MORE OF THOSE INFERNAL INFERNOS

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

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They could really work in the ring.

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They really drew heat.

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And I just plain liked them!

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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.

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

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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!

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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.

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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.

SENSATIONAL SIXTIES...

Travelling the MID-ATLANTIC CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING territory from Norfolk to Columbia...

JOHN and CHRIS TOLOS

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COLUMBIA, S.C. - 1966
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JOHN and CHRIS TOLOS topped GEORGE and SANDY SCOTT.
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ANGELO MARTINELLI beat RAY DURAN.
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'ROWDY' RED ROBERTS lost to GORY GUERRERO.

EL GAUCHO

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LEXINGTON, N.C. - 1967
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GEORGE BECKER and JOHNNY WEAVER won over KURT and HENRY VON STROHEIM.
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THE MISSOURI MAULER defeated TEX MCKENZIE.
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NELSON ROYAL pinned EL GAUCHO.
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PAUL DEMARCO lost to BULL RAMOS.

P.Y. CHUNG

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LEXINGTON, N.C. - 1968
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RIP HAWK and SWEDE HANSON beat TEX MCKENZIE and NELSON ROYAL.
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TINY MILLS and STEVE STANLEE won from RICK HUNTER and JERRY LONDON.
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P.Y. CHUNG pinned BOB NANDOR.
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LUTHER LINDSAY topple JIM GRABMIRE.

ABE JACOBS

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CHARLESTON, S.C. - 1966
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GEORGE and SANDY SCOTT bested THE GREAT MALENKO and 'BIG' BOB ORTON.
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ALDO BOGNI and BRONCHO LUBICH with HOMER O'DELL wrestled BILLY TWO RIVERS and SUNI WAR CLOUD to a draw.
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STEVE BOLUS whipped IKE EAKINS.
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CORSICA JEAN won over KEN YATES.
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ABE JACOBS topped TONY NERO.

SWEDE HANSON and RIP HAWK

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NORFOLK, VA. - 1966
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RIP HAWK and SWEDE HANSON lost to BRONCHO LUBICH and ALDO BOGNI with HOMER O'DELL.
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KARL GOTCH and ALEX MEDINA topped HANS SCHMIDT and IKE EAKINS.
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GORY GUERRERO wrestled ROGER KIRBY to a draw.
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LUTHER LINDSAY downed JACK DANIELS. 

RIC FLARES AT THE GARDEN

For nearly half a year now, the world-famous Madison Square Garden wrestling shows have been topped off with a very special cherry - - - some of the greatest wrestlers now in the business who, for various reasons, had never before been seen in the WWWF, were being booked as special guest attractions. The effect was twofold: the New York fans got to see a different style of wrestling, as well as a look at some of the heavy-duty talent that's fascinating fans in other territories of the grappling world.

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From the announcement at ring center during the February, 1976 card, as to the name of the wrestler guest-starring the following month, excitement began to build among fans and press alike. It would be none other than RIC FLAIR, the much-heralded, peroxide blond "Nature Boy", with a line of self-developed hype slicker than a greased pencil.

The following month, as he strode down the ramp towards the MSG ring, the majority of New York fans weren't even sure who Flair was. He wore a long, gold-encrusted robe, white trunks, and the most magnificent patent-leather boots ever to grace the royal blue Garden mat. Across the back of his robe was emblazoned the legend: "Nature Boy", and he stalked back and forth within his corner, looking sullen and anxious as he awaited his opponent.

The man Ric was to wrestle would be no pushover. "Pistol" Pete Sanchez was a well-experienced grappler who can go by the book or duke it out, whichever way it lays. Pete drew the appluase of the crowd, and Flair disdainfully disrobed. At the sight of his excellent physique, Flair immediately won over a goodly portion of the female audience.

Ric looked like an excited young kid, howling with delight at his own prowess and at being able to demonstrate it in the biggest arena in the country. But while he looked like a handsome young kid, he wrestled pure pro, taking Sanchez with much greater ease than the ringsiders expected.

Finally, looking like a surfer about to hit the waves, Flair ignited and was all over Sanchez in a matter of seconds. After delivering a series of rights to the jaw, Ric bent Pete's head forward, hooked his arms and lifted him straight up into the air for a perfectly-executed symmetrical suplex. Grinning from ear to ear, the "Nature Boy" pinned his man and leaped up into the glare of the behemoth Klieg lights, basking in the golden glow of victory.

Ric Flair had come a long way, and he's come all that way in a few short years. There aren't many wrestlers who have done that. And as Flair had his hand raised in victory, center-canvas at Madison Square Garden, you were seized with the feeling that you were looking at one of those very special wrestlers.

(WRESTLING TRAINING ILLUSTRATED - September, 1976)

A LONG-TIME JCP FEUD...

GEORGE BECKER and JOHNNY WEAVER ruled the tag team world in JIM CROCKETT PROMOTIONS for most of the 1960s.

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They faced every top 'heel' team that passed through the territory. The longest ongoing program was with RIP HAWK and SWEDE HANSON. The next longest would probably be with ALDO BOGNI and BRONCHO LUBICH, but right up there was the on-and-off again feud that BECKER and WEAVER had with THE ANDERSON BROTHERS.

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It would start with the duo of LARS and GENE ANDERSON. Later, OLE was brought in, and while the younger 'brother' was being broken in, there were three ANDERSONs. LARS then left the MID-ATLANTIC area, and THE MINNESOTA WRECKING CREW was redefined as GENE and OLE ANDERSON.

GENE ANDERSON attempts to ram JOHNNY WEAVER'S head into the ring apron...or worse!

Judging from the blood on WEAVER's face, GENE was successful.

BECKER pummels a cornered LARS ANDERSON.

JOHNNY just can't seem to get away from GENE's fist.

GENE decides to work on BECKER for a while.

GEORGE and JOHNNY battle the RED DEMONS

June 18, 1966

LEXINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA

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46 Years Ago

They wrestled apart here last Saturday, but the fans' favorite duo, GEORGE BECKER and JOHNNY WEAVER, are back together as a unit tonight at the LEXINGTON YMCA in pro wrestling action.

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Belltime is 8:15 p.m.

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And it looks as if they will have their hands full when they enter the ring to meet a newer team to this wrestling area, THE MASKED RED DEMONS.

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Just as their name implies, this tag team hides their identities behind red masks and are very rough in the ring.

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BECKER and WEAVER issued the following statement concerning their main event match for tonight, "We don't know who these men are or where they come from, but since coming to the area, they've beaten some good teams. And just like HAWK and HANSON and BOGNI and LUBICH, they win any way they can, with no regard for the rulebook. So we'll have our hands full. But we're going to try to put a stop to them before they can get a foothold here."

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THE MASKED RED DEMONS had no comment.

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Another tag team loved by the fans, TEX McKENZIE and NELSON ROYAL, will be on tonight's card and will face the rugged veteran duo of IKE EAKINS and EL GAUCHO.

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Both tag team matches will go the best two-out-of-three falls.

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GEORGE "CATALINA" DRAKE will return here after an absence to face LUTHER LINDSAY, North Carolina's own top Negro star. These two have teamed together in the past, so the match should prove interesting.

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In tonight's opening match, up-and-coming star, young PAUL DEMARCO squares off against veteran JOHN GUDISKI.

SALUTING SOME CROCKETT MAIN EVENTERS

RONNIE GARVIN

(The Hands of Stone)

HARLEY RACE

(Has to be in the TOP TEN of all-time)

BARON VON RASCHKE
(And that is all the people need to know.)

ART NELSON (NEILSON)
(Came to JCP as a heel, turned 'babyface' and teamed with JOHNNY WEAVER, then turned back to a heel.)

STEVE STRONG
(Brought in to fill a void because of the 1975 airplane crash which sidelined RIC FLAIR and terminated JOHNNY VALENTINE's career.)

WE LOVED THE LITTLE GUYS

and they all worked for JIM CROCKETT PROMOTIONS

BILLY THE KID and COWBOY BRADLEY

FARMER PETE and COWBOY LANG

FRENCHY LAMONTE

JAMAICA KID and LITTLE BEAVER

LITTLE BRUISER

LORD LITTLEBROOK

LITTLE TOKYO

TWO TOP TEAMS TUSSLE...

LEXINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA - May 22, 1965

ALDO BOGNI and BRONCHO LUBICH

GEORGE SCOTT slams BRONCHO LUBICH

HOMER O'DELL and BRONCHO LUBICH

HOMER O'DELL

Without question, the most hated JCP performer of the 1960s...

SANDY SCOTT stretches BRONCHO LUBICH

ALDO BOGNI applies his 'corkscrew' finisher...

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Those popular FLYING SCOTT BROTHERS, GEORGE and SANDY, get a crack at one of the top villain teams in the sport, ALDO BOGNI and BRONCHO LUBICH, in tonight's two-out-of-three falls wrestling main event at the LEXINGTON YMCA.

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Three straight wins over BRUTE BERNARD and SKULL MURPHY have led to the SCOTTS' signing to meet BOGNI and LUBICH.

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But, when you face ALDO and BRONCHO, one must also deal with crafty manager HOMER O'DELL, who is always lurking about with his deadly cane. The cane is often used for more than just walking support.

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RAY VILLMER, victorious two weeks straight, will also be back tonight to tackle tough TONY NERO.

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THE VIKING faces EDUARDO CASTILLIO, and PEPPI GOMEZ will combat ANGELO MARTINELLI in the 8:15 opening match.

SANDY and GEORGE SCOTT

BOGNI & LUBICH MEET THE INFERNOS

One of the top tag teams to ever wrestle for JIM CROCKETT PROMOTIONS was the mean and rugged duo of BRONCO LUBICH and ALDO BOGNI. These guys wrestled on top in MID-ATLANTIC WRESTLING for much of the 1960s.
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Now, I should point out that this duo was not adored by JCP fans, by any means. In fact, they were at the top of the territory's 'hate list'. LUBICH and BOGNI were ruffians who had no regard for the rulebook, and to make matters worse, the two were always accompanied to the ring by their manager, MR. HOMER O'DELL, without question, the decade's most fan-hated man on the CROCKETT payroll.
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WBTV's wrestling commentator, 'Big' BILL WARD, often stated on the air that HOMER O'DELL was "so low he would have to walk on stilts to look a snake in the eye."
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O'DELL, when managing, always wore a tuxedo and carried his legendary cane, and believe me when I say, this cane was responsible for putting lumps on many an opponent's noggin' in JCP wrestling rings.
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Through the years, I witnessed many BOGNI and LUBICH and O'DELL matches, both on television and in Charlotte's Coliseum and Park Center.
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But one match I recall was unique in that the fans actually cheered and pulled for these three rulebreakers the night at the Charlotte Coliseum when, in a Six Man Tag Team Match, BOGNI, LUBICH and O'DELL faced J.C. DYKES and THE INFERNOS. Both managers donned wrestling attire and joined their men as wrestlers.
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I, being a huge mark for THE INFERNOS, cheered for the masked men, but felt much like a Walter Dalton supporter at a Pat McCrory rally.
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This match was equivalent to a pair of locomotives hitting head-on. Referee Angelo Martinelli certainly earned his payday on this night.
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The first fall went to O'DELL's team when BOGNI put one of the masked men out cold with his patented 'corkscrew' hold. The fans went wild. I was stunned. Cheers for HOMER O'DELL! I thought, 'what's next...a man on the moon?"
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DYKES was able to revive his men and rally his troops in the second fall, which ended with LUBICH on the receiving end of a 'loaded boot' kick to the head, putting him into dreamland.
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With the match even at this point, the third fall quickly became an all-out brawl. It must have been a NO DISQUALIFICATION match (I can't recall), but had it not been, referee Martinelli would have had to toss it out due to the rulebreaking and brutality. Both O'DELL and DYKES were lacerated, and one INFERNO was also dripping blood from a much-torn mask.
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Then, out of seemingly nowhere, was a huge flash! BOGNI was screaming and down, rolling around the ring in agony.
LUBICH and O'DELL grabbed their scorched partner, and bolted for the dressing room.
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ANGELO MARTINELLI made the twenty-count, and raised the hands of DYKES and THE INFERNOS.
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On Charlotte TV the next week, ironically, HOMER O'DELL claimed that "DYKES and THE INFERNOS were the most brutal forms of humanity and a disgrace to the wrestling business and should be barred from the profession." A rather odd that statement coming from him.
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DYKES denied that he had thrown fire at anyone. "Whether it's O'DELL, BOGNI, LUBICH, or any wrestling fans who say so must have been hopped up on LSD or something. The marks on BOGNI's ugly face are mat burns, where me and my men ground his mug into the wrestling mat. If he can't take it, he should find another way to make a living."
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These guys could really make me believe...

BOGNI's 'corkscrew' takes its toll...

A bloodied DYKES cracks O'DELL's cocoanut with a metal canteen.

An INFERNO gives ALDO BOGNI a free ride to the arena floor...

HOMER comes to the aid of BRONCO LUBICH.

DYKES and THE INFERNOS have their arms raised in victory, at least on this night.

A PROFILE OF "THE PROFILE"

Throughout the fifty+ years of JIM CROCKETT PROMOTIONS, few attained the status and recognition of RIP 'The Profile' HAWK.

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A long-time 'heel', RIP often made the claim in interviews that the fans, in reality, loved him and supported him. Naturally, this brought out more heat from the fans who denied this was the case. Wrestling fans did love one thing about RIP. They loved to see him get beat in his matches. Many a fan usually left the arenas disappointed in that regard. RIP usually had the final word.

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Even when 'babyfaces' like JOHNNY WEAVER or JERRY BRISCO won a side bet with RIP, they ended up getting dropped on their heads when they bent over to pick up their winnings.

"Oh boy...it's payday!"

In the early 1960s, RIP squared off against another JCP icon, JOHNNY VALENTINE.

A bit of bubbly before a match...

Earning his name as HAWK rips the hair of LOUIE TILLET.

Nearing the end of his tenure with JCP, RIP poses wearing the MID-ATLANTIC HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP belt (which he shared with his 'nephew', an up-and-coming youngster named FLAIR).

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Many of us have had the opportunity and privilege of meeting and getting to know RIP from his appearances at the NWA FANFESTs. The respect he has amongst his peers became evident listening to many of the other FANFEST wrestlers from a by-gone era.

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Perhaps WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION HARLEY RACE said it best at the 2007 FANFEST..."Pound for pound, RIP HAWK was easily one of the roughest and most knowledgeable men who ever worked in the business."

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As it turns out, those interviews RIP used to give were right after all---I did love RIP HAWK...and I still do.