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82-523: Kohler began promoting in 1925, and by 1942 he dominated professional wrestling in Chicago. He joined the recently founded National Wrestling Alliance in 1949, with his promotion sometimes thereafter referred to as NWA Chicago . From 1949 to 1955, Fred Kohler Enterprises was one of the most profitable and high-profile promotions in the United States due to the success of Wrestling from Marigold ,

164-653: A World Title tournament for the vacant NWA World Heavyweight Championship . Unbeknownst to any one, the event was staged for ECW's public withdrawal from the NWA, with tournament winner Shane Douglas throwing down the NWA title belt and instead picking up the ECW Heavyweight Championship belt, proclaiming himself to be the ECW World Heavyweight Champion. ECW founder Tod Gordon would subsequently announce ECW's secession from

246-514: A controversial segment from that month's Samhain PPV event, in which Father James Mitchell along with several women and wrestlers were seen consuming cocaine , drew negative reactions online. The following month, The CW signed a deal with WWE for its weekly NXT program. Though it was rumored to be in-response to the Samhain segment, Corgan later revealed in a 2024 interview with Fightful that

328-616: A Capital Wrestling Corporation's program that aired on the regional network WNBQ , to advertise his shows in Chicago. By 1960, the promotion had rebounded and the threat posed by Quinn had receded. In June 1961, Fred Kohler Enterprises and the Capital Wrestling Corporation jointly promoted a show at Comiskey Park headlined by a bout that saw Buddy Rogers defeat Pat O'Connor for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship . The event

410-427: A holding company run by Houston, Texas-based attorney and wrestling promoter R. Bruce Tharpe, sued Trobich, Baucom, the NWA, and its then-parent company, Trobich's Pro Wrestling Organization LLC, claiming insurance fraud regarding the NWA's liability insurance policy. A settlement was negotiated that transferred the rights to the NWA name and trademarks from Trobich's company to Tharpe's. The new organization moved from

492-507: A larger audience than ever before. Rising demand and national expansion made wrestling a much more lucrative form of entertainment than in decades previous. This era would go on to be known as the "Golden Age" of professional wrestling. From 1948 to 1955, each of the three major television networks broadcast wrestling shows; the largest supporter being the DuMont Television Network . In 1956, allegations were made that

574-409: A loose coalition of independent promotions, with NWA: Total Nonstop Action (NWA:TNA) given exclusivity over its World Heavyweight and Tag Team championships from June 2002 to May 2007. In August 2012, the NWA discontinued its memberships and started licensing its brand to wrestling promotions. In 2017, it was purchased by Billy Corgan through his Lightning One, Inc. company. By late 2019–2023,

656-459: A membership model to a licensing model and significantly reduced the amount of territory some of the members held, which caused many promotions to immediately cut ties with the NWA. On September 9, 2012, Championship Wrestling from Hollywood (CWFH) announced it had left the NWA. CWFH was the unofficial home promotion of both the then-current NWA champion ( Adam Pearce ) and the most recent previous champion ( Colt Cabana ), both of whom publicly left

738-463: A new distribution agreement with FITE TV . As part of this agreement, the NWA would remove content from their YouTube channel. On January 5, 2022, the NWA announced the launch of the NWA All Access subscription package on FITE TV, including past and upcoming pay-per-view events (PPV), new episodes of Powerrr on Tuesdays, and the newly announced NWA USA weekly series. In addition, it

820-666: A new promotion called NWA: Total Nonstop Action (NWA:TNA). NWA:TNA was given creative control over the NWA World Heavyweight and World Tag Team championships through an agreement with the NWA. This would last until March 2007, when the NWA terminated its agreement with TNA. TNA would lose control over the NWA World Heavyweight and World Tag Team championships by the morning of the 2007 Sacrifice pay-per-view event on May 13. On September 17, 2010, KDOC-TV Los Angeles premiered NWA: Championship Wrestling from Hollywood . In August 2012, International Wrestling Corp.,

902-646: A number of issues. At the time Quinn walked out, a wrestler of his named Édouard Carpentier was involved in an angle where he and Lou Thesz were both being presented around the NWA as world champion after Carpentier had a disputed win over Thesz on June 14, 1957. As the 1950s came to a close, professional wrestling was losing television ratings, and soon TV stations dropped most wrestling shows from their lineups. The remaining televised wrestling promoters had small, local syndicated shows, which aired as late-night filler programming. Promoters started using localized television by purchasing airtime from rival territories, at

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984-713: A partnership with Philadelphia promoter, Ray Fabiani. The new combination wasted little time and found their new title holder in Dick Shikat , a former circus strongman from Germany. Once Dick Shickat's title reign had run its course, Mondt and Fabiani made Jim Londos their new champion and continued their hold on the Northeast. They soon expanded onto New York City, Hartford, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C. Toots/Fabiani were unsuccessful because rival New York promoter Jack Curley prevented them from promoting in NYC for years, and it

1066-407: A professional wrestler to supplement his income while working as a physical director and then as a machinist. He was given the ring name "Fred Kohler" by a promoter and went on to use this name throughout his professional wrestling and promoting careers. Kohler began promoting in 1925, staging his first event in a hall owned by his father. By the mid-1930s, he had built a fan base and was generating

1148-568: A program airing on the DuMont national television network. A slump in business in the late-1950s was reversed by a partnership with the Capitol Wrestling Corporation , and in 1961 Fred Kohler Enterprises drew the then-largest crowd in professional wrestling history to watch a World Heavyweight Championship bout between Buddy Rogers and Pat O'Connor at Chicago's Comiskey Park . Kohler's often-fractious relationship with

1230-453: A sparring partner and trainer, Toots Mondt helped Ed Lewis develop new holds and counters. The working relationship and unity amongst wrestling promoters was beginning to wear thin and crowd attendance was still low. Toots conceived a solution and combined features of a boxing ring, Greco-Roman, freestyle wrestling, and the old-time lumber camp -style of fighting. Toots had called it ’Slam Bang Western Style Wrestling’. Toots Mondt's second plan

1312-558: A steady profit. In November 1936, Kohler promoted a bout between Ali Baba and Everett Marshall for Marshall's World Heavyweight Championship . Held at the Chicago Stadium , the match attracted an audience of 9,736, establishing Kohler as a major figure in Chicago's professional wrestling scene. The success of the Chicago Stadium event gave Kohler enough cache to negotiate an alliance with promoter Ed White, and in 1937

1394-458: Is a documentary series chronicling the journey and career of the current NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion as well as others in the division. Debuting on October 20, 2017, on the NWA's YouTube channel, it was the first series to be produced after the organization's acquisition. NWA Shockwave was a web television program that aired on the NWA's YouTube channel and Facebook page. The series debuted on December 1, 2020. On August 10, 2020, it

1476-645: Is the flagship program of the NWA which currently streams on Tuesday nights on The CW 's app. The series debuted on October 8, 2019, originally airing on the NWA's YouTube channel. From 2021 to the end of 2022, the show had a first airing on Tuesday at 6:05 pm ET on FITE TV , with the episode debuting on the NWA's YouTube channel later in the same week in Friday at 6:05 pm ET. A companion series, titled NWA Power Surge (stylized as NWA Powerrr Surge ), premiered on April 13, 2021, and features wrestler interviews, unseen matches, and Powerrr recaps. Ten Pounds of Gold

1558-431: The NWA World Heavyweight Championship . The match took place on November 12 and saw Storm retain the title. This was the first title match under the new NWA regime headed by Corgan. On December 9, Aldis defeated Storm in a rematch at Cage of Death 19 to become the new NWA World Heavyweight Champion, making him the second British-born champion after Gary Steele . In 2018, the NWA briefly allied with Impact Wrestling ,

1640-545: The United States . It remained the largest and most influential body in wrestling until the mid-1980s by which time most of the original member promotions went out of business as a result of the World Wrestling Federation 's (WWF, now WWE) national expansion . In September 1993, the largest remaining member promotion, World Championship Wrestling (WCW), left the NWA. The NWA would continue as

1722-590: The "Gold Dust Trio" controlled the course of professional wrestling in North America. Their product was moved out from venues such as burlesque theaters and back alley halls to the major sports venue in each city. All new talent was tested in Billy Sandow's private ring while routines and finishes were carefully determined by Toots. The Gold Dust Trio later dissolved from a power struggle between Toots Mondt & Billy Sandow's brother Max. Mondt then formed

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1804-587: The 1970s, the NWA once again took over as the top promotion and gained huge dominance with their program, Georgia Championship Wrestling , which would become the first nationally broadcast wrestling program on cable television through then-superstation TBS in 1979. They brought in Gordon Solie , dubbed "The Walter Cronkite of Professional Wrestling," from former NWA President Eddie Graham's Championship Wrestling from Florida territory to be lead commentator and host. Videotape trading and cable television paved

1886-857: The 1970s. They changed their name from the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1979. At some point during the decade, Muchnick reportedly declared Atlanta, Georgia as the "leading wrestling city" for its "drawing capacity and near-capacity crowds at the City Auditorium or the Omni every Friday." While the American Wrestling Association (AWA) and World Wide Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Federation (WWWF/WWF) both faltered during

1968-877: The CW executives didn't have a problem with the spot, and that "it was a completely invented story by either a troll inside the company, a leaker or something.” Following Samhain, episodes of Powerrr were later added to The CW's app in November. In January 2024, NWA announced that new episodes of Powerrr would be available on The CW app from February 6. The same year, NWA included new territories: NWA Chicago in Chicago , Illinois , Kross Fire Wrestling (KFW) in Sevierville, Tennessee , World League Wrestling in Missouri as NWA's developmental system, and NWA Texas. Powerrr

2050-517: The NWA World Heavyweight Championship was featured at All In , with Cody defeating Aldis for the title, becoming the first second-generation NWA World heavyweight champion. After All In, the NWA would return to hosting its own events. The NWA 70th Anniversary Show , which took place on October 21, 2018, was the first to be produced directly under Lightning One, and was co-produced with Global Force Entertainment ;

2132-552: The NWA World Heavyweight, World Tag Team and World Junior Heavyweight Championships all changed hands at NJPW events. In September 2016, NWA signed a deal with the new Japanese Diamond Stars Wrestling (DSW) promotion to promote shows in not only Japan, but also other parts of Asia. As part of the deal, DSW chairman Hideo Shimada was appointed the NWA Vice President of the Asian Pacific region while Jimmy Suzuki

2214-604: The NWA and ROH. This would be the last event to be co-promoted with ROH; on July 24, 2019, the NWA announced that had ended their partnership. Subsequently, it was announced the following month that the NWA would host tapings in Atlanta on September 30 and October 1 for a new television series, later revealed to be titled NWA Powerrr . In January 2020, Marty Scurll , and other Ring of Honor characters, began to appear at NWA events once again as part of an inter-promotional angle. In addition to re-signing with ROH, Scurll would join

2296-557: The NWA came to an end in 1963 when he withdrew to form the International Wrestling Association , a would-be competitor. The company was dissolved in 1965, marking the end of Fred Kohler Enterprises after 40 years. Fred Koch was born in Chicago in 1903. He attended Lane Technical College Prep High School , where he competed in amateur wrestling , placing second in his weight category in a 1928 Amateur Athletic Union tournament. After graduating, he became

2378-422: The NWA had transitioned into a stand-alone, singular promotion. In October 2023, the NWA re-established its territory system, with Michael Hutter's NWA Exodus Pro Midwest being the first promotion sanctioned. Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s In 1948, Paul "Pinkie" George , a professional wrestling promoter from the U.S. Midwest , founded

2460-525: The NWA in December 1950 in protest at its failure to take action when Leonard Schwartz, Al Haft, Toots Mondt , and Paul Bowser began competing with him in Chicago. He rejoined in February 1951 after NWA president Sam Muchnick brokered a compromise. The success of Wrestling from Marigold made Kohler one of the most powerful figures in professional wrestling. Kohler became one of the first promoters in

2542-627: The NWA once more, renaming his promotion the "International Wrestling Association". The IWA positioned itself as a competitor to the NWA but lasted only a year. Fred Kohler Enterprises went into receivership in August 1964 with its assets sold at auction, marking the end of Kohler's promoting career. The territory was taken over by Dick the Bruiser and Wilbur Snyder , the owners of the World Wrestling Association , who purchased

Fred Kohler Enterprises - Misplaced Pages Continue

2624-408: The NWA reestablished itself as a governing body, with EC3 's NWA Exodus Pro Midwest being the first territory to be sanctioned. On December 4, NWA welcomed Joe Cazana Promotions (JCP) to their territory system. On October 18, it was reported by news blog Haus of Wrestling that NWA had signed a deal with The CW to air Powerrr and a reality show documenting behind the scenes footage. However,

2706-692: The NWA was an illegal monopoly blocking competition. An investigation led by the US Department of Justice resulted in the NWA Consent Decree of 1956 ( United States v. National Wrestling Alliance ). Several promoters would leave the organization during this time, with some managing to find niches in the United States. In 1957, Montreal promoter Eddie Quinn walked out of the August NWA meeting in St. Louis, having fallen out with Muchnick over

2788-505: The NWA's Bunkhouse Stampede . The NWA responded by creating Clash of the Champions on TBS to counterprogram WrestleMania IV . By 1988, Jim Crockett Promotions was facing bankruptcy. On October 11, under the direction of owner Ted Turner , TBS bought the assets of JCP and renamed it World Championship Wrestling (WCW) after the TV show of the same name. Originally incorporated by TBS as

2870-550: The NWA, Corgan would also purchase Tharpe's stake in the NWA's "On Demand" VOD service and licensing of the Paul Boesch wrestling library. Corgan's ownership of the NWA took effect on October 1, 2017. All licenses granted by Tharpe to use the NWA branding expired the previous day, putting Corgan in complete control of both the brand and its championships. On September 23, 2017, Nick Aldis made his debut for Championship Wrestling from Hollywood and challenged Tim Storm for

2952-480: The NWA, rechristening the promotion as Extreme Championship Wrestling. In 1998, the World Wrestling Federation reached an agreement to use the likeness of the NWA titles, branding, and its history, to create a storyline. It would be later claimed that WWE still owned the rights. Despite the NWA receiving international television publicity during the angle, it was considered a failure due to low viewer interests. In June 2002, Jeff and Jerry Jarrett launched

3034-477: The NWA, with Pearce vacating the NWA World Title while exiting. Other major NWA territories like NWA Pro/NWA Pro West , NWA Georgia , NWA Pro East , NWA Southwest and NWA Midwest folded. In 2013, the NWA re-established a relationship with New Japan Pro-Wrestling, where Bruce Tharpe became an on-screen character, portraying a villainous manager of wrestlers representing the NWA. Over the next two years,

3116-570: The NWA. On September 5, 2020, Rosa unsuccessfully challenged AEW Women's World Championship Hikaru Shida at All Out . On October 27, 2020, Serena Deeb defeated Rosa during the United Wrestling Network's Primetime Live event to become the new NWA World Women's Champion. On March 2, 2021, the NWA announced their return to promoting events, with the Back For The Attack and new Powerrr episodes as part of

3198-508: The National Wrestling Alliance with the backing of six other promoters: Al Haft , Tony Stecher , Harry Light , Orville Brown , Don Owen , and Sam Muchnick . The concept of the NWA was to consolidate the championships of these regional companies into one true world championship of professional wrestling, whose holder would be recognized worldwide. The newly formed NWA Board of Directors decided that Brown would become

3280-691: The New York territory. Toots sold off his share to McMahon in the mid-60s. McMahon reduced Mondt to salaried employee for Capitol. Mondt died on June 11, 1976, at the age of 82 after a long battle with an illness. Since then, he has been inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in 1996, the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum in 2008 and the WWE Hall of Fame in 2017 as

3362-527: The United States to sign his wrestlers to exclusive contracts, earning a commission from hiring them out to other territories. Kohler made extensive use of merchandising, selling calendars and photos. In 1954, he secured exclusive rights to the sale of "Wrestling Polka", a record composed by Helen Carroll and the Satisfiers as the theme for Wrestling from Marigold . His annual revenue rose to over $ 100,000 (equivalent to $ 1,135,000 in 2023) per annum. By

Fred Kohler Enterprises - Misplaced Pages Continue

3444-634: The United States. That same year, Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) and the NWA created its primary supercard , Starrcade , the first to be broadcast via closed-circuit networks and was regarded as their flagship event. On Saturday, July 14, 1984, in what would become known as Black Saturday , McMahon bought NWA member Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW) and merged it into the WWF. The WWF would take over GCW's TV slot on TBS , which had been home to GCW's World Championship Wrestling program for 12 years. This move proved disastrous as ratings would plummet, and

3526-548: The Universal Wrestling Corporation, Turner promised fans that WCW would retain the athlete-oriented style of the NWA. The sale was completed on November 2, 1988, with a television taping of NWA World Championship Wrestling that very same date in WCW's hometown of Atlanta. By September 1993, WCW would withdraw completely from the NWA. On August 27, 1994, NWA: Eastern Championship Wrestling (ECW) held

3608-486: The WWF would end up losing money on the deal. Then-NWA President Jim Crockett, Jr. , the owner of JCP, would buy the World Championship Wrestling program from McMahon for $ 1 million and returned NWA programming to TBS. By 1985, JCP would become the flagship territory of the NWA by acquiring more time slots on TBS and merging with other NWA territories in an attempt to compete with the WWF. With

3690-524: The WWWF would not be seen as an enemy. Toots and Vince were also in the middle of fighting off an invasion by Jim Crockett Promotions from promoting in the WWWF territories. When Buddy Rogers was crowned NWA World Heavyweight Champion, Toots controlled the bookings for Rogers’ title defenses. Toots would rarely allow Buddy Rogers to defend the title outside the Northeastern region. This would be one of

3772-524: The age of 18 in a carnival/wrestling style match, a match he would wrestle in for many years. Stu Hart claimed he ran into Toots by chance while wrestling in New York City and that Mondt said he received his first wrestling lesson in 1916 from Jack Taylor , and Mondt tried to recruit Hart into a territory in Washington, D.C. Around this time, he also tried his hand at acrobatics. However, this

3854-450: The best of terms during his tenure with the company, with Bruno suggesting it was due to the fallout over the promotion's handling of Buddy Rogers. Changing times and the rise of television saw Mondt's influence in the sport diminishing. Mondt was an arena booker and was never able to get a handle on television like McMahon. That fact coupled with Mondt's gambling problems allowed his business-minded partner to muscle him out of ownership of

3936-540: The company's booking team, enabling him to appear for both the NWA and ROH. However, in the fallout of the Speaking Out Movement , Scurll was accused of having intercourse with a 16-year-old female who was inebriated. After an investigation, Scurll would be removed from his position as booker, and by the following January in 2021, would be no longer under contract. Nick Aldis was scheduled to face PCO at Supercard of Honor XIV on April 4, 2020, before

4018-547: The consequence of putting some of them out of business. On January 24, 1963, at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Lou Thesz defeated Buddy Rogers in a one-fall match and was declared NWA World Heavyweight Champion for the third and final time. However, after the event, Vincent J. McMahon and Toots Mondt of the Capital Wrestling Corporation (CWC) refused to recognize the title change since Thesz

4100-439: The duo began promoting shows together. After White retired in 1942, Kohler was firmly positioned as the most powerful figure in professional wrestling in Chicago. In 1944, Kohler began recognizing mainstay Walter Palmer as World Heavyweight Champion. Kohler's first television program, Wrestling From Rainbo Arena , began airing on Wednesday evenings on July 10, 1946, on the regional television network WBKB . Hosted by Russ Davis,

4182-504: The early-1950s, Kohler's top star, Verne Gagne , was the most popular professional wrestler in the United States. In 1953, Kohler decided to create a regional championship to feature on Wrestling from Marigold . In September 1953, the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Chicago version) was awarded to Gagne. This resulted in tension with some NWA officials, who felt that it undermined

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4264-774: The event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On June 18, 2020, Dave Lagana resigned as Vice President of the NWA after allegations of sexual assault were made public. The promotion would go into hiatus as a result of this and the pandemic. During this time, several wrestlers would also leave the NWA, including former Tag Team Champions James Storm , Eli Drake , Marti Belle , and Royce Isaacs , former Women's Champion Allysin Kay , former Television Champion Ricky Starks , former Television Champion Zicky Dice . NWA World Women's Champion Thunder Rosa would make appearances for All Elite Wrestling (AEW) while under contract with

4346-452: The event was streamed live on FITE TV . The main event saw Aldis defeat Cody to recapture the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and Willie Mack winning a tournament for the vacant NWA National Championship , which became the main secondary title. The Fourth Crockett Cup , an eight-team, single-elimination tournament that was revived to crown new NWA World Tag Team Champions , took place on April 27, 2019, as another collaboration between

4428-528: The factors which led to the World Wide Wrestling Federation splitting from the NWA. In April 1963, Buddy Rogers was awarded the WWWF World Heavyweight title, supposedly for winning a tournament for the title in Rio de Janeiro , a fictitious storyline created by Toots Mondt. In 1965, Toots Mondt stepped down as promoter at Madison Square Garden and Vincent J. McMahon took over. When Bruno Sammartino

4510-500: The financial backings. Bernarr McFadden helped Toots promote in NYC and gain access into Madison Square Garden. In 1948, in the main event of the first card held in MSG for 9 years, Gorgeous George defeated Ernie Dusek. In that same year Toots Mondt was in search for another champion. After several failed attempts, Toots Mondt found Antonino Rocca, who brought in more Latino fans to the matches which financially favored Toots. Mondt, however,

4592-462: The first ever NWA World Heavyweight Champion . In 1950, Sam Muchnick , one of the original promoters of the NWA and Lou Thesz 's booker, was named the governing body's President, a position to which he was unanimously re-elected and held until 1960, making him one of the longest-tenured presidents in the organization's history. Following the advent of television , professional wrestling matches began to be aired nationally during this time, reaching

4674-594: The former NWA:TNA, to hold an Empty Arena match at Universal Orlando in Orlando, Florida. It was contested by Tim Storm and Jocephus and served as a qualifier to challenge then-NWA World Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis. The match was recorded on January 14, 2018, and uploaded to YouTube the next day. Starting in 2018, NWA allied with Ring of Honor (ROH). NWA wrestlers such as Aldis, James Storm , and Eli Drake appeared at several ROH events, with ROH-contracted talent even winning NWA titles. On September 1, 2018,

4756-431: The heads of which made up the board of directors. The group operated a territory system which sanctioned their own company championships while recognizing a singular world champion who defended his title across all the territories, participated in talent exchanges, and collectively protected the territorial integrity of member promotions. Prior to the 1960s, it acted as the sole governing body for professional wrestling in

4838-665: The ire of NWA president Sam Muchnick by promoting shows in Indianapolis , Indiana , until then traditionally the territory of Muchnick's own promotion, the St. Louis Wrestling Club . DuMont abruptly cancelled Wrestling from Marigold in March 1955, a move that saw Fred Kohler Enterprises' annual revenue drop by $ 50,000 (equivalent to $ 569,000 in 2023). The blow was compounded in May 1957 when WGN also cancelled Wrestling from Marigold . By

4920-482: The late-1950s Fred Kohler Enterprises was close to bankruptcy. In 1959, promoter Eddie Quinn began running shows in opposition to Fred Kohler Enterprises in Chicago. Kohler responded by forming a partnership with Vincent J. McMahon , promoter of the Capital Wrestling Corporation . The partnership gave Kohler access to new wrestlers including Bearcat Wright , Buddy Rogers , and Johnny Valentine . Kohler also used purchased time on Heavyweight Wrestling from Bridgeport ,

5002-417: The mat and lasting on an average 60 minutes. Crowds no longer found this to be suitable entertainment and accordingly, they began to dwindle. Wrestling matches slowly and eventually became pre-determined. Toots Mondt joined the camp of Ed "Strangler" Lewis with the recommendation of Farmer Burns. Toots served in many capacities as a sparring partner, trainer, sometimes as an opponent and as a police officer. As

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5084-411: The mid-1950s. In 1955, Barnett came up with the idea of recording professional wrestling programs in a television studio rather than transporting recording equipment to arenas as was usually done. In 1955, Kohler began attempting to expand his territory, promoting shows in locations including Albuquerque, New Mexico ; Denver , Colorado ; Las Vegas , Nevada ; and Los Angeles , California . He raised

5166-472: The program featured matches recorded in Chicago's Rainbo Arena. In 1948, Wrestling from Marigold began airing on the regional network WGN . In 1949, Kohler secured new television deals with ABC and WJZ-TV . Later that year, he reached a deal with the recently founded national television network DuMont . Wrestling from Marigold began airing on Thursdays and Saturdays in September 1949. The program

5248-406: The remaining assets of Fred Kohler Enterprises from Kohler in November 1965. National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance ( NWA ) is an American professional wrestling promotion and governing body owned by Billy Corgan and operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA began as the governing body for a group of regional promotions,

5330-596: The stars Mondt helped create from the 1920s through the 1960s included Wayne Munn , Jim Londos , Antonino Rocca , Bruno Sammartino , Stu Hart and Cowboy Bill Watts . Joseph Raymond Mondt was born in Garden Grove, Iowa , on January 18, 1894. Joseph (Joe) Toots was his professional name. Toots' father, Frank, was a farmer and building contractor. The Mondt family moved to Weld County, Colorado , in 1904. Toots Mondt made his wrestling debut in Greeley in 1912 at

5412-534: The status of Lou Thesz , the-then holder of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship , the world championship recognized by all NWA members. Thesz himself refused to wrestle in Chicago. Gagne held the championship until April 1956. In later years, many other NWA territories created their own regional NWA United States Heavyweight Championships . Potentially due to the dispute, a highly anticipated NWA World Heavyweight Championship match between Gagne and Thesz never took place. Jim Barnett joined Kohler as an assistant in

5494-532: The success of WrestleMania III in 1987, the WWF would schedule another pay-per-view, Survivor Series , on Thanksgiving night to compete directly with NWA's Starrcade event, and demanded exclusivity from cable providers on carriage of the event. As a result, Starrcade was moved to December the following year, with the show now held around Christmas Day beginning in 1988. The WWF then scheduled their first Royal Rumble event in January 1988 to counterprogram against

5576-456: The way for the decline of the NWA's inter-regional business model, as viewers could now see plot holes and inconsistencies between each territories' storylines. The presence of stars like Ric Flair on TV every week made their special appearances in each region less of a draw. The WWF left the NWA for good in 1983, as Vincent K. McMahon , who bought the WWF from his father in 1982, worked to get WWF programming on syndicated television all across

5658-623: Was abandoned, with Chief Don Eagle as the final champion In 1950, Kohler was involved in a notorious "double-cross" when he instructed Gorgeous George to shoot on Chief Don Eagle and legitimately pin him to win the American Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Championship , which was being defended in a bout in Chicago. The plan was concocted to weaken the AWA and rival promoter Al Haft, who booked Eagle. Kohler resigned from

5740-481: Was an unsuccessful move and Toots returned to wrestling matches. Toots received his big break when he was discovered by wrestling pioneer Farmer Burns during one of his scouting trips. The nickname ‘Toots’, had to do with either his small feet or his relative youth and baby face . Mondt was the youngest wrestler in Farmer Burns' camp. Until 1919, wrestling matches were slow-moving exhibitions mainly confined to

5822-513: Was announced that Powerrr would return to YouTube, airing on Fridays after the FITE premiere, and that NWA USA would air on Saturdays on the platform before moving to Sundays on FITE. Finally, it was announced that the NWA would expand their PPV schedule to six events per year, as part of a new deal with FITE TV. Though the partnership ended in 2023, with NWA's programming returning to YouTube, FITE still carries NWA PPV events. On October 9, 2023,

5904-494: Was announced that the NWA will partner with the United Wrestling Network (UWN) to produce a live, weekly pay-per-view (PPV) series named UWN Primetime Live . Matches from this series would also be featured as part of Shockwave . NWA USA is a weekly program that debuted on January 8, 2022, on YouTube and focuses on the NWA Junior Heavyweight Championship division. The last episode

5986-565: Was appointed senior NWA consultant. On May 1, 2017, it was reported that Billy Corgan , lead singer of the Smashing Pumpkins , had agreed to purchase the NWA, including its name, rights, trademarks and championship belts. The report was confirmed by Tharpe that same day. Over the following weeks, the NWA trademarks were moved from Tharpe's International Wrestling Corp. over to Corgan's Lightning One, Inc. production company. According to multiple sources, as part of his acquisition of

6068-445: Was attended by 38,622 people, the then-highest ever attendance of any professional wrestling event in history and a record that stood until the 1st Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions in 1984. Kohler was elected president of the NWA in August 1961. In November 1961, Kohler unsuccessfully moved for the NWA board of directors to vote on dissolving the organisation His presidency ended the following year. In 1963, Kohler withdrew from

6150-414: Was brought into the WWWF, Vincent J. McMahon predicted that he would be a midcarder for two or three years at best. Toots called Sammartino the future of the company because people instantly liked and responded to him. Toots convinced Vincent J. McMahon to build the company around Bruno Sammartino. In a June 2012 Wrestling Observer Radio podcast, Bruno acknowledged that Mondt and Vincent J. McMahon were not on

6232-437: Was during this time that he came around an up-and-coming Lou Thesz , with whom Mondt had a bad history. As Jack Curley was on his deathbed, Toots realized that New York wrestling would fall apart. So Toots & Fabiani immediately formed an alliance with fellow booking heavyweight Rudy Dusek. This formation to take over New York was kept a secret. At Curley's funeral, one of his sons approached Toots about taking over New York and

6314-480: Was inexpensive to produce, and Kohler's membership of the NWA gave him access to some of the country's best performers. Wrestling from Marigold quickly became popular, with both broadcasts ranking amongst the top DuMont programs. In September 1949, Kohler enrolled in the National Wrestling Alliance , which had been founded the prior year. The World Heavyweight Championship (Chicago version)

6396-690: Was not a strong draw in their Northeastern territory. They then withdrew the CWC from the NWA. As a result, McMahon and Mondt formed the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF, later to be known as WWE ) with Rogers as its first world champion in April 1963. Although both Gagne and McMahon promoted their own world champions, their promotions continued to have representatives on the NWA Board of Directors and regularly exchanged talent with NWA promotions during this time. Wrestling's popularity continued to decline in

6478-656: Was not able to keep Rocca happy and Vincent J. McMahon was brought into the scene by Ray Fabiani. In 1954, Mondt signed up Rafael Halperin a rabbi from Israel who wrestled in a blue and white costume emblazoned with the Jewish star . In 1963, Toots Mondt and Vincent J. McMahon broke away from the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), renaming Capitol Wrestling Corporation to the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF). Toots Mondt parted ways with NWA President Sam Muchnick on good terms so that

6560-565: Was not aware that Toots had a plan. Toots also gained help from other bookers such as Jack Pfeffer , the Johnston Brothers and Jess McMahon . Jess McMahon worked for boxing promoter and New York Rangers hockey franchise founder Tex Rickard , who despised wrestling and prevented bookings in Madison Square Garden (MSG) from 1939 to 1948. Toots found former wrestler turned millionaire Bernarr McFadden, who gave Toots

6642-434: Was released May 8, 2023. Singles Tag Team Toots Mondt Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Joseph Raymond "Toots" Mondt (January 18, 1894 – June 11, 1976) was an American professional wrestler and promoter who revolutionized the wrestling industry in the early to mid-1920s and co-promoted the World Wide Wrestling Federation . Some of

6724-506: Was to promote this new style of wrestling on a much higher scale. Toots convinced Ed Lewis and his manager Billy Sandow of forming their own promotion as opposed to having different promoters controlling them. The team of Mondt, Lewis and Sandow used their connections to convince many other wrestlers to sign up. Under the control of Mondt, Lewis and Sandow, they served as bookers and agents. Toots also instituted time limits as wrestling matches would often go three or four hours. Within six months,

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