The Mid-Atlantic area
endured quite an upheaval
during the month of May
1974. Ivan Koloff became the
new Mid-Atlantic Television
Champion during the month,
and newcomers Ric Flair and
Tiger Conway, Jr. entered
the territory for the first
time. Perhaps the most
distressing news in a long
while hit the area at the
end of the month, when the
Super Destroyer collected
the $7,500.00 bounty on
Bearcat Wright, and Wright’s
younger brother, Sonny King,
came into the area to avenge
his brother’s injury.
The “Mad Russian” Ivan
Koloff continued on with his
winning ways during the
month of May, capturing the
Mid-Atlantic Television
Title from Danny Miller on
May 10th at the Richmond
Coliseum in Richmond,
Virginia. Koloff dominated
the Title win in Richmond,
and was equally dominant in
dispatching Miller in Title
rematches at the Dorton
Arena in Raleigh, North
Carolina on May 14th and at
the Scope Exhibition Hall in
Norfolk, Virginia on
May23rd.
May then saw Koloff
transition into a red hot
feud with “Number One” Paul
Jones. Ivan suffered his
first noteworthy defeat in
the Mid-Atlantic area to
Jones, falling to Paul in an
exciting arm wrestling
contest. After losing this
contest, Koloff immediately
attacked Jones and things
really became hot and heavy
between these two. Later in
the month, Jones and Koloff
battled in a series of
rugged bouts. On May 20th in
Fayetteville, North
Carolina, and then on May
27th in Greenville, South
Carolina, the “Russian Bear”
emerged with hard fought
victories. At the very end
of the month, on May 31st in
Richmond, both Jones and
Koloff were disqualified in
one on the wildest brawls
that had been seen in some
time!
Speaking of that May 31st
card in Richmond, fans at
the Coliseum saw a great
newcomer in the main event
that night, a newcomer they
no doubt wished they had
seen for different reasons.
Originally, Bearcat Wright
was supposed to oppose
Johnny Valentine in a 10
Round Fight, with former
boxing heavyweight champion
Joe Louis as the Special
Referee. However, the Super
Destroyer collected the
$7,500 bounty placed on
Bearcat’s head by Johnny
Valentine, putting Wright in
the hospital with serious
injuries. Bearcat’s younger
brother, Sonny King,
immediately came into the
territory seeking revenge
against both the Super
Destroyer and Johnny
Valentine. Initially, King
subbed for Bearcat in bouts
that Bearcat had signed
before his injury.
The contest in Richmond
certainly saw Johnny
Valentine out of his
element. King had great
boxing skills, and has
hitting Johnny with hard
shots almost at will. Sonny
also had an uncanny ability
to duck and dodge punches
from Valentine, frustrating
Johnny totally! Mercifully,
King ended it in the sixth
round when he floored
Valentine with a thunderous
right hand. A very
impressive debut for the
Mid-Atlantic area’s newest
star!
New stars were in abundance
during the month of May. On
May 13th at the Charlotte
Coliseum in Charlotte, North
Carolina, newcomer Ric Flair
debuted in the Mid-Atlantic
area. Flair defeated the
veteran Abe Jacobs in his
first match, and continued
to impress during the
remainder of the month. And
on May 27th in the
Greenville Memorial
Auditorium in Greenville,
South Carolina, Ric teamed
up with Rip “The Profile”
Hawk for the first time, and
the makings of a great tag
team combination appeared at
hand. Flair and Hawk handily
defeated the potent duo of
Nelson Royal and Danny
Miller in their first bout
as partners.
Another newcomer who showed
plenty of promise in the
month of May was Tiger
Conway, Jr. Tiger’s first
match in the territory was
on May 14th at the Township
Auditorium in Columbia,
South Carolina against Frank
Cochran. Conway was
successful in his debut
match, and much like Flair,
Tiger was impressive
throughout the remainder of
the month. It appeared for
all the world that Ric Flair
and Tiger Conway, Jr. were
set on a collision course
from the outset!
Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight
Champion Johnny Valentine
battled Bearcat Wright and
Paul Jones in the majority
of his singles action during
the month. Greenville, South
Carolina was a hotbed of
action between Valentine and
Wright during the month of
May. On May 6th, the
Greenville fans saw
Valentine fall to Wright in
a rare pinfall loss, but
alas it was in a non-title
bout. Wright and Valentine
had a re-match in Greenville
on May 20th, but this time
with the Mid-Atlantic Title
on the line, with Johnny
prevailing this time in an
action packed match. The
“rubber match” of sorts
occurred in Greenville on
May 27th, when Valentine
retained his Title against
Bearcat by purposely getting
himself disqualified.
Paul Jones gave Valentine
plenty of competition during
the month of May as well,
particularly in Raleigh,
North Carolina. On May 7th
at the Dorton Arena, Mr.
Number One pinned Valentine
cleanly in the middle of the
ring in a non-title bout.
The two bitter rivals met in
Raleigh the next week in a
Title Match, with massive
Haystacks Calhoun as the
Special Referee. Jones again
got the better of the
action, but Valentine
escaped with his belt by
getting intentionally
disqualified.
In addition to an active
singles month in May, Paul
Jones also maintained his
status as one-half of the
Mid-Atlantic Tag Team
Champions with Bob Bruggers.
Rip Hawk was particularly
active in trying to take
down the Jones/Bruggers duo.
Hawk teamed up with massive
Chuck O’Connor to battle the
Champions in Lynchburg,
Virginia on May 3rd, and
then again in Charlotte,
North Carolina on May 13th.
On both occasions, Jones and
Bruggers emerged with their
belts intact. The “Profile”
also enlisted the help of
Ivan Koloff to try and upend
the Champions. That pairing
didn’t work either, as
Bruggers and Jones prevailed
in Fayetteville, North
Carolina on May 6th, and
then again in Richmond,
Virginia on May 17th.
The mega program between the
Super Destroyer and big
Swede Hanson continued in
full force during the month
of May. During May, the two
bitter rivals squared off in
Chain Matches, Fence
Matches, Texas Death
Matches, Lumberjack Matches
and Two Referee Matches!
The Super D. seemed to
perform better in Fence
Matches, winning outright
inside the fence in Roanoke,
Virginia on May 4th and in
Greenville on May 13th. The
masked man didn’t fare as
well in some of the other
specialty matches, losing by
DQ in a Chain Match in
Norfolk on May 2nd, having a
similar finish in
Winston-Salem, North
Carolina in a Texas Death
match on May 23rd and again
falling by DQ, this time in
Raleigh in a Lumberjack
Match on May 28th. As this
feud continued to go
forward, it was amazing that
both wrestlers had the
strength to keep competing
in such brutal and bloody
matches!
In a precursor of things to
come, Indian Chief Wahoo
McDaniel visited the
Greensboro Coliseum on May
5th to battle old adversary
Johnny Valentine. And during
May, there was quite a
roster shake up with Ric
Flair, Tiger Conway and
Sonny King entering the area
while Bearcat Wright and
Haystacks Calhoun departed,
which surely meant new and
exciting matches. The
upcoming summer was shaping
up to be VERY hot in the
Mid-Atlantic area!
WHO’S HOT
1. Ivan Koloff—The imposing
“Russian Bear” won his first
championship belt in the
Mid-Atlantic area in May,
upending the very popular
Danny Miller. And Ivan went
toe to toe with Paul Jones
for much of the rest of the
month.
2. Ric Flair---The blonde
newcomer from Minnesota came
on the scene in May, and
immediately started to make
waves. Towards the end of
the month, Ric began teaming
with Rip Hawk in what looked
like an imposing pairing of
youth and experience.
3. Tiger Conway, Jr.---The
athletic youngster from
Texas was also a new arrival
on the Mid-Atlantic scene in
May, and showed a great deal
of potential. The bad guys
on the roster surely had to
pay attention to this young
grappler.
WHO’S NOT
1. Bearcat Wright---The big
man was having another
successful month until the
Super Destroyer collected
Johnny Valentine’s bounty at
the tail end of May. Bearcat
was hospitalized, and his
younger brother Sonny King
arrived in the area to try
to inflict similar damage to
the Destroyer and Valentine.
2. Danny Miller---Miller
lost his Mid-Atlantic
Television Title early
during the month of May, and
was unable to make any
headway against Ivan Koloff
in his attempts to regain
the belt.
3. Johnny Weaver---Johnny
continued to be less and
less of an impact player on
the good guy side of the
main event talent ledger
during the month of May.
Weaver appeared close to
slipping into mid-card
status by the end of the
month.
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© 2009 David Chappell
Mid-Atlantic Gateway
Published 10/05/09
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