There was a great Four Horsemen reunion this past weekend at the huge Icons of Wrestling event in Philadelphia, PA.
Reuniting for photos and autographs were all members of the 1988 JCP version of the Horsemen: Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, Ric Flair, and Barry Windham, with the leader of the Four Horsemen James J. Dillon.
The next scheduled reunion of the Four Horsemen takes place February 17 at the MCW Pro Wrestling event in Joppa, MD. The event celebrates the 30th anniversary of the "Windham version" of the Four Horsemen. For more information, visit their Facebook Event Page.
When James J. Dillon makes an appearance, he has with him the book "Four Horsemen: A Timeline History" by the Mid-Atlantic Gateway's Dick Bourne. Of course, J.J. always has his autobiography for sale as well, "Wrestlers are Like Seagulls" co-written with Scott Teal of Crowbar Press.
Want to buy these books online? Visit the links below.
JCP Promoter Elliot Murnick to appear at Mid-Atlantic Wrestle Expo
Saturday May 20, 2017 - Richmond Convention Center - Richmond VA (Note: We have been notified that the Wrestle Expo event scheduled for May 19-20 in Richmond has been cancelled. )
One of the key men on the ground for Jim Crockett Promotions, Elliot Murnick, will be making a rare appearance at the Mid-Atlantic Wrestle Expo in Richmond, VA, in May.
Murnick is the son of legendary Raleigh promoter Joe Murnick who promoted wrestling, concerts, and other events for decades in the Raleigh area, as well as eastern North Carolina and eastern Virginia. Joe Murnick and Jim Crockett, Sr. were business partners and friends going back into the 1950s.
Elliot and his late brother Carl took over the family business after their father's death and were heavily involved with Jim Crockett Promotions and some of their biggest events.
Back in the early 1970s, Elliot hosted the Raleigh-only version of "Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling" taped out of WRAL-5 TV studios. This was during the day of "dual tapings" where two different versions of commentary were being recorded over the top of one single hour of TV. The Raleigh version, with Murnick, aired only on channel 5. The syndicated version was hosted by Bob Caudle and went out to all the TV markets. That ended in 1974 when all of the various taping locations for JCP (including Charlotte and High Point) were consolidated to Raleigh.
When Elliot took over the Raleigh taping, there was a custom open for his show, and an extended version of the Mid-Atlantic Wrestling theme music with a separate studio announcer introducing Elliot Murnick.
Here is a rare, low-fidelity recording of that open:
MAWE is proud to bring Elliott Murnick to Richmond this May. He will be on hands to share stories of the early days of wrestling in Richmond. His appearance is brought to you by Commonwealth Productions. As always, card subject to change. Be sure to check the Wrestle Expo website for updated information.
Yiorgo's regular column in "The Flagship" online military newspaper featured a two-part interview with pro wrestling legend Bill Eadie last month. Bill is working with the folks at the Mid-Atlantic Wrestle Expo coming up in May in Richmond.
Eadie wrestled as the masked Superstar in the Mid-Atlantic, Georgia, and WWF territories in the 1970s and 1980s, as well as multiple tours in Japan where he was a top draw. He finished his in-ring career as Ax, part of the Demolition tag team in the WWF.
For information on talent scheduled to appear at the Mid-Atlantic
Wrestle Expo, including up to date schedule, venue, and ticket
information, visit their website here. Also, see our recent post on the Expo here.
"Big Time Wrestling" makes its big return to the Dorton Arena in Raleigh, NC and the Memorial Auditorium in Spartanburg, SC this coming weekend.
The same group that drew huge crowds last fall (featuring the reunion of Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat) will be hitting these two classic Mid-Atlantic Wrestling venues with the return of WCW legend STING.
Both shows feature a "meet & greet" with all the stars of the show that begins at 6 PM, with the matches starting both nights at 8 PM. Ticket information on their website at the links above.
Other stars on these shows include Broken Matt Hardy, Ricky Morton, the Great Khali, Billy Gunn, Buff Bagwell, Tony Atlas, George South, and many others.
For complete details, visit their website at btwtickets.com.
The list of those scheduled to appear at the Wrestle Expo in Richmond in May continues to grow.
Those announced so far include:
Demolition Ax and Smash (Bill Eadie and Barry Darsaw), James J. Dillon, Greg Valentine, Jimmy Valiant, Road Warrior Animal, The Rock and Roll Express (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson), Rich Landrum, The Barbarian, Td DiBiase, Nikita Koloff, Big Van Vader, James J. Dillon, Bruce Prichard, Bill Apter, along with referees Earl and Dave Hebner, and Tommy Young.
Commonwealth Productions has announced the inaugural "Mid-Atlantic Wrestle Expo" for May 19-20, 2017 coming to the Greater Richmond Convention Center in downtown Richmond, VA. The two-day fan event will feature appearances by some of the great legends in pro-wrestling.
Already announced is the return of Demolition to Richmond for the first time in over 20 years. Not much else is known at this point about other talent making appearances at the Expo, but it is early and announcements will be forthcoming in the next weeks and months.
Based on information currently on their website, it appears the event will be broken down into three main phases:
(1) a "Dinner with Demolition" on Friday night
(2) the main Expo/convention with autographs, photos, and memorabilia on Saturday
(3) wrestling matches Saturday night
They have a tentative schedule on their website at http://www.wrestleexporva.com, and other information there as well.
We've long thought that Richmond would make a great place for a wrestling convention. This one takes place a stone's throw away from the historic Richmond Coliseum where many of the great Mid-Atlantic Wrestling / Jim Crockett Promotions took place in the 1970s and 1980s.
We will continue to pass along updates as we go get closer to the event. You can follow the Mid-Atlantic Wrestle Expo on their website, on their Facebook page, or by following them on Twitter.
