Koko B. Ware

Credit: Gallery1988.com

Real name: James Ware
Height: 5’8″
Weight: 240 lbs.
Date of birth: June 20, 1957
Hometown: Union City, Tennessee
Pro debut: 1978
Trained at: Herb Welch
Finishing move: Bird Buster

Biography

– Ware started his career in the southern states, competing as Koko Ware
– In his first recorded match, Ware teamed with Bearcat Brown & Heather Feather in a loss to The Bounty Hunters (1 & 2) & Chuck Malone
– In the late 70’s, Ware adopted the ‘Sweet Brown Sugar’ persona, whilst still competing as Koko Ware
– On October 30, 1979, Sweet Brown Sugar defeated NWA Florida Television Champion Bugsy McGraw by DQ
– In September 1981, Sweet Brown Sugar & Stan Lane defeated Ricky & Robert Gibson to win the AWA Southern Tag Team Titles
– On March 14, 1982, Sweet Brown Sugar & Bobby Eaton defeated Robert Gibson & Stan Lane to win the vacant AWA Southern Tag Team Titles
– On August 16, 1982, Sweet Brown Sugar & Bobby Eaton defeated Dream Machine & Jim Mitchell to win the AWA Southern Tag Team Titles
– In 1983, Ware also took on the masked ‘Stagger Lee’ character
– On February 25, 1983, Sweet Brown Sugar defeated Bobby Eaton to win the NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Title
– On March 7, 1983, Stagger Lee defeated Bobby Eaton to win the NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Title
– On April 10, 1983, Sweet Brown Sugar fought NWA Canadian Television Champion Jim Nelson to a draw
– On August 22, 1983, Lee defeated Buddy Landel to win the NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Title
– On September 19, 1983, Ware & Dutch Mantel defeated The Grapplers (Tony Anthony & Len Denton) to win the AWA Southern Tag Team Titles
– On February 6, 1984, The PYT Express (Sweet Brown Sugar & Norvell Austin) defeated The Zambuie Express (Elijah Akeem & Kareem Muhammad) to win the AWA Southern Tag Team Titles
– On April 2, 1984, The PYT Express (Ware & Austin) fought AWA Southern Tag Team Champions Eddie Gilbert & Tommy Rich to a draw
– On February 26, 1985, The PYT Express defeated Jay & Mark Youngblood to win the NWA Florida United States Tag Team Titles
– On April 15, 1985, The PYT Express defeated The Fabulous Ones (Stan Lane & Steve Keirn) to win the AWA Southern Tag Team Titles
– On August 12, 1985, Ware defeated Bota The Witchdoctor to win the vacant NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Title
– In September 1985, Ware defeated Bota The Witchdoctor to win the NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Title
– On November 16, 1985, Ware defeated Tom Branch to win the NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Title
– In 1986, Ware was signed by the WWF, where he tweaked his ring name to Koko B Ware
– At WrestleMania III, Ware was defeated by Butch Reed
– At WrestleMania IV, Ware teamed with The British Bulldogs (The Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith) in a loss to The Islanders (Haku & Tama) and Bobby Heenan
– At SummerSlam ’88, Ware was defeated by The Big Boss Man
– At Survivor Series ’88, Team Mega Powers (Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Hillbilly Jim, Koko B Ware & Hercules) defeated Team Twin Towers (The Big Boss Man, Akeem, Ted DiBiase, Haku & The Red Rooster) in an Elimination Match
– At WrestleMania VI, Ware was defeated by Rick Martel
– At Survivor Series ’90, The Million Dollar Team (Greg Valentine, Ted DiBiase, The Honky Tonk Man & The Undertaker) defeated The Dream Team (Bret Hart, Jim Neidhart, Dusty Rhodes & Koko B Ware) in an Elimination Match
– In January 1991, Ware embarked upon a brief tour of Japan
– At Royal Rumble ’91, Ware was defeated by The Mountie
– In late 1991, Ware began to wrestle frequently for USWA alongside his WWF commitments
– On February 24, 1992, Ware defeated Kamala to win the USWA Heavyweight Title
– In October 1992, Ware returned to Japan with the WAR promotion
– At Survivor Series ’92, The Headshrinkers (Samu & Fatu) defeated High Energy (Ware & Owen Hart)
– On December 7, 1992, Ware defeated Jerry Lawler to win the USWA Heavyweight Title
– On May 3, 1993, Ware defeated Brian Christopher by DQ to retain the USWA Heavyweight Title
– On November 1, 1993, Ware defeated Rex Hargrove to win the USWA Tag Team Titles
– In the summer of 1994, Ware left the WWF, though he had not been in a featured role for some time
– On May 12, 1995, Ware made an appearance at the disastrous AWF pay-per-view event, defeating Don D Lux by DQ
– On June 2, 1995, Ware defeated Greg Valentine by forfeit to win the IWCCW Heavyweight Title. He would be the final champion before the promotion closed later in the year
– On August 7, 1996, Ware defeated USWA Heavyweight Champion Jerry Lawler by DQ
– In the late 90’s, Ware announced he was retired, however, he continued to make occasional appearances in various promotions
– In 1999, Ware was involved in the short-lived Blue Blazer angle. After the untimely death of Owen Hart, Ware’s contract was terminated
– In 2005, Ware made his first competitive appearance in the WWF in 10 years, losing to Rob Conway on an episode of Heat
– On April 4, 2009, Ware was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by The Honky Tonk Man