Tuesday August 4, 2015
Man, this has been one long hot summer, and I'm about tired of it. Bring on the fall!
We have lots planned for this final month of summer, including a new feature called "Newspaper Ad Bloopers" plus more "Main Event Memories" looking back at some of the big main events in Mid-Atlantic Wrestling history, special audio clips, photos, and more. For a complete list of what's been posted here, check out the "Previous Posts" section on the left side of this page. "Like" us on Facebook, as we post there almost every time we update the website here, and it's a good way to learn what we're up to that day.
Les Thatcher playfully scolded me in Charlotte for not having ALL of the Mid-Atlantic Wrestling magazine covers he created on the Gateway (we currently only have the 1975 issues) so I'll be adding more of those soon. Those great artwork-covers are real treasures of Mid-Atlantic history.
A special thanks to Mike Mooneyham for mentioning David and I and the Mid-Atlantic Gateway during his induction speech at the Hall of Heroes. We are honored that you would give us a nod as you were honored by fans and peers in Charlotte. As you all know, Mike's weekly wrestling column in the Charleston Post & Courier is one of the most respected and widely read columns in wrestling.
Thanks to everyone for the great feedback we've gotten on the re-design of the Mid-Atlantic Gateway website. Your feedback means a great deal to us and we hope you'll always feel like you can let us know what's on your mind by contacting us via email or on Facebook or Twitter.
Our friend Bruce Mitchell of the Pro-Wrestling Torch website (PWTorch.com) has written several special articles for the Mid-Atantic Gateway over the years, but none more well received than his story about the record-setting match between Ric Flair and Buddy Landel in Raleigh in 1986. The story was linked to from several major wrestling websites including The Wrestling Observer and Slam! Wrestling which resulted in a single-day record for the highest amount of web-traffic our little territory-website has ever received. Thanks Bruce!
Great to see some of our crew in the documentary film "Mid-Atlantic Memories" by John Andosca, especially Peggy Lathan and George South. Peggy was on hand and likely helped save the life of Ole Anderson when he was stabbed in Greenville, SC in 1976. Her memories of that were a part of film's dramatic opening moments. She also told the story of Jimmy Snuka and her grandmother which I had written about here ("Little Old Lady at Ringside") some years ago. George's best moment was talking about what it was like to first see the ring in an arena as a kid when you went to your first wrestling match, which we've all experienced. It was accompanied by a wonderful wide-angle photo of the old Charlotte Coliseum that was in a Japanese wrestling magazine back in the 1980s. Good stuff.
It was great catching up with Masked Superstar Bill Eadie, Les Thatcher, Jimmy "Boogie Man" Valiant, and "The Russian Bear" Ivan Koloff in Charlotte last weekend. All four are great supporters of this website and we love and respect them very much.
Finally a special Happy Birthday to Bob Caudle (August 2), the great voice of Mid-Atlantic Wrestling for nearly three decades. Bob had a rough month in July, including a couple of stays in the hospital, but is home and well on his way to recovery. A special shout-out to his wife Jackie, too. They are the sweetest people you will ever meet.
Hope everyone has a great month! We have been enjoying updating the website almost every day over the last three or four months and are proud to present the greatest (and most eclectic) collection of wrestling memories about a wrestling territory ever put together. Help spread the word about us, and as always we appreciate your support of the Mid-Atlantic Gateway.
As our friend Bob Caudle would say, "so long for now."
- Dick Bourne
JULY 2015
Wednesday July 1, 2015
July marks the 30th anniversary of Jim Crockett Promotions' "Great American Bash." The first was July 6, 1985 at Memorial Stadium in Charlotte. The Freedom Challenge! We'll be posting a few things over the next week or so related to that special event.
The Gateway is back! Thanks for all the terrific feedback on the new design of the website and the frequent updates (39 in June alone!) as well. I've worked hard on making it more of a fun place to visit. The sole purpose of the Mid-Altantic Gateway as well as our book projects is to keep these memories alive --- both for all of us "old timers" to enjoy all over again, but also for a new generation of wrestling fans.
Some of the great names from our territory in the 1960s and 1970s get mentioned frequently on today's product - - legends like Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat, Dusty Rhodes, Sgt. Slaughter and others. But it's equally important to remember the significant contributions of guys whose legend looms just as large like Blackjack Mulligan, Wahoo McDaniel, the Anderson Brothers, Bob Caudle, Joe Murnick, Johnny Weaver, George Becker, Rip Hawk, Swede Hanson, Rufus R. Jones, Paul Jones, and so many others. Those names and dozens more like them will have a prominent place on this website; of that you can be certain.
Thanks as always for your support of the Mid-Altantic Gateway! -Dick Bourne
SUNDAY MAY 31, 2015
In June of 2015, the software used to manage and publish the Mid-Atlantic Gateway website became obsolete. Actually, that happened years ago, but we kept plugging away at it. The decision was made to transition the Gateway to a new format, which you see now.
However, we have worked for the last 15 years building a rather large collection of stories, features, written histories, interviews, photo albums, and memorabilia collections that we obviously didn't want to lose, so all of that material has been archived for easy access to those who have that interest.
The Mid-Atlantic Gateway archives can be found at www.midatlanticwrestling.net. Those of you that have been with us since 2000 will remember that was the original web address of the Gateway. It will now serve as home to our archives.
All new material will be found on our new version of the Mid-Atlantic Gateway website (where you are now.) It can be sorted through using the tags and labels system. (The Gateway Archives site with all of the 2000-2015 material will not be updated any further.)
Thanks as always for your many years of support of the Mid-Atlantic Gateway!
- Dick Bourne & David Chappell