Scott McGhee

Infobox Wrestler
name=Garfield "Gary" Portz

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names=Scott McGhee
"Irish" Pat McGhee
Scott Shannon
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birth_date = 1960
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billed=
trainer=Ric Flair, Rick Steamboat and Buddy Rogers
debut=1980
retired=|

Garfield "Gary" Portz, known by his ringname Scott McGhee, is a retired American professional wrestler and the son of Geoff Portz (and a former brother-in-law of Ric Flair) who competed in North American regional promotions during the 1980s and was a longtime mainstay of Florida Championship Wrestling.

Originally working as a referee for Jim Crockett in the Carolinas during the late 1970s, he began training with Ric Flair, Rick Steamboat and Buddy Rogers and substituted for wrestlers as several events. Staying in the Carolinas for two years, he followed his father Geoff Portz to Florida Championship Wrestling then under promoter Eddie Graham.

In October 1980, shortly after his debut, he and Barry Windham defeated The Assassins in a tournament final for the then vacant tag team titles in St. Petersburg, Floridacite book | author=Royal Duncan & Gary Will | title=Wrestling Title Histories | publisher=Archeus Communications | year=4th Edition 2006 | id=ISBN 0-9698161-5-4 ] and competed in several high profile matches against Hiro Matsuda and Les Thornton.

Returning to the Carolinas the following year, he later joined George Scott's Oklahoma territory defeated Tony Charles for the NWA United States Junior Heavyweight Championship and faced veterans such as Johnny Rich and Brad Armstrong.

In late 1982, McGhee was again wrestling for Florida Championship Wrestling and often teamed with Dusty Rhodes, Magnum TA and Blackjack Mulligan on the promotions weekly television program. After winning a championship tournament for the NWA Florida Heavyweight title in 1983, he faced Ric Flair and Harley Race in a series of matches however failed to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. After losing the title to Jos LeDuc later that year, he left the promotion to compete in the Mid Atlantic territory, appearing at Starcade 1983 teaming with Johnny Weaver against Kevin Sullivan and Mark "Purple Haze" Lewin. He also briefly appeared under the name "Irish" Pat McGhee Pacific Northwest Wrestling winning the PNW tag titles with Curt Hennig on December 23, 1983.

Upon his return to Florida, he immediately defeated "Superstar" Billy Graham to regain the Florida heavyweight title. However, following Eddie Graham's suicide, McGhee left the Florida territory in late 1985. He later turned up in Max Crabtree's British Wrestling Federation from 1986 until the end of 1987 before returning to the United States. He would continue competing in Wahoo McDaniel's Florida promotion as well as the Mid-Atlantic and Calgary territories before suffering a career ending stroke on January 31, 1988. Forced into retirement, McGhee eventually entered nursing.

Championships and accomplishments

*Championship Wrestling from Florida :*NWA Florida Global Tag Team Championship (4 times) - with Magnum T.A. (3) and Mike Graham (1):*NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship (3 times) :*NWA Florida Tag Team Championship (1 time) with Barry Windham

*Pacific Northwest Wrestling:*NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship (1 time) with Curt Hennig

*Southeastern Championship Wrestling :*NWA Southeast United States Junior Heavyweight Championship (3 times)

*Pro Wrestling Illustrated:*PWI ranked him # 321 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003.

References

External links

* [http://www.cwfarchives.com/articles/ScottMcGheeInterview.php Scott McGhee Interview]
* [http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/s/scott-mcghee.html Profile at OWW]