Athletes - Buzz Sawyer

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	Athletes - Buzz Sawyer

Buzz Sawyer (born Bruce Woyan June 14, 1959 in St. Petersburg, Florida, died February 7, 1992) was a professional wrestler who went by the nickname of "Mad Dog". He was known for his crazy antics in the ring and out.

Career

"Mad Dog" Buzz Sawyer started wrestling in 1979 in the NWA's Jim Crockett Promotions. He stayed there with some stints in Georgia Championship Wrestling until 1984. He mainly teamed with his brother, Brett Sawyer. He had a huge feud with the Road Warriors after he left their manager Paul Ellering's Legion of Doom.

Buzz also had an epic feud with Tommy Rich that led to many bloody matches, the greatest of which was billed as the Last Battle of Atlanta and for the first time featured a completely enclosed cage. It also saw manager Paul Ellering suspended 20 feet above the ring in a smaller cage. This is the match that Shawn Michaels credits for inspiring the Hell in the Cell concept used by the WWE. Although this was a loser leaves town match that Tommy Rich lost, he returned to TV the next week as the mysterious Mr. R.

Sawyer had a short WWE run in 1984. He was called "Bulldog" Buzz Sawyer because Mad Dog was being used by Mad Dog Vachon. During Sawyer's only TV appearance, he was managed by Captain Lou Albano. Sawyer's gimmick included a dog chain and a lot of barking.

In 1985, Buzz went to Mid-South Wrestling (which would become the Universal Wrestling Federation in 1986) and became a protege of Dick Slater's. After Slater won the North American title, he gave Mid-South TV Title to Sawyer to defend for him. The promotion tricked Slater into letting Sawyer defend the North American Title (which he promptly lost), and Sawyer then refused to give the TV belt back to Slater.

In 1986, Sawyer left the UWF for World Class Championship Wrestling. He formed a team with Matt Borne and they won the Tag Team Titles. He also won the TV Title and the Texas Title and feuded with Brian Adias while there. He got into a feud with Dingo Warrior and he lost his tag team titles to Warrior and Lance Von Erich before leaving the promotion.

He returned in 1989 as part of Gary Hart's "J-Tex Corporation" that was feuding with the Four Horsemen. He had some good matches against Arn Anderson before joining Kevin Sullivan's "Slaughterhouse" stable in 1990, but he left the promotion soon after that.

Sawyer was wrestling on the independent circuit when he died from a heart attack on February 7, 1992.

Sawyer was known for his crazy antics such as trying to fight the police outside a bar and also his drug abuse. He trained a few wrestlers, among them Magnum T.A..

Profile

Height: 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight: 240 lb (109 kg)
Birthday: June 14, 1959
Hometown: St. Petersburg, Florida
Trainer: -
Managers: Gary Hart
, Kevin Sullivan
, Paul Ellering
, Paul Jones
, Percy Pringle
Finisher: Power Slam

Championships/Accomplishments

National Wrestling Alliance

1-Time NWA National Heavyweight Champion
2-Time NWA National Tag Team Champion (with Brett Sawyer)
1-Time NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Champion (with Matt Borne)
1-Time NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Champion (with Brett Sawyer)
1-Time NWA Southeast Television Champion

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

1981 Most Underrated Wrestler
1982 Best Heel

World Class Championship Wrestling

1-Time WCCW Texas Heavyweight Champion
1-Time WCCW Television Champion
1-Time WCCW Tag Team Champion (with Matt Borne)

UWF & Mid-South

1-Time Mid-South North American Champion
1-Time UWF Television Champion

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Buzz Sawyer ]

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