Dallas

Southwest Sports (1940-1966)

In 1940, Ed McLemore took over the Dallas operation and formed "Southwest Sports." He ran the promotion concurrently to Morris Sigel in Houston. Throughout the 1940s, McLemore was a local promoter for the Houston office, which had control over much of Texas. He continued a formula similiar his predecessor Bert Willoughby with the pre-NWA stars coming in to battle his local heroes. Late in the decade, Dallas and the Sportatorium saw big changes. The NWA was formed and McLemore became their Dallas affiliate. The Sportatorium grew a national reputation as the home of the "Big D Jamboree" country program. In 1953, McLemore left the NWA and severed his ties with Houston. Soon after the Sportatorium was burned down in a suspicious manner. It was rebuilt, McLemore rejoined the NWA and continued to promote wrestling in the Dallas area. The formation of the National Wrestling Alliance, development of the television and economic stability caused numerous regional markets to change and Dallas was no different. In the early 1960s, Fritz Von Erich came to town. He was one of the premier stars of the 1950s and wanted to settle down in the region. He went to war with McLemore, aligned with Houston promoter Paul Boesch and San Antonio promoter Joe Blanchard to take over the city.

Johnny Becker

Ted "King Kong" Cox

Lee Henning

Blimp Levy

Doc Sarpolis

Swedish Angel

Big Time Wrestling (1966-1981)

Fritz Von Erich was one of the top heels in the United States when he rolled into Dallas in the 1960s. After a few years working with Sportatorium owner Ed McLemore, Von Erich decided to take over the city. He created an alliance with Houston promoter Paul Boesch, San Antonio promoter Joe Blanchard as well as his connections from touring the United States to seize control. In the late 1960s, he turned babyface and began feuding with "Playboy" Gary Hart and his various charges as well as other excellent heels that came to Dallas. When McLemore died in 1969, Von Erich took over the Sportatorium, the Southwest Sports promotion and worked hard to turn Dallas into one of the best promotion around. Von Erich had a great core of talent throughout the 1970s from rough-and-tough types to highflyers to great talkers, Big Time was just as its name claimed. As the decade came to a close, Fritz's children began their careers in the territory and he began phasing himself out as an in-ring performer. By this time Fritz was a wealthy man with investments all over the region in real estate. The Von Erich boys had a certain marketability that would led the promotion to a great rise and fall in the 1980s.

Abdullah The Butcher

Skandor Akbar

Andre the Giant

Afa & Sika Anoia

Tony Atlas

Ox Baker

Red Bastien

Brute Bernard

Black Gordman

The Blackjacks (Mulligan & Lanza)

Jerry Blackwell

Brian Blair

The Big O (Ron Bass)

Bearcat Brown

Captain USA (John Studd)

Scott Casey

Ciclon Negro

Cien Caras

Tony Charles

Randy Colley (Moondog Spot)

Colosso Colosetti

Tiger Conway Sr.

Tiger Conway Jr.

Johnny Fargo (Greg Valentine)

Muhammad Farouk (Iron Shiek)

Frank Goodish (Bruiser Brody)

Gordman & Goliath

El Gran Markus

Great Goliath

Great Mephisto (Frankie Cain)

"Superstar" Billy Graham

Luke Graham

Gypsy Joe

El Halcon

Stan Hansen

Swede Hanson

Gary Hart

Rip Hawk

Lord Alfred Hayes

Ruben Juarez

Billy Red Lyons

Al Madril

Luis Martinez

Ken Mantell

Dr. Bill Miller

The Mongolian Stomper

"Moondog" Lonnie Mayne

Jerry Oates

Thunderbolt Patterson

Alex Perez

Paul Perschmann (Buddy Rose)

Mr. Sakurada (Kendo Nagasaki)

Clay Spencer (Ken Mantell)

Jerry Stubbs

Sweet Brown Sugar

"Bruiser" Bob Sweetan

Professor Toru Tanaka

Les Thornton

John Tolos

Mad Dog Vachon

Dale Valentine (Buddy Roberts)

Bearcat Wright

Gary Young

Jay Youngblood

WCCW - World Class Championship Wrestling (1981-1989)

Fritz Von Erich had become the top dog in Dallas and in the early 1980s, his talented sons took over his spot. World Class secured some of the most talented young wrestlers, who were also prone to self-destruction as the pro-wrestling world would witness in the years that followed. From 1982 to 1985, World Class was the hottest promotion going. The Von Erich boys were handsome hometown kids, the Freebirds were their brash, hard-living antagonists. This feud was the biggest money feud, but they also had innovative feuds involving valets on one end of the spectrum and deaths on the other. David Von Erich was the first to pass, but as time passed, more and more began dying. By 1986, World Class had withdrawn from the NWA and reinvigorated the company for a time, then they aligned with the UWF, which helped too. After the NWA bought out the UWF, booker Ken Mantell left WCCW to start his own company. This was a hard blow, though Mantell eventually returned. By this point, the pro-wrestling world was rocked by the national expansion of Vince McMahon and the ideas that made World Class a hot commodity were being recycled. Eric Embry took over booking duties and drastically changed the direction of the company. A deal was made with Memphis-based promoter Jerry Jarrett to sell the company's assets to him, create a new company and the Von Erichs would retain some control. This company lasted for over a year, but the shift from World Class to the USWA had been a key angle. When it closed, Kevin Von Erich attempted to revive World Class, but lacked the funding or cast to succeed. Into the mid-1990s, attempts to bring back World Class occurred with no notable successes.

Abdullah the Butcher

"Gentleman" Chris Adams

General Skandor Akbar

Andre the Giant

Brad Armstrong

Tony Atlas

Ox Baker

Black Gordman

Brian Blair

Richard Blood (Tito Santana)

Blue Demon

Matt Borne