lit a candle 8 Sept 2026My dad used to talk about watching the Columbus wrestlers on television. Jerry Oates was one of the names he'd mention. Strange how the years go.
Their story
Jerry Wayne Oates was born in Columbus, Georgia, on 5 September 1947. He died in hospice care on 4 September 2026, one day before his 79th birthday. He was 78. Wikipedia and POST Wrestling, citing the formal obituary, pin those dates. Several wrestling sites printed 81. That figure is not…
Jerry Wayne Oates was born in Columbus, Georgia, on 5 September 1947. He died in hospice care on 4 September 2026, one day before his 79th birthday. He was 78. Wikipedia and POST Wrestling, citing the formal obituary, pin those dates. Several wrestling sites printed 81. That figure is not used here. No cause of death was published.
This page is the Columbus wrestler, trainer, gym owner, and later local officer. It is not Ted Oates, his younger brother and frequent tag partner. It is not Jim Oates, whom POST Wrestling identified, in a correction, as the Georgia Championship Wrestling stockholder. It is not the school officials in Wilmington, Sumter, or elsewhere, and not the "Dr. Jerry Oates" that search suggestions attach to the same string.
Professional wrestling was already a family trade when he entered it. Wikipedia says he was trained by strongman Milo Steinborn and Milo's son Dick Steinborn. Later obituaries and POST Wrestling describe Dick Steinborn as Jerry's brother-in-law and the man who trained him. Those accounts sit together without contradiction. Dick was both the trainer and the in-law. Formal schooling is not documented in the sources reviewed.
He debuted on 16 June 1970 in Tampa for Championship Wrestling from Florida, an NWA territory, and lost that first match to Duke Keomuka. By November 1970 he was moving between Tampa and Atlanta. December 1971 put him in Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling out of Dothan, Alabama. January 1972 was his first Japanese tour, for International Wrestling Enterprise. Through 1972 he stayed active in Georgia and the Gulf Coast and made stops for NWA Mid-America in Nashville and Tri-State Wrestling. In August 1972 he began teaming with his younger brother Ted, the partnership that defined the rest of his road years.
The 1970s were a championship decade spent one town at a time. In June 1974 he won his first title, the NWA Columbus Heavyweight Championship, from Bob Sweetan, and held it nearly three months before losing it to Harley Race. September 1974 moved him to Kansas City and Central States Wrestling. In January 1975 he and Mike George won the Central States version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship from The Interns. A month later he was a double champion, taking the NWA Central States Heavyweight Championship from Terry Martin. He and George dropped the tag titles, then Jerry regained that honor with Ted. Ten days after the second tag win he lost the singles title to Ed Wiskoski.
February 1976 brought him back to Georgia Championship Wrestling. In March the brothers beat Les Thornton and Tony Charles for the NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship and held it nearly three months before the Red Devils took it. September 1976 sent the brothers to All Japan Pro Wrestling. In October they beat Motoshi Okuma and Great Kojika for the All Asia Tag Team Championship in Tokyo, a reign POST Wrestling also records, and lost it nearly three weeks later to Samson Kutsuwada and Akihisa Takachiho. In August 1977 he beat Dick Murdoch for the Tri-State version of the NWA North American Heavyweight Championship and held it nearly three months before Murdoch took it back.
January 1978 was Portland and Pacific Northwest Wrestling, the run that put him in the same locker rooms as Jimmy Snuka, Buddy Rose, and Jesse Ventura. In March 1978 he and Ventura beat Buddy Rose and Ed Wiskoski for the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship and held the belts nearly a month before Bull Ramos and The Iron Sheik won them. In May 1978 he beat Wiskoski for the NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship and held it more than a month. The rest of 1978 and 1979 ran through Los Angeles, a brief Tri-State return, the Mid-Atlantic, Georgia, and then Mid-South Wrestling after Bill Watts bought the old Tri-State office from Leroy McGuirk.
He told South Magazine in December 2021 that they hit those states every week and did 3,000 miles a week, that the business then was great all over the country, and that he would do it again. Georgia Championship Wrestling on Ted Turner's Atlanta station made Saturday night wrestling a cable habit before Vince McMahon's national expansion. Oates laughed about first hearing of cable: people would pay for television? He said Turner always said that if it was not for wrestling, TBS never would have made it. He also said the exposure was no big deal to the wrestlers themselves. He would get to Louisiana, or Oregon, and people already knew him, and they still went to a television station and wrestled.
The night that still gets named in the obituaries came on 4 July 1984 in Columbus. He and Ron Garvin beat The Road Warriors for the NWA National Tag Team Championship. During that reign, the Atlanta Georgia Championship Wrestling television time was sold to Vince McMahon. Ole Anderson started Championship Wrestling from Georgia, and Oates and Garvin stayed champions nearly four months before losing to The Hollywood Blonds, Rip Rogers and Jerry's own brother Ted. POST Wrestling later corrected a separate claim. The minority stockholder in the old Georgia Championship Wrestling company who sold toward McMahon was Jim Oates, not Jerry. Those two men are not merged on this page.
He told South Magazine that when McMahon took over there was big money, that McMahon tried to make Harley Race a clown, and that men swallowed their pride because they were making some good change. "Every man's got his price," he said. He himself kept working the South. In August 1987 he wrestled for AWA Georgia and, Wikipedia notes, also worked under the masked name Mr. USA. A last single All Japan tour followed in February 1989. In January 1991 he worked a WWF Superstars of Wrestling taping in Macon, Georgia, teaming with The Brooklyn Brawler in a loss to The Rockers. The match aired on 2 March. By 1993 he was regular for Peach State Wrestling.
Columbus was the other life. He and Kathy, whom he married in 1973, owned Oates Gym. Wikipedia dates the original location from 1979 to a 2002 closure. He promoted the Southeastern Bodybuilding Championships from the 1980s into the 1990s. Wikipedia credits him, with Ted, for training Marty Jannetty, Bambi, Randy Hogan, J-Rod, AJ Steele, Tom Ivy, and Craig Brown. In 2004 he began promoting his own Georgia Championship Wrestling in Columbus. A year later the name changed to Great Championship Wrestling. Georgia Wrestling History says that for a time this Columbus office was hotter than NWA Wildside in Cornelia. On 22 July 2006 he wrestled his last documented match, teaming with Scott Fantastic to beat Harley Wood and Death Row. After retiring he sold the promotion to Bill and Diane Hewes, who ran it until 2010. The family later framed the wrestling career as 1970 to 2010. Both belong in the record. The family used 2010. The match log ends in 2006.
Away from the ring he served as a deputy with the Tybee Island Police Department and as a bailiff with the Muscogee County Sheriff's Office. From 2010 through the end of 2011 he hosted the Peach State Pandemonium podcast for Georgia Wrestling History Radio with Bobby Simmons and Mike Norris. Kathy Newman Oates died on 22 June 2019. Her funeral-home obituary called Jerry the love of her life and the husband of 46 years, named her stepson Bo Oates, and said she had been co-owner of The Oates Gym. In April 2020 he reopened Oates Gym down the street from the original room. JubileeCast, citing the obituary, reported that he was a Christian by faith. No party affiliation is recorded here.
The family announced the death through the Oates Gym Facebook page. A memorial titled Jerry Oates' Last Main Event is set for 12 September 2026 at 11:00 a.m. at Evangel Church in Columbus. Les Thatcher and Von Hardin are to host. Minister Bobby Simmons is to officiate. The family asked that donations go to Columbus Hospice or Total Terrain Wellness. Resting place was not published. That service is a memorial, not a burial announcement. The Cauliflower Alley Club called him a craftsman of the ring who helped shape an era.
Biography adapted from Wikipedia Jerry Oates; POST Wrestling 6 Sep 2026; Fightful; Georgia Wrestling History; South Magazine 30 Dec 2021; Kathy Oates obituary; JubileeCast; Oklafan.
In their own words
“We started hearing about Cable TV, and we were like, 'What's Cable TV? You mean people will pay for television?' But you had all this talent in Atlanta. Ted Turner always said, if it wasn't for wrestling TBS never would have made it.”
South Magazine, Barry Kaufman, 30 December 2021, on Saturday-night Georgia Championship Wrestling on Ted Turner's station. Verbatim from that profile as given in the brief.
“We hit all those states every week. We did 3,000 miles a week. But the business then, all over the country, business was great. It was the right place at the right time. I looked back, that must have been a hard life. But that's what we did. And then find time to get to the gym and work out. But I look back I'd do it again.”
South Magazine, 30 December 2021, on territory travel. The magazine added that they might come to Columbus once a month.
“I'd get to Louisiana and people would know who I was. In Oregon, they'd already seen me. It wasn't no big deal. We went to a TV station and wrestled and it was no big deal. How many millions of people are watching you? To us it was no big deal.”
South Magazine, 30 December 2021, on cable exposure versus the wrestlers' own sense of the job.
“Of course when McMahon took over there was big money. He tried to make Harley a clown. But they were making some good change, so they swallowed their pride. Every man's got his price.”
South Magazine, 30 December 2021, on Vince McMahon's national expansion and Harley Race. Harley is Harley Race.
“It was a different era. I feel honored to have done that. I had a great career. I only wish I could do it again.”
South Magazine, 30 December 2021, closing note of the profile. The magazine also reported that he said he had not watched wrestling in nearly 17 years.
“It is with heavy hearts that the family of Jerry Oates announces his passing. Born in Columbus, Georgia, Jerry lived a full and impactful life marked by his passion for professional wrestling, fitness, and service to his community.”
Family statement on the Oates Gym Facebook page, quoted by POST Wrestling and Fightful, September 2026. The same statement named Oates Gym, bodybuilding and wrestling events, the Tybee Island Police Department, and the Muscogee County Sheriff's Office. No public permalink was recovered, so the post
“A true craftsman of the ring, Jerry was respected not just for his toughness and skill, but for the professionalism and pride he brought to the business every single night. He helped shape an era.”
Cauliflower Alley Club tribute, quoted by EntertainmentNow from the club's Facebook tribute. Some pages printed his age as 81. Prefer the 1947 birth date. Age on this page is 78.
Photos
2Jerry Oates, the Columbus, Georgia wrestler and gym owner, in an Oates shirt. JubileeCast news photo. Same sitting as the Georgia Wrestling History memorial graphic. Not Ted Oates. Not Jim Oates. JubileeCast headline age of 81 is not adopted.
by People Forever
Georgia Wrestling History memorial graphic, Jerry Oates' Last Main Event. Same sitting as the JubileeCast portrait, with type reading 1947-2026. Graphic includes text. Not the round portrait.
by People Forever
That's the way. Not all noise and angles.