NWA Tri-State
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| Acronym | UWF |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1950s NWA Tri-State 1979 (Mid-South) 1986 (UWF) |
| Defunct | 1987 |
| Style | American wrestling |
| Headquarters | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma |
| Founder(s) |
Bill Watts (UWF) Leroy McGuirk (NWA Tri-State) |
| Owner(s) | Leroy McGuirk (1950s-1979) Bill Watts (1979-1987) Jim Crockett, Jr. (1987) |
| Parent |
National Wrestling Alliance (1950s-1979) Jim Crockett Promotions (1987) |
| Sister | Houston Wrestling |
| Formerly | NWA Tri-State Mid-South Wrestling |
| Website | http://www.universalwrestling.com |
The Universal Wrestling Federation was owner Bill Watts' attempt at taking his Mid-South Wrestling promotion to a national level in 1986. The attempt failed and in 1987, Watts sold the promotion to Jim Crockett Promotions and it became part of what would later be known as World Championship Wrestling. The promotion had started out as an NWA Territory known as NWA Tri-State founded by Leroy McGuirk in the 1950s. Tri-State promoted in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi, the same area that Watts's Mid-South wrestling ran in before attempting to go national. In 1990, Herb Abrams started an unrelated wrestling promotion with the same name.
A former territory wrestler who was blinded in a 1950 auto accident, Leroy McGuirk eventually took over promoting a wrestling circuit that covered Oklahoma, Louisiana and Mississippi. Until 1973, Watts had been a fan favorite for Tri-State Wrestling. After a short break in Eddie Graham's Championship Wrestling from Florida, he returned to Tri-State in 1975.
In 1979, Bill Watts bought out the Tri-State Wrestling circuit from Leroy McGuirk, and renamed the circuit Mid-South Wrestling (MSW, known officially as the Mid-South Wrestling Association). One of his first acts as owner was to withdraw from the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), though MSW would still remain loosely aligned with the organization and continue to have the NWA World Champion defend his title on MSW shows. MSW began adding shows in Arkansas to its circuit. In 1982, the promotion grew to include Oklahoma when McGuirk shut down his Oklahoma-based promotion. He also formed an alliance with Houston promoter Paul Boesch to feature Mid-South talent on the cards at the Sam Houston Coliseum, one of the largest cities in America and one of the most fabled arenas in professional wrestling, as well as other parts of southeastern Texas.
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