Jim Crockett Jr. | |
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Born | August 10, 1944 (age 72) Charlotte, North Carolina |
Professional wrestling career | |
Ring name(s) | Jim Crockett |
Retired | 1994 |
James Allen Crockett Jr. (born August 10, 1944) is a former professional wrestling promoter. From 1973 to 1988, he owned Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP), a wrestling company affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). From 1976 to 1987, he also owned the Charlotte Orioles, a minor league baseball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Born to Jim Crockett and Elizabeth Crockett in Charlotte, Jim Jr. graduated from Myers Park High School in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1960. He and his younger siblings (David, Jackie, and Frances) were largely uninvolved in professional wrestling until their father's death in 1973. The elder Crockett had been a promoter of wrestling and other forms of entertainment since 1931 (with JCP joining the NWA in 1950).
Although Jim Crockett Sr. had decided his son-in-law John Ringley would run JCP, Jim Jr. reluctantly took over ownership of the company that same year. Crockett brought in wrestler George Scott as head booker, and he signed wrestlers from across the country, from veterans such as Wahoo McDaniel to younger wrestlers like Ric Flair.
In 1980, Crockett was elected to his first term as NWA President, which ended in 1982. He had a working relationship with Maple Leaf Wrestling, based out of Toronto and owned by Frank Tunney, until Tunney's death in 1983. Tunney's nephew Jack Tunney switched Maple Leaf Wrestling's working agreement to Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Crockett then formed a short-lived relationship with Verne Gagne and his American Wrestling Association (AWA) to form Pro Wrestling USA.