by Dick Bourne
Mid-Atlantic Gateway
Any "greatest ever" debate is always influenced by personal preferences of what kind of wrestling you like, where you grew up, when you grew up, what wrestling you first saw, etc. Everyone has their own opinion and can make an argument as to why they feel a certain feud (or match or wrestler) was "the greatest."
So if my opinion is just as valid as anyone else's, then I submit to you that the greatest tag team feud in Mid-Atlantic Wrestling history was Wahoo McDaniel and Paul Jones vs. the Anderson Brothers. The angle that ignited the feud is one of the most famous in Mid-Atlantic Wrestling history - - the "Supreme Sacrifice" - - where Ole Anderson sacrificed his brother in the match where they regained the World tag team titles on TV. I've written many times before that this was the angle that got me hooked on wrestling and I never missed a Mid-Atlantic or World Wide TV show if I could help it for over a decade afterwards.
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| NWA World Tag Team Champions Gene and Ole Anderson with host Bob Caudle |
You might disagree that it was the greatest feud in Mid-Atlantic history. My good friend Carroll Hall would likely argue with me day and night that Johnny Weaver and George Becker vs. Rip Hawk and Swede Hanson should get that honor. I certainly can see how he would feel that way. That was the definitive tag feud of the 1960s. Others might argue for the Andersons vs. Flair and Valentine in the 1970s.
The early 1980s featured two amazing feuds between Steamboat and Youngblood vs. the teams of Slaughter and Kernodle as well as the Brisco Brothers. And a few years later the Rock and Roll Express vs. the Midnight Express defined tag team wrestling for a generation.
I love each and every one of those choices. But for me it just could not get any better than Wahoo and Paul vs. the Andersons. It may have not had the longevity of the Weaver/Becker feuds, and it was before the national TV and PPV exposure of the 1980's feuds. But no feud featured tougher, longer, more realistic matches that were any harder fought, or that focused on the who was the best and who would carry those tag team belts. It was personal. And I loved every bit of it.
But as the saying goes, that's just my two cents. Your mileage may vary.