Mister Oliver Strickland: A History

Oliver Strickland was born in 1960 to very wealthy parents who saw the entire world laid out on a red carpet for their only child. Strickland grew up in a wealthy part of Connecticut and enjoyed every opportunity that money could buy for him.

At the age of 18, Strickland was accepted to Yale University where he excelled in everything he did. But on one late night study break, Strickland happened to turn on the television and catch pro wrestling action. The physical clashes between personas of good and evil were intriguing to Strickland and for the first time in his life, he disobeyed his parents’ wishes. After trying to stick around school for another semester, Strickland soon dropped out and pursued a new dream – professional wrestling school. He was, of course, disowned by his family for this decision.

Strickland was trained by the legendary British “shooter”, Sir Wilbur Waters, who saw something special in Strickland. After a year of training, Waters took Strickland under his wing as they went on the road for the National Grappling Federation. Waters was a top star there, a bad guy who had earned the ire of the fans with years of rule breaking tactics against their favorites. With Strickland as his on-air protege as well, the rookie found himself in a ton of high profile matches in his first year in the business, something that made him develop quicker than most.

In 1980, his second year in the business, Strickland won the Pacific Northwest Title over a local fan favorite named Billy White, injuring White’s knee with the spinning toehold at the same time. Strickland dominated the Pacific Northwest for the better part of the year. His mentor, Waters, came in a few times during the year for tag matches with his protege but for the first time in his life, Strickland was truly on his own.

The success of Strickland in the Portland territory quickly earned the notice of the major promoters in the country and soon after dropping the title back to a returning Billy White in early 1981, Strickland hit the road. In 1981-82, Strickland competed in promotions in Florida, the Carolinas, the Minnesota area, and Texas – drawing big crowds on top of all of them as a rule breaker.

In 1983, Wilbur Waters invited Strickland to come to the United Kingdom with him for a six month tour. Strickland accepted his mentor’s offer and the two lit up the British wrestling scene as a top tag team, winning the United Kingdom Tag Team Championship and defending it throughout the tour before dropping the titles to Crusher Wilkes and Bobby O’Martin on the last night. After the tour ended, Waters asked Strickland to open a new promotion with him in the United Kingdom. Strickland turned down his mentor, looking to return to the States. The two suffered a falling-out over the disagreement and Strickland did not speak to his mentor for several years.

In 1984, Strickland returned to the Texas territory, quickly earning the Texas State Championship. This title reign in a major territory earned Strickland a meeting with the front office of the International Wrestling Alliance. They wanted to bring Strickland aboard and put the power of the promotion behind him. Strickland quickly accepted and by the middle of 1985, he was one of the IWA’s top stars, touring all over the United States.

In 1986, Strickland was scheduled to shift his home base to Southern Championship Wrestling where the Southern fans really disliked Strickland and his “upper crust” attitude. Strickland competed all over the South for the majority of the year, taking part in bloody wars with local favorite Terry Saunders. A 60 minute draw on Thanksgiving night over the Southern Heritage Title earned many Match of the Year votes in ’86 despite not being the Main Event of the show.

With the arrival of 1987, Strickland became the centerpiece of SCW as owner Jim Somers expressed interest in taking the company beyond its territory into a worldwide powerhouse. Strickland struck out on behalf of Somers to try and secure talent deals worldwide. He did month-long tours in Mexico, Japan, and even made amends with his mentor during a tour of the United Kingdom. As 1987 drew to a close, Strickland won the Southern Heavyweight Title on Thanksgiving Night and pledged to defend it against any and all comers.

Christmas night saw him have to live up to that claim when his mentor, Wilbur Waters, showed up unannounced and challenged Strickland for a title match. Waters executed a brutal game plan that night, bloodying his protege badly, and ultimately winning the title with a shot from a steel chair to the head. The fans were rabid at what they saw and when an injured Strickland made his return in March of ’88, he found himself in the unique position of being a fan favorite for the very first time.

Somers and SCW put everything they had behind a lengthy Waters/Strickland feud as the promoter made plans to launch a worldwide promotion – planning a tour of the United Kingdom with Waters/Strickland on top. But on Labor Day of ’88, Somers died and those plans died with him.

Strickland was stunned. As SCW took the rest of 1988 off, Strickland tried to convince Somers’ son, Michael, to follow his father’s plans but Michael wasn’t having any of it. Instead, he pulled SCW back to the bare minimum, pulling back within their old territory. A furious Strickland led a revolt against Michael Somers, splitting the roster in half and bolting to create a new promotion – International Championship Wrestling.

Strickland, as owner and operator of ICW, immediately launched the planned United Kingdom tour with himself an Wilbur Waters on top. They feuded all over the UK, drawing big houses everywhere they went, and ICW proved an instant success. When Strickland returned to the United States, he went on a talent buying spree, picking up major talent additions from all over the country.

ICW thrived as a promotion for several years, using Strickland’s relationships throughout the industry as the base for big shows and big talent arrangements. Strickland’s work in Japan brought several top heavyweights from the Land of the Rising Sun to America for the first time where they were huge hits. A showdown between Strickland and Yuji Gato drew 30,000 fans to a stadium in San Francisco as Strickland continued to push the boundaries of his territory out further and further.

With his sights on becoming the biggest promotion in wrestling, Strickland declared open war on his old promotion, SCW, in 1992. He frequently ran shows in SCW’s territory, driving to drive them out of business with the same talent that he had picked off their roster in years prior. A big stadium show in Atlanta saw Strickland bring back one of SCW’s most famed tag teams – the Rock And Roll Connection – to face one of ICW’s best tag teams – The British Bruisers in the first ever ICW scaffold match. ICW drew a huge house and SCW’s days appeared to be numbered.

But SCW held strong and kept fighting. They expanded their own territory, moving into areas that ICW had started to ignore during their outward push. It was a war that neither side seemed able of winning as they traded territory holds back and forth. However, on the 4th of July in 1994, Strickland was involved in a bar fight and was hospitalized as a result with a broken leg. Many in the industry speculated that the bar fight was no coincidence and that rumors of a “hit” being put out on Strickland were true. Strickland’s injury hit ICW hard as he had been the top star for years for the promotion. His attempts to shift off onto the other top guys had failed and Strickland attempted an ill-advised early comeback on Christmas night, making the leg injury worse.

With 1995 on the horizon, ICW was on the ropes. Strickland was approached by Michael Somers with an offer to buy out ICW in its entirety – an offer that would make Oliver Strickland a very rich man for the rest of his life. Strickland reluctantly accepted the deal, selling his company to the man he’d split it off from.

As part of the deal, Strickland returned to SCW rings in 1995. He quickly won the Southern Heavyweight Title again and things seemed back to normal for the man from Connecticut.

However, on Thanksgiving night of 1995, Strickland’s life changed forever. On that night, he was scheduled to face a young rookie named Seth Hart who wrestled under a mask with the name “Starfire.” Starfire was an up and coming star that the office was very high on and some discussion had been given to having Strickland drop the title that night. Strickland was adamant against it as Hart had not paid his dues yet in his opinion. He thought it was too early and refused to do it.

But on that night, Michael Somers had other ideas. Seth Hart was kept away from the arena that night and NCAA wrestling champion Bobby Cain was brought in under the mask. Cain had no problem pinning an unaware Strickland’s shoulders to the mat in just over a few minutes and ripping the title off him. An irate Strickland destroyed the ringside area and went to the locker room looking for Somers who had fled the building. A humiliated Strickland left the arena that night, never to return to SCW.

Humiliated, Strickland watched as SCW television painted him as a joke who got destroyed by the young rookie who was prancing around on television with his title. SCW was changing, trying to evolve to face new challenges from the new national powerhouses like the EMWC and IIWF. Strickland wanted no part of this new wrestling game despite offers from both national promotions. He fled to the United Kingdom, working for three years there with his old friend. As 1999 came to a close, Wilbur Waters died of cancer and Strickland found himself alone again.

At nearly forty years old, Strickland debated calling it a career but a big money offer from Japan pulled him back in. He worked in Japan for Total Japan Pro Wrestling until 2003 when a knee injury sidelined him. At this point, with all the money that he’d ever need in his bank account, Strickland officially retired.

Upon coming home to the United States, he was repeatedly honored with ceremonies and interviews. He made guest appearances for local promotions to his home in Connecticut but never agreed to anything for the bigger companies. In 2007, he attempted to restart ICW but found a poor economy waiting to sabotage his efforts. He relocated to Texas in 2009, taking a chance in opening a wrestling school in Amarillo with another old friend, Terry Shane Jr.

It is in 2011, at the age of fifty years old, that Oliver Strickland finds himself wanting to wear championship gold with honor and dignity one more time before the end of his career. Embittered by how the Southern Heavyweight Title was stripped off his waist, Strickland walks into the AWA with rage and anger surrounding everything he does. But make no mistake, the talent that Strickland possesses makes him a very dangerous threat to any title he sets his sights on.

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