ROCKIN' RALEIGH

                   The capital city of North Carolina was a regular site for JIM CROCKETT PROMOTIONS.

Tarheels (and a lot of Virginia folks) made the almost weekly trek to DORTON ARENA to see great wrestling.

THE MISSOURI MAULER

(LARRY HAMILTON)

RALEIGH, N.C. - 1968

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

RALEIGH, N.C. - 1965

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.

SWEDE HANSON and RIP HAWK

RALEIGH, N.C. - 1965

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.

JOHNNY WEAVER

RALEIGH, N.C. - 1965

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 BECKER versus THE MASKED RED DEMONS

RALEIGH, N.C. - 1967

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.

 

THANKSGIVING AT CHARLOTTE'S BIG DOME

                                                                  November 21, 1966

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA

58 Years Ago

The Charlotte Observer reported 5460 fans in attendance, and I was one of them, sometimes sitting in my ringside seat.

It was a BIG night of wrestling.

The card started like most of all of them. LUTHER LINDSAY facing PEDRO GODOY in a yawner, the kind of match you want to end so you can get closer to the main events. LUTHER won and most of us didn't care. We wouldn't have cared if PEDRO had won either.

Things started to pick up in the next match when favorite NELSON ROYAL squared off against GEORGE 'TWO TON' HARRIS'. Most everyone loved NELLIE and most everyone hated 'TWO TON' but I loved the big guy because his matches were always entertaining. 'TWO TON' always got the most out of the fans because he was a master at 'working' a crowd. I can't remember what naughty he pulled, but the match went to NELLIE on a DQ. But 'TWO TON' would be back later as he was also manager of the MASKED RED DEMONS.

THE AMAZING ZUMA or ARGENTINA ZUMA, whichever you prefer, took the toll of HENRY VON STROHEIM, one-half of a pseudo-main event German heel team. I believe HENRY (can I call him Hank?) was probably getting ready to leave the area, because his partner KURT was no where to be found that night. Maybe he was back at the hotel packing.

The little people were up next in a tag match. I usually enjoyed the novelty of 'Midget Matches' (we can't say that anymore, ya know) for about five minutes, then it was time to move on. On this night, LITTLE BEAVER and SONNY BOY CASSIDY pinned SKY LOW LOW and BILLY THE KID (not the real one). I'd love to know how many times in their careers that BEAVER and LOW LOW worked one another. I'm sure it was in the thousands.

Now, it was time to get serious.

Two of the all-time heel combos in JIM CROCKETT PROMOTIONS history were to do battle. RIP HAWK and SWEDE HANSON versus ALDO BOGNI and BRONCHO LUBICH with, of course, their snake-like manager, HOMER O'DELL.

On this night, the crowd was behind the BLONDE BOMBERS all the way. I can't recall which team won which fall, but they were even at one apiece. The third fall found BOGNI & LUBICH beating RIP to a pulp. HAWK was thrown over the top rope to the cement floor (and on MY side of the ring). O'DELL, welding that dreaded cane, cracked 'The Profile' on the noggin' and before HAWK could get to his feet, it looked as if he had lost three gallons of the red stuff.

He managed to crawl back into the ring, but it looked like it was R.I.P. for R-I-P. After teasing all of us for a few more minutes with 'not quite a tag,' HAWK found HANSON's hand, made contact, and in came the big SWEDE. The crowd was hysterical!

SWEDE could have taken on the 300 Spartans at this point. He beat ALDO and BRONCHO at will, then grabbed O'DELL on the apron and 'welcomed' him into the ring via the top rope. Just as the SWEDE is about to ruin the creases in HOMER's tuxedo, he was double-attacked by O'DELL's cronies. HANSON got his hands on the cane and broke it over O'DELL's back about the same time as RIP entered the ring with a metal chair. Observing everything, referee ANGELO MARTINELLI must have figured it was time for a beer, so he called off any further mutilation in this one, and it ended in a double DQ, or a no-contest (what was the difference).

I have witnessed several thousand wrestling matches in my years, and I can easily say, this was one of the best I EVER saw. Boy, did these five wrestlers know how to work a match and a crowd.

The show actually slumped a bit when the WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP match came next. First of all, I was never fully into TEX McKENZIE's fan club. He couldn't work any better than my lazy uncle who never worked at all, and I always resented the fact that TEX always made NELSON ROYAL take the beatings when they teamed together.

So, here is McKENZIE, a guy whose legs were longer and clumsier than Olive Oyl's, going up against GENE KINISKI for the WORLD belt. Add in the fact that there was no way (in the 1960s) the NWA was going to let their champion lose the title in Charlotte. KINISKI won the first fall. TEX came back and pinned the champ with a knee lift and judo chop off the ropes, those being the only two moves he knew. And then, KINISKI pinned McKENZIE again to win the final fall.

I suspect the concession stands were plenty busy during the world title match.

Now it was time for BECKER and WEAVER against the MASKED RED DEMONS...one more time.

This time, GEORGE and JOHNNY's SOUTHERN TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP is on the line again, but on this night, under TEXAS DEATH MATCH rules. And in addition, it's the BELTS versus the MASKS. One team would walk out with BOTH.

Falls didn't figure in determining the winner (but was a great means of giving the participants a rest break). The Charlotte Observer reported the match went twelve falls (that I don't remember), but at the bell for unlucky fall number thirteen, the masked men were whipped to the point that they couldn't answer the bell, and even 'TWO TON' couldn't get them to their feet.

Ref MARTINELLI signaled it was over and raised BECKER and WEAVER's hands in victory. They held onto their titles and now would be able to discover exactly who these soon-to-be UNMASKED RED DEMONS were. With both men still prone on the ring from their beating, GEORGE took off one mask and JOHNNY the other and held them high in the air to the crowd's approval.

"Find out who they are Angelo," ring announcer GEORGE HARBEN requested over the microphone. Supposedly, MARTINELLI went over to them and said something ingenious like, "Hey, who are you?"

ANGELO went over to HARBEN, whispered in his ear, and HARBEN announced to all of us, "Ladies and Gentlemen, the RED DEMONS are JIMMY and BILLY HINES."

Everyone yelled, even though it really didn't mean anything. I'd never heard of JIMMY and BILLY HINES anyway. What it did mean, however, was pretty much the end of the main event run of this team who had been in JCP since late spring. I always liked the main event masked teams like THE BOLOS and THE INFERNOS, and now there wouldn't be one.

The HINES boys had a few more main event matches with 'TWO TON' but soon left the territory. When the hoods came off, so did the luster and mystique of the team.

But we still had GEORGE BECKER and JOHNNY WEAVER as our SOUTHERN TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS.

But lurking in the bushes would be BOGNI & LUBICH, HAWK & HANSON or BRUTE BERNARD & SKULL MURPHY waiting for their night when they would win the belts.

And, of course, that night would come.

I related my recollections of this particular match to JOHNNY a few months before he passed away, and he said, "Yes, we did that same match all over the territory."

I was sorry he told me that.

But after I thought about what he said, it made me appreciate the fact that these men, even though they would work each other night after night, still could make each audience feel they were seeing something special.

That's how great they were.

THE FABULOUS MOOLAH (SLAVE GIRL MOOLAH)

 

A CHARLOTTE SHOW I REMEMBER WELL

                                                                    October 24, 1966

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA

58 Years Ago

The very first Monday night after I received my driver's license in September 1966, found my friend Jimmy and me planted in our ringside seats at Charlotte's Park Center.

Even though that was a school night, I was permitted to flex my independence somewhat and make my first trip to Charlotte as a licensed driver.

Once this venture was over, I was informed that wrestling (at least attending live matches) would have to be sacrificed for the time being. I had just started high school, and I was expected to hit the books, make good grades so I could get into a good college, so I could have a brilliant career in...whatever. You know the drill.

So back to the regular confinement of seeing wrestling only on WBTV and WGHP every Saturday.

With much begging and persuasion, the ban was lifted six or seven weeks later when I was permitted to return to the Queen City for a "wrestling extravaganza." I was permitted to attend ONLY because the show was at the Charlotte Coliseum, a building I had visited only a couple of times since it opened in the late 1950s. Once was for the Ringling Bros. Circus and the other for some ACC basketball game that I was dragged to by a friend.

KLONDIKE BILL was in the midst of his big push by JIM CROCKETT PROMOTIONS at this time. He had been "injured" by THE GREAT MALENKO during the summer, building to the Russian's annihilation by the Alaskan on the Charlotte Labor Day card.

KLONDIKE then set his sights on MALENKO's tag team partner, THE MISSOURI MAULER, who held the SOUTHERN HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP. BILL would take the belt from the MAULER, eventually losing it back to his nemesis.

The Texas team of TEX McKENZIE and NELSON ROYAL were working a program with BRONCHO LUBICH and ALDO BOGNI during the Fall of 1966. With nothing really settled, the JCP bookers decided to head this Coliseum show by putting TEX and NELLIE in a match with BOGNI and LUBICH and to toss their evil manager HOMER O'DELL into the mix as a wrestler. To even up the sides, the red-hot KLONDIKE BILL was added to the Texas side of the ledger.

NELLIE took fall number one over LUBICH with his atomic drop. A triple-team body slam by the villains (with the far-sighted referee missing it completely) put BILL's shoulders down for the count to square the match. Then KLONDIKE's big splash on O'DELL closed the show.

BOBBY SHANE (one of David Crockett's proverbial young lions) was getting a CROCKETT push at the time. In fact, SHANE would soon be teaming with KLONDIKE in tag team main events. On this night, he faced GEORGE "TWO TON" HARRIS, in his final days as a headliner. Young BOBBY grabbed a DQ victory over TWO TON.

Girls were featured on the show, and probably for the 500th time, the great PENNY BANNER pinned TAMMY JONES.

The rugged German duo of KURT and HENRY VON STROHEIM, a B-plus to A-minus team faced another young lion in PAUL DEMARCO and veteran JESSE JAMES. With JESSE involved, it was no more than a TV match. DEMARCO could hold his own, but JESSE's career  dissolved as fast as Cam Newton's. The Berlin boys won.

The match of the card which interested me the most was the semi-final. The SOUTHERN TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS and favorites of most all area wrestling fans, GEORGE BECKER and JOHNNY WEAVER were battling the rowdy duo of the MASKED RED DEMONS, with red-headed TWO TON HARRIS at ringside as their manager.

BECKER and WEAVER had been feuding with the DEMONS since the summer when the masked men first appeared in the CROCKETT territory. After a short while, the DEMONS added the tutorial skills of TWO TON, who quickly dyed his locks red and obtained a bright red suit, with a belt buckle the size of Rhode Island, which was comparable to HOMER O'DELL's cane, i.e., a weapon.

I had witnessed these two teams go to a double DQ back in a Statesville, N.C. summer card.

JIM CROCKETT, for this match, added a stipulation to the proceedings. One of these masked men had to wear a white mask so the referee and participants could tell the ruffians apart. "Too much switchin' goin' on," said the boss. "It's too confusin." TWO TON protested. Too bad.

Much to my disappointment, when the RED DEMONS entered the ring for war, one wore a white tobagon, pulled all the way down over his face, with eye, nose and mouth holes cut out.

The championship looked to be in jeopardy when one DEMON pinned WEAVER for the first fall. Between falls, with the referee distracted, TWO TON gave JOHNNY a "big splash" with that giant belt buckle strategically placed on WEAVER's sternum. JOHNNY barely made it to his feet for the second fall.

BECKER abdominal stretched one of the DEMONS, and the match was even.

The winner of the third fall would claim the titles. And for a time, it appeared the masked men would take the crown. But our heroes battled back. Soon the DEMONS were getting thrashed. BECKER tossed the white-clad DEMON out of the corner, and the tobagon came off. Of course, his regular red mask was underneath. Then the hooded duo tried their usual switcheroo, but to no avail. JOHNNY had one of them in the corner and was ripping at the mask. At this point, TWO TON gave the "clear out" signal. But before the DEMON got away from WEAVER, the front of his mask was torn to the point that it flapped open and I remember seeing his face as clear as a bell. Of course, at that time, I had no idea who he was, but I remember this as if it happened this morning. I saw his face.

The three sped up the aisle and BECKER and WEAVER were awarded the match on a count-out.

Three months before JOHNNY passed away, I asked him about this particular match. Was he supposed to tear the mask as he did, or was it an accident? He said he didn't remember what I described to him.

"You remember lots of these matches better than I do. George and I wrestled these guys so many times in a six-month period, I can't keep them straight."

That is completely understandable.

I saw George and Johnny work these guys, maybe four times, out of the probable one hundred matches they had with one another.

"What I do remember about these guys is that they were both small as wrestlers go, and you could throw them a mile. They took great bumps. Many times it scared me the way they took bumps. I just knew for sure that they weren't going to get back up, but they did. Oh...and they both loved their liquor."

Another story Johnny told me about the DEMONS...Some of the wrestlers had complained a little about smelling alcohol on the them during some matches. One night, in a small Virginia town, the promoter told IKE EAKINS to watch them like a hawk and make sure they didn't have any booze to drink before their main event. IKE assured the promoter he would take care of it. But when the DEMONS got to the ring, they smelled like a still.

After the show, the promoter got in IKE's face and chewed him out for not doing as he was asked. "I was with them the entire time in the dressing room before they went out. They did NOT take a drink," IKE replied. "Were you with them the ENTIRE time?" the promoter wanted to know. "ABSOLUTELY, except when they used the bathroom before their match."

Hearing that, the promoter and IKE went into the bathroom. The promoter found a bottle of booze hidden in the toilet tank.

TULLY BLANCHARD

 

EVERY MATCH A MAIN EVENT

                                                                    AUGUST 10, 1959

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA

65 Years Ago

Many wrestling fans are saying that promoter JIM CROCKETT has outdone himself with tonight's pro wrestling card. Every match on the program could headline any wrestling show anywhere in the United States.

But it is the fans in the CHARLOTTE area who shall reap the benefits.

In tonight's headliner at PARK CENTER, the devious duo of MR. MOTO and DUKE KEOMUKA will face another challenge for their SOUTHERN TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP. The Japs, who have protected their titles at any cost against all comers in the month they have had the belts, will face a severe challenge when they meet fan favorites GEORGE BECKER and BILLY TWO RIVERS, the top-ranked contenders. The championship encounter is set for the best two-of-three falls, with a one hour time limit.

The semi-final squares off PAT O'HARA and THE GREAT BOLO. Perhaps tonight will be the lucky night for the Irishman in his quest to unmask the hooded ruffian. O'HARA has come close a few times, but THE GREAT BOLO has managed to hang on to his mask...so far. This one's also two-out-of-three falls, forty-five minute limit.

The main prelim sends popular DANO O'SHOCKER against the rugged LARRY 'CRUSHER' HAMILTON for one fall, thirty minutes.

And the 8:15 opener, set for one fall and twenty minutes, has REGGIE PARKS, the handsome Canadian scraper from Ontario, meeting CYCLONE ANAYA.

Fans are encouraged to arrive early to guarantee getting a seat.

ABE JACOBS

 

                                                                   January 22, 1966

LEXINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA

VON STROHEIM

SUNI WAR CLOUD

(looks a bit like Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, doesn't he?)

'The Big O' BOB ORTON SR.

BILLY TWO RIVERS

BRUTE BERNARD and SKULL MURPHY

A rough and rugged pair of German brothers will make their LEXINGTON YMCA debut tonight in the main event of professional wrestling action.

The big bruisers, KURT and HENRY VON STROHEIM, who tip the scales at a combined 510 pounds, will face a very popular duo of Indian mat stars in the guise of BILLY TWO RIVERS and SUNI WAR CLOUD.

The current SOUTHERN HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION, 'The Big O' BOB ORTON will face newcomer KARL GOTCH in a non-title match. A GOTCH victory would propel him to the top of the list of contenders for the title.

More tag team action is slated as fan favorites STEVE BOLUS and OMAR ATLAS will collide with the Irish / Canadian skinhead bully team of BRUTE BERNARD and SKULL MURPHY, who are returning to the area after a long absence.

Both tag team matches are set for the best-of-three falls.

Another singles match will open the card at 8:15.

THUNDERBOLT PATTERSON

 

RIP HAWK'S OTHER SIDE

 

This is the way JIM CROCKETT PROMOTIONS wrestling fans saw RIP 'The Profile' HAWK...entering the ring to do battle and to win any way he could. Hair pulling, trunk pulling, piledriving...any way.

RIP was a 'heel' mainstay for JCP for nearly fifteen years and was at the top of many fans' "Most Hated" list.

But there was a wrestling side of 'The Profile' the general public never saw, and with the aid of this article which originally appeared in the September, 1975 issue of Sports Review WRESTLER, I'd like to share it with you...

RIP HAWK oversees a group of high school wrestlers. RIP generously gives his time to these youngsters.

Every man is a combination of things. When you think you know someone, he or she will very often do something that is as uncharacteristic as it is unexpected. Rip Hawk was no exception to that rule.

Most of the world knew HAWK as one of the most ruthless rulebreakers in wrestling, a man incapable of mercy or honor. Instead of denying these charges, HAWK would boast of his cruelty with glee.

Yet, when the spotlights were turned away from him, RIP could be found in a local high school gym teaching members of the school's wrestling team. RIP would go over the fundamentals of the sport and correct the youngsters when necessary. And one thing that RIP stressed above all else is that the grapplers must be scrupulously clean !

"Before you break the rules," HAWK said when no students were present, "you've got to master the rules. What I hope to do is give these kids a sound base from which they can grow. And who the hell wants kids bleeding and crippled anyway? For professionals, it's different. We earn a living by winning - - at all costs. Kids wrestle to develop a team spirit, a physical discipline and a sense of fairness. Though the basics may be the same, the goals are completely different."

Wrestler TERRY SAWYER also lends a helping hand.

Yet, why did a man who tortured his opponents with animal abandon want to help youngsters at all? RIP hesitated before he answered the question, and one got the feeling he wasn't quite sure himself.

"Someone was needed," RIP said, "and I was available. Anyway, if a sport gives you a lot, you owe it something in return. This is my way of paying some long outstanding dues.

If one wasn't familiar with RIP HAWK, it would be easy to swear that the wrestling instructor and the wrestler were two different people. HAWK the wrestler strutted arrogantly, whereas HAWK the instructor moved with unassuming grace.

When grappling for money, RIP would explode at any slight provocation. When teaching the kids a complicated hold, he would become the most patient of men, calmly going over and over the maneuver until the youth felt comfortable executing it.

After devoting time at the high school, RIP went straight to the arena to wrestle. He was his vicious self, making his opponent a bloody mess. If you had told the victim about what HAWK had done hours earlier, he'd have called you crazy. And as the doctor stitched up his wounds, who could blame him?

RIP instructs the students in technique.

Amazingly, thirty-five years after this article was originally published, RIP HAWK, at the local YMCA in the Texas town in which he resided, was still instructing kids the art of wrestling.

THE ASSASSINS with MGR. PAUL JONES

 

RED HOT CROCKETT RINGS

 

One of THE MASKED MARVELS * takes down BOBBY KAY. 

'JUNGLE' JIM STARR (one of the un-MASKED MARVELS) gives DANNY MILLER a ride around the ring by dragging him by the hair.

PAUL JONES crushes the skull of THE MASKED SUPERSTAR (BILL EADIE) **

SONNY FARGO clamps his version of a headlock on PEDRO GODOY.

One chop to the noggin' of 'PLAYBOY' GARY HART, courtesy of 'Chief' WAHOO McDANIEL.

JOHNNY WEAVER 'crowns' OLE ANDERSON.

* THE MASKED MARVELS did a short stint with JIM CROCKETT PROMOTIONS in the early 1970s. The MARVELS were actually THE INTERNS, who came to the MID-ATLANTIC territory without their manager, DR. KEN RAMEY. RAMEY was not asked to join them due to the abundance of 'heel' managers already in the area.

** Note that PAUL JONES' hair is shorter than he normally wore it during this time. This was due to THE MASKED SUPERSTAR's taking the shears to PAUL's head in a previous match, to set up a long-term program. But, according to BILL EADIE, PAUL didn't want to go around with an ugly butchered-like haircut, so he went to a barber shop and had it all 'evened-up'. It killed the angle. BILL wasn't happy.

RICKY STEAMBOAT - RIC FLAIR

 

WEAVER AND ELLIS MEET THE BOLOS

                                                                   February 3, 1964

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA

A return tag team match which throws the masked BOLOs against COWBOY BOB ELLIS and JOHNNY WEAVER headlines tonight's PARK CENTER wrestling card.

The hooded BOLO and THE GREAT BOLO gained a draw with ELLIS and WEAVER in an earlier match here when the time limit forced a one-hour stand-off. Tonight, there is NO TIME LIMIT, so a winner should be determined.

BOB and JOHNNY won the only fall recorded in the earlier contest, but could not apply the clincher before the sixty minutes ran out.

Tonight's semi-final could be a main event on any wrestling card at any location. It pairs the gigantic duo of THE KENTUCKIANS BIG BOY BROWN and TINY ANDERSON against wrestling's "BLONDE BOMBERS," RIP HAWK and SWEDE HANSON. This battle has a 45-minute time limit.

Both of tonight's tag matches are for the best two-out-of-three falls.

EMIL DUPREE takes on TOMMY O'TOOLE in the top prelim.

The 8:15 opener sends TED EVANS against JOE TOMASSO.

THE ROCK AND ROLL EXPRESS (ROBERT GIBSON and RICKY MORTON)

 

HOMER O'DELL IN TIGHTS

                                                                        July 11, 1964

LEXINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA

CHIEF BIG HEART

ALDO BOGNI and BRONCHO LUBICH

GEORGE BECKER

RONNY ETCHISON

NICK KOZAK

MIKE CLANCY

FRANK VALOIS

HOMER O'DELL

Professional wrestling returns to the LEXINGTON YMCA with a bang tonight following a week's layoff because of the Fourth of July holiday.

A six man tag team match, with grudge ingredients thrown in, features the program.

Heroes GEORGE BECKER, RONNIE ETCHISON and CHIEF BIG HEART will battle top bullies ALDO BOGNI, BRONCHO LUBICH along with their arrogant manager, 'COLONEL' HOMER O'DELL, in a best-of-three falls encounter. This time out, O'DELL will don wrestling attire instead of the usual tuxedo and will participate as a legal wrestler.

'IRISH' MIKE CLANCY returns after a long absence and will meet tough Canadian FRANK VALOIS in the semi-final match of the evening.

Newcomer NICK KOZAK battles TOMMY O'TOOLE, and in the 8:15 opener, BOB BOYER faces PANCHO GOMEZ.

GENE and OLE ANDERSON

 

UNDER CHARLOTTE'S BIG DOME

                                                                   October 28, 1963

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA

KURT and KARL VON BRAUNER and SAUL WEINGROFF

BRONKO LUBICH, HOMER O'DELL, ALDO BOGNI

The match the fans have been begging for will take place tonight as professional wrestling moves to the CHARLOTTE COLISEUM.

Promoter JIM CROCKETT, who is co-sponsoring this card along with the CAROLINAS CAROUSEL, says the main event on this big card has drawn "more requests than any other match since I have been promoting in Charlotte. And that's been more than twenty-five years."

The big match everyone has been asking for is a SIX MAN TAG TEAM battle. On one side are the vicious German brothers, KURT and KARL VON BRAUNER, along with their equally villainous manager, 'GENTLEMAN' SAUL WEINGROFF. Across the ring will be the threesome ruffians of ALDO BOGNI, BRONKO LUBICH and their manager, cane-welding 'COLONEL' HOMER O'DELL. The war is scheduled for the best two-of-three falls with a one hour time limit. These conditions should give the hated bunch time enough to do away with each other in the proper way.

GEORGE BECKER and JOHNNY WEAVER

RIP HAWK and SWEDE HANSON

Another tag team match is scheduled in the semifinal contest, normally any wrestling card's main event.

Fan favorites GEORGE BECKER and JOHNNY WEAVER will face a long-time nemesis in the guise of wrestling's "BLONDE BOMBERS" RIP HAWK and SWEDE HANSON. To say these two teams have their differences would be a gross understatement. This one is also scheduled for the best two-out-of-three falls with a one hour time limit.

'COWBOY' BOB ELLIS

'BIG' IKE EAKINS

Yet another specialty sees 'COWBOY' BOB ELLIS, who many say is a probable future World's Heavyweight Champion, taking on the tough and burly 'BIG' IKE EAKINS, straight from Harlan, Kentucky.

For the fans of the girl grapplers, PENNY BANNER faces newcomer JESSICA ROGERS, making her Charlotte debut, in a special event.

Two other newcomers also brighten the giant card which kicks off at 8:15.

BOBBY RED CLOUD, a Sioux Indian, takes on the crafty GEORGE 'TWO TON' HARRIS, and rugged DOCTOR MENENDEZ, a 250 pounder from the Caribbean, meets Canada's rugged FRANK VALOIS.

MR. WRESTLING (TIM WOODS)