January of 1974 saw the
crowning of a new
Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight
Champion, the continuation
of a feud of epic
proportions and a newcomer
that made everybody in Jim
Crockett Promotions take
notice!
Johnny Valentine ascended to
the Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight
Championship during the
month of January. With
former champion Jerry Brisco
leaving for Japan during the
month, Valentine looked more
formidable than ever with
the title belt around his
waist. Valentine’s first
defense of his new Title was
against Bob Bruggers at the
Park Center in Charlotte,
North Carolina. During the
remainder of the month,
Valentine had successful
defenses against Nelson
Royal in Columbia, South
Carolina on January 22nd,
and against Art Nelson at
the State Fairgrounds in
Richmond, Virginia on
January 25th.
The Scope Exhibition Hall in
Norfolk, Virginia saw back
to back titanic struggles
between Valentine and the
ultra popular Nelson Royal
at the end of the month,
even though they weren’t for
the Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight
Championship. On January
24th, Valentine and Royal
wrestled to a time-limit
draw, where Royal had
numerous chances to pull the
upset. A week later back at
Scope, Valentine and Royal
went at it again in a return
bout, with Valentine
capturing a very unexpected
pinfall, after Royal
controlled nearly the entire
match up to that point.
The mega-feud between the
Destroyer and Johnny Weaver
continued hot and heavy from
the end of 1973 into January
of 1974. The two battled on
even terms during the month
of January, with two
memorable time-limit draws
occurring in Fayetteville,
North Carolina on January
14th and in Greensboro,
North Carolina on January
17th. In Greenville, South
Carolina on January 7th, the
Destroyer captured a pinfall
victory over Weaver, after
weakening Johnny
considerably with his feared
claw hold.
Weaver won several of the
bouts with the Destroyer
during the month of January
via disqualification. In
Roanoke, Virginia on January
5th, Fayetteville, North
Carolina on January 21st and
Charleston, South Carolina
on January 25th, Johnny was
awarded victories when the
Destroyer got himself
purposely disqualified. One
of the wildest contests
between these two occurred
at the rematch in Roanoke,
which was on January 12th.
This bout ended in a double
disqualification, and during
the match, Weaver dominated
at times using his sleeper
hold, and the Destroyer
countered by subjecting
Weaver continually to the
ravages of his claw hold.
Towards the end of the
fracas, both wrestlers were
so out of control that the
referee disqualified both
combatants!
The Destroyer did not
confine all of his
activities during the month
of January to Johnny Weaver.
Towards the end of the
month, the Destroyer was on
Mid-Atlantic Championship
Wrestling television saying
that there was not any
worthy competition in the
area for him. George Scott,
who wasn’t actively
wrestling at the time, told
the Destroyer that he would
be happy to climb into the
ring with him, and show him
that there was plenty of
competition for the masked
man.
The Destroyer and George
Scott tangled soon
thereafter on Mid-Atlantic
Championship Wrestling TV
from the WGHP studios in
High Point, North Carolina.
During the televised match,
George Scott bled heavily
after being subjected to a
long period of time under
the Destroyer’s claw hold.
This TV match led to a
special grudge match between
the Destroyer and George
Scott on January 31st in
Winston-Salem, North
Carolina. During this bout,
Scott was injured seriously
and never returned to active
competition in the
Mid-Atlantic area
thereafter.
The Destroyer was also
active in tag team
competition during the month
of January. And what an
impressive partner the
masked man came up with,
being none other than big
Swede Hanson! Swede’s
regular partner, Rip Hawk,
was not active in the
Mid-Atlantic area during
January, thus allowing for
the fearsome pairing with
the Destroyer.
The new duo of the Destroyer
and Hanson had a memorable
series of matches with Art
Nelson and Johnny Weaver
during January. In both
Richmond, Virginia and
Roanoke, Virginia, these
four battled back and forth
during the month. In
Richmond, the two tangled
initially at the State
Fairgrounds on January 4th.
In a wild melee that
virtually turned into a
riot, both teams were
disqualified. Promoter Joe
Murnick nevertheless booked
the two teams for a return
match the next Friday night,
January 11th. The return
match was almost as wild and
crazy as the first bout! In
the rematch, the Destroyer
used some very sneaky
tactics to capture a pinfall
on the unsuspecting Weaver.
The two bouts in Roanoke at
the Starland Arena were
equally exciting. On January
19th, Nelson and Weaver put
together an impressive
performance in defeating the
Destroyer and Hanson. The
bad guys wanted a rematch,
and they got their wish the
very next week. On January
26th, the two teams were
matched up again in Roanoke,
this time in an Elimination
Match! In a bloody
encounter, the Destroyer
eliminated Weaver to be the
last man standing, thus
capturing the bout for his
team.
Mid-Atlantic Tag Team
Champions Gene and Ole
Anderson were extremely busy
during the month of January.
While the bulk of the
Andersons’ matches were
non-title affairs, the bouts
were nevertheless thoroughly
entertaining.
One of the most interesting
tag team programs during the
month of January saw Gene
and Ole face off in a
“Battle of the Bullies”
series of matches against
Jay York and Brute Bernard,
managed by the sneaky and
underhanded Beauregarde. The
Andersons had just recently
defeated York and Bernard
for the Mid-Atlantic Tag
Team Titles at the end of
December. These “bullies”
battled in Raleigh, North
Carolina on January 8th,
January 11th in Charleston,
South Carolina and in
Danville, Virginia on
January 16th. The match at
the Danville City Armory was
notably rough and rugged,
but ended far earlier than
any of the fans expected!
Gene put an end to this bout
by pinning York in a mere
9:49 of non-stop action.
The “good guy” tag team that
the Andersons faced most
often in the month of
January was the duo of
Bearcat Wright and Bob
Bruggers. These four hooked
up five times during the
month, with three bouts in
Spartanburg, South Carolina
being the most interesting.
The trio of matches started
in Spartanburg on January
12th, but these four were
just getting started in that
opening match! In the Return
Match on January 19th, the
fans in Spartanburg were
treated to an all out brawl,
with the Andersons
prevailing by using some
questionable tactics when
the referee’s back was
turned. However, Buggers and
Wright turned the tables in
the Return Grudge Match on
January 26th in Spartanburg,
with the superior size and
strength of Bearcat leading
to a clean pinfall victory
for the good guys.
In January of 1974, Gene and
Ole probably had their
toughest time against the
lightening fast team of
Nelson Royal and Sandy
Scott. While these teams
knew each other well, the
Andersons had a great deal
of difficulty solving the
quickness of Royal and
Scott. Gene and Ole were
fortunate that they only
encountered Royal and Scott
twice during the month, and
that both bouts were
non-title. Royal and Scott
captured clean wins against
the Andersons on January
17th in Norfolk, and on
January 21st in Greenville,
South Carolina.
The “Minnesota Wrecking
Crew” also had several bouts
against the high caliber
tandem of Art Nelson and
Johnny Weaver. In fact, the
Mid-Atlantic Tag Team
Champions closed out the
month with a successful
Title defense against Nelson
and Weaver on January 31,
1974 at the Winston Salem,
North Carolina Memorial
Coliseum.
Undoubtedly the most
humorous matches that
happened during the month of
January 1974 involved the
manager of Brute Bernard and
Jay York, “Beautiful”
Beauregarde. As the month
wore on, Beauregarde managed
less and less, and unluckily
for him, January saw him
wrestling in the ring more
and more!
Beauregarde’s in-ring action
during the month of January
took place almost
immediately, as he and Jay
York lost to Art Nelson and
Bobby Bold Eagle on January
2, 1974 at the Danville
Armory. Unlike the vast
majority of the matches
where Beauregarde
participated, the winning
pinfall was captured against
York. There were also
several matches during the
month where Beauregarde
teamed with both Jay York
and Brute Bernard, and the
trio did not fare well. One
particularly embarrassing
defeat for the trio was at
the Scope Exhibition Hall in
Norfolk on January 24th,
when Bearcat Wright, Bob
Bruggers and Sandy Scott
were especially rough on
poor Beauregarde!
Speaking of Sandy Scott,
Beauregarde suffered his
most embarrassing moments in
the ring against one-half of
the “Flying Scotts.” In
Norfolk on January 3rd,
Sandy destroyed the
“Beautiful One” in a
Non-Sanctioned, Lights Out
Match. And it got worse for
Beauregarde on January 11th
at the Lynchburg City Armory
in a Lights Out, No
Disqualification Match.
After chasing Beauregarde
throughout the Armory, Sandy
easily disposed of the
diminutive manager once he
caught up with him!
Interestingly enough,
Beauregarde’s lone victory
in the ring during the month
of January came against a
fellow manager, General
Homer O’Dell. O’Dell, the
manager of Rip Hawk and
Swede Hanson, did not
actively manage in the area
during January, but faced
Beauregarde in the ring in
the Greensboro Coliseum on
January 17, 1974. Somehow,
Beauregarde managed to score
a victory in this match
between the managers!
Towards the end of the
month, a massive newcomer
appeared and his mere
physical appearance was such
that everyone had to take
notice. Hailing from
California and standing six
feet and eight inches tall,
and weighing over 300
pounds, Chuck O’Connor
looked like the real deal.
Debuting at the Park Center
in Charlotte, North Carolina
on January 28th, O’Connor
teamed with the crazy man
Brute Bernard to defeat
Scott Casey and Nick DeCarlo.
It would be the first of
many wins for the massive
O’Connor.
January of 1974 brought in
the New Year with lots of
excitement and competitive
matches. But the two things
that will be best remembered
likely will be that January
1974 was the first month
that Johnny Valentine
reigned as Mid-Atlantic
Heavyweight Champion, and
January was the month that
the mega feud between the
Destroyer and Johnny Weaver
reached its apex. But by any
measuring stick, January of
1974 was quite a month!
WHO’S HOT
1. Johnny Valentine---The
rugged competitor from
Seattle, Washington rose to
the top in the month of
January, becoming the
Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight
Champion. Valentine’s
deliberate and cerebral
style in the ring was
looking extremely
formidable.
2. Gene and Ole
Anderson---The Minnesota
Wrecking Crew were coming
off their Mid-Atlantic Tag
Team Title victory in late
December, and they were out
to prove that they were
worthy Champions in January
of 1974. And did they
ever…slicing through tough
competition from multiple
teams.
3. Bearcat Wright---The big
newcomer continued to
impress during January of
1974. Bearcat was successful
in his single matches, and
functioned equally well as a
tag team partner also.
WHO’S NOT
1. Beauregarde---“Beautiful”
Beauregarde was certainly an
excellent manager, but he
was definitely not
“beautiful” in the ring! His
foray into wrestling was a
disaster…to put it mildly.
2. Jay York---His once
powerful tag team with Brute
Bernard crumbled during the
month, and he fell off in
his singles matches as well.
January was certainly not
Jay’s month.
3. Brute Bernard---The crazy
Brute didn’t have a great
month either. In addition to
his tag team with Jay York
hitting the skids, Brute’s
singles matches went
downhill as well. Bernard
had a few main events, but
he was more of a mid-card
performer in January of
1974.
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© 2009 David Chappell
Mid-Atlantic Gateway
Published 6/23/09
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