 | |
| Sport | Bull riding |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2002 |
| Country |  United States |
| Most recent champion(s) |  Cody Jesus |
| Official website | CBRbull.com |
Championship Bull Riding, Inc. (CBR) was a professional bull riding organization that was based in Weatherford, Texas, United States. [1]
Stock contractor Terry Williams and Texas businessman Joel Logan founded Championship Bull Riding (CBR) in Carthage, Texas, in 2002. ProRodeo Hall of Fame cowboy [2] and four-time world champion bull rider Tuff Hedeman was an integral part of the live event production and an ambassador for the organization from 2011 to 2018 after serving as president from 2005 to 2011. In early 2018, Hedeman left CBR to start his own organization: the Tuff Hedeman Bull Riding Tour. [3]
Many of the bull riders who competed in CBR were also regulars on the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) circuit.
From 2002 through 2007, CBR was televised on the Outdoor Channel; in 2008 on RFD-TV; from 2009 through 2011 on Great American Country; and from 2012 through 2017 was broadcast on Fox Sports Networks.
The CBR World Finals event was held in different locations of the United States throughout the years. From 2002 through 2005, it was held in Jackson, Mississippi; from 2006 through 2008 in Las Vegas, Nevada; in 2009 and 2010 in Kansas City, Missouri; in 2011 in Loveland, Colorado; and from 2012 through 2018 in Cheyenne, Wyoming, at Cheyenne Frontier Days, held in conjunction with the annual PRCA rodeo there.
From 2009 through 2018, CBR awarded its annual World Champion a $100,000 bonus, and from 2013 through 2017, the winning rider of the World Finals event average was awarded $50,000.
In the summer of 2009, CBR launched the Million Dollar Bull Team Challenge. In these events, teams of 10 stock contractors with three bulls per team competed against each other at selected CBR events by showcasing their bulls against riders for large payout purses and accumulated points towards the year-end Bull Team Challenge championship. [4] The Million Dollar Bull Team Challenge was first held by the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) at certain Built Ford Tough Series (BFTS) events in 2008. [5] However, it was discontinued by said organization after that one year, before being picked up by CBR the following year. Also in the summer of 2009, CBR launched a series of residency events at Cowtown Coliseum in the Historic Stockyards in Fort Worth, Texas, known as the Horizon Series, in which up-and-coming riders competed to try and work their way up to the elite, televised tour. [6]
The Horizon Series became a traveling tour beginning with the 2010 CBR season. [7] In the summer of that year, the Horizon Series expanded include to 52 events at Cowtown Coliseum, as well as events at Billy Bob's Texas, also in the Fort Worth Stockyards. [8] [9] Also in 2010, Cinch Jeans became the title sponsor of the televised CBR tour, thus becoming the Cinch CBR Tour. [10]
In 2013, the Cinch CBR Tour was renamed the Road to Cheyenne Tour.
CBR's Road to Cheyenne Tour and its subsidiary Horizon Series visited over 70 venues annually across the United States. [11]
From 2013 to 2018, CBR's televised Road to Cheyenne Tour was conducted in the proprietary 8 Second Challenge format. 24 riders would compete in the first round, and those who made a successful eight-second ride got paid $500. The top 12 riders based on scores returned to the second round, and those who made a successful eight-second ride got paid $750. The top four riders in the second round would move on to the third and final round and each rider, regardless if they made a successful eight-second ride or not, got paid $1,000. If the event leader rode his bull in the championship round and ended up scoring the most points, he received up to a $20,000 bonus. However, in the middle of the 2018 season, due to many requests from contestants, CBR's Road to Cheyenne Tour returned to a previous competition format where 35 riders would compete in a regular season event for a purse of $30,000. All 35 riders would compete in the long round and the top 15 based on scores would compete in the championship round. The winner of the event would get paid a minimum of $10,000. When the regular season ended, the top 35 riders in the world standings (combining Road to Cheyenne Tour and Horizon Series points) would qualify for the CBR World Finals. The rider who won the most points throughout the regular season and World Finals was crowned the CBR World Champion.
The 2018 Road to Cheyenne Tour regular-season events were not televised and CBR went out of business after its 2018 World Finals. [12] The World Finals itself was produced by the PBR and live-streamed on their paywall-subscription-based video-on-demand service, RidePass (which became a free, ad-supported channel on Pluto TV in July 2021). [13]
After CBR's collapse, the Million Dollar Bull Team Challenge became re-affiliated with the PBR and its events now take place within PBR Velocity Tour stops. [14] The bull-riding events at Cowtown Coliseum that were previously sanctioned by CBR are now also sanctioned by the PBR. [15]
Mike White Ross Johnson Austin Meier Matt Austin Matt Austin Bonner Bolton Clayton Baethge
Hugo Pedrero Luke Kelley Clayton Foltyn Josh Barentine Cole Echols Sage Kimzey Cody Teel Sage Kimzey Sage Kimzey Cody Jesus Luke Kelley Cody White Josh Barentine Tyler Adrian Kritter Lamb Cody Rostockyj Koby Radley John Pitts Braden RichardsonSource: [16]
Lane Clyde Frost was an American professional rodeo cowboy who specialized in bull riding, and competed in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). He was the 1987 PRCA World Champion bull rider. He was also the only rider ever to score a qualified ride on Red Rock, the 1987 PRCA Bucking Bull of the Year.
Bodacious #J-31 was an American bucking bull. He was known throughout the rodeo world as "the world's most dangerous bull". He was also known as "the greatest bull ever to buck". During his rodeo career, he was the 1994 and 1995 Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association (PRCA) Bucking Bull of the Year, as well as the 1995 Professional Bull Riders (PBR) World Champion Bull. He and Bruiser are the only bulls who have won bucking bull world championship titles in both organizations.
Cheyenne Frontier Days is an outdoor rodeo and western celebration in the United States, held annually since 1897 in Cheyenne, Wyoming. It bills itself as the "World's Largest Outdoor Rodeo and Western Celebration." The event, claimed to be one of the largest of its kind in the world, draws nearly 200,000 annually. Lodging fills up quickly during the peak tourist season throughout southern and eastern Wyoming, into northern Colorado and western Nebraska. The celebration is held during the ten days centered about the last full week of July. In 2008, Cheyenne Frontier Days was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame.
8 Seconds is a 1994 American contemporary Western biographical drama film directed by John G. Avildsen. Its title refers to the length of time a bull rider is required to stay on for a ride to be scored. The film stars Luke Perry as American rodeo legend Lane Frost and focuses on his life and career as a bull riding champion. It also features Stephen Baldwin as Tuff Hedeman, and Red Mitchell as Cody Lambert.
Cody Lambert is an American former professional rodeo cowboy. He specialized in saddle bronc riding and bull riding. He was also a co-founder and vice president of the Professional Bull Riders (PBR). He created the protective vest that professional bull riders have been required to wear for many years, after witnessing the death of his friend, Lane Frost at the Cheyenne Frontier Days rodeo in Cheyenne, Wyoming, on July 30, 1989. Since 2022, Lambert has been the head coach of the Texas Rattlers during the PBR Team Series season. In 2023, the Rattlers won the PBR Team Series Championship title.
Richard Neale "Tuff" Hedeman is an American former professional rodeo cowboy who specializes in bull riding. He won the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) bull riding world championship three times, as well as the 1995 Professional Bull Riders (PBR) world championship. He also won the 1993 world championship for the now-defunct Bull Riders Only (BRO) organization. He is also one of the co-founders of the PBR and is known for having been one of rodeo icon Lane Frost's closest friends. He and the infamous bucking bull, Bodacious, had a few historic clashes. He later served as the President of the PBR and then the President and Ambassador of Championship Bull Riding (CBR). In 2018, he formed his own bull riding organization: the Tuff Hedeman Bull Riding Tour (THBRT).
The Professional Bull Riders, Inc. (PBR) is an international professional bull riding organization headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. It is the largest bull riding league in the world, sanctioning hundreds of events every year in the United States, Canada, Brazil, and Australia. Over 800 bull riders from said countries, as well as others hold PBR memberships.
Cowtown Coliseum is a 2,400-seat arena in Fort Worth, Texas, United States, that hosts weekly rodeos. It also occasionally hosts concerts and local team sporting events.
Adriano Silva Morães is a Brazilian former professional rodeo cowboy who specialized in bull riding. He was one of the leading bull riders in the world from the mid-1990s to 2000s, with two titles at the National Finals Rodeo (NFR) and three Professional Bull Riders (PBR) world titles to his credit.
Michael Riley Lee is an American professional rodeo cowboy who specializes in bull riding. He was the 2004 Professional Bull Riders (PBR) PBR World Champion. He competed consistently in said organization from 2001 through 2017. However, he announced his retirement from the PBR in November 2017. He then competed in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA), Championship Bull Riding (CBR), and Tuff Hedeman Bull Riding Tour (THBR) circuits, but later mainly rode in regional semi-professional bull riding organizations for the next five years. In the summer of 2022, he announced on his Instagram page his return to the PBR. He would ride sporadically in the PBR in 2022 and 2023 before returning to the semi-pro circuit in 2024.
DonaldGay is an American former professional rodeo cowboy who specialized in bull riding. He won eight Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) bull riding world championships; a record as of 2024. His father, Neal Gay, was a well-known rodeo competitor and later rodeo producer and stock contractor. Don was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 1979; Neal was inducted in 1993, becoming the only father and son to receive that honor. In 2015, Don was inducted into the Bull Riding Hall of Fame.
James Carroll Sharp is an American former professional rodeo cowboy who specialized in bull riding. In 1988, he became the first bull rider in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA)'s National Finals Rodeo history to successfully ride each of his 10 bulls during the champion-crowning event. The record-breaking performance earned Sharp his first of two PRCA World Champion Bull Rider titles. He rode professionally for nearly 20 years, and was a co-founder of the Professional Bull Riders (PBR). He is considered among the most talented bull riders in history.
The Professional Bull Riders Heroes and Legends celebration honors five divisions in the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) and Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA), including the best bucking bulls.
The Bull Riding Hall of Fame, located at Cowtown Coliseum in the Fort Worth Stockyards in Fort Worth, Texas, United States, is a hall of fame for the sport of bull riding. It is incorporated as a non-profit organization in the State of Texas, and created to "recognize, memorialize, and applaud the bull riders, bullfighters, bulls, stock contractors, events, and individuals who have made a historic contribution and attained stellar performance in the sport." Membership is open to fans worldwide.
James William Harris, known as J.W. Harris is an American former professional rodeo cowboy who specialized in bull riding. He competed on the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA), Championship Bull Riding (CBR), and Professional Bull Riders (PBR) circuits. He won the PRCA bull riding world championship four times at the National Finals Rodeo (NFR). Harris is the first bull rider since Don Gay to win four PRCA bull riding world titles. He is also the first since Gay to win three of them consecutively. Harris was also the 2014 PBR Rookie of the Year.
The Unleash the Beast Series (UTB) is the Premier Series of the Professional Bull Riders (PBR). Monster Beverage Corporation is the current series sponsor for the premiership since 2018. From its founding in 1994 through 2002, it was sponsored by Anheuser-Busch (Bud Light Cup Series), and Ford Motor Company (Built Ford Tough Series) from 2003 through 2017.
Bull Riders Only, Inc. (BRO) was a professional bull riding organization based in Englewood, Colorado, United States.
Sage Steele Kimzey is an American professional rodeo cowboy who specializes in bull riding. For most of his career, he competed in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA), winning seven bull riding world championships. He also competed in the now-defunct Championship Bull Riding (CBR) organization, where he won three world championships. In 2023, he began riding for the Carolina Cowboys during the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) Team Series season. Since 2024, he competes full-time in the PBR. As of the 2025 PBR Team Series season, he will ride for the Austin Gamblers.
"The Last Ride" was a professional rodeo accident that happened on July 30, 1989, at the Cheyenne Frontier Days rodeo, that resulted in the death of professional bull rider, Lane Frost. He had just ridden a bull named Takin' Care of Business when, after he dismounted, the bull struck him in the back, causing severe internal injuries. Frost then stood up for a moment before collapsing. He died on the arena floor before he could be transported to the hospital.
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