Roy Welch

Roy Edward Welch (December 19, 1901 – September 27, 1977) was an American professional wrestler and promoter.

He is best known as the promoter of the NWA Mid-America territory (also known simply as the Nashville office) alongside Nick Gulas.

Welch began wrestling in 1930.

During the 1930s, he was a prominent tag team wrestler alongside his brother Herb Welch.

Welch began promoting in the 1940s, establishing the Nashville office with Nick Gulas.

Welch and Gulas' territory spanned Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee.

The Welch brothers were recognized as the inaugural NWA Mid-America AWA Southern Tag Team Champions in 1943.

In 1944, the Welch brothers were recognized as the NWA World Tag Team Champions.

They vacated the titles in 1946 after Herb Welch was injured in a car accident.

In 1949, the Welch brothers were recognised as the inaugural NWA Tennessee Tag Team Champions after defeating Art Nelson and Earl Knielson.

In 1949, the Welch brothers won the Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling NWA Southern Tag Team Championship, holding the title until 1951.

In 1949, Welch and Gulas joined the National Wrestling Alliance.

Their promotion was known as NWA Mid-America.

Welch won the title a second time with Eddie Gossett in 1950, then twice more with Herb Welch in 1952.

In the early-1950s, Welch acquired the Mobile-Pensacola (Gulf Coast) end of Leroy McGuirk's Tri-State Wrestling promotion, turning it into its own promotion.

Due to Welch's commitments in Nashville, his son Buddy Fuller (Edward Welch) was appointed booker for Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling.

In 1956, Roy Welch and Chris Tolos won the NWA Tennessee Tag Team Championship.

Welch sold his interest in the promotion to Lee Fields in 1959–1960, who rebranded the promotion Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling.

In 1960, Welch and Gulas were charged with conspiring to stop an investigation of their business practices, having allegedly made payments to Senator Estes Kefauver (himself a former wrestler), who had made a complaint against them with the United States Department of Justice for obstructing his attempts to promote professional wrestling in opposition to them.

In the 1960s, Welch hired Jerry Jarrett as an office assistant; Jarrett eventually became the booker for the Memphis area of Welch's territory, taking over from Welch as his health declined.

Welch retired from professional wrestling in 1961.

Welch retired from promoting in the 1970s due to ill health.

In 1977, shortly before Welch's death, NWA Mid-America was split in two after Jerry Jarrett broke away from Nick Gulas following a business dispute, with Welch siding with Jarrett.

In addition to promoting, Welch owned a large dairy farm in Gibson County, Tennessee and a herd of Poland China pigs.

Welch had multiple relatives who became professional wrestlers, including his brothers Herb, Jack, and Lester, his son Buddy, and his grandsons Jimmy Golden, Robert Fuller, and Ron Fuller.

Welch died on September 27, 1977, at the age of 75 in the Trenton Memorial Hospital in Trenton, Tennessee.