Houston Harris was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Bobo Brazil. Credited with breaking down barriers of racial segregation in professional wrestling, Harris is considered one of the first black professional wrestlers.
Robert Herman Julius Friedrich, better known by the ring name Ed "Strangler" Lewis, was an American professional wrestler and trainer. During his wrestling career, which spanned four decades, Lewis was a four-time World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion and overall recognized officially as a five-time world champion. Considered to be one of the most iconic and recognizable sports stars of the 1920s, often alongside boxer Jack Dempsey and baseball player Babe Ruth, Lewis notably wrestled in over 6,000 matches and lost only 32 of them.
The National Wrestling Association (NWA) was an early professional wrestling sanctioning body created in 1930 by the National Boxing Association as an attempt to create a governing body for professional wrestling in the United States. The group created a number of "World" level championships as an attempt to clear up the professional wrestling rankings which at the time saw a number of different championships promoted as the "true world champion". The National Wrestling Association's NWA World Heavyweight Championship was later considered part of the historical lineage of the National Wrestling Alliance's NWA World Heavyweight Championship when then National Wrestling Association champion Lou Thesz won the National Wrestling Alliance championship, folding the original championship into one title in 1949.
Robert Frederick Geigel was an American professional wrestling promoter and professional wrestler. He operated the Kansas City, Missouri-based Heart of America Sports Attractions promotion from 1963 to 1986, and served three terms as the president of the National Wrestling Alliance from 1978 to 1980, from 1982 to 1985, and finally from 1986 to 1987.
William John Potts, was a Canadian professional wrestler best known by his ring name "Whipper" Billy Watson. He was a two-time world champion, having held both the National Wrestling Association title and the National Wrestling Alliance title.
Orville Brown was an American professional wrestler. He is a thirteen-time world champion and was recognized as the first NWA World Heavyweight Champion in 1948. Brown's professional wrestling career ended on November 1, 1949, when he suffered severe injuries in an automobile accident.
Frank Sexton was an American professional wrestler in the early to mid-twentieth century. Along with Orville Brown, Bill Longson, and Lou Thesz, he was one of the biggest stars of the 1940s. A multiple-time world champion, his most significant run was as the Boston American Wrestling Association (AWA) World Heavyweight Champion from June 27, 1945 until May 23, 1950, when he lost the championship to Don Eagle in Cleveland, Ohio. Sexton died in 1990.
Everett Marshall was an American professional wrestler, who won championship titles in the Midwest Wrestling Association (MWA), National Wrestling Association (NWA) and Rocky Mountains.
Heart of America Sports Attractions, Inc., operating as the Midwest Wrestling Association, Central States Wrestling and the World Wrestling Alliance, was an American professional wrestling promotion that ran shows mainly in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa. Due to the promotion's main office and base of operations being in Kansas City, Missouri the territory was often referred to simply as "Kansas City". The promotion existed from July 1948 until it closed in 1989. The territory was one of the original territories of the National Wrestling Alliance with two of the six "founding fathers" of the NWA promoting in it.
Leroy Michael McGuirk was an American amateur and professional wrestler, and wrestling promoter. He was involved in professional wrestling for more than fifty years. As one of the longest surviving members of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), he was affiliated with the promotion from 1949 to 1982, where he was a one-time NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion.
The MWA World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in the Kansas City, Kansas-based Midwest Wrestling Association (MWA). It was the direct predecessor of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) World Heavyweight Championship, and a successor of sorts to the early world heavyweight championships. The title was created in 1940, and first held by Bobby Bruns that January.
Ken Fenelon was an American professional wrestler, boxer, promoter and referee. He was the first NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion and the first two-time holder of the title which he held for a total of 301 days.
Marshall Wallace Esteppe was an American amateur and professional wrestler. He wrestled primarily throughout the National Wrestling Alliance where he became a three-time World Junior Heavyweight Champion. Following his retirement from professional wrestling, Esteppe became wrestling coach at the University of Missouri. He coached four years voluntarily and is remembered by the university through their "Marshall Esteppe Most Outstanding Freshman" wrestler award, for his role in relaunching M.U.'s wrestling program.
Albert Joe Criswell, better known as Joe McCarthy, was an American professional wrestler who competed in the 1950s and 1960s primarily throughout the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) where he was a former NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion. He was a prominent competitor for various NWA territories including Nick Gulas's NWA Mid-America and Leroy McGuirk's NWA Tri-State.
Albert C. Haft was a wrestler, wrestling and boxing promoter and wrestling trainer who was a prominent promoter in the United States from the late 1910s until the 1960s, running his operations primarily from Columbus, Ohio. He founded the Midwest Wrestling Alliance and was one of the founding members of the National Wrestling Alliance in 1948.
James Orville Browning was an American professional wrestler.
The World Heavyweight Championship was an American professional wrestling championship created and sanctioned by the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC). While the Commission sanctioned the title, it did not promote the events in which the Championship was defended. From 1929 until 1931, the American Wrestling Association (AWA) controlled the Championship. The AWA World Heavyweight Championship was recognized by the CSAC as the world championship until May 4, 1931, when the Commission refused to recognize Henri Deglane's victory over Ed "Strangler" Lewis in Montreal, Quebec, as the title had changed hands via disqualification rather than the traditional pinfall or submission. Lewis remained champion in California, and a separate lineage was created.
Theodore Thye was an American wrestler, promotor and manager in the United States.
