Koko B. Ware

Sweet Brown Sugar and Stagger Lee (1981–1983) Ware floundered until September 1981, when he was chosen to referee a Southern Heavyweight Championship title match between Jerry Lawler and the "Dream Machine". Ware unfairly counted Lawler out to give the Dream Machine the victory, a decision that did not sit well with Lawler nor the fans in Memphis. Koko quickly aligned himself with manager Jimmy Hart and his First Family and changed his ring name to "Sweet Brown Sugar". Eaton and Sugar contested a series of grudge matches centered around the Mid-America title and their issues with each other. Bobby Eaton later turned face, he teamed with "Stagger Lee" for a series of matches.

The Pretty Young Things (1983–1984)

During a tag-team tournament in 1983, the masked Stagger Lee teamed up with fellow face Norvell Austin to take on "Fargo's Fabulous Ones" (Tommy Rich and "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert). During the course of the match Stagger Lee's mask was removed to reveal the man beneath it, prompting a heel turn for Ware. Austin and Ware became a regular tag team dubbed "The Pretty Young Things" or ("The PYT Express"). The two men soon began wearing red leather jackets, and each had a single white glove on, in an obvious imitation of Michael Jackson to further enhance their "pretty boy" image. The team defeated Elijah Akeem and Kareem Mohammad for the AWA Southern Tag Team Championship in February 1984; almost two weeks later, Akeem and Mohammad regained the title. The team dissolved in July 1985 when Austin left for Continental Championship Wrestling.

NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Champion (1985–1986) In August 1985, Ware won a tournament for the vacant NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Championship. He held the title until October, when he lost to Harley Race; he regained the title the following month. His final reign ended in January 1986 when he lost to Buddy Landel. Ware left the Continental Wrestling Association later that month to join the Universal Wrestling Federation.

Universal Wrestling Federation (1986) In February 1986, Koko moved on to Bill Watts' Mid-South/UWF territory, where he started calling himself Koko B. Ware. Ware's persona was that of a face who entered the ring to the theme of Morris Day's "The Bird", doing an arm-flapping dance. He left the promotion in August 1986 upon signing with the World Wrestling Federation.

World Wrestling Federation (1986–1994) The Birdman (1986–1992)

In August 1986, Ware signed with the World Wrestling Federation, where he continued his fun-loving "Birdman" Koko B. Ware" persona, complete with a macaw named "Frankie". Ware made his debut as a fan favorite on the September 6, 1986, episode of Superstars, teaming with Paul Roma against Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart) in a losing effort. His first victory was on the September 7 episode of Wrestling Challenge against Bob Bradley. He made his entrances dancing to the ring to the tune of Morris Day and The Time's "The Bird", flapping his arms and carrying Frankie, who sat on a perch at ringside while Ware wrestled. Bright outfits, colorful sunglasses, a constant smile and his vibrato singing voice made Ware popular, especially with the younger crowd that the WWF mainly catered to during the 1980s. Ware also sang the title track of the 1987 WWF album Piledriver, which then became his entrance music. The song's video featured top wrestlers of the day like Hulk Hogan and The Honky Tonk Man, as well as WWF owner Vince McMahon wearing a red "Hulkamania" shirt and hard hat.

Ware garnered his first big win of his initial WWF run when he upset Harley Race at a house show in East Rutherford, NJ, on October 13. On television, his first major showcase was at the November 29, 1986 Saturday Night's Main Event VIII where he defeated Nikolai Volkoff. He was then granted an Intercontinental Title match against champion Randy Savage on the November 16 edition of Wrestling Challenge, a bout which went to a double countout. The same taping later saw Ware defeat Savage by countout in a dark match.

Ware often lost to bigger stars, such as Butch Reed, Hercules, Greg Valentine, and The Big Boss Man. From 1987 to 1993, Ware appeared on several WWF PPVs (including WrestleMania III where he lost to Reed) and editions of Saturday Night's Main Event, being used mainly to make established or rising stars look good. Ware was the first wrestler on television to fall victim to the perfect-plex of newcomer Mr. Perfect on the January 7, 1989, episode of Saturday Night's Main Event XIX, while at the 1990 Survivor Series, Ware became the first wrestler to fall victim to The Undertaker's tombstone piledriver in the Undertaker's WWF debut match. In a precursor to what would become a regular team years later, Ware occasionally teamed with Owen Hart, wrestling as The Blue Blazer at the time, throughout 1988 and 1989.

During a 1989 European tour, Ware was fired for his part in a physical altercation with WWF executive Jim Troy. Troy had used racial slurs during an argument after which the dispute turned physical, breaking through a glass window in the hotel lobby. Both men were fired, although Koko was almost immediately brought back after Hulk Hogan intervened on his behalf with Vince McMahon.

High Energy (1992–1993) In 1992, Ware teamed up with Owen Hart to form the high-flying team known as High Energy, well known in wrestling circles for their gigantic baggy brightly colored pants and checkered suspenders. High Energy feuded with (and generally lost to) The Nasty Boys, The Headshrinkers, and Money Inc. They made only one PPV appearance as a team, a loss to the Headshrinkers at the 1992 Survivor Series. Ware appeared in the first match on the first episode of Monday Night Raw on January 11, 1993, where he was defeated in a squash match by Yokozuna. The team ended in March 1993 after Hart injured his knee. High Energy's final match came in a loss to The Headshrinkers at a live event on March 10.

Return to singles competition (1993–1994) With Owen Hart out of action Koko would return to singles competition and immediately entered a house show series with Skinner. At the same time, Ware made appearances in the USWA as part of a talent exchange program with WWF. He continued wrestling in the promotion through the remainder of the year.

Koko returned to WWF in 1994 when he appeared on the March 21 episode of Monday Night Raw and faced Jeff Jarrett. He would then appear on the April 9 episode of Superstars in a loss to Irwin R. Schyster. Koko faced his former partner Owen Hart on the June 18 episode of Superstars. He ended his WWF run with three straight victories as he teamed with Bushwhacker Luke Williams in house show matches in Philippines, Hong Kong, and Singapore against Reno Riggins and Barry Horowitz.

United States Wrestling Association (1991–1997) In 1991 Koko made his debut in the USWA. By 1992 the WWF and the United States Wrestling Association started a talent exchange agreement which saw Koko B. Ware return to Memphis. In the USWA Koko was more successful than in the WWF, winning the USWA World Title twice, once from Kamala "The Ugandan Giant" and once from USWA icon Jerry Lawler. When Hart died, the angle was dropped and Ware's services were no longer needed.

On May 18, 2001, Ware returned to wrestling and defeated Brickhouse Brown at Galaxy Championship Wrestling in Little Rock, Arkansas.

By 2003 Ware began to wrestle full time again. He defeated Billy Maverick for the SCW Supreme Title for Supreme Championship Wrestling on August 22. Also in 2003, Ware began competing once again in the Memphis area for the Memphis Wrestling promotion from 2003 to 2007. He also competed at the "World Wrestling Legends" PPV on March 5, 2006, where he defeated Disco Inferno.

He appeared at "WWE Homecoming", Raws return to the USA Network, on October 3, 2005. He fought (and was defeated by) Rob Conway on the October 28, 2005, edition of WWE Heat. On May 31, 2014, Ware appeared in the main event at Valour Wrestling's special event to raise money for Lou Gehrig disease. Ware wrestled his last match on August 10, 2019, for Pennsylvania Premiere Wrestling, teamed with John Wes and Matt Turner to defeat James Ellsworth, RJS and Alexander Bateman.

Personal life James was born in Union City, Tennessee, on June 20, 1958.

In September 2009, Ware's wife died from cancer. In 2020 he married Tamela James.

Ware was a defendant in a 2015 lawsuit filed by WWE after they received a letter from him indicating that he intended to sue them for concussion-based injuries sustained during his tenure with them. He was represented by attorney Konstantine Kyros, who was involved in several other lawsuits involving former WWE wrestlers. US District Judge Vanessa Lynne Bryant dismissed Ware's lawsuit in September 2018.

Death of Frankie In March 2002, Ware lost his Macaw, Frankie, in a house fire. According to Ware, he was summoned to the house during church after someone told him his home was burning.

Professional wrestling style and persona Ware's character featured him carrying a macaw called Frankie, which earned him the nicknames "The Birdman". dropkick, headbutt or monkey flip. Randy Savage or Bruno Sammartino. In 2020, 411Mania writers Steve Cook and Kevin Pantoja discussed Ware's induction. While Cook defended his Hall of Fame status since he was very over and some of his losses were historic, Pantoja described him as "the floor for inductees".

Championships and accomplishments

Badger State Pro Wrestling BSPW Heavyweight Championship (1 time) BSPW Tag Team Championship (2) – with Juicy Johnny Championship Wrestling from Florida NWA United States Tag Team Championship (Florida version) (1 time) – with Norvell Austin Continental Wrestling Association AWA Southern Tag Team Championship (7 times) – with Norvell Austin (3 times), Bobby Eaton (2 times), Stan Lane (1 time), and Dutch Mantel (1 time) NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Championship (6 times) NWA Mid-America Television Championship (1 time) International World Class Championship Wrestling IWCCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time) International Wrestling Alliance IWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time) Pro Wrestling Illustrated PWI ranked him #406 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003. Real Wrestling Federation RWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time) Supreme Championship Wrestling SCW Supreme Championship (1 time) United States Wrestling Association USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship (2 times) USWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Rex Hargrove World Wrestling Entertainment WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2009)