Koko B. Ware

Koko B. Ware is a semi retired American professional wrestler. He wrestled for the Continental Wrestling Association (CWA), the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). He was born in Union City, Tennessee on June 20, 1957.

In 2008, Ware appeared at TNA Wrestling's Slammiversary. He served as a groomsman in a wedding for Jay Lethal and So Cal Val. Other groomsmen included George "The Animal" Steele, Kamala, and Jake "The Snake" Roberts. In 2009, during Wrestlemania weekend, Ware was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. http://www.wwe.com/superstars/halloffame/inductees/kokobware/bio/ The ceremony took place in Houston, Texas. Fellow inductees included Stone Cold Steve Austin, Terry Funk, Dory Funk, Jr., Ricky Steamboat, Bill Watts, The Von Erichs, and Howard Finkel. Ware's wife passed on September 5, 2009 after a battle with cancer.

Ware began his career in the late 1970s. He worked in territories such as Mid-South, Georgia, Dallas, and Florida. Ware then began wrestling for the CWA based out of Memphis, Tennessee. In the CWA, his first championship was the Mid-American Title in 1980. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/k/koko-b-ware.html Ware then teamed with Stan Lane to win the AWA Southern Tag Team Title in September 1981. Ware then began to team with Bobby Eaton. They won the Southern Tag Titles on March 14, 1982 defeating Ricky and Robert Gibson. http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/tn/cwa/awa-s-t.html Ware and Eaton went on to win the Southern Tag Titles on two more occasions. On February 25, 1983, Ware defeated former partner Eaton for the Mid-America Heavyweight Title. http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/tn/cwa/awa-s-t.html Ware held a total of six Mid-America heavyweight titles. He then moved to the Florida region of the NWA. Ware and partner Norvell Austin won the NWA (Florida) United States Tag Titles on February 26, 1985. The team defeated Mark and Jay Youngblood.

Ware began wrestling for the WWE in 1986. He took on the moniker "The Birdman". Ware also began bringing a parakeet named "Frankie" to the ring with him during his matches. Some of his notable rivals in WWE included Butch Reed, Rick Martel, and the Islanders. Ware then moved to the United States Wrestling Association in 1993. He won the USWA World Title on February 24, 1992 from Kamala. http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/tn/cwa/awa-s-t.html He won the title a second time on December 7, 1992 from Jerry Lawler.

Ware's greatest match took place on February 24, 1992. He defeated Kamala to become the USWA World Heavyweight Champion. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/k/koko-b-ware.html This was the first world title in Koko's fourteen year career. Kamala and Ware had many matches in Tennessee and Kentucky with the title on the line. They were involved in a rivalry for months in the USWA. Kamala would often get himself disqualified in order to retain his championship. Ware was able to defeat the champion by pinfall.