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

 

RICK RUDE and MANNY FERNANDEZ

 

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

 

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

 

BRUTE BERNARD

 

NUMBER ONE

                        PAUL JONES in MID-ATLANTIC CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING

He could make us love him when we were supposed to love him...

And he could make us loathe him when we were supposed to loathe him...

These ladies appear to love him.

PAUL, as he looked, when first coming to JIM CROCKETT PROMOTIONS in the late 1960s.

Ready for a night on the town.

Always business in the ring, whether as a babyface or heel.

PAUL battles JERRY BRISCO.

In his managing days with THE ASSASSINS.

In his career with JCP, PAUL JONES did it all. He teamed regularly with the likes of NELSON ROYAL, WAHOO McDANIEL, RICKY STEAMBOAT, BARON VON RASCHKE, THE MASKED SUPERSTAR and GREG VALENTINE, and had heated feuds with all of the same (except ROYAL).

He held virtually every championship belt that MID-ATLANTIC CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING had to offer.

He took several NWA WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT Champions to the limit.

His run as a heel manager was just as productive as far as ticket sales were concerned. PAUL's program involving JIMMY VALIANT lasted for several years.

Most JCP fans probably remember PAUL's turning on RICKY STEAMBOAT (although to final days, PAUL insisted it was the other way around), the incredible tag battles when he teamed with WAHOO against GENE and OLE ANDERSON, and battling a much larger BLACKJACK MULLIGAN (and making it totally believable).

And what about pinning medals of bravery (and a toupee) on BARON VON RASCHKE.

So many MID-ATLANTIC memories of PAUL JONES.

Thanks, MR. NUMBER ONE.

BARRY WINDHAM

 

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.

PAUL ORNDORF

 

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:

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

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

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