Over the years, many groups have used the title of USA Pro Wrestling. This group, headed by Arizona businessmen, lasted during the mid-1980s, just when the wrestling world elsewhere was starting to change for the worst. They had good bouts and good, bloody action. Among their participants were:

THE BEAST
Real name Randy Kasmir, a Billy Anderson trainee--an accountant who got into wrestling for stress relief. A good villain and also a force to be reckoned with. In a tag team bout with Louie Spicolli against Thrillseeker and Ron Sutherland, The Beast got really ticked off, kneed Sutherland in the head and knocked him out cold.

THE NIGHTSTALKER
He actually passed through here before going to the NWA as Nightstalker, then WWF as Adam Bomb and WCW as Wrath. When he came through here, he was a lot younger and greener. No one dreamed of him going this far.

THE DEATHDEALER
This guy had neat gear--a hat with horns, chainmail armor, boots that looked like hooves and a fair build, but that's as far as it went. He was green as a blade of grass and it showed. He quit in 1988, then made a failed comeback in 1996. Now sitting at home down in Tucson. Other rumors say he got tired of the indy politics and packed it in.

TIM PATTERSON
He never amounted to much on WWF TV tapes, but was a hot and hated item in this promotion. Known for a particularly bloody feud with Billy Anderson. He later left wrestling to do stand-up comedy, but has since returned to wrestling in California. At this time, Patterson looked like a young Bobby Jaggers and wrestled in similar form. The feud ended when Anderson finally defeated him in a bloody chain bout.

BLINDMAN
Actually referee Johnny Ramon at a time when Ramon somehow thought himself a wrestler. As a wrestler--he was, well, a very good referee. The ring name was taken from an old western movie called Blindman, with Ringo Starr and Tony Anthony. Everyone knew it was Ramon under the hood, as he stood about 5'5". Not the most glorious wrestler for the group.

PSYCHOSIS
Used long before the AAA/WCW guy with the buffalo mask. This guy wore a purple and white mask, blue sweats, and came into the ring with a big STOP sign. He turned on his partner, Bladerunner, shortly after his arrival, and vanished.

CABALLERO ROJO
A tremendous fan favorite, with great scientific skills--a "luchadore" long before "lucha libre" was big in America. He had some wild bouts with Bonecrusher, Tom Ramirez, and Eruption. Most of his better bouts were with, predictably, fellow Mexicans.

RUSS BARKER
A long time referee, who was reduced to the role of Commissioner, when he lost a leg due to diabetes. He was tipped out of his wheelchair at one show by The Lumberjacks, and it nearly caused a riot. Barker died a few years after this promotion folded, a double amputee and sad example of many men who gave more to the wrestling business than it ever gave back.

ATHENA
This promotion had some good girl wrestlers--Miss Vicious, Josie Navarro, the Apache Princess, and others. Athena was a blonde flash in the pan, who started out as a manager then went to wrestling. Got engaged, split to California, and never entered a ring again. Not to be confused with Toni Lee/Apocalypse--who also used the name Athena for a while.