David Chappell's

Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling History

September 1974

by David Chappell


The Almanac

Almanac Index

September 74 Roster


Championship Picture This Month: (no changes)

 

NWA WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT---Jack Brisco

MID-ATLANTIC HEAVYWEIGHT---Johnny Valentine

MID-ATLANTIC TAG TEAM---
Rip Hawk and Ric Flair

MID-ATLANTIC TELEVISION---
Paul Jones


 



 

The month of September 1974 got off to a torrid start, with the Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling television show taped on September 4th being one of the most exciting in recent memory. In addition, both Andre the Giant and NWA World Heavyweight Champion Jack Brisco made passes through the area during the first week in September.

Jack Brisco wrestled a rare match in the WRAL studios on that September 4th taping, and took on a very worthy contender in young Tiger Conway, Jr. The World Champion had his hands full with Tiger, even having to resort to some shortcuts against Conway. Commentator David Crockett even once remarked that he had never seen Brisco wrestle such a vicious style. The two wrestled a classic match that would be shown later by the promotion on several of its year in review highlight shows. While the match ended in a time limit draw, both Crockett and play by play announcer Bob Caudle said they would have had Conway winning the match if it were judged on points.

Another top flight match on the September 4th TV show was a rugged bout between the “Russian Bear” Ivan Koloff and burly Art Nelson against Nelson’s former tag team partner Johnny Weaver and Bob Bruggers. Koloff was on a real high, after recently putting Ed Wiskowski out of wrestling, severely injuring Ed’s back during a previous TV match. The action in this tag team match between Nelson and Weaver was particularly brutal! But eventually all four wrestlers got totally out of control, and referee Angelo Martinelli had no choice but to disqualify all four combatants!

The super-spectacular September 4th TV show also had a whale of a match between the masked Super Destroyer and Chief Wahoo McDaniel. Several weeks before this television bout, the Super Destroyer had begun wearing a crown into the ring, and was referring to himself as the “King of Wrestling.” Wahoo took exception to this, and actually took possession of the Destroyer’s crown, and carried the crown with him to his matches! The Destroyer and Wahoo were having quite a match, and Wahoo seemed to gain the advantage when he captured the masked man in his painful abdominal stretch. However, at that moment, the cagey Ivan Koloff came into the TV studio, snatched Wahoo’s headdress that was made for him by his father, and tore it to shreds. While he was awarded the match because of Koloff’s interference, Wahoo was distraught over the destruction of his headdress. And during the melee, the Super Destroyer regained possession of his crown!

This incident led to some wild bouts in September between the Super Destroyer and Koloff against Wahoo and his outstanding partner, “Number One” Paul Jones. These two teams established themselves as top teams during the month of September. In two of the area’s main cities, these two teams split rough and tumble bouts. In Richmond, Virginia on September 20th, Jones and Wahoo earned a hard-fought victory in a back and forth contest. At the end of the month in Greenville, South Carolina, the Super D. and the Russian Bear pulled out a bloody victory on September 30th. The hatred between these two teams was reaching the boiling point!

In September, Wahoo also had several classic arena battles in singles competition against the Super Destroyer. Perhaps the most memorable of all their battles was a contest at Charlotte’s Park Center on September 23rd. In this bout for the ages, a bloody Wahoo ripped the mask off of the Destroyer, but at that same instant, the Super D. pulled referee Sonny Fargo’s shirt off of him and covered his face, running feverishly out of the ring without anybody seeing his identity. Wahoo was given the decision via a count out, but everyone in attendance finally knew for sure that the Super Destroyer’s mask COULD come off!

In addition to his bout on Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling television, NWA World Heavyweight Champion Jack Brisco made an extended pass through the territory during the first week of September. Brisco took on wrestlers from both the good guy and bad guy side of Jim Crockett Promotion’s roster, for his coveted Title. Mid-Atlantic Television Champion Paul Jones got three shots at Brisco’s belt during the month, largely putting his TV Title on the shelf during September. Paul won his first bout against Brisco by disqualification on September 3rd in Columbia, South Carolina but fell to the World Champion two days later in Norfolk, Virginia at the Scope Coliseum. Jones and Brisco also battled in Roanoke, Virginia on September 7th.

Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Champion Johnny “The Champ” Valentine also got a chance at Brisco’s World Championship. On September 2nd, Jack and Johnny had a ferocious battle in the Greenville Memorial Auditorium, which saw both combatants get disqualified! Perhaps the most intriguing of Brisco’s Title defenses came against the masked Super Destroyer on September 6th at the Richmond Coliseum. This bout had the Destroyer promising to unmask if he lost, but the masked man also promised to unmask if he won!! Richmond fans were very much expecting to see a World Title change or an unmasking that night, but alas, neither occurred!

The “Eighth Wonder of the World” Andre the Giant also made a pass through the area during the first week in September. On September 5th in Greensboro, North Carolina, Andre took the measure of the Super Destroyer via a disqualification win. Two days later in Hampton, Virginia, the Giant teamed with Wahoo McDaniel against the devious duo of the Super Destroyer and Ivan Koloff. Using their overwhelming size advantage, Andre and Wahoo defeated the bad guys to the delight of the huge throng assembled at the Hampton Roads Coliseum.

Mid-Atlantic Champ Johnny Valentine had a busy month defending his prestigious belt against the likes of Wahoo McDaniel, Paul Jones and Sonny King. Johnny’s battles against Sonny King became particularly bitter during the month of September. The fans at County Hall in the port city of Charleston, South Carolina got to see two classic battles between Valentine and King on successive Friday nights. On September 20th, the Champ and King battled to a wild double disqualification finish in a Title matchup. The following Friday, September 27th, Sonny got a rematch in Charleston that showcased his highly honed boxing skills…a 10 Round fight! Valentine, while being out of his element, managed to hold his own for the most part in this boxing match. King took an 8th round TKO victory over Johnny that surely gave him a measure of revenge against his arch-rival Valentine.

Valentine also continued to put up his 2,000 silver dollars during the month of September. One of Johnny’s toughest silver dollar challengers in a long while was the popular Nelson Royal. On the Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling television show that was taped on September 11th, Nelson gave Valentine quite a battle for the 2,000 silver dollars. Valentine ultimately prevailed, and seemed to have a knack of pulling out silver dollar victories from the jaws of defeat!

Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Champions Rip Hawk and Ric Flair had an active month in September defending their Titles. During September, Hawk and Flair had notable defenses against the dynamic duo of Paul Jones and Wahoo McDaniel on September 12th in Burlington, North Carolina and the champs suffered a painful disqualification loss to the exciting duo of Sonny King and Swede Hanson on September 23rd in the Greenville Memorial Auditorium.

But it was the newly formed team of Paul Jones and Tiger Conway, Jr. that looked to be the strongest challengers to Hawk and Flair. Jones and Conway blended well in the ring, and if first impressions mean anything, Hawk and Flair had trouble on their hands! These four battled over the Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Titles on September 19th in Waynesboro, Virginia, on September 28th in Roanoke, Virginia and on September 30th in Charlotte, North Carolina. While the “Ripper” and Flair maintained a hold on their Title belts through these three battles, there was no doubt by the end of September that Paul Jones and Tiger Conway, Jr. possessed all of the qualities necessary to become the new Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Champions!

A recap of September of 1974 wouldn’t be complete without mentioning two major feuds between former partners that continued to simmer during the month. Art Nelson and Johnny Weaver continued to go at it during September, with Weaver clearly getting the better of the battles. The two confronted each other in consecutive weeks in the Scope Exhibition Hall in Norfolk, Virginia, and both bouts were furious in their intensity. On September 12th, Weaver prevailed against Nelson in a bruising contest. Wanting to defeat Johnny more than ever, Nelson hooked up with Weaver on September 19th in Norfolk in a rematch, but this time with a special stipulation, that it would be a Taped Fist Match! Blood flowed freely in this return match, but Weaver once again pulled out a hard fought win against his former partner.

But THE feud between former partners was Rip Hawk versus Swede Hanson! These two continued to battle it out all through the month of September, with Swede continuing to dominate the action to the delight of his many fans. Early in the month, Swede pulverized Rip in a Texas Death Match at the Dorton Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina on September 3rd. Then later in the month, Rip endured lots more punishment down in South Carolina! In the Greenville Memorial Auditorium on September 9th, Swede prevailed in a straight up bout, and then the next week in Greenville, Hanson pulverized Hawk in an exciting Lumberjack match.

Further into the month of September, Rip faced additional “double trouble” in the Township Auditorium in Columbia, South Carolina. On September 17th, Swede whipped Rip in a straight up match where Rip kept running from the ring. Hanson got a special stipulation for the return match in Columbia the following week, where 2 referees would be overseeing the action. So on September 24th, Rip’s antics were scrutinized more closely by the officials! And the result was the same, with another impressive victory by Swede over his former partner.

September of 1974 saw numerous NWA World Title matches in the area, and the heating up of tag team competition, which had slowed down over the prior few months. And speaking of hot, Swede Hanson was burning up former partner Rip Hawk during September! October loomed on the horizon, with a major title change and a major angle that would last for a year getting ready to burst on the Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling scene!



WHO’S HOT

1. Wahoo McDaniel---The great Indian Chief continued to be ultra impressive during the month of September. Wahoo was chopping anybody who got into his path into submission! And he even closed out the month by pulling the mask off of the Super Destroyer.
2. Swede Hanson---The big Swede continued to make mincemeat out of Rip Hawk during the month. It was hard to believe these matches between the two hated rivals were so one-sided!
3. Paul Jones---“Mr. Number One” battled World Champion Jack Brisco on even terms during the month, and his tag team combination with Tiger Conway, Jr. was looking quite impressive.

WHO’S NOT

1. Rip Hawk---The “Ripper” continued to come out a very distant second during his battles with former partner Swede Hanson. Rip reached deep into his bag of tricks, but could not find an answer to the power of the big Swede.
2. Art Nelson---Like Rip, the bruising competitor from Atlanta, Georgia also had big problems with a former partner…Johnny Weaver. While Art’s matches with Weaver were competitive, Nelson seemed to always come out on the short end.
3. Chuck O’Connor---The mammoth grappler from California slumped during the month of September. With his size alone, O’Connor should have posted a much better won/loss record. Though, O’Connor and Brute Bernard were clicking fairly well as a tag team.


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© 2010 David Chappell   Mid-Atlantic Gateway  Published 4/11/10