KrisZ

Steamer in JCP....he worked one MSG show, one Omni show, and a couple of CWF shows but besides AJPW tours he worked for JCP from 1977-85 exclusively.

Angelo "King Kong" Mosca Mosca was always a main eventer wherever he went during this 5 year period starting in JCP where he took Flair's spot after the plane crash and through AWA where even though he wasn't the main heel he was right there in the 2-3 hole plus had big feuds with Larry Hennig & Peter Maivia. Mosca then went to GCW where he was the Georgia champ when that was the main title feuding with all the top faces of the promotion. Mosca then became one of the top heels for the newly founded Mid-South Wrestling where he had feuds with Orndorff, Robley, & Watts. 1980 is where you see Mosca working babyface most of the year in Toronto & Winnipeg before jumping to WWF in 1981 where he had maybe his best run in his career where he had runs at Backlund and a huge feud with Pat Patterson where he threw water in his face which was a big deal. Definitely a leadish type heel in Georgia in 1978 and WWF in 1981. I gave the list of territories he worked above and he was a strong name. Worked all the top guys of his era and got title shots against them plus was a common Andre opponent. Mid-Atlantic TV Title, Georgia Heavyweight Title, Canadian Heavyweight Title, & AWA British Empire Title. Mosca worked on top for territories that were doing good-great business so yeah he didn't take away from that. Mosca wasn't a good worker but he was very effective in his role.

JCP never actually had a hierarchy system of just one guy on top during that period but sometimes 2-3 top faces and heels just switching off although when push came to shove it was Flair vs. Valentine with Steamer & Snuka right behind each of them. Now like I posted once Piper came in the game changed and he took over as the lead heel by January.

YAY 1991 GWF now on

Well they are showing the Doyle King era of GWF not the glory days....ugh

When I say he was limited I meant mobility wise. Psychologically he was very good and he could do some spots but later in his career he wasn't as mobile as he was when he was younger. It was impressive for him to come off the top rope though for sure.

Greg "The Hammer" Valentine Greg was a constant main eventer for JCP & WWWF during this period and had legendary feuds with Wahoo & Strongbow breaking their legs then a feud with Flair after he returned from WWWF in 1980 which did good business. Greg was never an anchor and yeah he got shots at Backlund but wasn't what you would call a lead heel as WWWF really didn't have such a thing at this time. In JCP he had his best shot as a lead heel as US champ against Flair but Snuka was almost like an equal to him then Piper came in and took his spot. Valentine did a couple of shots for GCW but that was about it. He very rarely traveled outside his home territory at the time. Oh definitely he worked all the top babyfaces of his era and held US, Mid-Atlantic, & NWA World Tag Titles. See above....he was probably the greatest US Champ of his era. Hammer was always on the top of the cards and was solid in his role as a draw. He was a top heel for JCP in one of their best business runs of the late 70's plus drew very well against Backlund in both runs.

Ivan's best time during this period was the stints for Vince where he was treated as a top level singles heel because everywhere else during this time which was basically CWF & GCW he was either a tag guy or in another guy's shadow.

Matchwise was limited due to Ladd being limited in what he could do as a worker but they traded great promos and the deal where Ladd turned on Dusty in Florida was fantastic.

"Big Cat" Ernie Ladd Ladd was always around main events wherever he went and his longstanding feud with Dusty Rhodes main evented several different territories. Ladd was a lead heel in the McGuirk territory then the fledgling Mid-South territory but Ladd was more of a free spirit and bounced around places too much to have a really long term standing as a real anchor. Ladd worked basically every territory going throughout this period and was brought in yearly pretty much as an opponent for the WWWF title. Ladd was an eternal rival for Dusty Rhodes & Bill Watts plus worked all the major babyfaces of the era. Ladd was a Florida Heavyweight champion and more importantly North American champion where he main evented Superdome shows. Ladd was always brought in as like a hired gun for the top babyface and he was a drawing card no doubt. EDIT: Another thing on Ladd was that he would also be brought into territories to work against Andre early in Andre's run as a touring performer.

First one off the top of my head is Superstar Billy Graham Definitely yes and was a tremendous draw in all of the big cities for the WWWF. Had great series' with Bruno, Dusty, Mil, & Backlund and even drew with Strongbow. WWWF was definitely built around SBG for almost a full year and like I said did great business. Graham was a star in St. Louis, CWF, Houston, Toronto, Detroit, NJPW and that was while he was champion. He worked other places like Memphis & GCW afterwards. Oh yeah I would say so. WWWF World Heavyweight Title and one of the most memorable reigns in history. Definitely yes. Graham was a Apter mag icon during 76-78 so I would say so.

Curious at what criteria you want to base the list on.

Eddie Gilbert did. Pre Clash. But he was probably the only one. So why was Sting getting World Title matches against Flair 10 days after Starcade 1987, which is three months before the Clash? Gilbert didn't book that. Dusty did. These weren't title shots in Albany, GA, either. Charlotte, Houston, Greensboro, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, St. Louis and Chicago. The first NWA Pro of 1988? Two weeks later, it was Arn & Tully vs Barry & Sting on World Wide. The gate crashing with Sting challenging Flair was a couple of weeks after that. They knew fairly quickly what they had. Again, Dusty is booking all this. He saw something in 1987 and kept upping Sting's push as the year went along. JCP @ Charlotte, NC – Coliseum – December 6, 1987 Eddie Gilbert & Terry Taylor d. Denny Brown & John Savage The Rock n Roll Express d. Chance McQuade & Rikki Nelson Sting d. Gladiator #2 The Road Warriors d. The Gladiator & Thunderfoot Larry Zbyszko d. Rocky King Mighty Wilbur d. Arn Anderson by DQ Bobby Eaton d. Italian Stallion NWA World TV Title: Nikita Koloff © d. Thunderfoot #2 Ivan Koloff & The Warlord d. Rocky King & Chance McQuade Mike Rotundo d. John Savage Steve Williams d. The Gladiator Larry Zbyszko d. Italian Stallion US Tag Titles: The Midnight Express © battled Jimmy Garvin & Michael Hayes to a no contest The Road Warriors & Paul Ellering d. Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, & JJ Dillon NWA World Heavyweight Title: Ric Flair © d. Sting JCP @ Lafayette, LA – Cajundome – December 7, 1987 Mike Rotundo d. Kendall Windham Ron Simmons d. Tiger Conway Jr. Jimmy Garvin & Michael Hayes fought The Sheepherders to a draw Ronnie Garvin & Nikita Koloff d. Eddie Gilbert & Terry Taylor NWA World Heavyweight Title: Ric Flair © d. Sting 26 Man Bunkhouse Stampede won by Nikita Koloff JCP @ Houston, TX – The Summit – December 11, 1987 Mighty Wilbur d. Shaska Whatley Larry Zbyszko d. Tim Horner Michael Hayes d. Black Bart Ron Simmons & Steve Williams d. The Sheepherders NWA World Heavyweight Title: Ric Flair © d. Sting Bunkhouse Stampede won by Steve Williams JCP @ Greensboro, NC – Coliseum – December 12, 1987 The Midnight Express & Big Bubba Rogers d. Italian Stallion, Mighty Wilbur, & Kendall Windham Eddie Gilbert d. George South Sting d. Thunderfoot #2 The Road Warriors d. Chance McQuade & Larry Stevens Ronnie Garvin d. Thunderfoot Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard d. Gary Royal & John Savage Ricky Morton d. Mike Force The Warlord d. George South Steve Williams d. Tommy Savage The Midnight Express d. Cougar Jay & Mike Force Kevin Sullivan d. Rocky King The Super Powers d. Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard NWA World Heavyweight Title: Ric Flair © d. Sting Bunkhouse Stampede won by Lex Luger JCP @ Cincinnati, OH – Cincinnati Gardens – December 13, 1987 (1,800) Steve Williams d. Jim Lancaster Larry Zbyszko d. Mighty Wilbur by countout Ivan Koloff d. Mike Rotundo Bunkhouse Stampede won by Mighty Wilbur NWA World Heavyweight Title: Ric Flair © d. Sting Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard fought The Super Powers to a draw JCP @ Philadelphia, PA – Civic Center – December 26, 1987 (6,000) The Barbarian d. Ricky Santana The Warlord d. Ronnie Garvin by countout Bobby Eaton fought Barry Windham to a draw Dusty Rhodes d. Tully Blanchard by DQ NWA World Heavyweight Title: Ric Flair © d. Sting Bunkhouse Stampede won by The Warlord JCP @ St. Louis, MO – Arena – December 28, 1987 (4,000) Lex Luger d. Keith Steinborn Larry Zbyszko d. Lee Peak NWA world TV Title: Nikita Koloff © d. The Menace Ronnie Garvin d. Arn Anderson by DQ NWA World Six-Man Tag Titles: Dusty Rhodes & The Road Warriors © d. Ivan Koloff & The Powers of Pain by countout NWA World Tag Titles: Jimmy Garvin & Michael Hayes d. Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard © by DQ NWA World Heavyweight Title: Ric Flair © d. Sting Bunkhouse Stampede won by Steve Williams JCP @ Chicago, IL – UIC Pavilion – December 30, 1987 (3,500) Jimmy Garvin d. Eddie Gilbert in 12:10 Ron Simmons d. Johnny Ace in 7:50 Western States Heritage Title: Barry Windham d. Larry Zbyszko by DQ in 10:40 NWA World TV Title: Nikita Koloff © fought Dick Murdoch to a 20:00 draw NWA World Heavyweight Title: Ric Flair © d. Sting in 19:05 Bunkhouse Stampede won by Road Warrior Animal

Ric worked face in 1983, he worked as a face in JCP after that, and he would work as face again in 1989. Some of his best business was as a face. If it's for a storyline like vs Race in 1983 and Funk in 1989, he could do it... and do it GREAT in angles and storylines. The "belt" thing... I'll keep repeating this: Garvin was getting the belt, and would drop it back to Flair on the same exact day that Ted did. Just in a lesser match with no real emotional payoff (unless it was the fans being thankful that Ron's useless reign was over... which is a BAD THING for the Belt and title). Ted isn't really taking his spot. It's a freaking storyline, and you go in with Ric knowing that he'll turn back when Lex is turned. Which was always a plan: Lex to work with the Horsemen and learn the ropes a bit more, then turn face. This just extends it our another 3-6 months before the turn. Rather than right after Starcade, pushed into sometime in early 1988 when Flair's run at the Top Face (at that point a Face Champ) runs out and needs to go back to being the Top Heel (and at that point the Heel Champ). One of Flair's best runs was as a babyface from 1979-81 for JCP where he drew some great houses feuding with all the top heels. Fans ate him up as a face and he was great in the role since it was his first time in it.

The Viking was former Memphis jobber Keith Roberson

And Loss hits another biggie. DiBiase was very vocal about Dusty as a booker and how he pushed people

And you finally hit the mark just now. They should've never bought the UWF to begin with but they did it of course for the syndication package. Another thing that hasn't been brought up was they were already planting seeds for a DiBiase heel turn before he decided to sign with Vince.

You also have to look at they just bought into CWF a month earlier and Central States months before that so basically what they did with UWF is what they did with the other two was cherry pick who they wanted. Regarding Doc & Gang, I would've kept both of them as Gang was at his peak as a worker at that time and we all know how great Doc was then. You could definitely get some value from them.

Of course they couldn't replicate it because they were bought out a week later. From being at both shows I can remember a buzz about the UWF coming to town for the first time and Pedicino did a helluva job promoting it on his TV. Very few knew at the time that the UWF was being bought out the next week. Regarding Duggan yeah you are right as I got my timeline wrong as he was fired in June and I remember Meltz reporting at the time that he was backstage at a JCP/UWF taping trying to get back in. Regarding the UWF talent they kept you can see who made the cut by looking at the TV tapings post buyout UWF @ Fort Worth, TX - Cowtown Coliseum - April 18, 1987 (1,800) Chavo Guerrero d. Bob Bradley Steve Cox d. Gary Young Handicap: Big Bubba Rogers d. The Glassman & Mike Reed Iceman Parsons d. Bobby Howell Angel of Death d. Buddy Roberts Steve Williams d. The Viking Street Fight: Iceman Parsons d. Savannah Jack Steve Williams d. Bob Bradley Gary Young d. Craig Whitford Iceman Parsons d. The Glassman UWF TV Title: Eddie Gilbert © d. Sam Houston Angel of Death battled Michael Hayes to a DDQ UWF Heavyweight Title: One Man Gang © battled Terry Gordy to a DDQ UWF @ Muskogee, OK - Civic Center - April 19, 1987 UWF Heavyweight Title: Big Bubba Rogers d. One Man Gang © Chris Adams & Terry Taylor d. Bob Bradley & The Red Devil Steve Cox d. The Super Ninja Chavo Guerrero d. Mike Boyette Iceman Parsons d. Jeff Raitz #1 Contender Match for the UWF Heavyweight Title: Chris Adams d. Terry Taylor by countout Big Bubba Rogers d. Steve Cox Angel of Death d. Mike Reed Steve Williams d. Wild Bill Irwin UWF @ Fort Worth, TX - Cowtown Coliseum - May 2, 1987 (1,100) Barry Windham d. Super Ninja Rick Steiner & Sting d. The Glassman & Hank Wilbourn Vladimir Petrov d. Ken Massey Chris Adams d. Craig Whitfield Iceman Parsons d. Jeff Raitz Steve Williams d. Mike Boyette Handicap: Big Bubba Rogers d. David Price & ? Vladimir Petrov d. Jeff Raitz Barry Windham d. Gary Young Chris Adams d. The Thunderbird Steve Cox d. Super Ninja Handicap: Big Bubba Rogers d. The Beach Boys Rick Steiner & Sting d. The Glassman & Bobby Howell Steve Williams d. Ron Ellis UWF Heavyweight Title: Big Bubba Rogers © d. Barry Windham by countout UWF Tag Titles: Ted DiBiase & Steve Williams d. Rick Steiner & Sting © by DQ UWF @ Tulsa, OK - Convention Center - May 3, 1987 Barry Windham d. Bob Bradley Vladimir Petrov d. Bobby Howell #1 Contender Match for the UWF Heavyweight Title: Terry Taylor d. Chris Adams by countout Rick Steiner & Sting d. The Glassman & Bobby Howell Barry Windham d. Mike Boyette Steve Cox fought Iceman Parsons to a draw Big Bubba Rogers d. Ron Ellis Terry Taylor d. Jeff Raitz Vladimir Petrov d. Ken Massey UWF Heavyweight Title: Big Bubba Rogers © d. Barry Windham by countout UWF Tag Titles: Ted DiBiase & Steve Williams d. Rick Steiner & Sting © by DQ UWF @ Shreveport, LA - Memorial Coliseum - May 16, 1987 (3,000) Barry Windham d. Mike Reed Steve Cox d. Terry Taylor by DQ Davey Haskins d. Gary Young by DQ The Lightning Express d. Bob Bradley & Red Devil Big Bubba Rogers d. Steve Welles Eddie Gilbert, Rick Steiner, & Sting d. Bobby Howell, Craig Whitford, & Hank Wilbourn Angel of Death d. Ron Ellis The Lightning Express d. Mike Boyette & Red Devil Chris Adams d. Hank Wilbourn Black Bart d. Bobby Howell Chris Adams battled Terry Taylor to a double countout UWF Tag Titles: Steve Williams & Barry Windham d. Rick Steiner & Sting © by DQ UWF @ Tulsa, OK - Convention Center - May 17, 1987 #1 Contender Match for the UWF Heavyweight Title: Steve Williams d. Eddie Gilbert Barry Windham d. Red Devil Davey Haskins d. Terry Taylor by DQ Barry Windham d. Ron Ellis UWF Tag Titles: The Lightning Express d. Rick Steiner & Sting © Barry Windham d. Terry Taylor by DQ UWF @ Monroe, LA - Civic Center - May 30, 1987 Terry Taylor d. Ron Ellis The Lightning Express d. Mike Boyette & Gary Young The Enforcers d. Bobby Howell & Craig Whitford Black Bart d. Jeff Raitz Terry Gordy d. Dick Murdoch by DQ Chris Adams d. Red Devil Rick Steiner d. Bobby Howell Chavo Guerrero d. Mike Boyette Steve Cox d. Big Bubba Rogers by DQ Eddie Gilbert & Dick Murdoch d. Craig Whitford & Hank Wilburn Davey Haskins & The Lightning Express d. The Angel of Death & The Enforcers by DQ Terry Gordy d. Bob Bradley UWF @ Little Rock, AR - Barton Coliseum - May 31, 1987 (2,700) The Lightning Express d. Bob Bradley & Ron Ellis #1 Contender Match for the UWF Heavyweight Title: Terry Taylor d. Sting Black Bart d. Bobby Howell Dick Murdoch d. Steve Cox The Fabulous Freebirds d. Angel of Death & Mike Boyette Dick Murdoch d. Jeff Raitz The Enforcers & Shaska Whatley d. Bobby Howell, Ken Massey, & Hank Wilburn Chris Adams d. Mike Boyette Big Bubba Rogers d. Craig Whitford Sting d. Ron Ellis Chavo Guerrero battled Rick Steiner to a double countout The Lightning Express d. Bob Bradley & Gary Young Eddie Gilbert & Terry Taylor d. Steve Cox & Davey Haskins UWF Tag Titles: The Lightning Express © d. Black Bart & Big Bubba Rogers You can see how the talent evolved greatly throughout April-May.

Ted was in WWF before the gimmick came to him. He wasn't brought in to play the gimmick it came to him after he got there.

Crockett could have gotten Ted but they didn't want to pay him what he wanted.

Duggan was free at the time of the buyout and was trying to get in JCP at one point. I totally understand your talking points here but if you don't think the UWF mattered to JCP area fans then how is it they drew double the house at the Omni a week after JCP ran there. JCP @ Atlanta, GA - The Omni - April 5, 1987 (4,000) Tim Horner d. Sean Royal Lazertron d. Chris Champion Baron Von Raschke d. Ricky Lee Jones The Midnight Express d. Ronnie Garvin & Barry Windham Ivan Koloff & Vladimir Petrov battled The Road Warriors to a no contest Ole Anderson d. Tully Blanchard Dusty Rhodes d. Arn Anderson US Heavyweight Title: Lex Luger d. Nikita Koloff © by DQ NWA World Heavyweight Title: Ric Flair © d. Jimmy Garvin by DQ UWF @ Atlanta, GA - The Omni - April 12, 1987 (8,500) The Missing Link d. Jimmy Powell Deep South Tag Titles: The Masked Nightmares © d. John Michaels & Ranger Ross The Assassin d. Randy Rose Atlanta Street Fight: Savannah Jack d. Iceman Parsons Loser Leaves Town for the Deep South US Title: Grizzly Boone d. Mike Golden © UWF Tag Titles: Rick Steiner & Sting d. Chris Adams & Terry Taylor © Badstreet Match: The Fabulous Freebirds d. Angel of Death, Bill Irwin, & The Viking UWF Heavyweight Title – SR: Terry Gordy: Steve Williams d. One Man Gang © by DQ Sure it's not Greensboro, Charlotte, Richmond, whatever but compare the lineups and look at the crowd numbers. There is a story to tell there.

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2013/...rsonality-dies/

Here's the problem: JCP fans didn't give a shit about the UWF guys as UWF guys. I might have. You might have. But "UWF stuff" never flew with JCP fans. It meant dick on the cards that I went to out here. Doc as UWF Champ meant nothing. Whether fans gave a shit about the Freebirds had nothing to do with "UWF", but whether they cared about the Birds. There's not need to waste time with the UWF. What one should look at it as is the opportunity to get talent. I wouldn't go insane trying to grab everyone. Just the handful or so guys who could spruce up your product. Ted clearly could. The problem is that Dusty liked Dusty talent. The Fantastics could always have spruced up JCP, but Dusty didn't bring them in until his R'nR ran their course... and Corny had to ask Dusty to bring them in. That's where in your booking you make them care. If you know what you're doing you can get just about anything over. You gotta think about it.....there was no such thing as an invasion angle at that time and if you have a promotion coming in to attack another promotion both faces and heels thus forcing eternal rivals like Dusty & Flair and so on to form a common bond to take care of the invaders then you have something really fresh and new. Now to make this work you had to bring back Duggan who was a free agent when JCP bought UWF and you gotta keep DiBiase. You also do the same in the Watts markets where it's like Canada in 1997 with the Harts as faces so you have the roles in reverse and you get DiBiase working with eternal rival Michael Hayes.

If you are going to do War Games then you should do NWA vs. UWF where UWF wins that battle then you go to Starrcade where NWA wins the war by taking all the UWF titles.