A fond look back at the great days of JIM CROCKETT PROMOTIONS professional wrestling.
Monday, July 31, 2023
Sunday, July 30, 2023
AROUND THE TERRITORY
GEORGE and SANDY SCOTT won from THE INFERNOS with J.C. DYKES via DQ.
BRUTE BERNARD and SKULL MURPHY topped ABE JACOBS and LES WOLFE.
JOHNNY WEAVER whipped MATTI SUZUKI.
BOBBY RED CLOUD topped PHIL ROBLEY.
LARS, GENE and OLE ANDERSON toppled ARGENTINA ZUMA, LES THATCHER and PAUL DEMARCO in six man action.
JESSE JAMES topped PEPPY GOMEZ.
PANCHO VALDEZ pinned JACK RICO.
BOB RAMSTEAD wrestled JOHNNY HEIDEMAN to a draw.
GEORGE BECKER and JOHNNY WEAVER won over BRUTE BERNARD and SKULL MURPHY.
THE KENTUCKIANS bested THE ALASKAN and THE BEAST.
GEORGE 'CATALINA' DRAKE topped EDUARDO CASTILLO.
PEE WEE LOPEZ pinned JIM DANDY.
GEORGE BECKER and JOHNNY WEAVER defeated LARS and GENE ANDERSON.
BOB GRIFFIN and LES WOLFE lost to BRUTE BERNARD and SKULL MURPHY.
OLE ANDERSON whipped BOBBY RED CLOUD.
JOHNNY HEIDEMAN topped EL LOBO.
Friday, July 28, 2023
GEORGE SCOTT, BOOKER
I loved MID-ATLANTIC CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING in the mid-to-late 1960s. That is the period in which I became a BIG-TIME fan, although I loved the wrestling TV shows in the early sixties as well. The difference was that I didn't have access to attend live shows until around 1965 (except maybe one show a year when wrestling came to my home town).
Thursday, July 27, 2023
Wednesday, July 26, 2023
DOUBLE THE BOLOS...DOUBLE THE TROUBLE
November 17, 1962
* JOHNNY 'RUBBERMAN' WALKER, of course, later donned the MR. WRESTLING 2 hood.
Sunday, July 23, 2023
Thursday, July 20, 2023
Wednesday, July 19, 2023
Tuesday, July 18, 2023
LET THE BULLIES BATTLE
July 28, 1969
Sunday, July 16, 2023
INTO THE WAYBACK MACHINE
It would take a visit from baby boomers' Saturday morning cartoon buddies Sherman and Peabody and their Wayback Machine to witness the JIM CROCKETT PROMOTIONS wrestling card that occurred sixty years ago, but I'd give almost anything if I could.
THE SICILIANS
LOU ALBANO and TONY ALTOMARE
P.Y. CHUNG
THE KENTUCKIANS
TINY ANDERSON and BIG BOY BROWN
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The two winning teams on last week's wrestling card at the LEXINGTON YMCA will be back tonight to meet top competition in an action-packed program that kicks off at 8:15 p.m.
In one of two main events, the rugged team of THE SICILIANS, LOU ALBANO and
TONY ALTOMARE, victors last Saturday, face stellar competition in the very-popular duo of GEORGE BECKER and Mohawk warrior BILLY TWO RIVERS.
Crafty Oriental judo wizards, P.Y CHUNG and YASHINO SATO *, also winners last week, will be in the unenviable position of meeting one of the largest tag teams in the wrestling business when they clash with THE KENTUCKIANS, BIG BOY BROWN and TINY ANDERSON. These two fellows top the scales at a combined 700-plus pounds and dwarf the Orientals in height.
Both tag team main events are scheduled for the best two-out-of-three falls.
A singles match featuring a local hero will open the card when Asheboro's own LARRY HULIN meets the wily veteran TINKER TODD.
* YASHINO SATO later wrestled in the MID-ATLANTIC territory as THE GREAT KABUKI.
Saturday, July 15, 2023
Friday, July 14, 2023
BOLO, BECKER BATTLE
September 12, 1960
The long-awaited return bout between fan favorite GEORGE BECKER and the much-hated masked man, THE GREAT BOLO, will headline tonight's PARK CENTER wrestling card starting at 8:15.
Thursday, July 13, 2023
Wednesday, July 12, 2023
ROCKIN' RALEIGH
The capital city of North Carolina was a regular site for JIM CROCKETT PROMOTIONS.
THE MISSOURI MAULER and PAMPERO FIRPO lost to GEORGE BECKER and JOHNNY WEAVER.
HAYSTACK CALHOUN and THE AMAZING ZUMA beat RIP HAWK and SWEDE HANSON via DQ.
NELSON ROYAL pinned BULL RAMOS.
CHIEF LITTLE EAGLE bested GENE DUNDEE.
LOU THESZ retained the WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP defeating GEORGE SCOTT.
ALDO BOGNI and BRONCHO LUBICH with HOMER O'DELL toppled NICK KOZAK and 'IRISH' MIKE CLANCY.
SIR NELSON ROYAL and THE VIKING bested DALE LEWIS and PEPPY GOMEZ.
JOHNNY WEAVER topped THE MATADOR.
PRINCESS LITTLE CLOUD pinned JUDY GRABLE.
RIP HAWK and SWEDE HANSON trounced PEPPY GOMEZ and RUDY KAY.
NICK KOZAK and 'IRISH' MIKE CLANCY toppled SIR NELSON ROYAL and THE VIKING.
CHIEF BIG HEART and LORENZO PARENTE defeated JOHNNY KACE and PRINCE OMAR.
MIKE VALENTINO pinned JACK VANSKY.
LOU THESZ retained the WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP over JOHNNY WEAVER.
GEORGE and SANDY SCOTT and ABE JACOBS took a disputed decision over BRONCHO LUBICH, ALDO BOGNI and HOMER O'DELL in six man action.
RAY VILLMER wrestled THE ALASKAN to a draw.
THE BEAST whipped THE VIKING.
PENNY BANNER pinned JUDY GRABLE.
EDWARDO CASTILLO topped THE MATADOR.
GEORGE and SANDY SCOTT and GEORGE BECKER won over THE MASKED RED DEMONS and GEORGE 'TWO TON' HARRIS in a six man battle.
FRENCHIE LAMONTE lost to LORD LITTLEBROOK.
THE MUMMY pinned DON KENT.
IKE EAKINS triumphed over PEDRO GODOY.
Saturday, July 8, 2023
SCOTTS AND DEMONS
June 25, 1966
A big tag team battle, matching two swift-moving teams against one another, headlines tonight's four bout card at the LEXINGTON YMCA starting at 8:15.
Thursday, July 6, 2023
GEORGE AND SANDY
SANDY applies the 'abdominal stretch' to LUBICH.
It was a bad night for BRONCHO.
Here SANDY gives THE MISSOURI MAULER a free chiropractic adjustment.
In 1967, Gene Gordon said that 'the SCOTT brothers have done more for tag team wrestling than the Smith brothers have done for cough drops. Jumpin' GEORGE and Slammin' SANDY have been flattening the best in the business for the past ten years like a pair of Mack trucks driving over balloons.'
It was at Central High School in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, that the wrestling bug first bit GEORGE. Already an ice hockey and football player, he was asked to work out with the wrestling team one day, and that workout changed his life. He turned professional in 1949.
It wasn't until five years later, in 1954, that younger brother SANDY joined his brother in the wrestling ring. At this point, they began wrestling all over the world, holding tag team championships in numerous countries. Then in 1957, they landed in CROCKETT country for the first time.
GEORGE stated, in a 1967 interview, that LOU THESZ was the best he personally ever met in the ring, with GENE KINISKI a close second. In terms of tag teams, SANDY credits BRUTE BERNARD and SKULL MURPHY as the most rugged team he and GEORGE ever butted heads with, with ALDO BOGNI and BRONCHO LUBICH right behind.
Ironically, the very first live wrestling I ever attended at Charlotte's PARK CENTER (around 1965) was headlined with GEORGE and SANDY challenging BOGNI and LUBICH for the SOUTHERN TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP, then held by the 'heels'.
The champions took the first fall, the challengers evened the match winning the second fall. The match ended in a sixty-minute Broadway.
Disappointed that the good guys did not win the titles that night, we consoled ourselves by making a stop on the way home at the KRISPY KREME on Independence Boulevard.