SOUTHERN TITLE TO BE DEFENDED

                                                                       April 8, 1967

LEXINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA

57 Years Ago

The SOUTHERN HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP is on the line tonight when the current title holder, THE MISSOURI MAULER, defends against the former champ, KLONDIKE BILL, in the headline match at the LEXINGTON YMCA.

KLONDIKE, the popular Alaskan, is out to regain the title from the MAULER, the man he first lifted it from a few months ago.

The MAULER managed to regain the belt from BILL recently under a dark cloud of controversy. KLONDIKE says that justice will prevail tonight in LEXINGTON. The title match is under stipulations of a one-hour time limit with the winner gaining two falls out of three.

The torrid Texan team of cowboys TEX McKENZIE and NELSON ROYAL will have their hands full when they meet big and rugged "Apache" BULL RAMOS and the mysterious masked grappler THE MUMMY. This best-of-three falls co-feature should produce plenty of action.

In single matches, the mammoth HAYSTACK CALHOUN returns to the YMCA to meet rough PEDRO GODOY.

Popular GREG PETERSON squares off against FRANK MARCONI in the 8:15 opening match.

THE MIDNIGHT EXPRESS (STAN LANE, BOBBY EATON and JIM CORNETTE)

 

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.

RICKY STEAMBOAT and RIC FLAIR

 

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-one years ago, but I'd give almost anything if I could.

January 26, 1963

LEXINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA

GEORGE BECKER

BILLY TWO RIVERS

THE SICILIANS
LOU ALBANO and TONY ALTOMARE

P.Y. CHUNG

THE KENTUCKIANS
TINY ANDERSON and BIG BOY BROWN


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.

RICK RUDE and MANNY FERNANDEZ

 

HAYSTACKS AND LUMBERJACKS

                                                                     April 19, 1965

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA

59 Years Ago

HAYSTACK CALHOUN, the mountain that walks like a man, returns to Charlotte tonight, and GEORGE BECKER and JOHNNY WEAVER couldn't be happier.

CALHOUN, BECKER and WEAVER will team up in a SIX MAN TAG TEAM LUMBERJACK MATCH at the CHARLOTTE COLISEUM to attempt to, once and for all, put an end to the terrifying threesome of BRONCHO LUBICH, ALDO BOGNI and their manager HOMER O'DELL.

Ten wrestlers have been assigned to station themselves around the ring while the main event action is going on. Should any member of either team try to leave the ring area or be thrown from it, the ten lumberjacks have orders to pitch the combatants back into the melee. It isn't likely any member of the CALHOUN / BECKER / WEAVER trio will do any running. In fact, these three want to stay in the ring with the villainous trio as much as possible. They seldom get the opportunity to get their hands on the slippery O'DELL, who is usually causing trouble in tuxedo attire (and cane) outside the ring.

In tonight's best-of-three falls contest, O'DELL will be a participant in wrestling attire. There's a 60-minute time limit for the match, with a NO DISQUALIFICATION stipulation in effect.

Another tag team match on the card will send two of the baldest and meanest men in the wrestling business, BRUTE BERNARD and SKULL MURPHY, against the rugged team of THE ALASKAN and THE BEAST in a two-out-of-three falls "Battle of the Bullies" clash.

One could toss a coin to determine which of these two rule-breaking teams is the more vicious. Many fans are hoping the two duos will destroy each other, so the wrestling business won't have to deal with either of them any longer.

A fantastic JIM CROCKETT PROMOTIONS supporting card will underline this giant professional wrestling spectacular, which gets underway at 8:15 p.m.

Tickets can be obtained at the COLISEUM box office or the NATIONAL HAT SHOP in downtown Charlotte.

WAHOO McDANIEL and MARK YOUNGBLOOD

 

THE MAN IN THE WHITE MASK (sometimes)

 

He wrestled barefaced as TIM WOODS. He donned an all-white mask and wrestled as MR. WRESTLING. Either way, he sold a lot of wrestling tickets.

Ole Anderson about to taste a MR. WRESTLING elbow.

GEORGIA HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION

Gene Anderson takes a tumble from the masked man.

Ready for ring action.

George Burrell Woodin began his wrestling career at the age of 29 using the ring name TIM WOODS. He was given the name 'MR. WRESTLING' by Nebraska promoter Joe Dusek. Woodin would go on to become a main event superstar in the Georgia, Florida, Texas and the MID-ATLANTIC territories.

During his tenures with JIM CROCKETT PROMOTIONS, TIM WOODS had several title runs - - MID-ATLANTIC TV CHAMPION, U.S. HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION, MID-ATLANTIC TAG TEAM CHAMPION (with Dino Bravo) and WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPION (also with Bravo).

Tim (along with Ric Flair, Johnny Valentine, Bob Bruggers, David Crockett and pilot Michael Farkas) was aboard the 1975 Wilmington, N.C. bound aircraft that
came up short in landing and crashed. Pilot Farkas eventually died from injuries and Valentine and Bruggers never wrestled again. Woods and Bruggers were 'babyface' wrestlers, the rest were 'heels'. To protect the business from exposure, when arriving at the Wilmington hospital, Tim gave his real name and said he was a wrestling promoter. And to quash rumors among wrestling fans that Tim Woods had been on the plane with the 'heels', he was back in the ring within two weeks.

Ric Flair later said in his book 'TO BE THE MAN', that Tim Woods was more than just MR. WRESTLING that day---he was the man who saved the wrestling business.

A gentleman in and out of the ring, Tim Woods passed away November 30, 2002. It's difficult to imagine he's been gone that long.

Just imagine what a hit Tim would have been if he had attended wrestling fan gatherings.

BLACKJACK MULLIGAN and RIC FLAIR

 

THERE'S ACTION, ADVENTURE AND MYSTERY

                       Actually, that is the phrase that was used for TV's ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN.

But, think about it. It could also apply to the great storylines and matches of JIM CROCKETT PROMOTIONS throughout the years.

The greatest wrestling talent in the world worked in the MID-ATLANTIC CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING territory.

Here are but a few...

JOHNNY RINGO has the upper hand, at least for the moment, in this battle with MIKE 'THE ALASKAN' YORK.

One of THE INFERNOS comes to the aid of his masked partner in this match featuring a very young TERRY FUNK.

BOB BRUGGERS and DANNY MILLER turn the tables on CHUCK O'CONNOR (later known as JOHN STUDD).

You can't see his face, but that's NELSON ROYAL taking a beating from the German duo of KURT and HENRY VON STROHEIM.

Not one, but two referees attempt to get SWEDE HANSON away from THE SUPER DESTROYER (Don Jardine).

PRINCESS LITTLE CLOUD and BETTE BOUCHER prove the ladies can be just as rough as the guys.

'Camel Clutch' time for GEORGE 'TWO TON' HARRIS. RONNIE GARVIN is in charge.

THE KENTUCKIANS - - TINY ANDERSON and BIG BOY BROWN

 

THE PLAYBOY GETS HIS

                             You could push a mild-mannered guy like JERRY BRISCO only so                           far. 'Playboy' GARY HART crossed the line and paid the price!

"Chain matches disgust me," claimed JERRY. "If a wrestler can't win a match on his ability alone---then he should get out of the business."

Then why did BRISCO end up in a 1973 CHARLOTTE COLISEUM ring battling 'Playboy' GARY HART in a CHAIN MATCH?

The whole bloody mess stemmed from a title match the night OLE ANDERSON hoped to grab JERRY's EASTERN HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP.

At a point in the match, it seemed that OLE was really on the short end of a wrestling match, and that didn't happen often. ANDERSON was the victim of a series of dropkicks, spinning toe holds and the abdominal stretch. The end appeared to be near.

Enter GARY HART. Angry that he hadn't been given a title match as he had demanded, HART jumped into the ring to OLE's defense---with a chain.

The heavy metal object left its marks on BRISCO. The referee disqualified ANDERSON due to HART's outside interference. JERRY remained EASTERN HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION.

Immediately, HART challenged BRISCO to a match...a CHAIN MATCH. The 'Playboy' and the man he managed, RIP HAWK, told everyone that JERRY wouldn't accept the challenge...because he was yellow.

But they were wrong.

The match was signed for The Big Dome in CHARLOTTE.

It was a night GARY HART would regret. Although he had a few shining moments during the match, the night belonged to JERRY BRISCO. HART was soon a bloody mess, so bad that RIP HAWK grabbed his manager and dragged his limp body to the dressing room and on to the hospital.

Talk about a plan that backfired.

The referee secures each end of the chain to the combatants' wrists.

HART gets the advantage by choking BRISCO with the heavy chain.

The 'Playboy' inflicts more damage to JERRY.

The tide of battle changed, as RIP HAWK helps his manager from the ring.

The EASTERN HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION is victorious.

HAYSTACKS CALHOUN

 

A BLOODBATH IN GREENVILLE, SC

        Many MID-ATLANTIC WRESTLING fans always loved to witness a BATTLE OF THE  BULLIES match, in which two 'bad guy' teams faced each other instead of the usual 'babyface' versus 'heel' encounter.

I was one of those fans, and I was lucky enough to see quite a few.

One I didn't get to witness took place in 1972 in Greenville, South Carolina. And to make the match even better, it was wrestled under TEXAS DEATH MATCH rules, meaning falls didn't count towards deciding a victor. The two teams battled until one couldn't answer the bell for the next fall. No time limit and no disqualification stipulations were also in place.

On this night, the combatants were the teams of GENE ANDERSON and ART NELSON versus RIP HAWK and SWEDE HANSON.

Referee SAM 'LUCKY' ROBERTS was assigned to be the official. More likely than not, SAM was probably 'UNLUCKY' ROBERTS for this night.

RIP HAWK hammers away on GENE ANDERSON.

No participate left the ring unscathed that night in Greenville.

GENE GORDON witnessed the match and gave the following account..."I believe this TEXAS DEATH MATCH was the roughest, most vicious and bloody match I had seen in many years, and I go all the way back to the likes of COWBOY LUTTRELL, DANNY MCSHANE and STRANGLER BOB WAGNER. There was not a lot of wrestling. It was more like something out of the days of the Roman gladiators who battled to the death. No one paid any attention to any of the normal rules. The referee was knocked down several times and thrown to the floor once. He wanted to stop the match but couldn't under the stipulations. All four wrestlers looked like they had been run through a sausage grinder. They were so exhausted they could hardly leave the ring at the end. I saw one woman faint and a few others left in disgust, unable to stand the brutality and gore. I know I'll never forget it."

For the record, the match was won by HAWK and HANSON, although they certainly didn't look like winners at the end.

THE ROYAL KANGAROOS - NORMAN FREDERICK CHARLES III and LORD JONATHAN BOYD

 

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.

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 Carden, you were seized with the feeling that you were looking at one of those very special wrestlers.

(WRESTLING TRAINING ILLUSTRATED - September, 1976)

THE ASSASSINS & #1 PAUL JONES

 

BECKER BATTLES BOLO

                                                                  September 12, 1960

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA

64 Years Ago

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.

Hero BECKER, who recently returned to the ring after a six month absence due to a severe knee injury, has won three straight matches here preparing for his return tussle with the hooded BOLO.

In their first meeting, BECKER won the first fall, and then the pair fought a standoff the remainder of their one hour time limit.

Perhaps a technical BECKER victory, it was not an official one as two winning falls were not recorded, therefore THE GREAT BOLO was NOT required to unmask. BOLO has a stipulation in his contracts stating that he will unmask in the ring after losing two-out-of-three falls to a pin fall or submission.

Tag team action makes up the semifinal tonight when GEORGE and SANDY SCOTT face JAN MADRID and GYPSY JOE in another best-of-three falls contest.

Singles action opens the card with FARMER JONES returning to Charlotte to meet TOM BRADLEY, and JACK CURTIS goes against LOUIS TILLET in the opening contest.

BRUTE BERNARD