Professional wrestling came into it’s own after World War 2, when TV became widely available in the U.S. But, if you wanted to get in the business of promoting wrestling, the only way to do it was through the National Wrestling Alliance. (NWA) Virtually the entire country was divided into a loosely organized group of “territories” owned and run by a specific individual or family under the banner of the NWA. If an independent promotion popped up somewhere, the other NWA owners worked together to put them out of business. Top talent was sent to the threatened territory. Money might be loaned to the promoter to buy additional TV spots and/or book multiple local venues, in order to saturate the market or just to prevent the independent from finding a building available to rent for his show. Independents rarely lasted more than a few weeks. That is, until someone broke the “rules” and supplanted an existing promotion in 1978.
The Memphis wrestling promotion had enjoyed many years of success by 1978. The Welch and Gulas families were running shows throughout Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas and parts of Missouri, Kentucky, and Alabama. And Memphis was the crown jewel of the promotion, featuring live events every Monday night at the 12,000 seat Mid-South Coliseum. Attendance averaged a reliable 4-5000, TV ratings on the local ABC affiliate channel 13 were good, and the spot shows were generally profitable. Roy Welch and Nick Gulas had a steady, comfortable income.
All was not well, however. An ambitious young man named Jerry Jarrett had gone to work for the promotion several years earlier. Hired originally as a wrestler, Jerry soon displayed a talent for promotion, and was moved into the office to manage spot shows. These shows became so successful that he was given responsibility for the entire western end of the promotion, including Memphis. Before long, the Jarrett-run areas were bringing in over 80% of the promotion’s total revenue. Jerry, however, was still working as an employee on salary while Roy Welch and Nick Gulas, as co-owners, enjoyed the profits of his work. Jerry approached Nick and Roy to request either a full partnership in the business, or the opportunity to buy them out at a fair price. Not only did Welch and Gulas decline both options, but they tricked Jarrett into giving up the right to purchase a share of the business with a misleading contract.
Simultaneously, tension was building among the wrestlers. The Memphis promotion had long been notorious for paying the boys poorly. They were also fined commonly for minor offenses that other promoters overlooked. And the pay didn’t improve even when revenues started rising under Jerry Jarrett’s management. The top star was a young Jerry Lawler, a Memphis native and gifted talker who seemed to get better on TV every week.
Jerry Jarrett eventually realized Welch and Gulas would never negotiate honestly with him. And that’s when he made his move-He first approached Lawler with the plan to go independent. Lawler leaped at the chance to get out from under Welch/Gulas and suggested bringing in ring announcer Lance Russell, who had become an integral part of the TV program. Russell also immediately agreed to the plan and brought his TV sidekick, Dave Brown along as well. Most of the other wrestlers, disgusted with the current management, quickly signed on. Russell, an experienced TV executive, approached the Memphis NBC affiliate, channel 5, with the offer of a new wrestling program. Ch. 5 management, eager to cut into Ch 13’s ratings, swiftly premiered TV5 Championship Wrestling on Saturday mornings at 11:00.
Welch and Gulas felt the effects immediately. TV ratings and ticket sales plummeted. They soon appealed to their NWA colleagues for help. However, the owners turned their backs on the situation, as Welch and Gulas were just as disliked and disrespected by the promoters as they were by their employees. Years of penuriousness and petty behavior had alienated the NWA to the point of cutting them loose to fight their own battles against an “outlaw” promotion. The Welch/Gulas promotion folded within 6 weeks.
Jerry Jarrett’s new promotion never looked back. Within a year, they were filling the Mid-South Coliseum regularly and generating amazing TV ratings. It was common for over 90% of TVs in Memphis to be tuned to wrestling at 11am Saturday on Ch 5, which became the runaway #1 station in town for years. Jarrett, Lawler and many others became wealthy men. Perhaps the greatest irony is that the Memphis promotion, under Jerry Jarrett, was the last old-time territory to close after the WWF/E went national in the mid 1980s. In the end, the “Outlaws” beat the establishment at their own game.