James Ware

James Ware better known by his ring name The Birdman Koko B Ware is a semiretired American professional wrestler who made his professional wrestling debut in 1978 He gained most of his popularity in the World Wrestling Federation when he was known as the Birdman Ware came to the ring with a blueandyellow macaw parrot named Frankie and would flap his arms like a bird while dancing before and after his matches Before joining the WWF Ware worked as a part of several tag teams first with Bobby Eaton in Memphis and then later on with Norvell Austin as one half of the The PYT Express in several promotions It was not until late in 1980 that Kokos fortune changed when he participated in a battle royal to crown the first ever MidAmerican Television Champion The crowd favorite was Jimmy Valiant who Koko accidentally knocked into Danny Davis and eliminated Valiant Moments later Koko dumped Davis to the floor and won his first title After the match Jimmy Valiant returned to the ring and beat Koko down Kokos feud with Jimmy Valiant was quickly expanded to include the heel Tojo Yamamoto and Koko ally Tommy Rich When Dutch Mantel returned to the CWA in early 1981 he quickly defeated Koko for the TV title making Kokos first run with the gold a short one Koko floundered until September 1981 when he was chosen to referee a Southern Heavyweight Championship title match between Jerry Lawler and The Dream Machine Ware unfairly counted Lawler out to give the Dream Machine the victory a decision that did not sit well with Lawler nor the fans in Memphis Koko quickly aligned himself with manager Jimmy Hart and his First Family and changed his name to Sweet Brown Sugar Sugar never got the best of Lawler but did taste tagteam success alongside Steve Keirn and then with Bobby Eaton Eaton Sugar won the AWA Southern Tag Team Championship On June 8 2008 Koko made a special appearance at TNAs Slammiversary as a groomsman in the wedding for Black Machismo Jay Lethal and So Cal Val along with George The Animal Steele Kamala the Ugandan Giant and Jake The Snake Roberts On April 4 2009 Koko was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by The Honky Tonk Man On September 5 2009 Wares wife died after a battle with cancer On February 15 2011 Koko made an appearance on Tosh0 He is one of only three wrestlers to sport WWF on his trunks