Cooley, a mid-sized wrestler with tons of charisma, went from being glorified enhancement talent under the Southeastern Championship Wrestling banner to arguably the flagship wrestler during the Continental years. In my own opinion, I'd say Cooley shared the flagship wrestler title, the "franchise," if you will, with Tom Prichard and, early in the Continental years, The Bullet. If you're not familiar with Cooley, imagine a slightly smaller version of "Nature Boy" Ric Flair, with black hair, a mustache and beard. Cooley's build was very similar, only somewhat smaller; he weighed about 235. Cooley wrestled in SECW on and off before traveling to other areas in the south and southwest, namely Texas and the Memphis promotion. He also wrestled under the name "Rick Casey." He returned to Continental as part of a strong younger talent roster: the Armstrong boys (Brad, Scott and Steve), Johnny Rich, Tim Horner, and Tom Prichard. All were then fixtures of the promotion. Throw in such already-established wrestlers like Robert & Ron Fuller, Jimmy Golden, Roy Lee Welch, the incomparable Jerry Stubbs, Adrian Street, Bob Armstrong, Jody Hamilton and Tommy "Wildfire" Rich, and there was a lot, and I mean a LOT, of factors that made Continental a fantastic promotion in late 1985, early 1986. Cooley was put in a good situation to succeed very early upon returning to Continental. 

The young potential-filled Florida wrestler was pitted in a feud against Southeastern champion "Exotic" Adrian Street, a negative heat-drawing machine like few wrestlers I've ever seen. Street, whose effeminate mannerisms, makeup, British discontent with the United States and microphone talents made him a target of Continental fans, had just finished a lengthy feud with Norvell Austin. Honestly, I've seen few wrestlers draw heat the way Street could, even to this day in 2004.

Street's valet (his real-life significant other), Miss Linda, helped him draw the heat by her constant interference in his matches (fans hated Linda literally as much as they did Street). The cowboy-look Cooley, who often wore chaps and vests early in his Continental days, was the complete opposite of Street. Cooley's entrance music was Hank Williams, Jr.'s "If Heaven Ain't A Lot Like Dixie," and even sometimes the gritty tunes of Ted Nugent's "Cat Scratch Fever." His move: a bulldog, which he would signal to the fans he was about to perform with a slight twist of his hand as he held up his index finger. Cooley called the move the "Oklahoma Stampede."  "Dr. Death" Steve Williams also sometimes referred to his running powerslam as the "Oklahoma Stampede" but it was a different move entirely. Anyway, I've gotta be honest, being a new wrestling fan in early 1986 (I started watching Continental in August, 1985), I really didn't care for either Cooley or Street at first. Street for obvious reasons, and Cooley, well just because my initial impression of him was that he was a redneck. Nothing could have been farther from the truth. Cooley's feud with Street turned into a showcase for him with much of the credit for that going to Street, a phenomenal talent for decades in this business. But Cooley had a big role in his own rise, as well. The feud featured all sorts of gimmick matches, loser wears a dress, loser wears a saddle, Texas death, Texas bullrope. If the match could humiliate the loser, Cooley and Street fought it, for the better part of six months. Cooley traded the Southeastern title, the area's secondary title following the name change from SECW to "Continental Championship Wrestling," on several occasions, and finally lost his opportunity to keep the title from Street when Street shocked everyone by turning fan favorite.  More...