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Whitey Caldwell

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Whitey Caldwell
Born(1935-07-02)July 2, 1935
Morristown, Tennessee, United States
DiedOctober 7, 1972(1972-10-07) (aged 37)
Kingsport, Tennessee, United States
Professional wrestling career
Billed height6"1
Billed weight225 lb (102 kg)
Debut1956 c.

Whitey Caldwell (July 2, 1935 – October 7, 1972) was an American professional wrestler who mainly worked in the Gulf Coast and Tennessee territories.

Professional wrestling career

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Whitey Caldwell made his professional wrestling debut in the 1950s. During most of his career he feuded with Ron Wright.[1] Caldwell and Wright would have chain matches in the late 1960s and early 1970s in Tennessee. In 1961, Wright seriously injured Caldwell (putting him out of action for a year), who was by then a very popular wrestling babyface and television champion.

On November 21, 1962, Caldwell defeated Wright in a Hair vs Hair match.[2] From 1969 to 1971, Caldwell would win the NWA Tennessee Tag Team Championship six times with Ron Wright, Les Thatcher (three times), Johnny Walker, Frankie Cain, and Bearcat Brown.[3] On September 29, 1972, Caldwell won his last title defeating his arch rival Ron Wright for the NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Championship (Northern Division) in Knoxville, Tennessee.[4]

Death

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On October 7, 1972, Caldwell had wrestled a TV-taping that afternoon in Knoxville and that evening wrestled in Morristown, Tennessee. That night, Caldwell was killed in a car accident when a man was driving at high speed and was trying to pass cars when he hit Caldwell in a curve. Caldwell died in the hospital.[5] Caldwell was champion when he died.

In 1994, Caldwell was inducted into the Smoky Mountain Wrestling Hall of Fame inducted by Ron Wright.[5]

Championships and accomplishments

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References

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  1. ^ "Slam Sports obituary Ron Wright". Slam.canoe.com. Archived from the original on April 25, 2015. Retrieved January 21, 2017.
  2. ^ "The World's Largest Wrestling Database". Wrestlingdata.com. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
  3. ^ "Whitey Caldwell : Title Reigns". Cagematch.net. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
  4. ^ "NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Championship". Cagematch.net. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
  5. ^ a b "Whitey Caldwell". Onlineworldofwrestling.com. Retrieved March 3, 2022. October 7, 1972: Whitey Caldwell (the reigning Southeastern Heavyweight Champion) was killed in an automoblie accident.
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Further reading

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  • James, Beau (2016). Don't Miss This! The History of Pro Wrestling in Kingsport, TN 1960–1969. Beau James. ISBN 978-1500847555.