BOO THE BAD GUYS

Today, I shine the spotlight on a group of the bad guys of MID-ATLANTIC CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING.

When I say 'bad', I don't mean poor wrestlers, but rather, the 'heels' of the business.

These are the guys who broke the rules. They pulled hair, they pulled tights, they double-teamed their opponents, they deliberately got themselves disqualified to save their championships, some even threw fire.

An integral part of the wrestling equation. For every hero, there had to be a villain. Someone to 'acquire the ire' of the wrestling fan. A catalyst to fuel the 'heat' of a match.

In short, someone the public would spend money to buy a wrestling ticket to see get beat and to get beaten.

Here are six such wrestling personalities:

BRONCHO LUBICH

(Best known in JIM CROCKETT PROMOTIONS for teaming with ALDO BOGNI and managed by HOMER O'DELL, but was later managed by GEORGE 'TWO TON' HARRIS, and later teamed with BRUTE BERNARD or CHRIS MARKOFF.)

FRANK MORRELL

(A bigger star in Tennessee, known as 'The King of Kingsport'. In JCP, FRANK was mostly an undercard scoundrel. His experience was a factor in making MORRELL one of the better jobbers for a number of years.)

PAMPERO FIRPO

(Known as 'The Wild Bull of the Pampas', is best remembered in JCP teaming with THE MISSOURI MAULER a.k.a. LARRY HAMILTON as a main event team. After retiring from the ring, he went to work for the U.S. POSTAL SERVICE--make up your own joke there.)

MIKE YORK

(Mike York formed a tag team with "brother" JAY YORK as THE ALASKANS and later with FRANK MONTE. In JCP, the duo was mostly mid-card status, but did have some main event matches.)

DOC and MIKE GALLAGHER

(A top team throughout the wrestling world in the late 1950s and early-to-mid 1960s. JCP main eventers for a number of years. Around 1973, after retiring from the ring, MIKE formed a short-lived independent wrestling company with GEORGE BECKER, based in Charlotte, N.C.)

'PLAYBOY' GARY HART, RIP HAWK, SWEDE HANSON

(What can I say about these guys that hasn't been said? One of the greatest teams in wrestling histories. RIP and SWEDE were together for about sixteen years, HART joined them as their manager in 1969. They headlined wrestling cards in every territory they worked.)