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Chappell: Wahoo became
NWA World Tag Champions in 1975
with Paul Jones, and Paul was a
great star throughout the 70s
and into the early 80s. What are
your thoughts on Mr. # 1 Paul
Jones?
Kernodle: Paul Jones was
a really good worker. Paul was
probably one of the first really
good looking type babyfaces…real
dark handsome type guy. He was
from Port Arthur, Texas, and he
got over really good.
Paul got over in a lot of really
great territories, and worked on
top in a lot of those
territories. He’s a good friend,
and I like Paul.
Chappell: Paul and Wahoo
lost the NWA World Tag Team
Championship back to the
Andersons in June of 1975, and
that set up some hellacious
rematches. Gene and Ole were the
consummate tag team of the 70s.
I know we’ve talked about the
Andersons a good bit already,
but anything else you’d like to
say about your mentors?
Kernodle: Oh, I loved Ole
and Gene Anderson. They were the
only ones I really knew that
much about when I started, and
Ole and Gene spent a lot of time
with me. They did all that stuff
with me for FREE!
Chappell: That says a lot
about them.
Kernodle: They just
wanted to help get somebody in
the business…break somebody in.
They liked amateur wrestlers.
You know that Big Mack guy I was
talking about? They hated him,
because Rip was the boss, and he
just handed it to him, even
though the guy turned into a
pretty decent worker.
But Ole and Gene, I can’t say
enough good things about them.
They’re very close to Weaver in
my eyes…Weaver and I were
together all the time. I’ve got
so much respect for Weaver and
Ole and Gene Anderson…tremendous
respect.
If it wasn’t for Ole and Gene, I
probably wouldn’t have gotten in
the business. They took so much
time with me.
Chappell: Another guy
that was on top in the
Mid-Atlantic area from when you
broke in until the end of the
70s, was “Mr. Wrestling” Tim
Woods.
Kernodle: Tim Woods was a
GREAT amateur wrestler. Tim and
I lived together in Atlanta.
Talk about a crazy son of a gun!
Chappell/Bourne:
(laughing)
Kernodle: You’d get in a
car with him, and he’d scare the
hell out of you! I rode a
motorcycle with him one time,
and he scared the hell out of
me…
Chappell: He was into
bikes, wasn’t he? I remember a
photo of him in one of the
Mid-Atlantic magazines, and he
was sitting on a beautiful bike.
Kernodle: He was a damn
daredevil!
I remember one time we were
sitting in the apartment in
Atlanta. It was back when Farrah
Fawcett was really hot, and she
had this poster…
Bourne: Great poster in
that red bathing suit!
Kernodle: Yeah, and she
was smiling with those white
teeth. We were sitting there
with a 25 automatic, Tim had
one, and he didn’t really like
Farrah that much; he ribbed me
about liking her. He turned and
said to me, “I ought to shoot
her teeth out!!”
Then he paused and said, “I AM
gonna shoot her teeth out!!”
Chappell/Bourne:
(laughing)
Kernodle: And he took
that 25 automatic and shot right
into the wall right in her teeth
!!
Tim was a good guy, tough
guy…but wild!
Bourne: He had a lot of
other interests too, didn’t he?
Kernodle: And he was
smart…so smart.
Chappell: I always heard
he was tough as nails.
Kernodle: He was that!
Chappell: Wasn’t he into
electronics?
Kernodle: He was
electronically a genius. Woods
was one of the first people I’ve
ever seen, before I got in the
business, that had a finishing
hold with a cradle, and he’d do
a head stand…
Chappell: Oh yeah, I
remember that!
Kernodle: That was
beautiful! He did some great
stuff. Great amateur wrestler
from Michigan.
Chappell: In 1975 and
1976 Woods feuded with Blackjack
Mulligan. Blackjack was a huge
star in the 70s and into the
early 80s in the Mid-Atlantic
area. What are your thoughts on
Mulligan?
Kernodle: I was pretty
close to Blackjack. Blackjack
was a big ‘ol brawler, not a
great per se wrestler, but
tough. REAL tough guy!
And he was big…probably about 6
[feet] ten [inches], something
like that, and over 300 pounds.
Good guy, and we became friends
and we liked each other. We
traveled on the road a lot
together. I bought some cars and
stuff from him.
Really good guy. Haven’t seen or
heard from him a lot lately,
though.
Chappell: One of
Blackjack’s rivals during the
70s was Rufus R. “Freight
Train” Jones.
Kernodle: Rufus and I
were really good friends. Rufus
always had some “White
Lightning” around in his
freezer…
Chappell/Bourne:
(laughing)
Kernodle: He was a real
good guy. He really got over
good. He was a big man, and a
lot of fun to be around.
The way he talked, you couldn’t
half understand what he was
saying…
Chappell: But the other
half was pretty funny!
Kernodle: He was a
comedian and everything…he was
fun!
Chappell: Another one of
Blackjack’s big rivals in the
70s was the Masked Superstar,
Bill Eadie.
Kernodle: Bill Eadie is a
real nice guy. I knew him first,
when he wrestled as that Mongol
guy…
Chappell: Bolo Mongol.
Kernodle: Right.
Chappell: That was quite
a seamless transformation from
Bolo Mongol to the Masked
Superstar, wasn’t it?
Kernodle: Yeah, it was. I
think he worked for the IWA,
too?
Chappell: Yep, in 1975.
Kernodle: Yeah, then
Crockett got him.
I think he’s a real nice guy; a
real educated guy. He’s smart,
and was a real good worker. Then
later, he worked for the WWF…
Chappell: As Demolition
Axe.
Kernodle: Yeah, that’s
it. Good guy, real good guy. I
liked him
Chappell: We’ve talked
about Ric Flair already, but he
was climbing straight to the top
during the 1970s. Any other
thoughts about the Nature Boy?
Kernodle: Flair and I
became friends, and for about
five years there we were
traveling daily together. I
think it was my job to drive him
around, and keep Flair out of
trouble!
Chappell: (laughs) With
limited success!
Kernodle: Looking after
him was probably harder than the
wrestling matches! Not getting
stopped and going to jail!
Chappell/Bourne:
(laughing)
Kernodle: Trying to keep
his girlfriends from catching
him doing stuff. Flair’s a fun
guy. I mean…unbelievable.
Ric would have me mess with guys
in the ring. You know, play with
them a little…shoot with them.
He would smile and tell me,
“Take [Greg] Valentine down!” It
was all in good fun!
Chappell/Bourne:
(laughing)
Kernodle: Flair’s done a
lot of great things for me. If
you’re with Flair, you can’t buy
anything…your money is no good.
He’s gonna buy everything!
But I tell you what…if you’re
with Ric Flair, you were gonna
have a good time!
Chappell: I believe it!
Kernodle: I had the
greatest times in my life with
him! It was great!
Chappell: One of Ric’s
big-time running mates in the
70s was Greg Valentine. Tell us
your thoughts about the “Bionic
Elbow.”
Kernodle: Greg was a fun
guy. Had a lot of good times
with him, too. He was a party
guy…like Ric. Had a lot of fun
with Greg!
Chappell: Including when
you messed with him in the
ring…at Ric’s directive!
Kernodle: (laughs) That’s
right!
Chappell: One of Greg’s
great partners, was Baron von
Raschke. They held the NWA World
Tag Team Titles for much of
1978.
Kernodle: Baron von
Raschke…really good amateur
[wrestler]. Really good, fun
guy. I got to know him pretty
well.
Chappell: A guy who had a
short, but effective, run in
1978 was “Sensational” Dick
Murdock.
Kernodle: I knew Dick
Murdock from here first, and
then he was out in Amarillo…when
I went out there in 1979. I
liked Dick Murdock…he was a real
tough guy. Good worker, and his
daddy was a wrestler.
Chappell: About the time
that Murdock left the area in
the fall of 1978, a massive
newcomer named John Studd came
in. And Studd was actually in
the territory in 1974, wrestling
under the name of Chuck
O’Connor.
Kernodle: (laughs) Chuck
O’Connor knocked my teeth out on
High Point TV!
Chappell: Not real fond
memories of him!
Kernodle: I hadn’t been
in the business very long then.
He was real tall, I hit him in
his stomach, threw him into the
turnbuckle, and I went in the
corner after him and he picked
up his knee…and hit me right in
the mouth!
Knocked my teeth out, and I had
28 stitches from that. I held
the teeth in my mouth, to finish
the match. And he went over. I
was bleeding like a son of a
gun!
Chappell: Tough, Don,
very tough!
Kernodle: Then when I was
up in the WWF in 1983, he was up
there as John Studd.
Chappell: A guy that came
into the Mid-Atlantic area at
the tail end of the 70s, and
sort of at the tail end of his
career, was the legendary Ray
Stevens.
Kernodle: I liked Ray
Stevens. He was one of the great
workers in the history of our
business. People may not have
realized that.
Ray Stevens did a lot of great
things with tag team
championships…
Chappell: Before he ever
came to the Mid-Atlantic area.
Kernodle: Ray, here, was
a very good worker…and I liked
him and his wife a lot. We had a
lot of fun. He was a party guy,
too!
I wrestled a lot with Ray up in
Canada, with me and Jim Nelson.
And he was out in Amarillo for a
while too, when I was out there.
Chappell: A guy who was
on top both as a babyface and a
heel in Mid-Atlantic
Championship Wrestling during
the 70s was Ken Patera. Ken held
the Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight
Championship for most of 1978
and 1979.
Kernodle: Ken Patera and
I were pretty good friends, but
we had some heat for a short
period of time there…but we got
that straightened out.
But I liked Ken…I respected him.
He was a great athlete, and a
college educated guy. I think he
went to Brigham Young
University. He did some great
feats of strength on WRAL TV.
Chappell: Another guy
that came into the territory in
the late 70s and stayed into the
early 80s was “Superfly” Jimmy
Snuka. What about the guy from
the Fiji Islands?
Kernodle: I liked Jimmy
Snuka a lot. He was a really
good worker; a good guy. I was
up in the WWF when his
girlfriend died up in
Pennsylvania. There was a little
controversy about that…
Chappell: Oh yeah, I
remember that now…
Kernodle: Nobody knows,
but they investigated it and
everything.
But I liked Jimmy Snuka. He was
really good to work with, and
was a nice guy. He worked real
believable matches.
Chappell: Out of the 70s
now, but just barely! A guy that
came in during the fall of 1980,
and sort of took the territory
by storm, was “Rowdy” Roddy
Piper.
Kernodle: Oh, I liked
Piper! We became friends. Roddy
Piper was a real tough guy.
People probably didn’t realize
that, but he was really tough.
A lot of people tried to put me
to sleep with the sleeper hold
in the dressing room…I used to
let people try that! They
couldn’t do it…but Piper put me
to sleep!
Chappell: Piper would
always tell the ref, “ASK HIM!!”
Kernodle/Bourne:
(laughing)
Kernodle: But Piper sure
could put me out…nobody else
could, because I’d make my neck
all stiff!
Chappell: Piper was huge
in the territory in 1981 and
1982. And that sort of takes us
to when Slaughter arrived in the
Mid-Atlantic area in late 1981.
How did you first meet
Slaughter?
Kernodle: I met Sergeant
Slaughter in Atlanta in 1977,
and we became really good
friends.
Then I was wrestling here as a
good guy, and Sarge and I came
up with that idea about me
becoming a Private.
Bourne: So that happened
in late ’81, early ’82?
Kernodle: Right. I was
with Sergeant Slaughter
recently; you know he lives here
now?
Chappell: I’ve heard
that.
Kernodle: I was with him
two nights this week. We had a
really good time.
Bourne: Is he okay? I
heard he might have had some
health issues a while back.
Kernodle: He’s doing
fine…doing real good.
But, yeah, Sarge and I came up
with that idea, and of course
[Jim] Nelson was involved with
that too.
Chappell: That was pretty
soon after Slaughter had just
come into the territory. So I
guess up to that point, you were
still content to be working
underneath? But maybe you were
getting a little less content?
Kernodle: I was still
making GOOD money here. Then
you’d go to some places like
Amarillo and be on top, but you
weren’t making as much money.
The trips were horrendous out
there. And the weather! I always
thought it was hot in Texas, but
Amarillo was one of the coldest
places I’d ever been!
Chappell/Bourne:
(laughing)
Kernodle: That wind
coming out of that flat land in
Oklahoma, coming across those
plains with no trees…man, it was
COLD!
I was just more happy here…
Chappell: Was it more
Slaughter pushing you to do this
thing with the Privates, or were
you saying it was time to move
up the cards?
Kernodle: David, we’d
both talked about it for awhile.
We just wanted to give it a try.
Chappell: I guess the
time was right?
Kernodle: Yeah, it was.
And Nelson was a big part of it,
too.
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