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August of 1974 was
highlighted by bitter feuds
that Mid-Atlantic fans could
hardly believe their eyes as
they witnessed the matches.
Brutality reigned, as Swede
Hanson finally battled his
long-time partner Rip Hawk
in single matches. And Sonny
King was out seeking revenge
again the Super Destroyer
and Johnny Valentine, the
two wrestlers that conspired
to put his brother out of
commission.
While the split between Rip
Hawk and Swede Hanson
occurred months before,
August 1974 was the first
month where the two went toe
to toe in individual bouts.
Swede dominated the action
in these encounters, which
more often than not saw Rip
leave the ring before Swede
could catch a pinfall on
him. The crowds were huge
for these early matches
between Hawk and Hanson. For
instance, in Greenville,
South Carolina on August
12th, Swede defeated Hawk
before an overflow sellout
crowd of nearly 6,000 at
Greenville Memorial
Auditorium. The previous
week in Greenville, Hanson
defeated Hawk in another
rugged match before a huge
crowd.
The Mid-Atlantic fans in
Raleigh, North Carolina saw
a great trio of matches
between Hawk and Hanson
during the month of August,
which in many ways
mirrored the sequence of
bouts between these two in
other towns around the area.
On August 6th, the big Swede
beat Rip at the Dorton
 Arena
after Hawk left the ring as
Swede was pummeling him
unmercifully. This led to a
return match the next week
in Raleigh, where the
stipulation was that if Hawk
ran away from the ring
again, he would be fined.
Finally, the next week at
Dorton Arena on August 20th,
promoter Joe Murnick made
the match between these two
a Lumberjack Match! Unable
to run, Hawk suffered a loss
in quick fashion to the big
Swede in the Lumberjack
bout.
Despite the bulk of the
matches between Rip and
Swede being one-sided in
Swede’s favor during the
month of August, the fans
nevertheless flocked to
these matches, no doubt
wanting to see “The Profile”
get his comeuppance after
many years of using Swede as
a shield!
Sonny King was busy during
the month of August,
attempting to extract
revenge from the two men who
conspired to put his
brother, Bearcat Wright, out
of action. King had
memorable battles in August
with both Johnny Valentine
and the Super Destroyer.
Norfolk, Virginia was the
site of two classic bouts
between King and Johnny “The
Champ” Valentine during the
month of August. And both
were matches for Valentine’s
Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight
Championship! The first bout
in Norfolk between these two
was held at the Scope
Exhibition Hall on August
8th. In this match, King
controlled the majority of
the action, but failed to
capture the belt when Johnny
got himself intentionally
disqualified.
In the return bout two weeks
later at the Scope
Exhibition Hall, Sonny got a
stipulation that he
desperately wanted…a No
Disqualification bout for
the Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight
Championship! But
unfortunately for King, this
match got totally out of
control, and ended with both
men being counted out of the
ring, thus allowing
Valentine to retain his
Title.
The matches between King and
the Super Destroyer were no
less ferocious during the
month of August. In August,
these two went at it in
Hampton, Virginia,
Greenville, South Carolina,
and Charleston, South
Carolina in very memorable
contests. But perhaps the
town in the Mid-Atlantic
area that saw the Super D.
and Sonny King at their
wildest was Columbia, South
Carolina. On August 13th at
the Township Auditorium in
Columbia, these two beat
each other into bloody
messes! This led to a
rematch in Columbia the next
week. The August 20th match
saw Sonny dominate much of
the action, but when the
fray spilled outside the
squared circle, the
Destroyer got himself
disqualified, allowing King
to emerge with a hard fought
victory. This feud was
really starting to get
torrid in August!
Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight
Champion Johnny Valentine
continued to have a
stranglehold over his belt
during August. In addition
to “The Champ’s” battles
with Sonny King during
August, young Tiger Conway
and popular Paul Jones
emerged as viable contenders
to Valentine’s Mid-Atlantic
Heavyweight Championship.
Roanoke, Virginia saw two
bloody battles between Jones
and Valentine for the
Mid-Atlantic belt during the
month of August. On August
3rd, the two squared off in
a ferocious contest that
left the fans breathless.
However, the
disqualification finish
begged for a return match.
And that’s exactly what
happened two weeks later!
The No Disqualification
return bout was as exciting
as the first encounter, but
“The Champ” still emerged
with his Title intact.
Tiger Conway also gave
Valentine all he could
handle during the month of
August. The youngster from
Texas had two memorable
Mid-Atlantic Title battles
with Johnny Valentine during
the month of August. On
August 13th at the Dorton
Arena, Tiger scored an upset
victory over “The Champ.”
However, because the win was
via disqualification, Johnny
maintained hold of his
championship belt. This set
up a Title rematch in
Raleigh on August 20th.
While Tiger controlled the
action for the most part,
Johnny managed to edge out a
victory by the skin of his
teeth. But everybody in
attendance at Dorton Arena
knew Tiger was a worthy
challenger, and that he was
getting better and better.
Mid-Atlantic Television
Champion “Number One” Paul
Jones had an active month in
August, but defending his TV
Title was not what kept him
busy. Between tag team bouts
and trying to wrest the
Mid-Atlantic Title from
Johnny Valentine, Paul did
not put a lot of time into
defending his TV Title.
However, Jones did have an
interesting Title match
during the month. In
Richmond, Virginia on August
23rd, Jones defended his TV
Title against Ivan Koloff,
in a bout where the
stipulation was that if Paul
lost, he would throw out
1000 silver dollars to the
fans! Paul prevailed in this
match, kept his Mid-Atlantic
Television Title, and the
fans in Richmond went home
empty handed!
Indian Chief Wahoo McDaniel
got into the full swing of
things in the Mid-Atlantic
area during the month of
August. On August 5th in
Fayetteville, North
Carolina, Wahoo formed what
would be a dynamic tandem,
teaming with Paul Jones for
the first time, battling the
villainous team of Ivan
Koloff and the Super
Destroyer. In August, Wahoo
also had his first encounter
with the young and brash Ric
Flair, batting the talented
youngster in a singles match
in Columbia, South Carolina.
Two of Wahoo’s most
impressive outings during
the month occurred against
Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight
Champion, Johnny Valentine.
In non-tile bouts, Wahoo
beat Valentine
 cleanly
in Greensboro, North
Carolina on August 15th, and
closed out the month by
beating “The Champ” again in
Richmond on August 30th.
Wahoo was making it very
clear in short order, that
he was a force to be
reckoned with in the
Mid-Atlantic area.
Mid-Atlantic Tag Team
Champions Rip Hawk and Ric
Flair wrestled sparingly as
a team during the month of
August. Hawk had his hands
full with his singles
battles with Swede Hanson,
and Flair was also busy
during the month with lots
of singles matches with
Tiger Conway. Hawk and Flair
did have a wild melee of a
match with Swede Hanson and
Tiger Conway on August 2nd
at County Hall in
Charleston, South Carolina.
In that bout, the referee
was forced to disqualify
both teams as matters got so
out of hand! Rip and Ric
also had a noteworthy match
in Spartanburg, South
Carolina on August 17th
against the tandem of Wahoo
McDaniel and Tiger Conway.
The champs actually dropped
this match, but luckily for
them, it was a non-title
affair.
August of 1974 had some of
the hottest action that the
territory had seen in years,
with former long time
partners Rip Hawk and Swede
Hanson doing battle against
each other in singles
contests across the area.
Add to that Sonny King going
after revenge against the
Super Destroyer and Ivan
Koloff, and you had a recipe
for non stop mayhem! And
Indian Chief Wahoo McDaniel
was just getting started in
the area. Yes, August of
1974 was a great time to be
a fan of Mid-Atlantic
Championship Wrestling!
WHO’S HOT
1. Wahoo McDaniel---The big
Indian Chief from Oklahoma
really started to hit his
stride in the Mid-Atlantic
area during the month of
August. Whether it was in
single or tag team
competition, Wahoo was
looking like a dominating
force.
2. Swede Hanson---The big
Swede totally dominated his
singles matches with Rip
Hawk during the month of
August. The dominance was so
complete, that Rip was
running out of the ring and
not coming back during many
of their encounters.
3. Avenger---The muscular
masked man was steadily
moving up the ranks during
the month of August. The
inevitable showdown with the
area’s other masked man, the
Super Destroyer, was on
every fan’s mind.
WHO’S NOT
1. Rip Hawk---“The Profile”
pretty much took it on the
chin in every singles match
he had with Swede Hanson
during the month of August.
The only saving grace for
Hawk is that he remained
one-half of the Mid-Atlantic
Tag Team Champions during
the month.
2. Nelson Royal---Royal was
less and less active during
the month, and his victories
were becoming farther and
farther apart. Nelson’s
quality of opponents was
dipping considerably as
well.
3. Bob Bruggers---The former
Miami Dolphins footballer
continued to have his
difficulties during the
month of August. Much like
Nelson Royal, Bob was
sliding further and further
down the mid-card ranks.
Newspaper clipping courtesy
of Mark Eastridge. Ric
Flair/ Rip Hawk photo by
Bill Janosik.
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© 2010 David Chappell
Mid-Atlantic Gateway
Published 1/15/10
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