Poster: Infernos vs. Flying Scotts in Lexington NC

Click for larger Image

by Brack Beasley
Mid-Atlantic Gateway Contributor

This poster takes us back to Saturday, May 11th, 1968 and promotes a card held at the YMCA Gymnasium in Lexington, NC. Featured are several wrestlers that would later have significant contributions to Jim Crockett Promotions behind the scenes in the years to come. 

George and Sandy Scott became influential figures behind the scenes and on this night they faced off with the menacing masked team, The Infernos with manager J.C. Dykes in the main event. 

Les Thatcher would become responsible for creating the great Mid Atlantic Wrestling magazines in the late 70s and teamed with Amazing Zuma in the semi against Nikita Mulkavich (maker of many famous wrestling belts of the day) and Bull Johnson. 

In the opener was none other than "Roughhouse" Sonny Fargo from nearby China Grove, NC who later became a referee for JCP. With a vertical layout, the poster has all black print over a bright yellow background and images of the main event teams and Zuma.

Poster No. 39 in the Beasley Poster Series 

Cowboy Bob Ellis, Rip Hawk and the Birthday Cake

The Birthday Cake
by Wayne Brower
Special to the Mid-Atlantic Gateway

Another weekend visit around 1960 to the grandparents afforded me the opportunity to watch wrestling and be a part of a birthday celebration – at the same time.

“Welcome to this week’s Championship Wrestling.” The announcer declared with authority.  He gave the run down of matches on the show and also told of a special event that we wouldn’t want to miss.

Cowboy Bob Ellis
from "Mid-Atlantic Grapplin' Greats"

It was the typical wrestling show of the era with two singles matches followed by a tag team battle to close the program.  However, an added treat occurred after the second match.  Coming back from commercial messages promoting live events in the viewing area, the announcer appeared with a rather large cake that sat atop his broadcast desk.  “Folks, we have a very special presentation today for a man who is loved by all, especially the children.  Cowboy Bob Ellis, will you please come out now and join us?  Let’s get him out here ladies and gentlemen.”

Taking their cue, the studio audience began to applaud and became louder when the popular Texan walked in.  Cowboy Bob was dressed to impress, with wardrobe accented in fancy western boots, vest and white Stetson.

“This is a very special day, Cowboy Bob Ellis, and we want to share it with everyone.  As you know Bob, the youngsters really look up to you.  When the kids at our local Crippled Children’s Home found out about today being your birthday, they saved their pennies to buy this cake for you.”  Cowboy Bob was noticeably moved.  A tear came to his eye and his voice quivered as he poured out his heart:  “…I’ve always tried to stand for what is right…and set a good example in everything I do…for those crippled children to remember me…”

BOOOOOO!

The crowd erupted with a volume that I had never heard and continued as a young, stocky man wearing a crew-cut and a scowl appeared on camera.  It was Rip Hawk.

"The Profile" Rip Hawk

The studio audience was still voicing their displeasure of Rip’s appearance at such a touching moment.  The announcer forcefully stated “We don’t want any trouble here; this is from the crippled children to Cowboy Bob.”  Hawk yells “I have birthdays too…and those stinking kids never did anything for me!”

Instantly upon finishing his insult he sucker punched Ellis and smashes him head first into the cake.  Icing, candles and other decorations explode over the desk, announcer and the combatants.  A brawl breaks out between Rip and Cowboy Bob.  The announcer is shouting into his microphone “I’ve never seen anything like this!  We must restore order here!  We’ll be back following the station break!”

Grandma was visibly shaken by Rip’s evil actions.  “The crippled children saved their pennies…” her voice trailed off.  My aunt came into the room wanting to know what was going on.  After getting a vivid description of the incident, she proclaimed “He must be the devil.”  For the sake of the television set, I’m glad grandpa wasn’t there.

The program returns to the studio where our host, desk and floor are covered with cake.  The announcer apologizes for what he describes as the single worst thing that had ever happened in wrestling.  He also tells us Cowboy Bob Ellis is so upset he cannot appear on camera for fear of what he may say, but Bob wants to assure the kids at the Crippled Children’s Home that he would avenge the loss of their life savings.

Rip Hawk’s horrific actions completely overshadow the main event.  As the Kentuckians were dominating a couple of heel jobbers, our TV host broke in with an important bulletin: “The promoter, Mr. Jim Crockett, has ordered Rip Hawk to meet Cowboy Bob Ellis on the next card at the Lexington YMCA!  Tickets will be on sale at the box office, and at the usual locations!”

I had no idea how much Rip Hawk and the Lexington YMCA would factor into my wrestling entertainment in the future years.

Originally written and published on the old Mid-Atlantic Gateway in March 2004

Republished here December 2015
Thanks to Wayne Brower

Mail Bag: Kings Gym in Charlotte and Lexington 1962

We particularly enjoyed these two recent emails to the Mid-Atlantic Gateway. We always like hearing from folks with their wrestling memories. We love the smallest details.


THE KING'S GYM IN CHARLOTTE 

The King's Gym was a great gym on South Tryon Street in Charlotte NC. Been gone for several years. A lot of wrestlers worked out there, from Larry Zbyszko to the Sheep Herders/Bushwackers to Lex Luger. I remember once the lady at the front desk announced over the loud speaker... "Mr. Barbarian, you have a phone call, Mr. Barbarian."  Mr. Barbarian!!! 

And I remember once I was struggling with my last rep with some heavy dumbbells and a pair of huge hands grabbed my wrists and help me finish. It was the Warlord. What a great place and what great memories.

Vince
Charlotte, NC
February 2021

* * * * * * 

TELEPHONE POLES & STORE WINDOWS:
LEXINGTON WRESTLING,  1962 

This poster was about 15 months before Wrestling was on WGHP.  Promotions were primarily done with event posters on telephone poles and in the windows of local merchants. Lexington usually had a good crowd every Saturday night. Before the matches there was also an autograph table.

Most stores were closed on Sundays and teens anxiously awaited going to the local merchants asking for an event’s poster after school on Monday.

Doug
Winston-Salem, NC
February 2021

Classic Poster Friday: All Three Anderson Brothers - 50 Years Ago Today

by Dick Bourne
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

Lexington NC  June 15, 1968

This week's Classic Poster goes all the way back to June 15, 1968 in Lexington, NC - - fifty years ago today! It's an especially rare poster because it features all three Anderson brothers in a six man contest.

That Saturday night at the Lexington YMCA, home of so many exciting weekly cards in that town over many years, Gene and Lars Anderson were joined by their little brother Ole to battle Paul Jones, Nelson Royal and Chief Little Eagle.

Alan "Rock" Rogowski had arrived in Charlotte just five days earlier and made his debut as the third brother in the Minnesota Wrecking Crew. Yes, Ole Anderson had arrived. It began a 4-month period where all three Anderson brothers were in the Crockett territory at the same time, wrestling in several six-man features over that time period.

Although special for its rarity, a small disappointment was a photo placed in error of the Torres brothers (looks like them, anyway) instead of the Anderson Brothers.  

MINNESOTA WRECKING CREW
Lars, Gene, and Ole Anderson

It was a small window of time to see all three of these brothers together. Lars left Jim Crockett Promotions to return to the AWA in October of 1968, just four months after Ole first arrived. From that point forward, the main Anderson team would be Gene and Ole Anderson, and that team would dominate the tag team scene in the area for the next 14 years.

As far as this big night in Lexington, here's the back story leading up to the this six-man tag team main event:

Over previous weeks, Gene and Lars Anderson had fought to several disputed tag-team decisions with Texas heroes Paul Jones and Nelson Royal. In hopes of providing a clear winner in the series of skirmishes, special stipulations were added to the final bout scheduled between the two teams on Saturday, June 8, 1968.  One stipulation was that the match be fought under no-disqualification rules. The second stipulation provided that Chief Little Eagle, who had his own history with the Anderson Brothers in Lexington, be assigned by the NWA as a special referee. Jones and Royal won the match, but the Andersons charged that it had been with the help of the special referee, and the brothers challenged Jones and Royal to take Eagle as their partner the following week and they would bring in a special partner of their own - - their brother Ole Anderson who had just entered the territory.

"With all the argument, a six-man has been arranged this week. Little Eagle will join Royal and Jones while another Anderson - brother to Gene and Lars - will complete the other team. Ole is moving into the territory and has a reputation as being just as rough as his brothers." - Lexington Dispatch Newspaper

The results of the wild six-man action can be read in the Lexington Dispatch article below.

Also of note is the preview of the following week's card which saw Mr. Wrestling (Tim Woods) make his debut in Lexington.

Special thanks to Mark Eastridge for the newspaper clipping and Brad Anderson for the photo of the Anderson Brothers, from his father's personal collection. The poster is from the Mid-Atlantic Gateway collection.

Cowboy Bob Ellis, Rip Hawk and the Birthday Cake

The Birthday Cake
by Wayne Brower
Special to the Mid-Atlantic Gateway

Another weekend visit around 1960 to the grandparents afforded me the opportunity to watch wrestling and be a part of a birthday celebration – at the same time.

“Welcome to this week’s Championship Wrestling.” The announcer declared with authority.  He gave the run down of matches on the show and also told of a special event that we wouldn’t want to miss.

Cowboy Bob Ellis
from "Mid-Atlantic Grapplin' Greats"

It was the typical wrestling show of the era with two singles matches followed by a tag team battle to close the program.  However, an added treat occurred after the second match.  Coming back from commercial messages promoting live events in the viewing area, the announcer appeared with a rather large cake that sat atop his broadcast desk.  “Folks, we have a very special presentation today for a man who is loved by all, especially the children.  Cowboy Bob Ellis, will you please come out now and join us?  Let’s get him out here ladies and gentlemen.”

Taking their cue, the studio audience began to applaud and became louder when the popular Texan walked in.  Cowboy Bob was dressed to impress, with wardrobe accented in fancy western boots, vest and white Stetson.

“This is a very special day, Cowboy Bob Ellis, and we want to share it with everyone.  As you know Bob, the youngsters really look up to you.  When the kids at our local Crippled Children’s Home found out about today being your birthday, they saved their pennies to buy this cake for you.”  Cowboy Bob was noticeably moved.  A tear came to his eye and his voice quivered as he poured out his heart:  “…I’ve always tried to stand for what is right…and set a good example in everything I do…for those crippled children to remember me…”

BOOOOOO!

The crowd erupted with a volume that I had never heard and continued as a young, stocky man wearing a crew-cut and a scowl appeared on camera.  It was Rip Hawk.

"The Profile" Rip Hawk

The studio audience was still voicing their displeasure of Rip’s appearance at such a touching moment.  The announcer forcefully stated “We don’t want any trouble here; this is from the crippled children to Cowboy Bob.”  Hawk yells “I have birthdays too…and those stinking kids never did anything for me!”

Instantly upon finishing his insult he sucker punched Ellis and smashes him head first into the cake.  Icing, candles and other decorations explode over the desk, announcer and the combatants.  A brawl breaks out between Rip and Cowboy Bob.  The announcer is shouting into his microphone “I’ve never seen anything like this!  We must restore order here!  We’ll be back following the station break!”

Grandma was visibly shaken by Rip’s evil actions.  “The crippled children saved their pennies…” her voice trailed off.  My aunt came into the room wanting to know what was going on.  After getting a vivid description of the incident, she proclaimed “He must be the devil.”  For the sake of the television set, I’m glad grandpa wasn’t there.

The program returns to the studio where our host, desk and floor are covered with cake.  The announcer apologizes for what he describes as the single worst thing that had ever happened in wrestling.  He also tells us Cowboy Bob Ellis is so upset he cannot appear on camera for fear of what he may say, but Bob wants to assure the kids at the Crippled Children’s Home that he would avenge the loss of their life savings.

Rip Hawk’s horrific actions completely overshadow the main event.  As the Kentuckians were dominating a couple of heel jobbers, our TV host broke in with an important bulletin: “The promoter, Mr. Jim Crockett, has ordered Rip Hawk to meet Cowboy Bob Ellis on the next card at the Lexington YMCA!  Tickets will be on sale at the box office, and at the usual locations!”

I had no idea how much Rip Hawk and the Lexington YMCA would factor into my wrestling entertainment in the future years.

Originally written and published on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway in March 2004

Asking For More

by Wayne Brower

Another opportunity to attend wrestling matches in Lexington occurred during the spring of 1965.  Since my school grades and steadily worsening teenage behavior were not yet to a level that would prohibit extra-curricular entertainment, my cousin and I had plotted various ways for her parents to take us to a return engagement at the YMCA arena.  We found them willing to do so since they continued to be fans, and Channel 3 and Channel 8 television wrestling shows kept everyone up to date on storylines and matches in the viewing area.  This was a great time for the region as a rotation of top grapplers worked interesting feuds that continued until a definite conclusion.  You could actually miss a week and still know what was going on.

George "Two Ton" Harris
(mid-atlanticgrapplingreats.blogspot.com)

Before we departed to attend the Blue Collar Ballet, I confided to my cousin that I now preferred the heel characters over the increasingly wimpy babyfaces.  To my pleasure she admitted liking Rip Hawk and Swede Hanson, and also thought Two Ton Harris was funny.  Rip and Swede were my favorites, so we had a lengthy conversation about how enlightened we were in comparison to the typical wrestling fans.

Upon our arrival at the YMCA a large crowd was gathering at the entrance.  As creatures of habit we bought general admission tickets and sat in the same area as before.  I even recognized some people in the section that had been at previous events.  There were also new fans, especially one nearby group that I was sure were the Darlins from the Andy Griffith Show.  The overall action and activities were similar to those at other wrestling cards:  people in outlandish costumes, performing bizarre acts that were highlighted with boisterous behaviors – and all this was before any of the wrestlers appeared.

The crowd broke into sustained applause and cheers as Charlie Harville walked to the ring.  In addition to hosting WGHP-TV sports and wrestling shows, Charlie was often the ring announcer at wrestling events throughout the area.   As he picked up the microphone, on cue rang the bell…DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING. “Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the Lexington YMCA for the best in professional wrestling from Jim Crockett Promotions…our first event of the evening… one fall with a twenty minute time limit…entering the ring…from Concord, North Carolina…Ken Yates.”  Yates got a good pop from the audience which he acknowledged with a nice wave and nod of the head.  “And his opponent, from…” BOOOOOOO!  The fans’ displeasure was so loud you could barely hear the remaining portion of the introduction - “Jack ‘The Neck’ Vansky…Jack Vansky, ladies and gentlemen.”