Horner would come out of this feud with Prichard and began wrestling veteran Roy Lee Welch. Welch had been active off and on in the area over the last seven years mostly as a mid carder and doing "jobs" on television, never really getting any serious type push. During his series of matches with Horner, Roy Lee joined the remainder of the Welch family and became a full-fledged bad guy although he was never a member of the Stud Stable. Now that I think about it, the fact that Welch was a "Fuller" family tree member was very rarely spoken of, if ever. Being a bad guy was the best effort Roy Lee ever had in the area, and he was very funny in the role of the whining bad guy veteran having to fend off the challenge of the younger "White Lightning" Horner. The most memorable TV angle between the two men happened when Welch had stolen the title belt and an enraged Horner went into the enemy locker room to retrieve the belt to only get jumped by Welch and all the CCW bad guys. The angle happened in Knoxville, Tn. as CCW began showing quite a few clips from K-town at this time. Of course Horner showed up on TV with black eyes, bruises, and cuts from the gang style beat down.

The action over the area's number three championship, Alabama Heavyweight Title, was toned down in the first half of 1986. Mr. Olympia had returned to the area in late 1985, and by early 1986 had joined the Stud Stable to help run Bullet out of the area. Olympia would eventually lose a mask vs. mask to Bullet. Stubbs would then win the Alabama Title over Roberto Soto. Stubbs held the belt for several months before pretty much abandoning the title. Before doing so, the "throw the old belt in the river to get a new belt" angle was done on CCW TV by Stubbs as he threw the title into the Alabama River. The funny thing to me was that the old Alabama belt that had been in use since 1980 was much nicer than the generic looking new belt that took its place.

On the tag team scene, the Nightmares - Rich Cousins battles were still headlining the action over the Southeastern Tag Team titles. Jimmy Golden and Robert Fuller were still very active as well and won the titles from Tommy & Johnny Rich. During this feud Tom Prichard would become the man in the corner of the Stud Stable, not so much as a manger but a second. When Johnny Rich was injured and on the shelf for several weeks Steve Armstrong began teaming with Tommy. During a series of "First Blood" matches between the two teams, Prichard was actually given the surname that would follow him through the rest of his career, "Doctor". Johnny would return to the area under a mask to help out Armstrong & Rich in their battles against the Stable.

Former Midnight Express founder and longtime performer in Birmingham, Norvell Austin entered 1986 as the Southeastern Champion. This was Austin's biggest singles push since battling Jerry Stubbs over the US Jr. title in 1981. The Junkyard Dog, as Austin was known, was involved in a feud with Adrian Street over the Southeastern Title to begin the year. Soon after, Street found himself involved in a war with "hometown boy comes back as a star" Wendell Cooley. Cooley had began his wrestling career in Southeastern around 1982 or so as a weekly TV performer losing to the stars. Cooley had left the area and got his seasoning in San Antonio as a cousin to Scott Casey, going by Rick Casey. Cooley's biggest achievement though was winning the Mid South Tag titles with partner Al Perez while working for Bill Watts' Mid South Wrestling. Before coming into Continental, Cooley, once again as Rick Casey, had a run in Memphis land, winning the International Title on one occasion. The feud between Cooley, (or Gwendoline Cuddly as Street would call him), and Adrian Street was very entertaining to say the least. The two men would trade the title several times. Cooley even won the services of Linda for a short time during this feud. The funniest, and maybe most bizarre, thing to come out of this feud was an Adrian Street song that had to do with him riding Cowboys. Fortunately, I will let that go to your own imagination, as I'd rather not.

1986 saw a heel Robert Fuller getting his first big singles push in the Alabama territory after years as a tag team competitor and starting out the year as Continental Champ. Of course the Fuller - Armstrong war was still hot and heavy as Robert was battling Brad Armstrong for the title. After Brad won the title in Mobile, Fuller was awarded the title back when during a cage match in Montgomery Jimmy Golden and Fuller injured Brad. Several weeks later Brad returned to win the title and began a feud, a damn good one at that, with Mr. Perfect Jerry Stubbs. At the beginning of the feud it seemed most of the matches would have Tim Horner siding with Brad and Tom Prichard siding with Stubbs. Several matches would have the stipulation that which ever team won the match would take control over both the US Jr. title and the Continental title. The feud between Stubbs and Armstrong would last through the summer of '86 with many great action packed bloody battles. What more could you ask for in championship matches, I ask?

Ron Fuller was still very active wrestling and managing in the area as well. At different times men such as Ken Timbs (Mr. Class), Wrestling II, Mr. Olympia, Boomer Lynch, and the Flame were all brought into the Stable to help rid the area of Bob, whoops - sorry, The Bullet. See, even I get Bob and Bullet confused with each other, I can only imagine how difficult it was for The Tennessee Stud.  Two other men that would play key roles in Continental debuted during the summer of '86 as well, Dirty White Boy Tony Anthony and Kevin Sullivan. Frankie Lancaster also made his debut during this period.  Another wrestler that made his first appearance in CCW at this time was the Dirty Dutchmen from Oil Trough, Texas, Dutch Mantell. Mantell came in as a bounty hunter for Ron Fuller, but quickly left the area after just a few weeks on the short end of a Mask vs. Loser leave against Bullet. Mantells' second run in CCW in 1987 would be more high profile.

July - December

As the dog days of summer hit the area, the wars of Golden & Fuller w/ Prichard vs. Tommy Rich & Steve Armstrong w/ Johnny Rich were still atop the Southeastern tag title scene. The feud would come to an end when Golden & Fuller won the belts in a match that also had the stipulations of the losing team must split. In a surreal interview before Tommy Rich left the area, you can tell that Wildfire is half drunk at the interview desk and while he is mumbling I swear it looks as if Gordon Solie is not far behind, even saying "Jack Daniels!" a couple times during the promo while a stunned Steve Armstrong and Johnny Rich look on. Next on the list for the Stud Stable was a team that could only be called a "strange pairing". During a TV interview, Solie asks the Stable about an altercation in the dressing rooms between the Stable and Adrian Street. Golden goes on to say that "fairy" wouldn't stand a chance against him. Then during a TV match in which Golden & Fuller had Bullet handcuffed to the ropes and attempting to rid the mask off him, Street comes out of nowhere to help Bullet, thus starting Adrian's turn to good guy and his teaming with Bullet.  This odd pairing never won the titles, and soon Bullet was teaming with Steve Armstrong. Armstrong & Bullet gained the titles off the Stud Stable very soon, but Golden & Fuller would not get the chance to regain the lost titles. The team of Kevin Sullivan's Headhunters would win the titles of Bullet & Armstrong, but then had to forfeit them.  So for trivia's sake, the New Guinea Head Hunters were the last Southeastern Tag Team Champs. A few weeks later a tournament was held in Knoxville, Tn. to name new Continental Tag Team champs, with Tony Anthony & Jerry Stubbs becoming the first Continental champs, a title the two would win together five more times over the next three years. Of course both men were used to tag battles, Anthony as a member of the masked team the Grapplers and again with Len Denton as the Dirty White Boys, and Stubbs as Mr. Olympia in tag teams with both Ted DiBiase and Junkyard Dog and later as a part of one of the most successful Southeastern champs with Arn Anderson. The team that Stubbs & Anthony defeated to garner the titles was the returning Nightmares, Danny Davis & Ken Wayne. When in the area last, the Nightmares were bad guys, but had come into the area to help Ron Fuller in his battles with Kevin Sullivan's army. This was another good feud as all four men were very good in the ring and also talking on the mic. All the wild stipulation matches were used including the infamous Nightmare Cage Match. The two teams would continue their feud through the end of '86. Also battling in tag wars were Kevin Sullivan's Army and the Stud Stable, now good guys, thanks to Kevin Sullivan's antics in the area, which I will get into later. Sullivan's main team was the Headhunters, with a 3rd  'Hunter joining the mix against Robert, Ron, and Jimmy. One wild match was a Singapore Survival match that had Bullet & Steve vs. Headhunters vs. Golden & Fuller. This match saw Golden, Fuller, and Steve all being injured, two more members of Sullivan's army being introduced - Sheik Abdullah & Kris Von Colt with a run in, Ron Fuller helping Bullet (surprise!), and the Nightmares return to the area. Pretty wild stuff for just one match on TV, huh?  The third 'Hunter came into the area during a cage match on TV between Sullivan & the Hunters vs. Stud Stable. During the end of the match the third Hunter actually came up through the ring to join his brothers and Sullivan to beat up the Stable.

The Roy Welch - Tim Horner feud was winding down as the summer of '86 approached. If I'm not way off base, I think Horner left to work for JCP during this time. During a tournament to crown a new Alabama Champion a new feud would begin over the US Jr. title. Former champ Tom Prichard and current champ Welch ended up paired off against each other. By this time Welch was now referring to himself as King Roy Welch wearing the robe and crown as well. Prichard had started calling Roy Lee the "Margarine" queen, this of course irritating Welch. The fans were behind Prichard in his battles with Welch at this time. Prichard would end 1986 as the US Jr. Champ. 

As stated earlier, Jerry Stubbs pretty much abolished the Alabama title by early summer 1986. In September a tournament was held in Birmingham to crown a new champion, with the winner getting a NWA World Title match with Ric Flair as well. At first former champ Stubbs was banned form participating due to his actions throwing the belt in the Alabama River, however thanks to Stubbs new ally Kevin Sullivan he was allowed in the one night event. The finals came down to Cooley vs. Stubbs with "Wildcat" becoming the new title holder. Cooley and Stubbs would battle for a few weeks before Stubbs left the territory due to injury.  When Stubbs did return he claimed to have been in Japan learning a new move that would be the end of all the good guys in the area, the move would become know to fans later in years as the finishing holds for both Bret Hart and Sting, the Japanese Scorpion. Cooleys' next opponent in line was Tony Anthony. Before his feud with Cooley, DWB had been hearing the cheers of the CCW fans due to his helping of Tim Horner during Horners' battles with Roy Welch. DWB turned bad guy during the match with Cooley using all the mean tactics, and gained the Alabama title for the first time. Cooley regained the title in Alex City, Alabama with help from the Nightmares who had just started their feud with Anthony & Stubbs. As 1986 rounded up Cooley was battling Sullivan Army member Kris von Colt for the rights to be Alabama Champ. I think this was really the first time that Cooley exhibited a real blood thirst in his matches as it seemed Colt brought out the worst in the "Wildcat".  Chain matches, street fights, pole matches, and coal miners' glove matches were all used in the Cooley - Colt program. Colt never gained the Alabama title but did steal it once, only to have Gordon Solie retrieve it from the locker room and return the title back to Cooley. This angle may seem innocent enough, but would play a bigger part of the whole picture when it was announced that the next person to take a title belt that didn't belong to him would be suspended from CCW for 90 days.

The last half of 1986 saw the battles over the Southeastern Heavyweight Championship boil down to two men, and actually two women as well. Adrian Street w/ Miss Linda against the returning "Hustler" Rip Rogers w/ Brenda Britton. The two men traded the title back and forth over the last six months of the year, with the funniest angle being Adrian winning the services of Britton and actually having Brenda shown on TV sleeping in a dog house.

The Continental Championship really came into prominence during 1986. The Jerry Stubbs - Brad Armstrong wars really put the title into the major focus of the promotion. With Stubbs going on into the tag team competition, Brad became the target of Kevin Sullivan. Sullivan had entered the area a few weeks earlier, coming in as a "paid assassin" for the absent Ron Fuller to rid CCW of Bullet once and for all. Sullivan claimed to be the man to get the job done, not the "errand boys" Tennessee Stud had been using. And pretty true to his words, Sullivan's debut match in CCW was on TV against Bullet and put the masked man on the shelf for a couple weeks after spewing mist into the eyes of Bullet. The next few weeks saw Sullivan have some pretty gory and bloody matches against young stars Tim Horner and Frankie Lancaster. During this time Sullivan was also a busy bee trying to get into the ears of the different members of the Stud Stable, telling Jimmy Golden he was always the favorite of Ron, and building up the confidences of Prichard as if to get him to join Sullivan and Stubbs. Sullivan was also mentioning on TV that "to be a king you have to kill a king".  All the while this was going on, Ron Fuller was nowhere to be found, as family members Jimmy & Robert were becoming very testy to Sullivan's remarks, even going so far to say that Golden & Fuller were a waste of Sullivan's and Ron's time. Kevin did eventually win the Continental title from Brad Armstrong and Brad was gone from the area. Sullivan's next series of matches came against another of the Armstrong sons, this time Steve. This series came about from the outcome of a two-ring Triple Chance Battle Royal with Sullivan & Armstrong coming out as the winning team, but Sullivan jumping Steve and taking the money. The two men had a best of seven series of Pole matches to see who would get the money, with Sullivan coming out on top. Steve disappeared from the area soon after. The Armstrong wave just couldn't stop though, as Bullet returned to face Sullivan again, with Sullivan actually unmasking Bullet on TV for everybody to see, but somehow Gordon Solie lost the video of the match for CCW/NWA officials to review to attempt to ban Bob Armstrong if he was indeed Bullet. Man, that sneaky Mr. Solie! At this time Gordon also announced that with all the mayhem that had been going on at the TV podium that the next person to start an altercation would be banned from CCW.  As Sullivan is at the podium berating the entire Welch/Fuller family, the Tennessee Stud makes his return to CCW, saying that yes he had been overseas but not visiting the Abuddahdein or eating the fruit of the beetlenut, or any of the other rantings of Sullivan. He questioned who made Sullivan in charge of the Stable and what was going on with his brother and cousin who were now seriously injured at the hands of Sullivan's men. Stud ends up throwing a punch and starting a fight with Sullivan meaning that Ron Fuller was now barred from active competition but not interviews, and suddenly a new man was wrestling in the area that stood roughly 6"9' and weighed 275lbs, wearing a mask calling himself the Tennessee Stud. Damn, go figure, first Bullet, now this! So as 1986 ended Kevin Sullivan and the masked Tennessee Stud were battling all over the southeastern United States over the Continental title. This was a feud that not only was the top feud in CCW, but had spilled into Championship Wrestling from Florida, as Sullivan and Solie were working both areas at the time. This feud also brought Robert Fuller and Jimmy Golden and Ron Fuller back into the good graces of CCW fans.

Other happenings in CCW in 1986 also included Scott Armstrong having to retire from active competition due to knee surgery but moving into the front office as Events Coordinator. NWA World Champion Ric Flair made the last of his title defenses ever for CCW fans in defenses against Tommy Rich (Dothan), Wendell Cooley (Birmingham), and Brad Armstrong. In all honesty the Rich - Flair NWA title match in Dothan was the only time I missed a World Title event in the Farm Center. Just wasn't interested in seeing Rich against Flair, how bad is that? NWA World Jr. Champ Denny Brown also made some appearances taking on Tim Horner. Former Georgia Championship Wrestling co-host Freddie Miller worked on CCW TV for several months as the ring announcer and interviewer. He also hosted a couple shows that Gordon had to miss, Joe Pedicino also stepped in for Mr. Solie on a couple occasions.

I hope everyone enjoys this look back at 1986 in CCW.  I hope I've gotten across to some degree the action that was happening in the area.

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