 South in 2011 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1962-09-07)September 7, 1962 (age 63) |
| Website | www.GeorgeSouth.com |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Cruel Connection #2 George South Gladiator #2 Mr. Florida Mr. No. 1 |
| Billed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) |
| Billed weight | 235 lb (107 kg; 16.8 st) |
| Trained by | Rusty Roberts |
| Debut | December 11, 1982 |
George South (born September 7, 1962) is an Americanprofessional wrestler. In the course of his career, South has wrestled forprofessional wrestling promotions such asJim Crockett Promotions,World Championship Wrestling andthe World Wrestling Federation.
South began wrestling in 1984, having his first match on December 26, 1984, inChampionship Wrestling from Florida. Teaming with Mike Allen at a CWF TV taping, the rookie lost to thePretty Young Things (Koko B Ware andNorvell Austin). South next appeared inMid South Wrestling, teaming withRocky King to take onKamala in a two-on-one match on January 2, 1985, in Shreveport, Louisiana.[1]
South next appeared in theNWA'sJim Crockett Promotions (JCP). South made his debut on the April 6, 1985, edition ofWorld Championship Wrestling, the inaugural broadcast of the show afterJim Crockett acquired theTBS time slot. That night a young South teamed with Greg Stone to faceIvan Koloff & Krusher Kruschev (Barry Darsow). A week later he had his first singles match, losing toMagnum T. A. on the Saturday night program.[2] On June 1, 1985, he received his first ever match (non-title) with thenNWA World Heavyweight ChampionRic Flair. He would become Ric Flair's favoritejourneyman to wrestle as Flair considered him a great worker. South was used asenhancement talent but he always got in some offense and was very good at gettingheelheat with the fans.[3] He did however gain his first victory September 14, 1985, when he defeated Mack Jeffers in Columbus, Georgia.[4]
While still frequently wrestling for Crockett, South also wrestled inGeorgia Championship Wrestling and captured hisNWA Georgia Junior Heavyweight Championship in 1986 in between stops for JCP. South also made appearances in NWA affiliateCentral States Wrestling in the fall of 1986. In his first match there, he defeated Colt Steel on October 26 in Kansas City, Missouri,[5] followed up by a win two days later againstMark Fleming. After a loss to Steel on November 21, 1986, South ended his run in CSW with another win over him on November 27, 1986, in Kansas City, Kansas. He then returned to Mid Atlantic Wrestling, where he began to frequently team withGary Royal in the masked jobber tag teams theCruel Connection,Mexican Twin Devils and theGladiators.[6] As the Gladiators, South and Royal jobbed for Bill and Randy Mulkey giving the perennial jobber tag team their only televised win onWorld Championship Wrestling.[7]
In the first round of the1987 Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup, South teamed withSteve Keirn and wrestledMike Graham andNelson Royal to a draw.[8] Throughout the year he continued to team with Royal – usually as the Gladiators – and gained occasional victories in singles competition. In 1988 they were redubbed The Cruel Connection, and on April 22 entered the1988 Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup but lost toThe Sheepherders in the first round.[9]
While still wrestling for Jim Crockett Promotions, South made his firstWorld Wrestling Federation appearance on August 2, 1988, at a TV taping forWWF Wrestling Challenge, losing toThe Honky Tonk Man in a non-title match.[10] On the August 24, 1988, taping of Challenge, South wrestledThe Blue Blazer, the match being the masked Owen Hart's first televised WWF match. South would have matches with a wide array of WWF performers, includingBrutus Beefcake,Hercules,Hillbilly Jim,Jake "the Snake" Roberts,Jim Duggan,Jimmy Snuka,Rhythm and Blues,Sam Houston,The Brain Busters,The British Bulldogs,The Rockers, andThe Ultimate Warrior. On August 2, 1989, he was defeated byAl Perez in the latter's debut match at aWWF Superstars of Wrestling taping inWheeling,WV.[11] His final appearance came on the January 20, 1990, episode ofWWF Superstars where he teamed with Alan Martin in a losing effort toDemolition.[12]
During the fall of 1988, Jim Crockett Promotions was acquired byTed Turner and ultimately rebrandedWorld Championship Wrestling; during this time South continued as a regular.[13] On April 1, 1989, South would lose toThe Great Muta's WCW debut, and then enter a house show series with him that month.
Two months later, he became part of wrestling history onClash of the Champions VII. Teaming with Cougar Jay, he faced off againstThe Ding Dongs on June 14, 1989, in a match held in a sweltering Fort Bragg, North Carolina.[14] Although new WCW Vice PresidentJim Herd was expecting a strong reaction for his new tag-team, the crowd turned virulently against them. While each Ding Dong took turns ringing a giant bell at ringside while the other wrestled, the crowd booed and announcerJim Ross was noticeably embarrassed. South's opponents are now regarded as having one of the worst gimmicks of all time.[15]
Gary Royal would depart WCW after 1989, leaving South to soldier on in singles matches wrestling under his own name or as "Cruel Connection #1". He faced a wave of incoming new talent, includingJohnny B. Badd,Van Hammer, andMarcus Bagwell as the new decade progressed. After 1992 his appearances became infrequent. On August 20, 1993, when he teamed withThe Italian Stallion to faceThe Cole Twins at a house show in Bluefield, West Virginia in what would be his only match of the year.[16] In 1994 he returned forWCW Saturday Night matches againstAlex Wright,Jim Duggan, andDave Sullivan. In 1995 he would team with various opponents in matches againstStars & Stripes andThe Nasty Boys. On May 27, 1995, just over ten years after joining the promotion he would have his last match when he teamed with Mike McKeefer in aWCW Saturday Night match that saw them defeated by The Nasty Boys.[17]
South returned for one match at a television taping on March 7, 1993, and facedTatanka in Fayetteville, North Carolina.[18] However, in 1994 he would make numerous appearances, starting on January 17 edition ofMonday Night Raw where he was defeated by Tatanka in Richmond, Virginia. On February 5, 1994, episode ofWWF Superstars he wrestledDoink the Clown, and in April facedLex Luger in a losing effort. As the year progressed, he would have matches with Sparky Plugg (Bob Holly) and The Bushwhackers.[19]
George South made one more WWF appearance in 1996, wrestling Jake "The Snake" Roberts on the June 1 edition of WWF Superstars.[20]
While still making appearances in WCW, South joined thePro Wrestling Federation, a new promotion that was promoted byThe Italian Stallion, who promoted the company with some help from South.[21][22] On June 15, 1991, he captured the PWF Junior Heavyweight Championship. He would hold this title for 460 days before finally losing it to Flaming Youth on September 17, 1992.[23] South would become the top heel in the PWF, winning the Junior Heavyweight title on multiple occasions. He also reformed his Cruel Connection team with Gary Royal when his former partner joined the promotion.
South feuded with Flaming Youth and The Southern Rocker throughout 1993. On June 18, 1994, he teamed with the Italian Stallion and won the PWF Tag-Team Championship, defeating Austin Steele & Terry Austin.[24] He would go on to win that title several times, but his greatest PWF achievement came on September 14, 1995, when he beat Star Ryder (Ray Hudson) to win the PWF Heavyweight Championship at an event in Charlotte, North Carolina.[25] South would eventually have to vacate the title, and lost a tournament finale to crown a new champion October 21, 1995, to The Italian Stallion.[24]
In 1996 he regained the PWF Heavyweight Championship and continued feud with the Stallion, as well as Carolina Dreamer. Stallion and South would trade the championship during 1996 and 1997.[26]
As South continued his reign as a top heel wrestler in the PWF, he also made a foray intoJim Cornette'sSmoky Mountain Wrestling promotion in 1994. He made his debut on their October 15, 1994, television program, facingTracy Smothers, then would wrestleBoo Bradley andBruiser Bedlam later in the year.[27] On January 2, 1995, he received a title shot against SMW TV ChampionBuddy Landell in a "Beat The Champ" challenge but was unsuccessful. Later in the year he would faceAl Snow,Unabom, andBobby Blaze before leaving the promotion in April 1995.
South is aborn-again Christian and says one of his biggest thrills was passing a Christiantract toHulk Hogan in WCW who told him he needed it.[citation needed] In 1999 three full-color cartoon tracts were produced for South entitledThe Greatest Match Ever,Who is Your Tag-Team Partner?, andWho Are You Wrestling Against?, illustrated by comics artistSteven Butler, packaged byThe Nate Butler Studio, and published by PowerMark Productions.
When the PWF closed in 1999, South opened his own promotion called the Exodus Wrestling Alliance. He still runs shows as of 2005 in the Mid-Atlantic area and participates in Christianity/wrestling shows withNikita Koloff andTed DiBiase.[citation needed]
One of his gimmicks is the fact that he gets heel heat from the fans by sticking his tongue out at them and taunting them about how he is manhandling their hero in the ring. He is proud of the fact that he does not have to get crude, use profanity, or become vulgar to get heel heat.[citation needed]
An important part of South's modern day matches are moves and performances intended to pay tribute to the great wrestling stars of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, includingWahoo McDaniel,Blackjack Mulligan,[28]Brute Bernard,Two Ton Harris,Paul Jones,Ricky Steamboat,Tully Blanchard, the Anderson Brothers, and others.
South's most significant recent match was againstBrad Armstrong in Spartanburg, South Carolina, at the Wrestling Night of Legends II. In 2013, South participated in the Brad Armstrong Memorial Event, in a tag-team match alongside Bob Orton Jr. against Tim Horner and Tom Prichard. During the match, Orton and South didn't get along too well to the point South tried to sucker-punch Orton, Orton would later enter the ring and superplex South, letting Horner pin South while Orton was walking down the ramp.
In 2018 he teamed with Zane Dawson at theNCWA's 10th Annual Ivan Koloff Tag Team Tournament and captured the NCWA Tag-Team Championship when his team defeated Chet Sterling and Dave Dawson.[29] Later that year South joined the America's Most Liked (AML) Wrestling promotion, and on November 25, 2018, he defeatedCaleb Konley to win the AML Wrestling Championship.[30] South made several successful title defenses in 2019, including beating Konley in a loser leaves AML match on January 27 and defeatingFallah Bahh.[31]CW Anderson finally ended South's title reign on July 28, 2019, at an event in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.[32] However, on December 1, 2019, he regained the Title from Anderson and remained AML Wrestling Champion before losing it back to Anderson.
Over thirty years after the NWA Jim Crockett Promotion was purchased by Turner Broadcasting, George South made his first appearance back in the National Wrestling Alliance when he wrestledColby Corino in dark match atNWA Powerrr on December 15, 2019.[33]
South trains up and comers at the Rings wrestling training facility in Charlotte, North Carolina on Tuesdays. His son, George South Jr., is also now a wrestler. South Jr. first wrestled onAEW Dark on December 1, 2020.[34][35]
Still wrestles as of 2025.
,Internet Wrestling Database