Information about United States Wrestling Association

The United States Wrestling Association or USWA was a professional wrestling promotional organization based in Memphis, Tennessee. It was a federation founded by former CWA owner Jerry Jarrett.

History

The USWA was founded after the Pro Wrestling USA debacle with the AWA. It was an attempt to create a third national promotion, alongside the now defunct Jim Crockett Promotions / WCW, and the WWF (now known as the WWE). The USWA was created through a merger of the WCCW (from Texas) and the CWA (based in Memphis). It originally promoted shows, headlined by Jerry Lawler, in both Tennessee and Texas.

The Dallas promotion (formerly World Class), which was 40 percent owned by the Von Erich family, withdrew from the USWA in September 1990 due to a revenue dispute. That promotion reverted back to the World Class name, but ceased operations two months later due to lack of revenue.

Jerry Jarrett and Jerry Lawler brought the USWA back to Texas, but only on a limited basis, while promoters Joe Pedicino, Max Andrews, Boni Blackstone and Grey Pierson were getting the new Global Wrestling Federation ready for a spring 1991 debut at the Sportatorium. Several of the former World Class and USWA Dallas wrestlers joined the new GWF, while others from the old CWA remained with the USWA.

In 1992, the USWA began a talent exchange with the WWF, which saw Lawler sign on to Vince McMahon's federation, while several high profile WWF stars appeared in the USWA. Dallas wrestler Chris Adams spent a few months in the USWA in an angle involving Brian Christopher and Toni Adams, splitting his time between Memphis and Dallas' GWF during this time frame.

The USWA survived for years. Despite being the last full-time wrestling territory in the United States after the national expansion of the WWF, the USWA was able to reinvent itself as a territory for young, up and coming wrestlers to make their names in professional wrestling, to one day perhaps work for either the WWF or World Championship Wrestling (although their working relationship with the WWF is more well-known, the USWA also had a brief working relationship with WCW in 1995).

The wrestling landscape changed in 1995 - the Monday Night Wars began, with WWF and WCW battling for cable television supremecy on Monday nights each and every week. Unfortunately for the USWA, their biggest crowds came every Monday night at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis, Tennessee. With a growing wrestling viewership on Monday nights that could watch pay per view-quality wrestling matches for free on television, the live attendance at the marquee events for the USWA began to dwindle. A move to Thursday nights did not help what was becoming inevitable - the demise of the USWA. The Monday Night Wars did what two and a half decades of Monday Night Football on ABC could not do - it made Memphis wrestling irrelevent on Monday nights.

A combination of a poor line up, sub-standard venue, lack of talent and holding the show on a Thursday night led to a show on October 3, 1996 drawing the smallest crowd in the history of Memphis wrestling. Just 372 fans, paying $1,800, to the Big One Flea Market. The headline match was a stretcher match, where Brian Christopher & Brickhouse Brown & Wolfie D beat Jerry Lawler & Bill & Jamie Dundee, when Jesse James (BG James) interfered and powerbombed Jamie Dundee through a table. The future of the promotion was being questioned, following the previous week’s resignation of general manager Randy Hales. The Louisville and Nashville crowds had stayed consistent, but the Memphis crowds, which in the past had carried the promotion, had fallen over the past few months. In addition, the Big One (Flea Market) pavillion was less than inviting, the zigzag roof of its original owner (The Treasury Stores) causing its major leaking problem.

Although Lawler was working for the WWF, he ended up buying a stake in the USWA from Jarrett, and businessmen Larry Burton and Mark Selker in 1997, and the USWA went out of business by November of that year, resulting in a nasty lawsuit between Burton, Selker, and Lawler.

Major USWA cities

• Memphis, Tennessee
• Dallas, Texas
• Nashville, Tennessee
• Louisville, Kentucky
• Evansville, Indiana
• Jackson, Tennessee
• Jonesboro, Arkansas
• Tupelo, Mississippi

Championships of USWA

• USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship
• USWA Southern Heavyweight Championship
• USWA Tag Team Championship
• USWA Texas Heavyweight Championship
• USWA Television Championship
• USWA Women's Championship
• USWA Junior Heavyweight Championship
• USWA Middleweight Championship

Stars of USWA

• Jerry Lawler
• Randy Hales
• Bill Dundee
• Brian Christopher
• Spellbinder
• Ricky Morton
• Jeff Jarrett
• Master of Pain/The Punisher
• Jimmy Valiant
• Austin Idol
• Kamala
• Eddie Gilbert
• Koko B. Ware
• Junkyard Dog
• Sid Vicious
• J.C. Ice
• Wolfie D
• Flex Kavana
• John Tatum
• Stacy Carter
• Terry Funk
• Chris Youngblood
• Mark Youngblood
• Dutch Mantell
• Tom Prichard
• Pat Tanaka
• Paul Diamond
• Eric Embry
• Tommy Rich
• Buddy Landell
• Doug Gilbert
• Brian Lee
• Billy Jack Haynes
• Jesse James Armstrong
• Miss Texas
• Toni Adams
• Scotty Anthony
• Robert Fuller
• The Harris Brothers
• Tracy Smothers
• Downtown Bruno
• Steve Doll
• Doomsday
• Derek Martel
• Billy Travis
• The Ninja Turtle
• Freddy Kruger
• Xontar
• Ashley
• Stone Cold Steve Austin

Talent exchange wrestlers in USWA

Their home promotion in parenthesis

• Owen Hart (WWF)
• Razor Ramon (WWF)
• Randy Savage (WWF)
• Kerry Von Erich (WCCW)
• Chris Adams (GWF and WCCW)
• Sensational Sherri (WWF)
• Tommy Dreamer (ECW)
• Tatanka (WWF)
• Ahmed Johnson (WWF)
• Beulah McGillicutty (ECW)

External links

• USWA Title Histories
• Official USWA website - has not been updated in years