[2][6] Founded by "Professor" Roy Shire (1922–1992) in 1960, the promotion emerged as one of the most profitable in the United States thanks to its "red hot angles" and "good TV".

[9][3] After sustaining a severe knee injury, NWA San Francisco wrestler "Professor" Roy Shire decided to move into promoting in direct competition with Malcewicz.

[18][16] Together with his bookers, Johnny Doyle and later Red Bastien, Shire built the promotion around the principles of "action, high spots and realistic matches".

[7][20][21] The promotion's flagship event was an annual 18-man battle royal, with the winner receiving storyline large sums of money.

[22][23] As Big Time Wrestling expanded, it began promoting in other Californian cities including Fresno and Sacramento, as well as Las Vegas in Nevada.

In 1970, Shire secured a new deal with the Sacramento station KTXL, airing Big Time Wrestling at 19:00 PST on Saturday evenings.

[4][28] In 1984, a disgruntled Shire gave an interview to The Sacramento Bee in which he broke kayfabe by acknowledging all the matches he promoted were staged.