Wrestling Pro

Baxter retired from in-ring competition around 1978. His last appearance as part of a wrestling show was in 2004 at "The Continental Reunion" event, where he - as Wrestling Pro - finally unmasked. He was known to also attend the annual Gulf Coast Wrestlers Reunions. In his retirement, Baxter was involved with the local stockyard in Dothan, Alabama. He died on August 15, 2019 at age 81.

Baxter travelled to Tennessee and competed in Ron Fuller's Southeastern Championship Wrestling territory in 1976, where he teamed with fellow Dothan, Alabama native Dick Dunn as the team known as "The Masked Superstars", with whom he won the NWA Southern Tag Team Champion in April, 1976. Pro continued to also compete in the Gulf Coast territory, where he went on to win the NWA Gulf Coast Heavyweight Championship on nine occasions. One of his most famous rivals, Ken Mantell, returned to Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling after losing the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship and rekindled his rivalry with Baxter, feuding over the Gulf Coast Heavyweight Title. Baxter formed a team with "The Super Pro", a fellow masked wrestler who soon turned on him. In a mask vs. mask match, "Super Pro" lost the bout and was revealed to be Randy Rose, who would later form The Midnight Express with Norvelle Austin and Dennis Condrey.

Wearing a white mask and costume, Pro would switch between fan favourite and villain during his time in GCCW but is best remembered for his tenure as a heel, feuding with the territories top babyfaces and facing the visiting NWA champions. Pro had a famous rivalry with champion Ken Mantell for the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship in the mid-1970s. Having competed in non-title bouts Pro challenged Mantell a title match, which Mantell agreed to, providing that Pro could make weight and would agree to put his mask up against the title. The bout took place on September 17, 1974.

As part of a villainous tag team, Baxter learned how to be a successful heel. By 1970 he returned to Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling as a tag team with Tim Tyler under the name "the Wrestling Pros, a masked duo managed by Joe Powell. The team eventually disbanded after his partner was unmasked. From then on, Baxter was a singles wrestler, competing as "The Wrestling Pro". It was not a secret that "Wrestling Pro" was Tarzan Baxter due to his distinctive voice.

As The Wrestling Pro, Baxter remained a headliner for Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling throughout the 1970s. He feuded with then-NWA World Heavyweight Champion Jack Brisco when he was declared number one contender. During their first bout for the title it appeared that Pro had won the World Heavyweight Championship, however the referee declared that his feet were on the ropes, disqualified Pro and awarded the title back to Brisco. Due to the circumstances, they would have a re-match for the championship. Due to flight trouble, their first scheduled rematch had to be cancelled, with Pro facing Ken Lucas instead. When they did eventually have their bout, Brisco won and retained the title.

Baxter was raised in Malone, Florida, a veteran of the U.S. Navy (where he had also been a boxer) and was working as a deputy sheriff in Houston County, Alabama when he began his professional wrestling career in Oklahoma under the ring name Tarzan Baxter. Under this name, he wrestled for various NWA territories in the American South, including Oklahoma, Gulf Coast, and Tennessee. He also pulled double duty as a member of the tag team The Masked Gauchos with Juan Sebastian for Georgia Championship Wrestling and Jim Crockett Promotions. Baxter found early success in Oklahoma, where he feuded with Danny Hodge for U.S. Junior Heavyweight Championship. He became a mainstay for the Mid-South Wrestling Association/Tri-State capturing the NWA North American Heavyweight Championship in 1969. That same year, he won the NWA United States Tag-Team Championship with Karl Karlson.

Edward Leon Baxter (June 4, 1938 – August 15, 2019) was an American professional wrestler who competed throughout the National Wrestling Alliance in the 1960s and 70s. He was best known for wrestling under a mask as (The) Wrestling Pro and also wrestled under the ring name Tarzan Baxter. One of the most popular heels in Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling's history, he had famous feuds with the likes of Ken Mantell for the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship and Jack Brisco for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.