Pro Wrestling USA
 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (January 2008) |
Jim Crockett, Jr. |
Pro Wrestling USA was a
Background
By 1984,
Joint venture
Jerry Lawler, Jerry Jarrett of Continental Wrestling Association, Verne Gagne of the AWA, Ole Anderson of Georgia Championship Wrestling, Jim Crockett Promotions, and other NWA promoters got together to co-promote wrestling shows nationally. This joint venture became known as Pro Wrestling USA.
This loose alliance of promoters from across America was to serve as a national federation. Pro Wrestling USA shows could boast, for example, an AWA and NWA World Title match on the same card.
While, at the behest of Jerry Lawler and Jerry Jarrett, the first show took place in Memphis, Tennessee, Pro Wrestling USA shows were promoted across the member's territories. Further, many Pro Wrestling USA shows were taped in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in the heart of the former WWF territory. This was a serious attempt to undermine the WWF, in its home turf, at a moment of financial weakness.
The peak of Pro Wrestling USA came at
The arrangement, however, would only remain in existence for a few more months, as arguments between promoters, primarily Gagne and Crockett, severed the ties. Crockett opted to leave the group, and within months, the Pro Wrestling USA shows were simply repackaged AWA programs.
After Pro Wrestling USA
World Class Championship Wrestling, which was depending on a strong buy-rate for SuperClash III to survive at this point, ended up insolvent. Briefly, there was a union of some of the promotions who co-promoted SuperClash III. WCCW merged with Jarrett's CWA, eventually to form the United States Wrestling Association (USWA), again an attempt to create a third national promotion behind Jim Crockett Promotions/WCW and the WWF. However once again the union was short lived, and WCCW withdrew from the USWA and soon went out of business. Jarrett's USWA remained for the next decade as the last traditional wrestling promotion, but never achieved the national success intended by the CWA/WCCW merger.
The 1988 union of the AWA, CWA, and WCCW was not known as Pro Wrestling USA, and their shows were just advertised as cross-promotional events.
See also
Notes
- ISBN 978-1554903313.
References
- Beekman, Scott M. (2006). "The Rise of Vince McMahon". Ringside: A History of Professional Wrestling in America. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 027598401X.
- ISBN 1550227092.
- Greenberg, Keith (2000). "The Fight For Power". Pro Wrestling: From Carnivals to Cable TV. Minneapolis: Lerner Publishing Group. ISBN 0822533324.
- Hornbaker, Tim (2007). "NWA History (1975-Present)". National Wrestling Alliance: The Untold Story of the Monopoly That Strangled Pro Wrestling. Toronto: ECW Press. ISBN 9781554902743.
- Schire, George (2010). "Wrestling Goes National". Minnesota's Golden Age of Wrestling: From Verne Gagne to the Road Warriors. St. Paul: ISBN 9780873516204.
- Solomon, Brian (2015). "Rock and Wrestling: The '80s Explosion (Crockett Strikes Back)". Pro Wrestling FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the World's Most Entertaining Spectacle. Milwaukee: Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 978-1617136276.
External links
- Pro Wrestling USA at Cagematch.net
- Pro Wrestling USA at TheHistoryofWWE.com
- Pro Wrestling USA at WrestlingData.com
- Great Ideas That Didn't Last: Pro Wrestling USA
- Pro Wrestling USA at IMDb
