- Johnny Weaver
Infobox Wrestler
name= John Meyers
names= Johnny Weaver
The Grappler
Ultimate Assassin
image_size=
img_capt=
height=6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
weight=235 lb (107 kg)
real_height=
real_weight=
birth_date=November 17 1935
birth_place=
death_date=February 15 2008 (aged 72)
death_place=Charlotte, North Carolina
resides=Charlotte, North Carolina
billed=Indianapolis, Indiana
trainer=
debut=1957
retired=
website=John Meyers (
November 17 1935 –February 15 2008 ) was a professional wrestler and wrestling commentator in theNational Wrestling Alliance , better known by hisring name , Johnny Weaver. During Johnny's career, he was credited with being the first wrestler to use thesleeper hold (rear naked choke ) as his finisher of choice.Career
1960s
Weaver's career spanned four decades in many different territories in the NWA. He held championships across the southeast United States, the first of which was the Mid-Atlantic version of the NWA Southern Tag Team Championship, which he won with Cowboy Bob Ellis on
December 2 1963 . His best known run was with partner George Becker in the Mid-Atlantic (Carolinas, Virginia) in the 1960s. The two held the NWA Mid-Atlantic Southern Tag Team Championship five times together, and they were household names in the territory for a period of nearly eight years. The team had memorable feuds with Swede Hanson and Rip Hawk, Lars and Gene Anderson, Gene and Ole Anderson, Aldo Bogni andBronko Lubich , the Infernos with manager J. C. Dykes, and many others.Weaver's next major success came in
Championship Wrestling from Florida , where he teamed with Becker to win the Florida version of the NWA Southern Tag Team Championship in February 1967. He also competed as a singles wrestler, winning his firstNWA Florida Southern Heavyweight Championship that year by defeating the Missouri Mauler. He dropped it back to the Mauler but regained the belt onOctober 25 1967 . The following summer, he won the belt for a third time. He lost the belt to Hiro Matsuda but then regained it in a rematch in late 1968.1970s
Returning to the Carolinas, Weaver was a successful tag team wrestler in Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling. He teamed with Becker to win the
NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship onMay 1 1969 . They held the belts for over nine months before dropping them to Rip Hawk and Swede Hanson onFebruary 17 1970 . Weaver and Becker regained the title exactly one month later, however. They lost the belts to Gene andOle Anderson but regained them onJune 3 1971 from Hawk and Hanson. Once again, Weaver and Becker dropped the titles to Hawk and Hanson but regained them in a rematch. The following year, Weaver teamed with Art Neilson to win the title twice more.Weaver returned to Florida to compete in 1975 and won the
NWA Florida Tag Team Championship by teaming withDick Slater . He also competed in Texas, where he won the Amarillo version of the NWA International Heavyweight Championship in November 1976.After a brief absence from the Mid-Atlantic territory in 1975, he returned for one more main event run in 1978 with Baron Von Raschke for the area's Television championship.
1980s
His final championship reigns came in 1981 while wrestling in the Mid-Atlantic area. He teamed with
Dewey Robertson to win theNWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship in 1981 by defeatingGenichiro Tenryu and Mr. Fuji. They lost the belts to Chris Markoff andNikolai Volkoff later that year, but Weaver regained the title onNovember 27 1981 while teaming withJay Youngblood .Weaver's last years in the ring were in an "elder statesman" role, helping establish new stars just entering the territory, most notably Roddy Piper. He also helped book the Mid-Atlantic territory for nearly 8 years as well, roughly between 1966 and 1973. In the early 1980s, Weaver also booked the house shows in the southern part of the territory.
He began his broadcasting career in 1979 as color commentator with World Wide Wrestling host Rich Landrum. He became Landrum's permanent sidekick for the early 1980s, where he became famous for singing "Turn Out The Lights, The Party's Over" at the end of matches (a tip of the hat to Don Meredith, who did the same thing on Monday Night Football). When Landrum left the company in 1983, Weaver then worked briefly with David Crockett, before becoming paired with the longtime voice of Mid-Atlantic Wrestling Bob Caudle, whom he worked with until leaving the company in 1988.
He made a brief in-ring return in the Fall of 1987 in the corner of the "American Dream" Dusty Rhodes who was using sleeper hold, calling it the "Weaver Lock," and chasing down
Lex Luger and the N.W.A. United States Title. During this angle, Weaver was placed in a Japanese version of the sleeper byHiro Matsuda , causing him to bleed from the mouth. Weaver was in Rhodes' corner at , when Rhodes defeated Luger in a steel cage after DDTing Luger onto a steel chair.Legacy
CWF Mid-Atlantic out of
Burlington, North Carolina promotes the Johnny Weaver Cup tournament every August with Weaver in attendance to present the winner with the Weaver Cup trophy. Past tournament winners have been "Dangerous E" Corey Edsel (2004), Jesse Ortega (2005), Gemini Kid (2006) and "Handsome" Mitch Connor (2007). [cite web|title=CWF Mid-Atlantic Champions|work=CWF|url=http://www.cwfmidatlantic.com/champions.html|accessdate=2008-01-29]Personal life
Johnny Weaver was a deputy sheriff with
Mecklenburg County, North Carolina . In his 50s, Weaver became one of the oldest people to take the basic law enforcement test and ultimately joined the sheriff's office. He spent most of his nineteen-year career transporting prisoners on the same back roads he'd traveled as a wrestler and promoter. [(from the Charlotte Observer-Cleve R Wootsen)]Johnny Weaver was once married to female wrestler
Penny Banner . They had a daughter together named Wendi.Weaver died of natural causes on
February 15 2008 , aged 72. [ [http://www.wrestlecrazy.com/showthread.php?t=5358 Wrestling Legend Dies] ]In wrestling
*Finishing and signature moves:*"'
Sleeper hold ("Weaver Lock"):*Weaver RollChampionships and accomplishments
*
Championship Wrestling from Florida :*NWA Florida Southern Heavyweight Championship (4 times)cite web|title=NWA Southern Heavyweight Title (Florida)|work=Wrestling Titles|url=http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/fl/nwa/fl-south-h.html|accessdate=2008-01-29] :*NWA Florida Southern Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with George Beckercite web|title=NWA Southern Tag Team Title (Florida)|work=Wrestling Titles|url=http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/fl/nwa/fl-south-t.html|accessdate=2008-01-29] :*NWA Florida Tag Team Championship (1 time) - withDick Slater (1)cite web|title=Florida Tag Team Title|work=Wrestling Titles|url=http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/fl/fl-t.html|accessdate=2008-01-29]*Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling:*NWA Atlantic Coast Tag Team Championship (6 times) - with
George Becker (4) and Art Nielson (2)cite web|title=NWA Atlantic Coast Tag Team Title|work=Wrestling Titles|url=http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/midatlantic/nwa/ac-t.html|accessdate=2008-01-29] :*NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship (2 times) - withDewey Robertson (1) andJay Youngblood (1)cite web|title=NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Title|work=Wrestling Titles|url=http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/midatlantic/ma-t.html|accessdate=2008-01-29] :*NWA Southern Tag Team Championship (Mid-Atlantic version) (6 times) - with Cowboy Bob Ellis (1) and George Becker (5) (Last)cite web|title=NWA Southern Tag Team Title (Mid-Atlantic)|work=Wrestling Titles|url=http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/midatlantic/nwa/ma-south-t.html|accessdate=2008-01-29] :*NWA Television Championship (1 time)cite web|title=NWA Mid-Atlantic Television Title|work=Wrestling Titles|url=http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/midatlantic/nwa/ma-tv.html|accessdate=2008-01-29]*NWA Western States Sports:*NWA International Heavyweight Championship "(Amarillo version)" (1 time)cite web|title=International Heavyweight Title (Amarillo)|work=Wrestling Titles|url=http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/tx/amarillo/amarillo-in-h.html|accessdate=2008-01-29]
References
External links
* [http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/j/johnny-weaver.html Johnny Weaver profile at Online World of Wrestling]
* [http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2008/02/15/4849771.html SLAM! Wrestling Article: Johnny Weaver dead at 72]
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