Back in the 1980s, the territories still ruled wrestling. While Vince McMahon and his WWE was starting to grow, the wrestling world was still divided into smaller territories, several of which were just as strong in their own ways. One of the biggest and best was Bill Watts’ Mid-South Wrestling Association. Begun in 1979, for nearly a decade, Mid-South, later becoming the UWF, was one of the best promotions for anyone loving classic wrestling.
The territory had some terrific storylines with Watts ahead of his time with episodic wrestling tales. It also boasted stars who would later become some of the biggest names in the business. Sadly, a combination of bad luck and timing crushed the promotion just as it was about to take off. But its legacy endures thanks to its wonderful style. These are a few things to know about Mid-South and what made it so important to the wrestling world of its time and why so many fans have fond memories of it today.
10 The Cowboy
A very divisive figure in wrestling, Bill Watts lived up to his in-ring persona as a real-life cowboy. While a good wrestler, Watts was one of the best bookers the business has ever known. He could craft genius storylines to get fans going and knew how to properly sell stars in the ring.
An old-school believer in kayfabe, Watts used his stardom to slowly take more interest in Tri-State Wrestling and began his rise to power. Mid-South was always guided by Watts, for better and worse, as the Cowboy’s style made it a hit.
9 It Extended Across Several States
Originally called Tri-State Wrestling, the territory extended across Oklahoma, Louisiana and Tennessee with an alliance with Paul Boesch’s Houston territory. After buying out Leroy McGuirk, Watts renamed it Mid-South and while withdrawing from the NWA, he would still have the NWA Champion defend the belt at some big shows.
Watts helped make New Orleans a hot wrestling town with strong crowds for the Superdome events. Louisiana was the main base for a bit before later shifting to Oklahoma, yet Mid-South lived up to its name, showing great action across a few states.
8 The Junkyard Dog Was Its Local Hero
Far and away, the biggest star Mid-South knew was the Junkyard Dog. While not a great worker, JYD exploded with charisma, the crowds loving his drive, his dancing and more. A brilliant angle had him “blinded” by the Freebirds, leading to a sellout crowd for the payoff matches.
Another fun bit was him leaving town only to return as the masked Stagger Lee. His title run was good as Watts helped JYD to stardom and in return, the Dog became a reason fans got into Mid-South in the first place.
7 The Amazing Stars
JYD wasn’t the only huge star Mid-South had on its roster. It’s amazing to see the scores of future famous faces who cut their teeth in the territory. They included Steve “Dr. Death” Williams, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Ted DiBiase, Magnum T.A. and Jake Roberts. The Rock 'n' Roll Express and Midnight Express began their legendary feud in this territory along with Jim Cornette’s rise as manager.
Notable were the Blade Runners, a pair of Road Warriors knock-offs who would later be known as Sting and the Ultimate Warrior. Mid-South was where these men cut their teeth before going to bigger stardom.
6 It Was Close To Being On TBS
Imagine if, instead of WCW, it was Mid-South/UWF on TBS. It nearly happened as Watts had heard of how Vince McMahon’s attempts to take over TBS’s showing of Georgia Championship Wrestling had flopped.
Watts was all set to take over that slot, but at the last minute, Jim Barnett managed to get Jim Crockett’s Mid-Atlantic Territory the space instead. That gave Crockett the exposure to become the face of the NWA and eventually transform into WCW. Meanwhile, Watts would try the national route in another way, yet this could have made his promotion bigger than ever.
5 Jim Ross Was Key To Its Success
As good as Mid-South was, it really took off once Jim Ross got involved. Starting as a referee, Ross was soon moved to the commentating booth and quickly became the voice of the promotion. His excitement and insight into the shows made Mid-South even hotter with fans and established Ross’ credentials.
More importantly, Ross became Head of Marketing and helped Mid-South establish a good syndication deal to bring it more attention. That would be critical for Watts going forward as Mid-South was where “Good Ole J.R.” got his start in wrestling.
4 Becoming The UWF
In 1986, Watts made a huge move to go national. Having secured a good contract deal, Watts transformed the promotion into the Universal Wrestling Federation. He was aided by a great talent raid from World Class Championship Wrestling to add stars like Terry Taylor, Chris Adams, the Freebirds and more.
Terry Gordy won a tournament to become the first UWF champion, with the title later going to the One Man Gang, Big Bubba Rogers and Steve Williams. Plus, a young talent named Sting was starting to take off as a star. As 1987 began, Watts had all the ingredients to grow until fate took a turn.
3 It Was Killed By A Recession
Watts was a bit hit by the defection of some stars like Ted DiBiase and Hacksaw Jim Duggan to WWE. However, the UWF was still doing great in the ratings and there was a chance it could rise up. But then a massive oil recession hit Oklahoma and Louisiana in late 1986.
Watts’ core audience was too busy fighting to keep their homes to care what happened in a wrestling ring and attendance plummeted. They were still doing okay in the ratings, but Watts realized he couldn’t keep going, so in April 1987, he sold the UWF to Jim Crockett Promotions, aka WCW.
2 The Quick Death By WCW
Watts approached the deal under the idea that the UWF would still keep going as a separate promotion, which it did for a while. However, by the fall, Crockett was taking over and decided the UWF simply wasn’t important. There was a unification match of TV champs Nikita Koloff and Terry Taylor (which JCP’s Koloff won) but no others.
UWF Champion Steve Williams and Tag Team Champs the Sheepherders (later the Bushwhackers) saw their belts simply die out. With the notable exceptions of Rick Steiner and Sting, the rest of the UWF roster never got a big shot in WCW.
1 The Mid-South Legacy Today
Watts had a controversial run as boss of WCW in 1992, where he failed to recapture the Mid-South magic. One notable bit is Watts failed to trademark the UWF name, which Herb Abrams later used for an infamous promotion. Watts did have a brief stint with WWE in 1995 before retiring.
By 2020, WWE had acquired most of Mid-South’s tape library and put out a Blu-ray history of the territory. They don’t own the rights to shows that were produced under Paul Boesch’s Texas territory, but between the WWE Network and some fan videos, the legacy of Mid-South and its amazing stars lives on with fans today as a reminder of classic old-school wrestling.