Universal Wrestling Federation (Bill Watts)

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.

History

NWA Tri-State

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.

Mid-South

Mid-South may refer to:

1955 Mid-South 250

Coordinates: 35°8.31486′N 90°18.9617′W / 35.13858100°N 90.3160283°W / 35.13858100; -90.3160283

The 1955 Mid-South 250 was a NASCAR Grand National Series (now Sprint Cup Series) event that was held on August 14, 1955 at the Memphis-Arkansas Speedway in LeHi, Arkansas.

The race car drivers still had to commute to the races using the same stock cars that competed in a typical weekend's race through a policy of homologation (and under their own power). This policy was in effect until roughly 1975. By 1980, NASCAR had completely stopped tracking the year model of all the vehicles and most teams did not take stock cars to the track under their own power any more.

Summary

One hundred and sixty-seven laps were done on a dirt oval track spanning 1.500 miles (2.414 km). There were no cautions and the time of the race was two hours, forty-seven minutes, and twelve seconds. The average speed was 89.982 miles per hour (144.812 km/h) while the pole position speed was 99.944 miles per hour (160.844 km/h). Fifteen thousand people attended this live and completely untelevised race. Total winnings for this race were $10,625 ($93,856.37 when adjusted for inflation) with the winner receiving $2,950 ($26,058.94 when adjusted for inflation).

1954 Mid-South 250

Coordinates: 35°8.31486′N 90°18.9617′W / 35.13858100°N 90.3160283°W / 35.13858100; -90.3160283

The 1954 Mid-South 250 was a NASCAR Grand National Series (now Sprint Cup Series) event that was held on October 10, 1954 at Memphis-Arkansas Speedway in LeHi, Arkansas.

The race car drivers still had to commute to the races using the same stock cars that competed in a typical weekend's race through a policy of homologation (and under their own power). This policy was in effect until roughly 1975. By 1980, NASCAR had completely stopped tracking the year model of all the vehicles and most teams did not take stock cars to the track under their own power anymore.

Summary

One hundred and sixty seven laps were raced on a dirt track spanning 1.500 miles (2.414 km). Twelve thousand people would attend this live untelevised race where Buck Baker would win in his 1954 Oldsmobile vehicle. Other notable competitors included Lee Petty (who led 150 laps which was considered to be the most laps), Marvin Panch, Jimmie Lewallen, Arden Mounts, and Junior Johnson. The average speed of the race was 89.013 miles per hour (143.253 km/h) and the race took two hours, forty-eight minutes, and fifty-one seconds to complete. There was no record of the pole speed, the number of cautions, or even the margin of victory that Buck Baker had over Dick Rathmann. This event was the 35th race out of 37 in the 1954 Grand National season. Even though it was advertised as a 250-mile race, the actual distance of the race was 250.5 miles (403.1 km).