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Jim Crockett Jr., 76, 7the second-generation promoter who fought head to head with Vince McMahon through the 1980s before shutting down and selling what many fans felt was the last true national representaton of the NWA at the time to Turner Broadcasting, which then created WCW in late 1988, is said to be hospitalized and in poor health due to several issues.
The Crockett family legacy, especially in the Carolinas, is second to none. After his father passed away, Jim Jr. took on control of the promotion, bringing it from a regional group to a nationally touring outlet thanks to the viewing power of WTBS, an incredible crew of performers and the booking might of Dusty Rhodes. It was not uncommon for WWF and JCP to run the same market on the same night and each sell out. Crockett was the first promoter beyond WWF to bring his shows to PPV with the 1987 Bunkhouse Stampede and then, far more successfully, The 1988 Great American Bash.
During this period, Crockett served as NWA President for multiple terms, but believed he would end up the final member of the promotion as other promoters fell by the wayside due to the Vince McMahon expansion. For that reason, the "Big Gold Belt", which Crockett commissioned, reads World Heavyweight Champion as opposed to NWA World Champion. Crockett vs. WWF was a dogfight in every sense of the word, with the promotions running close to each other, live free cable specials scheduled the same day as major PPVs, etc.
Despite the strength of the promotion, financial losses proved to be too much and Crockett opted to sell, something that ended generations of tradition, a move that obviously haunted him as he explained in the great Michael Elliot documentary The Good Old Days where he made it clear that if anyone was to blame for the promotion going down, it was him. Although he ran some shows under the NWA banner in Texas for a short time and partnered with Paul Heyman in 1994 in an attempt to launch a group under the World Wrestling Network banner, he quietly moved on to real estate in the years to come and would often turn down convention and signing offers. It was only in recent years that he opted to appear at a Conrad Thompson Starrcast event.
PWInsider.com sends our best wishes to Crockett and the entire Crockett family.
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