After debuting in the AWA-affiliated Continental Wrestling Association in Memphis in 1986, Southern joined the American Wrestling Association (AWA) where he received a push early on in 1987, forming a tag team with D.J. Peterson.[2] He also teamed with Jimmy Snuka and won the International Tag Team Championship.[3][4] The title belts were later taken from Southern and awarded to The Mercenaries when Snuka left the territory.[5] After a few appearances with the short-lived Oregon Wrestling Federation,[6] Southern then disappeared from the area as well.[7]
In June 1991, Southern traveled to Japan to try his hand at UWF International (a hybrid of wrestling and kickboxing). He made his debut against Nobuhiko Takada but was dismissed by one commentator as "pretty but ineffective" as he lost badly - it was the first time in UWFi history that a fighter had failed to take a single point off his opponent.[10]
He went on to lose every one of his fights there against Japanese martial-arts fighters (Kazuo Yamazaki, Tatsuo Nakano and Masahito Kakihara) who ruthlessly exploited his weak defense against their explosive kicks.[11][12]
Southern was humiliated by Kazuo Yamazaki in Japan
In a particularly one-sided fight, Southern showed so little fighting spirit that his opponent Kazuo Yamazaki was enraged by what he saw as Southern's cowardice. The commentators noted that, as a result, Yamazaki began treating Southern with contempt and a total lack of respect. He proceeded to humiliate him by inflicting upon him several indignities which fellow fighters are normally spared from. Yamazaki showboated, grabbed hold of JT's leg only to push him down falling unceremoniously onto his backside, then grinded Southern's face into his armpit and later kicked Southern in the face. At one point the referee had stepped in to temporarily halt the fight and check on Southern's wellbeing, but Yamazaki refused to respect the pause and swept JT's legs from under him anyway, sending him crashing once again onto the floor. Even after JT had lost the fight by surrendering to Yamazaki's submission hold, Yamazaki refused to release the hold, leaving Southern squirming frantically on the canvas for some time until the referee intervened to rescue him. JT had endured a torrid time but his ordeal was still not over yet as Yamazaki came back, towered over a demoralised JT, now collapsed prostrate on the ground and barely able to stand, and continued to taunt him and threaten further punishment. Fortunately, the referee stepped in to stop Yamazaki doing any further damage.[13]
His legs suffered severe bruising, and JT decided enough was enough and he quit the UWFI after suffering four straight defeats.
World Championship Wrestling
He eventually got his big break with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1992 - with long blond locks and good guitar-playing skills, he was given a rock-star wrestler gimmick and was brought in to start a feud with fellow rocker Van Hammer.[7][13][14] He made his WCW debut on the March 28 edition WCW Power Hour against Chris Sullivan.[15][16]
He was known for his garishly camp outfits and flamboyant persona - he would typically come to the ring playing an electric guitar and wearing a fringed tiger-striped jacket and fluorescent shredded tights. His interviews and out-of-ring promotional work were all well-received, but his wrestling skills were widely regarded as below-par and the crowds were not entertained,[13] as Southern made hard work of defeating "jobber" and mid-card wrestlers like Joey Maggs and Firebreaker Chip.[15][16] Maggs later commented that "J.T. Southern was so bad that I pulled a good match out of him. But the fact that nobody else could get a match out of him made me feel good."[17]
In March 1992, he brought his friend Scotty Flamingo (who had a similar flamboyant spoiled rich-boy gimmick) to WCW as a sidekick to help regenerate interest in his feud with Van Hammer, but before long Flamingo's popularity had surpassed Southern's and his talent had made him into one of WCW's most marketable stars. With Southern unable to compete with him, he was demoted to the role of being Flamingo's groupie - he would do the ring-entry with Flamingo and remain at ringside for his fights, sometimes interfering if Scotty was struggling.[13][15][16][18]
However, Southern's actual wrestling matches became more and more infrequent - he suffered a few losses to his arch rival Van Hammer (including an embarrassing loss within 40 seconds) but these matches did not get any screen time as other matches were chosen for the TV shows instead. In one of Flamingo's matches against Johnny B. Badd, ring-commentator Tony Schiavone cheekily asked co-commentator Jesse Ventura whether Southern was Flamingo's manager. His lack of prowess in the ring led to insiders cheekily suggesting that 'JT' stood for "Just Terrible".[19] Southern was released by WCW in the summer of 1992.
United States Wrestling Association
After leaving WCW, Southern returned to his old stomping grounds in Memphis, where the CWA was now known as the United States Wrestling Association (USWA). However, after wrestling two matches, he was released from the company.
Personal life
He is now retired from wrestling altogether, but has instead made a successful career in racing vintage and post-vintage motocross bikes-mainly in American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association events.[13] He writes for VMX Magazine and runs Jake's Garage in Nashville, Tennessee where he has gained widespread acclaim on the national vintage motocross circuit for his innovative designs.[20] He also finds time to compete in some of the races competitively himself. He is known for his sportsmanship and generosity with fellow competitors, where he can be seen racing several national AHRMA events annually.
Robert Keith Orton Jr., better known by the ring name "Cowboy" Bob Orton, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is the son of professional wrestler Bob Orton Sr., the brother of professional wrestler Barry Orton, and the father of professional wrestler Randy Orton. He is best known for his time in the WWF. He has also wrestled for several promotions in the United States, Japan, and other countries.
Thomas Richardson is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Tommy “Wildfire” Rich. He is a one time former National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Champion and Smoky Mountain Wrestling Heavyweight Champion. He primarily appeared in Georgia Championship Wrestling and Memphis throughout the 1980s, as well as World Championship Wrestling, Smoky Mountain Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling throughout the 1990s. He is a 1974 graduate of Hendersonville High School.
Paul Worden Taylor III is an American retired professional wrestler better known by his ring name Terry Taylor and for his time as an in-ring performer in National Wrestling Alliance, World Championship Wrestling, and World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment. From 2003 until 2011, he worked as a road agent, trainer, interviewer and the director of talent relations in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Since 2012, Taylor has worked as a trainer in WWE's developmental territory, NXT.
Richard Wendell Morton is an American professional wrestler, currently performing on the independent circuit. For most of his career, Morton has performed with Robert Gibson as The Rock N' Roll Express, described as "the consummate baby face tag team". Morton has wrestled for multiple promotions in the United States including the Continental Wrestling Association, Mid-South Wrestling, Jim Crockett Promotions, World Championship Wrestling, Smoky Mountain Wrestling, the World Wrestling Federation, and Extreme Championship Wrestling, as well as the Japanese promotions All Japan Pro Wrestling, New Japan Pro-Wrestling, and Wrestle Association R.
Robert Gibson is an American professional wrestler. He is best known as one half of the tag team known as The Rock 'n' Roll Express, with Ricky Morton. He has competed in singles competition also, and has won various singles championships throughout his career.
The Fabulous Freebirds were a professional wrestling tag team who attained fame in the 1980s, performing into the 1990s. The team usually consisted of three wrestlers, although in different situations and points in its history, just two performed under the Freebirds name. The Freebird version of Hayes, Roberts, and Gordy was inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2015, and members Hayes, Roberts, Gordy, and Garvin were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2016.
Thomas Edward "Eddie" Gilbert Jr. was an American professional wrestler and booker, better known by his ring name, "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert.
The Rock 'n' Roll Express is a professional wrestling tag team consisting of professional wrestlers Robert Gibson and Ricky Morton. The duo began teaming together in Memphis in the early 1980s, followed by Mid-South Wrestling, followed by a stint with Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). They held the NWA World Tag Team Championship nine times, with the first four times in JCP. They also feuded with The Four Horsemen. In the late 1980s, they were contenders for the American Wrestling Association's AWA World Tag Team Championship. By 1991, the team was losing momentum, and Morton turned heel on his partner to join The York Foundation in World Championship Wrestling (WCW). In 1992, the team reformed in Smoky Mountain Wrestling, where they held the SMW Tag Team Championship ten times. The duo also worked in the World Wrestling Federation. On March 31, 2017, the Rock 'n' Roll Express was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by Jim Cornette.
Wallace Stanfield "Stan" Lane is an American retired professional wrestler and color commentator. He is best known for his appearances with the Continental Wrestling Association (CWA), Jim Crockett Promotions and World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in the 1980s. Primarily a tag team wrestler, Lane held championships including the AWA Southern Tag Team Championship, NWA United States Tag Team Championship, NWA World Tag Team Championship, and SMW Tag Team Championship as part of The Fabulous Ones, The Midnight Express, and The Heavenly Bodies.
Union of Professional Wrestling Force International, better known as UWF International, U-Inter, or simply UWFi, was a shoot style professional wrestling promotion in Japan from 1991 to 1996. The UWF international was the successor to the Newborn UWF that ran from 1988 to 1990, which itself was the successor to the original Universal Wrestling Federation. Although the matches were predetermined, the UWF-i was very convincing for its time, promoting a combat-based style featuring a mix of wrestling, submission grappling and kickboxing. In retrospect, UWFi, along with other shoot-style promotions, served as a precursor to mixed martial arts and to popular Japanese MMA promotions, particularly Pride FC. The promotion was also known for hiring dangerous shooters Lou Thesz, Billy Robinson and Danny Hodge as trainers and promoters of their product in order to establish legitimate credibility.
Richard Harris is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Black Bart.
William Cruickshanks is a retired Scottish-born Australian professional wrestler and author better known by his stage name Bill Dundee. Cruickshanks is the father of Jamie Dundee and the father-in-law of wrestler Bobby Eaton.
The Fantastics were a professional wrestling tag team composed of Bobby Fulton and Tommy Rogers that worked together extensively between 1984 and 2007. At times, Bobby Fulton would team up with his brother Jackie Fulton under the same name.
Stephen Paul Keirn is an American retired professional wrestler. He is a graduate of Port Tampa's Robinson High School. He is best known for his appearances in multiple National Wrestling Alliance territories as one-half of the tag team The Fabulous Ones, as well as his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation under the ring name Skinner.
Patrick Tanaka is an American professional wrestler best known for his work in the American Wrestling Association as one half of Badd Company and the World Wrestling Federation as one half of The Orient Express. He is the son of Duke Keomuka.
Michael Morgan is a former professional wrestler from New Zealand who competed in the National Wrestling Alliance, World Championship Wrestling and World Class Championship Wrestling best known as Rip Morgan. Best known as one half of the New Zealand Militia in WCW with Jack Victory. Morgan also wrestled in the NAWA/SAPW with Jack Victory as "The Royal Family". He was the last flag bearer for the original New Zealand Sheepherders. He was formerly the CEO of the now defunct Wellington-based professional wrestling promotion Kiwi Pro Wrestling.
Michael Davis was an American professional wrestler best known as one half of the tag team Rock 'n' Roll RPMs with Tommy Lane which lasted several years. The RPM's were one of the best-known heel tag teams throughout the southern United States in promotions such as World Class Championship Wrestling and the Continental Wrestling Association based out of Memphis. Mike Davis was also a member of Kevin Sullivan's faction known as the Army of Darkness.
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