NWA
World Tag Team Titles Come
To The Mid-Atlantic Area
The month of January 1975
was dominated by the return
of "The Minnesota
Wrecking Crew" to the
Mid-Atlantic area. Gene and
Ole Anderson resurfaced in
Jim Crockett Promotions at
the tail end of 1974 after
an eight-month hiatus, and
immediately made their
presence felt as the new
year dawned. Johnny
Valentine, Paul Jones, Wahoo
McDaniel and the Super
Destroyer also all had
impressive months, but Gene
and Ole Anderson stood out
in January, as they brought
the NWA World Tag Team
Titles into the Mid-Atlantic
area!
Gene and Ole Anderson hit
the ground running upon
their return to the
Mid-Atlantic area, targeting
Mid-Atlantic Tag Team
Champions Paul Jones and
Tiger Conway, Jr.
immediately. These four had
some terrific bouts
throughout the month, with
Jones and Conway holding on
to the Mid-Atlantic Tag Team
Titles until nearly the end
of the month before the
Anderson's finally
prevailed. However, much
bigger news would come about
only days later regarding
the Anderson Brothers.
On the January 29, 1975
television taping from the
WRAL Studios in Raleigh,
North Carolina, it was
announced that Gene and Ole
Anderson had competed in and
won a tournament in
California and were crowned
the NWA World Tag Team
Champions. The promotion
stated that teams including
Ray Stevens and Nick
Bockwinkle, Eddie and Mike
Graham, the Vachon brothers,
Terry and Bobby Kay and the
Funk brothers all
participated in the
tournament. Ole Anderson,
ever modest, commented
saying "could there be
any doubt in anyone's mind
that we would end up world
champions? After all we are
the greatest tag team in the
history of wrestling. My
brother and I know that the
fans in this area are happy
to have us back, and now
that we are wearing the
World Title belts, they will
be even happier."
Despite the majority of
fans in Jim Crockett
Promotions disliking the
Anderson's, there could be
no doubt the elation of fans
to have the World Tag Team
Champs in their own
backyard. There were
challengers lining up
immediately for Gene and
Ole. In fact, during the
month of January, the
formidable duo of Wahoo
McDaniel and Sonny King
began teaming and were
extremely impressive. These
two spoke of teaming in the
past, and felt their
experience together would
give them every chance to be
successful. And in fact, the
team of Wahoo and King would
get the first shot at
unseating the new champs as
the calendar flipped over to
February.
Mid-Atlantic
Champion Johnny Valentine,
The Super Destroyer have
good months
Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight
Champion Johnny "The
Champ" Valentine
continued to roll on in
January of 1975, seemingly
unbeatable. On Mid-Atlantic
television in January,
Johnny continued to put up
his 2000 silver dollars
frequently, steamrolling the
competition. "The
Champ" was especially
brutal to a very young Kevin
Sullivan during a match for
his 2000 silver dollars that
took place on January 22,
1975 in the Raleigh, NC WRAL
studios. Valentine also
defended his Mid-Atlantic
title often in January, and
had a memorable series of
title bouts against Paul
Jones in Charlotte, North
Carolina this month. Jones,
the 1974 Wrestler of the
Year in the area and the
reigning Mid-Atlantic
Television Champion, battled
valiantly during this series
of title bouts but could not
wrest the title from
Valentine. While Jones and
Valentine wrestled
periodically during the next
several months, these title
bouts in January of 1975
represented Jones' best
effort to pry the
Mid-Atlantic Title from
Johnny Valentine.
The month of January 1975
was also a successful one
for the masked Super
Destroyer. The Destroyer was
having less interaction with
Brute Bernard in January,
after having purchased the
Brute's contract in late
1974 and becoming almost a
"manager" for
Bernard. The two began to
team infrequently in
January, and instead the
Super D. turned his
attention to the other
masked man that was in the
area, the masked Avenger.
While much smaller than the
Destroyer, the Avenger was
speedy and possessed a great
deal of wrestling ability.
The Avenger was on quite a
hot streak, and he and the
Super Destroyer started
their memorable feud in
earnest during the month of
January to see who was the
best masked man in the
Mid-Atlantic area. This feud
would last though the cold
weather months of early
1975, but it was clear in
January that this matchup of
the masked men would be a
significant test for the
Super Destroyer.
Roster
Movement
January of 1975 saw some
significant movement in the
talent roster of Jim
Crockett Promotions. Long
time mainstay Rip Hawk left
the promotion for good at
the end of December 1974.
Rip's long time partner
Swede Hanson stayed in the
area, but January marked his
slide into mid-card status.
Veteran Johnny Weaver was
also out of the area on
extended leave, and would
not return for many months.
Tough main eventer Ivan
Koloff left the area before
the end of January, and
would not return to Jim
Crockett Promotions for over
five years. Chuck O'Connor,
a top mid-card performer,
also left the area before
the end of January and would
not reemerge in the area
again until late 1978, when
he called himself John
Studd. Despite these loses
the talent-laden roster
developed in 1974 remained
significantly intact, and
the continued rapid
development of a young Ric
Flair along with the
Anderson's coming back on
the scene and capturing the
NWA World Tag Team Titles in
short order, made the month
of January 1975 one that
would insure that the rest
of the year held much
promise and excitement.
WHO'S
HOT
1. GENE
& OLE ANDERSON---The
Anderson's dominated all
competition in January of
1975, and most importantly
won and brought the NWA
World Tag Team Titles to the
Mid-Atlantic area this
month!
2. JOHNNY VALENTINE---"The
Champ" held onto his
Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight
Title, despite some classic
battles against top
challengers Paul Jones and
Wahoo McDaniel.
3. SUPER DESTROYER---The
Destroyer was as dominating
as ever, and was entering a
memorable "Feud of the
Masked Men" with the
masked Avenger where it was
becoming clear that the
loser would never be the
same when the smoke cleared.
WHO'S
NOT
1. SWEDE
HANSON---The big Swede's
ten-year run as a main event
performer for Jim Crockett
Promotions had reached its
end, and January of 1975
began Swede's gradual but
steady fall into mid-card
status.
2. CHUCK O'CONNOR---O'Connor
had been a solid mid-card
wrestler for most of 1974,
even headlining a few cards.
But in January of 1975, the
losses were frequent and
O'Connor left the area
entirely before the end of
the month.
3. IVAN KOLOFF---The
"Russian Bear" had
a great run in the area for
much of 1974, but began to
be de-emphasized during
January of 1975, and like
O'Connor, left the
Mid-Atlantic area before the
month ended.
RETURN
TO TOP OF PAGE
©
2002 David Chappell /
Mid-Atlantic Gateway
|