In the territory age of wrestling there were many notable, famous, revered, and forgotten wrestling territories. I feel Southwest Championship Wrestling falls under the “forgotten” category.
The beginning of Southwest is kinda muddy, and requires a deep dive in order to fully understand. But essentially, Roy Welch who ran Nashville, expanded into Alabama and Florida. He ran 2 promotions essentially, so his son Buddy Fuller ran the southern portion of the territory, and he stayed in Nashville. Eventually, Fuller expanded his end into Mississippi and Louisiana.
Buddy Fullers end of the territory did not have their own wrestlers, so he had to Borrow from his father and uncles to keep afloat. The Welch’s at the time ran a monopoly over the south east. After a while, Fuller wasn’t able to keep up with the financial obligations of his end, and needed help. The territory was eventually bought from Welch and Fuller and named Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling.
In 1974, Ron Fuller bought Knoxville and founded Southeast Championship Wrestling. In 1977 he bought his fathers old territory, expanding into Alabama. The promotion enjoyed a nice period of success until 1979 when the infamous Knoxville 5 broke off and formed their own promotion. (I recommend looking up their exposé). Financial pressure lead Fuller to sell Knoxville, and focus on Birmingham as his main end.
Following the move, the promotion enjoyed a 5 year period of success, producing possibly their best wrestling ever. The promotion featured Austin Idol, Bi Centennial Kings, Kevin Sullivan, the Freebirds, Arn Anderson among others.
in 1985 Knoxville was bought back and the promotion was renamed Continental Championship Wrestling. Gordon Solie was their main announcer, and they began to run bigger buildings in The south east in an attempt to go national. The promotion was quite successful, and still continued their tradition of producing great wrestling.
Who can forget the epic moment when Doug Furnas made his debut in Christmas night 1986. What does this video remind you of?
Or bullet Bob getting awin over Hulk Hogan.
Long story short, I recommend checking out some Southeastern(Continental) wrestling out. There is plenty on YouTube for you to view. Trust me, you will not regret checking out and learning more about one of the forgotten promotions of the Territory Era
The beginning of Southwest is kinda muddy, and requires a deep dive in order to fully understand. But essentially, Roy Welch who ran Nashville, expanded into Alabama and Florida. He ran 2 promotions essentially, so his son Buddy Fuller ran the southern portion of the territory, and he stayed in Nashville. Eventually, Fuller expanded his end into Mississippi and Louisiana.
Buddy Fullers end of the territory did not have their own wrestlers, so he had to Borrow from his father and uncles to keep afloat. The Welch’s at the time ran a monopoly over the south east. After a while, Fuller wasn’t able to keep up with the financial obligations of his end, and needed help. The territory was eventually bought from Welch and Fuller and named Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling.
In 1974, Ron Fuller bought Knoxville and founded Southeast Championship Wrestling. In 1977 he bought his fathers old territory, expanding into Alabama. The promotion enjoyed a nice period of success until 1979 when the infamous Knoxville 5 broke off and formed their own promotion. (I recommend looking up their exposé). Financial pressure lead Fuller to sell Knoxville, and focus on Birmingham as his main end.
Following the move, the promotion enjoyed a 5 year period of success, producing possibly their best wrestling ever. The promotion featured Austin Idol, Bi Centennial Kings, Kevin Sullivan, the Freebirds, Arn Anderson among others.
in 1985 Knoxville was bought back and the promotion was renamed Continental Championship Wrestling. Gordon Solie was their main announcer, and they began to run bigger buildings in The south east in an attempt to go national. The promotion was quite successful, and still continued their tradition of producing great wrestling.
Who can forget the epic moment when Doug Furnas made his debut in Christmas night 1986. What does this video remind you of?
Or bullet Bob getting awin over Hulk Hogan.
Long story short, I recommend checking out some Southeastern(Continental) wrestling out. There is plenty on YouTube for you to view. Trust me, you will not regret checking out and learning more about one of the forgotten promotions of the Territory Era
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I appreciate any wrestling history lessons