DA Whit - Pro Wrestling USA 1984 - 1986: Territory Wrestling’s Last Stand

Copyright 2018 by DA White

All rights reserved. This book (Pro Wrestling USA 1984-1986) or any portion there of may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of DA White, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Pro Wrestling USA 1984-1986

Territory Wrestlings Last Stand

Introduction:

As 1983 came to an end, regional promoters began to worry about their decades-old territory system. Vince McMahon Jr had taken over the reins of his fathers northeast wrestling company, the WWWF/WWF. The younger McMahon began making moves that would change professional wrestling forever. Vince McMahons first eye-opening maneuver was when he bought out Georgia Championship Wrestling and gained ownership of the national WTBS timeslot. McMahons effort didnt work out as fans wanted their more traditional wrestling program. Vince sold the slot to Jim Crockett which he used for his Carolina-based NWA promotion. But the idea of using cable television to go national was up and running. Vince McMahon got his "Brawl to End it All" and "War to Settle the Score" wrestling events on MTV. From there, hed have his new-look WWF appear on NBC and on dozens of other high-profile, nationwide events (Music videos, commercials, etc).

As 1984 began, Vince Jr started signing the top stars from the various territories including his new top guy, Hulk Hogan. McMahon would then promote events in cities outside of his regular area. Hed have cards in AWA towns and feature guys that had, just weeks ago, been wrestling for Verne Gagnes AWA. The same thing happened in the other territories. The WWF began acquiring the TV time slots that had previously belonged to promoters like Bill Watts, Fritz Von Erich, Eddie Graham, Ole Anderson Verne Gagne, etc.

While the end of the territory system was bad for wrestling and wrestling fans, there were many nuances in the right/wrong game. First off, cable TV was changing the industry. In the very late 1970s and early 1980s, networks like CNN and ESPN were taking off and had a national reach. Initially a very small percentage of homes could buy Cable TV packages but as 1984 arrived a growing number of people had gained the ability to expand their viewing choices. This allowed a promoter like Vince McMahon to get his wrestlers on to television sets all over the country. He used these opportunities to introduce the entire nation to his colorful wrestling characters. While Verne Gagne, Jim Crockett and Fritz Von Erichs also got their organizations on national TV, they only didnt go into one anothers territory to host events. By 1984 this big wrestling war was on!

Joint venture

In 1984, Jerry Lawler, Jerry Jarrett, Verne Gagne, and Jim Crockett got together and made an alliance to go after McMahon. They also got help in the way of additional/occasional talent from smaller NWA promoters. This business arrangement was named Pro Wrestling USA. The goal was clear but the process and the path forward were murky.

The idea was two-fold. The promoters wanted to have matches in Vince McMahons territory and they wanted to bolster their own areas with an influx of new talent. The larger cards were held at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, New Jersey. There were also smaller events in New York City, outstate New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Massachusetts. Another important part of Pro Wrestling USA was to rotate talent to new territories. Theyd take top stars from Georgia and have them wrestle in Minneapolis, Dallas, etc.

While the first part never worked, the second part did provide fans with some great entertainment. As you will read about and see when looking at these cards/events, Pro Wrestling USA gathered an absolutely incredible group of talent for their big cards.

Ultimately Pro Wrestling USA disbanded. While there were combination cards and events going into 1986, it was clear in the Fall of 1985 that Pro Wrestling USA was not going to push back Vince McMahons new vision of the professional wrestling business. When Pro Wrestling USA ended, the various participating promotions continued to try and fight back and they kept running their organizations much as they always had. Ultimately Crockett, Gagne, Von Erich and most of the other territories were all finished with-in a half-dozen years. Jerry Jarrett and Jerry Lawler would continue in the wrestling business by forming the USWA and promoting Tennessee and Dallas into the mid-1990s.

In this book you will be introduced to the various territories that formed Pro Wrestling USA. You will also learn about some of the most interesting wrestlers of the era. This book also takes a look at all of the Pro Wrestling USA cards. In order to be included in this book the card had to be an official Pro Wrestling USA card or it had to have a considerable amount of cross-territory talent. Enjoy this trip back to the beginning of the end of territory wrestling.

My Other Books

The AWA's Final Years: Analysis, Commentary, Profiles and More

https://www.amazon.com/AWAs-Final-Years-Analysis-Commentary-ebook/dp/B078KDMKKQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525303390&sr=8-1&keywords=da+white+awa+wrestling

The AWAs Legends with Loses: The Major League of Enhancement Talent

https://www.amazon.com/AWAs-Legends-Loses-League-Enhancement-ebook/dp/B07B8YQ1RL/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1525303390&sr=8-3&keywords=da+white+awa+wrestling

The AWA 1984: The Beginning of the End of the American Wrestling Association

https://www.amazon.com/AWA-1984-Beginning-Wrestling-Association-ebook/dp/B0795W2519/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1525303390&sr=8-2&keywords=da+white+awa+wrestling

AWA 1983: Sellouts Before the Storm

https://www.amazon.com/AWA-1983-Sellouts-Before-Storm-ebook/dp/B07CXLLKW7/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1530057026&sr=8-1&keywords=AWA+1983+DA+White

So it Begins.

The Pro Wrestling USA era began in Jerry Jarretts backyard. Keep in mind that these matches were used for television in all of the participating territories. So in reality, this was really more like three cards all put into one. They occurred on the same date (September 18 th , 1984) but they could have been shown weeks and even months apart depending on how/when promoters wanted to put the matches on their weekly broadcasts. Some organizations like the AWA had multiple television shows (All-Star Wrestling, ESPN shows, etc). This was an important show to show enthusiasm for the new promotion but it was also extremely helpful logistically to have all of this great talent on tape.

9/18/1984 Memphis, TN

Rock 'n' Roll Express defeated Nightmare #1 and Nightmare #2

Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson were two of the premier workers of the day. Morton was thought to be better than Gibson at selling but both were terrific. The Nightmares were Danny Davis and Ken Wayne. They were a masked team and very good but quite small. They wrestled together off and on from the early 1980s in Continental to the mid-1990s with WCW and the USWA.

Bruce Reed and Tony Atlas defeated Keith Robertson and Kurt Von Hess

Squash Match where both Atlas and Reed press slammed Robertson and Von Hess.

Road Warriors defeated Ken Raper and Mark Ragin

Another Squash match. These matches are on youtube and this one was quite a beatdown. Memphis wrestling fans were getting a taste of this new explosive tag team.

Nick Bockwinkel defeated Lanny Poffo

Lanny Poffo became a mid-level guy for McMahon a few years later but at this point he was smaller and not really a winning wrestler except for when he worked for his father, Angelo Paffo. Nick Bockwinkel was an all-time great. One of his strengths was making his opponent look good. He may have sometimes made his opponent look too good and didnt make himself look lethal enough in these types of matches. Poffo wasnt a job-guy but at this point he was still close to that category. Bockwinkel won this match with an odd roll-up pin. How could it look legit when Bockwinkel would face someone like Terry Funk when Funk would destroy his squash-type opponents and Bockwinkel would go wire-to-wire with them? Poffo would do an initial run for Vince in Fall of 1985, less than a year from this match.