Leroy McGuirk Leroy Michael McGuirk ( December 13 , 1910 – September 9 , 1988 ) was an American wrestler and professional wrestling promoter . He was involved in professional wrestling for more than fifty years . As one of the longest surviving members of the National Wrestling Alliance ( NWA ) , he was affiliated with the promotion from 1949 to 1982 . Early life . He was born in Garvin , Oklahoma . He suffered the loss of his father before he was twelve and had to endure the loss of sight in one of his eyes due to a swimming mishap . McGuirk overcame many adversities to persevere in wrestling . He started wrestling at Tulsa Central High School and competed at Oklahoma A & M from 1928 to 1932 under Edward Gallagher . Despite losing in the quarterfinals of the 1930 NCAA Tournament , McGuirk claimed the 155 - pound title at the 1931 NCAA Tournament on March 28 in Providence . A year later , McGuirk competed in the 1932 NCAA Tournament at 174 pounds . Professional career . After graduation from college , McGuirk went to work for Sam Avey . On March 5 , 1934 , he beat Hugh Nichols in Tulsa for the World Light Heavyweight championship . He was also endorsed by the National Wrestling Association . Championship runs . McGuirk enjoyed several runs as champion . On May 16 , 1938 , McGuirk beat Danny McShain to capture his second world light heavyweight title . The National Wrestling Association had a 190 - pound title ( later raised to 200 ) that was known as the World Junior Heavyweight Championship . McGuirk won this title on June 19 , 1939 from John Swenski . Between Tulsa and Hollywood , McGuirk dominated the Junior Heavyweight division , but at least three other Junior Heavyweight Champions were recognized at the time . On December 28 , 1949 , McGuirk unified the National Wrestling Association World Junior Heavyweight Championship with the National Wrestling Alliance ’ s version by defeating Billy Goelz in Des Moines . Leroy McGuirk is creditted as the longest male single ' s champion of all time . He captured the National Wrestling Association World Junior Heavyweight Title on 6 - 19 - 1939 and had to vacate the title on 2 - 7 - 1950 . That ' s a total of 3886 days ( 10yr - 7m - 19d ) . Automobile accident . On February 7 , 1950 , McGuirk ’ s career came to an end . In Little Rock , Arkansas , McGuirk was being driven to a restaurant by his wrestling pupil , Robert “ Bob ” Clay . In an attempt to prevent a collision , Clay locked the car ’ s brakes , and McGuirk was thrown against the front windshield . McGuirk ’ s tinted glasses were shattered and the side of the glasses covering his good eye were fractured , blinding McGuirk permanently . It was another Oklahoman , Danny Hodge , who rose to prominence in the Junior Heavyweight field . By 1960 , Hodge became the principal headliner for McGuirk . Booking and promoting . After the accident , Avey kept McGuirk as a partner . McGuirk became second vice - president of the NWA from September 1950 to August 1956 , and from August 1959 to August 1960 . Between 1957 and 1958 , McGuirk was made an honorary vice - president . One of McGuirk ’ s first challenges as vice - president was to reconcile the promotional war that occurred between women ’ s wrestling promoters Billy Wolfe and his ex - wife Mildred Burke . McGuirk aligned himself with Burke and hoped to resolve the dispute at the September 1953 NWA meeting in Chicago . By 1953 , McGuirk was the primary booker for the junior heavyweight champion , while coordinating talent from southwestern Missouri to Little Rock , across Oklahoma , and into parts of Texas . Despite being the booker , McGuirk also took on the opportunity to train promising wrestlers . One of his most promising was eventual NWA World Heavyweight Champion Dick Hutton . In the May 10 , 1953 edition of the " Tulsa Daily World " , McGuirk said " " He has a fine chance to get into the big money brackets . He has a lot to learn , but has the natural qualifications , and I won ’ t be surprised at anything he may accomplish . " " Hutton did not disappoint , as he beat Lou Thesz on November 14 , 1957 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto . Avey and McGuirk ’ s actual territory covered most of Oklahoma and Arkansas . Said territory also included Joplin and Springfield , Missouri , Shreveport , Louisiana , plus Wichita Falls , and Tyler , Texas . On January 4 , 1958 , McGuirk took over the entire business after Avey retired . Avey left wrestling to concentrate on his role as senior vice president of the Farmers and Merchants State Bank . One of the biggest issues McGuirk faced was the tension that occurred due to sporadic visits by world champion Buddy Rogers in the early 1960s . Many felt that the bigger promoters were locked in for visits by Rogers while territories such as McGuirk ’ s , Jim Crockett in Charlotte , Karl Sarpolis in Amarillo , and Cowboy Luttrall in Tampa , to name a few , were perceived as the non - essential territories . Bill Watts . McGuirk had many people who worked for him as matchmaker : Leo Voss , Sam Menacker , Rip Tyler , Wayne Martin , and George Scott . Of all those people , Cowboy Bill Watts played a big part in McGuirk ’ s promotion , both positively and negatively . His first real connection to McGuirk was in 1968 , when McGuirk submitted the only vote in favor of passing the NWA Championship to him . McGuirk and Watts worked together to promote Oklahoma , Arkansas , Mississippi , and Louisiana in the late 1970s . On July 22 , 1978 , their joint promotion of a wrestling show at the Louisiana Superdome drew an estimated 31 , 000 fans and a gate of $ 140 , 000 . A dispute between the two in August 1979 strained their friendship . While Watts incorporated Mid - South Sports Inc . and had agreements Jim Barnett , Eddie Graham , Fritz Von Erich , and Vincent J . McMahon that made the promotion thrive . McGuirk became desperate and hoped that George Scott would help keep the territory afloat . On February 23 , 1981 , Watts filed documents to bring Mid - South to Tulsa . Matters worsened as seven wrestlers went on strike on August 21 . Their grievance was that McGuirk had not paid them for the previous weeks work . Despite turning to Amarillo for wrestling talent , McGuirk saw the writing on the wall . In 1982 , McGuirk ceased operations and left the city open for Bill Watts and Mid - South Wrestling to take over . One of McGuirk ’ s daughters , Michael , better known in wrestling as Mike McGuirk , married B . Brian Blair , a wrestler for Mid - South . Both eventually worked for the World Wrestling Federation : Blair as one half of the tag team The Killer Bees , and Mike McGuirk as an in - ring announcer . Honors . McGuirk was inducted into the Oklahoma Athletic Hall of Fame in 1977 . He is also a member of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame . Of his charitable work , McGuirk is best known for working with Ed Lewis . They were responsible for instituting the NWA " Leader Dogs for the Blind " annual charity function . He died on September 9 , 1988 in Claremore .