NWA Champion Jack Brisco / Japan Coverage 1973

Tiger Conway, Sr. straps the brand new NWA world championship belt around the waist of Jack Brisco moments after he defeated Harley Race in Houston, July 20, 1973.

 

Originally published on the Domed Globe website in February 2015. 

Blackjack's Crew: At The Ranch (and In the Mud)

by Dick Bourne
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

This photo was sent to us back in the 2000s by Blackjack Mulligan when we were working on a website with him. We used it in a contest on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway, the challenge being to see who could identify all the wrestlers in the picture.

What an amazing and rare photograph this is, taken in 1973 at the Headlock Ranch. It looks like these guys had been ridin', ropin' , wranglin', workin' or playin' in the mud!

There are five wrestlers in this photo. Can you name them all?



"THE CREW"

It was a bit of a trick question because one of the adults in the photo wasn't a wrestler. But the young kid in the photo later was.

Here are the identities of everyone in this 1973 photo:

1. Dusty Rhodes
2. Ray Stevens
3. Pat (last name unknown, was the ranch foreman at the time)
4. Dustin Rhodes
5. Dick Murdoch
6. Ric Flair

In the note that accompanied the photo, Blackjack affectionately called this group his "crew."

At the time of the contest on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway, we had some folks who argued the fellow on the far right couldn't possibly be the "Nature Boy" Ric Flair. But indeed it is. This photograph was taken in 1973, many months before Ric would come to the Mid-Atlantic territory. He was heavier then, and really didn't lose the bulk of that weight until after the 1975 plane crash.

What an incredible group of talent in that one photo!

* * * * * * *

Here is another fun photo Blackjack sent us from around that same era - -

Dusty Rhodes, Dick Murdoch, and Blackjack Mulligan from the early 1970s.

Edited from a post originally published October 28, 2015
and republished in 2019 on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway.

The Brisco Reign Begins: Hand Raised in Houston (1973)

Ring announcer Boyd Pierce raises the hand of a triumphant Jack Brisco moments after Brisco defeated Harley Race for the NWA World Heavyweight championship on July 20, 1973 in Houston, Texas. A dejected Race is seen in the corner behind them.

NWA President Sam Muchnick is at left. He had attended the card that night in Houston and brought the new NWA World title belt with him. It was presented to Race before the match, but he didn't have a chance to enjoy the new belt, as Brisco took the 2-out-of-3 fall match and the championship laurels that night.

Although hidden behind Brisco in this photograph so you can't see him here, it is Tiger Conway, Jr. who is strapping the belt around the new champion's waist.

A wonderful photograph, perhaps taken by promoter Paul Boesch who took many photos that night, featured in an issue of Gong Magazine in Japan.

 

Originally published in January 2019 on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway's Domed-Globe website. 

 

Dr. Tom Prichard: The Night Brisco Became NWA Champion

by Dick Bourne
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

Back in 2012, while surfing the internet, I came across a great article by pro-wrestling superstar Tom Prichard on his "Doctor's Note" blog. I originally wrote about it on the Domed Globe website, and I am now posting it on the Gateway as well.

Tom Prichard's ticket stub for wrestling at the
Sam Houston Coliseum, July 20, 1973

In his article "Harley Race vs. Jack Brisco: The Night Brisco Became NWA World Champion", Prichard looks back at the significance the date July 20, 1973 had for him in several ways, not the least of which was the historic title change between Race and Brisco, but also the night the belt known as "the ten pounds of gold" was first presented to the champion.

Prichard, who grew up in El Passo, TX, watching wrestling out of the Amarillo territory, was there in Houston that night and the pomp and circumstance surrounding the big night left a lasting impression on him. I greatly enjoyed his first hand account.

Included in the article are images of the actual newspaper reports that week (not reproductions) as well as programs, magazines, and his row 12, seat 8 ticket stub. This stuff is very cool to me.

Many of the clippings seen in Prichard's post are also featured in the "Ten Pounds of Gold" book, copies of which were provided by Harley Race.

Click the link the below to go to Tom Prichard's blog and relive the night history was made in Houston.

Harley Race vs. Jack Brisco:
The Night Brisco Became NWA World Champion

 

Dr. Tom's blog is "The Doctor's Note" and is located here:

http://drtomprichard.blogspot.com/

 

 Originally published on the Domed Globe website in October of 2012

 

Classic Jack Brisco vs. Dory Funk, Jr. from Japan (with Sam Muchnick)

A classic 2-of-3 falls contest in Japan in January of 1974 between reigning NWA World Champion Jack Brisco and former champion Dory Funk, Jr. from Japan. The video includes great pre-match footage of NWA President Sam Muchnick with Jack's brand new NWA World Championship belt, the original "ten pounds of gold" on the red velvet strap. 

 

 

This post was originally published on the Domed Globe blog on April 7, 2021

 

The First Mid-Atlantic Champion: Jerry Brisco

Jerry Brisco: First Ever Mid-Atlantic Champion 
by Dick Bourne
Mid-Atlantic Gateway 

Today we spotlight the very first Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Champion, Oklahoma State's Jerry Brisco.

Jerry was the first wrestler to hold the title known by name as the Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship, although that title evolved from (and shares a direct lineage with) the Eastern States Heavyweight title. Jerry was the reigning 4-time Eastern States champion when the title's name was changed in October of 1973, and as such is recognized as the first Mid-Atlantic champion.

Jerry Brisco's Four Mid-Atlantic/Eastern States Title Victories

Defeated Rip Hawk on 6/13/72 in Columbia, SC

Defeated Rip Hawk on 9/4/72 in Greenville, SC

Defeated Rip Hawk on 3/3/73 in Winston-Salem, NC

Defeated Ole Anderson on 7/3/73 in Columbia, SC

In his WWE Hall of Fame induction speech in 2008, Jerry took time to thank promoter Jim Crockett, Sr. for giving him a chance to shine as a singles competitor on a main event level. It was a special moment for fans of Mid-Atlantic Wrestling and the old Mid-Atlantic territory to hear Brisco invoke the name of the man who promoted wrestling in our area for over 40 years:

"I’d like to thank Jim Crockett, Sr., the great promoter in Mid-Atlantic Wrestling. They gave me my first opportunity to bust out on my own. I won the Eastern United States Championship there, I won the Mid-Atlantic Championship there…”

 - Jerry Brisco, WWE Hall of Fame speech, Class of 2008

At the Mid-Atlantic Legends Fanfest in 2010, I asked Jerry to take a photo with a replica of the first Mid-Atlantic championship title belt. The photo is seen in the collage above. The replica belt was made by Dave Millican from the original artwork created by Reggie Parks, who made the original belt in 1973. It was a special opportunity to recapture great championship imagery from the territory's past.

Jerry Brisco talks with "Championship Wrestling" host Big Bill Ward in Charlotte in 1972.
Jerry was in the middle of chasing Eastern States champion Rip Hawk in effort to regain that title.

In another bit of trivia, Jerry and his brother, Jack Brisco, were the only two wrestlers to hold both the Eastern States and Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight titles. "Sounds like one of us must have been booking," Jack joked to me during an autograph signing at Fanfest.

Jerry left the area in early 1974, but returned in the early 1980s to team with Jack in a memorable feud with Ricky Steamboat and Jay Youngblood over the NWA world tag team championships, a title they held on several occasions.

Regardless of what period you look at in Mid-Atlantic history, whether it be his run in the 1970s or the 1980s, Jerry Brisco is one of the most distinguished champions to ever hold gold in the Mid-Atlantic area.

Originally published July 28, 2016 on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway.

* * * *

Read all about Jerry Brisco's four Eastern and Mid-Atlantic title reigns and all the storylines associated with his landmark singles run for Jim Crockett Promotions in our book 'The Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship", available in the Gateway Book Store and on Amazon.com.

Remembering the Jim Crockett Scholarship Fund (1973)

by Dick Bourne

Mid-Atlantic Gateway

Ticket stub from Thanksgiving Night in Greensboro 1973

The Territory's Biggest Night

When Jim Crockett passed away in 1973, the family decided to establish a scholarship in his name. According to a report in the Greensboro News & Record, the traditional Thanksgiving night event in the Greensboro Coliseum was the first in a series of scholarship events to be held in the coming weeks to honor the legacy and memory of James Allen Crockett, Sr. Proceeds from the event would go to that fund.

The Thanksgiving event in Greensboro, which was always a big affair and one of the biggest shows of the year in the entire territory, was particularly loaded that evening. The NWA world champion Jack Brisco was booked to defend the ten pounds of gold against former champion Dory Funk, Jr. in what was another in a series of classic battles between the two wrestlers who defined pro-wrestling in the 1970s. Jack had defeated Harley Race in July of that same year for the title, and the angle now was that Brisco had never defeated his arch-rival Funk, Jr. in a title match.  This was a huge deal at the time and billed as a special event selected for Greensboro. To add even more star power to that main event, former legendary champion Lou Thesz was brought in to act as special referee for the title contest.

A number of other big names were brought in from outside the area for the show, which wasn't that unusual for big shows in Greensboro. Terry Funk was in to challenge Eastern heavyweight champion Jerry Brisco in a battle of the younger brothers who were in the main event that night. Indeed, Thanksgiving night in Greensboro was a Funk vs. Brisco showcase.

Also in were the father and son combination of Eddie and Mike Graham. Eddie and Mike were top stars for Championship Wrestling from Florida, and Eddie was also the promoter of that territory. They squared off against one of the Mid-Atlantic territory's top legendary heel tag teams Rip Hawk and Swede Hanson. What a classic brawl that must have been.

Another top star in for the big card that didn't wrestle regularly in the territory was Cowboy Bill Watts. A regular in Georgia and Florida, Watts had made several special appearances in Greensboro that year, but was not a regular member of the Crockett roster.

TRANSCRIPTS

Championships At Stake In Thanksgiving Wrestling  

Thanksgiving night in the Greensboro Coliseum will be wrestling championship night, the finest card ever presented to Piedmont sports fans. 

Jack Brisco, the new world heavyweight title-holder, will risk his crown against Dory Funk Jr. of Texas, the former champion. Funk lost his title some time ago to Harley Race, who in turn was beaten by Brisco ... and Jack Brisco has never beaten Funk in a title match. Lou Thesz, a former world champ, will be the special referee. 

Younger brothers of both champions clash In the Eastern Heavyweight title match. Jerry Brisco, who holds the crown, will take on Terry Funk. Both title features will be one hour time limit.  

This Thanksgiving special, which usually draws the season's largest wrestling crowd at the Greensboro Coliseum, will be the first in a series of Jim Crockett Scholarship Fund events throughout the area. Wrestlers and promoters alike are working to set up a series of college scholarships to honor the late Jim Crockett, regarded as the South's outstanding promoter at the time of his death last spring.  

Other matches include Cowboy Bill Watts versus Beauregard, Bob Bruggers versus El Gaucho and The Destroyer versus Rufus R. Jones. A special tag team match will have Rip Hawk and Swede Hanson against Eddie and Mike Graham. 

Wrestling Set Tonight  

The late Jim Crockett will be honored tonight during professional wrestling in the Greensboro Coliseum tonight involving world champions. 

Lou Thesz, who held the world crown for many years, will referee a match between current champ Jack Brisco and Dory Funk Jr.  Funk lost his title to Harley Race who was beaten by Brisco.

The Eastern Heavyweight title is also at stake with present titlist Jerry Brisco being challenged by Terry Funk. Rip Hawk and Swede Hanson will have a tag team battle against Eddie and Mike Graham and there will be several singles events. 

A Rare Thanksgiving Night Card in Charlotte

With so many big outside names taking the top spots on the Greensboro card, one could easily wonder where the rest of the Mid-Atlantic roster was that night. Typically, Norfolk, VA, also hosted a big card of wrestling on Thanksgiving night. But in 1973, Charlotte instead played host to a rare Thanksgiving night show that, like Greensboro, also featured some special guest stars.


The headline event for the Charlotte Coliseum featured the top two singles stars in the territory at the time, Johnny Valentine vs. Johnny Weaver. In the semi-main event, the Mid-Atlantic tag team titles were on the line as new champions Jay York and Brute Bernard defended against the area's most popular tag-team combination, former champs Sandy Scott and Nelson Royal. As an added bonus, former world boxing champion Joe Louis was in town and had been assigned as special referee for the title contest.

Two big outside names were brought in for the show as well. Area favorite Paul Jones had been campaigning in the state of Florida for the last couple of years and had won the Florida heavyweight championship. He was in the midst of a red-hot feud with Buddy Colt. The two had traded the Florida title several times during the year of 1973 and now they brought their heated rivalry to Charlotte for Thanksgiving night. The Florida title was not on the line in Charlotte, but it was a bit of a homecoming for Jones who had wrestled on cards throughout the Mid-Atlantic territory for years before moving down to the sunshine state. Charlotte fans were well familiar with the feud because "Championship Wrestling from Florida" was seen on Charlotte area television in those years.

Charlotte's traditional night for wrestling was Monday night, and as a testament to the city's ability to support pro-wreslting, Jim Crockett Promotions returned to the city the very next Monday night 11/26, only four days following the big Thanksgiving night show. The main event back at the cozy confines of the Charlotte Park Center was Johnny Valentine vs. Rufus R. "Freight Train" Jones.

The death of Jim Crockett had saddened the entire Mid-Atlantic area earlier that year, but on this big night Jim Jr., David, Jackie, and Frances did their father proud with one huge night of wrestling in their showcase cities. It was the territory's biggest night of the year and was 1973's shining moment.

 Originally published June 30, 2015 on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway

Other articles:

I Still Owe Harley Race a Beer

Flair vs. Landel: Sold Out in Raleigh

Gene Gordon Letter to "Wrestling Guide" (1973)

by Carroll Hall
Publisher of the All Star Championship Wrestling website

* * * * * * * * * * *

Carroll Hall publishes the excellent All Star Championship Wrestling blog that looks back at wrestling for Jim Crockett Promotions, primarily in the 1960s. From time to time we like to republish some of his posts here, with his permission of course, and we consider Carroll a friend of the Gateway as well as a Gateway Contributor.

Check out all of the wonderful nostalgia on Carroll Hall's All Star Championship Wrestling.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Gene Gordon in Wrestling Guide Magazine
Longtime JCP photographer, the late Gene Gordon, wrote this letter to editor Tommy Kay. At that time Mr. Kay worked for Wrestling Guide, Official Wrestling, Big Book of Wrestling, Complete Wrestling Round-Up and several other sports publications.

Note: Swede Hanson was out of action from the end of July 1973 until early November 1973. Bobby Shane came in to team with Rip Hawk while Swede was out of action. They were managed by General Homer O'Dell.



Originally published11/16/19 on All Star Championship Wrestling.
Original Story Link

John Ringley: The Match Maker

The following article was originally published in the Charlotte News in May of 1973. It was written by Ronald Green, sports editor of the News at the time. Green, a journalist and columnist in Charlotte for 50 years is member of the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame, among many other career honors in North Carolina and nationally. 

Green had a series of great articles about pro-wrestling in Charlotte in the 1970s, including this one on promoter John Ringley, who had just taken over as head of Jim Crockett Promotions one month earlier following the death of Jim Crockett, Sr.



Charlotte News
Originally Published May 9, 1973
Article by Ronald Green, Charlotte News Sports Editor

Johnny Ringley's idea of an easy chair is one made of metal that folds and is situated where he can watch a good wrestling match. Preferably in a big crowd. Anything softer and in quieter surroundings makes him uncomfortable.

At the age of 33, Ringley has traveled close to a million miles, much of it by car in late afternoon-to-wee hours journeys to towns around the Carolinas and Virginia. So hurried has been his pace for the past 13 years, he gets restless after 24 hours away from his work and wants to "jump back in."

Ringley is the new maestro of grunt and groan in this area, the successor to the late Jim Crockett as promoter of professional wrestling and assorted other entertainment.

"I've done it all," said Ringley, tall, sandy-haired and quick with a smile. "After I married Mr. Crockett's daughter Frances, he offered me a job with him but I turned it down.

"A few months later, I accepted it. I started out doing everything — putting out window cards, setting up rings, selling tickets, taking tickets, announcing in the ring . . . I've done everything there is to do in this business but wrestle and I don't intend to do that. But wrestling is No. 1 with me and always will be."


ESCORTED ROLLING STONES
To those whose tastes run away from hulking gladiators, this may be difficult to understand. There is a more glamorous side to Ringley's work, that of dealing with stars like Tom Jones and the Rolling Stones.

Ringley recalls, "We had Tom Jones when he was the second or third act from the opening on the Dick Clark Caravan of Stars. We had Dionne Warwick when she was still so little known, she did her act and then went into the audience to sell programs."

Ringley has hauled the Rolling Stones all over this area and thanked the Lord when he was rid of them. He has had Herman's Hermits in his home to celebrate New Year's because they were on the road and he thought they should have company for the occasion.

We're not into rock and Broadway stuff as heavily as we used to be," he said. "They cost too much and are much more difficult to deal with."

But Ringley's organization has stepped up its promotion of the Harlem Globetrotters from about 10 games a year to 25 or 30. Next to wrestlers, he counts them as the easiest group with whom to work. No written contracts, just verbal agreements and never a failure to appear.

Wrestling, the world peopled with brawny, long-haired Jack Armstrongs and bearded or masked badmen, remains the primary product flowing out of the old house-turned-office on East Morehead St., though.


FOLLOWS CROCKETT CREDO
"We're operating in three towns a night, six nights a week with wrestling," said Ringley. "And we're booked solid into September. We've already booked dates, in fact, as far ahead as next spring."

Ringley is the matchmaker, assigning wrestlers for all these shows, rushing to see one of them here, one there, feeling out the audiences to determine what they like.

"The fans are really the matchmakers," he said. "They make the match. I just write it down on paper. Mr. Crockett always said, "Give them what they want and they'll come to see it."

"I try to operate along the same lines as he did. I learned from him and before he died, he had turned over most of the business to me. It was always comforting to have him sitting in that office, though. It was like having money in the bank, knowing I could ask his advice."

It was mid-morning as Ringley talked. He had a trip to make to Danville, Va., and back.

In one recent week, he worked the wrestling show here on Monday night, drove to Columbia and back on Tuesday, drove to Savannah and back on Wednesday, conducted business by car and plane in Greenville, Macon and Atlanta on Thursday, flew to Orlando and back on Friday, drove to Roanoke and back on Saturday and to Raleigh and back on Sunday, keeping early morning office hours here most of those days.

"I love it," said the matchmaker. "There's nothing I'd rather do."

*  *  *  *  *

 

Originally published in The Charlotte News, May 9, 1973.

Jim Crockett, Sr. had passed away only 39 days earlier.

Special thanks to Mark Eastridge for providing this article

to the Mid-Atlantic Gateway. 

Wrestlers at the Ranch (and in the Mud)

by Dick Bourne
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

This photo was sent to us back in the 2000s by Blackjack Mulligan when were working on a website with him. We used it in a contest on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway, the challenge being to see who could identify all the wrestlers in the picture.

What an amazing and rare photograph, taken in 1973 on on one of the boy's ranches (at the Headlock Ranch perhaps - - Blackjack couldn't remember where it was taken.) It looks like these guys had been ridin', ropin' , wranglin', workin' or playin' in the mud!

There are five wrestlers in this photo. Can you name them all?



"THE CREW"
It was a bit of a trick question because one of the adults in the photo wasn't a wrestler. But the young kid in the photo later was.

Here are the identities of everyone in this 1973 photo:

1. Dusty Rhodes
2. Ray Stevens
3. Pat (last name unknown, was the ranch foreman at the time)
4. Dustin Rhodes (not confirmed, but that's who Blackjack said it was.)
5. Dick Murdoch
6. Ric Flair

Blackjack called them "my crew." He clearly had a lot of affection for all these guys.

At the time of the contest on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway, we had some folks who argued the fellow on the far right couldn't possibly be the "Nature Boy" Ric Flair. But indeed it is. This photograph was taken in 1973, many months before Ric would come to the Mid-Atlantic territory. He was heavier then, and really didn't lose the bulk of that weight until after the 1975 plane crash.

What an incredible group of talent in that one photo.

* * * * * * *

Here is another fun photo Blackjack sent us from around that same era - -

Dusty Rhodes, Dick Murdoch, and Blackjack Mulligan from the early 1970s.

Originally published October 28, 2015 on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway

Best Of: Jim Crockett's First Mid-Atlantic Champion

Jerry Brisco: First Ever Mid-Atlantic Champion 
by Dick Bourne
Mid-Atlantic Gateway 


Today we spotlight the very first Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Champion, Oklahoma State's Jerry Brisco.

Jerry was the first wrestler to hold the title known by name as the Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship, although that title evolved from (and shares a direct lineage with) the Eastern States Heavyweight title. Jerry was the reigning 4-time Eastern States champion when the title's name was changed in October of 1973, and as such is recognized as the first Mid-Atlantic champion.

Jerry Brisco's Four Mid-Atlantic/Eastern States Title Victories

Defeated Rip Hawk on 6/13/72 in Columbia, SC

Defeated Rip Hawk on 9/4/72 in Greenville, SC

Defeated Rip Hawk on 3/3/73 in Winston-Salem, NC

Defeated Ole Anderson on 7/3/73 in Columbia, SC

In his WWE Hall of Fame induction speech in 2008, Jerry took time to thank promoter Jim Crockett, Sr. for giving him a chance to shine as a singles competitor on a main event level. It was a special moment for fans of Mid-Atlantic Wrestling and the old Mid-Atlantic territory to hear Brisco invoke the name of the man who promoted wrestling in our area for over 40 years:

"I’d like to thank Jim Crockett, Sr., the great promoter in Mid-Atlantic Wrestling. They gave me my first opportunity to bust out on my own. I won the Eastern United States Championship there, I won the Mid-Atlantic Championship there…”

 - Jerry Brisco, WWE Hall of Fame speech, Class of 2008

At the Mid-Atlantic Legends Fanfest in 2010, I asked Jerry to take a photo with a replica of the first Mid-Atlantic championship title belt. The photo is seen in the collage above. The replica belt was made by Dave Millican from the original artwork created by Reggie Parks, who made the original belt in 1973. It was a special opportunity to recapture great championship imagery from the territory's past.

Jerry Brisco talks with "Championship Wrestling" host Big Bill Ward in Charlotte in 1972.
Jerry was in the middle of chasing Eastern States champion Rip Hawk in effort to regain that title.

In another bit of trivia, Jerry and his brother, Jack Brisco, were the only two wrestlers to hold both the Eastern States and Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight titles. "Sounds like one of us must have been booking," Jack joked to me during an autograph signing at Fanfest.

Jerry left the area in early 1974, but returned in the early 1980s to team with Jack in a memorable feud with Ricky Steamboat and Jay Youngblood over the NWA world tag team championships, a title they held on several occasions.

Regardless of what period you look at in Mid-Atlantic history, whether it be his run in the 1970s or the 1980s, Jerry Brisco is one of the most distinguished champions to ever hold gold in the Mid-Atlantic area.

Originally published July 28, 2016 on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway.

* * * *

Read all about Jerry Brisco's four Eastern and Mid-Atlantic title reigns and all the storylines associated with his landmark singles run for Jim Crockett Promotions in our book 'The Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship", available in the Gateway Book Store and on Amazon.com.

Crockett Foundation: J.J. Dillon's Early Days for JCP

CrockettFoundation.com

The Crockett Foundation has posted an interview that the Mid-Atlantic Gateway conducted with James J. Dillon exclusively for their Foundation website.

When most fans today think of James J. Dillon, they think Four Horsemen. "J. J.'s Early Days" is a short discussion with Dillon about his early career stint as a wrestler with Jim Crockett Promotions in the early 1970s, before the passing of patriarch Jim Crockett, Sr.

Topics discussed include his memories of Jim Sr., the old Crockett office on Morehead Street in Charlotte, his first match for JCP, thoughts and memories on guys that helped 'Jim Dillon' along the way, and what his time in the 'Charlotte territory' meant for his career moving forward.

Dillon had a hall-of-fame career (he's now in three different pro wrestling halls of fame) and was involved in many aspects of the business as a wrestler, manager, and in management behind the scenes for Jim Crockett Promotions, World Championship Wrestling, and the WWE. He is now a "tag team partner" of the Crockett Foundation.

Check out the interview with J.J. on the Crockett Foundation website.

"Tag in; help out!" 
Support the Crockett Foundation with your purchase of their classic "Four Horsemen" t-shirts, as well as caps and other goodies, all available on the Crockett Foundation online store.

The Crockett Foundations is a tax-exempt 501(C)(3) nonprofit organization. 

Jerry Brisco: First Ever Mid-Atlantic Champion

by Dick Bourne
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

Today we spotlight the very first Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Champion, Oklahoma State's Jerry Brisco.

Jerry was the first wrestler to hold the title known by name as the Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship, although that title evolved from (and shares a direct lineage with) the Eastern States Heavyweight title. Jerry was the reigning 4-time Eastern States champion when the title's name was changed in October of 1973, and as such is recognized as the first Mid-Atlantic champion.

Jerry Brisco's Four Mid-Atlantic/Eastern States Title Victories

Defeated Rip Hawk on 6/13/72 in Columbia, SC

Defeated Rip Hawk on 9/4/72 in Greenville, SC

Defeated Rip Hawk on 3/3/73 in Winston-Salem, NC

Defeated Ole Anderson on 7/3/73 in Columbia, SC

In his WWE Hall of Fame induction speech in 2008, Jerry took time to thank promoter Jim Crockett, Sr. for giving him a chance to shine as a singles competitor on a main event level. It was a special moment for fans of Mid-Atlantic Wrestling and the old Mid-Atlantic territory to hear Brisco invoke the name of the man who promoted wrestling in our area for over 40 years:

"I’d like to thank Jim Crockett, Sr., the great promoter in Mid-Atlantic Wrestling. They gave me my first opportunity to bust out on my own. I won the Eastern United States Championship there, I won the Mid-Atlantic Championship there…”

 - Jerry Brisco, WWE Hall of Fame speech, Class of 2008

At the Mid-Atlantic Legends Fanfest in 2010, I asked Jerry to take a photo with a replica of the first Mid-Atlantic championship title belt. The photo is seen in the collage above. The replica belt was made by Dave Millican from the original artwork created by Reggie Parks, who made the original belt in 1973. It was a special opportunity to recapture great championship imagery from the territory's past.

Jerry Brisco talks with "Championship Wrestling" host Big Bill Ward in Charlotte in 1972.
Jerry was in the middle of chasing Eastern States champion Rip Hawk in effort to regain that title.
The Eastern States Championship would later become the Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship in 1973.

In another bit of trivia, Jerry and his brother, Jack Brisco, were the only two wrestlers to hold both the Eastern States and Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight titles. "Sounds like one of us must have been booking," Jack joked to me during an autograph signing at Fanfest.

Jerry left the area in early 1974, but returned in the early 1980s to team with Jack in a memorable feud with Ricky Steamboat and Jay Youngblood over the NWA world tag team championships, a title they held on several occasions.

Regardless of what period you look at in Mid-Atlantic history, whether it be his run in the 1970s or the 1980s, Jerry Brisco is one of the most distinguished champions to ever hold gold in the Mid-Atlantic area.

Booking Changes at Jim Crockett Promotions (Early 1970s)

by Dick Bourne
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

I recently had the pleasure of a casual conversation with John Ringley, at one time the most trusted confidant of promoter Jim Crockett, Sr. He had graciously agreed to talk with me for a feature I am constantly working on and updating related to the old TV studio tapings of Mid-Atlantic Wrestling as well as some information on the various local promoters that worked with Jim Crockett Promotions in the 1960s and 1970s. But we also touched on a few other subjects, one being the major booking change in 1973 that changed the face of the Mid-Atlantic territory.

Ringley was the man who recruited and hired George Scott to take over the booking responsibilities of the promotion, a move which changed the face of the company in the coming years. He and Scott immediately brought in Johnny Valentine, Wahoo McDaniel, and Don Jardine to the territory, which shook things up on top of the cards and began to redefine the territory as a "singles territory" at least in terms of the main events.

This was the booking change in the company that is most remembered and discussed historically. But before hiring George Scott, Ringley had pushed Jim Crockett, Sr. into making another major change in booking a few years earlier.

David Crockett, Charleston promoter Henry Marcus, and John Ringly (circa 1973)

Ringley told me he felt things had become a little stale with long-time booker George Becker in the late 1960s.

"(Becker) had started regularly booking 6-man tags as the main events, and I was frustrated with that direction," he told me, as an example. "What was next? 8-mans? 10-mans?"

Ringley began lobbying Crockett Sr. to make a change. Crockett resisted at first, but they finally came to a compromise. Becker would step down as booker to be replaced by the tandem of Johnny Weaver and Rip Hawk. Both Weaver and Hawk had assisted Becker with finishes and other booking chores for years. This change took place in late 1969 or early 1970.

But Ringley explained that he always saw wrestling in 7-year cycles, and felt that the company was in the bottom of one of those cycles at that time. He still felt that the company needed a more significant change in direction.

"After Mr. Crockett died (in April of 1973), I decided to make a wholesale change," he said. That's when John Ringley hired George Scott.

Scott immediately began making changes, the most significant being changing a tag-team driven territory to one with more singles-oriented main events. He was given full reign to make those changes by Crockett Sr. and Ringley. Scott's changes in booking strategy, as well as bringing in a whole slate of new talent, including a promising rookie named Ric Flair, eventually went on to set the territory on fire again.

Ringley, however, wasn't around to see those changes pay off. He left the company not long after Scott was hired.

"Jim Crockett was like a father to me," he told me. "He had a big heart and helped a lot of guys out when they first came to into territory." Ringley's own father died when he was young.

Ringley went to work for Eddie Graham in Florida. While there he was recruited by music promoter Buddy Lee to come work for him in Nashville, Tennessee. It was a good fit given Ringley's vast experience working for Jim Crockett Promotions as a promoter of music events and such attractions as the Harlem Globetrotters. Lee had been a wrestler who worked for Jim Crockett, Sr. back in the 1950s and formed a music promotional company in Nashville in the 1960s. The company he started, Buddy Lee Attractions, is still one of the largest talent agencies in Nashville. Ringley later worked for wrestling promoter Leroy McGuirk in Oklahoma.

John Ringley's push to change the booking direction of Jim Crockett Promotions had lasting effects on that family's business, and the wrestling business in general,  for years to come.

I'll have more tidbits from my conversation with John Ringley in future posts.
 

1973 JCP Softball Team

UPDATED 3/12 with identification of those in the photo.

With Major League Baseball's spring training underway and the 2016 baseball season right around the corner, we thought it would be fun to take a look at the 1973 JCP softball team!

This photo is from the July 1973 issue of "Mid-Atlantic Wrestling Magazine" and was taken by legendary wrestling photographer Gene Gordon.

This was an amazing gathering of top wrestling talent, not to mention top talent on the diamond!

Front row (L-R): Nelson Royal, Johnny Weaver, Scott Casey, Klondike Bill.

Back Row (L-R): Jack Reid (Coach), David Royal (Coach), Les Thatcher, Big Boy Brown (very back), Angelo Martinelli, Bob Roop, Jerry Brisco, Ronnie Garvin, Sandy Scott.

Wally Dusek's Letter (1973)

by Dick Bourne
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

Ronnie Jones was one of the biggest Mid-Atlantic Wrestling fans I ever met. George South introduced me to him at an event years ago and we had a great time talking about the good ol' days of Jim Crockett Promotions wrestling.

It was with great sadness that I learned of Ronnie's passing this year.  George told me his wife had given him some of Ronnie's memorabilia, and he had come across an amazing letter written to Ronnie from Wally Dusek, a longtime Crockett lieutenant who had many responsibilities, one of which was the making and transport of the wrestling rings. There was nothing quite like a Wally Dusek / Crockett ring.

Wally Dusek   (Photo by Dave Routh)

Wally's letter to Ronnie was in response to Ronnie's request for information about wrestling rings and how to become a wrestler. Ronnie's wife gave George permission to post the letter he received from Wally.

Can you image that ANYONE in a major league wrestling company today would take the time to respond to a fan in the total, complete, professional, and personal way Wally Dusek did here? It speaks volumes for the type man he was and the type of company Jim Crockett Promotions was.

From December of 1973, we proudly present Wally Dusek's letter to Ronnie Jones.