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69-579: After joining Jim Crockett Promotions in the early 1960s, Rip Hawk met Swede Hanson, who was competing as a singles wrestler. Hawk approached Jim Crockett, Sr. about forming a tag team with Hanson, and Crockett agreed. Both had blond hair and were powerful wrestlers, so they called themselves the Blond Bombers. They were managed by Gary Hart and later by Homer O'Dell. Hawk spoke for the team during interviews while Hanson stood silently beside him. After teaming for several years, Hawk and Hanson won

138-759: A blood clot on December 2, 2020. Stevens died of a heart attack on May 3, 1996. Latham and Farris both made their wrestling debuts in 1976 and later signed with the Continental Wrestling Association (CWA). CWA owners Jerry Jarrett and Jerry Lawler paired Latham and Farris as a new incarnation of the Blond Bombers. Managed by Sergeant Danny Davis , the Bombers were the promotion's top heel tag team, Their first championship came on June 15, 1979, when they won an infamous match against Jerry Lawler and Bill Dundee in Tupelo, Mississippi . After

207-1545: A match to Patterson in Anchorage, Alaska on September 22, with Patterson announced as the new champion to the local audience. It's unclear whether this result was announced by the promotion to its audience at large as having occurred or having been overturned. Paul DeMarco 1 June 5, 1971 San Francisco, CA Peter Maivia 1 July 31, 1971 San Francisco, CA Paul DeMarco 2 September 18, 1971 San Francisco, CA Rocky Johnson 1 November 5, 1971 San Francisco, CA Pat Patterson 2 February 12, 1972 San Francisco, CA Held Up December 7, 1972 Title held up after match against Great Mephisto Great Mephisto 1 February 17, 1973 Defeated Patterson after several rematches failed to end with winner. Pat Patterson 3 April 28, 1973 San Francisco, CA Moondog Mayne 1 December 29, 1973 San Francisco, CA Peter Maivia 2 October 12, 1974 San Francisco, CA The Brute 1 January 15, 1975 San Francisco, CA Pat Patterson 4 April 5, 1975 San Francisco, CA Angelo Mosca 1 July 7, 1975 San Jose, CA Pat Patterson 5 September 7, 1975 Sacramento, CA Mr. Fuji 1 February 7, 1976 San Francisco, CA Vacated February 12, 1977 Fuji left

276-528: A number of its co-owners (including Barnett and brothers Jack and Jerry Brisco ), thus gaining control of GCW's flagship Saturday night time slot on TBS. This tactic—co-opting the time slots of rival territories in their own "backyard"/local TV markets—was part of the WWF's national expansion strategy. To McMahon's surprise, however, the move backfired with TBS. When the WWF aired its first show on TBS on July 14, replacing World Championship Wrestling , viewer backlash

345-448: A partnership, had also withdrawn from the NWA. JCP also began to run shows in new markets from coast-to-coast (often in less-than-sold-out arenas), greatly increasing travel costs and other overhead. JCP's first pay-per-view endeavor, 1987's Starrcade , was scheduled in its traditional Thanksgiving slot, but ran into unexpected competition from the WWF's inaugural Survivor Series PPV, which

414-535: A secondary company out of Knoxville, Tennessee . The promotion featured such stars as Mulligan; his son Barry Windham (then billed as Blackjack Mulligan Jr.); Kevin Sullivan ; Wayne Ferris ; The Mongolian Stomper ; Terry Taylor ; Tim Horner , and others. The enterprise lasted less than one year, however. By the 1980s, American professional wrestling was undergoing seismic and rapid change. The old, NWA-sanctioned system of separate, regional "territory" promotions

483-455: A single supercard in 1985 and expanding to the full tour in 1986. By 1987, Crockett was elected to a third term as NWA President, and gained control (either through purchase or working agreements) of the St. Louis Wrestling Club , Heart of America Sports Attractions ( Bob Geigel 's Central States brand), Championship Wrestling from Florida , and Bill Watts 's Mid-South Sports (which operated under

552-638: A team dressed as Chippendales dancers. They debuted in October 2005 and were released five months later. Jim Crockett Promotions Jim Crockett Promotions is a family-owned professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina , United States. Founded in 1931, the promotion emerged as a cornerstone of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). By the 1980s, Jim Crockett Promotions was, along with

621-865: The American Wrestling Association , where they won the AWA World Tag Team Championship on September 23, 1978. The following year, Patterson began competing primarily in the World Wrestling Federation, although he and Stevens continued to team occasionally in the AWA until late 1982. They were inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame as a team in 2006 and have been described as the "single greatest tag team" of all time. Patterson died of liver failure caused by

690-696: The Jim Barnett -controlled company would go national itself; GCW acquiesced to the World Championship Wrestling name change in 1982. Meanwhile, by 1983, JCP went from recording its weekly shows in a television studio to shooting on-location, in between matches at live arena events. After purchasing a mobile television production unit for $ 1 million, Crockett unveiled what became the NWA's dominant annual supercard, Starrcade . In 1984, McMahon's WWF purchased controlling interest in GCW from

759-606: The NWA World Heavyweight Championship during his presidency; by this point, JCP's top contracted performer, Ric Flair , was locked-in as the champion. Moreover, even though Flair was obligated to perform title-defense matches in each territory against the territory's own chosen star/challenger, any title changes only occurred between other performers also contracted to Crockett, such as Dusty Rhodes and Ron Garvin . Crockett's rapid expansion had significant financial consequences for JCP. By December,

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828-549: The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). Crockett joined the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) in 1952, and his "territory" covered Virginia , North Carolina and South Carolina . The name "Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling" became JCP's primary brand name in print, radio, and other advertising (the name was also used for its main television programs). The business was incorporated in the 1950s. Jim Crockett died in 1973. He left JCP to his family, with his eldest son, Jim Crockett, Jr. , taking over as chief executive. Led by

897-626: The Southeast eventually suffered, as some local fans vindictively withheld their support. Booking decisions also factored into the promotion's downfall. JCP flushed away a potentially profitable angle following the acquisition of Bill Watts 's UWF by " burying " the UWF's talent. Instead of portraying them as competitive with JCP wrestlers, the UWF's wrestlers and championships were portrayed as second-rate compared to those of JCP. Meanwhile, mid-carder Ron Garvin beat perennial champion Ric Flair for

966-582: The World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), one of the two largest promotions in the United States. The Crockett family sold a majority interest in the promotion to Turner Broadcasting System (which was acquired by Time Warner in 1996, later became WarnerMedia from 2018–2022, now known as Warner Bros. Discovery ), resulting in the creation of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1988. In 2022, Jim Crockett Promotions Inc.

1035-980: The 1980s, Crockett, Jr. began consolidating the Southern member promotions of the National Wrestling Alliance. Discarding the Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling brand, he began promoting his events simply as NWA shows, although his promotion remained distinct from the larger NWA entity. In August 1980, Crockett, Jr. was elected president of the NWA, and the next year (the same year Crockett moved his TV show tapings from Raleigh to Charlotte), former (and future) Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW) booker Ole Anderson took over as Mid-Atlantic's booker. In 1981, Anderson booked both JCP and GCW simultaneously. In 1982, Crockett partnered with wrestlers Ric Flair and Blackjack Mulligan to start Southern Championship Wrestling,

1104-475: The Blond Bombers controversially won the title, Lawler and Dundee attacked the new champions and fought with them in the concession stands. They soon dropped the belts to Robert Gibson and his real-life brother Ricky, but they regained them in a rematch later that summer. Meanwhile, the Fabulous Freebirds , who had been the region's number two heel tag team became faces and challenged the Bombers for

1173-790: The Bombers to win the championship. Latham and Farris regained the belts in a rematch against The Jet Set but later dropped them to Rocky Brewer and Pat Rose. The Blond Bombers had one last reign with the Mid-America belts, as they defeated Eaton and Great Togo in July 1980. They held the title until September 3, when they lost a match to Robert Gibson and Don Fargo. After losing the belts, Farris left to compete in Puerto Rico's World Wrestling Council . Upon returning to Tennessee, he found other partners and had two more reigns as an AWA Southern Tag Team Champion. Latham soon left Tennessee to compete in

1242-1006: The Florida version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship by defeating Hiro Matsuda and Duke Keomuka on August 3, 1965. They also competed in Australia's World Championship Wrestling , where they won the IWA World Tag Team Championship in 1970. Much of their success, however, came in Jim Crockett Promotions, where they were hated heel (villain) wrestlers. They won the NWA Atlantic Coast Tag Team Championship four times between 1968 and 1971. They feuded with several teams, including Johnny Weaver and George Becker as well as

1311-549: The Mid-South Wrestling, and later, upon expansion, Universal Wrestling Federation brand names). Despite Crockett now having six consolidated territories under his banner and leading the NWA, JCP and the NWA were still two separate entities, and Crockett—like all NWA promoters before and since—was simply licensing the NWA brand name, whose true value was as a credibility-infusing, fan-trusted brand name for wrestling championships. Still, Crockett had an iron-clad grip on

1380-648: The NWA Legends Hall of Heroes in 2007 by former manager Gary Hart. Hanson died of sepsis on February 19, 2002. Hawk died on December 22, 2012. Gary Hart died following a heart attack on March 16, 2008. While wrestling in Oregon, Pat Patterson heard many wrestlers tell him that he would be a natural fit as a tag team partner of Ray Stevens, who competed in San Francisco. Patterson moved to San Francisco and dyed his hair blond to match Stevens, who had used

1449-555: The NWA in 1968 during Stevens' reign. Renamed NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (San Francisco version) King Curtis Iaukea 2 May 10, 1969 San Francisco, CA Ray Stevens 8 June 7, 1969 San Francisco, CA Vacated August 1969 Stevens broke his leg while racing. Pat Patterson 1 August 9, 1969 San Francisco, CA Defeated Pedro Morales to win vacant title. Ray Stevens 9 July 11, 1970 San Francisco, CA Lost

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1518-399: The NWA world title. Although Garvin was booked to be a babyface, many fans did not find him credible enough to be a serious threat to Flair. JCP apparently neglected to monitor its own lavish spending as well. Crockett flew himself and his top performers around in an expensive private jet. In addition to the expense of Crockett's personal jet, there were other extravagant purchases such as

1587-512: The San Francisco version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship on January 23, 1971, and Patterson and Graham regaining the belts in a rematch the following month. Patterson and Stevens also competed in singles matches; Stevens defeated Patterson in a Texas Death match on July 11, 1970, to win the San Francisco version of the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship . The pair were later reunited in

1656-616: The Saturday evening WWF show, and viewers clamoring for GCW's return, began to make the WWF's move a money-losing one. Eventually, McMahon cut his losses and sold the time slot to Crockett for $ 1 million. Although this gave Crockett vital national exposure, it also allowed McMahon to finance his own marquee wrestling event, WrestleMania . This chain of events was critical in Turner's eventual decision to purchase JCP and form World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1988. An extra sense of urgency

1725-911: The U.S. trademarks of Jim Crockett Promotions to David Crockett on August 1, 2022, after the conclusion of the Starrcast weekend. NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (San Francisco version) NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (San Francisco) Details Promotion NWA San Francisco Big Time Wrestling Date established November 1960 Date retired January 1981 Other name(s) AWA United States Heavyweight Championship Statistics First champion(s) Ray Stevens Most reigns Ray Stevens ( 9 reigns ) Longest reign Bill Watts (385 days) Shortest reign Dusty Rhodes (promotion closed after Dusty Rhodes wins title) The NWA San Francisco United States Championship

1794-763: The WWF buyout of the Toronto territory occurred, as well as after the airing of the WWF program The War to Settle the Score on MTV to high ratings. Together with the Minneapolis -based American Wrestling Association (AWA), Championship Wrestling from Georgia, and Memphis -based Jarrett Promotions, JCP created Pro Wrestling USA . However, the organization fell apart in January 1986. Crockett bought out Ole Anderson's Championship Wrestling from Georgia, on April 6, 1985, and

1863-454: The WWF was the uncontested #1 PPV content provider in America at the time, only a handful of companies committed to air Starrcade, devastating the event's profitability. After the cable industry warned McMahon to never again attempt such a move, Crockett felt it safe to restart his PPV attempts, and scheduled Bunkhouse Stampede in January 1988. However, the WWF again sabotaged JCP by airing

1932-505: The WWF's success, McMahon was financially able to lure the top talent away from rival companies. Because of this, JCP offered many of its stars lucrative contracts - paying them beyond their actual value - to prevent them from leaving the company. Another factor was the fans' exasperation with the " Dusty Finish " (a type of " screwjob " finish named after Rhodes, who did not actually invent the concept, but used it frequently for matches at regular house shows and PPV/major cards, alike). Due to

2001-572: The WWF, as WrestleMania IV's buy rate was much lower than that of the previous year's Survivor Series. However, Clash of the Champions was now the only thing Crockett could use to keep the NWA alive, though it was not even as highly watched as the WWF's Saturday Night's Main Event . On the verge of bankruptcy, Crockett sold Jim Crockett Promotions to Ted Turner in November 1988, and the promotion

2070-539: The World Wrestling Federation, where he held the WWF Tag Team Championship as Spot, a member of The Moondogs . Latham died of a heart attack in the ring during Jerry Lawler 's "birthday bash" show on November 29, 2003. Stanley Lane, who had dubbed himself the "Nature Boy" in honor of his trainer, "Nature Boy" Ric Flair , debuted for Championship Wrestling from Florida in December 1978. He

2139-935: The area. Dusty Rhodes 1 November 8, 1980 San Francisco, CA Defeated Dick Slater for the vacant title. Title Retired January 1981 Promotion closed; Mid-Atlantic version becomes the undisputed NWA US Championship after this date See also [ edit ] [REDACTED] United States portal National Wrestling Alliance References [ edit ] ^ Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2006). Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. ISBN   0-9698161-5-4 . ^ Hoops, Brian (February 19, 2017). "Daily Pro Wrestling History (02/19): Kurt Angle vs. Undertaker at No Way Out 2006" . Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online . Retrieved February 27, 2017 . ^ Burseth, Steve (September 23, 1970). "Fans Eclipse Wrestlers". Anchorage Daily Times . p. 18. Patterson won

Blond Bombers - Misplaced Pages Continue

2208-1721: The area. Pat Patterson 6 March 12, 1977 San Francisco, CA Defeated Alexis Smirnoff in tournament final. Alexis Smirnoff 1 April 16, 1977 San Francisco, CA Dean Ho 1 July 16, 1977 San Francisco, CA Bob Roop 1 September 17, 1977 San Francisco, CA Vacated December 1977 Bob Roop fired. Dean Ho 2 January 14, 1978 Won tournament. Don Muraco 1 April 1, 1978 San Francisco, CA Moondog Mayne 2 May 27, 1978 San Francisco, CA Roddy Piper 1 June 24, 1978 San Francisco, CA Moondog Mayne 3 July 14, 1978 ? Vacated August 13, 1978 Mayne killed in auto accident. Buddy Rose 1 September 16, 1978 San Francisco, CA Defeated Dean Ho in tournament final. Vacated 1979 Rose suspended. Ron Starr 1 March 3, 1979 San Francisco, CA Defeated Roddy Piper in tournament final. Buddy Rose 2 May 11, 1979 San Francisco, CA Ron Starr 2 June 8, 1979 San Francisco, CA Defeated Johnny Mantell when Rose refused to wrestle. Bob Sweetan 1 October 23, 1979 San Francisco, CA George Wells 1 December 29, 1979 San Francisco, CA Ed Wiskoski 1 June 7, 1980 San Francisco, CA Ron Starr 3 August 9, 1980 San Francisco, CA Bob Sweetan 2 October 13, 1980 San Francisco, CA Vacated October 1980 Sweetan left

2277-415: The belts against Mr. Hito and Mr. Sakurada . Because of a controversial finish, the championship was vacated, and a tournament was held. St. John sustained a wrist injury, however, and the Bombers were unable to participate. Graham teamed with Steve Keirn to win the tournament on November 13 by defeating Hito and Sakurada. When St. John recovered, he and Lane faced the new champions and defeated them for

2346-679: The belts from the Bombers. Lane and St. John had one final reign with the championship after defeating Garvin and Keirn, who was substituting for Brisco, on June 7, 1980. That summer, the Brisco Brothers regained the belts, after which the Blonde Bombers parted ways. St. John soon retired, and Lane focused on building a career as a singles wrestler in Georgia before forming several other tag teams. Later in his career, he teamed with former rival Steve Keirn to form The Fabulous Ones ; he

2415-484: The belts to longtime rival Pepper Gomez and future World Wide Wrestling Federation Champion Pedro Morales . They continued to team together, however, until the end of the year, when Patterson left the area to compete in Japan. When Patterson returned to the San Francisco area, he feuded with Stevens, who had become a face. This feud included Stevens and Peter Maivia defeating Patterson and Superstar Billy Graham to win

2484-873: The belts. They won the title from the Latham and Farris in September 1979, but the Bombers won a rematch to reclaim the championship. After dropping the AWA Southern Tag Team Championship for a third and final time, the Blond Bombers began to challenge for the NWA Mid-America Tag Team Championship . They defeated George Gulas and Ken Lucas to win the belts on December 15, 1979. While holding the title, they continued to feud with Gulas. When they attacked him one day, his estranged partner Bobby Eaton rescued him; Gulas and Eaton reunited as The Jet Set and defeated

2553-731: The broadcast to several local TV stations throughout the Carolinas and Virginia. In 1981, JCP moved to the WPCQ-TV studios in Charlotte (a station once owned by Ted Turner ). The local shows hosted by announcers like Billy "Big Bill" Ward (from WBTV in Charlotte) and Charlie Harville (at WGHP in High Point) gave way to Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling (known briefly in 1978 as Mid-Atlantic Championship Sports ). Mid-Atlantic

2622-566: The business was always called Jim Crockett Promotions, it used a variety of pseudonyms as brand names for specific TV shows, newspaper and radio ads, and even on event tickets, themselves. Among those brand names that JCP created were "Championship Wrestling", "All Star Wrestling", "East Coast Wrestling", "Eastern States Championship Wrestling", "Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling", "Mid-Atlantic Championship Sports", "Wide World Wrestling", and "NWA Pro Wrestling", NWA World Wide Wrestling", and "NWA World Championship Wrestling" following its membership in

2691-528: The company had bought-out the rival UWF; Crockett even moved many of his administrative employees from his Charlotte base to the UWF's former offices in Dallas. Jim Crockett, Jr. and Dusty Rhodes personally manned the Dallas office, leaving Jim Jr.'s brother David Crockett in charge of the Charlotte operations. Bob Geigel, a former NWA President who bought his promotion back from Crockett in Febrtuary 1987 through

2760-473: The first-ever Royal Rumble on the USA Network opposite Bunkhouse Stampede, cutting into its buy rate. Crockett then attempted to use McMahon's tactics against him, airing Clash of the Champions I —featuring a PPV-quality card—on TBS in an attempt to draw viewers away from WrestleMania IV on PPV, which took place that same night. This was one of the few tactics to actually work for JCP in its war with

2829-461: The heavy overuse of this end-of-match sequence, many JCP fans started to expect the swerve at any moment, whenever a popular wrestler (usually a face ) appeared to win a title match and was about to be awarded the championship belt (or any similar situation), only to have the win overturned due to a technicality. As a result, attendance at live shows began to fall — even at venues where JCP had traditionally drawn well or extremely well. By 1988, JCP

Blond Bombers - Misplaced Pages Continue

2898-488: The issues that came with expansion was a lack of investing in the kind of marketing needed to make it successful. As mentioned, major cards such as Starrcade and the Bunkhouse Stampede did not draw as well when moved out of JCP's traditional territory. According to Rhodes, JCP failed to gain the national name recognition that McMahon achieved with the World Wrestling Federation. Rhodes also pointed out that with

2967-539: The late 1970s and early 1980s, it ran regular shows in Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio . Crockett and Scott also bought minority shares of Frank Tunney 's Toronto -based promotion, Maple Leaf Wrestling . Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling also aired on a Buffalo, New York station, enabling the Tunney/Crockett/Scott enterprise to bring a full slate of shows to Ontario and upstate New York . In

3036-427: The limousines provided for various wrestlers and regular business parties held by officials throughout JCP's regional offices. In addition, the large amount of capital needed to take a wrestling company on a national tour and Crockett's aggressive territorial acquisitions had seriously drained JCP's coffers. In purchasing the UWF, JCP also took responsibility for the UWF's large debt from TV contracts, etc. Compounding

3105-408: The local stars could still be seen. Championship Wrestling from Georgia's television show (which had the same name as the promotion itself), along with that of Bill Watts 's Mid-South Wrestling (to whom Turner had also granted a time slot), easily surpassed the ratings for the WWF broadcast, which only featured clips and wrestler promos instead of original matches. The steep decline in ratings for

3174-620: The nickname "The Blond Bomber" as a singles wrestler. They defeated the team of The Destroyer and Billy Red Lyons to win the San Francisco version of the AWA World Tag Team Championship on April 17, 1965. They held the belts for over a year and a half before dropping them to the Mongolian Stomper and Ciclon Negro in December 1966. They won the title back in a rematch the following month and held it for another three months. On April 8, 1967, they lost

3243-552: The pairing of Paul Jones and Nelson Royal. Jim Crockett Promotions also held matches in which heel teams faced other heel teams. The Blond Bombers faced such teams as the Anderson Brothers ( Gene and Ole ) or Brute Bernard and Skull Murphy These matches, known as "Battles of the Bullies", were unusual because heels almost always compete against faces (fan favorites). Hanson had a heart attack in 1971, and Hawk

3312-496: The ring for one last match under Jim Crockett Promotions, Ric Flair's Last Match on July 31, 2022. Shortly after Flair's announcement, David Crockett and Conrad Thompson of the Starrcast wrestling fan convention filed for U.S. trademarks on "Jim Crockett Promotions" and "JCP" with respect to wrestling events, news, and merchandise. During a media call promoting the pay-per-view, Thompson stated he will give his 50% percent of

3381-450: The sales profits just by providing the big viewing audience delivered by pro wrestling's loyal fanbase (wrestling generally did not attract large ad revenues at that time, due to negative industry perceptions of its lower-income target demographic). SuperStation TBS's parent company, Turner Broadcasting System , had asked Georgia Championship Wrestling to change its public brand name to World Championship Wrestling , helping fuel rumors that

3450-432: The title on November 25. They defended the title against several team and entered into a feud with the Brisco Brothers ( Jack and Jerry ), who had held the belts together on seven previous occasions. This rivalry also included a singles match between St. John and Jack Brisco, in which their partners were handcuffed together outside of the ring to prevent interference. In March 1980, Jack Brisco teamed with Jim Garvin to win

3519-463: The value of professional wrestling for cable television in the early 1970s. WTCG aired Georgia Championship Wrestling's programming on Saturday evenings, and wrestling provided his then-fledgling enterprise (the future SuperStation WTBS ) a source of cheap live entertainment which was well-suited to the station's target demographics. Turner could run per inquiry advertisements (for products like Slim Whitman albums and Ginsu knives) and take part of

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3588-697: The younger Crockett and under the guidance of a new creative force—former wrestler-turned-match- booker George Scott —the promotion moved away from generally featuring just tag teams , to primarily focusing on singles wrestling (although tag-team matches continued to play a big part in the company). By the early-1970s, JCP had gradually phased-out its multiple weekly television tapings in such cities as Charlotte, North Carolina , Greenville, South Carolina , and High Point, North Carolina , consolidating its production schedule into just one shoot (a Wednesday night videotaping at WRAL-TV in Raleigh ), and then syndicating

3657-2230: Was a version of the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship that was defended in NWA San Francisco and, later, Big Time Wrestling . The title, which originated as the American Wrestling Alliance United States Championship and was renamed in 1968, existed from 1960 until 1981. Title history [ edit ] Wrestler: Times: Date: Location: Notes: American Wrestling Alliance United States Heavyweight Championship Ray Stevens 1 November 1960 Awarded Bob Ellis 1 November 11, 1960 San Francisco, CA Ray Stevens 2 May 1961 San Francisco, CA Vacated July 1962 Stevens broke his ankle in cart racing. Pepper Gomez 1 July 1962 Windsor, ON defeated Freddie Blassie . Ray Stevens 3 February 23, 1963 San Francisco, CA Wilbur Snyder 1 April 20, 1963 San Francisco, CA Ray Stevens 4 June 29, 1963 San Francisco, CA Dominic DeNucci 1 January 25, 1964 San Francisco, CA Ray Stevens 5 February 29, 1964 San Francisco, CA Kinji Shibuya 1 October 25, 1964 Honolulu, HI Bobo Brazil 1 October 16, 1965 San Francisco, CA Kinji Shibuya 2 November 13, 1965 San Francisco, CA Bill Watts 1 February 19, 1966 San Francisco, CA Ray Stevens 6 March 11, 1967 San Francisco, CA Bearcat Wright 1 December 2, 1967 San Francisco, CA Kinji Shibuya 3 February 17, 1968 San Francisco, CA Bearcat Wright 2 April 13, 1968 San Francisco, CA King Curtis Iaukea 1 July 4, 1968 ? Ray Stevens 7 September 14, 1968 San Francisco, CA Promotion rejoins

3726-506: Was added to Crockett's national expansion ambitions when, after Frank Tunney's death, his nephew and successor Jack joined forces with the WWF. Crockett would now have to either find other willing partner-promoters or buy them out if he wanted to run shows outside the Mid-Atlantic territory. This period also marked Crockett's first attempt to create a national promotion; Crockett and other wrestling companies needed this opportunity after

3795-693: Was also a member of The Midnight Express and The Heavenly Bodies . The Toland Brothers (Tank and Chad) also used the name in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), a developmental territory of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). They won the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship on April 6, 2005, by defeating The Thrillseekers ( Matt Cappotelli and Johnny Jeter ). They held the belts for six months before dropping them to Seth Skyfire and Chet Jablonski. The Tolands later competed for WWE as The Dicks (James and Chad Dick),

3864-785: Was also hosted by the team of Rich Landrum and Johnny Weaver . In 1978, JCP later added a short-lived show, The Best of NWA Wrestling , which was taped at the WCCB studios in Charlotte (across the street from the now- Bojangles' Coliseum , a regular venue for Mid-Atlantic live events) and featured then-active wrestler Johnny Weaver sitting down with top stars in a "coach's show" format (in which host and guest did running commentary over 16 millimeter film footage of matches from local arenas). Rich Landrum and David Crockett appeared on "Best Of", doing promo interviews for local arena shows. JCP gradually began to expand, running shows in eastern Tennessee, parts of West Virginia , and even Savannah, Georgia . In

3933-440: Was basically a re-packaged version of Mid-Atlantic , and it was also announced by Billy "Big Bill" Ward. In 1975, JCP premiered a new, syndicated show, Wide World Wrestling (renamed World Wide Wrestling in 1978). The original host of this show was former Georgia Championship Wrestling announcer Ed Capral. Subsequent Wide World / World Wide announcers included Les Thatcher, George and Sandy Scott , and Dr. Tom Miller. It

4002-542: Was collapsing under increasing competitive pressure from Vincent K. McMahon 's World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE )—itself a family-owned territory promotion covering the northeastern U.S. — which was aggressively expanding into a nationwide promotion. Crockett had similar expansion goals, envisioning a united NWA through JCP's buyout of or merger with all of the NWA's regional promotions. Ted Turner , whose Atlanta television station WTCG would become distributed nationally via satellite starting in 1976, had realized

4071-544: Was frequently referred to in the influential Pro Wrestling Illustrated and its sister publications by the WCW name or more commonly as "the World Championship area." As a result of the success World Championship Wrestling now had from acquiring the Saturday night time slots, Crockett (along with JCP booker Dusty Rhodes ) was able to establish an annual summer arena tour, " The Great American Bash " starting with

4140-420: Was hosted by Bob Caudle , (a longtime WRAL weatherman). Caudle was joined by a rotation of co-hosts (everyone from Les Thatcher all the way to Dr. Tom Miller ), before David Crockett (another son of Jim Crockett Sr.) became Bob's permanent co-host/ color commentary man (after ending a very brief career as a wrestler, himself). For a brief period, a secondary show, East Coast Wrestling , was taped at WRAL; it

4209-457: Was on the verge of bankruptcy . In November 1988, Turner Broadcasting System purchased a majority interest in JCP for $ 9 million. The Crockett family retained a minority interest, with Crockett, Jr. becoming a consultant. Turner Broadcasting System ultimately rebranded the promotion World Championship Wrestling . In 1993, JCP ceased to exist. On May 16, 2022, Ric Flair announced he would return to

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4278-612: Was re-elected NWA President. This was to help counter the WWF, after it became America's dominant wrestling business in the wake of WrestleMania. Crockett then purchased both Saturday evening TBS time slots from Vince McMahon and filled the time slot with two hours of original programming filmed in Ted Turner's Atlanta studios . The programming aired under the World Championship Wrestling banner, which had been adopted by GCW before its demise. The entire company

4347-493: Was renamed the Universal Wrestling Corporation. Soon after, it was renamed again to World Championship Wrestling (WCW). The eventual downfall of JCP, leading to its eventual sale to Ted Turner (and thereby the birth of WCW) can be attributed to several key factors. Magnum T. A. — one of JCP's top babyfaces , and the performer scheduled to become NWA World Heavyweight Champion at Starrcade 1986 —

4416-438: Was restarted by Jim Crockett's son and Jim Crockett Jr's brother, David Crockett . Jim Crockett (1909–1973) was a promoter of live events including professional wrestling , music concerts , plays , minor league baseball , and ice hockey . In 1931, he founded his own professional wrestling promotion , Jim Crockett Promotions. Crockett built JCP as a regional promotion centred on the Carolinas and Virginia . Although

4485-418: Was scheduled to air the same night. Not wanting to possibly lose to the WWF in a direct PPV competition, Crockett decided to move Starrcade's starting time to Thanksgiving afternoon instead of the evening. However, the WWF then threatened cable companies that if they chose to air Starrcade, they would not be offered future WWF PPVs, including that year's Survivor Series and the forthcoming WrestleMania IV . Since

4554-530: Was severe, as the show's Southern fans were incensed to see their beloved stars suddenly replaced—without advance notice—by an "invading force" of wrestlers from "up North", an event that has since become known in pro wrestling lore as Black Saturday . In response to the ensuing deluge of complaints, TBS granted an upstart promotion called Championship Wrestling from Georgia (backed by holdout GCW shareholder and NWA member Fred Ward and former GCW wrestler/booker Ole Anderson) an early Saturday morning time slot so that

4623-721: Was severely injured in a car accident over two months before Starrcade (October 14), and could never wrestle again. So, JCP turned major "heel" Nikita Koloff , into a face on October 25, to take Magnum T. A.'s place while still being able to have a profitable build-up to Starrcade's main event. JCP alienated loyal fans in the Carolinas by moving Starrcade '87 and the Bunkhouse Stampede to arenas in Chicago and New York City, respectively. JCP had no real history and market presence in either of these non-southern metro areas, and its ability to drawing sellout crowds for arena shows in

4692-474: Was soon paired with Bryan St. John, and the team dubbed themselves the Blonde Bombers. St. John had been feuding with Ray Stevens, and the Bombers continued this rivalry. Together, they challenged NWA Florida Tag Team Champions Stevens and Mike Graham for the title belts. On October 30, 1979, the heel duo of Lane and St. John defeated the champions to win the title. As a result, St. John claimed victory in his rivalry with Stevens. The following week, they defended

4761-553: Was teamed with rookie wrestler Ric Flair . Hanson became a face upon his return to the ring, and he feuded with Hawk and faced him in a series of matches. They began wrestling in Texas, where they won the NWA Western States Tag Team Championship three times from 1976 to 1977. Hanson left the territory after their final reign, which ended the tag team combination. They were inducted as a team into

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