The Universal Wrestling Federation was a 1986 re-branding of wrestler-turned-owner Bill Watts' Mid-South Wrestling promotion. Watts' goal was to elevate his promotion from a relatively smaller, regional-level business, to a national-level rival of the World Wrestling Federation. However, Watts' business strategy quickly swung from "overnight" success to catastrophic failure, resulting in the 1987 sale of the UWF to another rival: Jim Crockett Promotions. The promotion began as an NWA territory, NWA Tri-State, founded by Leroy McGuirk in the 1950s. Tri-State/Mid-South/UWF promoted in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi until 1987.
Bobby Lee Eaton was an American professional wrestler best known as "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton. He was most famous for his work in tag teams, especially as one-half of The Midnight Express. Under the management of Jim Cornette, he originally teamed with Dennis Condrey and, later on, with Stan Lane. He also worked with a number of other tag team partners, including Arn Anderson, Koko B. Ware, Steve Keirn, and Lord Steven Regal.
Larry Heiniemi is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Lars Anderson. His career spans over a decade of performing in National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) territories as well as the American Wrestling Association (AWA).
The Midnight Express was the name used by several professional wrestling tag teams of changing members, usually under the management of Jim Cornette. The group started in 1980 with Dennis Condrey and Randy Rose in Southeast Championship Wrestling. In 1981 they were joined by Norvell Austin. This group disbanded in 1983, but later the same year a new version of the Midnight Express was formed in Mid-South Wrestling by teaming up Condrey and Bobby Eaton, with Cornette as their manager. After leaving Mid-South, the Midnight Express competed briefly in WCCW (Dallas) before moving on to Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). Condrey left in 1987, and was replaced by Stan Lane. Eaton and Lane competed in JCP and WCW, where they briefly feuded with "The Original Midnight Express" of Condrey and Rose. This version of the Midnight Express disbanded in October 1990 when Cornette and Lane left WCW. In 1998, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) teamed up Bob Holly and Bart Gunn as "The Midnight Express", who were also managed by Jim Cornette. From 2004 until 2011 various combinations of Condrey, Eaton, and Lane competed as The Midnight Express on the independent circuit.
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.
James Harold Fanning is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name "Handsome" Jimmy Valiant.
Dennis Condrey is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with the Continental Wrestling Association, Jim Crockett Promotions and World Championship Wrestling in the 1970s and 1980s.
Gregory Alan Gagne is an American retired professional wrestler. He is the son of Verne Gagne. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, he achieved his biggest success as one-half of tag team the High Flyers with Jim Brunzell. The High Flyers enjoyed a number of high-profile feuds within the American Wrestling Association (AWA) with the likes of Bobby Duncum and Blackjack Lanza, Pat Patterson and Ray "The Crippler" Stevens, the East-West Connection, and the Sheiks.
Joel Lofton Jones is an American professional wrestler, better known as Joel Deaton or Joe Deaton. He is most noticed for being one of the members of a tag team in Jim Crockett Promotions known as the Thunderfoots. He was the original Thunderfoot.
William F. Watts Jr. is a retired American professional wrestler, promoter and former American football player. Watts garnered fame under his "Cowboy" gimmick in his wrestling career, and then as a promoter in the Mid-South United States, which grew to become the Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF).
Joseph Hamilton was an American professional wrestler, promoter, and trainer. He was best known as one half of the tag team The Assassins where he was called "Assassin #1". When the Assassins ended, He wrestled as "The Assassin" and "The Flame" both while wearing a mask.
Randall Alls is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Randy Rose.
Archibald Edward Gouldie was a Canadian professional wrestler. He wrestled for Stampede Wrestling for decades as Archie "The Stomper" Gouldie, with the nickname coming from the wrestler's reputation of "stomping" on his opponents, when they were down, with his black cowboy boots. He was also known by the ring name The Mongolian Stomper.
The Assassins were a masked professional wrestling tag team from the 1960s to the 1980s. Jody Hamilton, the original Assassin, was a member throughout the various incarnations of the team, teaming with Tom Renesto, Roger Smith, Randy Colley, Hercules Hernandez and Ray Fambrough while donning the masks.
Superstars of Wrestling is a nationally syndicated professional wrestling television program that aired throughout the United States from 1986 to 1992. Created and produced by Joe Pedicino, the series broadcast eight hours of wrestling from around the country and was the first to provide national coverage of both the National Wrestling Alliance and international promotions. It was also the earliest U.S. television show to regularly broadcast Japanese puroresu and joshi wrestling as part of the Fuji Television Network's efforts to develop a market in the American television industry.
Continental Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion based in Knoxville, Tennessee, and Dothan, Alabama, from 1985 until 1989, owned by Ron Fuller. The promotion evolved out of the NWA-affiliated Southeastern Championship Wrestling and Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling territories owned by Fuller, who purchased the Knoxville territory from John Cazana in 1974 and the Alabama/Florida territory in 1977. When Fuller sold the promotion to David Woods in 1988, the name was changed to Continental Wrestling Federation.
Thomas R. Couch was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Tommy Rogers. He was one-half of the tag team The Fantastics with Bobby Fulton.
Joe Pedicino was an American professional wrestling announcer, commentator, promoter, television and radio producer. He was a well-known on-air personality in regional territories of the Southern United States during the 1980s, being an announcer and commentator for Jim Crockett Promotions and World Championship Wrestling, and as host of the nationally syndicated Superstars of Wrestling with his wife Boni Blackstone and Gordon Solie from 1986 to 1992.
Bonnie "Boni" Blackstone is a retired American professional wrestling announcer, commentator, model, television and radio producer. She was a popular on-air personality in regional territories of the Southern United States during the 1980s, as part of the announcing team in the Global Wrestling Federation and briefly the World Wrestling Federation, as well as the longtime co-host of Superstars of Wrestling with husband Joe Pedicino and Gordon Solie from 1986 to 1992. She was one of the earliest, if not the first, female announcers in professional wrestling and has been praised by fellow women in the industry, such as Missy Hyatt, for portraying a more serious and intelligent personality in contrast to the typical wrestling valet.
Steve Gower, better known by his ring name Steve "The Brawler" Lawler, was an American professional wrestler and trainer. He was a mainstay of regional and independent promotions in the Southern United States since the early 1980s, especially in Georgia and the Carolinas, having wrestled for Deep South Wrestling, Southern Championship Wrestling, Georgia All-Star Wrestling, North Georgia Wrestling Association, Peach State Wrestling and Dusty Rhodes' Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling. In later years, he appeared with other NWA veterans for the revived Georgia Championship Wrestling.
