United States Wrestling Association

United States Wrestling Association was a pro wrestling promotion operating in the United States, based in Memphis, Tennessee, USA.

The USWA promotion was founded on February 4, 1989 by Jerry Jarrett & Kevin Von Erich, and it ceased operations on November 21, 1997.

The United States Wrestling Association formed in 1989 as an alliance between Jerry Jarrett and the Von Erich family, owners of the Continental Wrestling Association in Memphis, and World Class Championship Wrestling in Dallas, respectively. Often hailed as one of the last bastions of territory wrestling in North America, the USWA sought to launch a national brand that could compete with the WWF and WCW. After a year and a half, the Von Erichs would drop out of the USWA, leaving the promotion to be mostly centered around Memphis. WCCW  and USWA-Dallas talent would more or less migrate to the Global Wrestling Federation promotion.

In 1992, the USWA would engage in a partnership with the WWF, exchanging talent and de facto becoming its first developmental territory. Notably, the unofficial birth of the Mr. McMahon character would occur in this company, during an interpromotional feud which pit local hero Jerry Lawler against McMahon’s empire. As the years war on, the USWA would suffer in a landscape increasingly dominated by the two major companies, with dwindling live audiences and lack of homegrown talent. Jarrett would soon drop out of the USWA, leaving the company for Lawler and a mysterious businessman named Larry Burton, under the finance of XL Sports Ltd.

In 1997, as Burton was revealed to be a con man named Larry Bertman, XL Sports would sue both him and Lawler for fraud, winning about $7 million in damages. The USWA was forced to shutdown in November 1997, an end to a continuous line of territory style Memphis wrestling that spanned decades.

United States Wrestling Association: Info