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.

MAGNUM TA, DUSTY RHODES, ROBERT GIBSON, RICKY MORTON

 

MID-ATLANTIC WRESTLING WARS

 

TERRY KAY feels the wrath of KURT VON STEIGER.

LES THATCHER applies a headlock on RIP HAWK. That's referee ANGELO MARTINELLI, with THATCHER's partner JOHNNY RINGO in the background.

Referee TOMMY YOUNG looks as PAUL JONES applies a hammerlock on RIC FLAIR at CHARLOTTE's PARK CENTER.

A rare sight---referee SAM 'LUCKY' ROBERTS raises the hands of EL GAUCHO and TINKER TODD in victory.

P.Y. CHUNG has GEORGE BECKER at his mercy.

INFERNOS manager J.C. DYKES asks a poor fellow to check his shoe size.

JOHNNY WEAVER and DORY FUNK JR. battle for the NWA WORLD title.

JOHNNY WEAVER

 

SUPER CARD IN LEXINGTON, NC

                                                                       May 24, 1969

LEXINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA

56 Years Ago

Power-packed action is offered wrestling fans in an all-star card at the LEXINGTON YMCA tonight, kicking off at 8:15.

The first of two big tag team matches will send the "BLONDE BOMBERS" RIP HAWK and SWEDE HANSON against the popular Texas twosome of NELSON ROYAL and PAUL JONES. The Texans are fast and high-flying, the "BOMBERS" mean and rugged, so the clash of styles could make for just a plain old battle.

Co-featuring the agenda will be a tag battle between the popular duo of Hawaiian SAM STEAMBOAT and partner MR. WRESTLING when they face the highly dangerous combo of THE INFERNOS. Interesting that STEAMBOAT is the only participant who doesn't hide his true identity behind a mask. Both teams have been on a winning streak lately, so something's gotta give in this one. Add in THE INFERNOS' crafty manager, J.C. DYKES, and anything might happen.

Both tag matches will go the best-of-three falls.

Rough PANCHO VALDEZ meets young RANDY CURTIS and fan favorite GREG PETERSON will contest BOBBY PAUL in the evening's first match.

THE MASKED SUPERSTAR (BILL EADIE)

 

STATESVILLE, NC WRESTLING

 Statesville, North Carolina wrestling fans (and I was one) were treated to THREE nights of JIM CROCKETT PROMOTIONS wrestling shows during the summer of 1966.

A perfect location for wrestling during the summer months...the wooden grandstand ball park similar to that in the movie BULL DURHAM. Sponsored by the COMMUNITY BASEBALL CLUB, who also gave us DOUBLE A BASEBALL at the same site. The ring was set up at home plate, surrounded by metal ringside seat chairs all around. The grandstand served as the General Admission area. The wrestlers entered the ring from the two dugouts.

No rainouts during the summer of 1966. THREE shows in TWO months.

As a fifteen-year old 'rasslin' fan, I found myself at all three shows parked in my $2.00 ringside seat.

This was the first card of the 1966 summer...

The match results are shown above.

For whatever reasons (maybe analysis would reveal why), two memories come back to me about this night.

(1) My cousin, who attended with me, spilled a cup of Coca-Cola on himself during the matches.

(2) One of The Masked Red Demons (either Billy or Jimmy Hines) came out of the dugout for the main event smoking a cigarette (through the mask), discarding it as he approached the ring. I thought to myself - "Athletes aren't supposed to smoke." Give me a break, I was a naive fifteen year-old who was reading FAMOUS MONSTERS and wrestling magazines, instead of PLAYBOY, at the time. (Don't worry, the PLAYBOYs came later.)

Regardless of my mental stability, I remember the evening fondly.

TULLY BLANCHARD, ARN ANDERSON, JAMES J. DILLON

 

BASHIN IN 1987 - - THE END WAS APPROACHING

 

FLAIR and RHODES go at it again...

BIG BUBBA ROGERS throws BARRY WINDHAM for a loss.

DR. DEATH STEVE WILLIAMS lands one upside DICK MURDOCH.

RICK STEINER and STING, former partners, now feuding.

JIM CROCKETT PROMOTIONS, into its sixth decade of operation, would soon be no more. The sale to TURNER ENTERTAINMENT was on the horizon.

In one of its final big programs, THE GREAT AMERICAN BASH was a month-long event, starting JULY 1 in Lakeland, Florida and ending July 31 at the ORANGE BOWL in Miami. But in-between these two Sunshine State shows, THE BASH journeyed as far west as Los Angeles and San Francisco, and north as Landover, Maryland. Cross-country shows were held in Chicago, Atlanta, Richmond, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Oklahoma City, Baltimore, Charlotte, Greensboro, Norfolk, Richmond, Dallas, Houston, Philadelphia and Cleveland, among others.

ARGENTINA APOLLO

 

THE SUPER DESTROYER INVADES JCP

 

One of the epic battles between the masked villain and Swede Hanson

Swede not faring too well at this point.

Super D clamps 'the claw' on Swede's noggin'.

Sonny King feels the wrath of the Super Destroyer

The year was 1973. JIM CROCKETT PROMOTIONS brought back one of their most popular wrestlers, GEORGE SCOTT, not as a ring competitor, but rather as head booker. One of Scott's priorities was to shift emphasis from tag team competition to singles matches.

To accomplish this, Scott brought in a couple of top heels he felt could achieve the transition. One was Johnny Valentine. The other, a rugged, vicious man in a mask, known in many territories as THE SPOILER.

However, in MID-ATLANTIC CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING rings, he would be known as THE SUPER DESTROYER.

Regardless of his in-ring monocle, the man who wore the mask and pulverized his opponents was the 6' 4", 270 pound Canadian named DON JARDINE (1940-2006). Already in the pro wrestling business for nearly twenty years, Jardine was known as an incredibly agile worker for such a big man, known for 'walking the ropes' before lowering the boom on his competition. His ring style was rough and tough and, being the consummate 'heel', rule breaking was a big part of his m.o.

THE SUPER DESTROYER rose to main event level in JCP almost immediately, going against such greats as Johnny Weaver, Bearcat Wright, Wahoo McDaniel, Paul Jones, Rufus R. Jones and Sonny King.

A major program involving THE SUPER DESTROYER would be with a hooded 'babyface' who called himself THE AVENGER. The battle between these two escalated to a MASK VERSUS MASK battle in which the loser would reveal his identity. I witnessed the Greensboro, N.C. encounter between these two (seems like it was on Thanksgiving night) in which THE AVENGER was eventually pinned and revealed to be none other than Reggie Parks. This same type match was probably held in other cities as well.

However, the program with THE SUPER DESTROYER I enjoyed the most was his incredible matches with SWEDE HANSON. The long-time JCP heel, big SWEDE was now a single, as partner RIP HAWK had bolted to the newly-formed IWA. Swede joined forces with SUPER D as a new tag team, but things went sideways between the two, with the masked man humiliating Hanson after a defeat. From this point on, Swede turned 'babyface' and went after his ex-partner.

The two went from town-to-town in the MID-ATLANTIC territory fighting each other in mostly bloody battles. It would be Swede's swan song as a JCP main eventer. After this program, Hanson would finish his career as a mid-card wrestler, splitting his time between JCP and the then-WWF.

THE SUPER DESTROYER would continue on in JCP for a while, later leaving abruptly over 'corporate issues', with JCP announcing on its weekly wrestling programs he had been unmasked and showing Jardine's photograph without the mask.

Some thought this was not the most professional way to end things between the company and the employee, but we see things like this in the corporate world everyday, don't we?

THE ROAD WARRIORS (HAWK AND ANIMAL)

 

THERE'S ACTION, ADVENTURE, 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.

MAGNUM TA (TERRY ALLEN)

 

RING RESULTS

 History made in the MID-ATLANTIC CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING territory more than                                                                          fifty-five years ago...

JIM GRABMIRE

RALEIGH, N.C. - 1968

ABE JACOBS and LUTHER LINDSAY lost to HIRO MATSUDA and THE MISSOURI MAULER.

LES THATCHER and JIM OSBORNE beat 'BULLDOG' LEE HENNING and JIM GRABMIRE.

PANCHO VALDEZ and BOB NANDOR wrestled to a draw.

PEPPY GOMEZ topped FRANK HESTER.

LUTHER LINDSAY

RICHMOND, VA. - 1965

GEORGE and SANDY SCOTT and JOHNNY WEAVER bested ALDO BOGNI, BRONKO LUBICH and HOMER O'DELL in six man action.

'BIG' BOB ORTON topped STEVE BOLUS.

JOHNNY WEAVER won from PEDRO ZAPATA.

LUTHER LINDSAY defeated RAY DURAN.

THE AMAZING ZUMA

CHARLESTON, S.C. - 1968

GEORGE and SANDY SCOTT whipped THE MISSOURI MAULER and HIRO MATSUDA.

GEORGE BECKER, JOHNNY WEAVER and NELSON ROYAL toppled J.C. DYKES and THE INFERNOS in six man action.

THE AMAZING ZUMA pinned 'BULLDOG' LEE HENNING.

THE MATADOR beat JACK RICE.

THE TOLOS BROTHERS

CHARLESTON, S.C. - 1965

THE KENTUCKIANS topped BRUTE BERNARD and SKULL MURPHY via DQ.

JOHN and CHRIS TOLOS wrestled NELSON ROYAL and STEVE BOLUS to a draw.

MIKE PAIDOUSIS won over CHRIS AVEROFF.

GEORGE 'CATALINA' DRAKE defeated MIKE GALLAGHER.

RICKY STEAMBOAT AND JAY YOUNGBLOOD

 

A HOT SUMMER NIGHT IN LEXINGTON

                                                                        July 24, 1965

LEXINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA

GEORGE 'CATALINA' DRAKE

RON REED

(later wrestled as BUDDY COLT)

GEORGE BECKER

MIKE GALLAGHER

TONI ROSE

TINKER TODD

JOHN and CHRIS TOLOS

GEORGE 'TWO TON' HARRIS

A best two-out-of-three falls rematch between the stellar wrestling teams of GEORGE 'CATALINA' DRAKE and RON REED and brothers JOHN and CHRIS TOLOS, known as THE MICHIGAN WRECKING CREW, headlines a four match card tonight at the LEXINGTON YMCA.

Last Saturday, these two teams battled in an exciting and bloody match that ended in a NO CONTEST ruling by the official. The referee was forced to throw the match out for repeated disregard of the rules by both teams.

GEORGE BECKER will be on tonight's card in singles action against a long-time rival, rough and tough MIKE GALLAGHER, in the evening's semi-final contest. The match is also a best-of-three falls match.

In a special one fall event, girl wrestlers TONI ROSE and PEGGY ALLAN will have at it.

TINKER TODD faces GEORGE 'TWO TON' HARRIS, victorious last week, in the first match.

Bell time is 8:15 p.m.