Southern Wrestling Hall of Fame

The Southern Wrestling Hall of Fame (originally the Texas Wrestling Hall of Fame) is a professional wrestling hall of fame maintained by Iconic Heroes of Wrestling Excellence (IHWE). Established in 2009 to honor select wrestling personalities, inductees were initially limited to alumni of the Global Wrestling Federation, National Wrestling Alliance, USWA Texas, and World Class Championship Wrestling,[1] but also included independent stars after 2011. In 2015, the hall of fame expanded to include wrestling personalities from all of the Southern United States.

It is the first and only hall of fame created to honor pro wrestling personalities in Texas wrestling. David Fuller, founder of the Texas Wrestling Hall of Fame, was partly inspired by the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum in Waterloo, Iowa.[2] He has also stated his admiration for the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum in Amsterdam, New York and hoped that the Texas Wrestling Hall of Fame would have a physical building if they were able to get funding in the future.[3] The Hall of Fame has been endorsed by Cauliflower Alley Club and a number of other wrestling personalities.[4] Fuller was subsequently honored by the organization.[2] Fuller has said that one of his goals in starting the Texas Wrestling Hall of Fame was to bring attention to Texas-area independent stars and promotions.[4]

Induction ceremonies

The induction ceremony for the Class of 2009, the inaugural inductees into the Hall of Fame, took place in Dallas, Texas on January 1, 2009. Slick, the first African-American manager in the World Wrestling Federation, led the class, which also included wrestler Chico Torres. On April 17, 2010, the Class of 2010 was inducted into the Hall of Fame. Wrestler Johnny Valentine's induction led the Class of 2010, followed by longtime ring announcer Rob Moore.[5][6] Valentine's award was accepted by his widow, Sharon Valentine,[3][7] and was the last public appearance before her death.[8]

The Class of 2011 was led by Skandor Akbar. He was originally to be presented the award at an IHWE event on December 4, 2010[9] but died prior to the event. Akbar's nephew, Jerry Cluey, accepted the award on behalf on his late uncle. Other inductees included Kit Carson, Rodney Mack, Matt Borne, Larry Green, and Johnny T. The "Battle Box", a hardcore wrestling match invented by XCW, was also recognized at the show. During the following Hall of Fame ceremony on April 21, 2012 at the Dixie House Cafe in Fort Worth, Texas, Kamala led the Class of 2012. Jazz, Krusher Kong, Prince Al Farat, and Spoiler 2000 were also inducted that year.[6] Both the famed Dallas Sportatorium and the Texas Wrestling Academy were honored at the event.[10]

The 5th-annual Texas Wrestling Hall of Fame ceremony was held in Fort Worth on March 16, 2013. Bruiser Brody led the Class of 2013. Brody was formerly inducted by Rob Moore who presented the award to longtime friend Stan "The Lariat" Hansen on behalf of Brody's widow Barbara Goodish. Also inducted that year were Black Bart, Canyon Lindley, referee James Beard, and posthumous inductees Killer Karl Kox and Rick Davidson.[2][6] Bob Murphy's Texas All-Star Wrestling, the oldest promotion in the state,[11] were honored for their contributions to Texas independent wrestling.[12][13] The organization also conducted an interview with Kevin Von Erich who discussed his thoughts on the 2013 Class.[3] The 2014 HOF ceremony was held on March 15, 2014. The Class of 2014 was led by Stan Hansen followed by Terry "Bam Bam" Gordy, Gary Young, posthumous inductees Ray Evans and Awesome Kong, Khris Germany, Todd Diamond, referee Rick Manning, and Gary Tool. Skandor Akbar's Devastation Incorporated was also inducted into the hall of fame.[2][3][6][14][15] The 2014 Hall of Fame ceremony was filmed for the first time and released to the public on YouTube.com.[4]

The Texas Wrestling Hall of Fame ceremony has traditionally been closed to the general public.[6] The decision to exclude wrestling fans was originally to respect the privacy of inductees and their families during the small private banquet.[16] The organizer, David Fuller, was also concerned the event could be seen as opportunism on his part. Given that other wrestling hall of fame and memorial shows on the independent circuit have commonly been used to "cash in" on popular wrestling stars, the HOF ceremonies are strictly non-profit events.[3] In the case of posthumous inductees, no wrestler is inducted without the blessing of the families and that a friend or family member is there to accept the award.[2]

The Hall of Fame ceremonies have typically featured special guests, often former inductees, who have given speeches during the event. Matt Borne, a 2011 inductee, was scheduled to attend the 2014 edition but died before the event. The organizers decided to honor the late wrestler with a special memorial induction into the Texas HOF.[16] Borne's wife and two children flew down from Pittsburgh to attend.[3][4] Kansas City artist Rob Schamberger donated portraits to inductees and their families.[4]

In September 2014 IHWE during its biggest show of the year Old School Hustle at the Cendera Center in Fort Worth, Tx. The Grappler Len Denton & Jim Cornette were both honored into the Hall of Fame by James Beard. Several Hall of Fame inductees were present for the honor, Barbara Goodish, Stan Hansen, Kit Carson, Khris Germany, Todd Hecht, Rick Manning, Black Bart. Morgan Dollar the Executive Vice President of the Cauliflower Alley Club was also on hand & announced after the induction of Cornette that at the 50th CAC the following year the CAC Would honor Bruiser Brody with a posthumous honor as Barbara Goodish then spoke to the sold out crowd.

Future plans

As the awards have generated interest from Texas wrestling fans in recent years, Fuller has stated he will work on turning it into a larger event. The main obstacle to this, however, was that the event had now outgrown its older venues and would need to move to a much larger venue in order to accommodate fans.[3] The restaurant hosting the 2014 HOF dinner, for example, was standing room only with both floors filled to capacity. A day after the 2014 HOF, Fuller speculated on whether to open the event to the public or to hold a wrestling convention either before or after the event.[4]

Each HOF ceremony is limited to ten or so inductions per year. As of 2014, there have been a total of 32 inductees: 29 members inducted individually, one wrestling "gimmick" match, one stable and one wrestling family. Matt Borne is the only Hall of Famer to be inducted twice, first individually in 2011, then as posthumously in 2014. Eight members were inducted posthumously.

An official panel to oversee the selection process will be formed in 2015 and will include former WCCW referee James Beard and XCW promoter Nite Davis.[2] Shortly before the 2014 HOF, founder David Fuller announced that the Von Erich family would be the first inductees of the Class of 2015.

Inductees

# Year Ring name
(Real name)[a]		 Inducted by Inducted for Notes[b]
1 2009 Slick
(Ken Johnson)		 David Fuller Managing
2 2009 Chico Torres David Fuller Wrestling
3 2010 Johnny Valentine
(John Wisniski)		 David Fuller, Raven Willow Fuller and David Farmer, Sr. Wrestling Won the NWA American Heavyweight Championship (1 time), NWA Brass Knuckles Championship (Texas version) (2 times), NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Texas version) (1 time), NWA North American Heavyweight Championship (Amarillo version) (1 time), NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship (8 times), NWA Texas Tag Team Championship (1 time), NWA American Tag Team Championship (3 times)
4 2010 Rob Moore Announcing and Commentating Longtime ring announcer for UWF/Mid-South, USWA Texas, and World Class Championship Wrestling; also play-by-play commentator for NWA Southwest Wrestling.
5 2011 Skandor Akbar
(Jimmy Wehba)		 Spoiler 2000 Wrestling, Managing, and Promoting Global Wrestling Federation and World Class Championship Wrestling; founder of Devastation Incorporated.
6 2011 Matt Borne
(Matt Osborne)		 Chico Torres Wrestling Won the TWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time), USWA World Tag Team Championship (2 times), WCWA Texas Heavyweight Championship (1 time), WCWA World Tag Team Championship (2 times)
7 2011 Rodney Mack
(Rodney Begnaud)		 Mike Foxx Wrestling Won the NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship (3 times), XCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
08 2011 Kit Carson Khris Germany Wrestling, Refereeing, and Promoting Won the NWA Texas Tag Team Championship (2 times), NWA World Tag Team Championship (3 times), XCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time), XCW Ironman Championship (1 time), XCW Tag Team Championship (4 times)
9 2011 Johnny T David Fuller Announcing and Commentating Ring announcer and color commentator for NWA Southwest Wrestling and Texas Championship Wrestling.
9 2011 Larry Green Wrestling Won the DFW Tag Team Championship (1 time), LCW Tag Team Title Championship (1 time), NWA Texas Tag Team Championship (3 times), XCW Tag Team Championship (1 time)
10 2012 Prince Al Farat
(Al Kuyaribo Santos)		 Wrestling and Promoting Won the NWA Top of Texas Heavyweight Championship (1 time), NWA Texas Tag Team Championship (1 time)
11 2012 Krusher Kong
(Scott Thompson)		 Wrestling Won the NWA Texas Hardcore Championship (1 time), PCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time), XCW Heavyweight Championship (2 time), XCW Tag Team Championship (1 time)
12 2012 Spoiler 2000
(Tim Cowan)		 Wrestling Won the NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship (1 time), PCW Tag Team Championship (1 time)
13 2012 Jazz
(Carlene Moore-Begnaud)		 Wrestling
14 2012 Kamala
(James Harris)		 Wrestling Won the NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Championship (1 time), USWA Unified World Tag Team Championship (1 time)
15 2013 Killer Karl Kox
(Herb Gerwig)		 Wrestling Won the NWA Brass Knuckles Championship (Amarillo version) (1 time), NWA Brass Knuckles Championship (Texas version) (3 times), NWA Texas Tag Team Championship (1 time)
16 2013 Black Bart
(Rick Harris)		 Wrestling, Refereeing, and Promoting Won the GWF Brass Knuckles Championship (1 time), GWF Tag Team Championship (3 times), WCWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
17 2013 James Beard Refereeing Referee for the Global Wrestling Federation
18 2013 Bruiser Brody
(Frank Goodish)		 Stan Hansen Wrestling, Refereeing, and Promoting Won the NWA American Heavyweight Championship (4 times), NWA American Tag Team Championship (3 times), NWA Brass Knuckles Championship (Texas version) (6 times), NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship (1 time), NWA Texas Tag Team Championship (3 times), NWA Western States Heavyweight Championship (1 time), SCW Southwest Brass Knuckles Championship (1 time), SCW World Tag Team Championship (1 time), WCWA Television Championship (1 time)
19 2013 Rick Davidson
(Rick Davidson, Sr.)		 Wrestling
20 2013 Canyon
(Canyon Lindley)		 Wrestling Won the IHWE Heavyweight Championship (1 time), LCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time), LCW Tag Team Title Championship (1 time), NWA Texas Hardcore Championship (2 times), NWA Texas Tag Team Championship (1 time), PCW Cruiserweight Championship (1 time), PCW Television Championship, PCW Tag Team Championship (2 times)
21 2014 Stan Hansen
(John Stanley Hansen II)		 William Hitch Wrestling Won the NWA Texas Tag Team Championship (1 time)
22 2014 Terry Gordy James Beard Wrestling Won the GWF Tag Team Championship (1 time), NWA American Heavyweight Championship (1 time), NWA American Tag Team Championship (1 time), NWA Brass Knuckles Championship (Texas version) (1 time), NWA World Six-Man Tag Team Championship (Texas version) (6 times), WCWA World Six-Man Tag Team Championship (1 time)
23 2014 Devastation Incorporated Travis Baxter Wrestling
24 2014 Awesome Kong
(Dwayne McCullough)		 Curtis T
Tim Swiney
Crash		 Wrestling Won the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
25 2011 Matt Borne
(Matt Osborne)		 David Fuller
Matt Riviera		 Wrestling This was a special memorial induction.
26 2014 Rick Manning Bullman Downs Refereeing Longtime referee for World Class Championship Wrestling.
27 2014 Khris Germany Kit Carson Wrestling, Refereeing, and Promoting Won the NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship (1 time), NWA Texas Tag Team Championship (2 times), NWA World Tag Team Championship (3 times), XCW Tag Team Championship (4 times)
28 2014 Gary Young Black Bart Wrestling Won the GWF North American Tag Team Championship (1 time), NWA American Tag Team Championship (1 time), NWA Western States Tag Team Championship (2 times), WCWA Texas Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
29 2014 Ray Evans Max Muscles
Chris Devine
Crash Morris
Tim Swiney		 Wrestling Won the Big D Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
29 2014 Dusty Wolfe Fred Urban Wrestling Won the XCW Ironman Championship (1 time)
30 2014 Todd Diamond
(Todd Hecht)		 Steve Moody Wrestling, Refereeing, Promoting
31 2014 Gary Tool Canyon Wrestling Won the NWA Texas Hardcore Championship (1 time), NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship (1 time), NWA Texas Tag Team Championship (1 time), XCW Heavyweight Championship (3 times), XCW Tag Team Championship (1 time)
32 2015 Von Erich family Wrestling
33 2015 Marc Lowrance David Fuller Announcing and Commentating
34 2015 Doyle King Travis Baxter Commentating
35 2015 Mike McGuirk James Beard Announcing and Commentating
36 2015 Leroy McGuirk James Beard Promoting and Wrestling
37 2015 Jeff Bearden Mike Foxx Wrestling Won the PCW Television Championship (1 time)
38 2015 Bullman Downs Wrestling Won the NAWA Tag Team Championship (1 time), XCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
39 2015 Steve Williams Wrestling Won the UWF World Heavyweight Championship (1 time), UWF World Tag Team Championship (1 time), UWF Mid-South Tag Team Championship (2 times)
40 2015 Steve Cox Wrestling Won the WCWA Tag Team Championship (1 time)
41 2015 Tim Storm Wrestling Won the NAWA Tag Team Championship (2 times), NMW Tag Team Championship (1 time), NWA Elite Tag Team Championship (1 time), NWA North American Heavyweight Championship (2 times), NWA Texoma Heavyweight Championship (2 times), NWA Texoma Tag Team Championship (1 time), PCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time), PCW Tag Team Championship (5 times), XCW Tag Team Championship (1 time)

See also

Footnotes

References

  1. ↑ "IHWE Sits Down With Kevin Von Erich!". Oklafan.com. November 22, 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Joe Kent and Jorge Cardona (June 16, 2013). "BoredWrestlingFan Radio Episode 78: David Fuller interview". BoredWrestlingFan.com (Podcast).
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Glen Braget and George Schire (February 15, 2013). "Pioneer 90.1 Rasslin Memories with David Fuller". RadioNorthland.org (Podcast).
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Joe Kent and Jorge Cardona (March 16, 2014). "BoredWrestlingFan Radio Episode 117". BoredWrestlingFan.com (Podcast).
  5. ↑ Friend, Percival A. (August 9, 2010). "Percival's Photo Of The Week". PercivalAFriend.com. The Way It Was.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Dollar, Morgan (June 5, 2013). "Texas Wrestling HOF". Cauliflower Alley Club.
  7. ↑ Dykens, Brad (April 25, 2010). "IHWE, Fort Worth Texas 4/17/10 Results". OnlineWorldofWrestling.com.
  8. ↑ "R.I.P. Sharon Valentine". WrestlingEpicenter.com.
  9. ↑ Moore, Rob (November 1, 2010). "IHWE RESULTS FROM TEXAS, THE LATE SKANDAR AKBAR TO BE HONORED NEXT MONTH". PWInsiderXTRA.com.
  10. ↑ Hornbaker, Tim (April 4, 2012). "Legendary Pro Wrestling Kamala will join others into the Texas Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame!". LegacyofWrestling.com.
  11. ↑ Rouner, Jef (June 14, 2012). "Texas-All-star Wrestling". Houston Press. Houston, Texas: Voice Media Group.
  12. ↑ "Bob Murphy inducted to Texas Wrestling Hall of Fame". Houston Chronicle. Houston, Texas. April 4, 2013.
  13. ↑ Buckler, David (April 5, 2013). "TASW in the Texas Wrestling Hall of Fame". OnlineWorldofWrestling.com.
  14. ↑ Meltzer, Dave (March 12, 2014). "WED UPDATE: Cole/Briscoe ladder match announced, Flair/Von Erich & Savage/Steamboat hits WWE Network, Mick Foley news, RVD speaking gig, more Buff Bagwell, tons more". F4Wonline.com. Wrestling Observer/Figure Four Weekly.
  15. ↑ Iles, Mike (January 14, 2014). "The Scoop". Oklafan.com.
  16. 1 2 Dollar, Morgan (February 11, 2014). "IHWE Celebrates the history of Texas with it's 6th Annual Texas Wrestling Hall of Fame Inductions.". Cauliflower Alley Club.
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