Friday, July 11, 2025

GREAT WHILE WE HAD IT

 All good things must come to an end, and JIM CROCKETT PROMOTIONS was one of those things, but wasn't it great when we could get in our cars and journey to nearby towns and experience the wrestling matches in person...


GREG VALENTINE and RIC FLAIR


SILENTO RODRIGUEZ and RANDY CURTIS


DARLING DAGMAR and THE KENTUCKIAN TINY ANDERSON


TONI ROSE


JIMMY SNUKA and RICKY STEAMBOAT


FRANK MORRELL and BILLY HINES
(At one time, HINES was one of THE MASKED RED DEMONS.)

Wednesday, July 9, 2025

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.

Monday, July 7, 2025

THE RUSSIAN BEAR AND NUMBER ONE

 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.

Sunday, July 6, 2025

Saturday, July 5, 2025

LIKES AND DISLIKES BY J.C. DYKES

 






A bloodied WEAVER after being kicked with the loaded boot of THE INFERNO.

Happy 'Birthday Suit' to you, J.C. DYKES

WEAVER takes a tumble to the floor.

A battered INFERNO receives medical care.
---
During the JIM CROCKETT PROMOTIONS terror tenure of J.C DYKES and THE INFERNOS, the weekly wrestling souvenir program at JCP arenas often contained articles written by the red-headed manager in which he expressed his personal opinions of the competition as it pertained to his blue-masked duo.

Without any doubt, the two wrestlers he despised the most were GEORGE BECKER and JOHNNY WEAVER, then the top 'babyface' team in MID-ATLANTIC WRESTLING.

THE INFERNOS battled BECKER and WEAVER all over the JCP territory in one of the 'hottest' feuds in 1960's pro wrestling history.

One evening, after a jam-packed house at Charlotte's PARK CENTER, Gene Gordon was able to corner DYKES and ask him a few questions.

J.C. had been shooting off his mouth about what his boys would do to that 'old bum' and his 'half-witted partner'. The match that night was thrown out by the referee for uncontrollable wildness. 'We beat them to a pulp tonight, and only the prejudiced referee saved their skins. They're as yellow as can be and will probably never sign to wrestle us again."

'BECKER is a low life, he eats berries and bugs,' shouted DYKES. 'As far as Weaver, he's on the silly side."

GEORGE and JOHNNY, however, rushed to the promoter, demanding their schedules be changed so that they could get THE INFERNOS back in the ring right away. 'That mouth without a brain and those two cowards who are afraid to let the public see their ugly faces, are in for a real surprise,' countered BECKER.

The following Monday night, the rematch took place, again at PARK CENTER. And again, the house was packed to see THE INFERNOS and DYKES 'get theirs'.

WEAVER recorded the first fall, putting one of the masked men in slumber land from his trademark 'sleeper' hold. DYKES yelled and screamed to the official that JOHNNY had choked his man unto he passed out. The referee was not impressed by J.C.'s protest.

The second fall started with a very groggy INFERNO trying to stay on his feet, still reeling from the 'sleeper'. But then DYKES distracted the referee while the other INFERNO kicked WEAVER square in the head with the 'loaded boot' for the pin.

Fans rushed handkerchiefs and tissue to BECKER to help stop the bleeding of his partner. One fan offered his shirt.

The match was even.

The bell rang for the deciding fall. WEAVER barely answered the bell, his face a Gordon Solie 'crimson mask'. But he managed to continue, finally making a tag to BECKER, who came in like a madman. He floored both INFERNOS, knocking one out to the floor. GEORGE followed his rival outside the ring, ran the 'loaded boot' masked man into the ring post. Soon, this INFERNO was as bloody as WEAVER.

JOHNNY had cornered the other INFERNO and had the blue mask about half off when DYKES jumped into the fray. Approaching WEAVER (from behind, of course) with his metal canteen, his path was cut off by BECKER who battered DYKES until he could barely stand.

BECKER and WEAVER weren't able to remove a mask that night, but maybe they did one better. They removed J.C.'s clothes almost down to his 'birthday suit'. At this point, he blew his whistle, and a half-nude manager and his masked men (one a bloody pulp) set sail for the dressing room, forfeiting the match on a count out.

On a tirade in the dressing room, while his bloodied INFERNO received medical attention, DYKES began his ranting again, 'We will get BECKER and WEAVER if it takes a lifetime. That bug-eating BECKER and mule ears WEAVER have disgraced, humiliated and shamed my INFERNOS and me. Can you image two grownup men like these two dolts tearing my clothes off out there in front of thousands of people? If they want to act like children, they should both be placed in reform school with the other dirty-minded brats! When we first came to JCP, BECKER took off and went into hiding in the mountains somewhere until WEAVER sent out a posse to bring him back. WEAVER told BECKER a lie when he came back. He said that one of my INFERNOS burned his face with a fireball or something ridiculous like that. That is not what made the scar on old mule ear's face. Sailor Art Thomas dropped WEAVER on his head carrying him out of the ring after we beat the two of them one night. They're both no-good liars, and we'll send them into retirement before we leave the Carolinas. That's a promise.'

Although the two teams battled many more times, that promise went unfulfilled.

Friday, July 4, 2025

Thursday, July 3, 2025

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 LUTTRELLDANNY 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.