Background Information:

The World Class territory had been around since the mid-1960s, when former AWA World champion and top NWA contender Fritz Von Erich began running shows in Texas, Oklahoma, and the surrounding areas, and having the big names of the time come in to work his shows, which were primarily based on regular shows at the building now known as the Sportatorium in Dallas, Texas. By the early 1970s, Fritz's territory - World Class Championship Wrestling - was drawing big names (himself, Stan Stasiak, Wahoo McDaniel, Pepper Gomez, Dory and Terry Funk, among others). The late 70s/early 80s would see his sons (David, Mike, Kerry, Kevin) all become stars in his territory, along with other stars (Gino Hernandez, Bruiser Brody, and The Spoiler to name a few), as well as the World champions of the day (Funk, Race, Flair, etc.) making regular title defenses there. By then - thanks to the power of syndication - The World Class territory was one of the best in the nation. Then, in 1982, World Class signed the Freebirds (Michael Hayes, Terry Gordy, and Buddy Roberts) to work in the area - at the time, a big move for the territory - and began the hottest feud in wrestling - The Freebirds vs. Von Erichs. This feud meant ratings, and BIG money for the area.

While World Class boomed, so did the Memphis territory. The Memphis area was a breeding ground to some of the biggest stars of the 1980s (Hulk Hogan, Jerry Lawler, Tommy Rich, etc.) and became wildly successful behind the guidance of Jerry Jarrett, who served as the area's promoter. Like the Sportatorium, the area centered much ofÊ its activity primarily on one particular weekly show. In the late 1970s and early 80s, Jerry Lawler was the focal point of much of the territory's big angles and matches (Lawler, of course, would become a legend), and the territory was hot in the mid-1980s, becoming known as the tag team capital of the world. Any team who was anybody wrestled in the Mid-South Coliseum, drawing big money as top secondary feuds, while the main event (usually) featured Lawler, who was over like crazy in Memphis.

With 2 of the feuds of the decade (Freebirds-Von Erichs; Lawler-Jimmy Hart's First family), these 2 territories were undoubtedly 2 of the 3 major promotions (Bill Watts' Mid-South/UWF wrestling being the other) in the country. With all of them being based in the South, they were often able to exchange talent as needed under the old NWA banner. However, things would start to change in 1984 with the death of David Von Erich, while on a tour of Japan. Von Erich was one of World Class' top stars, and an almost certain future NWA World champion. After this, the World Class territory would endure much more suffering. By 1988, World Class had endured the loss of David, Mike Von Erich, Gino Hernandez, and Bruiser Brody, due to premature deaths. The annual Parade of Champions card at Texas stadium had been a success since putting 40,000 people in Texas stadium in '84 to watch Kerry defeat Ric Flair for the NWA World title.Ê However, Kerry Von Erich was badly injured, due to a motorcycle accident, and with many shows being missed for a variety of reasons, sellout shows were becoming fewer and further between.

Other factors that the World Class and CWA (Memphis) territories would face:

• The economy. The economy in Texas, especially became a factor, since ticket prices would go up, and money would go down, as financial backers were scarce. Memphis was also not exactly known for big paydays.
• Talent Raids. At a time when wrestling on WTBS was at an all-time high, the World Championship Wrestling - with its big-time Cable TV exposure, and big paydays, stripped both federations of much big-name talent. This was also during the time in which a guy named Vince McMahon Jr. was expanding his territory, which posed the biggest threat of all, as the Memphis and World Class areas were hit hard by talent raids, as well as having many of its venues and TV times bought up by the WWF.
• World Class withdrawing from the NWA in February of 1986 meant that while they would have their title as a "world" championship, it's relationship with the NWA had ended, which meant that some opportunity for outside talent exchanges would be lost.

By early 1988, both the Memphis and World Class territories were reportedly on the brink of folding. Then, Jerry Jarrett - the CWA promoter - would come in, and bring some talent, and as a result, a cross-promotion of sorts was born. Also important was that while the two promotions had their share of international stars (Kevin and the returning Kerry Von Erich, and Jerry Lawler among others), the CWA had a strong relationship with the AWA.

The AWA was founded in the early 1960s, and by the 1980s was viewed as the 3rd biggest promotion (behind the NWA and WWF) in the country. However, by 1988, the AWA, too had suffered from the WWF's rampage. Verne Gagne had watched his top star - Hulk Hogan - go to the WWF and become a big star, and he faced another huge problem, as then-AWA champion Curt Henning was on his way to the WWF as well (in fairness, much of the AWA's top talent had to play 2nd fiddle to the aging Nick Bockwinkle, and lesser stars - particularly Greg Gagne - Verne's son - and the fact that Verne did not exactly want to come into the 80's style of wrestling didn't exactly help, either. Shawn Michaels, Marty Janetty, Sgt. Slaughter, and Ron Garvin - among others would leave the AWA for the greener pastures of the WWF).Ê It was time for the AWA, World Class, and CWA to join forces for their own survival against the monster known as the WWF.

May 9, 1988

Longtime CWA wrestler/owner and resident legend Jerry "The King" Lawler had suffered through years (and years....and years...14 to be exact) and was nearing a May 9 match with AWA Champion Curt Henning, who was WWF bound. The decision was made to make it a career match (Lawler retires if he loses), and have Henning drop the strap to Lawler at the May 9 show in Memphis. Thanks to a HUGE (as in better than the WWF does with it's PPVs) local build-up, a sell-out crowd watched it's hero win the world title in a big show, and Henning was free to join the WWF.

Now, with Lawler as champion, CWA promoter Jerry Jarrett promoting in World Class (Fritz, by now, had turned control of the promotion to his sons, who were beseiged by a variety of "personal problems", and Jarrett was brought in to help out with day-to-day operations, and with talent influx from Memphis), and Kerry Von Erich as the WCCW "World" Champion, the 3 promotions saw their opportunity as the top 2 wrestlers in the 3 areas combined could travel between the territories, and build up the houses.

Unification?.......

With Jerry Lawler's first venture into Texas to defend his title against Terry Taylor, an angle was shot in which WCCW champion Kerry Von Erich would challenge Jerry Lawler for the AWA title. Lawler would accept, and they had a match in Memphis, which was a 60-minute draw. The cross promotion did good business. Eventually, they would have a few rematches, in both Memphis and Texas, without a decisive winner (and even teamed for a while). Both would also frequent New Japan, as well. Business boomed - at least for a while. Soon, as CWA wrestlers like Robert Fuller, Bill Dundee, and "Double J" Jeff Jarrett would venture into WCCW, WCCW wrestlers Michael Hayes, The Von Erichs, and the Samoan Swat team (Samoan Samu and Fatu, who is currently wrestling as Rikishi Phatu in the WWF) would wrestle in Memphis and in the AWA. The natural occurrence would be a Tennessee-Texas feud, which was the focal point of many Mid-South Coliseum "supershows" in the fall of 1988, which were successful. Add to this, the fact that both the AWA and WCCW now had ESPN TV contracts, and the potential was there for money to be made.

.....on PPV?!?!?!

The decision was then made for the 3 companies to combine their talent and to have a pay-per-view show, with tons of hype.Ê Each champion would defend against the top stars of the other promotions and New Japan (such as Ron Garvin, Tatsumi Fujinami, Terry Taylor, Chris Adams, The Freebirds, etc.), they would build up to a big PPV match. The location chosen was Chicago, Il. The date: December 13, 1988. A 14-match supercard would feature the first world title unification match ever, between 2 bonafide legends, as Gagne, Jarrett, and the Von Erichs all put their heads together and got the Texas and Tennessee areas together in the hype. With local TV, as well as ESPN, and 2 of the top 5 syndicated wrestling programs in the country, this would SURELY make money for all involved. But as the song says - mo money...mo problems, and the PPV was riddled with holes from the start.

To start, the building held thousands, and even with months of hype and promotion the paid attendance ended up being a little over 1,000 people. So the event was already a huge money-loser from the start. The buyrate wasnÕt terribly impressive, doing about 1Ú4 of the business that the NWA and WWF were doing at the time. And the backstage planning sessions were plagued with political squabbling between the major promoters, none of whom wanted to end up looking the least bit bad when all was said and done. In the end, Jerry Lawler was awarded the decision over Kerry Von Erich due to blood loss, a bogus cop-out booking decision if there ever was one. But for a week or so, at least, there was peace and harmony as Lawler began defending the so-called "Unified World title"Émainly in Memphis.

Two problems became apparent: Firstly, now that Lawler had what he wanted, he seemed reluctant to fulfill the dates set forth by the AWA. Secondly, World Class was rapidly running out of time and money, and needed the funds from the PPV to stay alive. Thirdly (and most importantly), Verne lied about the revenues from the show, keeping most of them for himself, and ended up stiffing the promoters who had contributed talent to his big show.

In early 1989, everything hit the fan, as Lawler refused to defend the title in AWA territories from that point on until his share of the PPV revenue was paid. It was never paid to him, so the CWA pulled out of the deal altogether. As a result, the AWA stripped Lawler of the AWA title, leaving him as the World Class champion, and leaving the AWA with no champion. Then World Class quickly declared that THEY were no longer financially solvent, leaving Lawler to bail them out and merge the CWA and WCCW into the USWA, thus turning the Unified World title into a meaningless hunk of tin in the span of a month. This was a new record for self-destruction, even by wrestlingÕs lofty standards. Lawler wouldnÕt even give the AWA title belt back, leaving Gagne the task of having a new one made and using the TV title in the interim.

So as 1989 began, we had: Jerry Lawler as World Class champion, NO AWA Champion and no union between the AWA, CWA, and WCCW. Plus owed money from the PPV by the AWA to the other two feds, and three promotions in ruins.

With the AWA banning Lawler "for life" (and effectively severing all ties with the other two promotions), the CWA and World Class were the losers in the cross-promotion. Not to mention that the promotions had burned the fans - for despite putting on a decent show, they had spent months putting together a Title Unification, and the Unification was ruined by politics. The decision was then made by promoters in the CWA and WCCW (among whom were Lawler, Jerry Jarrett, Frank Dusek, Max Andrews, and Kevin Von Erich) to continue their working relationship as one promotion, with Lawler as the "Unified" champion, and Lawler having kept the old AWA title (without returning it). (Note: The fact that the AWA had pulled out was NEVER mentioned on TV in Memphis, or in Texas - Lawler continued to be recognized as Unified champion). At one point, Dutch Mantel appeared to have won the Unified title from Jerry Lawler (which would weeks later be reversed), but the AWA didn't recognize this, and instead had Larry Zbysko as its new champion after winning a battle royal. The unification had been exposed, and the fans didn't like it.

Meanwhile, in Memphis, after this switch, wrestlers would travel between the two areas for many months, until mid-1989, when a storyline was introduced where longtime Memphis wrestler Tojo Yamamoto and longtime WCCW heel manager Skandor Akbar joined forces to take over and rename the World Class promotion the "USWA" - keep in mind, the USWA was actually formed after the AWA split. Eric Embry would take over the booking duties and almost single-handedly fight for control of the company, which became the World Class (now USWA's) featured feud. So, with Eric Embry as the top babyface in Texas (and needless to say, Embry pushed himself to the moon...and BEYOND as a babyface in Texas), the Texas area's business stalled even further, and by now, the Memphis wrestlers had all but taken over. Many of the top World Class wrestlers, by now, were mostly wrestling in Memphis. The USWA school in Memphis was also producing some young talent. However, disapproving of the direction of the Texas side of the promotion, Kevin Von Erich decided to withdraw World Class from the "USWA" alliance in late 1990. By now, however, World Class was pretty much on its last legs. Jerry Jarrett would no longer promote in Texas, and Lawler would continue to be recognized as Unified "world" champion.

Seeing World Class pretty much sinking within months, as 1990 drew to a close, World Class rejoined the Memphis promotion (formerly the CWA, now known exclusively as the "USWA") for a brief spell, before injuries would curtail his own career. Then, in mid-1991, the upstart Global Wrestling Federation acquired World Class' ESPN contract (which by now, showed as much Memphis footage as Texas). In the storylines, World Class again withdrew, and was "accepted into Global", which was run by Joe Pedicino, leaving the USWA with only the Memphis group headed by Lawler. By now, all of the "Texas" stars were gone. Kerry Von Erich had signed with the WWF, Kevin's career was curtailing, and the remaining wrestlers for the most part would wrestle in the now-Memphis-based USWA (wrestlers like Eric Embry, Tom Pritchard, John Tatum, and Steve Austin).

So by 1991, the Memphis-based USWA was a moderately successful promotion. On the negative side, the selection of champions (The Soultaker and King Cobra are two that come to mind) would ultimately destroy any credibility of the Unified "World" title (which unified nothing, since it was now one promotion). Still, on the positive side, with much of the World Class talent (Embry, Pritchard, Austin, etc.) and good talent of their own (Lawler, Gilbert, Jarrett, etc.), the USWA was in full swing. Angles like the infamous Jerry Lawler-Eddie Gilbert "car" angle had rekindled old feuds, and had people filling the Mid-South Coliseum again. Now with the USWA as one solid promotion, they would bring in the greatest tag team in Memphis history - The Fabulous Ones, as well as hardcore legend Terry Funk (who was immediately given the Unified World title during the on-again, off-again cross promotion with the Texas group before they finally withdrew), to bring up houses. So with the final withdrawal by World Class, although many of their wrestlers (such as Chris Adams, Scott Levy, and Rod Price) would go over to Global, the USWA had many of the Texas-based wrestlers. With Embry as a babyface, the decision was made to turn him heel, and join him along with the other Texans (Austin, Pritchard, and Funk - among others) as a heel group, and the idea of a Texas-Tennessee civil war was born.

Source: http://www.kayfabememories.com/Regions/uswaintro.htm and http://www.kayfabememories.com/Regions/uswa2.htm

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