| WINNERS---GENE
AND OLE ANDERSON
The "Minnesota Wrecking Crew" ran away with
this award, capturing a whopping 80% of the vote. The
Anderson’s were outstanding as usual in 1976, but it
certainly wasn’t a year without difficulties. Gene and Ole
held the NWA World’s Tag Team Titles the majority of the
year, but also lost the belts three different times to three
different teams. The Anderson’s left the Mid-Atlantic area
as regular competitors in September, and did not hold the
World Titles at the end of 1976, as that distinction went
instead to Ric Flair and Greg Valentine.
The tag team wars were defined in 1976 by great matches
in the middle of the year between Gene and Ole and the
surprisingly strong duo of Dino Bravo and "Mr.
Wrestling" Tim Woods. Woods and Bravo gave the
Andersons fits, but ultimately the Andersons got the better
of this feud as they did in seemingly every feud they had.
As Michael Warren wrote, who cast his vote for Gene and Ole
Anderson, "can you think of the definition of tag team
without thinking of these guys?" That answer is an
emphatic "no," judging by the votes of the
Mid-Atlantic Gateway! The Anderson Brothers reigned supreme
in 1976!
RUNNER’S UP---DINO BRAVO AND "MR. WRESTLING"
TIM WOODS
The remaining 20% of the vote in this category went to
the duo of Bravo and Woods. This surprising team, thrown
together out of the blue, surprised everybody in the
Mid-Atlantic area by beating Gene and Ole Anderson for the
NWA World’s Tag Team Titles on May 8, 1976 on Mid-Atlantic
television. Great battles ensued over the World belts for
the next six weeks between these four combatants, before the
Anderson’s took the titles back in controversial fashion
on June 28, 1976 in Greenville, South Carolina.
Bravo and Woods were resilient though, capturing the
tournament later in the year for the vacant Mid-Atlantic Tag
Team Titles, and holding those belts through the end of
1976. No question, Bravo and Woods earned their runners-up
slot in the 1976 year end awards!
OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES
None.
|
