United States Wrestling Association
Encyclopedia
The United States Wrestling Association or USWA was a professional wrestling
promotion
based in Memphis, Tennessee
. It was founded by former CWA
owner Jerry Jarrett
.
/WCW
, and the WWF (now known as WWE). The USWA was created through a merger of the WCCW
(from Texas) and the CWA
(based in Memphis). It originally promoted shows, usually headlined by Jerry Lawler
, in both Tennessee and Texas.
was sued by Kevin Von Erich
. That promotion reverted back to the World Class name, but ceased operations two months later due to lack of revenue.
Jerry Jarrett and Jerry Lawler brought the USWA back to Texas, but only on a limited basis, while promoters Joe Pedicino
, Max Andrews, Boni Blackstone
and Grey Pierson were getting the new Global Wrestling Federation
ready for a spring 1991 debut at the Sportatorium. Several of the former World Class and USWA Dallas wrestlers joined the new GWF, while others from the old CWA remained with the USWA.
's federation, while several high profile WWF stars appeared in the USWA. Dallas wrestler Gentleman Chris Adams spent a few months in the USWA in an angle involving Brian Christopher
and Toni Adams
, splitting his time between Memphis and Dallas' GWF during this time frame.
(although their working relationship with the WWF is better known, the USWA also had a brief working relationship with WCW in 1995).
began, with WWF and WCW battling for cable television supremacy on Monday nights each and every week. Unfortunately for the USWA, their biggest crowds came every Monday night at the Mid-South Coliseum
in Memphis, Tennessee. With a growing wrestling viewership on Monday nights that could watch pay per view-quality wrestling matches for free on television, the live attendance at the marquee events for the USWA began to dwindle. A move to Thursday nights did not help what was becoming inevitable - the demise of the USWA.
1,800, to the Big One Flea Market. The future of the promotion was being questioned, following the previous week's resignation of general manager Randy Hales. The Louisville and Nashville crowds had stayed consistent, but the Memphis crowds, which in the past had carried the promotion, had fallen over the past few months. In addition, the Big One (Flea Market) pavilion was less than inviting, the zigzag roof of its original owner (The Treasury Stores) causing its major leaking problem.
Although Lawler was working for the WWF, he and Larry Burton ended up buying the USWA from Jarrett and immediately selling it to businessman Mark Selker's company XL Sports Ltd. in early 1997, and the USWA went out of business by November of that year, resulting in a nasty lawsuit between Burton, Selker, and Lawler.
In a civil RICO trial, a Federal District Court jury in Cleveland, Ohio eventually returned a verdict on which judgment was entered. The jury determined that Larry Burton and his son Jason Bertman had engaged in racketeering and awarded XL Sports treble damages in the amount of $2,595,000. The jury also determined that Mr. Burton was liable for fraud and conversion, and awarded XL Sports $235,000 in compensatory damages and $3,300,000 in punitive damages. The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit upheld all these judgments.
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
promotion
Professional wrestling promotion
A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling. Promotion also describes a role which entails management, advertising and logistics of running a wrestling event...
based in Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
. It was founded by former CWA
Continental Wrestling Association
The Continental Wrestling Association was a wrestling promotion managed by Jerry Jarrett. The CWA was the name of the "governing body" for the Championship Wrestling, Inc. promotion which was usually referred to as Mid-Southern Wrestling...
owner Jerry Jarrett
Jerry Jarrett
Jerry W. Jarrett is an American promoter and former professional wrestler, and the father of wrestler Jeff Jarrett. He is the co-founder and former part-owner of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling...
.
Foundation
The USWA was founded as an attempt to create a third national promotion, alongside Jim Crockett PromotionsJim Crockett Promotions
Jim Crockett Promotions was a professional wrestling promotion owned by Jim Crockett, Jr. until the late 1980s. It was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance and was the forerunner to World Championship Wrestling .-Early history:...
/WCW
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
, and the WWF (now known as WWE). The USWA was created through a merger of the WCCW
World Class Championship Wrestling
World Class Championship Wrestling ' was a regional professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. Originally owned by promoter Ed McLemore, by 1966 it was run by Southwest Sports, Inc., whose president, Jack Adkisson, was better known as wrestler Fritz Von Erich...
(from Texas) and the CWA
Continental Wrestling Association
The Continental Wrestling Association was a wrestling promotion managed by Jerry Jarrett. The CWA was the name of the "governing body" for the Championship Wrestling, Inc. promotion which was usually referred to as Mid-Southern Wrestling...
(based in Memphis). It originally promoted shows, usually headlined by Jerry Lawler
Jerry Lawler
Jerry O'Neil Lawler is an American professional wrestler, wrestling commentator, musician, businessman, commercial artist and film actor, known throughout the wrestling world as Jerry "The King" Lawler. He is currently signed to WWE, working on its Raw brand as the color commentator and occasional...
, in both Tennessee and Texas.
WCCW withdraws
The Dallas promotion (formerly WCCW), which was 40 percent owned by the Von Erich family, withdrew from the USWA in September 1990 due to a revenue dispute. According to Skandor Akbar, there were lawsuits involved, especially when Jerry JarrettJerry Jarrett
Jerry W. Jarrett is an American promoter and former professional wrestler, and the father of wrestler Jeff Jarrett. He is the co-founder and former part-owner of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling...
was sued by Kevin Von Erich
Kevin Von Erich
Kevin Ross Adkisson is a retired professional wrestler under the ring name Kevin Von Erich of the Von Erich Family. He is the last surviving son of wrestler Fritz Von Erich and had four brothers that wrestled, David, Kerry, Mike and Chris, as well as an older brother, Jack, Jr., who died in...
. That promotion reverted back to the World Class name, but ceased operations two months later due to lack of revenue.
Jerry Jarrett and Jerry Lawler brought the USWA back to Texas, but only on a limited basis, while promoters Joe Pedicino
Joe Pedicino
Joe Pedicino is a retired American professional wrestling announcer, commentator, promoter, television and radio producer...
, Max Andrews, Boni Blackstone
Boni Blackstone
Bonnie "Boni" Blackstone is a retired American professional wrestling announcer, commentator, model, television and radio producer. She was a popular on-air personality in regional territories of the Southern United States during the 1980s, as part of the announcing team in the Global Wrestling...
and Grey Pierson were getting the new Global Wrestling Federation
Global Wrestling Federation
Global Wrestling Federation was a professional wrestling promotion based in Dallas, Texas. It started in June 1991 and folded in September 1994. At one time its shows were presented on the ESPN television network. On many weeks, the promotion provided programming five days a week airing at 4 p.m...
ready for a spring 1991 debut at the Sportatorium. Several of the former World Class and USWA Dallas wrestlers joined the new GWF, while others from the old CWA remained with the USWA.
Talent exchange with the WWF
In 1992, the USWA began a talent exchange with the WWF, which saw Lawler sign on to Vince McMahonVince McMahon
Vincent Kennedy "Vince" McMahon is an American professional wrestling promoter, announcer, commentator, film producer, actor and former occasional professional wrestler. McMahon is the current Chairman, CEO and Chairman of the Executive Committee of professional wrestling promotion WWE...
's federation, while several high profile WWF stars appeared in the USWA. Dallas wrestler Gentleman Chris Adams spent a few months in the USWA in an angle involving Brian Christopher
Brian Lawler
Brian Christopher Lawler is a professional wrestler. He is the son of color commentator and professional wrestler Jerry "The King" Lawler and brother of wrestling referee Kevin Christian...
and Toni Adams
Toni Adams
Toni Leah Adams was an American professional wrestling manager and valet who appeared in several North American regional promotions during the 1980s including the Universal Wrestling Federation and the United States Wrestling Association, although she was best known as the manager of her late...
, splitting his time between Memphis and Dallas' GWF during this time frame.
Status as the last full-time wrestling territory in the United States
The USWA survived for years. Despite being the last full-time wrestling territory in the United States after the national expansion of the WWF, the USWA was able to reinvent itself as a territory for young, up and coming wrestlers to make their names in professional wrestling, to one day perhaps work for either the WWF or World Championship WrestlingWorld Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
(although their working relationship with the WWF is better known, the USWA also had a brief working relationship with WCW in 1995).
Struggling to stay relevant during the "Monday Night Wars"
The wrestling landscape changed in 1995 - the Monday Night WarsMonday Night Wars
Monday Night Wars is the common term describing the period of mainstream televised American professional wrestling from September 4, 1995, to March 26, 2001. During this time, the World Wrestling Federation's Monday Night Raw went head-to-head with World Championship Wrestling's Monday Nitro in a...
began, with WWF and WCW battling for cable television supremacy on Monday nights each and every week. Unfortunately for the USWA, their biggest crowds came every Monday night at the Mid-South Coliseum
Mid-South Coliseum
The Mid-South Coliseum, also known as "The Entertainment Capital of the Mid-South", was a multi-purpose arena, that seated 10,085 people, in Memphis, Tennessee...
in Memphis, Tennessee. With a growing wrestling viewership on Monday nights that could watch pay per view-quality wrestling matches for free on television, the live attendance at the marquee events for the USWA began to dwindle. A move to Thursday nights did not help what was becoming inevitable - the demise of the USWA.
Closure
A combination of a poor line up, sub-standard venue, lack of talent and holding the show on a Thursday night led to a show on October 3, 1996 drawing the smallest crowd in the history of Memphis wrestling: just 372 fans, paying $United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
1,800, to the Big One Flea Market. The future of the promotion was being questioned, following the previous week's resignation of general manager Randy Hales. The Louisville and Nashville crowds had stayed consistent, but the Memphis crowds, which in the past had carried the promotion, had fallen over the past few months. In addition, the Big One (Flea Market) pavilion was less than inviting, the zigzag roof of its original owner (The Treasury Stores) causing its major leaking problem.
Although Lawler was working for the WWF, he and Larry Burton ended up buying the USWA from Jarrett and immediately selling it to businessman Mark Selker's company XL Sports Ltd. in early 1997, and the USWA went out of business by November of that year, resulting in a nasty lawsuit between Burton, Selker, and Lawler.
In a civil RICO trial, a Federal District Court jury in Cleveland, Ohio eventually returned a verdict on which judgment was entered. The jury determined that Larry Burton and his son Jason Bertman had engaged in racketeering and awarded XL Sports treble damages in the amount of $2,595,000. The jury also determined that Mr. Burton was liable for fraud and conversion, and awarded XL Sports $235,000 in compensatory damages and $3,300,000 in punitive damages. The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit upheld all these judgments.
Major USWA cities
- Memphis, TennesseeMemphis, TennesseeMemphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
- Dallas, TexasDallas, TexasDallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
- Nashville, TennesseeNashville, TennesseeNashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
- Louisville, KentuckyLouisville, KentuckyLouisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
- Evansville, IndianaEvansville, IndianaEvansville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Indiana and the largest city in Southern Indiana. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 117,429. It is the county seat of Vanderburgh County and the regional hub for both Southwestern Indiana and the...
- Jackson, TennesseeJackson, TennesseeJackson is a city in Madison County, Tennessee, United States. The total population was 65,211 at the 2010 census. Jackson is the primary city of the Jackson, Tennessee metropolitan area, which is included in the Jackson-Humboldt, Tennessee Combined Statistical Area...
- Jonesboro, ArkansasJonesboro, ArkansasJonesboro is a city in and one of the two county seats of Craighead County, Arkansas, United States. According to the 2010 US Census, the population of the city was 67,263. A college town, Jonesboro is the largest city in northeastern Arkansas and the fifth most populous city in the state...
- Tupelo, MississippiTupelo, MississippiTupelo is the largest city in and the county seat of Lee County, Mississippi, United States. It is the seventh largest city in the state of Mississippi, smaller than Meridian, and larger than Greenville. As of the 2000 United States Census, the city's population was 34,211...
- Tuckerman, ArkansasTuckerman, ArkansasTuckerman is a city in Jackson County, Arkansas, USA. The population was 1,757 at the 2000 census.Each year on the second weekend of May, Tuckerman hosts Hometown Days, a festival for the town and fundraiser for the Tuckerman Fire Department.-Geography:...
- Kennett, MissouriKennett, MissouriKennett is a city in Dunklin County, Missouri, United States. The population was 11,260 at the 2000 census, but a 2008 estimate indicates a 4.9% decrease in population to 10,707. Kennett is the county seat of Dunklin County...
Championships of USWA
- USWA Unified World Heavyweight ChampionshipUSWA Unified World Heavyweight ChampionshipThe USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship formed in 1988, which consisted of the WCWA World Heavyweight Championship from World Class Championship Wrestling and the AWA World Heavyweight Championship from the American Wrestling...
- USWA Southern Heavyweight Championship
- USWA Tag Team ChampionshipUSWA Tag Team ChampionshipThe USWA World Tag Team Championship was a tag team championship in the Memphis, Tennessee-based professional wrestling promotion, the United States Wrestling Association.The title was originally known as the WCWA World Tag Team Championship....
- USWA Texas Heavyweight ChampionshipNWA Texas Heavyweight ChampionshipThe NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling title that has existed since the 1930s. Though its exact date of creation isn't known, it is among the oldest championships used in professional wrestling today...
- USWA Television ChampionshipUSWA Television ChampionshipThe USWA Television Championship was a secondary title in the United States Wrestling Association that was primarily defended on their television show. It existed from 1996 until 1997.-Title history:...
- USWA Women's ChampionshipUSWA Women's ChampionshipThe USWA Women's Championship was a female-exclusive professional wrestling title in the American professional wrestling promotion, the United States Wrestling Association.-Title history:...
- USWA Junior Heavyweight ChampionshipUSWA Junior Heavyweight ChampionshipThe USWA Junior Heavyweight Championship was a short-lived title in the United States Wrestling Association that lasted from 1990 to 1991.-Title history:...
- USWA Middleweight ChampionshipUSWA Middleweight ChampionshipThe USWA Middleweight Championship was a short-lived title in the United States Wrestling Association for the lighter wrestlers in 1993.-Title history:...