Sunset Beach (Oahu)
Sunset Beach is on the North Shore of Oahu in Hawaii and known for big wave surfing during the winter season. The original Hawaiian name for this place is Paumalū, it is a two-mile stretch of beige sand located at 59-104 Kamehameha Highway in Pupukea, 39 miles driving distance from Waikiki. Lifeguards are present. Like many beaches on Oahu's North Shore, Sunset Beach is considered dangerous for inexperienced surfers, due to extensive coral formations near the surface that present the risk of serious injury. Trade winds will be an advantage and a disadvantage, at the same, as the offshore breeze will make paddling for a wave a difficult task. Conditions for swimming change depending on season. Speaking, the water is flat as a lake in the summers and has waves in the winters. All the surfing contests take place in the winter around December and January, that being the time of the largest and best waves for surfing. Swimming conditions change from spot to spot along the beach. There is a place to swim somewhere, except during stormy weather.
Severe erosion of the sand at Sunset occurs during sets of large surf episodes. During December in 2017 following several long lasting episodes with at least 30' to 40' waves for several days, severe sand erosion, which formed a more than 20' cliff along the edge of bicycle trail, closed the beach the week before Christmas; this catastrophic erosion caused the bike path to be rerouted closer to Kamehameha Highway when large concrete portions of the bike path fell off the cliff into the shore break area, forced the lifeguard tower to be relocated more mauka, required the city of Honolulu to demolish and remove the 11-by-11-foot lifeguard storage shed. During large surf in October 2013 and in December 2013 to January 2014, backyards and swimming pools were swept out to sea. Sunset Beach will pump perfect waves with West-to-Northeast swells coming from the North Pacific; the spot is located two miles east of Banzai Pipeline. It was home to the Duke Kahanamoku Invitational surfing competition until 1985.
The Quiksilver Big Wave Invitational in honor of Eddie Aikau started at Sunset Beach in 1984. Today Sunset Beach is home to the prestigious Vans Triple Crown of Surfing, part of the World Cup of Surfing, it holds contests such as the Pipe Masters and a stop on the WSL Championship Tour
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state in the Southeastern United States. It began as a British colony in 1733, the last and southernmost of the original Thirteen Colonies to be established. Named after King George II of Great Britain, the Province of Georgia covered the area from South Carolina south to Spanish Florida and west to French Louisiana at the Mississippi River. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788. In 1802–1804, western Georgia was split to the Mississippi Territory, which split to form Alabama with part of former West Florida in 1819. Georgia declared its secession from the Union on January 19, 1861, was one of the original seven Confederate states, it was the last state to be restored to the Union, on July 15, 1870. Georgia is the 8th most populous of the 50 United States. From 2007 to 2008, 14 of Georgia's counties ranked among the nation's 100 fastest-growing, second only to Texas. Georgia is known as the Empire State of the South. Atlanta, the state's capital and most populous city, has been named a global city.
Atlanta's metropolitan area contains about 55% of the population of the entire state. Georgia is bordered to the north by Tennessee and North Carolina, to the northeast by South Carolina, to the southeast by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by Florida, to the west by Alabama; the state's northernmost part is in the Blue Ridge Mountains, part of the Appalachian Mountains system. The Piedmont extends through the central part of the state from the foothills of the Blue Ridge to the Fall Line, where the rivers cascade down in elevation to the coastal plain of the state's southern part. Georgia's highest point is Brasstown Bald at 4,784 feet above sea level. Of the states east of the Mississippi River, Georgia is the largest in land area. Before settlement by Europeans, Georgia was inhabited by the mound building cultures; the British colony of Georgia was founded by James Oglethorpe on February 12, 1733. The colony was administered by the Trustees for the Establishment of the Colony of Georgia in America under a charter issued by King George II.
The Trustees implemented an elaborate plan for the colony's settlement, known as the Oglethorpe Plan, which envisioned an agrarian society of yeoman farmers and prohibited slavery. The colony was invaded by the Spanish during the War of Jenkins' Ear. In 1752, after the government failed to renew subsidies that had helped support the colony, the Trustees turned over control to the crown. Georgia became a crown colony, with a governor appointed by the king; the Province of Georgia was one of the Thirteen Colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution by signing the 1776 Declaration of Independence. The State of Georgia's first constitution was ratified in February 1777. Georgia was the 10th state to ratify the Articles of Confederation on July 24, 1778, was the 4th state to ratify the United States Constitution on January 2, 1788. In 1829, gold was discovered in the North Georgia mountains leading to the Georgia Gold Rush and establishment of a federal mint in Dahlonega, which continued in operation until 1861.
The resulting influx of white settlers put pressure on the government to take land from the Cherokee Nation. In 1830, President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act, sending many eastern Native American nations to reservations in present-day Oklahoma, including all of Georgia's tribes. Despite the Supreme Court's ruling in Worcester v. Georgia that U. S. states were not permitted to redraw Indian boundaries, President Jackson and the state of Georgia ignored the ruling. In 1838, his successor, Martin Van Buren, dispatched federal troops to gather the tribes and deport them west of the Mississippi; this forced relocation, known as the Trail of Tears, led to the death of over 4,000 Cherokees. In early 1861, Georgia became a major theater of the Civil War. Major battles took place at Chickamauga, Kennesaw Mountain, Atlanta. In December 1864, a large swath of the state from Atlanta to Savannah was destroyed during General William Tecumseh Sherman's March to the Sea. 18,253 Georgian soldiers died in service one of every five who served.
In 1870, following the Reconstruction Era, Georgia became the last Confederate state to be restored to the Union. With white Democrats having regained power in the state legislature, they passed a poll tax in 1877, which disenfranchised many poor blacks and whites, preventing them from registering. In 1908, the state established a white primary, they constituted 46.7% of the state's population in 1900, but the proportion of Georgia's population, African American dropped thereafter to 28% due to tens of thousands leaving the state during the Great Migration. According to the Equal Justice Institute's 2015 report on lynching in the United States, Georgia had 531 deaths, the second-highest total of these extralegal executions of any state in the South; the overwhelming number of victims were male. Political disfranchisement persisted through the mid-1960s, until after Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965. An Atlanta-born Baptist minister, part of the educated middle class that had developed in Atlanta's African-American community, Martin Luther King, Jr. emerged as a national leader in the civil rights movement.
King joining with others to form the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Atlanta in 1957 to provide political leadership for the Civil Rights Movement across the South. By the 1960s, the proportion of
Jack Brisco
Freddie Joe "Jack" Brisco was an American professional wrestler. He performed for various territories of the National Wrestling Alliance, becoming a two-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion, multi-time NWA Tag Team Champion with his brother Gerald Brisco. Brisco is considered one of the top wrestlers of his era. Brisco was raised in Oklahoma with five siblings, he grew up as a fan of professional wrestling, a fan of NWA World Champion Lou Thesz He was followed by his younger brother, Gerald Brisco, into sport wrestling and turned down a football scholarship at University of Oklahoma to go to Oklahoma State. In 1965, he became the first Native American to win an NCAA Wrestling National Championship, he won it during his junior year, wasn't taken down once during the entire season. Brisco's first documented professional wrestling championship reign began on October 16, 1965, when he defeated Don Kent to win the NWA Missouri Junior Heavyweight Championship, he held the belt for less than a month, regained it in November by defeating Kent again.
Around this time, Brisco wrestled for NWA Tri-State. While there, he won a couple of state titles, he won his first tag team title in this promotion, teaming with Haystacks Calhoun for his first reign as co-holder of the Tri-State version of the NWA United States Tag Team Championship. He held the title again, as he teamed with Gorgeous George, Jr. to win the belts on May 9, 1967. Brisco moved to the Florida area, where he wrestled for Championship Wrestling from Florida for several years, his first title there was the NWA Florida Southern Heavyweight Championship, which he won on February 11, 1969 by defeating The Missouri Mauler. He dropped the title to the Mauler and regained it on July 8. Two weeks he won the first of an eventual ten NWA Florida Tag Team Championships, with Ciclon Negro. Although he and Negro dropped the tag team belts the following month, Brisco held the Southern Heavyweight Title until November 1969, when he left the area to wrestle in Japan and Australia; when Brisco returned to Florida, he began teaming with his brother, who he had trained in professional wrestling.
He continued competing as a singles wrestler, winning the NWA Florida Television Championship on November 27, 1970. On February 16, 1971, the Briscos teamed up to win the NWA Florida Tag Team Championship, they dropped the belts the next month to Dory Funk, Jr. and Terry Funk and regained them from the Funks in April. That month, Brisco beat Terry Funk in a singles match to win the NWA Florida Television Championship again. Brisco's next major success was regaining the Southern Heavyweight Championship from Dick Murdoch on June 8, 1971; the title was held up after a controversial rematch with Murdoch. Brisco took a short break from Florida wrestling to work for Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling. While there, he won the NWA Eastern States Heavyweight Championship twice by defeating The Missouri Mauler and Rip Hawk. Upon his return to Florida, he won the NWA Florida Brass Knuckles Championship from Paul Jones on June 13, 1972, vacated it the same day, he won his third and final Television Championship on November 7, 1972.
Nine days he won the Tag Team Championship, again with his brother. Brisco's first NWA World Heavyweight Championship win was scheduled to be over Dory Funk Jr. capping off a multi-year feud. However, Dory missed the scheduled date. Brisco and Terry Funk were sent out to make the bookings that were scheduled for Brisco, Dory lost the title to Harley Race. Brisco and several others within the NWA power structure always questioned the legitimacy of the accident, claiming Dory Funk Sr. did not want his son to lose to a "pure" wrestler and harm his credibility Brisco won the title from Race after a brief reign, in Houston, Texas on July 20, 1973. He defended the championship in NWA-affiliated promotions across the world facing top names like Johnny Valentine, Stan Stasiak, Abdullah The Butcher, Gene Kiniski, The Sheik and Bobby Shane until losing to Giant Baba on December 4, 1974, he regained it four days later. Brisco defended the title until losing it to Terry Funk on December 10, 1975, his loss continued the extensive feud between the Briscos and Funks, which went on for several more years.
During his initial reign as champion, Brisco toured Australia where he defended his title against local favorite, Spiros Arion. In 1976, Brisco continued to add to his list of titles, he won the Memphis version of the NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship on August 10, 1976, by defeating local favorite Jerry Lawler. He won the NWA Missouri Heavyweight Championship from Bob Backlund on November 26. At this time, the Briscos were awarded the ESA International Tag Team Championship, although they did not wrestle as a team in the area. Wrestling in Florida again, Brisco teamed with his brother to win several more championships. In 1977, they defeated Bob Jr. and Bob Roop for the NWA Florida Tag Team Championship. They soon regained it in a rematch. On January 25, 1978, they won the belts again by defeating Mr. Saito. While holding these belts, they won the NWA Florida United States Tag Team Championship on February 21, from Mike Graham and Steve Keirn, they dropped the Uni
Minneapolis
Minneapolis is the county seat of Hennepin County and the larger of the Twin Cities, the 16th-largest metropolitan area in the United States. As of 2017, Minneapolis is the largest city in the state of Minnesota and 45th-largest in the United States, with an estimated population of 422,331; the Twin Cities metropolitan area consists of Minneapolis, its neighbor Saint Paul, suburbs which altogether contain about 3.6 million people, is the third-largest economic center in the Midwest. Minneapolis lies on both banks of the Mississippi River, just north of the river's confluence with the Minnesota River, adjoins Saint Paul, the state's capital; the city is abundantly rich in water, with 13 lakes, the Mississippi River and waterfalls. It was once a hub for timber; the city and surrounding region is the primary business center between Seattle. In 2011, Minneapolis proper was home to the fifth-highest number of Fortune 500 headquarters in the United States; as an integral link to the global economy, Minneapolis is categorized as a global city.
Minneapolis has one of the largest LGBT populations in the U. S. proportional to its overall population. Noted for its strong music and performing arts scenes, Minneapolis is home to both the award-winning Guthrie Theater and the historic First Avenue nightclub. Reflecting the region's status as an epicenter of folk and alternative rock music, the city served as the launching pad for several of the 20th century's most influential musicians, including Bob Dylan and Prince. Minneapolis has become noted for its underground and independent hip-hop and rap scenes, producing artists such as Brother Ali and Dessa; the name Minneapolis is attributed to Charles Hoag, the city's first schoolmaster, who combined mni, a Dakota Sioux word for water, polis, the Greek word for city. Descendants of first peoples, Dakota Sioux were the region's sole residents when French explorers arrived in 1680. For a time, amicable relations were based on fur trading. More European-American settlers arrived, competing for game and other resources with the Native Americans.
After the Revolutionary War, Great Britain granted the land east of the Mississippi to the United States. In the early 19th century, the United States acquired land to the west from France in the Louisiana Purchase. Fort Snelling, just south of present-day Minneapolis, was built in 1819 by the United States Army, it attracted traders and merchants, spurring growth in the area. The United States government pressed the Mdewakanton band of the Dakota to sell their land, allowing people arriving from the East to settle there. Preoccupied with the Civil War, the United States government reneged on its promises of cash payments to the Dakota, resulting in hunger, the Dakota War of 1862, internment and hardship; the Minnesota Territorial Legislature authorized Minneapolis as a town in 1856, on the Mississippi's west bank. Minneapolis incorporated as a city in 1867, the year rail service began between Minneapolis and Chicago, it joined with the east-bank city of St. Anthony in 1872. Minneapolis developed around Saint Anthony Falls, the highest waterfall on the Mississippi River and a source of power for its early industry.
Forests in northern Minnesota were a valuable resource for the lumber industry, which operated seventeen sawmills on power from the waterfall. By 1871, the west river bank had twenty-three businesses, including flour mills, woolen mills, iron works, a railroad machine shop, mills for cotton, paper and planing wood. Due to the occupational hazards of milling, six local sources of artificial limbs were competing in the prosthetics business by the 1890s; the farmers of the Great Plains grew grain, shipped by rail to the city's 34 flour mills. Millers have used hydropower elsewhere since the 1st century B. C. but the results in Minneapolis between 1880 and 1930 were so remarkable the city has been described as "the greatest direct-drive waterpower center the world has seen." A father of modern milling in America and founder of what became General Mills, Cadwallader C. Washburn converted his business from gristmills to revolutionary technology, including "gradual reduction" processing by steel and porcelain roller mills capable of producing premium-quality pure white flour quickly.
Some ideas were developed by William Dixon Gray and some acquired through industrial espionage from Hungary by William de la Barre. Charles A. Pillsbury and the C. A. Pillsbury Company across the river were a step behind, hiring Washburn employees to use the new methods; the hard red spring wheat that grows in Minnesota became valuable, Minnesota "patent" flour was recognized at the time as the best in the world. Not until did consumers discover the value in the bran that "... Minneapolis flour millers dumped" into the Mississippi. After 1883, a Minneapolis miller started a new industry when he began to sell bran byproduct as animal feed. Millers cultivated relationships with academic scientists at the University of Minnesota; those scientists backed them politically on many issues, such as in the early 20th century when health advocates in the nascent field of nutrition criticized the flour "bleaching" process. At peak production, a single mill at Washburn-Crosby made enough flour for 12 million loaves of bread each day.
Further, by 1895, through the efforts of silent partner William Hood Dunwoody, Washburn-Crosby exported four
WWE
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. d/b/a WWE, is an American integrated media and entertainment company, known for professional wrestling. WWE has branched out into other fields, including movies, real estate, various other business ventures; the WWE name refers to the professional wrestling promotion itself, founded by Jess McMahon and Toots Mondt in 1952 as the Capitol Wrestling Corporation. As of 2019, it is the largest wrestling promotion in the world, holding over 500 events a year, with the roster divided up into various globally traveling brands, is available to about 36 million viewers in more than 150 countries; the company's global headquarters is located in Stamford, with offices in major cities across the world. As in other professional wrestling promotions, WWE shows are not legitimate contests, but purely entertainment-based, featuring storyline-driven and choreographed matches, though matches include moves that can put performers at risk of injury if not performed correctly.
This was first publicly acknowledged by WWE's owner Vince McMahon in 1989 to avoid taxes from athletic commissions. Since the 1980s, WWE publicly has branded their product as sports entertainment, acknowledging the product's roots in competitive sport and dramatic theater; the company's majority owner is its chairman and CEO, Vince McMahon, who retains a 42% ownership of the company's outstanding stock and 83% of the voting power. The current entity, incorporated on February 21, 1980, was known as Titan Sports, Inc., founded that same year in South Yarmouth, Massachusetts. It acquired Capitol Wrestling Corporation Ltd. the holding company for the World Wrestling Federation, in 1982. Titan was renamed World Wrestling Federation, Inc. in 1998 World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. in 1999, the current World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. in 2002. Since 2011, the company has branded itself as WWE though the company's legal name was not changed. WWE's origins can be traced back as far as 1952 when Roderick James "Jess" McMahon and Toots Mondt created the Capitol Wrestling Corporation Ltd. which joined the National Wrestling Alliance in 1953.
McMahon, a successful boxing promoter, began working with Tex Rickard in 1926. With the help of Rickard, he began promoting boxing and wrestling at the third Madison Square Garden, it was not the first time McMahon had promoted wrestling cards, as he had done so during the 1910s. In November 1954, McMahon died and Ray Fabiani, one of Mondt's associates, brought in McMahon's son Vincent James; the younger McMahon and Mondt were successful and soon controlled 70% of the NWA's booking due to their dominance in the populated Northeastern United States. In 1963, McMahon and Mondt had a dispute with the NWA over "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers being booked to hold the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Both men left the company in protest and formed the WWWF in the process, awarding Rogers the newly created WWWF World Heavyweight Championship in April of that year, he lost the championship to Bruno Sammartino a month on May 17, 1963, after suffering a heart attack a week before the match. Capitol operated the WWWF in a conservative manner compared to other pro wrestling territories: it ran its major arenas monthly rather than weekly or bi-weekly featuring a babyface champion wrestling various heels in programs that consisted of one to three matches.
After gaining a television program deal and hiring Lou Albano as a manager for Sammartino's heel opponents, the WWWF was doing sellout business by 1970. Mondt left Capitol in the late 1960s and although the WWWF had withdrawn from the NWA, Vince McMahon, Sr. re-joined in 1971. Capitol renamed the World Wide Wrestling Federation to the World Wrestling Federation in 1979. Vincent J. McMahon's son, Vincent K. McMahon, his wife Linda, established Titan Sports, Inc. in 1980 in South Yarmouth, Massachusetts. The company was incorporated on February 1980, in the Cape Cod Coliseum offices; the younger McMahon bought Capitol from his father in 1982 seizing control of the company. Seeking to make the WWF the premier wrestling promotion in the country, the world, he began an expansion process that fundamentally changed the wrestling business. At the annual meeting of the NWA in 1983, the McMahons and former Capitol employee Jim Barnett all withdrew from the organization. McMahon worked to get WWF programming on syndicated television all across the United States.
This angered other promoters and disrupted the well-established boundaries of the different wrestling promotions ending the territory system, in use since the founding of the NWA in the 1940s. In addition, the company used income generated by advertising, television deals, tape sales to secure talent from rival promoters. In an interview with Sports Illustrated, McMahon noted: In the old days, there were wrestling fiefdoms all over the country, each with its own little lord in charge; each little lord respected the rights of his neighboring little lord. No takeovers or raids were allowed. There were maybe 30 of these tiny kingdoms in the U. S. and if I hadn't bought out my dad, there would still be 30 of them and struggling. I, of course, had no allegiance to those little lords. McMahon gained significant traction when he hired American Wrestling Association talent Hulk Hogan, who had achieved popularity outside of wrestling, notably for his appearance in the film Rocky III. McMahon signed Roddy Piper as Hogan's rival, shortly afterward Jesse Ventura as an announcer.
Other wrestlers joined the roster, such as Jimmy Snuka, Don Muraco
Roddy Piper
Roderick George Toombs, better known by his ring name "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, was a Canadian professional wrestler and actor. In professional wrestling, Piper was best known to international audiences for his work with the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling between 1984 and 2000. Although he was Canadian, because of his Scottish heritage he was billed as coming from Glasgow and was known for his signature kilt and bagpipe entrance music. Piper earned the nicknames "Rowdy" and "Hot Rod" by displaying his trademark "Scottish" rage and quick wit. According to The Telegraph, he is "considered by many to be the greatest "heel" wrestler ever". One of pro wrestling's most recognizable stars, Piper headlined numerous pay-per-view cards, including the WWF and WCW's respective premier annual events, WrestleMania and Starrcade, he accumulated 34 championships, hosted the popular WWF/E interview segment "Piper's Pit", which facilitated numerous feuds. Piper's biggest rival was Hulk Hogan: their mid-1980s feud – involving "Captain" Lou Albano and singer Cyndi Lauper – is considered the beginning of "Rock'n' Wrestling".
In 2005, Piper was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by Ric Flair, who dubbed him "the most gifted entertainer in the history of professional wrestling". Outside of wrestling, Piper acted in dozens of films and TV shows, including the lead role of John Nada in the 1988 cult classic They Live and a recurring role as deranged professional wrestler, Da' Maniac, on the FX comedy series It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Toombs was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on April 17, 1954, was raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba, he attended Windsor Park Collegiate. His father, Stanley Baird Toombs, was an officer with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police while they lived in The Pas, Manitoba, his mother was Eileen Toombs. After being expelled from junior high for having a switchblade in school and falling out with his father, Piper left home and stayed in youth hostels, he picked up odd jobs at local gyms. As a young man, he became proficient in playing the bagpipes, though he stated that he was unsure where he picked them up.
His childhood best friend was Stanley Cup winner Cam Connor. Piper served a tour of duty with the Canadian Army. Piper was an amateur wrestler before he started to become a professional wrestler, he won the Golden Gloves boxing championship. He was awarded a Black Belt in Judo from Gene LeBell, American Judo champion, instructor and professional wrestler. Roddy started wrestling under the care of promoter Al Tomko in Canada, his first match involving'midget wrestlers' in front of a lumberjack audience in Churchill, Manitoba, he soon began earning money wrestling. His first match in a pro and famous organization was with the legendary Larry Hennig in the American Wrestling Association. Friends of his played the bagpipes during his entrance while he was handing out dandelions and the ring-announcer had to announce something and all that he knew was his name was Roddy. So, after seeing the pipe band he announced "Ladies and Gentlemen, here comes Roddy the piper", thus giving birth to "Roddy Piper" and the name stuck.
From 1973 to 1975, Piper was a jobber in the American Wrestling Association, NWA Central States territory surrounding Kansas City, in the Maritimes. He worked in Texas for Paul Boesch's NWA Houston Wrestling promotion, in Dallas for Fritz Von Erich's Big Time Rasslin. By late 1975 and early 1976, Piper was a top villain for Mike and Gene LeBell's NWA Hollywood Wrestling. In 1977–78, he started to work for Roy Shire's NWA San Francisco Wrestling in addition to remaining with the Los Angeles office, where Piper developed his Rowdy character. During this time, he made continuous insults directed at the area's Mexican community. Piper managed a stable of wrestlers in California. In the Los Angeles area, Piper feuded with his father Gory Guerrero. Piper and Chavo Guerrero faced each other in several matches for the Jules Strongbow Memorial Scientific Trophy. Piper defeated Chavo for the Americas Heavyweight Title. During the feud, Piper had his head shaved. Piper appeared in several loser leave town was forced to leave the territory.
He appeared in the territory as The Masked Canadian. In his first televised match as The Masked Canadian, Piper teamed with Chavo in a match against Black Gordman and Goliath for the Americas Tag Team Championship. Piper and Guerrero lost the match and faced each other two days with Piper defeating Guerrero for the Americas Heavyweight Championship. Piper wrestled as The Masked Canadian for several months. By late 1978-early 1979, Piper left the California promotions for more fame in Don Owen's Portland–based Pacific Northwest territory, he teamed with Killer Tim Brooks and Rick Martel to win the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship. Piper won the NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship with victories over both Lord Jonathan Boyd and "Playboy" Buddy Rose. In the early 1980s, Piper ventured to the Mid-Atlantic territory where he beat Jack Brisco for the Mid-Atlantic title, he defeated Ric Flair for the US belt which turned into a feud. From 1981–82, Piper served as a commentator on Georgia Championship Wrestling and feuded with the likes of Bob Armstrong, Dick Slater, Tommy Rich.
During the summer of
Tag team
Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. A tag team may be made up of wrestlers who wrestle in singles competition, but more are made of established teams who wrestle as a unit and have a team name and identity. In most team matches, only one competitor per team is allowed in the ring at a time; this status as the active or legal wrestler may be transferred by physical contact, most a palm-to-palm tag which resembles a high five. The team-based match has been a mainstay of professional wrestling since the mid-twentieth century, most promotions have sanctioned a championship division for tag teams. In 1901 the first tag team match was held in San Francisco. While tag team wrestling is now traditional in American professional wrestling, the innovation didn't become popular outside San Francisco until the 1930s; the first "World" tag team championship was crowned in San Francisco in the early 1950s. Tag matches with three-man teams were developed, in some territories, a championship division was instituted for these teams, but the concept failed to become popular.
A tag team championship is awarded to and defended by a team of two. However, during the 1970s and 1980s, a dominant trio in the NWA known as The Fabulous Freebirds won several regional tag team championship and were allowed to employ any combination of the group's members in their title defenses. In kayfabe, this made it difficult for challengers to prepare for their upcoming title fights since the challengers didn't know who they were facing; this is still utilized by other wrestling companies. The stipulation has become traditionally known as the "freebird rule". A common storyline is former tag team partners turning on each other, which will invariably ignite a feud; this can be used. The basic tag team match has two teams of two wrestlers facing off against each other. All standard rules for singles wrestling apply to a team match. However, only one wrestler from each team, called the "legal man" is allowed in the ring at a time. All other members of the team wait outside the ropes in the team's specified corner.
Only an active/legal wrestler have a fall scored against him/her. But any wrestler, legal or outside, may face disqualification for himself or his team for violating rules. Once a tag is made, the wrestler tagging out has a grace period to leave the ring before risking disqualification. Offensive cooperation from a team member is allowed during this time window; the wrestler outside the ring must be touching the tag rope tied in the corner. Tags are legal as long as the two team members touch; the referee has to see and/or hear the contact between the two wrestlers in order for the tag to be legal. As the ultimate authority over the match, a referee may overlook any of these at his discretion, during the frenzied action will be more lenient with them. In some multi-man tag matches in lucha libre, a wrestler can make himself the team's legal man by setting foot in the ring, his partner leaves; this allows for action to become nearly continuous. Two referees, one stationed inside the ring and one on the floor, are employed to maintain order for this type of match.
In independent discussion and analysis of matches, certain terms are used to describe specific scenarios involving tag team matches. These are timed to inject drama into a match. One spot common to many tag team match is the hot tag. One member of one team is in the ring, too weakened to move or otherwise impaired, while his partner watches helplessly, struggling to reach him for a tag; the tension builds as the legal man is unable to tag out until something happens that allows the first team to tag and reverse the momentum of the match in their favor. When done well, this results in a large audience reaction, was the typical climax of tag matches for decades. WWE employs this tactic in nearly every tag team match to the point that they fired a referee in 2008 after a botched finish that, while the match produced the intended finish, didn't feature a hot tag. A common variation on the hot tag sees both wrestlers from the heel team attacking a face, while his partner protests to the referee about this bending of the rules.
The weakened face wrestler does make the tag to his partner, who comes in as the fresh man and is able to take on both opponents quite easily. A blind tag is a legal tag made without the legal opponent's knowledge while his back is turned; this allows the team who uses it an opportunity to confuse the legal opponent, who turns to face what he assumes to be his opponent only to be attacked by the true legal man from behind. A tag team match involving more than two wrestlers per team is referred to by the total number of people involved, whil
