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Jim Crockett, Jr.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Please help improve this article or section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (November 2007) |
Jim Crockett, Jr.  |
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| Ring name(s) | Jim Crockett |
| Born | 1944 Charlotte, North Carolina, United States |
| Retired | 1994 |
Jim Crockett, Jr. (born 1944 in Charlotte, North Carolina) was a professional wrestling promoter and the owner of the NWA's Jim Crockett Promotions, and also part of the Charlotte O's, a minor-league baseball team in Charlotte, NC.
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Born to Jim and Elizabeth Crockett in Charlotte, North Carolina, he and his younger siblings David, Jackie and Frances Crockett were largely uninvolved in professional wrestling until their father's death in 1973.
Although Elizabeth Crockett had decided her son-in-law John Ringly would run the promotion, Jim Crockett, Jr. would reluctantly take over the ownership of Jim Crockett Promotions that same year. [1] The first thing that Crockett did was rename the name of the television show it promoted under, Eastern States Championship Wrestling to Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling and got his company a television show that lasted until 1991. He also brought in wrestler George Scott as head booker [2] and signed wrestlers from across the country from veterans such as Wahoo McDaniel to younger wrestlers like Ric Flair. [3]
In 1980, he was elected to his first term as NWA President, which ended in 1982. Crockett had a working relationship with Maple Leaf Wrestling, headed by Frank Tunney in Toronto, Ontario until Tunny's death 1983. Frank died and his nephew Jack Tunney switched his working agreement to Vince McMahon and the World Wrestling Federation. [4] Crockett then formed a relationship with Verne Gagne and his American Wrestling Association to form Pro Wrestling USA. The relationship did not last very long.
Crockett was elected NWA President for a second term in 1985. He bought Ole Anderson's Georgia Championship Wrestling and Vince McMahon's Saturday night TV time slot and began to flourish. He started to use the name of Jim Crockett Promotions around this time and, by 1986, owned the Georgia and Central States territories. During that year, he organized the first annual Jim Crockett, Sr. Memorial Cup in which wrestlers from eight National Wrestling Alliance regional territories participated in a one-day tournament at the The Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana in which The Road Warriors defeated Ron Garvin & Magnum T.A. after 7 1/2 hours. Although organized by Jim Crockett, Jr. as a tribute to his father, several rival promoters suspected Crockett was using the event to further his own plans for expanding his promotion nationally.
Their suspicions increased as Crockett began holding wrestling events in Memphis and Florida without contacting the local NWA promoters. He eventually purchased leagues based in Oklahoma and Kansas City in the Mid-South territory and began airing his own televised wrestling events which were syndicated across the United States. [5]
Crockett was elected to a third term as NWA President in 1987. That same year he added Championship Wrestling from Florida and the Universal Wrestling Federation to his company (thus acquiring such talent as wrestler Sting and commentator Jim Ross). Although initially planning to keep the UWF and NWA as separate promotions in order to promote an annual interpromotional event similar to the Super Bowl, Crockett instead moved the old UWF headquarters from Tulsa to Dallas [6] and incorporated its stars into his own promotion. [7]
He promoted his company as the NWA, since he owned six NWA territories and was the NWA President, much to the confusion of fans. However, the promotion was rapidly loosing money due to numerous reasons including the costly territorial buyouts and the expense of extravagant purchases such as Crockett's personal jet, limousines provided for various wrestlers and regular business parties held by officials throughout its offices in the region. [8]
By November 1988, Crockett was near bankruptcy and, through promoter Jim Barnett, [9] sold his company to Ted Turner, who renamed it World Championship Wrestling. [10] Crockett stayed on as NWA President until 1991.
Crockett attempted a return to wrestling with a wrestling internet broadcast network in 1994 called the World Wrestling Network. It was short-lived, and he left the sport for good in 1995. Crockett also brought the NWA back to the Dallas Sportatorium for an equally brief tenure during this time.
- ^ Flair, Ric. Ric Flair: To Be the Man. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2004. ISBN 0-7434-5691-2
- ^ Oliver, Greg (November 2001). George Scott: Making Mid-Atlantic sizzle. SLAM! Sports.
- ^ Neumark, Jared (2006-02-15). The Last Rassler, George South remembers when Charlotte ruled the ring. CreativeLoafing.com.
- ^ Will, Gary (June 2004). Tunney-Crockett partnership approved, 1980. Gary Will's Toronto Wrestling History.
- ^ Greenberg, Keith Elliot. Pro Wrestling: From Carnivals to Cable TV. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications, 2000. (pg. 60) ISBN 0-8225-3332-4
- ^ Hyatt, Missy and Mark Goldblatt. Missy Hyatt, First Lady of Wrestling. Toronto: ECW Press, 2001. (pg. 77) ISBN 1550224980
- ^ Foley, Mick. Have A Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1999. (pg. 124) ISBN 0-06-103101-1
- ^ Williams, Steve and Tom Caiazzo. Steve Williams: How Dr. Death Became Dr. Life. Sports Publishing, 2007. (pg. 116) ISBN 1596701803
- ^ Ross, Jim. "J. R.'s Cookbook: True Ringside Tales, BBQ, and Down-Home Recipes". New York: Simon & Schuster, 2003. ISBN 0-7434-6504-0
- ^ Bischoff, Eric. Eric Bischoff: Controversy Creates Cash. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2006. (pg. 60) ISBN 1-4165-2729-X
- Jim Crockett Promotions title histories (Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling)
- Jim Crockett Promotions title histories (National Wrestling Alliance)
- Mid-Atlantic Gateway
| Preceded by Bob Geigel |
President of the National Wrestling Alliance 1980–1982 |
Succeeded by Bob Geigel |
| Preceded by Bob Geigel |
President of the National Wrestling Alliance 1985–1986 |
Succeeded by Bob Geigel |
| Preceded by Bob Geigel |
President of the National Wrestling Alliance 1987–1991 |
Succeeded by Jim Herd |