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Buzz Tyler

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Buzz Tyler
Tyler, c. 1982
Born(1948-11-04)November 4, 1948
Spartanburg, South Carolina, U.S.
DiedNovember 11, 2021(2021-11-11) (aged 73)
Camden, South Carolina, U.S.
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Buzz Tyler>
Avalanche Tyler
Billed height6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Billed weight279 lb (127 kg)
Billed fromNashville, Tennessee
Debut1976
Retired1986

Buzz Tyler (November 4, 1948 – November 11, 2021) was an American professional wrestler who competed in North American regional promotions during the 1970s and 1980s including the National Wrestling Alliance, most notably teaming with J. J. Dillon and "Bulldog" Bob Brown in NWA Central States during the early-1980s.

Professional wrestling career

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Early career

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Tyler began wrestling for NWA Mid-America during the late 1970s eventually being chosen by NWA Mid-America Tag Team Champion Gypsy Joe in February 1978 to replace Dutch Mantell who had previously forfeited his half of the title. After losing the titles to George Gulas & Tojo Yamamoto two months later, he would compete for NWA Central States and later wrestled Dewey Robertson in tag team matches with Matt Borne[1] as well as several 6-man tag team matches against Kerry Brown & Tommy Sharp[2] and faced Dick the Bruiser in an interpromotional event between the NWA and the WWF on November 7, 1980.[3]

He later lost to Terry Taylor in a match for the vacant NWA Central States Television Championship in January 1981 shortly before winning the promotion's heavyweight championship from "Bulldog" Bob Brown on April 1. After three months, Tyler lost the title to Bob Sweetan on July 23, 1981.

Teaming with J. J. Dillon several weeks later, he and Dillon would defeat Bob Sweetan & Terry Gibbs for the NWA Central States Tag Team Titles on August 27, although they were forced to vacate within two months. The following month, he faced Terry Gibbs and Bob Sweetan in singles matches and later lost to Sweetan and Bob Brown in a tag team match with Gene Lewis on September 20, 1981.[4] He also teamed with Steve Sybert in the NWA North American Tag Team Championship Tournament and was eliminated in the opening rounds by Dusty Rhodes & Bugsy McGraw in late 1981.[5]

Facing NWA World Heavyweight Champion "Nature Boy" Ric Flair in several matches during 1982,[6] he later began teaming with Bob Brown defeating Dewey Robertson and Hercules Hernandez for the Tag Team titles on September 20, 1982. Although losing the titles to Yasu Fuji & Kim Duk on March 3, he and Brown would regain the titles in a championship tournament on May 26. He and Brown also won the NWA International Tag Team Championship from Timothy Flowers & Terry Adonis in Vancouver, British Columbia on May 30, 1983.

Eliminated by Jerry Blackwell during the opening rounds of the NWA Missouri Heavyweight Championship Tournament on July 15,[7] he and Brown would feud with "The Sheiks" (Roger Kirby & Abdullah the Great) over the tag team titles throughout the year before Brown was injured by 666 during a match in December 1983 and forced to vacate the titles.[8]

Regaining the title from Super Destroyer on October 20, he would later over the title with Tully Blanchard, "Crazy" Luke Graham and Ted Oates before losing the title to Hacksaw Higgins on October 6, 1983. During his last year in the promotion, he and Luke Graham especially would face each other in a series of steel cage matches eventually losing to Graham in Kansas City, Missouri on May 10, 1984.[9]

He would later defeat former tag team partner Gypsy Joe for the NWA Central States Television title on September 22, 1984 before losing the title a month later to Marty Jannetty.

Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling

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Moving on to the Mid-Atlantic territory, Tyler had a brief yet violent feud with Wahoo McDaniel before siding with The Assassin in his feud with Paul Jones' Army later teaming with The Assassin at Starrcade '84 to defeat "The Zambuie Express" (Elijah Akeem and Kareem Muhammad) with manager Paul Jones in an Elimination Tag Team match on November 2, 1984.[10][11][12]

With The Assassin and Charlie Brown, he would defeat Superstar Billy Graham, J. J. Dillon and Paul Jones in a 6-man tag team match on January 6 and later faced Graham in both tag team and 6-man tag team matches later that month.[13]

Defeating Ron Bass for the NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship on March 16, he was scheduled to defend his title on Jim Crockett's Championship Wrestling from Georgia in its first episode since Black Saturday, however, the main event was canceled after an accident caused the middle ring rope to snap during a match between Black Bart and Ron Rossi on April 6, 1985.[14]

Months later, he would team with "Ragin' Bull" Manny Fernandez and Sam Houston to defeat Abdullah the Butcher, The Barbarian and Superstar Billy Graham at The Great American Bash '85 on July 6 [15] and later teamed with Fernandez and Houston to defeat Ivan Koloff's The Russian Team for the NWA Mid-Atlantic Six-Man Tag Team Championship in July 1985 and successfully defended the titles against before losing the titles back to Russian Team later that year.

He would later forfeit the NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship after leaving the promotion in July 1985, however he refused to return the title claiming then booker Dusty Rhodes withheld money owed to him, and a third version of the belt was eventually used.[16]

Championships and accomplishments

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References

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  1. ^ Nevada, Vance; Mike Rodgers (August 12, 2007). "Wrestling Results Archive: Dewey Robertson". SLAM! Wrestling. Archived from the original on July 13, 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. ^ Nevada, Vance; Mike Rodgers (July 30, 2005). "Wrestling Results Archive: Kerry Brown". SLAM! Wrestling. Archived from the original on July 15, 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  3. ^ "NWA/WWF World Title Unification". ProWrestlingHistory.com. June 2002.
  4. ^ "Wrestling at the Chase: Forty years ago (September 2006)". St. Louis Wrestling at the Chase. September 2006. Archived from the original on October 2, 2011.
  5. ^ "North American Tag Title Tournament 1981". ProWrestlingHistory.com. June 2002.
  6. ^ "Records of N.W.A. World Heavyweight Championship Matches: 1982-83". Puroresu Dojo. 2003.
  7. ^ "NWA Missouri Title Tournament 1983". ProWrestlingHistory.com. June 2002.
  8. ^ "Regional Territories: Central States #16, Page #2". KayfabeMemories.com. April 2002.
  9. ^ "Regional Territories: Central States #3, Page #2". KayfabeMemories.com. April 2002.
  10. ^ "Starrcade 1984". ProWrestlingHistory.com. May 2004.
  11. ^ "Starrcade 1984". WCWrules4lyf.wordpress.com. June 14, 2007.
  12. ^ "Starrcade 1984: The Million Dollar Challenge". FloydsCabana.com. 2007. Archived from the original on December 15, 2007.
  13. ^ Graham, Billy (2006). "Superstar Billy Graham Record Book: 1985". SuperstarBillyGraham.com. Archived from the original on May 20, 2008.
  14. ^ "World Championship Wrestling on SuperStation TBS: April 6, 1985". TheGloryDays.net. May 2004. Archived from the original on June 6, 2004.
  15. ^ "Great American Bash 1985". ProWrestlingHistory.com. April 2002.
  16. ^ Bourne, Dick (October 2004). "Mid-Atlantic Title History: The Origin of the Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship". MidAtlanticGateway.com. Archived from the original on March 10, 2009.
  17. ^ "N.W.A. Central States Heavyweight Title". Puroresu Dojo. 2003.
  18. ^ "N.W.A. Central States Tag Team Title". Puroresu Dojo. 2003.
  19. ^ "N.W.A. Central States Television Title". Puroresu Dojo. 2003.
  20. ^ a b Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2000). Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  21. ^ "N.W.A. Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Title". Puroresu Dojo. 2003.
  22. ^ "International Tag Team Title (Vancouver)". Puroresu Dojo. 2003.
  23. ^ "N.W.A. Mid-America Tag Team Title". Puroresu Dojo. 2003.
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