1983 also saw Houston Wrestling begin to phase out some of their Mexican talent, as Mil Mascaras, Dos Caras, and Jose “Supersock” Lothario began to be less featured, in favor of the new crop of talent emerging in Mid-South such as Terry Taylor, Steve “Dr. Death” Williams, and Magnum T.A..  Wrestling in general hit the national conscience in 1984, but for Houston, crowds had been filling the venerable Sam Houston Coliseum for years.   

In 1984-5, Houston Wrestling enjoyed its most successful run, selling out an amazing 50 shows during that time period, despite the oil crunch that hit Houston in early 1984.  The oil crunch would later affect the World Class territory in 1985-6, but Houston survived both waves. The Mid-South territory, while certainly having its ups and downs, could always count on Houston for a good crowd.  In late 1985, rumors began to swell up that Bill Watts was trying to go national.  His show ran on WTBS earlier in the year, and while on, it was the highest rated show on cable television.  Even though Mid-South was rated higher than the WWF, NWA, and Pro Wrestling USA, Watts could not maintain the timeslot, and was booted off during the summer.  Finally, in April 1986, Watts announced that the Mid-South territory would now be know as the UWF.  The North American championship would be renamed to the UWF championship.  The television and tag team championships would be renamed appropriately.  Instead of giving the last North American champion, popular “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan the title, Watts decided to have a tournament….in Houston.

May 1986  saw Terry Gordy win the UWF title in Houston, defeating Duggan in the final.  The Freebirds were great draws in Houston, and had tremendous heat with the crowds.  Although most of Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana were in an economic slump due to the oil crash, Houston crowds continued to be strong if not very strong.  Although not quite like the 1984-85 run, crowds in 1986 were quite good.  However, no one could have predicted what was about to happen.  

In January 1987, Hacksaw Duggan suddenly jumped to the WWF.  Needless to say, Bill Watts was reeling from losing his number one babyface.  He also would be left reeling two months later when after a dispute with Watts, Paul Boesch shocked fans by aligning with the WWF right after WrestleMania 3.  Boesch began to run an hour of syndicated WWF shows, along with highlights of WWF matches until the WWF began to run monthly cards at the Sam Houston Coliseum.  This move was interpreted as strictly predatory by some, since the WWF had been running bi-monthly shows at the much larger Summit arena (now renamed the Compaq Center).  The Summit could hold nearly 20,000 fans for wrestling, as opposed to just over 10,000 for the smaller Coliseum.  Nevertheless, the summer of 1987 saw the return of Mid-South mainstays Junkyard Dog, Butch Reed, Nikolai Volkoff, and Hacksaw Duggan.  Crowds were fair, but never were the same again.  Meanwhile, Watts’ UWF was bought by Jim Crockett, and were forced to wrestle at the summit with limited syndication in Houston.  Needless to say, the crowds were low.   

In early 1988, Boesch shocked the wrestling world once again by switching to NWA programming.  He was featured on NWA television in the infamous Dusty Rhodes/Tully Blanchard/Jim Crockett baseball bat angle.  Boesch would once again show a mix of syndicated wrestling and local matches.  Boesch was able to score the May 1988 U.S. Title tournament (won by new Horseman Barry Windham), and even able to score a slot on the 1988 Great American Bash tour.  However, crowds began to dwindle, and the December 10, 1988 card was the last card of the NWA-Houston era.  The timeslot that had run Houston Wrestling for the past four years, 10 p.m.-12 a.m. Central, was reduced to one hour, and had WWF Superstars of Wrestling come in as the replacement.  It was truly the end of an era.  Ivan Putski’s promotion began to run cards in the summer of 1990, but crowds weren’t coming out.  However, Putski’s promotion would be famous for giving us two wrestlers who would eventually become famous in WCW:  G.I. Bro (Booker T), and his fierce rival Super Collider (Stevie Ray).  By the winter, Putski’s school and promotion were gone.  Paul Boesch had passed away in 1989, and the Sam Houston Coliseum would eventually be torn down in the mid 1990’s.  Houston Wrestling was gone forever.  

Major Players of Houston Wrestling:

Paul Boesch:  Boesch was the main promoter of Houston Wrestling, along with his nephew, Peter Birkholz.  He also served as color commentator, interviewer, and commercial spokesperson.  Boesch, who had a good career as a wrestler, came to the territory via old time Houston promoter Morris Siegel.  He later took over the territory after Siegel passed away. 

Peter Birkholz:  Birkholz, besides being Boesch’s nephew,  was being groomed to take over the promotion, but never quite did it.  Birkholtz served as the announcer for many Houston matches, and was an interviewer, and did voice-overs for card promotion.  He too, was featured as one of the NWA board of directors with Boesch in the Rhodes/Blanchard/Crockett bat angle.

Bill Watts:  Watts was the owner of the Mid-South territory, later renamed the UWF.  Wildly popular in Oklahoma, Watts came out retirement when crowds were flat to spike attendance.  He has been called, and rightly so, one of the best booker/writers in the wrestling business.

KHTV 39:  The station that aired Houston Wrestling for years.  Now, 39 is a WB affiliate.

Sam Houston Coliseum:  The home of Houston Wrestling through all of its various incarnations through out the years.  The Coliseum was once the biggest arena in Houston, and had its fair share of concerts and sporting events besides wrestling.  For wrestling, the Coliseum could seat right around 10,000 fans.  Unfortunately, the Coliseum never received the recognition by wrestling fans as a legendary arena, like the Greensboro Coliseum, Reunion Arena, Kiel Auditorium, or Madison Square Garden.

NEXT MONTH:

Some of Houston Wrestling’s most memorable moments.