As far as personal favorites go, this Friday night August 1, 1975 Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling card at the Richmond Coliseum was the best of them all for me. A lot of that is based on the quality of the matches that night, but a good bit is also based on sentimentality and how it ended up being historically significant as it involved two of my all-time favorite Jim Crockett Promotions wrestlers never again appearing in the Richmond Coliseum after that night.
This card was loaded with great matches, but I’d have to say that the main event probably drew the majority of fans to the building that night. And if the Coliseum wasn’t sold out that night, it was very close to it. This card was the longest night I ever spent at the Coliseum, which as an early teenager at the time, it was awesome getting home around 1:30 in the morning! And that Saturday afternoon, telling everybody at a family reunion where my father and I had been the night before! And because of the length of the card, it also had to be the smokiest night ever at the Coliseum! But somehow, reeking of cigarette smoke for a day or so after this card didn’t make a bit of difference to me!
The main event for this Richmond lineup was a bout for the NWA World Tag Team Titles between champions Gene and Ole Anderson, and the challengers Paul Jones and Wahoo McDaniel. The special stipulation for this match was that the match had a 90 minute time limit! That stipulation would come into play in a big way during this Title match!
To fully appreciate the magnitude of this match, a little bit of brief historical context might assist. Gene and Ole Anderson brought the NWA World Tag Team Titles into the area at the beginning of 1975, and appeared all but unbeatable for the first few months of the year. However in mid May, the Champions were upset by the wildly popular duo of Paul Jones and Wahoo McDaniel. Jones and Wahoo held the Titles for about a month, until they were defeated on TV for the belts by the Anderson’s in the famous “Supreme Sacrifice” match where Ole ran Gene’s head into Wahoo, resulting in the winning pinfall for the bad guys.
Immediately
after
the
Anderson’s
regained
the
World
Titles
back,
the
chase
was
on,
and
Paul
and
Wahoo
made
ferocious
attempts
to
win
back
the
belts.
These
return
matches
were
some
of
the
greatest
tag
team
matches
that
the
Mid-Atlantic
area
ever
produced.
The
program
started
with
60
minute
time
limit
matches,
progressed
to
90
minute
time
limits
and
climaxed
with,
believe
it
or
not,
two
hour
time
limit
matches
throughout
the
territory!
Richmond’s
first
rematch
between
the
two
teams
was
on
the
4th
of
July,
with
the
teams
going
to
a
memorable
60
minute
draw.
When
it
was
announced
that
the
August
1st
card
would
feature
a
NINETY
minute
time
limit
bout,
it
seemed
inconceivable
that
the
teams
could
last
even
a
minute
beyond
the
60
minutes
of
the
previous
Richmond
match!
The
90
minute
time
limit
match
on
August
1st
was
simply
the
best
tag
team
match
I’ve
ever
seen.
The
Anderson’s
dominated
for
stretches
using
their
patented
“Tag
and
Block”
maneuvers,
keeping
their
opponent
in
the
ring
from
reaching
his
tag
partner.
Paul
Jones
suffered
the
majority
of
the
abuse
in
this
match,
having
his
arm
jacked
up
behind
his
back
and
being
body
slammed
on
that
arm
innumerable
times.
Both
Anderson’s
would
try
to
wrench
Paul’s
arm
out
of
the
shoulder
socket
time
after
time,
but
Jones
would
never
submit…though
the
fans
were
sweating
bullets
through
the
whole
match
thinking
he
would!
When
Paul
would
finally
make
the
“hot”
tag
to
Wahoo,
the
noise
in
the
Coliseum
was
deafening!
The
chops
that
Wahoo
hit
Gene
and
Ole
with
were
as
hard
and
vicious
as
I
have
ever
seen
in
a
professional
wrestling
match.
How
Gene
and
Ole
were
able
to
continue
after
being
on
the
receiving
end
of
those
tomahawk
chops
still
boggles
my
mind!
When
the
match
surpassed
the
60
minute
mark,
I
think
it’s
fair
to
say
that
nobody
in
attendance
believed
that
the
combatants
could
reach
the
90
minute
mark.
During
the
final
third
of
the
match,
the
Wahoo
and
Jones
duo
clearly
had
the
better
of
the
action.
As
the
minutes
ticked
off,
Gene
and
Ole
were
increasingly
grabbing
the
ring
ropes
in
an
attempt
to
break
the
momentum
of
the
challengers.
When
the
match
got
to
the
85
minute
mark,
Paul
and
Wahoo
were
dragging
the
exhausted
and
staggering
Anderson’s
into
the
middle
of
the
ring
and
were
getting
a
series
of
near
three
counts.
And
at
the
very
end
of
the
match,
Gene
Anderson
was
pinned
for
a
three
count,
but
only
after
the
bell
had
rung
to
signal
the
end
of
the
90
minutes!
Incredibly,
the
match
ended
as
a
90
minute
draw!
Leaving
the
Coliseum’s
smoke
into
the
early
morning
summertime
air,
I
knew
I
had
seen
one
of
the
greatest
wrestling
matches
anywhere
at
anytime!
And
I
knew
Paul
and
Wahoo
got
the
best
of
the
Anderson’s
at
the
end!
Even
to
this
day,
my
father
who
took
me
to
this
card,
says
that
at
the
end
of
the
match,
Gene
and
Ole
“were
flopping
around
the
ring,
like
fish
out
of
water.”
Of
all
the
matches
my
father
took
me
to,
he
only
still
talks
about
one…the
90
minute
time
limit
draw
on
August
1,
1975.
That
alone
makes
this
card
extra
special
to
me!
A
month
or
so
after
the
90
minute
draw,
the
Richmond
Coliseum
got
the
two
hour
time
limit/No
Disqualification
“blow
off”
match
of
this
incredible
tag
team
program.
To
heighten
the
two
hour
stipulation,
the
promotion
had
that
match
go
on
earlier
during
the
card.
That
tended
to
take
some
of
the
steam
out
of
the
match,
and
it
paled
in
comparison
to
the
90
minute
draw.
The
semi-final
bout
on
the
August
1,
1975
card
was
also
an
extremely
memorable
match.
Johnny
“The
Champ”
Valentine
put
his
United
States
Heavyweight
Championship
on
the
line
against
“The
World’s
Strongest
Wrestler,”
Ken
Patera.
Valentine
had
won
the
U.S.
Championship
only
a
month
or
so
earlier,
so
it
was
a
big
deal
to
see
“The
Champ”
defending
this
new
prestigious
belt!
Several
weeks
prior
to
this
Richmond
bout,
Patera
wrestled
Valentine
for
his
$2,000
silver
dollars
on
television,
and
Ken
had
Valentine
flat
out
in
the
ring
when
the
10
minute
time
limit
expired.
Based
on
that
strong
showing,
many
in
the
crowd
were
confident
that
Patera
would
become
the
new
United
States
Champion
on
August
1st!
To
me,
Valentine’s
ring
entrance
that
night
was
hauntingly
eerie.
Always
deliberate
coming
to
the
ring,
Valentine
seemingly
took
forever
to
reach
the
ring
on
this
night!
And
on
his
trek
to
the
ring,
Valentine
had
the
fans
in
a
frenzy
against
him!
This
championship
bout
had
a
45
minute
time
limit,
and
the
lengthy
bout
came
within
a
couple
of
minutes
of
being
a
draw.
Much
like
their
match
on
TV,
Patera
dominated
the
bout
and
controlled
Valentine
for
the
most
part.
In
fact,
Ken
kept
Valentine
in
a
vice-like
head
lock
for
a
large
portion
of
the
match.
Whenever
it
appeared
that
Johnny
would
pass
out
from
the
pressure
that
Ken
was
applying,
the
“Champ”
was
able
to
make
the
ropes
and
require
Patera
to
break
the
hold.
Then
almost
immediately,
Ken
would
get
the
headlock
back
on
Valentine!
Every
test
of
strength
during
the
match
went
in
favor
of
Patera,
and
gave
the
fans
the
feeling
that
Patera
was
doing
so
well
that
it
was
almost
too
good
to
be
true.
As
it
turned
out,
it
was
too
good
to
be
true.
Around
the
40
minute
mark,
Valentine
managed
to
get
the
jump
on
Ken,
slipped
behind
him,
and
delivered
a
devastating
suplex.
Patera
kicked
out,
but
a
fraction
of
a
second
after
the
referee
counted
three.
The
result
left
the
fans
in
stunned
disbelief.
What
happened
a
few
months
later
was
even
more
stunning.
Valentine’s
injuries
in
the
Wilmington,
North
Carolina
plane
crash
ensured
that
his
August
1,
1975
match
against
Patera
was
his
last
appearance
ever
in
the
Richmond
Coliseum.
Now
thinking
back
with
that
bit
of
history,
Valentine’s
extra
long
ring
entrance
that
night
seems
all
the
more
eerie.
The
third
match
from
the
top
of
the
card
was
also
a
fascinating
matchup.
The
flamboyant
Mid-Atlantic
Television
Champion
Ric
Flair
battled
the
muscular
newcomer
from
Roanoke,
Virginia,
Tony
Atlas.
Tony
had
come
on
the
scene
only
about
a
month
earlier,
and
had
a
physique
unlike
anybody
in
the
Mid-Atlantic
area.
More
than
once,
announcer
David
Crockett
said
Tony
“has
a
body
like
a
Greek
God!”
This
match
in
Richmond
was
likely
the
first
time
Atlas
had
been
up
against
a
main
event
caliber
opponent,
so
it
figured
to
have
a
lot
of
intrigue.
Instead,
it
was
the
most
disappointing
match
of
the
night.
After
several
tests
of
strength
at
the
beginning
of
the
match,
won
by
Atlas,
Ric
put
on
his
track
shoes
and
ran
from
Tony.
After
a
few
fits
and
starts
back
in
the
ring,
Ric
took
off
for
good,
with
Tony
in
close
pursuit!
Tony’s
win
by
disqualification
didn’t
give
the
fans
much
indication
as
to
where
he
stood
with
the
elite
in
Mid-Atlantic
Championship
Wrestling,
but
certainly
legitimized
his
awesome
strength!
The
remaining
matches
on
this
August
1,
1975
card
were
all
strong
and
entertaining
in
their
own
ways.
A
tag
team
bout
involving
Art
Nelson
and
Doug
Gilbert
against
Bob
Bruggers
and
Don
Serrano
was
one
that
I
looked
forward
to
seeing,
because
Art
Nelson
was
always
one
of
my
favorites
but
had
been
slipping
down
the
cards.
Actually,
his
partner
Doug
Gilbert
had
been
sliding
down
the
cards
during
the
early
part
of
the
summer
as
well.
The
power
of
Nelson
and
the
chicanery
of
Gilbert
was
too
much
for
the
team
of
Bruggers
and
Serrano,
and
the
bad
guys
pulled
out
a
hard
fought
victory.
Bruggers
was
another
former
main
eventer
in
the
Mid-Atlantic
area,
who
had
slid
well
down
the
cards
by
August
of
1975.
The
other
tag
team
match
of
the
evening
was
a
lot
of
fun
to
watch…it
was
a
midget
tag
team
match!
Having
two
midget
tag
teams
paired
against
each
other
was
certainly
a
rarity!
The
team
of
Cowboy
Lang
and
Little
Louie
defeated
the
duo
of
Lord
Littlebrook
and
Little
John.
I
remember
how
impressed
I
was
at
how
many
maneuvers
the
midget
wrestlers
could
execute,
and
the
power
they
possessed
in
their
small
frames.
The
first
two
bouts
of
the
evening
featured
a
couple
of
promising
newcomers
to
the
area
on
the
good
guy
side
of
the
ledger.
Steve
Keirn,
the
reigning
NWA
Rookie
of
the
Year,
bested
Charlie
Fulton
in
a
fast
paced
match
that
nearly
went
the
time
limit.
Keirn
had
a
quickness
and
presence
about
him
that
stood
out
in
my
mind.
Another
newcomer,
Ron
Starr,
also
looked
good
in
defeating
the
masked
Blue
Scorpion.
Starr
was
a
little
larger
than
Keirn,
but
seemed
to
possess
the
same
type
of
attributes.
I
remember
thinking
that
Starr
and
Keirn
would
make
a
good
tag
team,
and
in
fact
they
did
team
several
times
later
in
August.
Something
I
learned
in
later
years
made
this
August
1,
1975
date
and
card
stand
out
to
me
more
than
ever.
On
the
other
end
of
the
Mid-Atlantic
area
in
Charleston,
South
Carolina
on
August
1st,
the
Super
Destroyer
wrestled
his
last
match
for
Jim
Crockett
Promotions.
The
Super
D.
was
always
one
of
my
favorites,
and
I
wished
his
last
match
in
the
Mid-Atlantic
area
would
have
been
in
Richmond.
I
now
think
about
what
must
have
been
going
on
in
the
Destroyer’s
last
Mid-Atlantic
match
in
Charleston,
as
I
was
simultaneously
watching
the
Richmond
bouts
on
the
same
date
and
time.
But
it’s
hard
to
quibble
with
what
I
saw
at
the
Richmond
Coliseum
on
August
1,
1975,
even
without
the
departing
Super
Destroyer
in
attendance.
The
Richmond
Coliseum
on
August
1,
1975
gave
my
Dad
and
I
memories
that
just
won’t
quit!
Enough
to
make
it
Richmond’s
third
best
Mid-Atlantic
Championship
Wrestling
card
in
history!
-
David
Chappell
Richmond’s
first
rematch
between
the
two
teams
was
on
the
4th
of
July,
with
the
teams
going
to
a
memorable
60
minute
draw.
When
it
was
announced
that
the
August
1st
card
would
feature
a
NINETY
minute
time
limit
bout,
it
seemed
inconceivable
that
the
teams
could
last
even
a
minute
beyond
the
60
minutes
of
the
previous
Richmond
match!