68-718: Professional wrestling championsProfessional wrestling chamionshipip UWF Television Championship Details Promotion Universal Wrestling Federation World Championship Wrestling Date established May 2, 1984 Date retired November 26, 1987 Other name(s) Mid-South Television Championship Statistics First champion(s) Krusher Khruschev Final champion(s) Nikita Koloff Most reigns Terry Taylor (4 times) Longest reign Eddie Gilbert (148 days) Shortest reign Nikita Koloff (less than one day) The UWF Television Championship , promoted by
136-703: A "five-time rookie of the year." As the UWF's merge with "the NWA" was taking place, Terry Taylor , who held the UWF Television Championship , began an angle with the NWA World Television Champion , Nikita Koloff . Taylor stole the NWA TV title belt during an NWA show, but Koloff (with help from Dusty Rhodes ) reclaimed it before their official in-ring encounter. They met at Starrcade 1987 , and Nikita unified
204-463: A Cell PPV and a Fatal 4-Way tag team match at TLC. Cesaro dumped Colter as his manager on the Raw following WrestleMania XXX , instead revealing that he was a new client of Paul Heyman . Colter also started a feud with Paul Heyman , after accusing Heyman of "stealing" Cesaro from him. With The Real Americans dissolved, Swagger and Colter turned face by confronting Lana and Rusev . At SummerSlam , Colter
272-493: A TV wrestling show as he was responsible for four hours a week, 52 weeks a year, for a total of 208 hours a year for five years straight. His ratings also set records as his shows regularly ranged in the 12 to 15 range, with his highest being an 18.1, with a 55 share of the TV viewing audience while working for WWC in 2000. In 2003, Mantel began work behind the scenes as a writer/producer/agent for TNA Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and as
340-453: A beach on Isla Verde, Puerto Rico, with assistance from editors Ric Gross and Mark James. In December 2010, Mantel released his second book "Tales From a Dirt Road". On March 3, 2011, Mantel wrestled in the place of Jamie Dundee at XCW Midwest in Corydon IN. He took on local heel Lone Star, further cementing his semi-active status as a part-time wrestler. On March 22, 2011, Mantel was added to
408-675: A fireball at Hacksaw Jim Duggan ("blinding" him temporarily), and the Freebirds breaking Steve Williams' arm. Williams recruited Oklahoma Sooners (and future Dallas Cowboys head coach) Barry Switzer into training and getting back into the ring. It paid off on July 11, 1987 when Dr. Death defeated Big Bubba Rogers (Ray Traylor) to win the UWF Heavyweight Championship . The Freebirds became faces around that time, as they began feuding with Skandor Akbar's army as well as The Angel of Death. A prelim wrestler, Mike Boyette, wrestled in
476-512: A full-time member of the booking/creative team. Mantel was instrumental in several successful creations for the company, most notably the TNA Knockouts division that helped to reinvigorate interest in women's wrestling in the United States. Mantel is credited with bringing Awesome Kong to TNA at Bound for Glory 2007 , along with her handler/manager, Raisha Saeed . On July 31, 2009, Mantel
544-462: A match and injured him, thus Adams had to choose another tag partner. He chose Terry Taylor, whose team lost a semi-final match to Rick Steiner and Sting. Taylor and Adams eventually won the UWF tag team titles, and held the belts for two months. Meanwhile, Adams and Parsons engaged in a lengthy feud, which lasted for more than a decade (the two had feuded earlier in WCCW when Adams was the heel and Parsons
612-564: A press conference, where Taylor spoke about his situation with Adams and then left. Chris later took questions, which prompted Taylor to attack Adams with a chair. The following week, Adams conducted an interview vowing revenge against both Taylor and Eddie Gilbert. Other famous UWF angles included promoter Bill Watts being attacked and having the flag of the Soviet Union draped on him by Eddie Gilbert, Missy Hyatt cold-cocking John Tatum after joining forces with Gilbert, Skandor Akbar throwing
680-584: A regional territory show. In the mid-1980s, MSW began to expand nationally. In 1985, longtime wrestling fan Ted Turner invited Watts to air MSW's weekly TV show on Turner's SuperStation TBS network. Turner wanted an alternative to the World Wrestling Federation show airing in the coveted 2-hour, Saturday-evening timeslot, which the WWF had acquired when it bought out the majority ownership of Georgia Championship Wrestling . (see: Black Saturday ) Turner
748-399: A severe recession in late 1986. This left the blue collar core of the UWF's fanbase with far less disposable income to spend on things like attending wrestling shows. Watts sold the UWF to JCP on April 9, 1987, and many of the UWF's top stars were either retained by JCP, or immediately left for the WWF or WCCW. Unlike the other NWA-affiliated promotions JCP had bought out in the mid-1980s,
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#1732859067097816-510: A sold out red hot Memphis crowd. The match went a record 26 falls, taking one hour and 15 minutes to accomplish. The match saw Dutch Mantell reach his feet before Landell. In 1990, he worked for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as a commentator on WCW WorldWide alongside Tony Schiavone and in 1991, WCW created a stable known as "the Desperados" consisting of Dutch Mantell, Black Bart and Deadeye Dick . The Desperados were packaged with
884-446: A transdermal monitoring device that would test the wearer's blood every 30 minutes. The bill, the first of its kind in the United States, had been pushed by Keown's family and went into effect July 1, 2014. Keown has a surviving granddaughter (Amelia's sister), in addition to their mother, Amanda, his daughter. In November 2024, a GoFundMe appeal was launched to help Mantel and his family pay for medical bills after he and his wife had
952-535: A two-year promotional war against International Championship Wrestling that included the "outlaw" promotion filing an antitrust lawsuit against McGuirk and Watts. In 1979, Bill Watts acquired the Tri-State Wrestling territory from Leroy McGuirk, and re-branded it Mid-South Wrestling (MSW; officially, the Mid-South Wrestling Association). One of Watts' first acts as owner was to withdraw
1020-482: A video to invite Beck to appear on Raw while justifying that the storyline was designed to elicit a crowd response for the protagonist, Alberto Del Rio , and the antagonists, Swagger and Colter. Beck rejected the invitation. On the April 8 episode of Raw , Colter teamed with Swagger in a Handicap match against Del Rio, though Colter never officially entered the ring, they were defeated by Del Rio by submission on Swagger. On
1088-679: A wrestler and manager with various promotions. The duo also produce a second show called Ask Dutch Anything , in which Mantell answer questions that are submitted by fans of their primary show. Keown regularly appeared as Zeb Colter in the WWE web series The JBL and Cole Show , until its cancellation in June 2015. Keown has appeared in two WWE video games as a manager (as Zeb Colter). He made his in-game debut at WWE 2K15 and appears in WWE 2K16 . In 2019, Keown narrated 5 episodes in season 1 of Dark Side of
1156-557: A year; however, one wrestler would go from UWF midcarder/tag team act, to breakout star in JCP, and the wrestling industry as a whole: Sting . Sting's UWF tag team (as The Blade Runners ) partner would later become a WWF wrestling legend, too: The Ultimate Warrior . In October 1988, JCP, one of the biggest and late stage casualties of the "going national" war with the WWF, sold its collection of territories and titles to Ted Turner's TBS . Turner re-branded JCP "World Championship Wrestling," naming
1224-540: Is different from Wikidata Articles with hCards Universal Wrestling Federation (United States) The Universal Wrestling Federation was a 1986 re-branding of wrestler-turned-owner Bill Watts ' Mid-South Wrestling promotion. Watts' goal was to elevate his promotion from a relatively smaller, regional-level business, to a national-level rival of the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now known as WWE ). However, Watts' business strategy quickly swung from "overnight" success to catastrophic failure, resulting in
1292-486: The Hulkamania -era WWF, Mid-South Wrestling's content focused on: energetic matches performed before raucous and packed crowds; characters whose personas blurred the line between good and evil; an intensely physical, athletic wrestling style; and an episodic TV show format. The promotion ran shows in a mix of small venues and gigantic arenas. In 1980, a card pitting a "blinded" Junkyard Dog against Freebird Michael Hayes in
1360-585: The National Wrestling Alliance . Mantel was instrumental in the careers of several huge wrestling stars of the nineties, including the Blade Runners, who later went on to achieve fame as Sting and The Ultimate Warrior . The Undertaker and Kane both were early recipients of Mantel's astute wrestling knowledge, which served them well in their careers. Mantel also is credited with giving Steve Austin his stage surname, since Austin's real name at
1428-544: The Puerto Rican World Wrestling Council as a wrestler and booker. Then he went to WWC rival promotion International Wrestling Association as a creative consultant, which included writing/producing and booking four hours of original TV programming per week. Mantel remained there until September 22, 2003. Mantel set a record while in Puerto Rico (IWA), in the number of hours that a single writer produced
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#17328590670971496-636: The Sam Houston Coliseum (one of the most famous arenas in professional wrestling), and other parts of southeastern Texas . Mid-South used Shreveport, Louisiana as the base for its television tapings, which were first housed in the studios of KTBS-TV until they were moved around 1982 to the Irish McNeel Sports for Boys club, located on the Louisiana State Fairgrounds. Instead of the cartoon-ish characters and interviews common to
1564-558: The Universal Wrestling Federation , and securing a syndication deal airing their two one-hour, weekly TV programs (the lesser show, Power Pro Wrestling debuted in 1984) in major markets across the United States. The TV tapings were also taken out of Shreveport and moved on location at various live shows throughout the Mid-South/UWF territory. New wrestlers, mostly from World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), joined
1632-613: The Universal Wrestling Federation , started out as the Mid-South Television Championship in 1984 and was then represented by a medal. It was renamed when Mid-South Wrestling changed its name to the UWF in 1986 and the title medal was replaced by a belt. The TV title was the mid-level wrestlers' title during its existence. The title's final appearance was during Nikita Koloff's interview on the November 28, 1987 edition of World Championship Wrestling, with Koloff then declaring
1700-516: The ring name Dutch Mantel (also spelled Dutch Mantell ). Since May 2022, Mantell has co-hosted Story Time with Dutch Mantell , hosted by James Romero on the WSI Network. Keown debuted in 1972, as Wayne Cowan . He achieved fame in the regional and independent circuits , as well as World Championship Wrestling (WCW), as " Dirty " Dutch Mantell . Keown also worked with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) as Uncle Zebekiah in
1768-687: The "Universal Wrestling Federation" name with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, businessman Herb Abrams was able to use it to launch an unrelated wrestling promotion of the same name in 1990. A former territory wrestler who was blinded in a 1950 auto accident, Leroy McGuirk eventually took over promoting a wrestling circuit covering Oklahoma , Louisiana and Mississippi . Until 1973, "Cowboy" Bill Watts had been one of Tri-State's most popular wrestlers. After leaving Tri-State for Eddie Graham 's Championship Wrestling from Florida , Watts returned to Tri-State in 1975. NWA Tri-State fought
1836-535: The 16,000-seat Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico for an unprecedented nine weeks in a row, a record that still stands. They had a unique gimmick, where they put US$ 1,000 all in silver dollar coins at stake to the team that could defeat them. Mantel's other notable achievement was in 1982 when he and Jerry "the King" Lawler faced off in a good guy vs. good guy series. Fans were torn between these two stalwarts of
1904-552: The 1987 sale of the UWF to another rival: Jim Crockett Promotions (owner of Mid-Atlantic Wrestling , Georgia Championship Wrestling , the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA)'s most important championships, and the predecessor of World Championship Wrestling ). The promotion began as an NWA territory , NWA Tri-State , founded by Leroy McGuirk in the 1950s. Tri-State/Mid-South/UWF promoted in Oklahoma , Arkansas , Louisiana and Mississippi until 1987. Because Watts did not register
1972-664: The April 29 episode of Raw , Colter was involved in a triple-threat match with Rodriguez and Big E Langston (representing Dolph Ziggler ), with the winner being able to determine the stipulation for the World Heavyweight Championship match at Extreme Rules . Colter lost the match after being pinned by Rodriguez. On the June 17 episode of Raw , after Jack Swagger suffered a hand injury, Colter aligned himself with Antonio Cesaro . Colter later paired Swagger and Cesaro as "The Real Americans". The Real Americans experienced little success, losing to Los Matadores at Hell in
2040-481: The April 4, 2011 WrestleMania morning WrestleReunion event in Atlanta, Georgia. The event honored Bruno Sammartino with several modern and legendary wrestlers including Carlito , Kamala , Scott Steiner , Tommy Dreamer , Christy Hemme , Bob Orton , Nikolai Volkoff and The Iron Sheik . On February 11, 2013, Mantel, under the name of Zeb Colter, returned to WWE as the manager of Jack Swagger . Colter's character
2108-454: The Memphis ring wars. Mantel achieved what no other opponent could do while Lawler was a babyface and that was to get a clear cut win over the King. In 1986, after Lawler lost a "Loser Leaves Town" gimmick match against Bill Dundee , Lawler and Mantell finally mended their ways long enough to face Dundee and Buddy Landel in a Texas Tornado Death Match in Memphis' Mid South Coliseum in front of
UWF Television Championship - Misplaced Pages Continue
2176-456: The Memphis-based promotion United States Wrestling Association where he was a well known star for the company. He was the last USWA Unified World Heavyweight Champion defeating Jerry Lawler on August 8, 1997, in a Title vs All Body Hair match. Mantel kept his body hair. The title was vacated in November 1997 when the promotion closed its doors. After departing the WWF, Mantel later joined
2244-761: The NWA TV title was the only TV title, effectively unifying the UWF TV title into its NWA counterpart and retiring the former title. Title History [ edit ] Key No. Overall reign number Reign Reign number for the specific champion Days Number of days held No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref. Date Event Location Reign Days 1 Krusher Khruschev May 2, 1984 MSW Show Shreveport, Louisiana 1 45 Defeated Terry Taylor in tournament final; Magnum T. A. defeats Khruschev in May 1984, but
2312-494: The Ring . In August 2012, Keown announced on Facebook that his 16-year-old granddaughter Amelia had died in a car crash. He also said that the driver of the other vehicle, who had drugs in his system, was on parole , and running from the police at the time, had also died. On June 3, 2014, Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam signed into law Amelia's Law, which requires parolees whose crimes were related to drugs or alcohol to wear
2380-553: The Saturday timeslot from McMahon, and become TBS' sole pro wrestling show. Watts made one more attempt at going national the following year. As part of that plan, Watts replaced Mid-South Wrestling's parochial brandname with a more corporate, ambitious (and WWF-like) one: the Universal Wrestling Federation. In March 1986, MSW "went national" (the goal of the most ambitious regional promotions of this era), re-launching as
2448-545: The U.S. Army's 25th Infantry Division , Keown was awarded the Vietnam Service Medal for his service during the Vietnam War . Keown debuted in 1972 as "Wayne Cowan". He then became "Dutch Mantel", and added the "Dirty" nickname in 1980. The Dutch Mantel name was taken by an earlier wrestler named Alfred Albert Joe de Re la Gardiur . He wrestled for various Southern promotions , and achieved considerable success in
2516-3271: The UWF Television Championship during Slater's reign 12 Buzz Sawyer March 16, 1986 UWF show Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 1 70 Given title by Slater 13 Terry Taylor May 25, 1986 UWF show Tulsa, Oklahoma 3 126 14 Buddy Roberts September 28, 1986 UWF show Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 1 42 15 Savannah Jack November 9, 1986 UWF show Tulsa, Oklahoma 1 119 16 Eddie Gilbert March 8, 1987 UWF show Tulsa, Oklahoma 1 148 17 Shane Douglas August 3, 1987 UWF show Morgan City, Louisiana 1 30 18 Terry Taylor September 2, 1987 UWF show Lafayette, Louisiana 4 85 19 Nikita Koloff November 26, 1987 Starrcade (1987) Chicago, Illinois 1 0 — Deactivated November 26, 1987 — N/A — — Koloff unified title with NWA World Television Championship See also [ edit ] Universal Wrestling Federation NWA World Television Championship References [ edit ] ^ Hoops, Brian (February 28, 2017). "Daily pro wrestling history (02/28): Andersen & Hansen win NWA Tag Titles" . Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online . Retrieved February 28, 2017 . v t e UWF Television Champions Krusher Khruschev Terry Taylor Adrian Street Bill Dundee Buddy Landel Snowman Dutch Mantel Butch Reed Jake Roberts Dick Slater Buzz Sawyer Buddy Roberts Savannah Jack "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert Shane Douglas Nikita Koloff v t e NWA Tri-State / Mid-South Wrestling / Universal Wrestling Federation championships NWA Tri-State NWA World Heavyweight Championship NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship NWA Tri State North American Championship NWA United States Tag Team Championship NWA Tri-State Louisiana Championship NWA Tri-State Heavyweight Championship NWA Tri-State Tag Team Championship NWA Tri-State Brass Knuckles Championship NWA Louisiana Heavyweight Championship Mid-South NWA World Heavyweight Championship Mid-South North American Heavyweight Championship Mid-South Television Championship Mid-South Tag Team Championship Mid-South Louisiana Championship UWF UWF Heavyweight Championship UWF Television Championship UWF Tag Team Championship Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=UWF_Television_Championship&oldid=1244314525 " Categories : Mid-South Wrestling championships Universal Wrestling Federation (Bill Watts) championships Television wrestling championships Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description
2584-485: The UWF and is believed to be one of the very few wrestlers to never win a match. Video editors for the show even put together a music video of his various losses in the ring, set to the Little River Band song " Lonesome Loser ". "Gorgeous" Gary Young also competed in the UWF, claiming that he was a rookie. He actually had five years experience under his belt. Young's claims prompted Jim Ross to begin referring to him as
2652-580: The UWF did not immediately end; JCP kept its brand—and its three championships—alive in TV storylines until December 1987, when JCP's NWA-affiliated characters defeated all of the UWF characters in a series of "title vs. title" unification matches, among others. Only a few UWF wrestlers were well-received by JCP's fanbase; they included: the Fabulous Freebirds , Shane Douglas , Rick Steiner , Eddie Gilbert , and UWF centerpiece "Dr. Death" Steve Williams . Most UWF imports were gone from JCP's roster within
2720-461: The WWF would shoot local, in-studio matches, but only infrequently, and they were usually predictable squash matches .) MSW quickly became TBS' highest-rated show, so Watts positioned MSW to take over once Turner could force the WWF off his network. Watts' luck ran out, however, when former Georgia Championship Wrestling co-owner Jim Barnett helped broker a deal enabling North Carolina-based Jim Crockett Promotions' (led by Jim Crockett, Jr. ) to buy
2788-595: The closure of Leroy McGuirk's Tri-State promotion in Oklahoma, and remained through the transition to UWF. Bill Watts's son Joel Watts was later added to the Mid-South/UWF broadcasting team, and also worked behind-the-scenes as a producer of the TV program. Following Jim Crockett Promotions' purchase of the UWF, both Bill and Joel Watts exited the promotion and Jim Ross was joined by various partners including Magnum T. A. , Michael P.S. Hayes and Missy Hyatt . Veteran JCP announcer Bob Caudle became Ross's permanent partner near
UWF Television Championship - Misplaced Pages Continue
2856-446: The closure of UWF. Frank Dusek and Toni Adams also served as ringside commentators during the course of its UWF tenure; both of whom moved on to World Class. Dutch Mantell Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Wayne Maurice Keown (born November 29, 1949) is an American professional wrestling manager , booker and retired professional wrestler , better known by
2924-808: The company from the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). However, MSW would remain loosely aligned with the NWA, continuing to have the NWA World Heavyweight Champion defend the title on MSW shows, which spiked live event sales. (During the "territory" system [1940s-1980s], the NWA World Heavyweight Champion would travel to each NWA-affiliated territory to defend the title against its top-drawing local star.) MSW then added Arkansas to its circuit. In 1982, MSW expanded to Oklahoma when McGuirk closed his personal, Oklahoma-based promotion. McGuirk also formed an alliance with Houston promoter Paul Boesch to feature Mid-South talent on shows at
2992-437: The company, as did former WCCW co-promoter Ken Mantell . Despite the UWF's strong early ratings and critical praise, it could not compete nationally with Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) and the WWF, as both had stronger TV distribution and larger live event, pay-per-view (and, in the WWF's case, merchandise licensing) revenue streams. The UWF was further hurt when the oil-based economy of its richest local market—Oklahoma—fell into
3060-615: The creative team. Mantel left Impact Wrestling in December 2017 after Don Callis and Scott D'Amore took over as Executive Vice Presidents. As of May 2022, Mantell stars in a weekly podcast and YouTube show called Story Time with Dutch Mantell on the Wrestling Shoot Interviews Network, with producer and creator James Romero as its host. The show sees Mantell and Romero discuss current events and happenings within professional wrestling, as well as Mantell's several decades as
3128-631: The estate of Paul Boesch , who was the Houston territory's promoter. Select episodes of Mid-South are available for viewing on the WWE Network and on the NBCUniversal -owned Peacock streaming service in the United States. The Battle of New Orleans was a long-playing brawl between Eddie Gilbert, Terry Taylor , Chris Adams and Sting , which began in the ring and spilled out into the concession area. Beer kegs , chairs, tables, popcorn machine and anything
3196-556: The floor. The Taylor-Adams war proved to be one of the most violent feuds in the UWF, with an equal intensity to the feud Adams had with the Von Erichs in World Class. The feud did have a short interruption when Taylor was injured in an automobile accident, but picked up again by the summer and carried over to World Class by 1988. Taylor and Adams promoted a famous angle in August which involved
3264-451: The four wrestlers could get their hands on were used in the brawl which lasted nearly 15 minutes. Sting and Gilbert fought outside the ring, when Rick Steiner came in and piledrived Shane Douglas. With Taylor on top, referee Randy Anderson made the pinfall. Later, Adams came out and told Anderson what had happened, which prompted Gilbert and Taylor to gang-up on Adams. Sting came in to even the sides, and that resulted in an all-out brawl outside
3332-475: The gimmick of being three bumbling cowboys looking to meet up with Stan Hansen to go to WCW and become a team. Over the course of a few months, they were promoted through a series of vignettes by which they would be beaten up in saloons, searching ghost towns , and riding horses. Hansen reportedly wanted no part of the storyline and left for Japan , never to return to wrestle in North America. Without Hansen,
3400-1455: The groggy ref gives the title medal to Khruschev 2 Terry Taylor June 16, 1984 MSW Show New Orleans, Louisiana 1 102 3 Adrian Street September 26, 1984 MSW Show Shreveport, Louisiana 1 42 4 Bill Dundee November 7, 1984 MSW Show Shreveport, Louisiana 1 38 5 "Nature Boy" Buddy Landel December 15, 1984 MSW Show Shreveport, Louisiana 1 18 6 Terry Taylor January 2, 1985 MSW Show Shreveport, Louisiana 2 70 — Vacated March 13, 1985 — N/A — — Terry Taylor won North American Championship 7 Snowman May 8, 1985 MSW Show Shreveport, Louisiana 1 63 8 Dutch Mantell July 10, 1985 MSW Show Shreveport, Louisiana 1 12 9 Butch Reed July 22, 1985 MSW Show New Orleans, Louisiana 1 84 — Vacated October 14, 1985 — N/A — — Butch Reed won North American Championship 10 Jake Roberts January 1, 1986 MSW Show Tulsa, Oklahoma 1 58 Defeated Dick Slater in tournament final 11 Dick Slater February 28, 1986 MSW Show Houston, Texas 1 16 Renamed
3468-506: The group were pushed into service as jobbers and were dissolved as a stable before the end of the year. When Jim Cornette's independent wrestling promotion Smoky Mountain Wrestling opened in 1991, Mantel, joined by Bob Caudle , served as the original color commentator for the television broadcasts, and would give something of a heel perspective. He also hosted a weekly talk segment called "Down and Dirty with Dutch," where he would interview
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#17328590670973536-569: The main event drew nearly 30,000 fans for a show presented by a promotion less than one year old. In 1984, Watts came out of retirement to team with a masked Junkyard Dog (under the name Stagger Lee ) to face the Midnight Express to cap an angle in which the Express and manager Jim Cornette beat Watts on TV . Its undercard featured a showdown between Magnum T.A. and Mr. Wrestling II . The 1984 show drew 22,000 fans—an unimaginably large crowd for
3604-666: The merger, left in mid-1988 for the WWF, where they were renamed the Bushwhackers . Terry Taylor also departed, appearing in World Class for a few months (feuding with Chris Adams and Kevin Von Erich), then the WWF in mid-1988 as The Red Rooster . Taylor would go on to have a long WWF/WWE career behind-the-scenes, holding various management and creative team roles. Mid-South's main television broadcasting team included Bill Watts and Boyd Pierce, with KTBS-TV staff announcer Reisor Bowden serving as ring announcer. Jim Ross joined Mid-South after
3672-690: The mid-1990s, and again in the 2010s as Zeb Colter . In the late 1990s, 2000s, and late-2010s, he worked as a booker for the World Wrestling Council (WWC), International Wrestling Association , Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) as well as Championship Wrestling from Florida. Keown graduated from Walhalla High School in Walhalla, South Carolina . He attended Clemson University for one year before being drafted into military service undergoing basic training at Ft. Jackson, South Carolina before being assigned to
3740-532: The new Wild West Wrestling promotion, which later merged with World Class Championship Wrestling . "Gentleman" Chris Adams , who initially stayed with Jim Crockett Promotions post-UWF, left due to a money dispute and returned to World Class in November 1987. DiBiase, Big Bubba Rogers, One Man Gang, and Sam Houston joined the WWF, joining fellow UWF alumnus " Hacksaw Jim Duggan ", who the WWF had signed in February 1987. The Sheepherders, who originally joined Crockett after
3808-578: The new company after its TBS TV show. Ironically, "Cowboy" Bill Watts ended up running the same business that had swallowed his own: In spring of 1992, WCW hired Watts as its latest Executive Vice President; he held the role less than a year. World Wrestling Entertainment acquired most of the Mid-South/UWF video archive, absorbing it into its WWE Libraries collection in 2012 -- with a notable exception: Mid-South/UWF matches taped for Houston Wrestling which aired on KHTV in Houston . Those rights are held by
3876-419: The ring to attack Williams and DiBiase. The match ended when Williams and DiBiase were counted out, and Adams and Parsons won the match. Adams, who was helping Williams and DiBiase fight off Akbar and his army, wanted the match to continue, but Parsons wanted the win. After a lengthy argument, Adams and Parsons split, and Chris chose Savannah Jack as his new tag team partner. Iceman sucker-punched Savannah during
3944-610: The ring. Gilbert was the mastermind of this famous angle and received huge praise from fellow promoters and wrestlers. Adams was engaged in a storyline involving Iceman King Parsons and Taylor, which evolved out of the UWF Tag Team Championship tournament in February 1987. Originally, Adams and Iceman were one of the eight teams participating, and Taylor was teamed with Sam Houston . In a semi-finals match, Adams and Iceman wrestled against "Dr Death" Steve Williams and Ted DiBiase until Skandor Akbar's Devastation Inc. charged
4012-506: The stars of SMW. He remained with Smoky Mountain until around 1994. From 1995 to 1996, Mantel appeared in the World Wrestling Federation as "Uncle Zebekiah." He was the manager of The Blu Brothers until they were released in October 1995 and in January 1996, he returned as just "Zebekiah" and managed Justin "Hawk" Bradshaw until Mantel was released in December 1996. In 1989, Mantel worked in
4080-578: The time was Steve Williams (which was currently in use in wrestling by "Dr. Death" Steve Williams ). Mantell originally considered giving Austin the stage names of either "Stevie Rage" or "William Stevenson III". At the time, he was a booker for Jerry Jarrett 's Memphis territory. Mantel formed several tag teams throughout his career, including The Kansas Jayhawks (with Bobby Jaggers ), and The Desperados, which lasted only two months. Mantel achieved his greatest notoriety in 1979 when he and then-partner, Cowboy Frankie Laine , as Los Vaqueros Locos, sold out
4148-779: The two titles as the final leg of the NWA-UWF merger was finished. Williams would successfully defend the UWF Heavyweight Title on the same show versus Barry Windham . Williams immediately left to do a series of lucrative performances in Japan; the title was retired while he was in Asia. Sting, Rick Steiner, Eddie Gilbert, Missy Hyatt, announcer Jim Ross , Brad Armstrong and the aforementioned Taylor became permanent NWA roster members, among others. The Freebirds, Savannah Jack, Iceman King Parsons , matchmaker Frank Dusek, and promoter Ken Mantell joined
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#17328590670974216-445: Was angered by the WWF show because McMahon had promised him it would feature matches and promos taped in TBS' Atlanta studios (as Georgia Championship Wrestling had done for years). But instead of fresh, locally-produced content, the WWF's TBS show only presented clips and highlights from other WWF TV shows – some, depending on TV market, airing at the same time the TBS show did. (Eventually,
4284-513: Was attacked by Rusev, leaving him off television for two weeks. On the December 1 episode of Raw , Colter's leg was broken by Rusev, writing Colter off of television for nearly 11 months. In a storyline described by Rolling Stone as "the wildly unpopular MexAmerica storyline", Colter returned at Hell in a Cell 2015 , utilizing a mobility scooter , where he announced that the returning Alberto Del Rio would answer John Cena 's Open Challenge for Cena's United States Championship , where Del Rio
4352-467: Was released from TNA due to creative differences. Soon after, he returned to the IWA, once again working as a writer. In November 2009, Reno Riggins , announced that Dutch would be joining Showtime All-Star Wrestling promotion out of Nashville as a writer and on air talent. In December 2009, Mantel released his first book, "The World According to Dutch." Mantel wrote the book in around 5 weeks, while sitting on
4420-406: Was released from his WWE contract on May 6, 2016. Following his release from WWE, it was confirmed that Mantel signed to appear at a show co-promoted by Global Force Wrestling and WrestlePro on June 11, 2016. In January 2017, it was announced that Mantel would be working as a creative consultant for Impact Wrestling . In February 2017, his role was changed from creative consultant to head of
4488-752: Was that of a heel caricature of the Tea Party movement who strongly advocated anti- illegal immigrant beliefs. On February 19, Fox News and various right-wing commentators including Glenn Beck claimed that Swagger and Colter's characters were a mockery of the Tea Party movement meant to "demonize" the Tea Party. WWE responded to the criticism by stating that they were incorporating "current events into [their] storylines" to "create compelling and relevant content for [their] audience" and that "this storyline in no way represents WWE’s political point of view". WWE followed by having Swagger and Colter break character during
4556-416: Was the babyface ), with Parsons frequently referring to Adams as "Jailbird," a reference to Adams serving jail time in 1986 on an assault conviction. Taylor and Adams, who dominated the UWF tag team scene, lost a match to Steiner and Sting when Taylor kicked Adams foot off the rope as he was being pinned by Sting. A face-vs-face bout between Adams and Taylor marked Taylor's heel turn as he piledrived Adams on
4624-422: Was victorious. The next night on Raw , Del Rio and Colter began advertising a union between the United States and Mexico as "MexAmerica", leading to several confrontations with Colter's former protege, Jack Swagger. After Colter caused Del Rio to stumble during one of these confrontations on the December 7 episode of Raw , Del Rio ended his association with Colter. This marked his last appearance in WWE, as he
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