Friday November 28th, Kings Mountain, NC 

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OLE ANDERSON & TOMMY YOUNG WILL BE APPEARING AT THE MID-ATLANTIC WRESTLING LEGENDS CONVENTION & FANFEST

JANUARY 31 & FEBRUARY 1, 2004 IN CHARLOTTE.

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If you have spent much time on this website, you know I enjoy living in the past. I forget who it is on the KM discussion board that uses this expression to sign off on their posts, but I always identify with it - “Give me more of the past so I can enjoy the present.” George South did a wonderful job in letting me relive some of the past at his EWA show in Kings Mountain , NC this past Friday night.

Watching Ole Anderson, one of the all time greats in this business and one of my childhood heroes, work the room was like being in a time warp. He spent the whole night talking and taking pictures with fans, demonstrating wrestling holds, educating us on booking and shooting, and going into great detail on what it was like getting in the business 40 years ago compared to today.

Ole Anderson chats with Rob Walton

Tommy Young spent the night talking with fans, too. He watched all the matches closely, spent time talking with all the guys in the locker room, and on more than one occasion candidly remarked how impressed he was with the quality of work he saw that night. And Tommy Young saw the best in business up close over his near 20 year career.  Tommy just being there made the night pretty cool in and of itself. If you asked me to name two people I most associate with Mid-Atlantic Wrestling outside of the guys in the ring, it would be Bob Caudle and Tommy Young.

Tommy Young addresses the crowd at the Kings Mountain Armory with Ring Announcer Ralph Harkey

You don’t hear many “Rock and roll, rock and roll!” chants anymore, but Ricky Morton and George South worked the crowd into a frenzy during their main event match. That is, after they finally tied up. George was up to his legendary (and what I find very entertaining) stalling at the first of the match. #1 George South likes to milk it for everything it’s worth and he had the crowd hot when he and Ricky finally tied up.

All of George’s guys worked hard, Jason King even pulled double duty in front of a small, but incredibly enthusiastic crowd. I’ve never heard so much noise coming from such a relatively small number of people. They were clearly enjoying it as much as I was.

As much fun as the show was, it was equally great finally meeting in person friends from the Kayfabe message board, two great guys, Barry Caldwell and Rob Walton. Barry has contributed images and information for the Mid-Atlantic Gateway, and Rob has just launched a terrific online photo album of old photos from the Mid-Atlantic area from the late 70s and early 80s, and posts many of them across the KM boards. Rob also used to work for George until sidelined by injury, even once teaming with Masked Superstar Bill Eadie as Superstar #2 a few years back. That was a good role for him; the guy looks big and mean enough to have challenged the original Superstar #2 John Studd (RIP) for the spot! Barry and Michael Carpenter (another KM poster who helps George at his shows) also made my night by proudly wearing shirts they bought from our online store which support the site, Michael wearing the very cool STARRWARS event shirt and Barry with the Mid-Atlantic Gateway / Logo sweatshirt. (Thanks guys.) The only thing that could have made the night better would be to have David Chappell join us. David was celebrating his 5th wedding anniversary (Happy anniversary David & Diana!)

Barry Caldwell, me, and Rob Walton

The highlight of the night was the finish of the main event. On the day after George Bush did one of the greatest run-ins in political history putting his boots on Iraqi dirt to a huge pop in the Baghdad Airport, it was Tommy Young’s turn to get a big pop on the floor of the Kings Mountain National Guard Armory. George had hoped to talk Tommy into getting involved in one of his finishes, but Tommy wasn’t having any part of it. At about the 20 minute mark of the main event between George and Ricky Morton, Ricky took a shot from George and bailed out of the ring right in front of where Tommy and I were standing watching the match. Morton quickly whispered to Tommy, “Run in and make the count when the ref gets bumped, be ready,” and then quickly got back in the ring. Tommy just grinned at me and said “Well, I guess I have no choice now.” It was amazing watching George call this spot while holding Ricky in a rear chin lock on the mat. “Ricky thought I was nuts when I said I wanted Tommy in the ring”, George told me later. “But I had to do something (after the big stall)”.  George then had to get referee Jamie Tucker in on it, too. And it worked beautifully. Tucker gets caught in a criss-cross and goes down, Ricky rolls George up and there is no ref to make the count. The crowd is screaming, and suddenly there he is. Like it was 1976 all over again, Tommy Young hit the ring and made the three count and the Kings Mountain Armory went nuts. “Tommy, Tommy, Tommy!” we chanted. Ricky Morton walked out with the belt and George South demanded a rematch for the return date on Christmas night.

Tommy Young raises Ricky Morton's hand and presents him with the EWA belt. George South tells ring announcer Ralph Harkey he demands a rematch when the EWA returns Christmas night. 

Earlier that same day as I left Spartanburg, SC after spending Thanksgiving with family, I stopped for a quick sandwich at a local Chick-Fil-A. The store manager kept eyeing my Mid-Atlantic Wrestling logo sweatshirt. As he handed me my order at the counter he just smiled and said, “Those were the good old days.” 

He was right, and for another few hours I would get to remember the good old days so I could enjoy the present once again.

-Dick Bourne, November 29, 2003

Shaking hands with The Rock, Ole Anderson.

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