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Paul Jones Class of 2008
RETURN TO THE HALL OF HEROES HOME PAGE |
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PAUL JONES Member of the Hall of Heroes Class of 2008
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Inducting Paul Jones into the Class of 2008: JACK BRISCO |
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PAUL JONES
The angle has been repeated so many
times that it’s almost become boring, but Paul Jones was the
one-and-only inventor of the “Bay Belt Throw.” It happened between
his stints in the Carolinas, when he went to Florida in 1972 to
wrestle as a heel, for the first time in his career, with Jack
Brisco. Jones was Florida champion and got into a tiff on TV with
Buddy Fuller, who worked in the promotion’s front office. Jones
threatened to toss the state title belt into Tampa Bay, and when he
and a friend drove to the bay bridge to execute the deed, he
couldn’t believe his eyes.
A Texas native, “Mr. Number One” established himself as quite a boxer in his youth, fighting for years in the Golden Gloves and rising to become Texas heavyweight champ. He got acquainted with wrestling when he was working as a cameraman at a TV station in Port Arthur, Texas, and it wasn’t long before he was in front of the lights. His first big run in Jim Crockett’s Mid-Atlantic promotion came as the tag partner of Nelson Royal. They teamed to win the old Atlantic Coast tag title from Gene and Ole Anderson. “When I first came in here, Tex McKenzie had just left and Jim Crockett liked me because I was a young good-looking kid and everything,” Jones said. “He booked me and made me partners with Nelson Royal. Nelson and I did very well. We were partners for about four years. Never had one argument. Sweetheart of a guy.” Jones had some memorable singles matches against Johnny Valentine, but fans always seem to want to talk about his next tag run in the Carolinas. The duo of Wahoo McDaniel and Jones had legendary battles with the Andersons for the World tag title in 1975 in the some of the longest, hardest action ever seen in the area. “Jones and Wahoo beat the hell out of Ole,” he said. “That’s why we drew so much money. People believed it and saw everything. We wrestled for months and months and months, long matches. We had a hell of a run and everything.” In all, Jones held singles and tag titles more than 30 times across the country. His goal was simple ― tell a story in the ring that exhilarated and exhausted the paying customer. “If you watch a match I’m in and you get up when it’s over with and say, ‘Wow, that was great. I’m tired; I don’t know why,’ then I did my job.” - Steve Johnson Photo by Bill Janosik |
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Jan Brisco, Paul Jones, and Jack Brisco
Paul Jones plaque photo by Clay Sweet • Jones with Briscos photo by Dick Bourne • US Champion photo by Bill Janosik Jack Brisco photo and Jones at Podium photo by Blake Arledge |
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© 2005-2008 NWALegends.com, All Rights Reserved. Page Designed and Edited by Dick Bourne © 2008 Mid-Atlantic Gateway
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Crowds everywhere. Boaters under the
bridge lining up to catch the prize. TV trucks. Cop cars. “I take a
couple or three practice swings with the belt and I could see the
fans getting madder and getting madder. By the third or fourth
swing, I throw it off the bridge. I threw the belt high in the air
and the people just couldn’t believe that I did it,” Jones recalled.
His feud with Brisco filled arenas in the Sunshine State. Jones was
a great heel, arrogant and unbeatable,” said Brisco, who bet a case
of Canadian Club whiskey that Jones would rake in more money than
ever as a bad guy. “He took the bet and a year later he walked in
the dressing room and handed me a case of Canadian Club. I should
have wagered him more.” Jones continued to draw big money the
following year as a fan favorite.
