Where Wrestling's Regional History Lives!
 |
|
You are here: Home>Regional Territories>Central States>Intro
|
Where Wrestling's Regional History Lives! |
|
|||||
|
- Tony D. The NWA Central States Area dates back to the 1920’s. Tom Packs was a promoter in St. Louis from 1922 to 1946. Midwest promoters included the late Orville Brown, followed by George Simpson. Gust Karras from St. Joseph, Missouri, contributed in boosting professional wrestling on a national scale. Pinky George and Gust Karras were the promoters in Iowa, while George Simpson and Orville Brown promoted in Kansas City until Bob Geigel took over in 1958. Bob Geigel promoted in Kansas City for almost 30 years. After Geigel, Jim Crockett Jr. promoted for a few months in 1986 and 1987 until Bob Geigel took back over until the Central States area closed down in 1988. The Central States area ran shows in Kansas and Missouri, and extended to Nebraska, Iowa and Illinois. The NWA Central States area became a member of The National Wrestling Alliance since it was organized in Waterloo, Iowa in 1948.The television program of the Central States area was "All-Star Wrestling." It was filmed during their weekly Thursday night card in Memorial Hall in Kansas City. The matches were shown in my area on Sunday mornings at 8 AM on KSHB TV Channel 41. Wrestlers that appeared in the Central States area in the 1970’s included: Bob Geigel (who was head booker and promoter in the late 1970’s and 1980’s), Harley Race, "Bulldog" Bob Brown, "The Freight Train" Rufus R. Jones, Black Angus Campbell, Roger "Nature Boy" Kirby, Mike George, Jesse Ventura, Danny Little Bear, The Viking, "Big O" Bob Orton, Steve Bolus, Pat O’Connor, Frankie Diamond, Omar Atlas, Bobby Whitlock, Mike George, Sonny Myers and Ronnie Etchinson. Wrestlers that wrestled in the Central States area in the 1980’s included: Harley Race, "Bulldog" Bob Brown, "The Freight Train" Rufus R. Jones, Roger "Nature Boy" Kirby, "Crazy" Luke Graham (Sr.), T.G. Stone, Scott Ferris, The Grapplers (Grappler #1 and Grappler #2 aka Len Denton and Tony Anthony, The Dirty White Boys), The Uptown Boys (Marty Jannetty and Tommy Rogers), Shawn Michaels (whom Marty teamed with in 1985), Ted and Jerry Oates, Art Crews, Buzz "Avalanche" Tyler, Ron Ritchie, Tom "Boogaloo" Shaft, Ted and Jerry Oates, Tom Ivy, Mike George, "Hercules" Ray Hernandez (Hercules in The WWF), More...
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
