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The month of September 1974
got off to a torrid start,
with the Mid-Atlantic
Championship Wrestling
television show taped on
September 4th being one of
the most exciting in recent
memory. In addition, both
Andre the Giant and NWA
World Heavyweight Champion
Jack Brisco made passes
through the area during the
first week in September.
Jack Brisco wrestled a rare
match in the WRAL studios on
that September 4th taping,
and took on a very worthy
contender in young Tiger
Conway, Jr. The World
Champion had his hands full
with Tiger, even having to
resort to some shortcuts
against Conway. Commentator
David Crockett even once
remarked that he had never
seen Brisco wrestle such a
vicious style. The two
wrestled a classic match
that would be shown later by
the promotion on several of
its year in review highlight
shows. While the match ended
in a time limit draw, both
Crockett and play by play
announcer Bob Caudle said
they would have had Conway
winning the match if it were
judged on points.
Another top flight match on
the September 4th TV show
was a rugged bout between
the “Russian Bear” Ivan
Koloff and burly Art Nelson
against Nelson’s former tag
team partner Johnny Weaver
and Bob Bruggers. Koloff was
on a real high, after
recently putting Ed
Wiskowski out of wrestling,
severely injuring Ed’s back
during a previous TV match.
The action in this tag team
match between Nelson and
Weaver was particularly
brutal! But eventually all
four wrestlers got totally
out of control, and referee
Angelo Martinelli had no
choice but to disqualify all
four combatants!
The super-spectacular
September 4th TV show also
had a whale of a match
between the masked Super
Destroyer and Chief Wahoo
McDaniel. Several weeks
before this television bout,
the Super Destroyer had
begun wearing a crown into
the ring, and was referring
to himself as the “King of
Wrestling.” Wahoo took
exception to this, and
actually took possession of
the Destroyer’s crown, and
carried the crown with him
to his matches! The
Destroyer and Wahoo were
having quite a match, and
Wahoo seemed to gain the
advantage when he captured
the masked man in his
painful abdominal stretch.
However, at that moment, the
cagey Ivan Koloff came into
the TV studio, snatched
Wahoo’s headdress that was
made for him by his father,
and tore it to shreds. While
he was awarded the match
because of Koloff’s
interference, Wahoo was
distraught over the
destruction of his
headdress. And during the
melee, the Super Destroyer
regained possession of his
crown!
This incident led to some
wild bouts in September
between the Super Destroyer
and Koloff against Wahoo and
his outstanding partner,
“Number One” Paul Jones.
These two teams established
themselves as top teams
during the month of
September. In two of the
area’s main cities, these
two teams split rough and
tumble bouts. In Richmond,
Virginia on September 20th,
Jones and Wahoo earned a
hard-fought victory in a
back and forth contest. At
the end of the month in
Greenville, South Carolina,
the Super D. and the Russian
Bear pulled out a bloody
victory on September 30th.
The hatred between these two
teams was reaching the
boiling point!
In September, Wahoo also had
several classic arena
battles in singles
competition against the
Super Destroyer. Perhaps the
most memorable of all their
battles was a contest at
Charlotte’s Park Center on
September 23rd. In this bout
for the ages, a bloody Wahoo
ripped the mask off of the
Destroyer, but at that same
instant, the Super D. pulled
referee Sonny Fargo’s shirt
off of him and covered his
face, running feverishly out
of the ring without anybody
seeing his identity. Wahoo
was given the decision via a
count out, but everyone in
attendance finally knew for
sure that the Super
Destroyer’s mask COULD come
off!
In addition to his bout on
Mid-Atlantic Championship
Wrestling television, NWA
World Heavyweight Champion
Jack Brisco made an extended
pass through the territory
during the first week of
September. Brisco took on
wrestlers from both the good
guy and bad guy side of Jim
Crockett Promotion’s roster,
for his coveted Title.
Mid-Atlantic Television
Champion Paul Jones got
three shots at Brisco’s belt
during the month, largely
putting his TV Title on the
shelf during September. Paul
won his first bout against
Brisco by disqualification
on September 3rd in
Columbia, South Carolina but
fell to the World Champion
two days later in Norfolk,
Virginia at the Scope
Coliseum. Jones and Brisco
also battled in Roanoke,
Virginia on September 7th.
Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight
Champion Johnny “The Champ”
Valentine also got a chance
at Brisco’s World
Championship. On September
2nd, Jack and Johnny had a
ferocious battle in the
Greenville Memorial
Auditorium, which saw both
combatants get disqualified!
Perhaps the most intriguing
of Brisco’s Title defenses
came against the masked
Super Destroyer on September
6th at the Richmond
Coliseum. This bout had the
Destroyer promising to
unmask if he lost, but the
masked man also promised to
unmask if he won!! Richmond
fans were very much
expecting to see a World
Title change or an unmasking
that night, but alas,
neither occurred!
The “Eighth Wonder of the
World” Andre the Giant also
made a pass through the area
during the first week in
September. On September 5th
in Greensboro, North
Carolina, Andre took the
measure of the Super
Destroyer via a
disqualification win. Two
days later in Hampton,
Virginia, the Giant teamed
with Wahoo McDaniel against
the devious duo of the Super
Destroyer and Ivan Koloff.
Using their overwhelming
size advantage, Andre and
Wahoo defeated the bad guys
to the delight of the huge
throng assembled at the
Hampton Roads Coliseum.
Mid-Atlantic Champ Johnny
Valentine had a busy month
defending his prestigious
belt against the likes of
Wahoo McDaniel, Paul Jones
and Sonny King. Johnny’s
battles against Sonny King
became particularly bitter
during the month of
September. The fans at
County Hall in the port city
of Charleston, South
Carolina got to see two
classic battles between
Valentine and King on
successive Friday nights. On
September 20th, the Champ
and King battled to a wild
double disqualification
finish in a Title matchup.
The following Friday,
September 27th, Sonny got a
rematch in Charleston that
showcased his highly honed
boxing skills…a 10 Round
fight! Valentine, while
being out of his element,
managed to hold his own for
the most part in this boxing
match. King took an 8th
round TKO victory over
Johnny that surely gave him
a measure of revenge against
his arch-rival Valentine.
Valentine also continued to
put up his 2,000 silver
dollars during the month of
September. One of Johnny’s
toughest silver dollar
challengers in a long while
was the popular Nelson
Royal. On the Mid-Atlantic
Championship Wrestling
television show that was
taped on September 11th,
Nelson gave Valentine quite
a battle for the 2,000
silver dollars. Valentine
ultimately prevailed, and
seemed to have a knack of
pulling out silver dollar
victories from the jaws of
defeat!
Mid-Atlantic Tag Team
Champions Rip Hawk and Ric
Flair had an active month in
September defending their
Titles. During September,
Hawk and Flair had notable
defenses against the dynamic
duo of Paul Jones and Wahoo
McDaniel on September 12th
in Burlington, North
Carolina and the champs
suffered a painful
disqualification loss to the
exciting duo of Sonny King
and Swede Hanson on
September 23rd in the
Greenville Memorial
Auditorium.
But it was the newly formed
team of Paul Jones and Tiger
Conway, Jr. that looked to
be the strongest challengers
to Hawk and Flair. Jones and
Conway blended well in the
ring, and if first
impressions mean anything,
Hawk and Flair had trouble
on their hands! These four
battled over the
Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Titles
on September 19th in
Waynesboro, Virginia, on
September 28th in Roanoke,
Virginia and on September
30th in Charlotte, North
Carolina. While the “Ripper”
and Flair maintained a hold
on their Title belts through
these three battles, there
was no doubt by the end of
September that Paul Jones
and Tiger Conway, Jr.
possessed all of the
qualities necessary to
become the new Mid-Atlantic
Tag Team Champions!
A recap of September of 1974
wouldn’t be complete without
mentioning two major feuds
between former partners that
continued to simmer during
the month. Art Nelson and
Johnny Weaver continued to
go at it during September,
with Weaver clearly getting
the better of the battles.
The two confronted each
other in consecutive weeks
in the Scope Exhibition Hall
in Norfolk, Virginia, and
both bouts were furious in
their intensity. On
September 12th, Weaver
prevailed against Nelson in
a bruising contest. Wanting
to defeat Johnny more than
ever, Nelson hooked up with
Weaver on September 19th in
Norfolk in a rematch, but
this time with a special
stipulation, that it would
be a Taped Fist Match! Blood
flowed freely in this return
match, but Weaver once again
pulled out a hard fought win
against his former partner.
But THE feud between former
partners was Rip Hawk versus
Swede Hanson! These two
continued to battle it out
all through the month of
September, with Swede
continuing to dominate the
action to the delight of his
many fans. Early in the
month, Swede pulverized Rip
in a Texas Death Match at
the Dorton Arena in Raleigh,
North Carolina on September
3rd. Then later in the
month, Rip endured lots more
punishment down in South
Carolina! In the Greenville
Memorial Auditorium on
September 9th, Swede
prevailed in a straight up
bout, and then the next week
in Greenville, Hanson
pulverized Hawk in an
exciting Lumberjack match.
Further into the month of
September, Rip faced
additional “double trouble”
in the Township Auditorium
in Columbia, South Carolina.
On September 17th, Swede
whipped Rip in a straight up
match where Rip kept running
from the ring. Hanson got a
special stipulation for the
return match in Columbia the
following week, where 2
referees would be overseeing
the action. So on September
24th, Rip’s antics were
scrutinized more closely by
the officials! And the
result was the same, with
another impressive victory
by Swede over his former
partner.
September of 1974 saw
numerous NWA World Title
matches in the area, and the
heating up of tag team
competition, which had
slowed down over the prior
few months. And speaking of
hot, Swede Hanson was
burning up former partner
Rip Hawk during September!
October loomed on the
horizon, with a major title
change and a major angle
that would last for a year
getting ready to burst on
the Mid-Atlantic
Championship Wrestling
scene!
WHO’S HOT
1. Wahoo McDaniel---The
great Indian Chief continued
to be ultra impressive
during the month of
September. Wahoo was
chopping anybody who got
into his path into
submission! And he even
closed out the month by
pulling the mask off of the
Super Destroyer.
2. Swede Hanson---The big
Swede continued to make
mincemeat out of Rip Hawk
during the month. It was
hard to believe these
matches between the two
hated rivals were so
one-sided!
3. Paul Jones---“Mr. Number
One” battled World Champion
Jack Brisco on even terms
during the month, and his
tag team combination with
Tiger Conway, Jr. was
looking quite impressive.
WHO’S NOT
1. Rip Hawk---The “Ripper”
continued to come out a very
distant second during his
battles with former partner
Swede Hanson. Rip reached
deep into his bag of tricks,
but could not find an answer
to the power of the big
Swede.
2. Art Nelson---Like Rip,
the bruising competitor from
Atlanta, Georgia also had
big problems with a former
partner…Johnny Weaver. While
Art’s matches with Weaver
were competitive, Nelson
seemed to always come out on
the short end.
3. Chuck O’Connor---The
mammoth grappler from
California slumped during
the month of September. With
his size alone, O’Connor
should have posted a much
better won/loss record.
Though, O’Connor and Brute
Bernard were clicking fairly
well as a tag team.
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© 2010 David Chappell
Mid-Atlantic Gateway
Published 4/11/10
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