MID-ATLANTIC
GATEWAY
Photos are not in historical order.
TOP ROW (L-R): Wahoo McDaniel & Paul Jones, Gene &
Ole Anderson, Dick Slater & Dusty Rhodes
2ND ROW (L-R): Ric Flair & Greg Valentine, Jimmy Snuka & Paul
Orndorff, Ray Stevens & Greg Valentine
3RD ROW: , Jay Youngblood & Ricky
Steamboat, Dino Bravo & Mr. Wrestling Tim
Woods, Jimmy Snuka and Ray Stevens,
4TH ROW: Paul Jones & Baron Von
Raschke, Ric Flair & Blackjack Mulligan
In 1975, Gene and Ole
Anderson won a tournament in California (a fictitious tournament) to claim the NWA World Tag
Team Championships. The original NWA world tag team title belts were
crafted by Reggie Parks and were used from their introduction in
1975 until they were permanently replaced by the "gold eagle" cast
belts around 1980.
Teams that wore the
original belts were Gene and Ole Anderson, Wahoo McDaniel and Paul
Jones, Wahoo McDaniel and Rufus R. Jones, "Mr. Wrestling" Tim Woods
and Dino Bravo, Ric Flair and Greg Valentine, Dusty Rhodes and Dick
Slater, Greg Valentine and Baron Von Raschke, Jimmy Snuka and Paul Orndorff, Paul Jones and Baron Von
Raschke, Ric Flair and Blackjack Mulligan, Ricky Steamboat and Jay
Youngblood, and Greg Valentine and Ray Stevens, and Jimmy Snuka and
Ray Stevens.
The photo above is a
snapshot taken by Reggie Parks in late 1974 (courtesy
Reggie Parks Championship Belts) of the original belts before
they were shipped to Jim Crockett Promotions. Look closely and you
will notice the small chains that connect the plates to each other.
The chains didn't last long with ring wear.
Ole Anderson is seen here with replicas
of the NWA World Tag Team championship belts. The photo was taken in
January 2007 at his home in Toccoa, GA. The custom replica belts seen
in both photos above were crafted
by Dave Millican (www.davemillicanbelts.com). They were engraved using the original Reggie Parks
artwork for the original belts from 1974, and are part of the Mid-Atlantic Gateway
Collection. The replicas were made without the chains and include
all six side plates, although the replica belts are folded and
snapped so that the outer plates aren't seen in the above photo.
In 1978, there was a period of around eight months where different
belts were used, commonly known as the "blue belts". Only two teams
(Steamboat/Jones and Valentine/Raschke) wore those belts. By the
time Valentine and Raschke lost the titles to Snuka and Orndorff,
the original belts had returned. It is not known why the original
belts were temporarily dropped and blue belts
were briefly used.
We are looking for posed photos of the
following teams wearing the original NWA world tag team title belts:
Wahoo McDaniel & Rufus R. Jones
Greg Valentine and Baron Von Raschke
(We
need ANY photo of these teams with the titles.)
Ric Flair & Blackjack Mulligan
Paul Jones & Baron Von Raschke
(We need better photos of these teams
with the belts.)
And we are also always looking for new
photos of the other champions as well, perhaps better photos than
those we have. If you could help us with photos, please e-mail us at
midatlanticgateway@gmail.com.
* * * * *
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: The photos used above
featuring the NWA tag champions were taken from various sources,
including Mid-Atlantic Wrestling Magazine published by Jim
Crockett Promotions. The photo of the original NWA tag belts was
taken by Reggie Parks and is used with permission of Reggie Parks
Belts. The photos of Ole Anderson and the replica NWA tag belts were
taken by Dick Bourne © 2007 Mid-Atlantic Gateway.
Contributions: Chris Kovachis, Bill
Janosik, Scooter Leslie, James Bowen
PHOTO
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