Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Andersons Headline Singles Events at Starland




Interesting to see Ole and Gene Anderson headlining a card in singles matches during the time they were without the NWA world tag team titles in the spring of 1976. Dino Bravo and Mr. Wrestling Tim Woods had just defeated the Andersons ten days earlier on television for those titles.

This May 15 card took place at the famous Starland Arena in Roanoke.

The main event was an off-shoot of the Anderson family's feud with Rufus R. "Freight Train" Jones. Ole and Gene, along with cousin Ric Flair, had jumped Rufus on TV in April and put a chauffeur's cap on his head in an attempt to embarrass him. That backfired big time on the Andersons who bore the wrath of the "Freight Train" for months.

While one half of the NWA world tag champs Dino Bravo battled Gene Anderson in the semi-main on this Roanoke card, the other half of the tag team, Tim Woods, was in Hampton VA battling Bolo Mongol in a bounty match.

A couple of other notes on grapplers on this card:
(1) "Dr. Fugiana" was future IWGP champion and Japanese legend Tatsumi Fujinami.
(2) Randy Colley would later become one of the famous Moondogs tag team.