In February 1986, Koko moved on to Bill Watts' Mid-South/UWF territory, where he started calling himself Koko B. Ware. In September 2009, Ware's wife died from cancer. Perfect on the January 7, 1989, episode of Saturday Night's Main Event XIX , while at the 1990 Survivor Series, Ware became the first wrestler to fall victim to The Undertaker's Tombstone piledriver in the Undertaker's WWF debut match. RELATED: 10 Forgotten WWE Hall Of Famers: Where Are They Now? They remained with the promotion until November 1984. [23] When Hart died, the angle was dropped and Ware's services were no longer needed. That was . Welcome to Squash City, where Fightful.com takes a look at some of the more fun squash matches in pro wrestling history. He rose in popularity during the mid 1980s, while appearing in the World Wrestling Federation, where he was initially a strong mid-carder before he eventually briefly became a jobber to the stars. 0. Ware spent his early days in the sport in the Mid-South, Georgia and other NWA territories. Even after the brainbuster he sat up. The two competed together as High Energy from 1992 to 1993, when the team was quietly dropped and. Koko quickly aligned himself with manager Jimmy Hart and his First Family and changed his ring name to "Sweet Brown Sugar". Sie knnen Ihre Einstellungen jederzeit ndern, indem Sie auf unseren Websites und Apps auf den Link Datenschutz-Dashboard klicken. Ware spent his early days in the sport in the Mid-South, Georgia and other NWA territories. Koko is neck to neck with Shinya Hashimoto as my favorite user of the Brainbuster. Ware's connection to Frankie was a large part of his gimmick. After dropping the gold in Florida, the Pretty Young Things returned to the Continental Wrestling Association in April 1985. Wrestling. [9] The two men soon began wearing red leather jackets, and each had a single white glove on, in an obvious imitation of Michael Jackson to further enhance their "pretty boy" image. Ware was inducted by his former rival The Honky Tonk Man. His first victory was on September 7 episode of Wrestling Challenge against Bob Bradley. He is best known for his appearances in multiple National Wrestling Alliance territories as Steve Keirn as one-half of the tag team The Fabulous Ones, as well as his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation under the ring name Skinner. Later that night the duo defended their title against Taylor and Bill Dundee, losing the title when Sugar "accidentally" kicked Eaton and then left the ring. Giant Baba", "Next Official Memphis Wrestling Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony", "Independent Wrestling Results - August 2003", BSPW Tag Team Championship (2) - with Juicy Johnny, NWA Mid-America Television Championship (1 time), The Texas Outlaws (Bonecrusher and Crowbar), The Dog Catchers (Dog Catcher #1 and Dog Catcher #2), The Shooting Stars (Troy Haste and Jerry Faith. In 2015, a class-action lawsuit was filed by attorney Konstantine Kyros against WWE. His first victory was on the September 7 episode of Wrestling Challenge against Bob Bradley. Koko's first major showcase in the WWF was at the November 29, 1986 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event where he defeated Nikolai Volkoff. After leaving the WWF, Koko made a few appearances for the American Wrestling Federation but did not become a regular before going into semi-retirement in 1995. Koko B. Ware On television, his first major showcase was at the November 29, 1986 Saturday Night's Main Event VIII where he defeated Nikolai Volkoff. Since they both disappeared from our screens, most fans may have forgotten about the pair. [5]. James W. Ware, Jr. (born June 20, 1958), better known by his ring name Koko B. Ware is an American retired professional wrestler. Matthew Wade Osborne, known professionally as Matt Borne, was an American professional wrestler. On July 14, 2017, Ware appeared in Big Time Wrestling in Newark, CA, and teamed with Shane Kody to defeat the Ballard Brothers. In August 1984, The Pretty Young Things began wrestling for World Class Championship Wrestling in Texas. [7][8] Bobby Eaton later turned face, he teamed with "Stagger Lee" for a series of matches. Thomas Prichard is a retired American professional wrestler and author. In 1993, he lost the first Monday Night Raw match to Yokozuna. WWE Hall of Famer Koko B. Ware set aside a few minutes of his schedule to answer questions from his fans, courtesy of SLAM! Koko was interviewed briefly during the 1999 wrestling documentary Beyond the Mat. He later went on to the World Wrestling Federation, where he went from strong mid-carder to jobber to the stars. Profile Info Gender Male Real Name James Ware Ring Names Koko B. Ware Stagger Lee Sweet Brown Sugar Height 5 ft 7 in (170 cm) Weight 228 lbs (103 kg) Born June 20, 1957 (age 65) Birth Place Union City, Tennessee Billed From Union City, Tennessee Nicknames The Birdman Career History Roles Koko wound up having Frankie, hissidekick, with him wherever he went. While Cook defended his Hall of Fame status since he was very over and some of his losses were historic, Pantoja described him as "the floor for inductees".[37]. Although he never helda championship in his WWE tenure, "The Birdman" attained great success in 1992when he joined forces with the late Owen Hart and formed the tag team known as High Energy. On August 23, 2007, he defeated his former nemesis Greg Valentine for Great North Wrestling at the Ottawa SuperEX in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Ware wrestled for WWE from 1986 to 1994 but made special appearances in the late 1990s and 2000s. My pick is Koko B. Ware. Under the management of Jim Cornette, he originally teamed with Dennis Condrey and, later on, with Stan Lane. Ware's opponent for the night was a wrestler called The Masked Patriot. [14] [15] [16] From 1987 to 1993, Ware appeared on several WWF PPVs (including WrestleMania III where he lost to Reed) and editions of Saturday Night's Main Event , being used mainly to make established or rising stars look good. Jimmy Garvin's mid 80's brainbuster was a nasty one too. His first victory was on the September 7 episode of Wrestling . The macaw garnered instant recognition, which only heightened "The Birdman's" soaring popularity. After successfully teaming for a while Sugar and Eaton started to show signs of dissension, during their last run with the tag-team title Bobby Eaton beat Jacques Rougeau for the Mid-American Heavyweight title. This is also the beginning of referee. In August 1986, Ware signed with the World Wrestling Federation, where he continued his fun-loving "Birdman" Koko B. Ware" persona, complete with a macaw named "Frankie". It didn't disappoint. In 1991 Koko made his debut in the USWA. He defeated Billy Maverick for the SCW Supreme Title for Supreme Championship Wrestling on August 22. Koko B. Ware (born James Ware on June 20, 1957) is a semi-retired American professional wrestler who made his professional wrestling debut in 1979. He would make his entrances dancing to the ring to the tune of Morris Day and The Time's The Bird, flapping his arms and carrying his pet bird Frankie", who sat on a perch at ringside while Koko wrestled. Koko B. Ware is best known for his role in WWE as a mid-card wrestler. [4], It was not until late in 1980 that Ware's fortunes changed when he participated in a battle royal to crown the first ever Mid-American Television Champion. After High Energy ended Koko was mainly used as an enhancement talent until he left the WWF in 1994. "The Birdman" came to the ring with a blue-and-yellow macaw named Frankie, both flapping and dancing before and after . Name: James Ware Preferred Name: Koko B. Ware Date Of Birth: Jun 20th 1957 Place of Birth: Union City, Tennessee, United States Nationality: USA Gender: Male Matches: 215 (14 Pay Per View) Ring Name(s): Koko B Ware, Koko Ware, Stagger Lee, Sweet Brown Sugar Which means I actually called him "Mr. B. Ware." "Mr. B. Ware," I said, "my name is RJ, we'll be wrestling each other tonight." [21] Koko picked up his first victory of his return by defeating Bastion Booger on the April 16, 1994, episode of WWF Mania. Ware finished the match by slapping his opponent hard while pinning him, which seemed incredibly unnecessary after a short match. In December 1984 the Pretty Young Things began wrestling for Championship Wrestling from Florida. Sign up for Peacock to watch. During his career, Koko would often appear with a bird named Frankie, the pet that led to Ware having the nickname of "The Birdman" during his time in WWE. Paul Parlette Orndorff Jr., nicknamed "Mr. Reportedly, the two even crashed through the plate glass wall of a gift shop. Ware's feud with Valiant was quickly expanded to include the heel Tojo Yamamoto and Ware's ally, Tommy Rich. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. He made his entrances dancing to the ring to the tune of Morris Day and The Time's "The Bird", flapping his arms and carrying Frankie, who sat on a perch at ringside while Ware wrestled. Ware unfairly counted Lawler out to give the Dream Machine the victory, a decision that did not sit well with Lawler nor the fans in Memphis. 1. Race had really slowed down and was rounding the home stretch of his career here. For most of his career, Morton has performed with Robert Gibson as The Rock N' Roll Express, described as "the consummate baby face tag team". On February 26, 1985, Austin and Ware defeated Jay and Mark Youngblood to win the NWA Florida United States Tag Team Championship. After dropping the gold in Florida, the Pretty Young Things returned to the federation that first put them together, the Continental Wrestling Association. Ware unleashes some tame enough looking smacks to the back before uncorking a clothesline that Stan Hansen would look at and say "MAYBE EASE UP A BIT, DICK.". For the simple fact that WWF was more popular during Koko's time that makes him he his more over or well known that almost every wrestlers today save for a couple. [12] Ware also sang the title track of the 1987 WWF album Piledriver, which then became his entrance music. High Energy feuded with (and generally lost to) The Nasty Boys, The Headshrinkers, and Money Incorporated. It turned out that the child that the neighbor was referring too was Frankie. [5] They left the promotion in March 1985. Ware wrestled his last match on August 10, 2019 for Pennsylvania Premiere Wrestling, teamed with John Wes and Matt Turner to defeat James Ellsworth, RJS and Alexander Bateman. William Fritz Ensor was an American professional wrestler better known by the ring name "Nature Boy" Buddy Landel. The song's video featured top wrestlers of the day like Hulk Hogan and The Honky Tonk Man, as well as WWF owner Vince McMahon wearing a red "Hulkamania" shirt and hard hat. [5] During an interview where Eaton and Hart bragged about the victory, Sugar complained that he was unable to win the Southern Title from Terry Taylor. [29], After being inducted in the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009, Ware has been a point of controversy because, working as a carpenter, he was inducted before world champions Ivan Koloff, [31] Randy Savage or Bruno Sammartino. Copyright 2023 Fightful, Inc. All Rights Reserved. On February 26, 1985, Austin and Ware defeated Jay and Mark Youngblood to win the NWA Florida United States Tag Team Championship. On June 20, 1957 James Ware, better known by his ring name Koko B. Ware, was born in Union City, Tennessee. He headlined the inaugural 1993 edition of ECW's premier annual event, November to Remember. I couldn't find the match anywhere on Koko's cagematch profile, probably because he had to work really hard to have it expunged from his record. RELATED - 10 Best Animals in WWE History, Ranked. Introduction Below you can see all known star ratings for wrestling matches featuring in Dave Meltzer's Wrestling Observer Newsletter.Please note that ratings are given to the overall match; not to the performers within them. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 1/1 BOBBY HEENAN KOKO B WARE 1990 CLASSIC WWF #56 PRINTING PLATE WRESTLING WF at the best online prices at eBay! Ware, Jr. (born June 20, 1958), better known by his ring name Koko B. Ware is an American retired professional wrestler. He was represented by attorney Konstantine Kyros, who was involved in several other lawsuits involving former WWE wrestlers. Ware's induction into the Hall of Fame was surprising, given some of the names he was inducted ahead of. In 2009 he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. After Owen's injury, Ware returned to being a singles competitor before being sent to the United States Wrestling Association as a part of a talent exchange. A 28-year old, pre bird Koko Ware is just months away from signing with the World Wrestling Federation. It turned out that the Macaw was stuck inside the house in his cage as the fire roared around him. Later, a masked man calling himself "Stagger Lee" debuted; the fact that he looked and wrestled like a masked version of Sugar helped make him instantly popular. Eaton and Sugar won the AWA Southern Tag Team Championship. He held the title until October, when he lost to Harley Race; he regained the title the following month. On that very same night that The Rockers went crazy, Ware found himself on the outs with the WWF, after getting into a physical altercation with company executive Jim Troy. Santana comes back into the ring diving into Koko's midsection with a headbutt, but Ware keeps the advantage. Wenn Sie Ihre Auswahl anpassen mchten, klicken Sie auf Datenschutzeinstellungen verwalten. In August 1986, "The Birdman" felt the time was right to make his WWE debut, coming to the ring with energy personified. Santos Escobar Wants To Face Cody Rhodes; Talks Nixed Match Against Rhodes From AAA Show. Two weeks later on March 5, 1985, the team re-lost the title to the Youngbloods. Sign up for Peacock to watch. I am talking about none other than Koko B Ware!! In 1999, he retired from wrestling and took a couple of years off. He was also a great performer during his time in the company but would. High Energy feuded with (and generally lost to) The Nasty Boys, The Headshrinkers, and Money Inc. [18] They made only one PPV appearance as a team, a loss to the Headshrinkers at the 1992 Survivor Series. In 2003, Koko returned to the spotlight competing once again in the Memphis area for the Memphis Wrestling promotion. While Cook defended his Hall of Fame status since he was very over and some of his losses were historic, Pantoja described him as "the floor for inductees". Continental Wrestling Association (19781986), Sweet Brown Sugar and Stagger Lee (19811983), NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Champion (19851986), Return to singles competition (19931994), United States Wrestling Association (19911997), NWA Florida United States Tag Team Championship, International World Class Championship Wrestling, USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship, "Frankie (Unknown-2002) - Find A Grave Memorial", "Kayfabe Memories: Bobby Eaton profile (part 2)", "WWF Saturday Night's Main Event Results (#8)", "WWF Saturday Night's Main Event Results (#14)", "the History of the WWE: WWF Match Results 1992", "the History of the WWE: WWF Match Results 1999", "the History of the WWE: WWF Match Results 2005", "Valour Wrestling 05/31/14 Battles ALS Results", "WWE seeking to block concussion-related lawsuits", "WWE Knocks Out Consolidated Concussion Case", "Wrestlingdata.com - The World's Largest Wrestling Database", "Mat Matters: WWE Hall of Fame's unforgiveable shunning of Ivan Koloff", "PWTorch.com - UNDER THE MICROSCOPE - 3/9 WWE Raw: Undertaker owns Evolution, Koko B. Ware's resume, JBL title history, Edge & Show vs. Hogan & Warrior", "Jake Roberts on WWE return, Ultimate Warrior HOF induction", "NO BRET HART IN CANADA, HOGAN'S ROLE IN TNA, THE KONG-BUBBA FIGHT, WWE HALL OF FAME AND MORE | PWInsider.com", "Daily Pro Wrestling history (03/07): Bruno Sammartino vs. Ruby Soho: I'm Over The Issues Between Homegrown Talent And Outsiders, I'm The Only Person I Can Count On, Chelsea Green Was Forced To Miss Recent WWE Raw Due To Being Landlocked, WWE Raw And Smackdown Producers For February 20-24, Keith Lee: My New Look Is A Middle Finger To Places That Say You Can't Look The Way You Are Naturally, Keith Lee Says First Year In AEW Was An 'Experiment', Wants To 'Bash The Crap' Out Of Swerve Strickland, Clip Of Joe Hendry Using Sega Dreamcast As Weapon At IMPACT No Surrender Gets 1 Million Twitter Views, SCWPro Wrestling Night At The Quad City Storm Results (3/2), Max Caster Files To Trademark 'Scissorfest' And 'Scissor Me', WWE Selling Andre The Giant-Inspired WWE World Championship Replica Title, New South HOSS Tournament Night One Results (3/3): Davey Richards, Alec Price, Myron Reed Compete. [2] He performed a brainbuster known as the Ghostbuster. Trivia. On August 23, 2007, he defeated his former nemesis Greg Valentine for Great North Wrestling at the Ottawa SuperEX in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He debuted in 1978 and became widely popular in 1986, in the World Wrestling Federation, where he went from strong mid-carder to jobber to the stars. Plus, get every WWE Premium Live Event, your favorite shows, new movies, live sports, and more. Eaton, along with the rest of the First Family, tried in vain to unmask Lee but could not manage to do so. 4.99. Continental Wrestling Association (19781986), United States Wrestling Association (19911997), NWA Florida United States Tag Team Championship, International World Class Championship Wrestling, USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship, "Frankie (Unknown-2002) - Find A Grave Memorial", "Kayfabe Memories: Bobby Eaton profile (part 2)", "WWF Saturday Night's Main Event Results (#8)", "WWF Saturday Night's Main Event Results (#14)", "the History of the WWE: WWF Match Results 1992", "the History of the WWE: WWF Match Results 1999", "the History of the WWE: WWF Match Results 2005", "Valour Wrestling 05/31/14 Battles ALS Results", "WWE seeking to block concussion-related lawsuits", "WWE Knocks Out Consolidated Concussion Case", "Wrestlingdata.com - The World's Largest Wrestling Database", "Mat Matters: WWE Hall of Fame's unforgiveable shunning of Ivan Koloff", "PWTorch.com - UNDER THE MICROSCOPE - 3/9 WWE Raw: Undertaker owns Evolution, Koko B. Ware's resume, JBL title history, Edge & Show vs. Hogan & Warrior", "Jake Roberts on WWE return, Ultimate Warrior HOF induction", "NO BRET HART IN CANADA, HOGAN'S ROLE IN TNA, THE KONG-BUBBA FIGHT, WWE HALL OF FAME AND MORE, "Daily Pro Wrestling history (03/07): Bruno Sammartino vs. [26] In 2020 he married Pamela James. After his time with WWE was through, Koko B Ware continued wrestling in independent promotions for years. When Dutch Mantel returned to the CWA in early 1981 he quickly defeated Ware for . On June 8, 2008, Ware made a special appearance at TNA's Slammiversary as a groomsman in the kayfabe wedding for "Black Machismo" Jay Lethal and SoCal Val, along with George "The Animal" Steele, Kamala the Ugandan Giant, and Jake "The Snake" Roberts. During the course of the match Stagger Lee's mask was removed to reveal the man beneath it, prompting a heel turn for Ware. On April 4, 2009, Koko was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by The Honky Tonk Man. He appeared at "WWE Homecoming", Raw's return to the USA Network, on October 3, 2005. There's a choke toss to send Ware flying again but he comes back with some right hands. On September 5, 2009 Ware's wife died after a battle with cancer. The same taping later saw Ware defeat Savage by countout in a dark match. My mom knows Koko. On May 31, 2014, Ware appeared in the main event at Valour Wrestling's special event to raise money for Lou Gehrig disease.[25]. Ware's last WWE appearance came in 2005 when he was defeated by Rob Conway on an episode of Heat.