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The month of March 1974 saw
the return of a major star
to the Mid-Atlantic area and
the appearance of a
notorious villain in the
territory for the first
time. The month also marked
the end of a long standing
venue in the area, and the
formation of an impressive
new tag team combination.
Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight
Champion Johnny Valentine
continued to be a powerful
force during the month of
March. In the early days of
March, Valentine had
numerous Title defenses
against Jerry Brisco. Other
than a March 1st Title
encounter at the State
Fairgrounds in Richmond,
Virginia where Valentine was
disqualified, Johnny
defeated Brisco in the
remainder of their Title
bouts during March.
A particularly nasty bout
between these two occurred
on March 8th at the
Fairgrounds in Richmond in a
return match for the
Mid-Atlantic Title. In this
contest, Valentine
thoroughly dominated his foe
from Oklahoma in route to an
impressive pinfall victory.
This Title match also had
significance for a
completely different reason.
As it turned out, this was
the last wrestling match
ever held at the Virginia
State Fairgrounds at
Strawberry Hill. For many,
many years, the State
Fairgrounds had been the
almost exclusive venue for
wrestling matches in
Richmond. After this match,
bouts in Richmond were held
either at the Richmond Arena
or at the Richmond Coliseum.
Johnny Valentine abruptly
ended the return of Jerry
Brisco when he injured Jerry
in a Title bout in
Spartanburg, South Carolina
on March 9th. Jerry had
returned to the territory
only a few weeks before.
Brisco was hurt so badly in
the Spartanburg contest,
that the match had to be
stopped during a Valentine
onslaught when Brisco was
unable to defend himself.
For all intents and
purposes, Jerry Brisco
didn’t wrestle in the
Mid-Atlantic area again for
eight years after this
brutal beating.
After dispensing the
challenge of Brisco,
Valentine had the bulk of
his Title defenses in March
against Johnny Weaver. The
two “Johnny’s” had
particularly grueling sets
of Championship matches in
Charlotte, North Carolina
and Lynchburg, Virginia.
In Lynchburg on March 15th,
Valentine took the measure
of Weaver via Count Out, and
then in the return match the
next week, defeated Weaver
by Disqualification. In
Charlotte on March 11th,
Valentine received a rare
victory by disqualification
when Weaver struck the
referee, though likely
accidentally. The two came
back to the Park Center in
Charlotte the next week,
with Valentine capturing a
dominating win, even with
Valentine’s huge rival
Bearcat Wright as the
Special Referee!
Speaking of Bearcat Wright,
the big man was continuing
to have to fend off a $7,500
Bounty that Johnny Valentine
put on his head soon after
Bearcat arrived in the
Mid-Atlantic area. According
to Bearcat, the two had a
previous history from other
wrestling areas. Several
clips from arena matches
were shown on Mid-Atlantic
Championship Wrestling
television which showed
Valentine unnecessarily
punishing opponents after
the bell had sounded, and
Bearcat coming to the aid of
his fallen comrades.
One of the first wrestlers
that went after Valentine’s
“blood money” full bore was
the rugged giant, Chuck
O’Connor. On March 14th in
the Greensboro Coliseum,
Bearcat battled the
money-hungry O’Connor in a
Bounty Match. After a
see-saw match, Wright
finally subdued O’Connor
with a series of vicious
head butts. These types of
rough Bounty Matches were
what Bearcat would have to
endure over the next several
months.
Mid-Atlantic Tag Team
Champions Gene and Ole
Anderson continued to hold
onto their Championships
with a vice-like grip during
the month of March. In
March, the Andersons
defended their belts against
a wide variety of opponents,
that included teams made up
of top flight competitors
such as Bearcat Wright,
Danny Miller, Sandy Scott,
Johnny Weaver and Bob
Bruggers.
To show how heated
Mid-Atlantic Tag Team
Championship Matches
involving the Andersons were
during March of 1974, the
Champions actually won two
Title matches during the
month when their good guy
opponents were disqualified!
On March 5th at the Dorton
Arena in Raleigh, North
Carolina, the normally
stable duo of Bearcat Wright
and Sandy Scott became so
enraged with Gene and Ole
that the challengers lost by
disqualification. Likewise
on March 9th in Spartanburg,
South Carolina, Bob Bruggers
lost his cool with the
Anderson Brothers, got
himself disqualified, and
cost himself and teammate
Johnny Weaver a chance at
becoming the Mid-Atlantic
Tag Team Champions. Yes, the
Andersons could definitely
get their opponents riled
up!
Returning to the
Mid-Atlantic area as a
regular for the first time
in 1974 was “Number One”
Paul Jones. Paul’s comeback
match was on March 18th at
the Park Center in
Charlotte, and it was a
successful return, against
the wild man Brute Bernard.
Upon his return to the
territory, Paul also found
himself a new tag team
partner, the former Miami
Dolphins linebacker Bob
Bruggers. The Jones-Bruggers
tandem made their debut in
the Scope Exhibition Hall in
Norfolk, Virginia on March
21st. And the first bout for
this dynamic new team was a
stiff test against the wily
Bernard and massive Chuck
O’Connor. Bruggers and Jones
found a way to be victorious
in their debut match, and
this new team was turning
their sights to the top of
the mountain right away…the
Mid-Atlantic Tag Team
Champions Gene and Ole
Anderson!
The bad guy side of the
talent ledger also got a big
boost in the month of March
when “The Russian Bear” Ivan
Koloff entered the
Mid-Atlantic area. The burly
Russian was overpowering
during his early days in the
territory. Koloff’s first
bout in the area was a
dominating victory over the
talented L.D. Lewis in the
Lynchburg Armory in
Lynchburg, Virginia on March
15th. Ivan stayed busy
during the remainder of
March, crushing a series of
foes with his renowned “bear
hug.” Among his other
victims in March were Les
Thatcher, Abe Jacobs and
Scott Casey. Koloff looked
to be a major handful for
all of the good guys in the
Mid-Atlantic area.
 Mid-Atlantic Television
Champion Danny Miller
maintained the hold on his
new championship belt during
the month of March. The
master of the “chicken wing”
hold was impressive
throughout March, but Danny
had limited defenses of his
new Title, as the
Mid-Atlantic Television
Championship, still in its
infancy, was experiencing a
few growing pains. But
Miller had a noteworthy, and
successful, defense of his
new Title against the always
formidable Gene Anderson.
The two battled over the TV
Title in the main event of a
card in Bedford, Virginia on
March 27th. Danny took a
beating in Bedford, but
still walked out of the ring
as the TV Champ!
The bloody feud between
Swede Hanson and the
Destroyer continued to go on
hot and heavy during the
month of March. The two
giants battled in a slew of
specialty matches during the
month. Swede and the
Destroyer had hotly
contested “Two Referees”
matches in Richmond on March
1st, Roanoke, Virginia on
March 2nd and in Greenville,
South Carolina on March
18th. In all of these bouts,
the big Swede was awarded
the win because the
Destroyer fled the ring and
didn’t return. The two came
back to Roanoke’s Starland
Arena for a Return Match on
March 16th in a “Chain
Match,” which was a
particularly violent
encounter.
The Destroyer had better
results in “Lumberjack
Matches” with Hanson that
were held during March. In
Columbia, South Carolina on
March 19th, the Destroyer
handed Swede a tough defeat
after a spirited encounter.
And in Richmond, with help
from “lumberjack” Chuck
O’Connor, the Destroyer
posted a controversial win
over Swede in a Lumberjack
Match on March 15th.
It seemed that throughout
the month of March, the
Destroyer and Chuck O’Connor
were becoming quite chummy.
In fact, they formed an
impressive tag team. Their
size alone was enough to
give their opponents fits.
But one of the most
memorable matches of this
new team during March of
1974 was actually a loss. On
March 26th in Columbia,
former adversaries Johnny
Weaver and Swede Hanson
teamed up against the
Destroyer and O’Connor.
Weaver and Hanson worked
amazingly well together, and
pulled out a victory over
their massive foes to the
delight of the huge crowd in
attendance.
March of 1974 will certainly
be remembered for the
continuation of the
blistering hot feud between
the Destroyer and Swede
Hanson. But the appearances
of Paul Jones and Ivan
Koloff during March assured
fans of Mid-Atlantic
Championship Wrestling that
the talent level of the
promotion would just keep
getting better and better.
The spring of 1974 was
setting up to be off the
charts in the Mid-Atlantic
area!
WHO’S HOT
1. JOHNNY VALENTINE --- The
Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight
Champion continued to be at
his best during the month of
March. It was pretty clear
that someone was going to
have to wrestle the match of
their lives to unseat the
Champ.
2. IVAN KOLOFF --- The “Mad
Russian” burst on the scene
in March of 1974, and was
rolling over all of his
opponents like a stampede.
Koloff gave notice to all of
the good guys in the
Mid-Atlantic area that he
was a force to be reckoned
with.
3. PAUL JONES --- “Mr.
Number One” returned to Jim
Crockett Promotions in
March, and appeared to pick
up right where he left off.
Paul functioned equally well
in single and tag team
competition.
WHO’S NOT
1. JERRY BRISCO --- Jerry
stayed in the area in the
early part of the month,
having little luck against
rivals Johnny Valentine and
the Destroyer. When injured
in a match with Valentine
early in March, Brisco
immediately exited the
territory and was gone for
many years.
2. NELSON ROYAL --- Nelson
was touring Japan for a good
bit of the month of March,
but he did return at the end
of March. Royal was still
effective upon his return,
but slid down into more of a
mid-card status.
3. JOHNNY WEAVER --- Much
like his pal Nelson Royal,
Weaver was effective during
March, but was having more
difficulty putting away the
area’s toughest competitors,
like the Destroyer and
Johnny Valentine. Was Weaver
just having an off month, or
was March the start of a
real decline for Johnny?
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© 2009 David Chappell
Mid-Atlantic Gateway
Published 8/15/09
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