Monday Night Raw, Smackdown, NXT, Impact, Monday Nitro, and whatever Ring of Honors show is called can all tip their hats to Cowboy Bill Watts. The WWE Hall of Famer is responsible for pioneering the style of wrestling television we are familiar with today; weekly episodes featuring cliffhangers, continuity, and structured storylines. While other wrestling promotions in the late 70s and early 80s were telling their own stories, few had the foresight to tell those stories in the format engineered by Watts as the owner of Mid-South Wrestling. In-ring interviews, run-ins, sneak attacks, great matches, and twists were regular parts of his shows. It led to Mid-South becoming one of the most revered promotional outfits in wrestling history still beloved to this day by insiders and fans alike. Watts is also famous for taking Jim Ross under his wing and teaching him the proper way to perform wrestling commentary. His most famous contribution, however, has to be his decision to push African-American stars to the top of the card. Junkyard Dog became a top guy in Mid-South and when Watts was a booker with World Championship Wrestling, he pushed for Ron Simmons to become to the first ever African-American World Heavyweight Champion.
Eric Delgado has been writing about professional wrestling for five years and has been involved in the professional wrestling business as a performer for ten. He is also the former host of Steel Cage Radio and has an irrational love for The Ryback.
