ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
NWA WORLD
TAG TEAM TITLE HISTORY
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RETURN TO THE MID-ATLANTIC GATEWAY LOBBY
SPECIAL NOTE:
No one would like to prove this change
happened more than me. I would love to credit the Anderson Brothers,
my favorite team of all time, with an additional title reign.
At least one person we've spoken to
says they remember seeing this happen in Charlotte. Steve Keirn has
mentioned on at least one documented occasion that it happened. But
we can find no evidence of the change, and until we do (and again, I
hope we do!), we maintain that no such title change took place.
We will continue to provide evidence
here on this page that supoports either side of the argument.
- D. Bourne, Jan. 2007
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A Closer Look at a Title Myth:
The Lost Title Reign of Tiger Conway, Jr. and Steve Keirn
by Dick Bourne
One of the great myths in NWA world tag team
title history involves a purported NWA tag team title change
between Gene and Ole Anderson and the team of Tiger Conway, Jr. and
Steve Keirn in November of 1975.
For many years most title histories
(including briefly the Gateway) reported a November 1975 title switch
between the teams following an upset win on Mid-Atlantic television that
September. Further research has debunked the dates of these
reported changes and have yielded no evidence of a change on any other
date.
The myth of a title exchange between these
two teams likely has roots in an upset win Conway and Keirn had over the
Anderson Brothers on September 17, 1975 at the WRAL television studios.
The match took place on Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling in
front of a wild studio crowd (read David Chappell's report in
The Almanac.)
Conway and Keirn defeated the Andersons cleanly in one of the most
shocking outcomes of a televised match ever at that point. It's possible
some folks remember this match and confuse it with a title change, but
the Gateway has audio tape of that event which confirms it was a
non-title match.
This win by Conway and Keirn of
course set up several months of title matches with the Anderson Brothers at
buildings all over the territory.
Will & Duncan's Wrestling Title
Histories, one of the most respected title history books ever, as
well as most Web-based title history sites (including WrestlingTitles.com
at the time of this writing) list 11/3/75 in Charlotte as the date and
location of a Conway/Keirn win. The newspaper reports from that card
indicate a victory by Keirn and Conway but do not indicate a title
change. But the explanation and the real clarification that the title
did not change hands actually came in the next weeks report from the
rematch on 11/10 where it was explained that the Anderson's were
disqualified for "unnecessary roughness with the referee" in the
previous week's event on 11/3.
Charlotte Observer Newspaper results
from matches held at the Charlotte Park Center on 11/3/75 (L) and
11/10/75 (R).
The 2nd clipping above, from the 11/10/75
Park Center show, demonstrates clearly that the title did not change
hands on 11/3 or 11/10.
Further, the published title histories
(mentioned earlier) indicate that the Andersons regained the title in
Charlotte on the 11/17/75 Park Center show. The newspaper result from
that show mentions the Anderson win while making no mention of the
title.
Charlotte Observer Newspaper results from
matches held
at the Charlotte Park Center on 11/17/75
Booker George Scott's day planner/datebook
from 1975, while not always noting title changes, does note most of
them, and there is no mention of a title change between these two teams
in 1975. Additionally, there are some additional notes from that planner
that would indicate no change during the reported 11/3-11/17 period:
11/7/75 Charleston SC
Andersons defeat Ken Patera & Rufus R Jones
(Andersons retain tag titles)
11/11/75 Columbia SC
Tag Title can change on a DQ
Andersons vs. Paul Jones & Rufus R Jones
11/13/75 Norfolk Va
Tag Title Match
Andersons vs. Paul Jones & Rufus R Jones
11/14/75 Lynchburg Va
Tag Title Match
Andersons vs. Ken Patera & Tiger Conway Jr
UPDATE:
Steve Keirn recently confirmed for us (via
Charles Robinson) that he and Tiger Conway did not win the world tag
titles from the Andersons. Ole Anderson has maintained that as well.
However, Keirn had stated in earlier interviews (one in the late 90s
with Wrestling Classics) that they did hold the titles, so it isn't
clear where he really stands on that.
With wrestling title histories, it often
seems that very little is
absolute. But evidence of a title win for Keirn and Conway simply isn't
there, at least as best as we can determine. We welcome evidence to the
contrary, and would be glad to present it here. At the very least, it
has been established that the dates widely published (11/3 and 11/17/75)
were not dates of NWA World Tag team title changes.
I eagerly solicit feedback and
opinion on this subject at
midatlanticgateway@gmail.com.
-Dick Bourne
Originally published September 6, 2006
Updated January 2, 2007
Clippings from the Mark Eastridge Collection
Thanks also to Carroll Hall, Charles
Robinson, and George South
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