- Art Crews
Infobox Wrestler
name=Art Crews
img_capt=
names="The Blonde Bomber" Art Crews
"The Kansas Cowboy" Art Crews
height=height|ft=6|in=1
weight=convert|240|lb|kg|abbr=on
birth_date=birth date and age|1959|1|3
death_date=
birth_place=Meriden, Kansas ,United States
death_place=
resides=Yakima, Washington
billed=Topeka, Kansas
trainer=Pat O'ConnorRonnie Etchison
debut=1980
vs.Billy Howard
retired=1989
website=|Art Crews is a retired American professional wrestler who competed in North American regional promotions including the
National Wrestling Alliance , particularly the Central States, Mid-South and Pacific Northwest territories, during the 1980s.In
Shawn Michaels ' autobiography "Heartbreak & Triumph", Michaels explains that Art Crews was the very first person he wrestled in his career, making him the very first person to defeat Michaels.Career
Early life and career
Born in
Meriden, Kansas , he was a fan of professional wrestling as a child often attending wrestling events inSaint Joseph, Missouri with his mother Billie Crews. Trained by Pat O'Connor and Ronnie Etchison, Crews made his debut in 1980 fightingBilly Howard to a time limit draw at theKansas City Memorial Hall inKansas City, Kansas . [ cite web |url=http://www.kayfabememories.com/Stories/artcrews/ac6.htm |title=Stories: Art Crews, Page #6 |accessdate= |author=Crews, Art |authorlink= |coauthors= |date= |year= |month= |format= |work= |publisher=KafabeMemories.com |pages= |language= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ]After spending almost two years in the Southeast, he began competing for Pacific Northwest Wrestling defeating
Chris Colt at theSports Arena inPortland, Oregon on September 5, 1981 and was later named the PNW "Rookie of the Year" by the end of the year. He appeared inMaple Leaf Wrestling teaming withKenny Jay against Jerry &Johnny Valiant at theOshawa Civic Auditorium inOshawa, Ontario pinning Johnny Valiant on October 1, 1981 due in part to outside interference from theRougeau Brothers .Feuding with
Dizzy Hogan in January 1982, he also lost several matches againstMatt Borne , "Playboy" Buddy Rose,Billy White Wolf and fought to a draw againstStan Stasiak later that month.Losing to
Gene Kiniski on February 3, he later defeated Tiger Chung Lee andTerry Fargo . Hogan, however, dominated their feud during mid-February but finally lost to him on February 27, 1982.Mid-South Wrestling & Central States
Moving on to the St. Louis area, Crews teamed with "Bulldog" Bob Brown to defeat
Gene Lewis &Ron MacFarlane at theKiel Auditorium inSt. Louis, Missouri on April 16, 1982. FacingDewey Robertson in a series of matches during the year, [cite web |url=http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/ResultsArchive/Wrestlers/robertson-dewey.html |title=Wrestling Results Archive: Dewey Robertson |accessdate= |author=Nevada, Vance |authorlink= |coauthors=Mike Rodgers |date=2007-08-12 |year= |month= |format= |work= |publisher=SLAM! Wrestling |pages= |language= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ] he also facedBaron von Raschke , "Nature Boy" Ric Flair,Terry Funk andKerry von Erich in televised matches on the Mid-South's "Wrestling at the Chase" television program.Facing
"Dr. Death" Steve Williams andKamala in January 1983, he also teamed withTim Horner againstMarty Lune &Tom Renesto and withMr. Wrestling II againstTug Taylor &Joe Stark . The following month, he faced "Iron" Mike Sharpe and "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan in several singles matches, as well as teaming with Tim Horner againstKelly Kiniski . Feuding with Kamala & The Black Ninja and laterMr. Olympia , Crews also appeared on the Superdome Extravaganza supercards defeating Kelly Kiniski on April 16 [ cite web |url=http://www.prowrestlinghistory.com/supercards/usa/misc/midsouth/cards2.html#0483 |title=Superdome Extravaganza 4/83 |accessdate= |author= |authorlink= |coauthors= |date= |year= |month= |format= |work= |publisher=ProWrestlingHistory.com |pages= |language= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ] and later lost toGeorge Weingroff on July 16. [ cite web |url=http://www.prowrestlinghistory.com/supercards/usa/misc/midsouth/cards2.html#0783 |title=Superdome Extravaganza 7/83 |accessdate= |author= |authorlink= |coauthors= |date= |year= |month= |format= |work= |publisher=ProWrestlingHistory.com |pages= |language= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ]Although losing to Steve Williams on August 12, he defeated Doug Vines and Tim Horner later that month. After losses to George Weingroff, Jim Neidhart and
Nikolai Volkoff , he teamed withDonna Day in a mixed tag team match againstDebbie Combs & "Wildfire" Tommy Rich on September 22.He also teamed with
Mike Bond againstThe Missing Link &King Kong Bundy and later withTom Stanton against George Weingroff & King Cobra during October. He later teamed with Doug Vines losing to Jerry &Marty Oates on November 4 and, with US Steel, losing to The A-Team on November 21.Teaming with
Robert Gibson ,Bobby Eaton ,Stagger Lee and Giant Frazier in a 10-man tag team match, Crews lost to The A-Team,The Moondogs andDennis Condrey on November 28. However, teaming with Robert Gibson, Bobby Eaton, Stagger Lee, Terry Taylor and Tom Pritchard, Crews was able to defeat The A-Team, The Moondogs, Dream Machine and Porkchop Cash on December 5 and, with Ricky Morton, Bobby Eaton and The Jaguar, defeated The Moondogs, Angelo Poffo and Franklin Hayes on December 19, 1983. [ cite web |url=http://www.prowrestlinghistory.com/memphis/jarrett/1983.html |title=Mid-South Coliseum 1983 (Jarrett) |accessdate= |author= |authorlink= |coauthors= |date= |year= |month= |format= |work= |publisher=ProWrestlingHistory.com |pages= |language= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ]In early 1984, Crews teamed with The Jaguar losing to
Norvell Austin & Sabu on January 1. A week later, he fought to a draw against Terry Gibbs and lost to King Konga on January 24. He also teamed withDutch Mantel againstAngelo Poffo &Randy Savage losing to them by disqualification on January 31.The following month, he lost to
Rick Rude and, with Tommy Gilbert, to The A-Team before defeating The Black Ninja on February 28. He also participated in the Mid-South Wrestling Southern Tag Team Championship Tournament with Tom Jones being eliminated by Tommy Rich & Eddie Gilbert in the opening rounds inMemphis, Tennessee on March 26. [ cite web |url=http://www.prowrestlinghistory.com/memphis/tournaments/southerntag.html#southerntag0384 |title=Southern Tag Title Tournament 1984 |accessdate= |author= |authorlink= |coauthors= |date= |year= |month= |format= |work= |publisher=ProWrestlingHistory.com |pages= |language= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ] After losses toOx Baker andJim Neidhart in early April, he left the area. [ cite web |url=http://www.prowrestlinghistory.com/memphis/jarrett/1984.html |title=Mid-South Coliseum 1984 (Jarrett) |accessdate= |author= |authorlink= |coauthors= |date= |year= |month= |format= |work= |publisher=ProWrestlingHistory.com |pages= |language= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ]While in NWA Central States, Crews won the then vacant Central States TV title in a championship tournament defeating
Scott Ferris in the first round,Marty Jannetty in the semi-finals and "Crazy" Luke Graham in the finals on May 24, 1984.Returning to the Mid-South area to face
Terry Taylor on August 16, he also teamed withRandy Barber againstThe Fantastics on August 23 and withRick McCord against theRoad Warriors August 30 before facingMagnum T.A. on September 21. In one of his last televised appearances with the promotion, Crews teamed withLee Ramsey against Chavo &Hector Guerrero on November 16, 1984.Although the title became vacant several weeks later, Crew regained the title on August 21 and feuded with the Man Eating Beast over the title [ cite web |url=http://kayfabememories.com/Regions/centralstates/cs11-2.htm |title=Regional Territories: Central States #11, Page #2 |accessdate= |author= |authorlink= |coauthors= |date= |year= |month= |format= |work= |publisher=KafabeMemories.com |pages= |language= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ] before losing it to
Gypsy Joe on September 2. Managed by Slick, Crews teamed with "Diamond" Timothy Flowers as Arthur W. Crews facingRufus Jones &Butch Reed andThe Midnight Rockers in several matches [ cite web |url=http://kayfabememories.com/Regions/centralstates/cs21-2.htm |title=Regional Territories: Central States #21, Page #2 |accessdate= |author= |authorlink= |coauthors= |date= |year= |month= |format= |work= |publisher=KafabeMemories.com |pages= |language= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ] before Slick left for the World Wrestling Federation. [ Shoot with Slick. Perf. Ken Johnson. DVD. Highspots.com, 2006. ]While touring
South Africa with Flowers during 1985, the two nearly incited a riot in front of an estimated 20,000 crowd inJohannesburg after defeating two local South African wrestlers when both Crews and Flowers tore apart the South African flag carried by their opponents. Having to be escorted by police officers, Crews was stabbed in the lower back by an unknown fan while making their way to the dressing room. The wound was not serious however and Crews continued to wrestling on the tour. [ cite web |url=http://www.kayfabememories.com/Stories/artcrews/ac4.htm |title=Stories: Art Crews, Page #4 |accessdate= |author=Crews, Art |authorlink= |coauthors= |date= |year= |month= |format= |work= |publisher=KafabeMemories.com |pages= |language= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ]After splitting up with Flowers, he defeated
T.G. Stone ,Dusty Wolfe in early 1985 and fought to a time limit draw withRoger Kirby on February 7. Winning a 6-man battle royal on February 14, he later defeated Roger Kirby in a rematch and teamed withMike George againstSuper Destroyer &Mr. Pogo on March 14.Later that year, Crews defeated
Gary Royal for the NWA Central States Television title on November 18, 1985 successfully defending the title until leaving the promotion in January 1986. [ cite web |url=http://www.oldschool-wrestling.com/centralstateswrestling/1985.htm |title=Kansas City Results: 1985 |accessdate= |author= |authorlink= |coauthors= |date= |year= |month= |format= |work= |publisher=Oldschool-Wrestling.com |pages= |language= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ]Later career
Returning to the Portland-area during the next two years, he later defeated
Brett Sawyer at theTulsa Convention Center inTulsa, Oklahoma on August 17 [ cite web |url=http://www.oklafan.com/results/complete/UWF.html |title=Card Results: Universal Wrestling Federation |accessdate= |author= |authorlink= |coauthors= |date= |year= |month= |format= |work= |publisher=The Oklahoma Wrestling Fan's Resource Center |pages= |language= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ] and later made an appearance on theUWF 's Superdome Extravaganza supercard with a loss toJeff Gaylord inNew Orleans, Louisiana on November 27, 1986 [ cite web |url=http://www.prowrestlinghistory.com/supercards/usa/misc/midsouth/cards2.html#dome1186 |title=Superdome Extravaganza 11/86 |accessdate= |author= |authorlink= |coauthors= |date= |year= |month= |format= |work= |publisher=ProWrestlingHistory.com |pages= |language= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ]The following year, he toured with
All Japan Pro Wrestling teaming with El Olympico againstJumbo Tsuruta &Genichiro Tenryu on February 20 andHiroshi Wajima on February 24 before teaming with Terry "Bam Bam" Gordy against Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu on March 7, 1987.Recent years
In late 1987, Crews began cutting back his wrestling schedule in favor of pursuing a career in law enforcement and corrections and eventually retired in 1989. Attending
trade school inPortland, Oregon , he was hired as acorrectional officer by theOregon State Corrections Department to teach self defense techniques and compliance holds to other officers.Graduating from
LaSalle University with a degree in Criminal Justice Management, he briefly worked for at a private correctional facility in Louisiana and, during his 13 year career, eventually worked his way up from an instructor and correctional officer to managerial positions as a prison administrator and executive manager. In 2001, he became Chief of Security at theYakima Department of Corrections in Yakima, Washington, where he supervises 184 employees. [ cite web |url=http://www.cpol.net/tonyd/artcrews2.htm |title=Whatever Happened To Art Crews? |accessdate= |author= |authorlink= |coauthors= |date= |year= |month= |format= |work= |publisher=The Official Website of Tony D |pages= |language= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ] [ "Former Wrestler Art Crews Turns Security Chief". Yakima-Herald Republic. 18 Nov 2001]Championships and accomplishments
*National Wrestling Alliance
*Regional
**NWA Central States Television Championship (2 times) [ cite web |url=http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/centralstates/nwa/cs-tv.html |title=N.W.A. Central States Television Title |accessdate=|date= |year=2003 |month=|publisher=Puroresu Dojo ]
**NWA Central States Tag Team Championship (1 time) with Timothy Flowers (disputed) [ cite book | author=Royal Duncan & Gary Will | title=Wrestling Title Histories | publisher=Archeus Communications | year=4th Edition 2000 | id=ISBN 0-9698161-5-4 ]
*Pacific Northwest Wrestling
**PNW Rookie of the Year (1981)Media
*"Best of UWF Mid-South (1985-1986)". Perf. Art Crews. DVD.
RF Video , 2006.
*"Classic St. Louis Wrestling". Perf. Art Crews. DVD.RF Video , 2005.
*"Wrestling's Greatest Matches, Vol. 21". Perf. Art Crews. VHS.Coliseum Video , 1994.References
External links
* [http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/a/art-crews.html Profile at Online World of Wrestling]
* [http://www.bodyslamming.com/other/artcrews.html Inactive Superstars - Art Crews]
* [http://wrestling.xwiki.com/xwiki/bin/view/Main/ArtCrews Art Crews] at the [http://wrestling.xwiki.com/ WrestleWiki]
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