Joe McCarthy (wrestler)

Joe McCarthy
Birth name Thomas Roland Criswell[1]
Born (1929-04-30)April 30, 1929[1]
Obion County, Tennessee, US[2]
Died March 13, 2012(2012-03-13) (aged 82)
Dyersburg, Tennessee, US[3]
Children Thomas Roland Criswell Jr.
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Al Criswell
Joe McCarthy
Masked Mighty Yankee #1[1]

Thomas Roland Criswell (April 30, 1929 – March 13, 2012), better known as Joe McCarthy, was an American professional wrestler who competed in the 1950s and 60s primarily throughout the National Wrestling Alliance where he was a former NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion. He was a prominent competitor for various NWA territories including Nick Gulas's NWA Mid-America and Leroy McGuirk's NWA Tri-State.

Professional wrestling career

Joe McCarthy began his professional wrestling career in the early 1950s, competing primarily within Nick Gulas's NWA Mid-America territory. He headlined several events in 1954/55, including tag-team bouts with his partner Buddy Fuller.[4] By the late 1950s, he was competing regularly throughout Ohio, North Carolina and Alabama.[5] By 1960, McCarthy began capturing championship gold. On April 20, 1960, he teamed with the Great Bolo to defeat Bobby and Don Fields for both the Gulf Coast and Mid-America NWA Southern Tag Team Championships in Mobile, Alabama.[6]

On April 9, 1963, McCarthy won the NWA Georgia Southeastern Heavyweight Championship. By this point he had become a headliner for NWA Tri-State.[7] On February 12, 1966 McCarthy defeated Lorenzo Parente to win the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship.[8] He defended the title in the Southern U.S. before eventually losing it to Danny Hodge in Little Rock, Arkansas.[9]

Championships and accomplishments

References

  1. 1 2 3 Saalbach, Axel. "Wrestlingdata.com - The World's Largest Wrestling Database". www.wrestlingdata.com.
  2. ↑ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Joe McCarthy « Wrestlers Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  3. ↑ "Joe McCarthy: Profile & Match Listing - Internet Wrestling Database (IWD)". www.profightdb.com.
  4. ↑ Saalbach, Axel. "Wrestlingdata.com - The World's Largest Wrestling Database". www.wrestlingdata.com.
  5. ↑ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Matches « Joe McCarthy « Wrestlers Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  6. ↑ "On this day in pro wrestling history: Brisco vs. Terry Funk, Farmer Burns vs. Original Strangler Lewis". 20 April 2015.
  7. 1 2 Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Titles « Joe McCarthy « Wrestlers Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  8. ↑ Hornbaker, Tim (26 November 2017). "National Wrestling Alliance: The Untold Story of the Monopoly That Strangled Professional Wrestling". ECW Press – via Google Books.
  9. ↑ "NWA World Junior Heavyweight Title". Wrestling-Titles.com.
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