The Rise & Fall of the USWA

For those of you who haven't been reading in the past few weeks.....

In 1988, three regional promotions formed an alliance, Verne Gagne's American Wrestling Association on Minnesota, the Von Erich's World Class Championship Wrestling in Dallas, and Jerry Lawler's Championship Wrestling Association in Memphis. This resulted in a pay-per-view show, the AWA's Superclash III, which was headlined by a title unification clash between AWA Champion Lawler and WCCW Champion Kerry Von Erich, which Lawler won.

But backstage, politics soon destroyed the alliance. Gagne refused to pay Lawler and the Von Erich's their share of the gate and pay-per-view revenue. This meant that Lawler refused to defend his new title in AWA territories, and the Von Erichs were depending on that money to survive.

Which led to the following - Lawler and his business partner Jerry Jarrett purchased the World Class promotion, merged it with their CWA company, and formed a new promotion - the United Stares Wrestling Association.

British wrestling fans had their chance to see USWA action around 1990/91, as their weekly show took over the Screensport Monday tea time slot that had been occupied by the AWA, which by then was on it's last legs. Along with Lawler, we got to see such stars as Terry Funk, Eric Embry, Eddie Gilbert, and young up-and-comers Jeff Jarrett, Tom Prichard and Steve Austin.

The USWA was a great alternative to the weekly dose of WWF action. Although production wise the USWA couldn't compete, as far as in-ring action goes, it certainly could compete.


The USWA had many feuds that became the stuff of legend years later. The Lawler/Gilbert feud was one of the most violent of that period, and included a segment where Gilbert tried to run down Lawler with a car, something that wasn't seen much then, but has been used quite a few times over the past five years.

Then there was the mentor/student feud between Chris Adams and Steve Austin, which also involved Adams' ex-wife and Austin's future wife Jeannie. Although Austin doesn't speak too highly of his late teacher, he does acknowledge that it was this feud that put him on the map.

And, of course, there was the natural rivalry between factions from Texas and Tennesee. As the USWA covered both territories, it was only natural they would book such a feud.

One thing I do remember from watching those shows is that I tried to make predictions about certain wrestlers. While I couldn't work out why a great work like Eric Embry had never been in either WCW of the WWF, I was spot on as far as Steve Austin and Jeff Jarrett were concerned, but I was way off the mark with "Gorgeous" Gary Young.

When the Screensport channel closed down, I must admit I hardly batted an eyelid. The USWA show had long since been replaced by the Global Wrestling Federation, a small-time operation that promised much but failed to deliver was hardly a good replacement for the solid USWA show.

I hardly thought of the USWA until a ground breaking event in November 1992. Long before Monday Night Raw was a twinkle in Vince McMahon's eye, a WWF show called Prime Time Wrestling ruled the roost on the USA Network on Monday nights. Starting out as a compilation show hosted by Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan, it later became a bad comedy show with a studio audience, before changing format again to become a panel discussion show.

As the WWF approached the 1992 Survivor Series, they had a crisis on their hands. The original main event, Ric Flair and Razor Ramon versus Randy Savage and the Ultimate Warrior, was thrown into doubt when the Warrior walked out of the company. On an edition of Prime Time, Savage persuaded then then-retired Curt Hennig, then the "Executive Consultant" of Ric Flair, to take the Warrior's place on his team. This left a spot on the Prime Time studio panel.

A week later, that spot was taken by none other than Jerry "The King" Lawler. To say that this was a shock for wrestling fans would be an understatement. He wasn't just joining the WWF as an announcer, but as an active wrestler as well.

Lawler's deal with the WWF was very unique. In the past, wrestlers contracted to the company could only work for the WWF. Lawler's deal meant that he could still work for the USWA.

It wasn't just a one way deal though. Around the same time, WWF stars began to appear on USWA shows. Lawler even rekindled his old feud with Randy Savage, which headlined a few shows at the Mid-South Coliseum.

Things didn't really get going until the 1993 King of the Ring tournament. As a heel in the WWF, and a baby face in the USWA, Lawler continually blasted the tournament, proclaiming that whoever won would be the true king of wrestling. After Bret Hart won the tournament, defeating Bam Bam Bigelow in the final, Lawler attacked the Hitman during his coronation.

Lawler was perhaps the most hated man in the WWF, but in the USWA he was still a hero, which meant that when the inter-promotional feud began, the WWF stars were portrayed as heels in Memphis.

One of the first WWF stars to wrestle in Memphis after King of the Ring was Bret's brother Owen. Owen won the USWA title and began a vicious feud with Lawler. Meanwhile, on WWF TV, the King began to insult the entire Hart family.

Owen wasn't the only WWF star to make an impact in Memphis. None other than Vince McMahon himself appeared, via taped segments, on the USWA TV show, portraying an evil owner character long before Mr. McMahon appeared on the scene.

The King v The Hitman was the hot WWF feud of the summer, and a highly anticipated match was signed for Summerslam. After Lawler tapped out to the Sharpshooter, Hart refused to release the hold, and the referee reversed his decision, awarding Lawler the victory via disqualification.

A rematch was signed for Memphis, in the confines of a steel cage. Lawler emerged victorious again, only to be attacked by Owen and the massive Giant Gonzalez after the victory.

With the Hart/Lawler feud still generating a great amount of heat, on USWA TV McMahon challenged Lawler to put together a USWA team to compete against a WWF team in a Survivor Series match in Memphis. While McMahon chose Shawn Michaels, Doink the Clown and Koko B. Ware, Lawler chose Jeff Jarrett and Brian Christopher as his partners. The match headlined a massive show in Memphis, and saw Christopher emerge victorious, defeating the entire WWF team after both his partners had been eliminated.

In the meantime, both Randy Savage and Tatanka had ventured into Memphis to win the USWA title.

As the Survivor Series proper neared, Lawler was scheduled to lead a team of "knights" against the Hart family. However, legal problems meant that he had to pull out of the event, and his relationship with the WWF came to an end, as did the USWA-WWF war. Of course, after Lawler put his legal problems behind him, he re-signed for the WWF.

The sad thing is that while this war was one of the major angles on the USWA television show, it was never mentioned on WWF TV, which was a great shame. The USWA would go on to have a similar inter-promotional war with Jim Cornette's Smoky Mountain Wrestling, a feud which the USWA would go on to win as SMW went out of business.

The USWA would also go on to serve an important role in developing future superstars, including the aforementioned Austin, Jarrett and Christopher. The company also served as a developmental territory for the WWF. The Rock competed as Flex Kavana during the early days of his career, and a pre-Kane Glan Jacobs portrayed his fake Diesel character in the territory.

Sadly, by 1997 the writing was on the wall. After a change of ownership, the USWA officially went out of business in November of that year.

There is still wrestling in Memphis today, with a weekly show on a local UPN affiliate, and regular shows at the Mid-South Coliseum. But nothing can compare to those great days of the USWA.