A week or so ago (Sunday, August 23), I posted another in our series of "Main Event Memories" featuring the brother team of Jack and Jerry Brisco challenging for the NWA world tag team championships held by Ric Flair and Greg Valentine in February 1978.
As I took a closer look at that time period, I realized the Briscos were just one of three brother combinations to be challenging for the titles, and all three coming in from different NWA territories:
1. Jack and Jerry Brisco - Florida territory
2. Dory Jr. and Terry Funk - Amarillo Territory
3. Gene and Ole Anderson - Georgia Territory*
Greg Valentine made note of this in an interview during Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling in early February 1978:
Greg Valentine Talks Championship Challengers (The link is fixed!)
"Yes, again we're blessing the TV audience with our presence out there, "Nature Boy" Ric Flair and Greg Valentine. You know we've got so many different opponents coming into the area like the Funk brothers, the Brisco brothers ... I even hear a rumor that Gene Anderson is working out real hard trying to get back with his brother. Can you imagine that; the Anderson brothers against us again? When are they ever going to give up? Ladies and gentlemen, we have been the world champions twice over, and we're going to stay the world champions all the way through 1978, 1979, 1980 -- we'll never stop."
- Greg Valentine
* Gene Anderson was coming back off a neck injury sustained the previous October (1977) when the Andersons lost the NWA world titles back to Flair and Valentine. Gene had been working his way slowly back into action in early 1978, serving as a special referee in several Mid-Atlantic title tilts between Greg Valentine and Wahoo McDaniel, and then working some middle-of-the-card singles matches. He remained in the Mid-Atlantic territory during 1978 working mid-card tag matches with various partners, while Ole Anderson stayed in Georgia.
The brothers were not able to reunite in time to challenge Flair and Valentine for the titles. Ric and Greg were stripped of the championship in April 1978, and a one night tournament was set to fill the vacant titles in Greensboro on 4/23/78. The Andersons finally reunited for this tournament, and defeated the Brisco brothers in the opening round before losing to eventual tournament winners Paul Jones and Ricky Steamboat.
Read the story that led to this post, The Briscos Challenge Flair & Valentine, part of our ongoing "Main Event Memories" series.
- Dick Bourne