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February of 1974 had more
than its share of memorable
moments for the fans of
Mid-Atlantic Championship
Wrestling. The titanic split
between the Destroyer and
Swede Hanson occurred in
February, and spawned a red
hot feud that went on for
many months. February also
marked the return of the
ultra popular Jerry Brisco,
and at the end of the month,
a new Title was introduced
into the area.
At the beginning of
February, a mysterious
masked man appeared on the
scene in Charleston, South
Carolina, and was assisting
the Destroyer when it
appeared the Destroyer might
be close to losing his mask.
On February 1st, the
Destroyer appeared to be in
big trouble in a bout
against Johnny Weaver at
County Hall in Charleston.
When it appeared Weaver was
going to unmask the
Destroyer, a burly newcomer
called Mr. X, who had
wrestled Art Nelson earlier
on the card, rushed the ring
and was able to prevent the
Destroyer from losing his
mask. Mr. X and the
Destroyer then double teamed
Weaver, prompting Danny
Miller to hit the ring to
assist Johnny.
This melee led to a return
match on February 8th in
Charleston, with Weaver and
Danny Miller teaming up
against the masked duo of
the Destroyer and Mr. X. The
good guys prevailed, but
only after a long match that
was out of control for the
most part. This led to the
third and final match of the
series in Charleston on
February 15th, where the two
teams met again, this time
in an elimination match!
After a bloody bout, Weaver
and Miller again emerged
victorious, eliminating Mr.
X and revealing him to be
none other than Swede
Hanson!
The major falling out
between the Destroyer and
Swede Hanson really occurred
two days earlier, on
February 13th, at the
Mid-Atlantic Championship
Wrestling TV tapings at the
WRAL TV studios in Raleigh,
North Carolina. The show
aired around the area in
most markets on February
16th. On that program, the
Destroyer got quite upset at
his tag team partner, the
big Swede, and proceeded to
slap him! Everything broke
down after that, and the big
feud was on!
The first match between the
Destroyer and Swede Hanson
occurred in Fayetteville,
North Carolina on February
18th at the Cumberland
Memorial Arena. This bout
was about as rough as anyone
could imagine, and ended in
a “No Contest” result. The
two came back to
Fayetteville, on February
25th in a bout with two
referees, with Swede winning
by disqualification. The two
also battled in bloody
matches on February 22nd in
Richmond, Virginia and on
February 23rd in Norfolk,
Virginia, with both of those
battles being so out of
control that both wrestlers
were disqualified!
The Destroyer also had his
hands full in the month of
February with Johnny Weaver.
While their feud was still
hot, it was not as torrid as
it was during the month of
January. During the
beginning of the month,
Weaver won thrilling Count
Out decisions over the
Destroyer in Charleston on
February 1st, and in
Greenville, South Carolina
on February 4th. Later in
the month, the Destroyer put
together a winning streak
over Weaver, as the feud
lost some of its intensity.
The masked Destroyer claimed
clean pinfall wins over
Weaver in Salem, Virginia on
February 9th, February 12th
in Columbia, South Carolina
and on February 14th in
Greensboro, North Carolina.
At the very end of the month
Johnny salvaged a
Disqualification victory
over the Destroyer in
Anderson, South Carolina on
February 27th, but this was
a bout that the Destroyer
dominated most of the way.
Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight
Champion Johnny Valentine
was perfect in his Title
bouts during the month of
February, securing pinfall
wins in each of his Title
defenses. Valentine’s most
frequent opponent in
February was the popular
Nelson Royal. “The Champ”
bested Royal in Championship
encounters in Columbia,
South Carolina on February
5th, Winston-Salem, North
Carolina on February 7th and
in Charlotte, North Carolina
on February 11th.
Valentine also had a
competitive back-to-back
Championship series in
Columbia with former Miami
Dolphin’s linebacker Bob
Bruggers. The two battled
evenly over the Mid-Atlantic
belt during a rough contest
in Columbia on February
19th. The rematch on
February 26th was even
rougher, and saw Bruggers
control long portions of the
bout. However, like was
often the case in bouts
involving Valentine, the
Champ seemed to be a master
at pulling out matches that
he seemed to have no
business winning!
Ultra popular Jerry Brisco
returned to the area during
the month of February, and
his legions of Mid-Atlantic
fans were delighted to have
him back! Jerry’s first
match back was in the
Greensboro Coliseum on
February 14th, teaming with
Sandy Scott to defeat the
dangerous duo of Brute
Bernard and Chuck O’Connor.
Jerry’s most impressive
performance of the month
came the next night, at the
State Fairgrounds in
Richmond. Brisco battled old
nemesis Johnny Valentine in
a non-title bout. Jerry was
impressive throughout, and
captured a rare clean
pinfall victory over the
always rough and rugged
Valentine.
Mid-Atlantic Tag Team
Champions Gene and Ole
Anderson were active during
the month of February,
wrestling in both Title and
non Title bouts across the
territory. In addition, the
Minnesota Wrecking Crew
joined forces with
Mid-Atlantic Champion Johnny
Valentine several times
during the month. In an
exciting confrontation in
the Charlotte Coliseum on
February 18th, the Andersons
and Johnny Valentine fell to
the trio of Bearcat Wright,
Jerry Brisco and Paul Jones.
Paul had come up from
Florida to wrestle in
Charlotte as part of the six
man match and then the next
night in Columbia, Jones
wrestled the masked
Destroyer.
The town that Gene and Ole
were most active in during
February was Raleigh, North
Carolina, where three
exciting bouts were held
during three consecutive
weeks. On February 5th, the
Andersons defeated the
formidable duo of Danny
Miller and Sandy Scott in a
Title bout in Dorton Arena.
The following week on
February 12th in Dorton
Arena, Bearcat Wright and
Sandy Scott upset Gene and
Ole in a hotly contested
match. The Champions
demanded a rematch, and that
occurred the very next week
on February 19th. The fans
in Raleigh were treated to a
classic Championship Match,
as Wright and Scott were on
the verge of victory on
numerous occasions, only to
fall just short of unseating
Gene and Ole.
Danny Miller became the
first Mid-Atlantic
Television Champion during
the month, defeating Ole
Anderson in the Tournament
finals at the WRAL TV
studios in Raleigh on
February 27th. The bout
showcased two veterans who
knew each other’s styles
inside and out. Danny
withstood a vicious pounding
from Ole during a large
portion of the match, but
was able to catch Ole off
guard to capture the new
Title! Miller certainly
didn’t have an easy road to
becoming the first ever
Mid-Atlantic TV Champion.
The prior week, he advanced
to the finals of the
Tournament by getting by, of
all people, the invincible
masked Destroyer! But Danny
beat the odds throughout the
televised Tournament, and
wound up the territory’s
newest champion.
While it may be the year’s
shortest month, February in
1974 had a little bit of
everything for the fans of
Mid-Atlantic Championship
Wrestling. In addition to a
new Title belt being
introduced to the area, and
Danny Miller being crowned
Champion after a hotly
contested tournament on TV,
fans saw a real rarity
during the month when long
time bad guy Swede Hanson
began wrestling as a good
guy, battling his former
partner the Destroyer! Their
battles began late in
February, but this feud
looked to have the potential
to go strongly into March
and beyond!
WHO’S HOT
1. Danny Miller---Miller
went through a grueling
tournament to become the
first ever Mid-Atlantic
Television Champion. In
addition to that very
noteworthy achievement,
Miller was also active and
successful in tag team
competition during the
month.
2. Johnny Valentine---The
Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight
Champion had a strong month
in February, solidifying his
grasp on the Championship he
obtained in January. It was
starting to look like it
would take an act of
Congress to dislodge the
Mid-Atlantic belt from “The
Champ.”
3. Bearcat Wright---The
popular Wright continued to
look impressive during the
month of February. Bearcat
was a handful to any of the
area’s bad guys, whether he
was participating in single
or tag team competition.
WHO’S NOT
1. Jay York---The former
“Alaskan” only wrestled in
the early part of February,
was on the losing end of
those contests, and was
quickly out of the area
after that. Quite a
precipitous fall for someone
who was one half of the
Mid-Atlantic Tag Team
Champions in late December
of 1973.
2. Beauregarde---York’s
manager suffered pretty much
the same fate during
February. Beauregarde
wrestled more than he
managed, dropped all of his
matches, and was out of the
area quickly. Beauregarde
stayed around a little
longer than York, but the
“Beautiful One” was also out
of the territory for good by
month’s end.
3. Art Nelson---Nelson
wrestled three matches
during the early days of the
month, lost them all, and
was out of the area by the
end of February’s first
week. A strange exit for a
major player on the good guy
side of the roster of Jim
Crockett Promotions.
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© 2009 David Chappell
Mid-Atlantic Gateway
Published 7/30/09
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