| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Todd Dale Veasey (1960-05-20)May 20, 1960 (age 65) |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | The Alaskan Hunter Dale Veasey The Hunter Lt. James Earl Wright |
| Billed height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) |
| Billed weight | 235 lb (107 kg) |
| Billed from | Atlanta, Georgia |
| Debut | 1982 |
| Retired | 1999 |
Todd Dale Veasey (born May 20, 1960) is a retired American professional wrestler, better known by hisring namesDale Veasey andLt. James Earl Wright, who competed in North American regional promotions including theMid-South region and theNational Wrestling Alliance, particularly theGeorgia andFlorida territories, as well as brief stints in theWorld Wrestling Federation andWorld Championship Wrestling, most notably as one half of the tag teamState Patrol withBuddy Lee Parker during the 1990s.
He would also have a successful career teaming with Bob Brown in international promotions includingContinental Championship Wrestling,Stampede Wrestling and theWorld Wrestling Council (WWC).
Dale Veasey made his professional debut in early 1982, beginning his career in Georgia and Florida. Later that year however, he disappeared from the scene and did not reappear until February 1984, in Georgia Championship Wrestling. The on-air reason given for his hiatus was that he had been in a serious automobile accident, breaking his ankle, jaw, right arm, and also suffering two skull fractures. On his return he was heavier than when last seen in 1982, but spent the next few months trimming down. Veasey was still with the promotion whenBlack Saturday occurred, at which point he transition to other territories, losing several singles matches toTim Horner,Shawn Michaels,Terry Taylor andIceman Parsons while in the Mid-South territory in January 1985 and spending most of the year wrestling in Florida Championship Wrestling facing veterans such asWahoo McDaniel,Rip Rogers andHector Guerrero.
While inTexas All-Star Wrestling, he also defeatedTerry Daniels in a tournament final to win the vacant TASW Junior Heavyweight Championship inSan Antonio, Texas on September 2, 1985 holding the title for four months before leaving the area.[1]
The following year, Veasey underwent another physical transformation intoRoad Warriors-inspired,The Hunter. He spent most of 1986/1987 wrestling as either The Hunter in singles competition or with tag-team partner Bob Brown asThe Alaskan Hunters, going on to win the WWC North American Tag Team Championship with Brown defeatingMiguelito Perez &Tony Atlas inSan Juan, Puerto Rico on June 20, 1987. After defeating WWC World Tag Team ChampionsMark &Chris Youngblood on August 26, the two would briefly hold both the World and North American tag team titles before losing the World titles back to the Youngbloods September 20, 1987. After the North American titles were abandoned by the promotion in November, Veasey and Brown would leave the promotion by the end of the year.
Early in 1989, Veasey and Brown spent some time in the World Wrestling Federation and, later, a very short spell in Stampede Wrestling, but by the end of 1989 Veasey was in World Championship Wrestling as 'Lieutenant James Earl Wright' along with 'Sergeant Buddy Lee Parker', his tag team partner in the State Patrol (which first formed while both were in Stampede).
Making their debut in late 1989, the State Patrol substituted for theSamoan Swat Team and were defeated by the NWA/WCW US Tag Team ChampionsThe Steiner Brothers at Chicago’s UIC Pavilion on September 30 and also facedRicky Morton &Tommy Rich on December 14, 1990.[2]
During 1991, Wright and Parker regularly appeared on televised shows includingWCW Power Hour andWCW Saturday Night. After losing toBrian Pillman in a singles match on WCW Power Hour on January 26, both he and Parker brawled with Pillman afterwards with Pillman getting the upper hand.[3] This would lead to a brief feud which resulted in a rematch atClash of the Champions XIV on January 30 with Wright again losing to Pillman.[4]
Although having success against preliminary wrestlers in early 1991,[5] Veasey and Parker teamed with Big Cat in a losing effort against the thenWCW World Six-Man Tag Team ChampionsJunkyard Dog, Ricky Morton & Tommy Rich atWrestleWar ‘91 on February 24, 1991.[6] He would also lose a series of single matches to Junkyard Dog and Dustin Rhodes during the next two months, before losing toBig Van Vader in a handicap match with Joe Cazana on April 24, 1991.[7]
The following year, Veasey lost to"Hacksaw" Jim Duggan in a match for theWCW United States Heavyweight Championship on November 20 and, with Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker, lost to then WCW World Tag Team ChampionsThe American Males on December 7, 1994.[8]
Appearing on WCW Saturday Night during early 1995, he lost singles matches againstSting, Brian Pillman andRenegade. Although losing to the American Males on August 21, they would later defeatCol. Robert Lee Parker's Stud Stable (Bunkhouse Buck &"Dirty" Dick Slater) duringWCW Monday Nitro on September 18. Losing toThe Nasty Boys on October 11 and Sting &Ric Flair on October 25, he and Parker would later appear in a 60-man Battle Royal where both he and his partner were eliminated byCobra atWorld War Three '95 on November 11, 1995. After being eliminated, Veasey/Wright pulled Cobra out of the ring eliminating him from the battle royal as well, however nothing came from this.[9]
The following year, the State Patrol lost a match againstHarlem Heat on WCW Saturday Night inRome, Georgia on March 30, 1996.[8]
The State Patrol also toured Japan several times during the 1990s.
Veasey retired from active competition although he has since wrestled in the Georgia-based Columbus Championship Wrestling in January 2002.[10]
