United States Wrestling Association

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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.

1 History
2 Championships of USWA
3 Stars of USWA
4 Talent exchange wrestlers in USWA
5 External links

[edit] 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.

A combination of a poor line up, 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.

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.

Jerry Jarrett and his son, Jeff Jarrett, later founded Total Nonstop Action Wrestling out of Nashville, Tennessee (which fans say surpasses the quality of old USWA).