Mid 20th Century
120-592: Kenneth Rinehurst (born July 3, 1964) is an American professional wrestler and manager , better known by his ring name , Jack Victory . He is perhaps best known for his appearances with the Universal Wrestling Federation and the World Class Wrestling Association in the mid-1980s, with World Championship Wrestling between 1988 and 1991, and with Extreme Championship Wrestling between 1998 and 2001. Rinehurst debuted in 1984 in
240-435: A bona fide athletic contest or competition. Professional wrestling is not a combative sport. Wrestling constituting bona fide athletic contests and competitions, which may be professional or amateur combative sport, shall not be deemed professional wrestling under this Part. Professional wrestling as used in this Part shall not depend on whether the individual wrestlers are paid or have been paid for their performance in
360-576: A face in the south, portraying a simple, honest man who always backed up his friends. He later portrayed a heel , acting like an arrogant, rich, self-obsessed character. During his career, he won a number of singles championships such as the NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship and the NWA Mid-Atlantic Television Championship , as well as a number of tag team championships, teaming with Muhammad to win
480-415: A performing art evolved from the common practice of match-fixing among American wrestlers in the 19th century, who later sought to make matches shorter, more entertaining, and less physically taxing. As the public gradually realized and accepted that matches were predetermined, wrestlers responded by increasingly adding melodrama, gimmickry, and outlandish stunt work to their performances to further enhance
600-415: A professional wrestling exhibition. All engagements of professional wrestling shall be referred to as exhibitions, and not as matches. In the industry's slang, a fixed match is referred to as a worked match, derived from the slang word for manipulation, as in "working the crowd". A shoot match is a genuine contest where both wrestlers fight to win and are therefore "straight shooters", which comes from
720-545: A stable headed by "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert . The new UWF Tag-Team Champions successfully defended the titles against The Fantastics, as well as Chavo Guerrero & Jeff Raitz before losing to Bill Irwin & Leroy Brown on November 9, 1986. Jack Victory jumped to the World Class Wrestling Association ( World Class Championship Wrestling ) in February 1987, losing to Matt Borne on February 23rd at
840-625: A CMLL televised event on July 31, 1992. His final match came on December 29, 1992 when he teamed with El Gran Markus Jr & Sultan Gargola to face Blue Demon Jr , Kato Kung Lee , and Lazer Tron. During his CMLL run he also made a brief return to the Global Wrestling Federation, losing to GWF North American Champion Rod Price in Dallas, TX on September 18, 1992. The same night he defeated Jim Ryder . After his time in Mexico, he returned to
960-576: A TV taping in Charleston WV the Milita would defeat Ranger Ross & Scott Hall . As the summer concluded The New Zealand Militia transitioned to a house show series with the newly formed Steiner Brothers , but were unsuccessful in numerous matches. In September they resumed their feud with the Dynamic Dudes and would later move on to a house show series with The Road Warriors where they were winless. On
1080-651: A Wild West television taping on July 21. On November 30, 1987 he teamed with Tatum to win the vacated Wild West Tag Team Championship by defeating Jeff Raitz and The Missing Link in the finals of a tournament. They became the first tag team champions of the organization. These titles would unify with the WCCW tag team championship on the 12th of October, 1988. Victory jumped back to WCWA along with John Tatum on December 25, 1987, facing The Fantastics at WCWA Christmas Star Wars 1987 . Three days later Victory & Tatum defeated Solomon Grundy & Skip Young via disqualification to win
1200-413: A background in authentic wrestling no longer mattered. After this time, matches became more outlandish and gimmicky and any semblance professional wrestling had to catch wrestling faded. The personas of the wrestlers likewise grew more outlandish. Gorgeous George , who performed throughout the 1940s and 1950s, was the first wrestler whose entrance into the arena was accompanied by a theme song played over
1320-520: A carny term for a shooting gallery gun whose sights were not deliberately misaligned. Wrestling in the United States blossomed in popularity after the Civil War , with catch wrestling eventually becoming the most popular style. At first, professional wrestlers were genuine competitive fighters, but they struggled to draw audiences because Americans did not find real wrestling to be very entertaining, so
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#17329240108271440-513: A central authority. Nor could any of them stomach the idea of leaving the NWA themselves to compete directly with McMahon, for that would mean their territories would become fair game for the other NWA members. McMahon also had a creative flair for TV that his rivals lacked. For instance, the AWA's TV productions during the 1980s were amateurish, low-budget, and out-of-touch with contemporary culture, which lead to
1560-574: A champion that Curley put forth: Dick Shikat . The National Wrestling Association shut down in 1980. In 1948, a number of promoters from across the country came together to form the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The NWA recognized one "world champion", voted on by its members, but allowed member promoters to crown their own local champions in their territories. If a member poached wrestlers from another member, or held matches in another member's territory, they risked being ejected from
1680-601: A day later fell to The Junkyard Dog & Sam Houston . Now mired in a long losing streak, the Royal Family ended its WCW run with a defeat to Tom Zenk & The Junkyard Dog. In 1991 Victory and Morgan made their way to the Global Wrestling Federation in Dallas, Texas, this time as "The Maulers." The duo competed in the tournament for the first ever GWF Tag Team Championship . In the first round they defeated "Wet'n'Wild" (Steve Ray and Sunny Beach ), followed by
1800-474: A degree. Vince Russo, the boss of WCW in 2000, completely disregarded kayfabe by routinely discussing business matters and office politics in public, which alienated fans. I watch championship wrestling from Florida with wrestling commentator Gordon Solie . Is this all "fake"? If so, they deserve an Oscar . Leroy Brown (wrestler) Roland C. Daniels (November 30, 1950 – September 6, 1988), better known by his ring name "Bad Bad" Leroy Brown ,
1920-404: A distinct vernacular . It has achieved mainstream success and influence within popular culture , with many terms, tropes , and concepts being referenced in everyday language as well as in film , music , television , and video games . Likewise, numerous professional wrestlers have become national or international icons with recognition by the broader public. In the United States, wrestling
2040-410: A fee, a visitor could challenge the wrestler to a quick match. If the challenger defeated the champion in a short time frame, usually 15 minutes, he won a prize. To encourage challenges, the carnival operators staged rigged matches in which an accomplice posing as a visitor challenged the champion and won, giving the audience the impression that the champion was easy to beat. This practice taught wrestlers
2160-716: A house show in Dalton, GA on August 21, 1999. On August 29, 1999 he teamed with Rhino in an unsuccessful attempt to wrest the ECW Tag-Team Championship from Tommy Dreamer & Raven . During the fall Corino & Victory would face the ECW champions on the house show circuit. During 2000 the duo faced Dreamer & Sandman, as well as Dusty Rhodes. On September 23, 2000 Victory challenged ECW World Champion Justin Credible in Danbury, CT but
2280-624: A house show in Fort Worth, TX. Victory was less successful in his initial run in this new promotion, losing to The Fantastics, Red River Jack ( Bruiser Brody ), Jeep Swenson , The Dingo Warrior ( Ultimate Warrior ), and others throughout the spring. His final match came on May 11, 1987 when he faced Cousin Junior . He then jumped to Wild West Wrestling , making his first appearance in a six-man match when he teamed with John Tatum & Gatu Vera to lose to Bill Irwin, The Missing Link , and La Sirenta at
2400-405: A legitimate sport. Firstly, wrestling was more entertaining when it was faked, whereas fakery did not make boxing any more entertaining. Secondly, in a rigged boxing match, the designated loser must take a real beating for his "defeat" to be convincing, but wrestling holds can be faked convincingly without inflicting injury. This meant that boxers were less willing to "take dives"; they wanted to have
2520-524: A losing team leaves the NWA match. In March 1989 he continued to perform under two characters - Russian Assassin #2 and "Secret Service" Jack Victory. At a TV taping on March 12th he lost to Vince Young. The following day he competed as Secret Service, teaming with The Samoan Swat Team to defeat preliminary opposition. On March 25th on World Championship Wrestling Victory attacked partner Randy Rose, and would be seen being paid off by manager Paul E Dangerously on
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#17329240108272640-754: A match against Gus Sonnenberg in January 1929. Bowser then broke away from the trust to form his own cartel, the American Wrestling Association (AWA), in September 1930, and he declared Sonnenberg to be the AWA champion. This AWA should not be confused with Wally Kadbo's AWA founded in 1960. Curley reacted to this move by convincing the National Boxing Association to form the National Wrestling Association , which in turn crowned
2760-407: A match against New Jack. The match was called off after New Jack was attacked by The Dudley Boyz . Victory would appear during the main event to attack Tommy Dreamer; New Jack would then come out and attack Victory. This angle led to a fall 1998 feud with Tommy Dreamer which saw the ECW mainstay gain numerous victories. His initial ECW run ended when he broke his leg at 1998's November to Remember in
2880-601: A match, a Japanese wrestler was trying to break a bottle over Brown's head but had not prepared it properly; it took several hard blows to break the bottle. The next day, several Japanese wrestlers watched the tape of the match over and over again, laughing at Brown's misfortune and pain. Back in San Francisco, Brown defeated Chavo Guerrero to win the WWA Americas Heavyweight Championship , holding it for 50 days before losing it to Al Madril . Later in
3000-424: A more literal meaning in those places. A notable example is India's Pro Wrestling League . In numerous American states, professional wrestling is legally defined as a non-sport. For instance, New York defines professional wrestling as: Professional wrestling means an activity in which participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for the purpose of providing entertainment to spectators and which does not comprise
3120-440: A new city, attendance was high because there was a waiting fanbase cultivated in advance by the cable TV shows. The NWA's traditional anti-competitive tricks were no match for this. The NWA attempted to centralize and create their own national cable television shows to counter McMahon's rogue promotion, but it failed in part because the members of the NWA, ever protective of their territories, could not stomach submitting themselves to
3240-542: A non-title match against NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ricky Steamboat , but was pinned. On the same day on World Championship Wrestling , Victory pinned Randy Rose. On the April 22, 1989 episode of World Championship Wrestling he teamed with Rip Morgan for the first time, but the new duo was defeated by Randy Rose & Ranger Rose . On the May 13th edition of World Championship Wrestling he unsuccessfully challenged Sting for
3360-496: A pseudo agent charged with protecting new manager Paul E Dangerously Paul Heyman . On February 20, 1989 at the Chi-Town Rumble PPV he again wrestled twice. First he donned the mask and competed as "Russian Assassin #1", falling to Michael Hayes. In his second match, he replaced the departed Dennis Condrey to team with Randy Rose & Paul E Dangerously in a losing effort against The Midnight Express & Jim Cornette in
3480-606: A tag team match pitting himself and Justin Credible against Tommy Dreamer and Jake "The Snake" Roberts , when he was backdropped over the top rope by Dreamer. While using a wheelchair for rehabilitation, Victory became the manager of Steve Corino . When his leg healed, Victory began interfering in Corino's matches on behalf of his client. Along with Corino, Victory was a member of the stable known as The Network . Ten months after breaking his leg he made his return to in-ring action, teaming with Corino to face Jazz & Francine at
3600-721: A taping for NWA Pro , defeating Ivan Koloff and Nikita Koloff via disqualification. Managed by Paul Jones , the Assassins would face the Koloffs in numerous house shows in the fall. Their first loss came on October 21st in Detroit, MI when they were defeated by Ivan & Nikita. On the November 12, 1988 edition of NWA Worldwide the Russian Assassins entered a tournament to claim the vacated NWA United States Tag Team Championship but fought
3720-526: A television taping in Tulsa. Six days later he gained his first ever MSW victory, defeating Sean O'Reilly in Houston, TX. In this second run Victory was more successful, defeating Terry Taylor and Ricky Gibson. On April 13, 1986 he scored the largest victory of his nascent career when he upset Steve Williams on an MSW televised event in Tulsa, OK. Victory began to accompany The Sheepherders to ringside while carrying
Jack Victory - Misplaced Pages Continue
3840-494: A tour for NJPW, often teaming with "Bad News" Allen Coage . The following year, Brown began working for the Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF), formerly Mid-South Wrestling. Brown teamed up with "Wild" Bill Irwin and won the UWF Tag Team Championship from the team of John Tatum and Jack Victory on November 9, 1986. The team successfully defended the championship against Gary Young and Joe Savoldi as part of
3960-497: A typical American household only received four national channels by antenna, and ten to twelve local channels via UHF broadcasting . But cable television could carry a much larger selection of channels and therefore had room for niche interests. The WWF started with a show called All-American Wrestling airing on the USA Network in September 1983. McMahon's TV shows made his wrestlers national celebrities, so when he held matches in
4080-575: A victory for all the pain to which they subjected themselves. In the 1910s, promotional cartels for professional wrestling emerged in the East Coast (outside its traditional heartland in the Midwest ). These promoters sought to make long-term plans with their wrestlers, and to ensure their more charismatic and crowd-pleasing wrestlers received championships, further entrenching the desire for worked matches. The primary rationale for shoot matches at this point
4200-551: A victory over Chaz and Terry Garvin . In the third round -- the semi-finals of the tournament -- the Maulers lost to eventual tournament winners Chris Walker and Steve Simpson . Wrestling as the Maulers, Victory and Morgan also wrestled a dark match at a WWF Superstars taping in Mobile, Alabama on March 9, 1992, defeating Jim Cooper and John Allen. The Maulers did not stay in the GWF after
4320-436: Is a form of athletic theater that combines mock combat with drama , with the premise that the performers are competitive wrestlers. Professional wrestling is distinguished by its scripted outcomes and emphasis on entertainment and showmanship . The staged nature of matches is an open secret , with both wrestlers and spectators nonetheless maintaining the pretense that performances are bona fide competitions, which
4440-410: Is a true sport. Wrestlers would at all times flatly deny allegations that they fixed their matches, and they often remained in-character in public even when not performing. When in public, wrestlers would sometimes say the word kayfabe to each other as a coded signal that there were fans present and they needed to be in character. Professional wrestlers in the past strongly believed that if they admitted
4560-427: Is generally practiced in an amateur context. No professional league for competitive wrestling exists due to a lack of popularity. For example, Real Pro Wrestling , an American professional freestyle wrestling league, dissolved in 2007 after just two seasons. In other countries, such as Iran and India , wrestling enjoys widespread popularity as a genuine sport, and the phrase "professional wrestling" therefore has
4680-470: Is likened to the suspension of disbelief employed when engaging with fiction . Professional wrestlers perform as characters and usually maintain a " gimmick " consisting of a specific persona , stage name , entrance theme , and other distinguishing traits. Matches are the primary vehicle for advancing storylines, which typically center on interpersonal conflicts, or feuds , between heroic " faces " and villainous " heels ". A wrestling ring , akin to
4800-535: The Mid-South Tag Team Championship , and later traded the championship with Junkyard Dog and other partners such as Killer Karl Kox and Dick Murdoch . In 1981, Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling (MACW) brought Leroy Brown as a regular worker, presenting him as a blue collar hero, wearing coveralls and a hard hat to the ring. He showed up to help the faces take on Sgt. Slaughter and his army, backing them up whenever Slaughter's army tried to use
4920-736: The NWA Americas Tag Team Championship . They would later lose the belts to Mando Guerrero and Carlos Mata. Working for NWA Hollywood also allowed Brown to travel to Japan, touring with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). During the tour, he challenged Seiji Sakaguchi for the NWF North American Heavyweight Championship in July, but Sakaguchi retained the title by disqualification. In his book Animal , George Steele describes Brown's problems in Japan, including how during
Jack Victory - Misplaced Pages Continue
5040-558: The NWA Florida Global Tag Team Championship , NWA United States Tag Team Championship and AWA Southern Tag Team Championships . Daniels made his professional wrestling debut in 1977, adopting the ring name "Bad Bad" Leroy Brown, based on the Jim Croce song of the same name . He took part in a tournament for the vacant NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship in September, his first major title opportunity, but
5160-715: The NWA United States Tag Team Championship . The Zambuie Express were declared the United States Champions, with the storyline being that they won a tournament. Two months later on November 5, the Zambuie Express lost the championship to the team of Dusty Rhodes and Blackjack Mulligan . The team soon traveled to Memphis to compete for the Continental Wrestling Association (CWA), where they were immediately pitted against
5280-680: The NWA World Television Championship . On the June 10th edition he dropped the "Secret Service" character and instead formed an official team with Rip Morgan . Now known as The New Zealand Militia , they faced The Dynamic Dudes (( Shane Douglas & Johnny Ace ) in the quarterfinals of a tournament to crown new NWA World Tag Team Champions . Victory competed once more under a match on June 14, 1989 at Clash of Champions VII in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Wrestling as "The Terrorist", he
5400-609: The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board that professional wrestling is not a real sport because its matches have predetermined outcomes. Shortly thereafter, New Jersey deregulated professional wrestling. The WWF then rebranded itself as a " sports entertainment " company. In the early years of the 20th century, the style of wrestling used in professional wrestling matches was catch wrestling . Promoters wanted their matches to look realistic and so preferred to recruit wrestlers with real grappling skills. In
5520-589: The New Zealand flag . On June 10, 1986 he teamed with The Sheepherders in a losing effort to Terry Taylor & The Fantastics in Plaquemine, LA. He then formed a tag team with John Tatum . Managed by Tatum's girlfriend, Missy Hyatt , Victory and Tatum won the UWF Tag Team Championship On October 26, 1986 at a UWF TV Taping in Tulsa. Victory, Tatum and Hyatt joined "Hot Stuff International",
5640-901: The Oklahoma City , Oklahoma -based Universal Wrestling Federation under the ring name Jack Victory . His first match came on October 10, 1984 when he teamed with Jake Roberts in a defeat to The Rock 'n' Roll Express at a Mid South (later UWF) TV taping in Shreveport, LA. The rookie remained winless through the remainder of the year, falling to Tim Horner , Butch Reed , Terry Taylor , Brad Armstrong , Terry Daniels , and others. Horner continued his losing streak into 1985 before finally gaining his first victory on February 22, 1985 when he defeated Shawn Michaels in Houston, TX at an event for Houston Wrestling . Back in Mid-South he continued to drop matches. Victory unsuccessfully challenged The Snowman for
5760-543: The independent circuit , to internationally broadcast events at major arenas. The largest and most influential promotions are in the United States , Mexico , Japan , and northwest Europe (the United Kingdom , Germany/Austria and France ), which have each developed distinct styles, traditions, and subgenres within professional wrestling. Professional wrestling has developed its own culture and community , including
5880-431: The spectacle . By at least the early 20th century, professional wrestling had diverged from the competitive sport to become an artform and genre of sports entertainment . Professional wrestling is performed around the world through various " promotions ", which are roughly analogous to production companies or sports leagues . Promotions vary considerably in size, scope, and creative approach, ranging from local shows on
6000-577: The 1920s, a group of wrestlers and promoters known as the Gold Dust Trio introduced moves which have since become staples of the mock combat of professional wrestling, such as body slams, suplexes , punches, finishing moves, and out-of-ring count-outs. By the early 1930s, most wrestlers had adopted personas to generate public interest. These personas could broadly be characterized as either faces (likeable) or heels (villainous). Native Americans, cowboys, and English aristocrats were staple characters in
6120-400: The 1930s and 1940s. Before the age of television, some wrestlers played different personas depending on the region they were performing in. This eventually came to an end in the age of national television wrestling shows, which forced wrestlers to stick to one persona. Wrestlers also often used some sort of gimmick, such as a finishing move, eccentric mannerisms, or out-of-control behavior (in
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#17329240108276240-451: The 1990 Starrcade with eight teams representing various countries. The storyline was that the Royal Family had won a tournament in Australia to earn the rights to represent Australia and New Zealand; in reality none of the teams had won qualifying tournaments. Victory and Morgan lost to "Team Japan" ( Masa Saito and The Great Muta ) in the first round of the tournament. On February 24, 1991
6360-506: The 1990s, WCW became a credible rival to the WWF, but by end it suffered from a series of creative missteps that led to its failure and purchase by the WWF. One of its mistakes was that it diminished the glamor of its World Heavyweight Championship . Between January 2000 and March 2001, the title changed hands eighteen times, which sapped fan enthusiasm, particularly for the climactic pay-per-view matches. In professional wrestling, two factors decide
6480-743: The American independents. In 1998, Victory debuted in Extreme Championship Wrestling as a mercenary hired to assault New Jack . His first appearance came on May 16, 1998 when he emerged from the crowd to attack New Jack at an event in Philadelphia. Victory's first match came on May 29th, when he defeated John Kronus at a house show in Baton Rouge. Victory was scheduled to make his ECW PPV debut at Heat Wave 98 in Dayton, OH on August 2, 1998 in
6600-521: The April 9th edition of NWA Main Event . In April he transitioned to competing as Secret Service exclusively. Victory faced Lex Luger at Clash of Champions VI on April 2, 1989 in the SuperDome in a match that was bumped from the live airing due to the card going long (the match would ultimately be shown on the next episode of World Championship Wrestling . On the April 15th edition of NWA Worldwide he received
6720-1127: The Assassins defeated Koloff and the Junkyard Dog. The Russian Assassins entered 1989 being booked into matches with a wider variety of opponents. At a house show on January 8th in Greensboro, NC the Assassins were defeated by The Midnight Express . Three days later they were beaten by the new team of Steve Doll & Scott Peterson at a house show in Seattle, WA, and again a day later at Portland, OR. Victory and Sheldon rebounded to defeat The Junkyard Dog & Ivan Koloff on January 13th in Las Vegas, and would defeat them on several additional house shows in January. The January 28, 1989 edition of Worldwide saw The Junkyard Dog team with Michael Hayes to defeat The Russian Assassins via disqualification. Victory would find himself wrestling twice at Clash of Champions V on February 15, 1989 in Cleveland, OH. The Russian Assassins opened
6840-641: The Atlantic Athletic Corporation (AAC). The AAC shut down in 1960. In 1958, Omaha promoter and NWA member Joe Dusek recognized Verne Gagne as the world champion without the approval of the NWA. Gagne asked for a match against the recognized NWA champion Pat O'Connor. The NWA refused to honor the request, so Gagne and Minneapolis promoter Wally Karbo established the American Wrestling Association in 1960. This AWA should not be confused with Paul Bowser's AWA, which ceased operations just two months prior. Gagne's AWA operated out of Minnesota . Unlike
6960-581: The Koloffs to a double countout. The feud continued until the end of November at which point Nikita took a sabbatical from the promotion. At Clash of Champions IV in Chattanooga, TN on December 7th Ivan Koloff faced Paul Jones in a singles match. After Ivan pinned the manager, both Russian Assassins stormed the ring and attacked Koloff. The newly signed Junkyard Dog made the save, leading the feud to transition to matches against Koloff and Dog. Victory made his PPV debut on December 26, 1988 at Starrcade 88 , where
7080-591: The Mid-South Television Title on May 14, 1985, after which he left the promotion. He went on to wrestle throughout the Southeastern United States . Six days after losing to The Snowman, Victory moved to the Texas -based World Class Championship Wrestling promotion. A month after he debut he gained his first victory for the promotion on June 24th in Fort Worth, TX when he defeated Mike Reed . At
7200-755: The Militia unsuccessfully challenged The Steiner Brothers for the NWA Tag-Team Championship. On the March 10th edition of World Championship Wrestling the New Zealand Militia was renamed The Royal Family . Still managed by Lord Littlebrook, Victory was now dubbed "Jacko Victory". The Royal Family defeated Zan Panzer & GQ Status , and while successful in televised matches against preliminary competition, The Royal Family continued to be winless against The Road Warriors in house show matches. On March 30, 1990
7320-408: The NWA, at which point his territory became fair game for everyone. The NWA would blacklist wrestlers who worked for independent promoters or who publicly criticized an NWA promoter or who did not throw a match on command. If an independent promoter tried to establish himself in a certain area, the NWA would send their star performers to perform for the local NWA promoter to draw the customers away from
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#17329240108277440-408: The NWA, which only allowed faces to be champions, Gagne occasionally allowed heels to win the AWA championship so that they could serve as foils for him. In August 1983, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), a promotion in the north-east , withdrew from the NWA. Vince K. McMahon then took over as its boss. No longer bound by the territorial pact of the NWA, McMahon began expanding his promotion into
7560-426: The November 19th edition of Main Event they were defeated by Sting & Brian Pillman . Lord Littlebrook came to ringside, scolded Victory and Morgan, and said that if they were to listen to him he would take them to the top. On Clash of Champions IX in Troy, NY on November 15th he donned a mask yet again, this time competing as "The Super Destroyer . He faced Steve Williams and was defeated. Maskless again, on
7680-470: The November 25th edition of World Championship Wrestling the Milita appeared with Lord Littlebrook for the first time and defeated Ricky Nelson & Mike Jackson . A week later they would defeat Carl Nelson & Mike Thor . The Militia's newfound win streak came to an abrupt end on the December 30th edition of World Championship Wrestling when they were defeated by Arn Anderson & Ole Anderson . The New Zealand Militia faced The Dynamic Dudes on
7800-584: The Premier Wrestling Federation, winning the PWF Tag Team Championship in February 2002 and the PWF Xtreme Championship in August 2002. He also wrestled for Pro-Pain Pro Wrestling , Pro Wrestling Zero1 , and Ring of Honor . His most recent match came on October 23, 2021 when he teamed with Colby Corino to face The Kirks ( Brandon Kirk & Kasey Kirk ) in Port Richey, FL. Professional wrestling 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling )
7920-428: The Pretty Young Things ( Koko B. Ware and Norvell Austin ) in the finals. The Pretty Young Things won the championship only a week later, defeating the Zambuie Express on CWA's weekly show at the Mid-South Coliseum. Eight days later, the Zambuie Express regained the championship. The duo held on to the belts until March 12, when they lost to Jerry Lawler and Jos LeDuc . The team toured with New Japan Pro-Wrestling in
8040-519: The Royal Family competed at the WrestleWar 91 PPV, losing to The Young Pistols . On April 13, 1991 on NWA Pro Victory & Morgan defeated The Lightning Express , and after the match the Royal Family said that they were after both the United States and World Tag-Team Championships. However the Royal Family was winless that month on the house show circuit, falling to the tandems of Big Josh & Dustin Rhodes and The Junkyard Dog & Tommy Rich. The Royal Family's last significant appearance with WCW
8160-414: The Royal Family defeated The Fantastics in Lynchburg, VA. The Royal Family defeated Rick Ryder & Rocky King on the May 19th episode of World Championship Wrestling ; after this Victory temporarily left the promotion to compete in South Atlantic Pro Wrestling . Victory returned to reform The Royal Family on December 16, 1990. WCW held the "Pat O'Connor International Tag Team Tournament" as part of
8280-406: The UWF Superdome Extravaganza, held at the New Orleans ' Superdome on November 27. The team held the title for 48 days in total, until they were defeated by Terry Taylor and Jim Duggan on December 27. Daniels died on September 6, 1988, as the result of a stroke and subsequent heart attack caused by severe cirrhosis at a hospital in Savannah, Georgia at the age of 37. Daniels was not
8400-475: The World Class Texas Tag-Team Championship. On March 30, 1988 the duo lost the tag-team championship to Shaun Simpson & Steve Simpson at an event in Fort Worth, but would regain the belts on April 8th. The Simpson Brothers would win back the titles once more during the spring of 1988, but then lost the championship by countout to Victory and Tatum at the 5th Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions on May 8th. The four continued to feud with each other through
8520-401: The arena's loudspeakers, his being Pomp and Circumstance . He also wore a costume: a robe and hairnet, which he removed after getting in the ring. He also had a pre-match ritual where his "butler" would spray the ring with perfume. In the 1980s, Vince McMahon made entrance songs, costumes, and rituals standard for his star wrestlers. For instance, McMahon's top star Hulk Hogan would delight
8640-418: The art of staging rigged matches and fostered a mentality that spectators were marks to be duped. The term kayfabe comes from carny slang. By the turn of the 20th century, most professional wrestling matches were "worked" and some journalists exposed the practice: American wrestlers are notorious for the amount of faking they do. It is because of this fact that suspicion attaches to so many bouts that
8760-550: The audience by tearing his shirt off before each match. The first major promoter cartel emerged on the East Coast, although up to that point, wrestling's heartland had been in the Midwest. Notable members of this cartel included Jack Curley , Lou Daro, Paul Bowser and Tom and Tony Packs. The promoters colluded to solve a number of problems that hurt their profits. Firstly, they could force their wrestlers to perform for less money. As
8880-493: The bodyguard for the hated heel "Exotic" Adrian Street . A few months later, Brown was paired with Ray Candy , who took the name "Kareem Muhammad", forming the "Zambuie Express" which was at times billed as "The Muslim Connection" in some promotions. The duo wore camouflage pants and shirts to the ring, adopting militaristic Muslim in ring characters, based to some extent on the Black Panther Party . The two toured mainly in
9000-424: The cartel grew, there were fewer independent promoters where independent wrestlers could find work, and many were forced to sign a contract with the cartel to receive steady work. The contracts forbade them from performing at independent venues. A wrestler who refused to play by the cartel's rules was barred from performing at its venues. A second goal of the wrestling cartels was to establish an authority to decide who
9120-418: The case of heels). The matches could also be gimmicky sometimes, with wrestlers fighting in mud and piles of tomatoes and so forth. The most successful and enduring gimmick to emerge from the 1930s were tag-team matches. Promoters noticed that matches slowed down as the wrestlers in the ring tired, so they gave them partners to relieve them. It also gave heels another way to misbehave by double-teaming. Towards
9240-469: The challenge, leading to Flair demanding a rematch which Brown also won. During a third arm wrestling challenge, Brown was attacked by Big John Studd , beating him up prior to Brown wrestling Flair for the championship at the Omni Coliseum , Georgia Championship Wrestling 's venue for major shows. Despite the attack, Brown won the match by disqualification as Flair intentionally disqualified himself to keep
9360-490: The championship. Subsequently, Flair frustrated Brown at every turn, using underhanded tactics and placing a bounty on Brown to keep him away from the title. During the feud, Flair would try to tempt Brown with fancy suits and the "jet set" lifestyle, hoping to tempt Brown to side with him. After losing to Flair in June, Brown accepted the offer, turning heel as he became enamored with fine clothes, jewelry and fast cars. Brown took Oliver Humperdink as his manager, becoming part of
9480-423: The character in shows must be considered fictional, wholly separate from the life of the performer. This is similar to other entertainers who perform with a persona that shares their own name. Some wrestlers also incorporate elements of their real-life personalities into their characters, even if they and their in-ring persona have different names. Kayfabe is the practice of pretending that professional wrestling
9600-461: The commission. The Commission did on very rare occasions hand out such authorizations, such as for a championship match between Jim Londos and Jim Browning in June 1934. This decree did not apply to amateur wrestling, which the commission had no authority over. Wrestling fans widely suspected that professional wrestling was fake, but they did not care as long as it entertained. In 1933, a wrestling promoter named Jack Pfefer started talking about
9720-540: The current fashion of wrestling is the universal discussion as to the honesty of the matches. And certainly the most interesting phrase of this discussion is the unanimous agreement: "Who cares if they're fixed or not—the show is good." Newspapers tended to shun professional wrestling, as journalists saw its theatrical pretense to being a legitimate sport as untruthful. Eventually promoters resorted to publishing their own magazines in order to get press coverage and communicate with fans. The first professional wrestling magazine
9840-405: The end of the 1930s, faced with declining revenues, promoters chose to focus on grooming charismatic wrestlers with no regard for their skill because it was charisma that drew the crowds, and wrestlers who were both skilled at grappling and charismatic were hard to come by. Since most of the public by this time knew and accepted that professional wrestling was fake, realism was no longer paramount and
9960-597: The facade of kayfabe as best as they could. In 1989, Vince McMahon testified before the New Jersey government that professional wrestling was not a true sport and therefore should be exempted from sports-related taxes. Many wrestlers and fans resented McMahon for this, but Lou Thesz accepted it as the smart move as it gave the industry more freedom to do as it pleased, and because by that point professional wrestling no longer attempted to appear real. The demise of WCW in 2001 provided some evidence that kayfabe still mattered to
10080-465: The first 1990 episode of the Main Event. In January they faced Eddie Gilbert & Tommy Rich , trading wins on the house show circuit. On the February 3, 1990 edition of NWA Worldwide the New Zealand Militia entered a tournament to crown new United States Tag-Team Champions but lost in the quarter finals to eventual winners Brian Pillman & Tom Zenk . On the February 24, 1990 edition of NWA Worldwide
10200-470: The first place. "Double-crosses", where a wrestler agreed to lose a match but nevertheless fought to win, remained a problem in the early cartel days. At times a promoter would even award a victorious double-crosser the title of champion to preserve the facade of sport. But promoters punished such wrestlers by blacklisting them, making it quite challenging to find work. Double-crossers could also be sued for breach of contract, such as Dick Shikat in 1936. In
10320-610: The game is not popular here. Nine out of ten bouts, it has been said, are pre-arranged affairs, and it would be no surprise if the ratio of fixed matches to honest ones was really so high. The wrestler Lou Thesz recalled that between 1915 and 1920, a series of exposés in the newspapers about the integrity of professional wrestling alienated a lot of fans, sending the industry "into a tailspin". But rather than perform more shoot matches, professional wrestlers instead committed themselves wholesale to fakery. Several reasons explain why professional wrestling became fake whereas boxing endured as
10440-455: The government. They pledged to stop allocating exclusive territories to its promoters, to stop blacklisting wrestlers who worked for outsider promoters, and to admit any promoter into the Alliance. The NWA would flout many of these promises, but its power was nonetheless weakened by the lawsuit. Paul Bowser's AWA joined the NWA in 1949. The AWA withdrew from the Alliance in 1957 and renamed itself
10560-482: The heel group "House of Humperdink". On November 27, Brown won a 20-man battle royal to win the vacant NWA Mid-Atlantic Television Championship , holding it for 28 days until losing the championship on December 25 to Mike Rotunda . Following the loss, Brown left JCP and traveled to Florida. In 1983, Florida bookers came up with a storyline where Daniels announced that he had changed his name to "Eljiah Akeem", referring to it as his Muslim name. He subsequently became
10680-513: The independent. By 1956, the NWA controlled 38 promotions within the United States, with more in Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. The NWA's monopolistic practices became so stifling that the independents appealed to the government for help. In October 1956 the US Attorney General's office filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NWA in an Iowa federal district court. The NWA settled with
10800-471: The industry was anything but a competitive sport. The first wrestling promoter to publicly admit to routinely fixing matches was Jack Pfefer . In 1933, he started talking about the industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , resulting in a huge exposé. The exposé neither surprised nor alienated most wrestling fans, although some promoters like Jack Curley were furious and tried to restore
10920-487: The industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , maintaining no pretense that wrestling was real and passing on planned results just before the matches took place. While fans were neither surprised nor alienated, traditionalists like Jack Curley were furious, and most promoters tried to maintain the facade of kayfabe as best they could. Not the least interesting of all the minor phenomena produced by
11040-498: The members of wrestling cartels as the champion drew big crowds wherever he performed, and this would occasionally lead to schisms. By 1925, this cartel had divided the country up into territories which were the exclusive domains of specific promoters. This system of territories endured until Vince McMahon drove the fragmented cartels out of the market in the 1980s. This cartel fractured in 1929 after one of its members, Paul Bowser , bribed Ed "Strangler" Lewis to lose his championship in
11160-558: The numbers to their advantage. Brown and various partners such as Ricky Steamboat and Sweet Ebony Diamond challenged The Minnesota Wrecking Crew ( Gene and Ole Anderson ) for the Mid-Atlantic version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship . In 1982, Brown was involved in a feud with then NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair . The storyline started with an arm wrestling challenge laid out by Flair. Brown won
11280-437: The platform used in boxing , serves as the main stage ; additional scenes may be recorded for television in backstage areas of the venue, in a format similar to reality television . Performers generally integrate authentic wrestling techniques and fighting styles with choreography , stunts , improvisation , and dramatic conventions designed to maximize entertainment value and audience engagement. Professional wrestling as
11400-714: The promotion's closing in 1991. In the spring of 1984, the WWF purchased Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW), which had been ailing for some time due to financial mismanagement and internal squabbles. In the deal, the WWF acquired the GCW's timeslot on TBS . McMahon agreed to keep showing Georgia wrestling matches in that timeslot, but he was unable to get his staff to Atlanta every Saturday to fulfill this obligation, so he sold GCW and its TBS timeslot to Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). JCP started informally calling itself World Championship Wrestling (WCW). In 1988, Ted Turner bought JCP and formally renamed it World Championship Wrestling. During
11520-403: The show in a match against The Midnight Express. Later in the night Victory wrestled in singles competition. Appearing as "The Blackmailer" and managed by Hiro Matsuda , he faced Lex Luger and was defeated. That Clash marked the end of the Russian Assassins tag-team, although he would continue to don the Assassins mask in singles competition. Victory was recast as "Secret Service" Jack Victory,
11640-459: The southern parts of the United States, where their racially charged characters made them very hated. The team was often managed by Humperdink and was part of the "House of Humperdink". On July 31, the duo defeated Mike Graham and Scott McGhee to win the NWA Florida Global Tag Team Championship . The duo held the championship until September of that year, when it was replaced by the Florida version of
11760-493: The spring and ended up working for Jim Crockett Promotions by the summer. The Zambuie Express sided with Paul Jones and became part of Paul Jones' Army as they fought against Jimmy Valiant and Valiant's friends. At Starrcade on November 22, they lost to Buzz Tyler and The Masked Assassin #1 . This was one of the last matches the Zambuie Express worked together, splitting up a short time later. In 1985, Daniels resumed working as Leroy Brown, travelling to Japan to work
11880-440: The stamina for an hours-long fight. Audiences also preferred short matches. Worked matches also carried less risk of injury, which meant shorter recovery. Altogether, worked matches proved more profitable than shoots. By the end of the 19th century, nearly all professional wrestling matches were worked. A major influence on professional wrestling was carnival culture. Wrestlers in the late 19th century worked in carnival shows. For
12000-660: The summer of 1985 progressed Victory began to ascend, winning matches against Mike Bond, Johnny Mantell , and Ranji while continuing to lose matches to more established veterans. He won his first championship on December 9, 1985 when he defeated David Peterson to win the WCCW Television Championship . Victory lost the title to Mark Youngblood less than a month later. His last match came on March 3, 1986 when he teamed with "Mr. Electricity" Steve Regal to face The Fantastics . Jack Victory returned to Mid South Wrestling (UWF) on March 17, 1986, losing to Brett Sawyer at
12120-544: The summer, and Victory's final match with the promotion came on September 5, 1988 when he faced Steve Cox at an event in Fort Worth. Jack Victory made his debut for the NWA on September 23, 1988 at house show in Frederick, MD. Wrestling under a mask as " The Russian Assassin #2 , he faced Brad Armstrong . After wrestling on various house shows in singles competition, he united with a masked Dave Sheldon as The Russian Assassins . The new duo made their debut on October 7th at
12240-426: The territories of his former NWA peers, now his rivals. By the end of the 1980s, the WWF would become the sole national wrestling promotion in the U.S. This was in part made possible by the rapid spread of cable television in the 1980s. The national broadcast networks generally regarded professional wrestling as too niche an interest, and had not broadcast any national wrestling shows since the 1950s. Before cable TV,
12360-564: The top face team of the territory, The Fabulous Ones ( Stan Lane and Steve Keirn ). On January 24, 1984, the Zambuie Express were awarded the AWA Southern Tag Team Championship when the Fabulous Ones failed to show up for a match, but the titles were declared vacant instead of giving them to Akeem and Muhammad. The CWA held a tournament for the vacant championship, a tournament won by the Zambuie Express as they defeated
12480-617: The tournament, instead moving on to Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW) in Tennessee . They competed in a tournament to determine the first ever SMW Tag Team Champions . In the first round the Maulers defeated the Rich Brothers ( Davey Rich and Johnny Rich ), but lost to The Fantastics ( Bobby Fulton and Jackie Fulton) in the second round to be eliminated from the tournament. Their short lived run in SMW
12600-505: The trial, witnesses testified that most of the "big matches" and all of the championship bouts were fixed. By the 1930s, with the exception of the occasional double-cross or business dispute, shoot matches were essentially nonexistent. In April 1930, the New York State Athletic Commission decreed that all professional wrestling matches held in the state had to be advertised as exhibitions unless certified as contests by
12720-471: The truth, their audiences would desert them. Today's performers don't "protect" the industry like we did, but that's primarily because they've already exposed it by relying on silly or downright ludicrous characters and gimmicks to gain popularity with the fans. It was different in my day, when our product was presented as an authentic, competitive sport. We protected it because we believed it would collapse if we ever so much as implied publicly that it
12840-535: The way of proceedings: the "in-show" happenings, presented through the shows; and real-life happenings outside the work that have implications, such as performer contracts, legitimate injuries, etc. Because actual life events are often co-opted by writers for incorporation into storylines of performers, the lines between real life and fictional life are often blurred and become confused. Special discern must be taken with people who perform under their own name (such as Kurt Angle and his fictional persona ). The actions of
12960-420: The wrestlers quietly began faking their matches so that they could give their audiences a satisfying spectacle. Fixing matches was also convenient for scheduling. A real ("shoot") match could sometimes last hours, whereas a fixed ("worked") match can be made short, which was convenient for wrestlers on tour who needed to keep appointments or share venues. It also suited wrestlers who were aging and therefore lacked
13080-688: The year, Brown returned to the eastern coast, competing for Championship Wrestling from Florida . He became involved in a feud with then NWA Florida Heavyweight Champion Manny Fernandez , facing him on several occasions in January 1980. After that, he moved onto a feud with Sweet Brown Sugar , whom he defeated to win the NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship . He lost the title to Dusty Rhodes on February 16 in Jacksonville, Florida . Brown eventually worked for Bill Watts ' Mid-South Wrestling , teaming with Ernie Ladd for most of his time in Mid-South. The two defeated Junkyard Dog and Terry Orndorff to win
13200-425: Was Wrestling As You Like It , which printed its first issue in 1946. These magazines were faithful to kayfabe . Before the advent of television, professional wrestling's fanbase largely consisted of children, the elderly, blue-collar workers and minorities. When television arose in the 1940s, professional wrestling got national exposure on prime-time television and gained widespread popularity. Professional wrestling
13320-474: Was an American professional wrestler . He took his ring name from the Jim Croce song "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" , which also became his theme song for many of his in-ring appearances. He later used the ring name Elijah Akeem as he adopted a more militaristic black Muslim character, teaming with Kareem Muhammad as the Muslim Connection and later the Zambuie Express. Brown started out his career working as
13440-488: Was challenges from independent wrestlers. But a cartelized wrestler, if challenged, could credibly use his contractual obligations to his promoter as an excuse to refuse the challenge. Promotions would sometimes respond to challenges with "policemen": powerful wrestlers who lacked the charisma to become stars, but could defeat and often seriously injure any challenger in a shoot match. As the industry trend continued, there were fewer independent wrestlers to make such challenges in
13560-573: Was defeated by Ranger Ross. After this he began teaming with Morgan full-time, facing the Dynamic Dudes and Ding Dongs in a series of house show matches. On the August 5th edition of World Championship Wrestling Sting & Eddie Gilbert defeated Victory & Morgan via disqualification after Terry Funk and The Great Muta attacked Sting. A day later on The Main Event the Militia were defeated by The Midnight Express. They rebounded on August 12th on NWA Pro to defeat The Dynamic Dudes, and on August 14th at
13680-417: Was defeated. Steve Corino would ultimately win the ECW title, with Victory frequently appearing in his corner. He remained in ECW until the promotion declared bankruptcy in April 2001, defeating C.W. Anderson on the promotion's last show in January 2001. Following the closure of ECW, Victory began wrestling on the independent circuit . Along with several other ECW alumni, he made several appearances with
13800-721: Was eliminated in the early rounds. After this, he traveled to Texas to work for Fritz Von Erich 's NWA Big Time Wrestling . On March 31, 1978, Brown and Killer Tim Brooks defeated José Lothario and Al Madril to win the NWA Texas Tag Team Championship , Brown's first championship. The reign only lasted a week before Brown and Brooks lost the championship to David and Kevin Von Erich . By 1979, Leroy Brown began working in San Francisco for NWA Hollywood. Brown teamed up with Allen Coage and together they defeated Los Guerreros ( Héctor and Mando Guerrero ) to win
13920-607: Was on April 28, 1991, where they teamed up with Black Bart as they unsuccessfully challenged the team of the Junkyard Dog , Ricky Morton and Tommy Rich for the WCW World Six-Man Tag Team Championship . On May 1, 1990 on The Main Event they were defeated by Sting & Lex Luger. On May 10th at a house show in Cincinnati, Ohio the Royal Family lost in an upset to Ron Cumberledge & Brad Armstrong , and
14040-636: Was previously considered a niche interest, but the TV networks at the time were short on content and thus were willing to try some wrestling shows. In the 1960s, however, the networks moved on to more mainstream interests such as baseball, and professional wrestling was dropped. The core audience then shrunk back to a profile similar to that of the 1930s. In 1989, Vince McMahon was looking to exempt his promotion (the World Wrestling Federation ) from sports licensing fees. To achieve this, he testified before
14160-415: Was something other than what it appeared to be. I'm not sure now the fear was ever justified given the fact that the industry is still in existence today, but the point is no one questioned the need then. "Protecting the business" in the face of criticism and skepticism was the first and most important rule a pro wrestler learned. No matter how aggressive or informed the questioner, you never admitted
14280-417: Was the "world champion". Before the cartels, there were multiple wrestlers in the U.S. simultaneously calling themselves the "world champion", and this sapped public enthusiasm for professional wrestling. Likewise, the cartel could agree on a common set of match rules that the fans could keep track of. The issue over who got to be the champion and who controlled said champion was a major point of contention among
14400-527: Was the last time Morgan and Victory teamed together on a regular basis. In the latter half of 1992, Victory was a regular for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre , wrestling as Titán. His first match came on January 8, 1992 when he teamed with Kahoz & MS-1 to defeat Lazor Trony , Mano Negra & Oro in Mexico City. Wrestling as "Big Bang", he teamed with El Gran Markus Jr & El Supremo I to defeat Aaron Grundy , El Dandy , and Mascara Magica on
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