THE ASSASSINS and RUFUS R. JONES

 

BACK TO THE BALL PARK

 

DAVID CROCKETT tries his hand at pitching.

'Hands of Stone' RONNIE GARVIN anchors right field.

'Rock 'n' Roll'er RICKY MORTON at shortstop.

'Gorgeous' JIMMY GARVIN pitches as well.

A bit of offense from 'Rock 'n' Roll'er ROBERT GIBSON

On a summer afternoon in 1987, in Charlotte, North Carolina, CROCKETT PARK was the scene of one of the most fascinating sports competitions in the Tarheel state's history.

It wasn't Duke playing North Carolina, it wasn't the LA Dodgers against the SF Giants, not even the Boston Red Sox against the NY Yankees.

On this day, before the advent of the CHARLOTTE HORNETS, the CAROLINA PANTHERS or the CHARLOTTE BOBCATS, the professional wrestlers of JIM CROCKETT PROMOTIONS took on a team of employees of the Queen City's WSOC RADIO station for a softball charity fund raiser.

Oh yes, if you're interested, the boys of JCP won the game 4 - 0.

JOHNNY WEAVER, GENE ANDERSON, ART NELSON

 

MR. NUMBER ONE and the RUSSIAN BEAR

 Two long-time JIM CROCKETT PROMOTIONS main eventers who could really set a town on fire were The Russian Bear IVAN KOLOFF and Number One PAUL JONES.

But when the two squared off against one another, the flames were even hotter!

The Russian Bear knee drops Number One from the ring apron...

PAUL gets a bit of revenge...

KOLOFF has JONES in big trouble...

That's referee ANGELO MARTINELLI.

IVAN takes down PAUL for some more punishment.

It could be the beginning of the end for KOLOFF as JONES applies the airplane spin.

The arena looks like Charlotte's PARK CENTER.

STING

 

INDIANS ON A ROLL

                                                                 JANUARY 13, 1968

LEXINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA

58 Years Ago

Winning tag teams on last week's card will go against each other on tonight's LEXINGTON YMCA professional wrestling card.

This means that the Indian team of BOBBY RED CLOUD and CHIEF LITTLE EAGLE, victorious over P.Y. CHUNG and THE MUMMY last Saturday, will be facing LARS and GENE ANDERSON, who defeated HAYSTACK CALHOUN and THE AMAZING ZUMA in their encounter.

Another tag team contest is scheduled with ABE JACOBS and LUTHER LINDSAY meeting the Spanish / Mexican duo of PANCHO VALDEZ and THE MATADOR.

Both tag contests are for the best two-out-of-three falls.

Popular BOB NANDOR, the Hungarian freedom fighter, meets "BULLDOG" LEE HENNING, and young ALEX MEDINA squares off against CHUCK CONLEY in the supporting events.

The first bell rings at 8:15.

THE DESTRUCTION CREW (Mike Enos and Wayne Bloom) with OLE ANDERSON

 

1987 SALISBURY, NC WRESTLING

 After the smashing success of the JIM CROCKETT PROMOTIONS card held in Salisbury, North Carolina on JUNE 10, 1986, MID-ATLANTIC CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING returned to CATAWBA COLLEGE's GOODMAN GYMNASIUM ten months later for another session of television tapings.

The event date was APRIL 14, 1987.

Two big main event matches topped the program.

OLE ANDERSON, having left THE FOUR HORSEMEN, was feuding with TULLY BLANCHARD. TULLY had been very vocal about OLE shirking his HORSEMEN duties for family reasons. In return, OLE had slapped all of the bodily fluids out of TULLY's nose on a WTBS broadcast, then walked away from TULLY, ARN ANDERSON, RIC FLAIR and J.J. DILLON.

A great build-up to a great program.

SALISBURY was a witness to the animosity.

A potentially great tag battle was on tap as well that night with WAHOO MCDANIEL teaming with BARRY WINDHAM to face LEX LUGER and ARN ANDERSON.

Other top names to appear for TV matches included RIC FLAIR, DUSTY RHODES, IVAN & NIKITA KOLOFF and THE MIDNIGHT EXPRESS with JIM CORNETTE.

The dilemma: For a reason that I cannot recall, I did NOT attend this show and have no memory of it at all. Only by chance, doing some research, did I discover this event occurred.

The event was not sponsored by the SALISBURY JAYCEES, as the show ten months earlier had been. In fact, the newspaper ad pictured above has no mention of any sponsor.

So, I'm sorry to say, this is all I can report on the show.

Something big must have been going on in my life to prevent my going to a JCP wrestling show four miles from my home.

I wonder what it was...

LEX LUGER

ARN ANDERSON

WAHOO MCDANIEL

BARRY WINDHAM

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There were three other MID-ATLANTIC CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING shows in the SALISBURY, NORTH CAROLINA area during this same time frame:

---

OCTOBER 27, 1986 - PFEIFFER COLLEGE - MISENHEIMER, N.C.

---

MARCH 17, 1987 - SOUTH ROWAN HIGH SCHOOL - CHINA GROVE, N.C.

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SEPTEMBER 29, 1987 - PFEIFFER COLLEGE - MISENHEIMER, N.C.

RODDY PIPER versus GREG VALENTINE

 

INDIANS AND INFERNOS

                                                                  November 11, 1967

LEXINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA

THE INFERNOS

with Manager J. C. DYKES

CHIEF LITTLE EAGLE

BOBBY RED CLOUD

"Failure to continue" will determine the winner when top professional tag teams are matched for the fifth time in recent weeks in tonight's main event mat feature at the LEXINGTON YMCA.

It will be a TEXAS DEATH MATCH tonight when the popular Indian combo of CHIEF LITTLE EAGLE and BOBBY RED CLOUD clash with the dreaded masked duo of THE INFERNOS. In this match, falls will not count. There is NO DISQUALIFICATION and NO TIME LIMIT. The match will proceed until one of the teams is incapable of participating. This is pro wrestling's version of a "fight to the finish".

THE INFERNOS will have their red-headed manager, J. C. DYKES, in their corner. He will, no doubt, have with him his metal canteen and loud whistle. The canteen, DYKES claims, is for "refreshment" purposes for his masked men, but fans have seen J. C. use it as a weapon in the past. The whistle is to give instructions to THE INFERNOS during their match. But lately, fans have been bringing their own whistles to the matches, causing confusion between the manager and his wrestlers.

TEX McKENZIE

NELSON ROYAL

P. Y. CHUNG

HARU SASAKI

The co-feature on tonight's card is for two-out-of-three falls and will send the torrid Texan team of fan favorites TEX McKENZIE and NELSON ROYAL against the sly and crafty Oriental combo of P. Y. CHUNG and HARU SASAKI. A definite clash of cultures is present here.

BOB NANDOR

Popular RUDY KAYE meets TINY MILLS, and spectacular BOB NANDOR takes on newcomer STEVE STANLEY in the evening's single matches.

MILLS, much larger than his nickname implies, returns after a long absence.