• Look Back In History
• Pmessages
• Quiz
• Stump The Staff
• Top Fifty
• Close

Big Return For Big Daddy Moore

Posted: Apr 21st 2013 By: CMBurnham

One of the most entertaining individuals in Northeast Oklahoma wrestling was Big Daddy Moore. A gifted amateur wrestler and a former Oklahoma State Champion from Coweta High School, Moore now coaches wrestling at Bristow High School where he was a trainer for Brandon Groom.

Moore began competing during the heyday of OPW, defeating Rocco Valentino for the OPW Oklahoma Title in 1999. He continued into OCW, forming a tag team with Karl Davis and winning the OCW Oklahoma Tag Team titles. In 2003, he became one of the charter members of the original SRPW, defeating Dexter Hardaway for the SRPW Hardcore Title on the very first show.

But as time went on, Big Daddy became more and more focused on his coaching. And while he appeared now and then, even venturing into SWCW and forcing Hardaway to temporarily retire from wrestling, by 2007, Moore was no longer competing.

Now, ask anyone involved in the wrestling industry and they will tell you that as long as someone is physically capable, they never really retire. Some wrestlers try to and will have mutliple "retirement" matches. And apparently the same was true for Moore. Even though he did not expect to compete, he was still prepared when BPPW presented their inaugural event. Moore was there simply to come out and greet the crowd in Bristow. But about 30 seconds after Moore got in the ring, SRPW Tag Team Champion Bobby Burns interrupted the proceedings. Burns reminded Moore that he was one of the people responsible for training Moore for pro wrestling. And even though almost 15 years had passed since then, Burns still believed he was the better man. To prove that point, Burns blindsided Moore with the Texas flag, laying him out in front of his hometown fans. After Burns left, Moore recovered and challenged Burns to a No DQ/Anything goes match in the main event. Moore is known as a jovial guy out for a laugh, but it was about to get very serious in Bristow that night.

Burns and Moore both came prepared for a fight and the fans were not disappointed. Lots of weaponry was brought into play and the battle went outside the ring, giving many fans an up close and personal view of the action. In the end, despite Moore not having competed for 6 years, he was able to overcome the size and power of Burns and put him down for the pin.

But Moore did not have much time to celebrate his latest victory. Shortly after his victory, the sounds of a motorcycle came from behind the entranceway and that motorcycle brought Clint Cox out. Cox said that while the fans may not know him, Moore certainly did, as he was the last person to defeat Moore in high school. Their paths were widely divergent after that. Cox went to the military while Moore became a member of 2 Hall of Fames and won 4 national wrestling championships. Moore admitted to losing to Cox, but said it was pure luck. Cox challenged Moore to a match on May 11, making it clear that he intended to prove luck had nothing to do with that victory. If Moore expected to once again fade back into retirement, fate seems to have different plans for him. And Big Daddy Moore has never been one to disappoint his fans.