A TIP OF THE MASK TO...

...to five great wrestling stars who each sold plenty of tickets for JIM CROCKETT PROMOTIONS and always gave the fans their money's worth...

EDWARD 'WAHOO' MCDANIEL

(1938-2002)

KEN PATERA

The World's Strongest Man

PENNY BANNER
(1934-2008)
The First Lady of MID-ATLANTIC Wrestling

EDWARD 'BEARCAT' WRIGHT
(1932-1982)

VITTORIO 'ARGENTINA' APOLLO

(1943-1984)

"LEGEND" - A WORD OFTEN OVERUSED

BUT NOT WHEN SPEAKING OF THE FOLLOWING...

These guys did it all in the world of professional wrestling. They were all impact players in every territory they worked, and that certainly includes the JIM CROCKETT PROMOTIONS area.

RIP HAWK and SWEDE HANSON

WAHOO MCDANIEL

SKULL MURPHY and BRUTE BERNARD

JACK BRISCO

N.W.A. WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONS

ALOYSIUS MARTIN "LOU" THESZ

(1916-2002)

Won the title on six different occassions, the first being in 1937. Held the title a combined ten+ years, longer than any other wrestler.

PATRICK JOHN 'PAT' O'CONNOR
(1924-1990)
Won the title in 1959, defeating DICK HUTTON.

'NATURE BOY' BUDDY ROGERS (HERMAN C. ROHDE JR.)
(1921- 1992)
In 1961, defeated PAT O'CONNOR for the championship.
Lost the title to LOU THESZ in 1963.

EUGENE NICHOLAS 'GENE' KINISKI

(born 1928)

Won the title from LOU THESZ in 1966.

DORRANCE 'DORY' FUNK JR.

(born 1941)

Defeated GENE KINISKI in 1969 for the title.

Lost the title in 1973 to HARLEY RACE.

FUNK was NWA WORLD CHAMPION for four and a half years (the second-longest uninterrupted reign (THESZ holds that record, being champion from 1949 to 1956).

WE HAVE LOST RIP HAWK

RIP "The Profile" HAWK has passed away.

The words "classic" and "legend" are much over-used these days, but certainly not when used as adjectives for this gentleman.

I shall always consider the times I spent with him at several of Greg Price's Fanfests as true treasures in my life.

MORE OF THOSE GREAT COLOR PHOTOS

All of the wrestling magazines of the past, going back as far as fifty years, were great. But one thing missing (I suppose for cost purposes) was an abundance of our favorite mat stars in full, natural color. And I mean true color. Not the air-brushed photos in which the artists who colored them must have been on some strange chemicals when they worked.

So, on the rare occasion, when a reader came across a nice full-color photo of his favorite wrestler, it was a special moment.

Here are a few that caught my eye...

THE SPOILER / THE SUPER DESTROYER

(DON JARDINE)

DUSTY RHODES

BARON VON RASCHKE

THE ASSASSIN

(JODY HAMILTON)

KLONDIKE BILL and GEORGE SCOTT

THE MISSOURI MAULER

(LARRY HAMILTON)

JOHNNY WEAVER

COLOR PHOTOGRAPHS - A RARE COMMODITY

All of the wrestling magazines of the past, going back as far as fifty years, were great. I guess we all had our favorites (I always liked WRESTLING REVUE). But one thing missing (I suppose for cost purposes) were photos of our favorite grapplin' stars in full color. And I mean true color. Not the 'air-brushed' photos in which the artists who colored them must have been on some strange chemicals when they worked.

How in the world did THE INFERNOS end up on a magazine cover, and their outfits were orange?

I actually have such a magazine.

So, on the rare occassion, when a reader ran across a nice full-color picture of his favorite wrestler, it was special.

Here are a few that caught my eye...

CHIEF WAHOO MCDANIEL

HARLEY RACE and NELSON ROYAL

I particularly like this photo because of the grouping of then NWA WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION RACE, who for the most part was working 'heel' at the time, and NELSON ROYAL, a big-time 'babyface'.

RIC FLAIR, J.J. DILLON, TULLY BLANCHARD and an obvious young FOUR HORSEMAN fan

JOHNNY WEAVER

NWA WORLD CHAMP JACK BRISCO

Another WORLD CHAMPION - DORY FUNK JR.

and finally, MRS. BUTCHER's favorite son, ABDULAH

THERE WAS ONLY ONE JOHNNY WEAVER

The Dean of Professional Wrestling

HARLEY RACE and NELSON ROYAL

MID-ATLANTIC CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING had 'em all...

Some of the many stars of JIM CROCKETT PROMOTIONS

Some of the many wrestling cards of JIM CROCKETT PROMOTIONS

click on images to enlarge

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BRING THE MOSQUITO REPELLENT

August 24, 1959

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA

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51 Years Ago

Professional wrestling moves outdoors tonight with a big, five-bout card slated for CHARLOTTE MEMORIAL STADIUM.

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Headling the starlit program presented by promoter JIM CROCKETT is a war for the SOUTHERN TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP, which gives challengers LARRY 'CRUSHER' HAMILTON and his masked partner, THE GREAT BOLO, another shot at the titleholders, DUKE KEOMUKA and MR. MOTO.

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The two teams have gone at it several times already with all of the matches ending in brawls. Neither team has respect for the rule book. So this time, CROCKETT is adding the NO DISQUALIFICATION and NO TIME LIMIT clauses to the mix, ensuring a definite winner. The tag team championship will be decided by two-out-of-three falls.

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Popular GEORGE BECKER takes on the rugged IKE EAKINS in the co-feature.

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The other top prelim features Indian favorite BILLY TWO RIVERS tackling JACK CURTIS.

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A special girls tag match has JUDY GRABLE and PAT LYDA battling RITA CORTEZ and MARGIE RAMSAY. The first team to record two falls will be the winner.

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The 8:15 opener sends BOB BOYER against newcomer BILLY STRAWN.

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