Butch Reed
Encyclopedia
Butch Reed is an American professional wrestler
best known for his stints in the World Wrestling Federation
and the National Wrestling Alliance
/World Championship Wrestling
.
territory after attending the University of Central Missouri
and briefly playing professional football for the Kansas City Chiefs
. Early on he wrestled as Bruce Reed adopting the “Hacksaw" nickname over time. Reed and Jerry Roberts
beat Mike George and Bob Sweetan for the NWA Central States Tag Team titles in late 1980 and lost them to The Kelly Twins in January 1981; this is believed to be Butch Reed’s first major title in wrestling. His next title also came as one half of a tag team when he and Sweet Brown Sugar (Skip Young
, not Koko B. Ware) won the Florida version of the NWA North American Tag Team Championship
when they beat Dory Funk, Jr.
and David Von Erich
in 1982. Reed wrestled mainly for the NWA
in the early 1980s and made a name for himself in their St. Louis, Florida Championship Wrestling and Georgia Championship Wrestling
territories.
’ Mid-South Wrestling from 1983 through early 1986. In Mid-South, he was known as “Hacksaw" Butch Reed and came into the territory as a tag team partner for the main face
in the territory the Junkyard Dog
. Reed immediately came face to face with "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan
over the “Hacksaw" nickname. Back in 1983, Duggan was part of the heel
group the "Rat Pack" along with Ted DiBiase
and Matt Borne
and used every dirty move he could think of to beat Butch Reed. Reed and Duggan would feud over the “Hacksaw" name until Jim Duggan turned face. Duggan’s face turn resulted in Butch Reed’s heel turn when Duggan was picked to be the Junkyard Dog’s tag team partner over Reed.
Reed appeared on TV stating that "Butch Reed is going to start looking out for Butch Reed", which prompted the Junkyard Dog (JYD) to join him in the ring. After arguing back and forth, Reed attacked JYD and was soon joined in the attack by Ted Dibiase. On July 16, 1983, Butch Reed won the Mid-South North American Heavyweight Championship and proceeded to turn back JYD’s challenges in subsequent months. In October 1983, Reed’s arrogance made him agree to let the Mid-South fans pick a challenger for the North American title; he let them pick from the JYD, “Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, newcomer Krusher Khruschev
, and Magnum T.A.
. The fans picked JYD but Reed dismissed the choice; he also said Duggan and Khruschev did not deserve a shot and instead gave the title shot to a very young and inexperienced T.A. As fate would have it, T.A. beat Reed to win the title, then lost it 12 days later to Nikolai Volkoff
.
On the same night that Reed lost the North American title, he and partner Jim Neidhart
beat Magnum T.A. and “Hacksaw" Jim Duggan to win the Mid-South Tag Team Championship. After a few weeks the North American title was returned to Reed, claiming that the title match with T.A. was not legal since the fans chose JYD. Reed’s run as a double champion did not last long as JYD got his title shot with Dusty Rhodes
as the special guest referee. After losing the North American title, Reed and Neidhart focused on the tag team titles and defended them against all comers. When Magnum and Mr. Wrestling II
challenged for the titles, they felt that the challengers had to put up something of their own: Mr. Wrestling II’s mask. Mr. Wrestling did not unmask that night as they took the gold from Reed and Neidhart in a Steel cage match on Christmas
of 1983. Neidhart and Reed started to blame each other and had a short, brutal feud.
The Neidhart feud was soon replaced with one with Terry Taylor
who came out to save Neidhart from being beaten down with a football helmet after a match. The Reed/Taylor feud raged all through the spring of 1984 and was instrumental in establishing Terry Taylor as a star in Mid-South. The feud soon expanded to include "Nature Boy" Buddy Landel
as Reed’s tag team partner and saw Reed attack Taylor with a “Coalminer’s Glove" on several occasions. After fighting with Terry Taylor for months on end, Reed’s attention turned from Taylor back to his old enemy the Junkyard Dog. During a match, Reed and Landel attacked JYD as he performed under a mask as “Stagger Lee" and painted him yellow. The war between the two brought in Sonny King
and later Ernie Ladd
to team with Junkyard Dog. After the tag matches, came brutal singles matches such as Dog Collar Matches
Just as the feud was about to reach its heated highlight, the Junkyard Dog left Mid-South and signed with the World Wrestling Federation
without informing booker Bill Watts of his decision. This meant that the federation was without their biggest face and the shows had to be hastily rebooked. Watts brought in "Master G" to take JYD’s place but the feud between Reed and “Master G" never took off forcing Watts to rethink his options. When "General" Skandor Akbar entered the Mid-South and started to build a stable of heels, he presented Buddy Landel with a golden Rolex watch with the understanding that it wasn’t actually for Landel but for someone else Akbar was trying to recruit. When Landel tried to give the watch to Reed, he became incensed, in the storyline
, stomped on the watch, and started to brawl with his former partner. Akbar and his cronies came to ringside, which prompted Reed to rant on them getting the crowd behind him as he told them he didn’t need back-up. When “Hacksaw" Jim Duggan came to his rescue from a 3 on 1 attack, Reed’s face status was cemented. The two Hacksaws feuded with Akbar’s army of Landel, Ted Dibiase, Steve Williams, and Hercules
. The two Hacksaws were successful at first, until Reed came up against Kamala. He proved to be too much for Reed, beating him all over the Mid-South territory before Reed quietly left.
Reed would go to the American Wrestling Association
for a short stint as Jimmy Garvin’s
bodyguard, but would return to Mid-South in the middle of 1985 only a few short months after leaving it. In October 1985, Butch Reed beat Dick Murdoch
for the North American title. Around this time, he had a famous one-hour time-limit draw with NWA Champion "Nature Boy" Ric Flair
and feuded with Dick Slater
when Slater helped Ric Flair keep the world title. In January 1986, Slater won the North American title from Butch Reed through underhanded means
After leaving the Mid-South, Reed returned to Kansas City and the "NWA Central States" territory run by Bob Geigel
. In Kansas, Reed initially teamed with Rufus R. Jones as the Soul Patrol. Reed later turned on Rufus and joined manager Slick’s group in 1986. After a brief feud with Jones, Reed got involved in a feud with Bruiser Brody. That summer, he lost a Loser Leaves Town match to Bruiser Brody and left the territory along with Slick.
and were brought in as a package. Reed dyed his hair blond and became "The Natural" Butch Reed, an updated version of Sweet Daddy Siki
. He feuded initially with Tito Santana
, a target of Slick's verbal jabs, and made his pay-per-view
debut at WrestleMania III
, where he defeated Koko B. Ware.
In the weeks after WrestleMania, Reed targeted new Intercontinental champion
Ricky Steamboat
and faced him at house shows and on an episode of Wrestling Challenge.
According to a persistent myth, Reed no-showed a set of TV tapings where he was booked to win the title, resulting in the championship instead being put on The Honky Tonk Man
. However, in a shoot interview, Reed has said this is untrue. In fact, when the Honky Tonk Man won the title from Steamboat in June 1987, Reed was shown celebrating with Honky and other heel
wrestlers in the locker room although,in fairness, that was a taped segment.
In the fall, the WWF was heavily hyping a feud between Reed and "Superstar" Billy Graham, a former WWF champion
who was staging a comeback after hip-replacement surgery. However, Graham's condition was such that he could no longer handle the physical demands of being a wrestler, so Reed and Slick's newest acquisition, the One Man Gang
, "injured" Graham in a sneak attack that was used to explain his permanent retirement. Graham began managing the man who came to his aid, Don Muraco
, with Muraco immediately entering into a rivalry with Reed. The enemies were on opposing teams in the main event of the first Survivor Series
(Muraco took Graham's place on Hulk Hogan's
team); Reed (a member of André the Giant's
team), was the first elimination of the match, by Hogan.
Reed competed in (and was the first wrestler eliminated from) the first Royal Rumble
match in January 1988. Two months later, he was eliminated in the first round of the WrestleMania IV
championship tournament by eventual tournament winner "Macho Man" Randy Savage
.
as "Hacksaw" Butch Reed. He more or less immediately resumed his Mid-South feud with The Junkyard Dog. He was briefly managed by James J. Dillon
before his contract was "sold" to Hiro Matsuda
's "Yamasaki Corporation". Reed did not see much success in the early parts of his run with JCP; his biggest match was a loss to Sting at the Chi-Town Rumble
on February 20, 1989. During the summer of 1989, Reed would flounder in the mid card as Jim Crockett Promotions grew to become a national wrestling organization.
The Steiner Brothers
were involved in an angle with Woman whom promised "Doom
" for the two brothers but never specified exactly what this meant. Woman unveiled her threat at Halloween Havoc 1989, a couple of brawny, hard hitting masked African-Americans. It was obvious to most wrestling fans that Ron Simmons
and Butch Reed were under the masks — they had both been on W.C.W. television shortly before Doom debuted, and they were the only two African-American wrestlers in the federation with the same massive physical appearance — but the announcers were made to keep up the storyline (although Jim Ross accidentally exposed Reed's identity on commentary during Starrcade 89: Future Shock). Doom won their debut match against the Steiners when one of the members of Doom pinned Rick Steiner after a headbutt with an illegal object in his mask. Doom followed up on this success by defeating Eddie Gilbert and Tommy Rich
at Clash of the Champions IX, looking very strong in the process.
Unfortunately, Doom’s next PPV outing did not come with the same success. Along with the Steiner Brothers, the Road Warriors
, and the Samoan Swat Team
they were entered in a one night, tag team round robin tournament
. They did not score a single point, ending dead last in the tournament. Doom’s misfortune continued as Woman soon dropped the team and left the federation. Then on February 6, 1990, Doom were defeated by the Steiner Brothers and as a result of the stipulation were forced to unmask. When Doom unmasked, it was hardly surprising to see Ron Simmons and Butch Reed underneath the black hoods. Freed of the masks and now under management of former referee Teddy Long
, Doom began to prosper. Free to use their full movesets and not trying to hide who they were, Doom earned another shot at the Steiner Brothers.
Doom beat the Steiner Brothers at Capital Combat
; at that point in time, the Steiners didn't lose very often. Doom won the tag team titles and quickly set about defending them against the former champions the Steiners as well the rest of WCW’s very talented tag team division. In the fall of 1990, Doom soon feuded
with The Four Horsemen
and defended against them in two inconclusive tag team title matches at Halloween Havoc 1990 and Starrcade 1990
. At Clash of the Champions XIV, Doom lost a non-title match to Sting and Lex Luger
in a match that foreshadowed the trouble that lay ahead.
On February 24, 1991 at WCW’s WrestleWar PPV, Doom took on former tag team champions The Fabulous Freebirds and lost due to miscommunication between Reed and Simmons. After the Freebirds left the ring, Reed turned on Simmons and beat him up; this turned Simmons face and ended the team of Doom forever. Teddy Long sided with Butch Reed as the former Doom partners engaged in a short but intense feud. The feud culminated at SuperBrawl I where Ron Simmons pinned Butch Reed in a Steel cage match (referred to as a "Thunder-Doom" cage match). After the PPV, Reed left the company for a short while only to return in 1992 siding with The Barbarian
and Cactus Jack
. Reed and the Barbarian teamed up to defeat Dustin Rhodes and Barry Windham
at Clash of the Champions XX but left WCW for good shortly afterwards.
where he once again started feuding with long time opponent the Junkyard Dog. Reed even managed to beat JYD for the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship
on October 12, 1992. Reed only held the title for a week before he lost it to Todd Champion
. Reed left the promotion before 1992 ended.
The next time Butch Reed appeared for a notable promotion was in 1994 when he started to wrestle for the Global Wrestling Federation
during its last days of existence. Reed became the second to last GWF North American champion
on June 4, 1994 when he beat Rod Price for the held up title. The title had been held up the previous day after a match between Reed and Price got out of hand and ended inconclusively. Reed held the title for almost a month before losing it to "Gentleman" Chris Adams, who would be the last GWF North American champion.
Reed continued to work on the independent scene on a part time basis so that he could participate in the rodeo
circuit in Kansas City
. In 2000-2001, Butch Reed started working for Harley Race
's WLW promotion. Reed beat “Luminous Warrior" for the WLW Heavyweight Title on March 31, 2001 and held the title until Dennis McHawes beat him for it on January 25, 2002. After losing the title, Butch Reed retired from wrestling.
After being retired for about three years, Butch Reed decided to return to the squared circle in 2005, appearing several times for “Mid States Wrestling" and eventually defeating Heavyweight Champion "Mr. Saturday Night" Michael Barry on November 11, 2005 for the Mid States Wrestling Heavyweight title. He also participated in the “Legends of Wrestling" tour in 2006.
On September 9, 2007, he made a cameo appearance
backstage at the September 14 WWE SmackDown! taping during a segment involving his former manager and SmackDown! General Manager Theodore Long
.
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
best known for his stints in the World Wrestling Federation
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
and the National Wrestling Alliance
National Wrestling Alliance
The National Wrestling Alliance is a wrestling promotion company and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...
/World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
.
Career
Butch Reed started wrestling in 1978 in the Kansas CityKansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
territory after attending the University of Central Missouri
University of Central Missouri
The University of Central Missouri is a four-year public institution in Warrensburg, Missouri.- History :...
and briefly playing professional football for the Kansas City Chiefs
Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...
. Early on he wrestled as Bruce Reed adopting the “Hacksaw" nickname over time. Reed and Jerry Roberts
Jacques Rougeau
Jacques Rougeau Jr. is a retired French-Canadian professional wrestler from Saint-Sulpice, Quebec, best known for his appearances in the 1980s and 1990s with the World Wrestling Federation under his own name, and as The Mountie. Rougeau has held fifteen championships during his career...
beat Mike George and Bob Sweetan for the NWA Central States Tag Team titles in late 1980 and lost them to The Kelly Twins in January 1981; this is believed to be Butch Reed’s first major title in wrestling. His next title also came as one half of a tag team when he and Sweet Brown Sugar (Skip Young
Skip Young
Galton W. Young, better known as Skip Young and Sweet Brown Sugar was an American professional wrestler who competed on the Southeastern regional promotions during the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s in Florida Championship Wrestling, World Class Championship Wrestling and the National...
, not Koko B. Ware) won the Florida version of the NWA North American Tag Team Championship
NWA North American Tag Team Championship
The NWA North American Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling tag team championship that is currently used and defended in various territories throughout the National Wrestling Alliance. This is the fifth NWA sanctioned championship to bear this name...
when they beat Dory Funk, Jr.
Dory Funk, Jr.
Dory Ernest Funk Jr. known professionally as Dory Funk, Jr. is a professional wrestler and wrestling trainer. He is the son of Dory Funk Sr. and brother of Terry Funk. He is credited with the invention of the Texas cloverleaf submission hold and runs the Funking Conservatory, a professional...
and David Von Erich
David Von Erich
David Alan Adkisson was an American professional wrestler who competed as "The Yellow Rose of Texas" David Von Erich...
in 1982. Reed wrestled mainly for the NWA
National Wrestling Alliance
The National Wrestling Alliance is a wrestling promotion company and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...
in the early 1980s and made a name for himself in their St. Louis, Florida Championship Wrestling and Georgia Championship Wrestling
Georgia Championship Wrestling
Georgia Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion whose self-titled TV program aired in the 1970s and 1980s on Atlanta, U.S., superstation WTBS. Though based in Atlanta, the company also ran live wrestling shows throughout its geographic "territory" of Georgia Georgia...
territories.
Mid-South
Reed established himself as a force to be reckoned with while competing in Bill WattsBill Watts
William F. "Bill" Watts is a former American professional wrestler and promoter. Watts was famous under his "Cowboy" gimmick in his wrestling career, and then as a tough, no-nonsense promoter in the Mid-South area of the United States, which grew to become the UWF.In 1992, he was the Executive...
’ Mid-South Wrestling from 1983 through early 1986. In Mid-South, he was known as “Hacksaw" Butch Reed and came into the territory as a tag team partner for the main face
Face (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a babyface or face or in simple words, a fan favorite is a character who is portrayed as a heroic relative to the heel wrestlers, who are analogous to villains...
in the territory the Junkyard Dog
Junkyard Dog
Sylvester Ritter was an American professional wrestler and professional football player, best known for his work in Mid-South Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation as The Junkyard Dog...
. Reed immediately came face to face with "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan
Jim Duggan
James Edward Duggan , better known by his ring name "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his time with World Wrestling Entertainment in the 1980s, when it was known as World Wrestling Federation , and World Championship Wrestling...
over the “Hacksaw" nickname. Back in 1983, Duggan was part of the heel
Heel (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a heel is a villain character. In non-wrestling jargon, heels are the "bad guys" in professional wrestling; the term heel coming from the term take to you heels, which means to run away which heel champions tend to do to avoid losing their titles.storylines...
group the "Rat Pack" along with Ted DiBiase
Ted DiBiase
Theodore Marvin "Ted" DiBiase, Sr. is a retired professional wrestler, manager, ordained minister and color commentator. DiBiase achieved championship success in a number of wrestling promotions, holding thirty titles during his professional wrestling career...
and Matt Borne
Matt Osborne
Matthew "Matt" Wade Osborne is an American semi-retired professional wrestler. Osborne is a second generation wrestler, being son of "Tough" Tony Borne, but he is best known as the first wrestler to portray the character of Doink the Clown, which he still uses to this day.-Independent...
and used every dirty move he could think of to beat Butch Reed. Reed and Duggan would feud over the “Hacksaw" name until Jim Duggan turned face. Duggan’s face turn resulted in Butch Reed’s heel turn when Duggan was picked to be the Junkyard Dog’s tag team partner over Reed.
Reed appeared on TV stating that "Butch Reed is going to start looking out for Butch Reed", which prompted the Junkyard Dog (JYD) to join him in the ring. After arguing back and forth, Reed attacked JYD and was soon joined in the attack by Ted Dibiase. On July 16, 1983, Butch Reed won the Mid-South North American Heavyweight Championship and proceeded to turn back JYD’s challenges in subsequent months. In October 1983, Reed’s arrogance made him agree to let the Mid-South fans pick a challenger for the North American title; he let them pick from the JYD, “Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, newcomer Krusher Khruschev
Barry Darsow
Barry Darsow is a former American professional wrestler who is known as Smash, one half of the tag team Demolition, and as Krusher Kruschev, Repo Man, and The Blacktop Bully...
, and Magnum T.A.
Magnum T.A.
Terry Wayne Allen is a retired American professional wrestler, best known under the ring name Magnum T.A..-Early years:...
. The fans picked JYD but Reed dismissed the choice; he also said Duggan and Khruschev did not deserve a shot and instead gave the title shot to a very young and inexperienced T.A. As fate would have it, T.A. beat Reed to win the title, then lost it 12 days later to Nikolai Volkoff
Nikolai Volkoff
Josip Nikolai Peruzović , better known by his ring name of Nikolai Volkoff, is a professional wrestler who is best known for his performances for the World Wrestling Federation...
.
On the same night that Reed lost the North American title, he and partner Jim Neidhart
Jim Neidhart
James Henry "Jim" Neidhart is an American professional wrestler, best known for his appearances in the 1980s and 1990s in the World Wrestling Federation as Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart. Jim is the father of WWE Diva Natalya...
beat Magnum T.A. and “Hacksaw" Jim Duggan to win the Mid-South Tag Team Championship. After a few weeks the North American title was returned to Reed, claiming that the title match with T.A. was not legal since the fans chose JYD. Reed’s run as a double champion did not last long as JYD got his title shot with Dusty Rhodes
Dusty Rhodes (wrestler)
Virgil Riley Runnels, Jr. , better known as "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, is a semi-retired American professional wrestler currently working for WWE...
as the special guest referee. After losing the North American title, Reed and Neidhart focused on the tag team titles and defended them against all comers. When Magnum and Mr. Wrestling II
Mr. Wrestling II
John "Johnny" Walker , better known as Mr. Wrestling II, is a retired American professional wrestler. As Mr...
challenged for the titles, they felt that the challengers had to put up something of their own: Mr. Wrestling II’s mask. Mr. Wrestling did not unmask that night as they took the gold from Reed and Neidhart in a Steel cage match on Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
of 1983. Neidhart and Reed started to blame each other and had a short, brutal feud.
The Neidhart feud was soon replaced with one with Terry Taylor
Terry Taylor
Terry Taylor , is an American retired professional wrestler best known for his time in the National Wrestling Alliance, World Championship Wrestling, and the World Wrestling Federation...
who came out to save Neidhart from being beaten down with a football helmet after a match. The Reed/Taylor feud raged all through the spring of 1984 and was instrumental in establishing Terry Taylor as a star in Mid-South. The feud soon expanded to include "Nature Boy" Buddy Landel
Buddy Landel
William Ansor is a professional wrestler better knownas "Nature Boy" Buddy Landel.-Career:Buddy Landel started his career in 1979 as a young talented athlete in ICW. He left high school even though he had received letters of intent to play baseball and football at the University of Tennessee...
as Reed’s tag team partner and saw Reed attack Taylor with a “Coalminer’s Glove" on several occasions. After fighting with Terry Taylor for months on end, Reed’s attention turned from Taylor back to his old enemy the Junkyard Dog. During a match, Reed and Landel attacked JYD as he performed under a mask as “Stagger Lee" and painted him yellow. The war between the two brought in Sonny King
Larry Johnson (wrestler)
Larry Johnson was a professional wrestler better known as Sonny King. He competed in the World Wide Wrestling Federation , where he won the WWWF Tag Team Championship.-Professional wrestling career:...
and later Ernie Ladd
Ernie Ladd
Ernest "Ernie" Ladd , nicknamed "The Big Cat" was an American collegiate and professional football player and a professional wrestler.-Pro Football career:...
to team with Junkyard Dog. After the tag matches, came brutal singles matches such as Dog Collar Matches
Just as the feud was about to reach its heated highlight, the Junkyard Dog left Mid-South and signed with the World Wrestling Federation
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
without informing booker Bill Watts of his decision. This meant that the federation was without their biggest face and the shows had to be hastily rebooked. Watts brought in "Master G" to take JYD’s place but the feud between Reed and “Master G" never took off forcing Watts to rethink his options. When "General" Skandor Akbar entered the Mid-South and started to build a stable of heels, he presented Buddy Landel with a golden Rolex watch with the understanding that it wasn’t actually for Landel but for someone else Akbar was trying to recruit. When Landel tried to give the watch to Reed, he became incensed, in the storyline
Kayfabe
In professional wrestling, kayfabe is the portrayal of events within the industry as "real" or "true". Specifically, the portrayal of professional wrestling, in particular the competition and rivalries between participants, as being genuine or not of a worked nature...
, stomped on the watch, and started to brawl with his former partner. Akbar and his cronies came to ringside, which prompted Reed to rant on them getting the crowd behind him as he told them he didn’t need back-up. When “Hacksaw" Jim Duggan came to his rescue from a 3 on 1 attack, Reed’s face status was cemented. The two Hacksaws feuded with Akbar’s army of Landel, Ted Dibiase, Steve Williams, and Hercules
Ray Fernandez
Raymond Fernandez was a professional wrestler who primarily wrestled in Florida and Texas before joining the World Wrestling Federation. He was best known by the ring name Hercules Hernandez or simply Hercules...
. The two Hacksaws were successful at first, until Reed came up against Kamala. He proved to be too much for Reed, beating him all over the Mid-South territory before Reed quietly left.
Reed would go to the American Wrestling Association
American Wrestling Association
The American Wrestling Association was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 to 1991. It was owned and founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo...
for a short stint as Jimmy Garvin’s
Jimmy Garvin
James Williams is a retired American professional wrestler. He is best known by his ring name "Gorgeous" Jimmy "Jam" Garvin and as a member of the legendary Fabulous Freebirds....
bodyguard, but would return to Mid-South in the middle of 1985 only a few short months after leaving it. In October 1985, Butch Reed beat Dick Murdoch
Dick Murdoch
Hoyt Richard "Dick" Murdoch was an American professional wrestler.-Professional wrestling career:A second-generation wrestler, the son of 1950s Texas wrestler Frankie Hill Murdoch, Dick Murdoch grew up with fellow second-generation wrestlers Dory Funk, Jr. and Terry Funk, watching their fathers...
for the North American title. Around this time, he had a famous one-hour time-limit draw with NWA Champion "Nature Boy" Ric Flair
Ric Flair
Richard Morgan Fliehr is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Ric Flair. Also known as "The Nature Boy", Flair is one of the most well-known professional wrestlers in the world....
and feuded with Dick Slater
Dick Slater
Richard Van Slater , better known by his ring name "Dirty" Dick Slater, is a retired American professional wrestler who wrestled in the 1970s, 1980s, and mid 1990s for various promotions including Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling .Slater began wrestling with Mike...
when Slater helped Ric Flair keep the world title. In January 1986, Slater won the North American title from Butch Reed through underhanded means
After leaving the Mid-South, Reed returned to Kansas City and the "NWA Central States" territory run by Bob Geigel
Bob Geigel
Robert "Bob" Geigel is a former American professional wrestling promoter and also a former professional wrestler. Geigel ran the NWA Central States promotion between 1963 and 1986, until it was bought out by Jim Crockett Promotions...
. In Kansas, Reed initially teamed with Rufus R. Jones as the Soul Patrol. Reed later turned on Rufus and joined manager Slick’s group in 1986. After a brief feud with Jones, Reed got involved in a feud with Bruiser Brody. That summer, he lost a Loser Leaves Town match to Bruiser Brody and left the territory along with Slick.
WWF
Reed and Slick signed with the WWFWorld Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
and were brought in as a package. Reed dyed his hair blond and became "The Natural" Butch Reed, an updated version of Sweet Daddy Siki
Sweet Daddy Siki
Reginald Siki is a former professional wrestler and was born on June 16 in Montgomery, Texas.Sweet Daddy Siki started wrestling in 1955 in Artesia, New Mexico. He also did some training in Los Angeles with Sandor Szabo and Ray Ortega...
. He feuded initially with Tito Santana
Tito Santana
Merced Solis better known by his ring name Tito Santana, is an American professional wrestler whose heyday spanned from the late 1970s to the early 1990s, though he continues to appear on the independent circuit. He is best known from his time in the World Wrestling Federation...
, a target of Slick's verbal jabs, and made his pay-per-view
Pay-per-view
Pay-per-view provides a service by which a television audience can purchase events to view via private telecast. The broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it...
debut at WrestleMania III
WrestleMania III
WrestleMania III was the third annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation . The event was held on March 29, 1987 at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan....
, where he defeated Koko B. Ware.
In the weeks after WrestleMania, Reed targeted new Intercontinental champion
WWE Intercontinental Championship
The WWE Intercontinental Championship is a professional wrestling championship in WWE. It is the original secondary title of the promotion. Currently, it is the secondary championship exclusive to the SmackDown brand...
Ricky Steamboat
Ricky Steamboat
Richard Henry Blood , better known by his ring name Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, is a retired American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE working as a road agent. He was one of the few wrestlers who stayed a babyface throughout his career...
and faced him at house shows and on an episode of Wrestling Challenge.
WWF Wrestling Challenge
WWF Challenge is a professional wrestling television program produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It was syndicated weekly and aired from 1986 to 1996. The show premiered as WWF Wrestling Challenge and became simply known as WWF Challenge in 1995. The show featured matches, pre-match...
According to a persistent myth, Reed no-showed a set of TV tapings where he was booked to win the title, resulting in the championship instead being put on The Honky Tonk Man
The Honky Tonk Man
Roy Wayne Farris , better known by his ring name The Honky Tonk Man, is an American professional wrestler. A 1975 graduate from University of Memphis with a B.S. degree in Education. Coached high school football 2 seasons at Munford High School in Munford, Tennessee...
. However, in a shoot interview, Reed has said this is untrue. In fact, when the Honky Tonk Man won the title from Steamboat in June 1987, Reed was shown celebrating with Honky and other heel
Heel (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a heel is a villain character. In non-wrestling jargon, heels are the "bad guys" in professional wrestling; the term heel coming from the term take to you heels, which means to run away which heel champions tend to do to avoid losing their titles.storylines...
wrestlers in the locker room although,in fairness, that was a taped segment.
In the fall, the WWF was heavily hyping a feud between Reed and "Superstar" Billy Graham, a former WWF champion
WWE Championship
The WWE Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in WWE. It is the world title of the Raw brand and one of two in WWE, complementing the World Heavyweight Championship of the SmackDown brand. It was established under the then WWWF in 1963...
who was staging a comeback after hip-replacement surgery. However, Graham's condition was such that he could no longer handle the physical demands of being a wrestler, so Reed and Slick's newest acquisition, the One Man Gang
George Gray (wrestler)
George Gray is an American professional wrestler best known as One Man Gang and Akeem "the African Dream".-Early years:...
, "injured" Graham in a sneak attack that was used to explain his permanent retirement. Graham began managing the man who came to his aid, Don Muraco
Don Muraco
Donald Muraco , better known by his ring name "The Rock" Don Muraco, is a retired American professional wrestler...
, with Muraco immediately entering into a rivalry with Reed. The enemies were on opposing teams in the main event of the first Survivor Series
Survivor Series (1987)
Survivor Series was the first Survivor Series pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It took place on Thanksgiving Day, November 26, 1987 and was held at the Richfield Coliseum in Richfield, Ohio....
(Muraco took Graham's place on Hulk Hogan's
Hulk Hogan
Terrance Gene "Terry" Bollea , better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American Semi-retired professional wrestler, actor, television personality, and musician currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ....
team); Reed (a member of André the Giant's
André the Giant
André René Roussimoff , best known as André the Giant, was a French professional wrestler and actor. His best remembered acting role was that of Fezzik, the giant in the film The Princess Bride...
team), was the first elimination of the match, by Hogan.
Reed competed in (and was the first wrestler eliminated from) the first Royal Rumble
Royal Rumble (1988)
Royal Rumble was the first annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling event produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It took place on January 24, 1988 at the Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario...
match in January 1988. Two months later, he was eliminated in the first round of the WrestleMania IV
WrestleMania IV
WrestleMania IV was the fourth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It took place on March 27, 1988 at the Trump Plaza in Atlantic City, New Jersey....
championship tournament by eventual tournament winner "Macho Man" Randy Savage
Randy Savage
Randall Mario Poffo , better known by his ring name "Macho Man" Randy Savage, was an American professional wrestler, best known for his time with the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling .Savage held twenty championships during his professional wrestling career and was a...
.
NWA and WCW
Shortly after WrestleMania IV, Butch Reed and the WWF parted ways, Reed’s manager stayed with the federation while Reed struck out on his own once more. Butch Reed resurfaced in the NWA's Jim Crockett PromotionsJim Crockett Promotions
Jim Crockett Promotions was a professional wrestling promotion owned by Jim Crockett, Jr. until the late 1980s. It was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance and was the forerunner to World Championship Wrestling .-Early history:...
as "Hacksaw" Butch Reed. He more or less immediately resumed his Mid-South feud with The Junkyard Dog. He was briefly managed by James J. Dillon
James J. Dillon
James J. "J.J." Dillon is a retired American professional wrestler and manager.He is best known for being the strategic leader of the original Four Horsemen that consisted of Nature Boy Ric Flair, Tully Blanchard, Arn and Ole Anderson. He is most remembered as a manager in pro wrestling...
before his contract was "sold" to Hiro Matsuda
Yasuhiro Kojima
was a professional wrestler and the trainer of Hulk Hogan, "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff, Lex Luger, Ron Simmons, Keiji Mutoh, and many other professional wrestlers. He was better known as Hiro Matsuda, an identity he adopted while competing in the southern U.S., inspired by earlier wrestlers...
's "Yamasaki Corporation". Reed did not see much success in the early parts of his run with JCP; his biggest match was a loss to Sting at the Chi-Town Rumble
Chi-Town Rumble
Chi-Town Rumble was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Championship Wrestling under the National Wrestling Alliance banner. It took place on February 20, 1989 at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois....
on February 20, 1989. During the summer of 1989, Reed would flounder in the mid card as Jim Crockett Promotions grew to become a national wrestling organization.
The Steiner Brothers
The Steiner Brothers
The Steiner Brothers are the professional wrestling tag team of American brothers Robert "Rick Steiner" Rechsteiner and Scott "Scott Steiner" Rechsteiner...
were involved in an angle with Woman whom promised "Doom
Doom (professional wrestling)
Doom was a professional wrestling tag team composed of Ron Simmons and Butch Reed. They competed from 1989 to 1991 in the National Wrestling Alliance and World Championship Wrestling .-Before the masks:...
" for the two brothers but never specified exactly what this meant. Woman unveiled her threat at Halloween Havoc 1989, a couple of brawny, hard hitting masked African-Americans. It was obvious to most wrestling fans that Ron Simmons
Ron Simmons
Ronald "Ron" Simmons is an American semi-retired professional wrestler and retired American football player. He is recognised as being the first Black world heavyweight champion in professional wrestling and the first of only two African Americans to win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship,...
and Butch Reed were under the masks — they had both been on W.C.W. television shortly before Doom debuted, and they were the only two African-American wrestlers in the federation with the same massive physical appearance — but the announcers were made to keep up the storyline (although Jim Ross accidentally exposed Reed's identity on commentary during Starrcade 89: Future Shock). Doom won their debut match against the Steiners when one of the members of Doom pinned Rick Steiner after a headbutt with an illegal object in his mask. Doom followed up on this success by defeating Eddie Gilbert and Tommy Rich
Tommy Rich
Thomas Richardson , better known by his ring name, "Wildfire" Tommy Rich, is a professional wrestler. He is best known for his wrestling career in Georgia and Memphis throughout the 1980s.-Professional wrestling career:...
at Clash of the Champions IX, looking very strong in the process.
Unfortunately, Doom’s next PPV outing did not come with the same success. Along with the Steiner Brothers, the Road Warriors
Road Warriors
The Road Warriors were a professional wrestling tag team composed of Michael "Hawk" Hegstrand and Joseph "Animal" Laurinaitis. They performed under the name "Road Warriors" in the American Wrestling Association, the National Wrestling Alliance, and World Championship Wrestling, and the name Legion...
, and the Samoan Swat Team
The Headshrinkers
The Headshrinkers were a professional wrestling tag team in the World Wrestling Federation that consisted of Fatu and Samu. They previously competed under the name The New Wild Samoans in the National Wrestling Alliance , and as The Samoan Swat Team in World Championship Wrestling , World Class...
they were entered in a one night, tag team round robin tournament
Round-robin tournament
A round-robin tournament is a competition "in which each contestant meets all other contestants in turn".-Terminology:...
. They did not score a single point, ending dead last in the tournament. Doom’s misfortune continued as Woman soon dropped the team and left the federation. Then on February 6, 1990, Doom were defeated by the Steiner Brothers and as a result of the stipulation were forced to unmask. When Doom unmasked, it was hardly surprising to see Ron Simmons and Butch Reed underneath the black hoods. Freed of the masks and now under management of former referee Teddy Long
Theodore Long
Theodore R. "Teddy" Long is an American professional wrestling manager and former referee who currently works for WWE on its SmackDown brand as its General Manager.-National Wrestling Alliance / World Championship Wrestling:...
, Doom began to prosper. Free to use their full movesets and not trying to hide who they were, Doom earned another shot at the Steiner Brothers.
Doom beat the Steiner Brothers at Capital Combat
Capital Combat
Capital Combat: The Return of Robocop was a one time professional wrestling pay-per-view from the National Wrestling Alliance held under the World Championship Wrestling name. It took place on May 19, 1990 from the D.C. Armory in Washington, D.C....
; at that point in time, the Steiners didn't lose very often. Doom won the tag team titles and quickly set about defending them against the former champions the Steiners as well the rest of WCW’s very talented tag team division. In the fall of 1990, Doom soon feuded
Feud (professional wrestling)
A professional wrestling feud is a staged rivalry between multiple wrestlers or alliances of wrestlers. They are integrated into ongoing storylines, particularly in events which are televised...
with The Four Horsemen
Four Horsemen (professional wrestling)
The Four Horsemen were a professional wrestling stable in the National Wrestling Alliance and later World Championship Wrestling that was disbanded in 1999. The original group featured Ric Flair, Arn and Ole Anderson, and Tully Blanchard...
and defended against them in two inconclusive tag team title matches at Halloween Havoc 1990 and Starrcade 1990
Starrcade (1990)
Starrcade '90 was the eighth annual Starrcade professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced under the National Wrestling Alliance banner. It was the third Starrcade event produced by World Championship Wrestling, and the last pay-per-view event held by the NWA. It took place on December 16,...
. At Clash of the Champions XIV, Doom lost a non-title match to Sting and Lex Luger
Lex Luger
Lawrence Wendell "Larry" Pfohl , better known by his ring name Lex Luger, is an American former professional wrestler and football player currently working with WWE on their wellness policy...
in a match that foreshadowed the trouble that lay ahead.
On February 24, 1991 at WCW’s WrestleWar PPV, Doom took on former tag team champions The Fabulous Freebirds and lost due to miscommunication between Reed and Simmons. After the Freebirds left the ring, Reed turned on Simmons and beat him up; this turned Simmons face and ended the team of Doom forever. Teddy Long sided with Butch Reed as the former Doom partners engaged in a short but intense feud. The feud culminated at SuperBrawl I where Ron Simmons pinned Butch Reed in a Steel cage match (referred to as a "Thunder-Doom" cage match). After the PPV, Reed left the company for a short while only to return in 1992 siding with The Barbarian
Sione Vailahi
Sione Havea Vailahi is a professional wrestler best known in wrestling as The Barbarian.-Life and career:Born and raised in Tonga, Sione was one of five teenagers sent by the King of Tonga to Japan to study Sumo wrestling in the mid 1970s. Tonga Fifita was one of the other teenagers...
and Cactus Jack
Mick Foley
Michael Francis "Mick" Foley, Sr. is an American semi-retired professional wrestler, author, comedian, actor, voice actor and former color commentator. He has worked for many wrestling promotions, including WWE, WCW, ECW and TNA. He is often referred to as "The Hardcore Legend", a nickname he...
. Reed and the Barbarian teamed up to defeat Dustin Rhodes and Barry Windham
Barry Windham
Barry Clinton Windham is an American semi-retired professional wrestler and the son of wrestler Blackjack Mulligan. He is best known for his appearances with the National Wrestling Alliance and World Championship Wrestling ....
at Clash of the Champions XX but left WCW for good shortly afterwards.
Independent scene
After leaving WCW, Reed went to the United States Wrestling AssociationUnited States Wrestling Association
The United States Wrestling Association or USWA was a professional wrestling promotion based in Memphis, Tennessee. It was founded by former CWA owner Jerry Jarrett.-Foundation:...
where he once again started feuding with long time opponent the Junkyard Dog. Reed even managed to beat JYD for the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship
USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship
The USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship formed in 1988, which consisted of the WCWA World Heavyweight Championship from World Class Championship Wrestling and the AWA World Heavyweight Championship from the American Wrestling...
on October 12, 1992. Reed only held the title for a week before he lost it to Todd Champion
Todd Bradford
Todd Bradford is a former professional wrestler better known by his ring name, Todd Champion. He competed in the Southeastern United States, winning titles in several promotions, including World Championship Wrestling ....
. Reed left the promotion before 1992 ended.
The next time Butch Reed appeared for a notable promotion was in 1994 when he started to wrestle for the Global Wrestling Federation
Global Wrestling Federation
Global Wrestling Federation was a professional wrestling promotion based in Dallas, Texas. It started in June 1991 and folded in September 1994. At one time its shows were presented on the ESPN television network. On many weeks, the promotion provided programming five days a week airing at 4 p.m...
during its last days of existence. Reed became the second to last GWF North American champion
GWF North American Heavyweight Championship
The GWF North American Heavyweight Championship was the major title in the Global Wrestling Federation in Texas. The title existed from 1991 until 1994, when GWF closed. The title was featured on the promotion's show that aired nationally on ESPN....
on June 4, 1994 when he beat Rod Price for the held up title. The title had been held up the previous day after a match between Reed and Price got out of hand and ended inconclusively. Reed held the title for almost a month before losing it to "Gentleman" Chris Adams, who would be the last GWF North American champion.
Reed continued to work on the independent scene on a part time basis so that he could participate in the rodeo
Rodeo
Rodeo is a competitive sport which arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain, Mexico, and later the United States, Canada, South America and Australia. It was based on the skills required of the working vaqueros and later, cowboys, in what today is the western United States,...
circuit in Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
. In 2000-2001, Butch Reed started working for Harley Race
Harley Race
Harley Leland Race is a retired American professional wrestler and current promoter and trainer. During his career as a wrestler, he held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship 7 times...
's WLW promotion. Reed beat “Luminous Warrior" for the WLW Heavyweight Title on March 31, 2001 and held the title until Dennis McHawes beat him for it on January 25, 2002. After losing the title, Butch Reed retired from wrestling.
After being retired for about three years, Butch Reed decided to return to the squared circle in 2005, appearing several times for “Mid States Wrestling" and eventually defeating Heavyweight Champion "Mr. Saturday Night" Michael Barry on November 11, 2005 for the Mid States Wrestling Heavyweight title. He also participated in the “Legends of Wrestling" tour in 2006.
On September 9, 2007, he made a cameo appearance
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
backstage at the September 14 WWE SmackDown! taping during a segment involving his former manager and SmackDown! General Manager Theodore Long
Theodore Long
Theodore R. "Teddy" Long is an American professional wrestling manager and former referee who currently works for WWE on its SmackDown brand as its General Manager.-National Wrestling Alliance / World Championship Wrestling:...
.
In wrestling
- Finishing moves
- Gorilla press slam
- Signature moves
- Backbreaker
- Double underhook suplex
- Short-arm clothesline
- ManagersManager (professional wrestling)In professional wrestling, a manager is a secondary character paired with a wrestler for a variety of reasons. The manager is often either a non-wrestler, an occasional wrestler, an older wrestler who has retired or is nearing retirement or, in some cases, a new wrestler who is breaking into the...
- Theodore LongTheodore LongTheodore R. "Teddy" Long is an American professional wrestling manager and former referee who currently works for WWE on its SmackDown brand as its General Manager.-National Wrestling Alliance / World Championship Wrestling:...
- Hiro MatsudaYasuhiro Kojimawas a professional wrestler and the trainer of Hulk Hogan, "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff, Lex Luger, Ron Simmons, Keiji Mutoh, and many other professional wrestlers. He was better known as Hiro Matsuda, an identity he adopted while competing in the southern U.S., inspired by earlier wrestlers...
- Slick
- Woman
- Theodore Long
Championships and accomplishments
- Central States WrestlingHeart of America Sports AttractionsHeart of America Sports Attractions, also known as the Midwest Wrestling Association, Central States Wrestling and the World Wrestling Alliance, was an American professional wrestling promotion that ran shows mainly in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa...
- NWA Central States Tag Team ChampionshipNWA Central States Tag Team ChampionshipThe NWA Central States Tag Team Championship was the primary tag team championship for the Heart of America Sports Attractions / Central States Wrestling promotion from 1979 until the promotion ceased to exist in 1988...
(1 time) – with Jerry RobertsJacques RougeauJacques Rougeau Jr. is a retired French-Canadian professional wrestler from Saint-Sulpice, Quebec, best known for his appearances in the 1980s and 1990s with the World Wrestling Federation under his own name, and as The Mountie. Rougeau has held fifteen championships during his career...
- NWA Central States Tag Team Championship
- Championship Wrestling from Florida
- NWA International Heavyweight ChampionshipNWA International Heavyweight ChampionshipThe NWA International Heavyweight Championship was a singles title recognized by the National Wrestling Alliance through its partnership with the Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance, and later by All Japan Pro Wrestling. It is one of the three titles that were unified into the AJPW Triple Crown...
(1 time) (Reign not recognized in Japan) - NWA North American Tag Team Championship (Florida version)NWA North American Tag Team ChampionshipThe NWA North American Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling tag team championship that is currently used and defended in various territories throughout the National Wrestling Alliance. This is the fifth NWA sanctioned championship to bear this name...
(1 time) - with Sweet Brown SugarSkip YoungGalton W. Young, better known as Skip Young and Sweet Brown Sugar was an American professional wrestler who competed on the Southeastern regional promotions during the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s in Florida Championship Wrestling, World Class Championship Wrestling and the National...
- NWA International Heavyweight Championship
- Global Wrestling FederationGlobal Wrestling FederationGlobal Wrestling Federation was a professional wrestling promotion based in Dallas, Texas. It started in June 1991 and folded in September 1994. At one time its shows were presented on the ESPN television network. On many weeks, the promotion provided programming five days a week airing at 4 p.m...
- GWF North American Heavyweight ChampionshipGWF North American Heavyweight ChampionshipThe GWF North American Heavyweight Championship was the major title in the Global Wrestling Federation in Texas. The title existed from 1991 until 1994, when GWF closed. The title was featured on the promotion's show that aired nationally on ESPN....
(1 time)
- GWF North American Heavyweight Championship
- Mid-South Wrestling Association
- Mid-South North American Heavyweight Championship (3 times)
- Mid-South Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Jim NeidhartJim NeidhartJames Henry "Jim" Neidhart is an American professional wrestler, best known for his appearances in the 1980s and 1990s in the World Wrestling Federation as Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart. Jim is the father of WWE Diva Natalya...
- Mid-South Television Championship (1 time)
- Mid-States Wrestling
- MSW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Missouri Wrestling Federation / Midwest Wrestling Federation
- MWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- United States Wrestling AssociationUnited States Wrestling AssociationThe United States Wrestling Association or USWA was a professional wrestling promotion based in Memphis, Tennessee. It was founded by former CWA owner Jerry Jarrett.-Foundation:...
- USWA Unified World Heavyweight ChampionshipUSWA Unified World Heavyweight ChampionshipThe USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship formed in 1988, which consisted of the WCWA World Heavyweight Championship from World Class Championship Wrestling and the AWA World Heavyweight Championship from the American Wrestling...
(1 time)
- USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship
- World Championship WrestlingWorld Championship WrestlingWorld Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
- NWA World Tag Team Championship (Mid-Atlantic version)WCW World Tag Team ChampionshipThe World Championship Wrestling Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling world tag team championship in World Championship Wrestling...
(1 time) - with Ron SimmonsRon SimmonsRonald "Ron" Simmons is an American semi-retired professional wrestler and retired American football player. He is recognised as being the first Black world heavyweight champion in professional wrestling and the first of only two African Americans to win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship,... - WCW World Tag Team ChampionshipWCW World Tag Team ChampionshipThe World Championship Wrestling Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling world tag team championship in World Championship Wrestling...
(1 time) - with Ron Simmons
- NWA World Tag Team Championship (Mid-Atlantic version)
- World League Wrestling
- WLW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Pro Wrestling IllustratedPro Wrestling IllustratedPro Wrestling Illustrated is a professional wrestling magazine. PWI is currently based in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania and published by Kappa Publishing Group.-History:The first issue of Pro Wrestling Illustrated was released in 1979...
- PWI ranked him # 174 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the PWI Years in 2003.
- PWI ranked him # 91 of the 100 best tag teams during the PWI Years with Ron SimmonsRon SimmonsRonald "Ron" Simmons is an American semi-retired professional wrestler and retired American football player. He is recognised as being the first Black world heavyweight champion in professional wrestling and the first of only two African Americans to win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship,...
in 2003.