel. While the name Southeastern restricted the promotion to a more regional feel,
1325-431: The championship was won and lost is unknown, which means that the title reign lasted between 1 day and 29 days. ^ The exact date that the championship was won and lost is unknown, which means that the title reign lasted between 1 day and 29 days. ^ The exact date the championship was lost is uncertain, which means that the championship reign lasted between 1 day and 58 days. ^ The exact date
1378-441: The championship was won and lost is unknown, which means that the title reign lasted between 1 day and 29 days. ^ The exact date the championship was won and lost is unknown, which means that the title reign lasted between −1,003 and −974 days. ^ The exact date that the championship was won and lost is unknown, which means that the title reign lasted between −943 and −913 days. ^ The exact date that
1431-440: The championship was won and lost is unknown, which means that the title reign lasted between 1 day and 69 days. ^ The exact date that the championship was won and lost is unknown, which means that the title reign lasted between 1 day and 68 days. ^ The exact date that the championship was won and lost is unknown, which means that the title reign lasted between 1 day and 67 days. ^ The exact date that
1484-450: The championship was won is uncertain, which means that the championship reign lasted between 1 day and 58 days. ^ The exact date that Cooley retired is uncertain, which means that his reign lasted between 157 and 159 days. ^ The exact date that the CCW became the CWF is uncertain, which means that his reign lasted between 63 and 339 days. ^ The exact date that
1537-750: The golden mask ended when he was unmasked by Jimmy Valiant after a match in Toronto, Ontario as part of Valiant's lengthy feud with Paul Jones ’ army. In the mid 1980s, Hamilton retired the golden mask and adopted a new ring identity: "The Flame", together with another masked man going by the name “Fire”, he won the AWA Southern Tag Team Championship in 1986. He would also hold the NWA Southeast Continental Heavyweight Championship on four occasions. In 1986, Hamilton started
1590-491: The locker room to interview the wrestlers. This was to prevent the exposure to kayfabe and preserve the illusion of wrestling as a sport in the area. However, Fuller relented with the changeover to Continental in order to get national exposure for the promotion from the magazines. Such exposure was at an all-time high during the Eddie Gilbert period. Due to the expensive nature of archiving at television stations before
1643-582: The main event of a Madison Square Garden show making Jody, age 19 at the time, the youngest man to ever co-star in a main event at Madison Square Garden. After the Hamilton brothers time in New York, Jody Hamilton decided to strike out on his own working as a singles wrestler. As a singles wrestler, he first got a promotional push by NWA Western States booker , Doc Sarpolis, who billed him as "Silent" Joe Hamilton. Hamilton has revealed in recent years that
CWF Heavyweight Championship - Misplaced Pages Continue
1696-522: The main events. For over a dozen years Hamilton and Renesto teamed together as the "vile" Assassins, a team hated for their "rulebreaking ways" wherever they wrestled. The Assassins, or the Masked Assassins as they were sometimes billed, worked all over the world for promotions in Georgia, California, Australia, the Far East, Japan and Canada. The only place the duo did not work as the Assassins
1749-497: The name Continental gave fans the impression they toured all over the country, except Alaska and Hawaii. In 1988, WCOV-TV owner David Woods bought the controlling interest in the promotion from Ron Fuller, and he renamed it Continental Wrestling Federation in a further attempt to compete with Vince McMahon and appear to resemble a nationwide promotion, even to the point of getting a national TV deal with Financial News Network . Episodes also aired every Monday at 1:30 a.m. ET on
1802-455: The plans had changed and instead, he became “The Assassin”. After working as a singles competitor Hamilton was given a partner in late 1961, another masked Assassin, Tom Renesto. Renesto had teamed with Hamilton's older brother Larry but the two did not know each other before stepping into the ring in December 1961. The team worked well together from the onset and soon moved up the card towards
1855-607: The promotion to David Woods in 1988, the name was changed to Continental Wrestling Federation . Nashville promoter Roy Welch had purchased the Mobile-Pensacola end of Leroy McGuirk's Tri-State Wrestling. Unlike McGuirk, who only promoted in the Mobile-Pensacola area on special occasions called spot shows, Welch decided to make promoting in Mobile-Pensacola a frequent attraction in the summer. However, due to his obligations in Nashville, his son Buddy Fuller (Edward Welch)
1908-530: The ring and focused more on the booking aspects of GCW while Hamilton started to work as a singles wrestler billed simply as "The Assassin". When he joined GCW Hamilton started a storyline with Mr. Wrestling II that would become the longest running storyline in Georgia wrestling history. Over the following years the Assassin would enlist several other "Assassins" to team with him as he fought against Mr. Wrestling II and various face partners. One of these partners
1961-564: The same time.. So he sold it to his cousin Ron Fuller around 1977-1978. In 1974, Ron Fuller purchased Southeastern Championship Wrestling based in Knoxville, Tennessee from John Cazana, where he focused mainly on the east Tennessee area. In 1977, Ron Fuller took over the territory his grandfather and father had founded when GCCW folded and Fuller expanded the SECW to run in the Southern Alabama, Northern Florida area in addition
2014-506: The talent roster and behind the scenes personnel left SECW over frustrationd involving backstage politics with Ron's brother Robert Fuller who was considered lazy in terms of booking the territory, and spent many nights partying and felt his spot in Southeastern was owed to him since he was a member of The Welch/Fuller family. Led by Bob Roop , Ronnie Garvin , Bob Orton Jr. and Boris Malenko , All-Star Championship Wrestling fought
2067-467: The territory from his father Roy Welch. Buddy's cousin Lee Fields (Albert Lee Hatfield) would save the territory and gave it the name "Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling". Lee Fields would eventually buy the territory from Roy Welch and Buddy Fuller, and run shows in the area for almost two decades with Rocky McGuire booking Dothan-Panama City and Bob Kelly booking Mobile-Pensacola and Mississippi after
2120-646: The territory with the Dothan end continuing to flourish, giving early exposure to future stars such as The Fabulous Freebirds , rising stars in the territory along the lines of Austin Idol , and appearances by Ric Flair who would defend the NWA World Heavyweight Title in the area each year. Five years later, Fuller decided that it was time to reach beyond the Southern Alabama/Northern Florida area and re-purchased
2173-594: The wrestling business. Two unnamed professional wrestlers who were under WWE contract at the time confirmed Hamilton's claim that Laurinaitis made the threatening speech. WWE attempted to get the lawsuit dismissed before it went to trial, but was not successful. On January 22, 2010, Hamilton settled with WWE out of court. The settlement was not disclosed. Hamilton's son, Nick Patrick , was a referee for Georgia Championship Wrestling/Championship Wrestling from Georgia from 1980–1985, WCW from 1988–2001, and WWE from 2001–2008. Hamilton died in hospice care on August 3, 2021, at
CWF Heavyweight Championship - Misplaced Pages Continue
2226-581: The year in October. Hamilton and Patrick became heavily involved in producing the company's weekly television show that aired in the Middle Georgia area on the local FOX affiliate. In April 2009, Hamilton filed a lawsuit against WWE in Fulton County, GA over how the working agreement with his promotion, Deep South Wrestling, was terminated. His attorney claimed that WWE "fraudulently contrived
2279-809: Was Randy Colley , who would go on to greater success as one of The Moondogs in the 1980s. Together Hamilton and Colley would hold the NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship on two occasions. Colley and Roger Smith would team together as the Assassins in Memphis . While GCW was Hamilton's "home promotion" he also competed for other promoters all over the southeast, especially in Florida and Alabama working for promotions such as Championship Wrestling from Florida , NWA Mid-America and Southeast Championship Wrestling . Hamilton used his “Assassin” gimmick but did not find another partner to recreate
2332-1437: Was a major title in the National Wrestling Alliance 's Alabama territory called Southeastern Championship Wrestling . It existed from 1984 until 1988 when SECW became the Continental Wrestling Federation. The title continued on as the CWF Heavyweight Championship from 1988 until 1989 when the CWF closed. Key No. Overall reign number Reign Reign number for the specific champion Days Number of days held No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref. Date Event Location Reign Days 1 Ron Fuller May 21, 1984 House show Birmingham, Alabama 1 63 Defeated Michael Hayes 2 Bob Armstrong July 23, 1984 House show Birmingham, Alabama 1 3 Mr. Wrestling II August 1984 House show N/A 1 4 Bob Armstrong November 1984 House show N/A 2 5 Boomer H. Lynch May 1985 House show N/A 1 0 6 Bob Armstrong May 1985 House show N/A 3 Title returned because Lynch
2385-646: 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 Wrestling and Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling territories owned by Fuller, who purchased the Knoxville territory from John Cazana in 1974 and the Alabama/Florida territory in 1977. When Fuller sold
2438-461: Was a promising amateur boxer , but instead of continuing his training, he decided that he wanted to follow in the footsteps of his older brother Larry Hamilton . Larry was a professional wrestler billed as "The Missouri Mauler". Hamilton started working for "Gust Karras Promotions", a professional wrestling promotion based in Kansas City, Missouri , where he made his debut against Rip Hawk in
2491-399: Was an American professional wrestler , promoter, and trainer. He was best known as one half of the tag team The Assassins where he was called " Assassin #1 ". When the Assassins ended, He wrestled as " The Assassin " and " The Flame " both while wearing a mask. Hamilton teamed up with Tom Renesto in late 1961 to form the masked heel (bad guy) team known as "The Assassins" and, for over
2544-457: Was in the Carolinas where they were billed as " The Great Bolo " (Renesto) and "The Mighty Bolo" (Hamilton) because Renesto had worked for Jim Crockett Promotions as The Great Bolo before teaming up with Hamilton, and was more known in that region under the Bolo name. The Assassins longest stay with one promotion was from 1968 to 1972 where they worked for Georgia Championship Wrestling and held
2597-615: Was inducted into the WCW Hall of Fame as part of the 1994 class on May 22, 1994 at The Civic Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania . When WCW was bought out by the WWF in March 2001, the Power Plant was closed but Hamilton continued to train wrestlers. In 2005, World Wrestling Entertainment (formerly World Wrestling Federation) reached an agreement with Hamilton wherein Hamilton would open
2650-737: Was made booker for Mobile-Pensacola, and Fuller eventually expanded the territory into Mississippi-Louisiana as well. At this point, the territory didn't even have a name, its own belts, or even its own wrestlers (aside from members of The Welch Family of course). They often relied on wrestlers and champions from Buddy's and their Uncle Lester Welch's territory. He ran in places like Tampa, Florida, and Atlanta, Georgia (which would eventually become Championship Wrestling from Florida and Georgia Championship Wrestling), as well getting help from his father in Nashville, Tennessee, and some occasional help from his Uncles Herb and Jack. These early attempts would start to unravel when Buddy Fuller failed to make payments to
2703-1297: Was not the scheduled opponent. 7 The Flame June 17, 1985 House show Birmingham, Alabama 1 8 Bob Armstrong June 24, 1985 NLT House show Dothan, Alabama 4 9 The Flame July 9, 1985 House show Mobile, Alabama 2 10 Lord Humongous July 1985 House show N/A 1 11 The Flame July 29, 1985 House show Birmingham, Alabama 3 4 12 Tommy Rich August 2, 1985 House show Birmingham, Alabama 1 52 13 The Flame September 23, 1985 House show Birmingham, Alabama 4 70 14 Roberto Soto December 2, 1985 House show Birmingham, Alabama 1 21 15 Robert Fuller December 23, 1985 House show Birmingham, Alabama 1 81 16 Brad Armstrong March 14, 1986 House show Mobile, Alabama 1 17 Robert Fuller 1986 House show N/A 2 Title returned when Armstrong
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#17328023411562756-569: Was pushed as a singles wrestler. In October 1972 Renesto unmasked on television, rumor had it that GCW was going to publish pictures of the Assassins without their masks on and Renesto wanted to beat them to the punch. After the unmasking Renesto would still occasionally team with Hamilton both with and without the mask but the glory days of the Assassins ended when Renesto took off the mask. When All-South Wrestling folded in 1974, both Hamilton and Renesto returned to Georgia Championship Wrestling, deciding to bury any past animosity. Renesto retired from
2809-435: Was the director of their television show that airs locally on multiple channels in the middle Georgia area. His son, Nick Patrick , also joined the promotion, though only in the on-camera commissioner role. In April 2009, the promotion released Hamilton, citing that they needed to cut costs. Nick stayed on with the promotion and took over his father's job as the television show director. The company brought Hamilton back later in
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