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The month of December
brought the year of 1974 to
an end, and the year did not
go out quietly! Numerous
title changes combined with
two of the most enduring
names in Jim Crockett
Promotions leaving the
territory, one never to
return again, highlighted
this historic month. Not to
mention a big star returning
to the area in early
December, only to lose a
“Loser Leaves Town” match on
Christmas Day and having to
leave the territory before
the month was even over!
Yes, December of 1974
featured a little bit of
everything!
At the beginning of the
month, the biggest title of
them all changed hands; but
not for long. NWA World’s
Heavyweight Champion Jack
Brisco dropped his coveted
belt in Kagoshima, Japan to
Giant Baba on December 2,
1974. However, it didn’t
take long for Brisco to
return the favor to Baba. On
December 9, 1974, Jack
reclaimed his prized belt,
defeating Baba in a rematch
in Toyohashi, Japan on
December 9, 1974. But this
would be just the first of
several titles affecting the
Mid-Atlantic area to change
hands during December!
The Mid-Atlantic Tag Team
Titles would be the next
titles to change hands, and
they did so in a very
unusual match. On December 6th
at County Hall in
Charleston, South Carolina
reigning champions Rip Hawk
and Ric Flair were signed to
defend their belts against
the upcoming duo of Paul
Jones and Tiger Conway, Jr.
However, Rip Hawk was a
no-show for the bout, and
the promotion surprisingly
allowed Brute Bernard to
take the place of Hawk. But
more surprisingly, the bout
continued to be a
Championship Match even
though Hawk didn’t
participate! The
Flair/Bernard team could
never get on track, and a
dazed Flair was pinned by
Paul Jones and the Titles
went over to the “good
guys!”
The new Champions then had a
potent team to challenge
them for the Titles several
times during the remainder
of the month. Ric Flair and
the “Russian Bear” Ivan
Koloff joined forces and
emerged as a threat to Jones
and Conway almost
immediately. On November 14th
in the Starland Arena in
Roanoke, Virginia, Jones and
Conway put their Titles up
for the first time against
the Flair/Koloff duo. In a
battle that had many ebbs
and flows, the new Champs
prevailed, but by the
narrowest of margins.
Closing out their Title
defenses for the month at
the Dorton Arena in Raleigh,
North Carolina, Jones and
Conway had another bruising
battle with Flair and
Koloff, but the Champs
managed to have their hands
raised, and walked out with
the Mid-Atlantic Tag Team
straps still around their
waists.
The final Title to change
hands during the month of
December was the
Mid-Atlantic Television
Title. Ivan Koloff began the
month with the TV belt, and
had several successful
defenses during the month.
But as the month wore on,
top challenger Paul Jones
was battling ever closer to
regaining the prestigious
Title. On December 2nd
in Fayetteville, North
Carolina in a Title match
with two Referees, Koloff
retained his TV belt by a
whisker. Then on December 12th
in the Scope Exhibition Hall
in Norfolk, Virginia, Koloff
again escaped with his
Championship when both he
and Jones were disqualified
for hitting the referee.
Then the next night at the
Richmond Coliseum in
Richmond, Virginia, the
“Russian Bear” escaped with
his belt for a final time
when both he and Jones were
counted out of the ring.
Koloff’s good fortune ran
out on December 26th
at the Greensboro Coliseum
in Greensboro, North
Carolina when he and Jones
once again met for the TV
Title. In this bout, Jones
set a blistering pace and in
a matter of a mere 13
minutes, upended Ivan to
once again become the
Mid-Atlantic Television
Champion! These two met one
more time for the TV belt
during the month, this time
with Paul Jones entering the
ring as the Champion. In
this match at the
Spartanburg Memorial
Auditorium in Spartanburg,
South Carolina on December
28th, Jones
handily retained his newly
won Championship.
Two major stars of Jim
Crockett Promotions left the
area in December, and these
were not just any stars!
Johnny Weaver and Rip Hawk,
both fixtures in the
Carolinas since the early
1960s exited the territory;
Weaver to return in the
autumn of 1975while Hawk
would never again wrestle in
Mid-Atlantic Championship
Wrestling.
Weaver had slipped into the
mid card ranks during the
fall of 1974, and while he
was no longer wrestling main
events, he was just as
popular with the fans as
ever. It was hard to imagine
a December of wrestling
action without Johnny
Weaver, but it was
unfortunately a reality.
Johnny’s last match in the
territory was on November 30th
in Spartanburg, dropping a
decision to Cowboy Parker.
Mid-Atlantic fans would not
see Weaver in the ring again
until the final days of
September in 1975.
Rip “The Profile” Hawk
finished his disastrous
series of bouts with former
longtime partner Swede
Hanson during the month of
December, and they went no
better than the matches
earlier in the year. In
Columbia, South Carolina on
December 3rd,
Hawk was pummeled and beaten
thoroughly by the big Swede
in a “Lights Out” Fence
Match. In the last match
between the two former
friends, Swede destroyed Rip
at the Richmond Coliseum on
December 13th in
another “Lights Out” Fence
Match. Hawk finished out the
month wrestling mid card
matches, with his last match
in the Mid-Atlantic area
being a tag team loss where
he and Mr. Fuji went down to
defeat to the tandem of Bob
Bruggers and Sandy Scott at
the Hampton Roads Coliseum
in Hampton, Virginia. Unlike
Johnny Weaver, Rip Hawk
would never again wrestle
for Jim Crockett Promotions.
The end of 1974 was
certainly the end of an era,
with Rip “The Profile”
Hawk’s departure from the
Mid-Atlantic Championship
Wrestling scene.
The one “Champ” who
maintained his Title belt
during the month of December
was none other than Johnny
“The Champ” Valentine! While
Valentine had to fend off
the challenges of Paul Jones
and Wahoo McDaniel during
the month, the “Champ’s”
toughest opponent during
December was the popular
Sonny King. Particularly
grueling were a series of
two out of three falls Title
matches that matched
Valentine and King.
The first of these two out
of three falls bouts
occurred at the Dorton Arena
in Raleigh, North Carolina
on December 3rd.
An added attraction in the
Raleigh match saw former
World Heavyweight Boxing
Champion Joe Louis keep
order as the special
referee! Valentine did not
see fit to follow the rules,
leading to Louis
disqualifying him, but that
result allowed Johnny to
retain his Title. Valentine
and King had another two out
of three falls Title match
at the Richmond Arena on
December 6th. Joe
Louis wasn’t the referee in
this encounter, but
Valentine was nevertheless
disqualified again, once
more holding onto his belt.
The final two out of three
falls battle between
Valentine and King was the
wildest of them all! In this
contest, held at County Hall
in Charleston, South
Carolina, both Valentine and
King were so out of control,
that both were disqualified.
While Johnny left the fracas
in Charleston with his
Mid-Atlantic Title intact,
he surely knew he was in a
titanic struggle.
Valentine was also active on
Mid-Atlantic Championship
Wrestling television during
the month. Johnny had a
spirited test for his 2000
silver dollars on TV against
the always formidable Danny
Miller during the month of
December. The two battled on
even terms for the first
seven minutes of the ten
minute time limit, until
there was a mid ring
collision that Danny got the
worst of. Valentine
recovered the quickest, and
was able to pin Miller and
capture a hard earned
victory. Johnny also had a
tough match on TV in
December against up and
comer Tommy Seigler. In a
back and forth contest,
Seigler surprisingly held
Valentine to a draw. And in
a humorous moment on
Mid-Atlantic Championship
Wrestling television during
December, color commentator
Big Bill Ward told the
viewing audience that rough
and tough Johnny Valentine
had some curious
hobbies…gardening and
painting! Even “Big Bill”
seemed highly perplexed
about those hobbies!
The animosity between the
two masked men in the
Mid-Atlantic area, the Super
Destroyer and the Avenger,
continued at a high level
during the month of
December. During a
Mid-Atlantic Championship
Wrestling television program
in December, the Avenger
came out to ringside and was
studying the Destroyer
during the Super D’s bout
against Tapu. The Avenger
then came over to the
broadcast area and told
announcers Bob Caudle and
David Crockett that he had
the secret to defeat the
Super Destroyer, and that
the Destroyer’s claw hold
would not work on him. And
after the Destroyer’s match
with Tapu was over, the
Avenger went into the ring
and was able to escape the
Destroyer’s claw hold not
once, but TWICE! And the
Avenger even captured a
three count on the Destroyer
during the melee, but since
it was not a scheduled
match, the Destroyer did not
have to unmask.
There were, however, a
number of scheduled matches
between the Super Destroyer
and the Avenger during the
month of December. For the
most part, the matches were
tag team bouts with the
masked men of course on
opposing sides. The major
singles match between the
Destroyer and the Avenger
took place at the Greenville
Memorial Auditorium in
Greenville, South Carolina
on Christmas night. The
Avenger gave the fans a
Christmas present,
dominating the Super
Destroyer from beginning to
end! However, the Super D.
managed to escape with his
mask intact…barely.
The Christmas night card in
Greenville had a very
interesting match as the
co-main event. The rugged
Missouri Mauler returned to
the area at the beginning of
the month, and was very
impressive in his December
bouts. That is, until he ran
into Sonny King on Christmas
night in Greenville! In a
“Loser Leaves Town” match,
King took the measure of the
Mauler and sent him packing!
So the Missouri Mauler
entered, and departed, the
area…all during the month of
December.
The month of December ended
with the promotion telling
the fans that the Anderson
Brothers and Ken Patera
would be entering the area
at the beginning of 1975.
And two year end highlight
shows, showcasing some of
the best matches from 1974,
aired on Mid-Atlantic
Championship Wrestling
television in a fitting end
to the wrestling year!
In one of the 1974 highlight
shows, announced by new
broadcaster Sam Menaker, the
fans saw taped matches
including a TV draw between
Johnny Valentine and NWA
World Champion Jack Brisco,
Valentine breaking Tim
Woods’ leg on TV, the
Wahoo-Valentine slugfest
from the High Point studios
soon after Wahoo entered the
area and a Wahoo/Super
Destroyer bout where Wahoo
took the mask off the
Destroyer, but the Super D.
covered his face with the
referee’s shirt, preserving
the masked man’s identity.
In the second 1974 highlight
show, announced by Bob
Caudle, the featured matches
included a TV time limit
draw between Tiger Conway,
Jr. and NWA Champ Jack
Brisco, Ivan Koloff
defeating Paul Jones for the
Mid-Atlantic Television
Championship in a TV match
and a wild tag team match
between the Super Destroyer
and Koloff against Paul
Jones and Wahoo McDaniel.
Yes, highlights definitely
abounded in December and
throughout the year of
1974…and 1975 looked to pick
up just where 1974 left off!
WHO’S HOT
1.
Paul Jones---It’s
a pretty big deal when a
wrestler wins one title
during the course of a
month, but “Mr. Number One”
did one better during the
month of December. After
capturing one half of the
Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Titles
early in the month, Jones
put an exclamation point on
the end of the month by
defeating Ivan Koloff for
the Mid-Atlantic TV Title on
the day after Christmas,
effectively ending his
bitter feud with the
“Russian Bear.”
2.
Sonny King---The
highly popular King gave
Johnny Valentine his
toughest bouts of 1974. And
Sonny also made the Missouri
Mauler’s stint in the
territory a quick one,
running the Mauler out of
the area in a “Loser Leaves
Town” match on Christmas
day, before the Mauler had
been in the territory for
even a full month!
3.
Swede Hanson---The
big Swede finished off his
former partner, Rip Hawk, in
several climactic bouts
during the month of
December. The dominance that
Swede showed over Rip during
the final months of 1974 was
astounding.
WHO’S NOT
1.
Rip Hawk---December
of 1974 truly marked the end
of an era when the “Ripper”
wrestled his last match ever
for Jim Crockett Promotions
at the end of the month.
Pretty much dropping all of
his matches in December
certainly didn’t tarnish the
overall body of work that
Rip built up over a decade
of excellence as a JCP main
eventer.
2.
Missouri
Mauler---The
Mauler steamrolled back into
the Mid-Atlantic area during
the early days of December,
only to be summarily
dispatched from the
territory by losing a “Loser
Leaves Town” match to Sonny
King on Christmas night in
Greenville. A very quick
exit for the burly grappler
from St. Joseph’s, Missouri!
3.
Johnny
Weaver---It
was a very strange month
indeed in December, without
seeing Johnny Weaver in a
Mid-Atlantic Championship
Wrestling ring. Johnny’s
last match in the area ended
on November 30th,
just minutes before the new
month began. There was
definitely a void felt
around the area in December,
with Johnny being strangely
absent.
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© 2010 David Chappell
Mid-Atlantic Gateway
Published 10/2/10
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