GREAT CARDS FROM WAY BACK

 

THE GREAT MALENKO

GREENSBORO, N.C. - 1967

GEORGE BECKER and JOHNNY WEAVER topped THE MASKED RED DEMONS

TEX McKENZIE and NELSON ROYAL defeated EL GAUCHO and GEORGE 'TWO TON' HARRIS

GEORGE and SANDY SCOTT bested THE GREAT MALENKO and THE MISSOURI MAULER

GEORGE 'TWO TON' HARRIS

LYNCHBURG, VA. - 1968

GEORGE BECKER, JOHNNY WEAVER and HAYSTACK CALHOUN defeated THE MISSOURI MAULER, PAMPERO FIRPO and GEORGE 'TWO TON' HARRIS in six man action.

TAMMY JONES topped DONNA CHRISTENELLO

LUTHER LINDSAY beat BULL RAMOS

THE AMAZING ZUMA and THE MUMMY wrestled to a draw.

P.Y. CHUNG

LYNCHBURG, VA. - 1967

KLONDIKE BILL defeated HARU SASAKI and P.Y. CHUNG in a handicap match.

PEDRO GODOY beat GENE DUNDEE.

JERRY LONDON topped BULL RAMOS.

JESSE JAMES wrestled THE MUMMY to a draw.

PENNY BANNER versus TAMMY JONES

CHARLESTON, S.C. - 1967

GEORGE BECKER defeated HOMER O'DELL

ALDO BOGNI and BRONCHO LUBICH topped GEORGE SCOTT and DON CHUY

JOHNNY WEAVER won over THE MISSOURI MAULER

PENNY BANNER bested TAMMY JONES

HAYSTACK CALHOUN squashed JACK BENCE

LUTHER LINDSAY

NORFOLK, VA. - 1969

GEORGE BECKER and LUTHER LINDSAY versus THE INFERNOS with J.C. DYKES ended in a double DQ

BOB NANDOR and JIM OSBORNE won from THE MISSOURI MAULER and HIRO MATSUDA on a DQ

GEORGE GRANT won from JIM GRABMIRE

ALEX MEDINA lost to 'BULLDOG' LEE HENNING

JIM GRABMIRE

CHARLESTON, S.C. - 1968

GEORGE and SANDY SCOTT won from LARS and GENE ANDERSON

PEPE GOMEZ and JACK RICE lost to TERRY and RONNIE GARVIN

NIKITA MULKOVICH defeated BOB NANDOR

JIM GRABMIRE lost to JESSE JAMES

TERRY FUNK

 

LES THATCHER DEBUTS IN LEXINGTON

                                                                      May 11, 1963

LEXINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA

TONY 'CRUSHER' ANGELO

BOLO and THE GREAT BOLO

SWEDE HANSON

LES THATCHER

GEORGE 'CRYBABY' CANNON

FRANK VALOIS

SONNY FARGO

Two big tag team matches will be co-featured for wrestling fans tonight at the LEXINGTON YMCA, starting at 8:15.

Partners THE GREAT BOLO and BOLO, the masked terror duo, meet a big and rough combination in the guises of TONY 'CRUSHER' ANGELO and big SWEDE HANSON in what must be billed as a 'BATTLE OF THE BULLIES' affair.

Popular brothers GEORGE and SANDY SCOTT go against the rugged duet of FRANK VALOIS and GEORGE 'CRYBABY' CANNON in the other tag battle.

Both of these matches are set for two-out-of-three falls.

Newcomer LES THATCHER will face the rowdy SONNY FARGO in singles competition, with one more match scheduled to open the card.

BLACKJACK MULLIGAN AND RIC FLAIR

 

DAMN THOSE INFERNOS

 I make no apologies for throwing the spotlight once again on these guys for a number of reasons:

They could really work in the ring.

They really drew heat.

And I just plain liked them!

THE INFERNOS made several passes through JIM CROCKETT PROMOTIONS in the mid-late 1960s, and each time, went straight to the top of the card, feuding with not just the top 'babyface' teams, but also a number of the other 'heel' duos as well.

THE INFERNOS set every wrestling territory they worked in on fire!

Often, J.C. DYKES was forced to join his men in the ring as pictured here in a match against a team headed by EDDIE GRAHAM.

The helpless referee tries to no avail to prevent THE INFERNOS from double-teaming a hapless opponent.

THE INFERNOS
(These are the originals - Manager J.C. DYKES (left), ROCKY SMITH (center), FRANKIE CAIN (right).

Looks like things didn't go well for J.C. on this night.

JOHNNY WEAVER is at the mercy of one of the masked maulers.

One INFERNO memory I have occurred in the late 1960s one summer night at the old semi-pro baseball park in Statesville, North Carolina.

DYKES and his men were making their approach to the ring for their main event match. J.C. was wearing a brown paisley tuxedo jacket. Some idiot, out of nowhere like Ruby on Oswald, threw a large cup of Coca-Cola right in the manager's face and all over the jacket, then like the fool he was, took off running towards the center field fence (where there was no escape - the fence was at least ten feet high). Duh!

Both INFERNOS took off after the goof. Whichever wrestler was wearing the 'loaded boot' actually got to him first, tackled him in the outfield and started slugging him. His masked partner was right behind and began beating the **** out of the poor guy with the metal canteen DYKES always carried to the ring.

Eventually, the local police (60-inch girths and all) made it to the outfield and relieved the wrestlers of what was left of their attacker and escorted him out of the ball park and took him to the local police department, where I'm sure he spent the night at the expense of the citizens of Statesville.

SKULL MURPHY AND BRUTE BERNARD

 

SOMETIMES YA WIN...SOMETIMES YA DON'T

                             Results from JIM CROCKETT PROMOTIONS shows of the past...

THE GARVINS

RALEIGH, N.C. - 1968

JOHNNY WEAVER and HIRO MATSUDA wrestled to a draw

GEORGE and SANDY SCOTT defeated THE INFERNOS with J.C. DYKES

TERRY and RONNIE GARVIN topped BOB NANDOR and JESSE JAMES

ALEX MEDINA lost to 'BULLDOG' LEE HENNING

GENE KINISKI

ROANOKE, VA. - 1969

GENE KINISKI defended the WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP successfully beating PAUL JONES

NELSON ROYAL, GEORGE and SANDY SCOTT topped THE INFERNOS and J.C. DYKES in six man action

THE MATADOR whipped JACK RICE

JIM GRABMIRE and JESSE JAMES wrestled to a draw

MR. WRESTLING and SAM STEAMBOAT

-
CHARLESTON, W.V. - 1969

RIP HAWK and SWEDE HANSON versus SAM STEAMBOAT and MR. WRESTLING ended in a double DQ

EL GAUCHO and LEON BAXTER topped BOB RAMSTEAD and JESSE JAMES

TINKER TODD lost to ROCK HUNTER

BOBBY KAY beat TONY NERO

EL GAUCHO

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - 1969

SAILOR ART THOMAS, GEORGE BECKER and JOHNNY WEAVER won over HIRO MATSUDA, THE MISSOURI MAULER and HOMER O'DELL in six man action

GENE and OLE ANDERSON bested ABE JACOBS and LES WOLFF

JESSE JAMES got by 'BULLDOG' LEE HENNING

BOB RAMSTEAD lost to EL GAUCHO

LORD LITTLEBROOK topped LITTLE BRUISER

THE AMAZING ZUMA beat LEON BAXTER

LES WOLFF

RALEIGH, N.C. - 1969

THE MISSOURI MAULER, HIRO MATSUDA and HOMER O'DELL won over SAILOR ART THOMAS, NELSON ROYAL and PAUL JONES

LES WOLFF wrestled SWEDE HANSON to a draw

BILLY HINES topped BILLY SPEARS

JIMMY HINES bested JESSE JAMES

PAUL JONES and NELSON ROYAL

RALEIGH, N.C. - 1970

NELSON ROYAL and PAUL JONES wrestled THE INFERNOS with J.C. DYKES to a draw

RIP HAWK and SWEDE HANSON topped ABE JACOBS and LES WOLFF

PANCHO VALDEZ lost to LUTHER LINDSAY

PEDRO VALDEZ beat PEPE GOMEZ

RIP HAWK AND SWEDE HANSON

 

A CLINIC IN RULE BREAKING

                                                                   March 29, 1969

LEXINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA

Anything is likely to happen tonight...

RIP HAWK and SWEDE HANSON, "The Blonde Bombers" of the pro wrestling world, tear loose against an equally rough duo of THE MISSOURI MAULER and HIRO MATSUDA in tonight's LEXINGTON YMCA wrestling feature, kicking off at 8:15.

"Colonel" HOMER O'DELL, the diabolical manager of MATSUDA and the MAULER, will be accompanying his men and could get mixed up in the BATTLE OF THE BULLIES main event, scheduled for the best two-out-of-three falls.

"Let O'DELL stick his nose in the ring while I'm wrestling," said HAWK. "I've got a piledriver waiting with his name on it!" HAWK's partner HANSON had no comment.

Popular GEORGE and SANDY SCOTT will be back tonight, fresh off a victory here last week. "Bulldog" LEE HENNING and "Big" JIM GRABMIRE are the foes facing "The Flying Scotts" tonight. Two falls will decide the winning team.

Single matches send young BOBBY PAUL against the rugged ROCK HUNTER, and RANDY CURTIS will test tough EL GAUCHO in the opening match.

THE ASSASSIN (JOE HAMILTON) & #1 PAUL JONES