- Tim Dills

Aftermath, Part II

The previous article began discussing what happened to many of the familiar faces and institutions synonymous with the long-running Tennessee promotion, based out of Hendersonville, north of Nashville, after it had dropped their CWA designation and adopted the USWA at the end of 1989. What follows is an attempt to give an idea of life after 1989 for those mentioned here since the inception of these articles. 

Championship Wrestling TV show

The live WMC studio TV show continued uninterrupted for years until 1997. In 1993, WMC-TV underwent an ownership change and it was feared the station would drop the TV show which still drew excellent ratings. The new ownership though remained faithful to the show and it went on. 

In late 1996, Jerry Jarrett sold his end of the promotion to Jerry Lawler. Lawler, in turn, brought in Larry Bertman (listed as Larry Burton in most accounts) as General Manager. Bertman quickly alienated many of the longtime stars and employees of the company. Over time the company was sold to Mark Selker. Legal problems though cropped up over the sale with Selker claiming he was being taken for more money than the company was worth. WMC-TV would eventually cancel the TV show after a twenty year run on it’s airwaves.

After the legal issues were mostly settled, the TV show returned under the name Power Pro Wrestling operated by Randy Hales. Jerry Lawler, who somehow escaped the legal battle between Bertman and Selker, was involved with the new group. Initially the show returned to a late Saturday night slot but a few weeks later returned to the traditional Saturday morning time slot. The show would continue and the promotion would as well although opposition groups had much greater success against the late 1990s group than the Jarrett-Lawler group.