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PWInsider.com is sorry to report the passing of Travis Scott Bowden, who worked as a manager for the USWA in Memphis before settling into a role as a Memphis Wrestling historian, writing and podcasting about the territory in recent years. The circumstances of Bowden's passing have not yet been released. His childhood friend Kevin Lawler was the first to announce it via Facebook, writing he was "beyond devastated." Bowden would have turned 49 next week.
A lifelong fan of Memphis, Bowden befriended Kevin Lawler and his brother, the late Brian Lawler after discovering that they were putting together their own version of what would later become known as backyard wrestling. That opened the doors for Bowden to be allowed backstage, where he helped out setting up rings and doing whatever was needed. When he and Brian were both in college, Bowden used him as a subject in a project for journalism class, which led to him being around at shows more often and interviewing different Memphis personalities. When the USWA was short a referee, Jerry Lawler asked him to step in and gave him a crash course in what the referee's job entailed. Bowden debuted that night.
After appearing for some time on TV as a referee, he was turned heel and shifted into a manager's role, which was an idea Eddie Gilbert came up with. The plan was to make it a short-term role that would lead to him getting laid out and a few months later, return to the referee gig but Bowden ignored the instructions for his first live promo and instead cut what he thought would work out better.
"Just seeing my name on the TV outline for my designated promo freaked me out that morning," Bowden told George Wren on this website in a 2011 interview. "It didn't help when Kevin Lawler walked up to me and said, 'Just think--if you go on to be a big star, people will always point back to this as your first interview.' Great--thanks a lot. However, I had a certain idea of what I should I say after planting my size 12 Doc Marten on Lawler's head. Not only had I been practicing heel interviews in front of a mirror dating back to the '70s, but also I had been carefully scripting in my mind what I wanted to say that day based on the events of last Monday night. But I was dismayed to arrive at TV Saturday to learn that I was to apologize to Lance and Lawler for my behavior, with Russell cutting me off saying, 'Sorry, son, it's too late. Promoter Eddie Marlin has fired you.' At that point, Eddie is supposed to come out as I'm shocked speechless, promising me a job as a manager. But even more disconcerting: They informed backstage that in two weeks, Eddie would beat me up after I screwed up some kind of interference and then they'd bring me back in a month as a babyface referee. Figuring it was live TV and my only chance to deliver the heel promo of my dreams, I came out as a heel from the start, claiming that I'd "stomped Lawler like the cockroach that he is." Lance carried me the rest of the way, including a classic exchange where he warned me of hanging out with the likes of Gilbert when I roll my eyes and say disdainfully, "Oh, OK, DAD! OK, DAD!" Afterward, Lance pulled me aside and told me that he nearly cracked up on that line. I also accused Lance of not leaving in 1989 to go to Atlanta to WCW but to run the Jerry Lawler Fan Club full time. Basically, I figured it was live TV, so what would they do, except fire me? Lawler called me over when I waked through the curtain and said, "Good. Very good. But next time, try to say what we told you to say." Hours later, Kevin Lawler told that while Jerry and Eddie were laughing backstage, that Jerry was also a little pissed, saying, "What the HELL is he doing?!"
As a manager, Bowden cornered Eddie and Doug Gilbert, Jerry Lawler, Bam Bam Bigelow, The Dream Machine, Tommy Rich and many others. He was designed to be a modern day version of a Jimmy Hart type manager who talked a big game but was really a coward who used a football helmet as his foreign object of choice, based off the worked claim that Bowden was the nephew of Florida State Seminoles Coach Bobby Bowden. Eventually, he shifted into a role where he would be wrestling Ms. Texas (WWE Hall of Famer Jacqueline Moore) and would be take the big beatings to get her over as a tough woman who could hang (legitimately, in terms of toughness) with the men in the territory.
Bowden was a regular for the territory from 1991 through 1996 - taking beatings from everyone you can think of, including Bill Dundee, Steve Austin and Flex Kavana (aka Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson). He was also very influential at the time behind the scenes, passing on information regarding what was happening locally to different outlets in order to keep a spotlight on the area, which was slowly heading towards its last legs.
Bowden left the area as he had moved to Los Angeles to pursue work as a screenwriter and actor. He hooked up with Clerks Director Kevin Smith and wrote a regular column for Smith's now-defunct pop culture website MoviePoopShoot.com, a real life website that was a play on a joke in his film Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back. Bowden's Kentucky Fried Wrassling column became his calling card, recounting not just his own experiences in the Memphis territory but lots of historical pieces on classic angles and personalities.
Although he would occasionally pop up on Memphis TV (mostly because the shows landed in the same time period he was visiting home), Bowden had moved on as a performer. Bowden was the lead Editorial Copy Writer for RPA Marketing & Advertising out of Los Angeles, handling the marketing and promotional materials for Disney and character-centric campaigns for Minnie Mouse, The Secret Life of Pets, Finding Dory, Star Wars and more.
Bowden at one point had some interest in WWE as a writer but didn't get the job, which he later noted was likely because the pieces he submitted as sample storylines were based on title belts and personal grudges, as opposed to someone's girlfriend being the centerpiece of the feud. Bowden had long talked of wanting to write a book on the Memphis area and in recent years, continued his column and maintained a podcast dedicated to the territory and was selling Memphis t-shirts featuring designed based on classic Memphis wrestlers and logos from the '70s and '80s.
Bowden would occasionally pop up at conventions, hosting Memphis-related discussion panels. He was very passionate about keeping the Memphis torch lit and pointing out what made that territory so vibrant.
On behalf of everyone at PWInsider.com, we'd like to express our deepest condolences to Bowden's family, friends and fans.
George Wren's complete interview with Bowden can be found on Page 2.
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