Ware 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 ring name to "Sweet Brown Sugar". Sugar never got the best of Lawler but did taste tag-team success alongside Steve Keirn and then with Bobby Eaton. Eaton and Sugar won the AWA Southern Tag Team Championship.