Often credited for creating the current episodic style of wrestling on TV, which is built around developing story lines on a weekly basis and emphasizing on solid in ring action, Bill Watts is considered to be one of the pioneers of the wrestling business, and he is mostly remembered for his time with Mid South Wrestling. Watts was also known for popularizing good vs. evil story lines, with the faces and heels of his promotion having different locker rooms, and werent allowed to be seen together in public. He also pushed African American wrestlers as his top stars, and a show which was main evented by a blinded Junkyard Dog (kayfabe) and Michael Hayes drew nearly 30,000 fans. When Watts joined World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as its Executive Vice President, he pushed Ron Simmons to become the first African American to win a widely recognized World Heavyweight championship. However, Watts was criticized for living in the past, and not evolving with time. He also received flak for pushing his son, Erik Watts in WCW, who many felt was not ready to be on the national wrestling scene. Watts was also heavily criticized for his controversial racial and sexual comments, which was rumored to be the reason for his departure from WCW, although Watts had denied those allegations. Watts was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as a part of the Class of 2009.
Sports journalist, writer, poet, quiz master and an engineer. I have been writing about contact sports for years, and have interviewed UFC fighters such as Miesha Tate, Cung Le and John Hathaway. I had also covered TUF - China finale and UFC Fight Night - Macau.
