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Bourne: Who else trained
with you, or broke in with you
about the same time?
Kernodle: There was a guy
that Rip Hawk was training, and
he really shouldn’t have made
it. You may remember this guy’s
name…it was “Big Mack.”
Bourne: No, don’t
remember that name.
Kernodle: He was a
wrestling coach over at
Charlotte Catholic for Rip’s
son. He didn’t run well…he
didn’t do any of that stuff. He
couldn’t do it. He was about six
[feet] five [inches] and was
real heavy. I don’t remember his
name, but they called him Big
Mack.
Ole and Gene had me running
behind the Charlotte
Coliseum…the old one. The
parking lot, going up the hill.
I’d have to do about seven laps.
Like the first quarter of the
first lap, Big Mack fell down
face first up there and was
layin’ up there the whole time.
The whole time I ran, I just
kept runnin’ by him and he kept
layin’ there!
Chappell/Bourne:
(laughing)
Kernodle: Rip was like
the assistant booker, or
something. This Big Mack was
Rip’s guy. And at that time, Ole
and Gene and Rip weren’t real
close.
Chappell: Interesting.
Kernodle: Obviously, Rip
wanted to be at the top…and Ole
and Gene were so good.
Bourne: Guess there was a
lot of politics going on,
particularly when Mr. Crockett,
Sr. died?
Kernodle: Oh yeah! Which
you don’t know all that when you
first break in.
Chappell: Were you paid
by Crockett Promotions during
your training?
Kernodle: They thought I
was doing really well in the
training and everything, John
Ringley came to me and said,
“You’re doing really, really
well; I’m gonna pay you to
train.”
So he started giving me like
$300 a week, just to train. And
back then, that was a lot of
money!
Chappell: I’ll say!
Kernodle: You know, a
hotel then was only like $6.00 a
night. You know, it was a lot of
money.
He was payin’ me pretty good,
and so everything was clicking
good. Then I got into wrestling.
Chappell: When did you
start wrestling in the arenas
around the territory?
Kernodle: After about 2-3
months of this, Ole and Gene
said that they wanted to take me
to Norfolk and Richmond with
them…a Thursday/Friday trip.
Now, Ole’s son Brian, and Gene’s
son Brad, were just little kids
then. They’d come with them. And
I’m talking about 3-4 years
old…little ol’ bitty kids, just
to give you an idea.
Chappell: Tell us a
little about your first road
trip.
Kernodle: So, we went to
Norfolk and Richmond. When we
put the ring up in Norfolk, we
worked out in the Scope…same
deal as I’d been doing in
Charlotte. And then I watched
them wrestle that night.
Then we went over to Richmond,
and spent the night at the
Jefferson Hotel. And then we
went to the Arena in
Richmond…before they started
using the Coliseum for
wrestling.
Chappell: When you
started, Don, most of the
matches in Richmond were held at
the State Fairgrounds.
Kernodle: That’s right.
After we worked out, Ole and
Gene came to me that night and
said, “You’re wrestling
tonight!”
Bourne: Richmond was your
debut match?
Kernodle: Well, see,
somebody didn’t show up. And
they wanted me to wrestle.
Chappell: How did you
react?
Kernodle: I was really
nervous! Stage fright!
Chappell: Understandable!
Kernodle: I didn’t have
any tights. I didn’t have any
boots…nothing!
Bourne: Now, Don, by that
point during your training with
Ole and Gene, had you been
learning to work some wrestling
spots?
Kernodle: Yeah…Johnny
Heidman was put in there about a
month back, and he was showing
me how to work.
Chappell: I remember
Heidman, but he was mainly a
referee and an underneath guy
when I started watching
wrestling closely.
Kernodle: Everybody
thought Johnny Heidman was a
little ol’ underneath wrestler
that wasn’t tough. Man, he was
tough as could be!! Man, Johnny
Heidman was tough!!
Chappell: Wasn’t he from
New York?
Kernodle: He was from the
Bronx, New York. And he was
about half street-wise and
everything. I mean, he was a
tough man. He never won any
matches or anything, always did
jobs, but man, he was tough!
He sorta teached me how to work,
basically.
Chappell: So how did that
first match in Richmond go?
Kernodle: So that night
they came to me and told me they
wanted me to wrestle in
Richmond, and I said, ‘Man, I
ain’t got no tights, I ain’t got
no boots.’ I was trying to get
out of it!
Chappell/Bourne:
(laughing)
Kernodle: So Gene said,
“Hee, hee, hee…don’t worry kid!”
Chappell/Bourne:
(laughing)
Kernodle: So, they gave
me Art Nelson’s boots…and Johnny
Ringo had an extra pair of
tights. And somebody gave me a
jacket!
Chappell: Who was your
opponent?
Kernodle: I wrestled
Terry Sawyer…
Chappell: You were
familiar with Terry. That must
have been a heck of a scientific
match!
Kernodle: We wrestled to
a 20 minute draw.
Bourne: Don’s first pro
match was in Richmond,
Virginia…there you go David!
Chappell: Awesome! I had
no idea Don started out in my
fair city!
Kernodle: In the Arena,
over there by the ballpark. They
tore it down.
Chappell: Yep, and if
anybody reading this has a photo
of the outside of the Richmond
Arena, please let Dick or I
know. We’ve been trying to get
an outside photo of the Arena
for a long time!
Kernodle: And, David, I
even wrestled in that old place
over there at the Fairgrounds
after that.
Bourne: Strawberry Hill?
Chappell: Yes. A lot of
wild and crazy Friday nights at
the Fairgrounds! They stopped
using the Fairgrounds completely
less than a year after Don
started.
Kernodle: It was a very
nice building for wrestling…the
Arena was.
Chappell: Do you remember
exactly when that first match in
Richmond was?
Kernodle: August 31,
1973.
Chappell: How was Sawyer
as an opponent?
Kernodle: Like a buzz
saw! And we went 20 minutes,
boy, and I was wore out! But we
had a great match. It wasn’t air
conditioned there, brother!
Chappell: The Arena could
be stifling hot.
Kernodle: It was pretty
warm! But we had a really good
match.
Bourne: Do you remember
who wrestled on top that show?
Kernodle: Gene was on
top, and Art Nelson was in
there. Johnny Ringo was there.
Terry Sawyer, of course!
Chappell: Since we’re on
the subject of “firsts,” do you
remember your first TV match
after the Roop match?
Kernodle: My first
professional TV match was in
Raleigh…against Jay York.
Chappell: One of the
Alaskans.
Bourne: Was Frank Monte
his partner?
Kernodle: Mike York was,
and Frank Monte was.
But yeah…Jay York was a pretty
nice guy. Big ol’ guy.
Chappell: Do you remember
anything in particular about
this match with York?
Kernodle: Yeah…we had a
really good match on TV.
Naturally he beat me. But it
went really, really well.
Probably went about five
minutes.
Bourne: How long was the
York TV match after your match
in Richmond?
Kernodle: They saw that I
did good in Richmond, so they
put me on TV pretty quick. I’d
say about six weeks.
Then Gene took me to Augusta,
Georgia. Gene and I and somebody
else went…Gene drove. It was on
a Saturday night, and I wrestled
Jerry Oates to a 20 minute draw.
We had a really good match.
Bourne: The Oates boys
were really good wrestlers.
Kernodle: Jerry Oates was
a really good worker…real good
worker.
Chappell: By this point,
you were wrestling underneath as
a babyface for the Crockett
territory.
Kernodle: Yeah, they
started booking me. Johnny
Weaver…was the boss basically.
They booked me in the smaller
towns, like Spartanburg, SC and
Lynchburg, VA. At first, they
were booking me like four days a
week in the smaller towns, where
you weren’t making a whole lot
of money.
Chappell: And Johnny
Weaver was the booker?
Kernodle: Johnny was the
booker, which I didn’t know
then.
 Chappell:
And you continued as a very
respected underneath worker for
Crockett for a number of years.
Were you comfortable working
underneath, or were you
frustrated about not being
elevated to semi finals and main
events?
Kernodle: (pauses) You
know, David, I never pushed or
shoved. One thing I made a
mistake of…I might have been
able to get on top in wrestling
a little bit quicker, but I
didn’t want to piss anybody off,
per se. Because if you tried to
make trouble, they might have
said just go on and get the hell
out of here.
Chappell: Well, I would
think you had a pretty good
situation. Working in an area
that surrounded your home town,
and for a promotion that had top
notch talent and paid well.
Kernodle: You’re right.
But I probably should have
pushed and shoved a little bit
more. I found out how to do
that, a little bit later. How to
try and do it, anyway.
So, in other words, I could have
got on top a little bit quicker.
But I tell you guys, back then
you had some TOP wrestlers here
in this area!
Chappell: For sure!
Kernodle: The
Mid-Atlantic area, and NWA
wrestling back then, I’d say was
bigger than the WWWF at that
time. In other words, the
greatest wrestlers in the world
were right here.
That’s the reason Ole and Gene
never left the South. Because
they were making the most money,
and they were the greatest tag
team. Why leave here, if you’re
making more money than pretty
much anywhere?
Chappell: Exactly.
Kernodle: And like you
said, I was at home. I was
within 100 miles of home, and
they were taking care of me. So
why did I want to go to Omaha or
Portland, you know? I was making
good money.
And it was the greatest
wrestling in the world!
Chappell: As fans, we
knew that and felt really lucky!
Kernodle: If you ever
watched our wrestling here, and
compared it to Verne Gagne’s
wrestling or
Tennessee-Knoxville…it was no
comparison.
Chappell: Not even close…
Kernodle: That’s the
reason the greatest wrestlers
would come in here all the time.
Chappell: You came in
about the time there was a big
change in Jim Crockett
Promotions. John Ringley gave
way to Jim Crockett, Jr., and
George Scott assumed the book.
New big-time singles talent like
the Destroyer and Johnny
Valentine were about to come in.
Kernodle:
Ringley went out to Oklahoma,
and was working out there. He
called me from out in Oklahoma,
maybe a year later, and wanted
me to come out there and be the
Junior Heavyweight Champion. He
offered me the belt!
Bourne: Interesting…I
didn’t know Ringley stayed in
the wrestling business after he
left Jim Crockett Promotions.
Kernodle: Oh yeah…
Chappell: Why didn’t you
head out west?
Kernodle: I was happy
here…
Bourne: Who was running
that territory then, do you
remember? It was before Bill
Watts…
Kernodle: Who was the
blind guy…McGuirk? Leroy McGuirk?
I’m not real sure, but I think
it was him.
So, I got offered that deal. But
at the time I was making good
money here. I’d rather make
$1000 a week and be an
underneath wrestler, than make
$200 a week as a top wrestler in
some other territory.
Chappell: Under your
circumstances, I understand.
Kernodle: Make as much
money as quick as you can in
professional wrestling. That’s
the name of the game.
Like Ole and Gene…probably the
greatest tag team---or top five
in the WORLD. And people try to
put them down for not going to
these other territories, like we
talked about a while ago.
Chappell: They pretty
much stayed around here because
it benefited them.
Kernodle: Why leave? When
you’re in the greatest territory
in the world, and Crockett wants
you to stay here and is paying
you good and is putting you in
the big shows…
Chappell: Not a lot of
incentive to leave.
Kernodle: That’s right.
Chappell: Clearly Gene
and Ole had a huge influence on
you. Please tell us a little
more about the mouthpiece of
that great team, Ole Anderson.
Kernodle: Gene taught Ole
a lot, but Ole became one of the
greatest bookers and promoters
that there was. Ole’s a genius
on this stuff…really.
Bourne: Absolutely.
Kernodle: Ole’s a genius.
If he’d been in, say, Portland,
wrestling with some of those
people out there, he wouldn’t
have learned all that like he
did.
Chappell: Do you know
much about Ole’s early career?
Kernodle: When Ole got in
the business, he was just out of
the service…and he was really
clumsy. You know, he was green.
He’d get on the top turnbuckle
to jump off, and he fell over
backwards on the cement!
Chappell: Ouch!
Kernodle: They taught Ole
to be a great heel. He can talk
and he’s big. You know, Ole’s a
rough guy. They honed him to be
one of the greatest heels ever.
Ole could work as part of a tag
team and he was one of the
greatest talkers ever. And he
was a believable heel…very
believable.
Chappell: No question
about that!
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