Gene Anderson gets One Last Shot at the NWA World Champioinship

by Dick Bourne
Mid-Atlantic Gateway 

The great Gene Anderson, original founding member of the famous Anderson family in wrestling, was never known for his singles competition. He was primarily known for being part of a famous tag team known as the Minnesota Wrecking Crew with two different worked-brothers: Lars Anderson in the 1960s and Ole Anderson in the late 1960s through the early 1980s.

Photo courtesy of WrestlerWeekly.com
@wrestlerweekly on Twitter

Gene was the silent killer of the team, letting his braggadocious, loudmouth, younger brothers do all the talking. Les Thatcher once noted while calling an Anderson Brothers match on Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling in 1975:

"As Teddy Roosevelt said, 'Talk softly and carry a big stick.' You'll hear very little out of Gene Anderson," Thatcher quipped. Gene Anderson carried a very big stick in the Minnesota Wrecking Crew.

The Andersons were no strangers to tag team championships. They held multiple regional and world championships over several decades. But it was somewhat of a rare occurrence when Gene Anderson received a shot at the NWA World heavyweight singles title.

He received a few in the early 1970s against champion Dory Funk, Jr., in towns like Norfolk, Richmond, and Raleigh for promoter Joe Murnick, who more than others apparently saw value in putting Gene in the ring on top with Funk.

But after those shots in 1970 and 1971, Gene Anderson's days as a contender for the World heavyweight singles title ended. To my knowledge, he never got a shot at Harley Race, Jack Brisco, or Terry Funk throughout the remainder of the 1970s. (Please correct me if I am wrong about that.)

And then suddenly, almost exactly 10 years after his last NWA title shot on July 7, 1971, Gene gets one last shot at the title again, this time against new champion (and long time rival in the tag team wars) Dusty Rhodes on July 11, 1981 in Spartanburg, SC.

Admittedly, on the surface the booking of this match doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Throughout his career, Gene was predominantly a tag team wrestler and never was in the mix for singles titles. Ole as an opponent made more sense, and indeed Ole was getting several shots at Rhodes during this time. Ole had the long running singles feud with Dusty, particularly in the Georgia Championship Wrestling area. He could also deliver a better promo to promote the match.

Gene Anderson, Bob Caudle, and Ole Anderson

This Spartanburg card was a matinee show at 3:00 PM. Ole is not listed on it, so it's likely he was booked on another spot show town on a matinee card. I've not been able to find a record of any such show at this point. Both Ole and Gene reunited later that same evening in Charlotte for a defense of their NWA World tag team championship against Ricky Steamboat and Bad Bad Leroy Brown. Rhodes and the NWA title weren't on that Charlotte show, so it's safe to assume Rhodes defended the title in some other Crockett town that Saturday night,  but I've not come across any record of a title defense for Rhodes that night.

The Spartanburg newspaper reported the following day that Rhodes had defeated Anderson in the main event. In other action on that 7/11 Spartanburg card, Bad Bad Leroy Brown defeated the Iron Sheik. No other results were listed.

This would be Gene's last shot at the NWA championship. He never got another shot after that, at least none that we have ever come across. (As always, we welcome additional information.) He and Ole were also in their final run as NWA World tag team champions. I kind of like knowing this one last, odd singles title shot was against Dusty Rhodes, who had a long and storied rivalry and feud with the Andersons.

If you've hung around the Mid-Atlantic Gateway for very long, you know we are big fans of the Anderson Brothers. This is a nice little rare piece of Anderson lore to hang on to.


* * * * * *
Thanks as always to Mark Eastridge for the newspaper clippings. Thanks to Scottie Richardson at WrestlerWeekly.com for the poster image. Thanks also to Brack Beasley.

Originally published on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway in July of 2017, and republished in 2018 and 2020 as part of our Classic Poster Series. 

Gene Anderson Gets One Last Shot at the NWA Title (1981)

by Dick Bourne
Mid-Atlantic Gateway 

The great Gene Anderson, original founding member of the famous Anderson family in wrestling, was never known for his singles competition. He was primarily known for being part of a famous tag team known as the Minnesota Wrecking Crew with two different worked-brothers: Lars Anderson in the 1960s and Ole Anderson in the late 1960s through the early 1980s.

Photo courtesy of WrestlerWeekly.com
@wrestlerweekly on Twitter

Gene was the silent killer of the team, letting his braggadocious, loudmouth, younger brothers do all the talking. Les Thatcher once noted while calling an Anderson Brothers match on Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling in 1975:

"As Teddy Roosevelt said, 'Talk softly and carry a big stick.' You'll hear very little out of Gene Anderson," Thatcher quipped. Gene Anderson carried a very big stick in the Minnesota Wrecking Crew.

The Andersons were no strangers to tag team championships. They held multiple regional and world championships over several decades. But it was somewhat of a rare occurrence when Gene Anderson received a shot at the NWA World Heavyweight singles title.

He received a few in the early 1970s against champion Dory Funk, Jr., in towns like Norfolk, Richmond, and Raleigh for promoter Joe Murnick, who more than others apparently saw value in putting Gene in the ring on top with Funk.

But after those shots in 1970 and 1971, Gene Anderson's days as a contender for the World Heavyweight singles title ended. To my knowledge, he never got a shot at Harley Race, Jack Brisco, or Terry Funk throughout the remainder of the 1970s. (Someone please let me know if I missed one.)

And then suddenly, almost exactly 10 years after his last NWA title shot on July 7, 1971, Gene gets one last shot at the title again, this time against new NWA champion (and long time rival in the tag team wars) Dusty Rhodes on July 11, 1981 in Spartanburg, SC.

Admittedly, on the surface the booking of this match doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Throughout his career, Gene was predominantly a tag team wrestler and never was in the mix for singles titles. Ole as an opponent made more sense, and indeed Ole was getting several shots at Rhodes during this time. Ole had the long running singles feud with Dusty, particularly in the Georgia Championship Wrestling terriotory. He could also deliver a better promo to promote the match.

Gene Anderson, Bob Caudle, and Ole Anderson

This Spartanburg card was a matinee show at 3:00 PM. Ole is not listed on it, so it's likely he was booked on another spot show town on a matinee card. I've not been able to find a record of any such show at this point. Both Ole and Gene reunited later that same evening in Charlotte for a defense of their NWA World tag team championship against Ricky Steamboat and Bad Bad Leroy Brown. Rhodes and the NWA title weren't on that Charlotte show, so it's safe to assume Rhodes defended the title in some other Crockett town that Saturday night,  but I've not come across any record of a title defense for Rhodes that night.

The Spartanburg newspaper reported the following day that Rhodes had defeated Anderson in the main event. In other action on that 7/11 Spartanburg card, Bad Bad Leroy Brown defeated the Iron Sheik. No other results were listed.

This would be Gene's last shot at the NWA championship. He never got another shot after that, at least none that we have ever come across. (As always, we welcome additional information.) He and Ole were also in their final run as NWA World tag team champions. I kind of like knowing this one last, odd singles title shot was against Dusty Rhodes, who had a long and storied rivalry and feud with the Andersons.

If you've hung around the Mid-Atlantic Gateway for very long, you know we are big fans of the Anderson Brothers. This is a nice little rare piece of Anderson lore to hang on to.


* * * * * * 

Thanks as always to Mark Easteridge for the newspaper clippings. Thanks to Scottie Richardson at @WrestlerWeekly for the poster image. 

Originally published on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway July 19, 2017. 

Republished in edited format in July 2018 and March 2022 on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway.

Classic Poster Friday: Gene Anderson Gets One Last Title Shot

by Dick Bourne
Mid-Atlantic Gateway 

The great Gene Anderson, original founding member of the famous Anderson family in wrestling, was never known for his singles competition. He was primarily known for being part of a famous tag team known as the Minnesota Wrecking Crew with two different worked-brothers: Lars Anderson in the 1960s and Ole Anderson in the late 1960s through the early 1980s.

Brack Beasley Collection    

Gene was the silent killer of the team, letting his braggadocios, loudmouth, younger brothers do all the talking. Les Thatcher once noted while calling an Anderson Brothers match on Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling in 1975:

"As Teddy Roosevelt said, 'Talk softly and carry a big stick.' You'll hear very little out of Gene Anderson."   -- Les Thatcher

The Andersons were no strangers to tag team championships. They held multiple regional and world championships over several decades. But it was somewhat of a rare occurrence when Gene Anderson received a shot at the NWA World heavyweight singles title.

He received a few in the early 1970s against champion Dory Funk, Jr., in towns like Norfolk, Richmond, and Raleigh for promoter Joe Murnick, who more than others apparently saw value in putting Gene in the ring on top with Funk.

But after those shots in 1970 and 1971, Gene Anderson's days as a contender for the World heavyweight singles title ended. To my knowledge, he never got a shot at Harley Race, Jack Brisco, or Terry Funk throughout the remainder of the 1970s. (Please correct me if I am wrong about that if you have further information.)

And then suddenly, almost exactly 10 years after his last NWA title shot on July 7, 1971, Gene gets one last shot at the title again, this time against new champion (and long time rival in the tag team wars) Dusty Rhodes on July 11, 1981 in Spartanburg, SC.

Admittedly, on the surface the booking of this match doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Throughout his career, Gene was predominantly a tag team wrestler and never was in the mix for singles titles. Ole as an challenger for Rhodes made more sense, and indeed Ole was getting several shots at the NWA title during this time. Ole had the long running singles feud with Dusty, particularly in the Georgia Championship Wrestling area. He could also deliver a better promo to promote the match.

Gene Anderson, Bob Caudle, and Ole Anderson

This Spartanburg card was a matinee show at 3:00 PM. Ole is not listed on it, so it's likely he was booked on another spot show town on a matinee card. I've not been able to find a record of any such show at this point. Both Ole and Gene reunited later that same evening in Charlotte for a defense of their NWA World tag team championship against Ricky Steamboat and Bad Bad Leroy Brown. Rhodes and the NWA title weren't on that Charlotte show, so it's safe to assume Rhodes defended the title in some other Crockett town that Saturday night,  but I've not yet come across any record of a title defense for Rhodes that night.

The Spartanburg newspaper reported the following day that Rhodes had defeated Anderson in the main event. In other action on that 7/11 Spartanburg card, Bad Bad Leroy Brown defeated the Iron Sheik. No other results were listed.

This would be Gene's last shot at the NWA championship. He never got another shot after that, at least none that we have ever come across. (As always, we welcome additional information.) He and Ole were also in their final run as NWA World tag team champions. I kind of like knowing this one last, odd singles title shot was against Dusty Rhodes, who had a long and storied rivalry and feud with the Andersons.

If you've hung around the Mid-Atlantic Gateway for very long, you know we are big fans of the Anderson Brothers. This is a nice little rare piece of Anderson lore to hang on to.



* * * * * *
This "Classic Poster" post was edited from an original post on the mid-Atlantic Gateway back on July 19, 2017. Thanks as always to Mark Easteridge for the newspaper clippings and Brack Beasley for the photo of the poster. 

Republished in edited format in October 2020, and March 2022 on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway.

Crazy Bloopers in Hub City!

File this one high up on the list of "How in the heck do these things happen?"

It was the regular Saturday night card at the Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium on a cool October night. The main event was one of the hottest matches currently making the rounds in the Mid-Atlantic area: Ole Anderson vs. Thunderbolt Patterson.

The ad for the show ran in that morning's paper. All looked good until you started looking closely at the names wrestling on the mid-card. Heck, you didn't have to actually look all that closely, these odd name jumped right off the page to any fan familiar with the current stars of Jim Crockett Promotions.

In the semi-main event tag match (oddly called the "sub main event" here) the exciting babyface tag team of Jim Dillon and The Avenger (Reggie Parks) were scheduled to meet - - - JEAN Anderson and MASK Marvel.

Not "The Masked Marvel" - - just MASK Marvel.

In the scheduled third match of the night, ROMMIE ARVIN is scheduled to face PONCHO BALDER.

Poncho BALDER?? What the heck?

Lots of odd things about all this - -  

First of all, the fact that whoever put together the ad for the paper would spell Gene Anderson's name JEAN had to suggest that the local promoter called the scheduled line-up in to the paper and the person taking it down just spelled it like his mama's name was spelled. No one in the wrestling office would have spelled Gene's name JEAN. That might also explain ROMMIE ARVIN. Maybe a bad connection and the kid at the advertising desk couldn't hear the person calling it in real well. Although you'd think someone would pick up on the fact that ROMMIE ARVIN doesn't even much sound like a name.

But nothing explains PONCHO BALDER!

The wrestler scheduled to face Ronnie Garvin that night was Pancho Valdez. Actually, depending on the source and the territory, his first name was spelled both Pancho and Poncho. But Balder? How in the world the paper wound up with PONCHO BALDER is one of the great mysteries of these newspaper bloopers. Nothing explains that one. It certainly doesn't sound like Valdez that someone simply misunderstood. Even trying to decipher the worst handwriting in the world it's hard to see how you would get BALDER out of Valdez.

Maybe it was a rib.

One other little mystery is Gene Anderson's partner being billed as the MASK Marvel. While there had been a Masked Marvels tag team in the area before, there was no Masked Marvel in the area at present. Gene Anderson's partner this night was actually a masked wrestler named The Menace, who wore a maroon colored mask and was affiliated with the Anderson Brothers in a big angle at that time. The Andersons and their henchman The Menace were often teamed in 6-man bouts around the area at the time.

So just how did The Menace get billed as the MASK Marvel?

All of these things added together make this one of the strangest newspaper ad bloopers we've come across in some time.

The answers to these questions, if there are any, aren't really worth the time it took to wonder and write about them. This stuff just really puzzles me, how an ad department at a newspaper can get something so wrong. What could possibly explain these crazy errors?


There are other misspellings in names, including Jim GRAGMIRE. Given all these crazy mistakes, it's a wonder they got Mike Paidousis' name correctly. That's often a tough one.

The following day, the newspaper had no problem in getting the names of the wrestlers right, although the results show some changes in the card:

• Thunderbolt Patterson defeated Ole Anderson
• Jim Dillon and The Avenger topped Gene Anderson and The Menace
• Peggy Patterson defeated Paula Kay
• Ronnie Garvin defeated Pancho Valdez
• Billy Hines beat Terry Sawyer
• Johnny Heidman downed Jim Grabmire

For more Bloopers, visit the Blooper Directory.

Gene Anderson Gets One Last NWA Title Shot

by Dick Bourne
Mid-Atlantic Gateway 

Edited Wednesday afternoon 7/19 with additional information,

plus newspaper clippings.

The great Gene Anderson, original founding member of the famous Anderson family in wrestling, was never known for his singles competition. He was primarily known for being part of a famous tag team known as the Minnesota Wrecking Crew with two different worked-brothers: Lars Anderson in the 1960s and Ole Anderson in the late 1960s through the early 1980s.

Photo courtesy of WrestlerWeekly.com
@wrestlerweekly on Twitter

Gene was the silent killer of the team, letting his braggadocious, loudmouth, younger brothers do all the talking. Les Thatcher once noted while calling an Anderson Brothers match on Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling in 1975:

"As Teddy Roosevelt said, 'Talk softly and carry a big stick.' You'll hear very little out of Gene Anderson," Thatcher quipped. Gene Anderson carried a very big stick in the Minnesota Wrecking Crew.

The Andersons were no strangers to tag team championships. They held multiple regional and world championships over several decades. But it was somewhat of a rare occurrence when Gene Anderson received a shot at the NWA World heavyweight singles title.

He received a few in the early 1970s against champion Dory Funk, Jr., in towns like Norfolk, Richmond, and Raleigh for promoter Joe Murnick, who more than others apparently saw value in putting Gene in the ring on top with Funk.

But after those shots in 1970 and 1971, Gene Anderson's days as a contender for the World heavyweight singles title ended. To my knowledge, he never got a shot at Harley Race, Jack Brisco, or Terry Funk throughout the remainder of the 1970s. (Please correct me if I am wrong about that.)

And then suddenly, almost exactly 10 years after his last NWA title shot on July 7, 1971, Gene gets one last shot at the title again, this time against new champion (and long time rival in the tag team wars) Dusty Rhodes on July 11, 1981 in Spartanburg, SC.

Admittedly, on the surface the booking of this match doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Throughout his career, Gene was predominantly a tag team wrestler and never was in the mix for singles titles. Ole as an opponent made more sense, and indeed Ole was getting several shots at Rhodes during this time. Ole had the long running singles feud with Dusty, particularly in the Georgia Championship Wrestling area. He could also deliver a better promo to promote the match.

Gene Anderson, Bob Caudle, and Ole Anderson

This Spartanburg card was a matinee show at 3:00 PM. Ole is not listed on it, so it's likely he was booked on another spot show town on a matinee card. I've not been able to find a record of any such show at this point. Both Ole and Gene reunited later that same evening in Charlotte for a defense of their NWA World tag team championship against Ricky Steamboat and Bad Bad Leroy Brown. Rhodes and the NWA title weren't on that Charlotte show, so it's safe to assume Rhodes defended the title in some other Crockett town that Saturday night,  but I've not come across any record of a title defense for Rhodes that night.

The Spartanburg newspaper reported the following day that Rhodes had defeated Anderson in the main event. In other action on that 7/11 Spartanburg card, Bad Bad Leroy Brown defeated the Iron Sheik. No other results were listed.

This would be Gene's last shot at the NWA championship. He never got another shot after that, at least none that we have ever come across. (As always, we welcome additional information.) He and Ole were also in their final run as NWA World tag team champions. I kind of like knowing this one last, odd singles title shot was against Dusty Rhodes, who had a long and storied rivalry and feud with the Andersons.

If you've hung around the Mid-Atlantic Gateway for very long, you know we are big fans of the Anderson Brothers. This is a nice little rare piece of Anderson lore to hang on to.


* * * * * *
Thanks as always to Mark Easteridge for the newspaper clippings. Thanks to Scottie Richardson at WrestlerWeekly.com for the poster image. 

Republished in edited format in July 2018, October 2020, and March 2022 on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway.

Saturday TV: World Wide Wrestling (5/10/86)

The James Boys Strike in Spartanburg!

Gateway Interview: Ricky Steamboat

A mainstay in Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling for eight glorious years, Ricky Steamboat personified what it was to be the consummate “good guy” both inside and outside the ring. From early 1977 through early 1985, fans of Jim Crockett Promotions in the Carolinas and Virginia could always count on Ricky to valiantly battle, and usually slay, the wrestling giants that roamed the heel side of the talent rich Mid-Atlantic Wrestling roster. Steamboat’s most famous Mid-Atlantic rival, the boisterous “Nature Boy” Ric Flair was the perfect foil for Ricky’s unassuming and unpretentious character. But there were times when Flair aligned himself with the forces of good, and he and Steamboat became a formidable tag team combination to the fans’ delight. Later during the Mid-Atlantic era and beyond, Ric Flair ruled the roost as the NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion and he and Ricky had memorable bouts over wrestling’s most prestigious title. On February 20, 1989, “Steamer” realized his dream of becoming NWA World Champion by beating Flair, and the three match series between Steamboat and Flair at that time is widely viewed as the greatest championship trilogy in professional wrestling history.

Exciting news came out recently that Ricky Steamboat and Ric Flair would be doing a Mid-Atlantic reunion tour of sorts in the fall of 2016, retracing their steps in the Carolinas in a rare series of joint appearances. Big Time Wrestling sponsored mega events in Morganton, North Carolina on September 22nd, Raleigh, North Carolina on September 23rd and Spartanburg, South Carolina on September 24th will feature the homecoming of Steamboat and Flair, along with a cavalcade of other wrestling stars from today and yesteryear.

On the eve of Ricky Steamboat once again “teaming” with Ric Flair in the Carolinas, version 2016, the Mid-Atlantic Gateway had the privilege of chatting with Ricky about that upcoming reunion, the glory days of the Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling promotion and assorted other topics. While Ricky Steamboat found success wherever he competed in professional wrestling, including being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009, he will always be considered a “Mid-Atlantic guy” by those fans who cut their wrestling teeth with big bites of Ricky Steamboat versus Ric Flair in the Mid-Atlantic area, in some of the greatest matches ever!


David Chappell: Hey Ricky, thanks so much for visiting the Mid-Atlantic Gateway today. Greetings from Richmond, Virginia!

Ricky Steamboat: Thank you David. Richmond Coliseum, we would go there every other week on a Friday night.

Chappell: Absolutely. Boy, I tell you what, those were just wonderful times. I don't think that magic has ever been recaptured.

I saw one of your very first matches in the Mid-Atlantic territory. It was actually at a spot show just outside of Richmond on March 4, 1977 at the Colonial Heights High School gym, and this new guy named Ricky Steamboat was wrestling Jacques Goulet. Of course, we had never heard of you. But after a couple of minutes with Goulet, it was pretty obvious you were going to be a big deal!

Steamboat: 1977 would be the year in which I did go to the Carolinas from Atlanta. In the early part of the year, I think it would be February or March of '77. I don't remember that match particularly, but I do remember Colonial Heights. I do remember Jacques Goulet. He was from Montreal, Canada. I think he was like a Sergeant.

Chappell: Yes, Sergeant Jacques Goulet! I thought he was excellent in the ring.

Speaking of being excellent in the ring, you actually wrestled excellently as recently as 2009 in the WWE and suffered a scary injury in that brief stint. Can you tell us a little about that, because I was never real clear what happened then.

Steamboat: The incident happened on Monday Night Raw through Nexus. They brought me out because they were introducing my DVD about Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat, and his career. We had these guys come out. They had just come up from the WWE school and they were trying to create some heat; four of these young guys. I had my hand in with all of them, and helped with training them down there at the school. During that live event on Monday Night Raw, I ended up with what they call a subarachnoid hemorrhage. In other words, I got thrown down real hard, and I ended up with a brain bleed.

Chappell: Yeah, we were really worried about you. We'd hear stuff, obviously, well after you experienced it. It sounded really scary.

Steamboat: It was a bad situation for me because the doctor said they could not do anything for it, it either had to stop on its own, or if it continued, the pressure would kill me. It was down inside my brain. They said unlike an aneurysm, which is mostly a surface bleed, to relieve the pressure they would drill a little hole in your skull and let it bleed out. The problem with mine was that they couldn't get to it. I was in intensive care for almost a month, which I didn't think anything about it at the time because I was so drugged up on the pain medicine because of the pressure in my head. Being in intensive care for almost a month, the doctors say was a very long time.

Most people go to intensive care, they're there for three or four days and then after that, they get moved up to the next level.

Chappell: Exactly.

Steamboat: I was in there for almost a month. It was a bit hard for me.

Chappell: I know it had to be, and everybody is just thankful that you were eventually okay.

MiamiHerald.com

But on a happier note, how great is it that you and your top Mid-Atlantic rival Ric Flair are going to be making joint appearances in the Carolinas in just a few days? Wouldn’t you love to get in the ring and wrestle him just one more time?!

Steamboat: I would really love to get in the ring with Flair, but the doctor told me my head's been traumatized too many times throughout my career, chairs and 2x4's, and DDT's on the cement floor from Jake Roberts!

Chappell: (laughs) Okay, I guess it’s understandable why it’s not going to be a physical deal! But how do you feel about just getting together with Ric again and hitting these old Crockett towns together?

Steamboat: This is such a great pleasure for me, and I also know it is for him. Even during our heyday, in the 70s and 80s when we campaigned through the Carolinas and Virginias, we had a lot of respect for each other when it comes to being a professional person in the ring. People ask about were you guys friends, and I would say yes, but we never hung out.

Chappell: You really couldn't hang out in those days could you?

Steamboat: Yeah, kayfabing was the number one deal. Even to invite one over to one's house to have dinner in a private way never took place. Our lifestyles were totally different. What you saw of me was the way I was. What you saw of him, the flamboyant guy was the way he was. To get together now is great; we have a show in Raleigh and we also have one in Spartanburg. To get together with Ric Flair, it is so rewarding for me on a personal basis. I also want to tell the fans this does not happen too often.

Chappell: That's true, very true. I think that's the great part of these upcoming events, Ricky. I don't remember… I'm sure you probably made a joint appearance or two with Flair after your in-ring days, but it certainly is not commonplace.

Steamboat: Let me say this. I actually retired in '94, so I've been out a little over 20 years. Both Flair and I have been doing these appearance gigs during this time. I'm going to be very honest with all my fans out there; we have been together on two other occasions for autograph signings in the past 20 years.

Chappell: Wow, I didn't know it was that limited.

Steamboat: Between the two of us, I know we have done hundreds and hundreds of appearances around the country. For us to get together on the same date in the same town, to sit side by side with each other is very, very rare. I'm pretty excited about it.

Chappell: And at the Raleigh and Spartanburg events, the fans will have the option to do a photo op with both of you together with the “big gold belt” as a prop!

Steamboat: Yeah, that's very rare to get our autographs, but at the same time get a picture with us with the World Championship. It's a very rare moment. The fans coming away at the end of the day with that, being able to put it in a photo album or frame it and put it up on the wall is very, very rare. The fans that are going to be able to do that, I'm not going to say will be very lucky, but I think will be very fortunate. I couldn't tell you when the next time the two of us will be able to hook up and do this again.

TVParty.com

Chappell: I think that's well-said.

You've already hit on a couple of things I wanted to touch on with you, kind of reading my mind on these. You talked about not really being able to hang out with Ric much during the Mid-Atlantic days. I sort of divide you two in the Mid-Atlantic era between the early days when you were the babyface, which of course you always were, and Ric was the heel. Later, and I remember this really well, because one of the first big matches when Ric turned babyface, you all teamed up in Richmond. I don't think there were ever more people trying to get into that building, the Coliseum, than when you all unexpectedly teamed up. Do you have any thoughts of when you two were feuding over the U.S. belt when he was the heel, and then later when Flair became a babyface as well, and that dynamic? Do you have any particular recollections of those two time frames?

Gene Anderson Was No Help At All!

Memories of Hanging Out Behind the Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium

by Peggy Lathan
Special to the Mid-Atlantic Gateway

I would always get to Spartanburg early on Saturday nights for wrestling. Being as it is only 70 miles from Charlotte, the home base for Jim Crockett Promotions, the wrestlers loved the fact that it was such a short drive for them.  I remember some afternoon shows in Spartanburg and Ric Flair would get there a little early and sunbathe on the grassy area until time to get ready for their matches.  It was fun to be able to sit there with Ric and chat about all kinds of things.

One week Ole and Gene Anderson were on the card and Ole and I and my two friends, Lynn and Debbie, were throwing a frisbee around until time for him to go inside. It had rained earlier in the week, but the grassy area was fairly dry, except for a mud puddle or two.  One of them tossed the frisbee to me and it was flying over my head, so I turned and ran to try to catch it.  But I happened to step in one of those mud puddles and my feet went out from under me and down I went sitting flat in the mud. What a mess!  Mud all over my shorts and all down my legs.

Gene Anderson
(Photo by Peggy Lathan)

The lady who worked the back door at the Auditorium was named Mable (RIP) so I knocked on the door to get her to get me some towels, but guess who answered the door?  GENE ANDERSON.

Oh, no. This wasn't going to be good.

I told Gene what happened and I needed some towels to clean up.  He just looked me up and down and first thing he wanted to know is if I messed my pants (of course, Gene used the "s" word).  I had to beg and beg and beg and BEG for him to get me some towels, which he wouldn't do because he was having fun making such a big deal out of it, but  Mable came to my rescue with some paper towels.  Lynn happened to have an extra pair of shorts in her car, so I wore a conglomeration of mis-matched colors sitting there on the front row in Spartanburg. And when Gene got into the ring before his match, with that loud voice of his, he made sure everyone within hearing distance in the Auditorium heard that I messed my pants that night.

And for those of you who didn't have the opportunity to know him, Gene was quite a practical joker and loved bringing firecrackers in the dressing rooms. He would buy these little tanks that would roll a short way then pop.  Gene loved setting them off on unsuspecting guys who were sitting on the toilet, knowing that they couldn't get out of the way.  He also stole my shoe once and filled it full of shaving cream.

Gene was a great friend and I miss him a lot. He was one of a kind (thank goodness)!

I Broke Wahoo's Leg - Revisited

Greg "The Hammer" Valentine in 1977 (inset) and 2005.
(Blake Arledge Photo)

One of the most enduring images from Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling in 1977 was Greg Valentine's simple black t-shirt that read: "I Broke Wahoo's Leg." (On the back it said "No More Wahoo")

At a Wrestling Legends show booked by George South in Spartanburg in 2005, Greg Valentine re-enacted that scene that had taken place 28 years earlier.

Greg wore a nearly identical t-shirt to the ring and also sported a replica of the old Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship like the one he took from Wahoo during the very match where he broke Wahoo's leg.

That belt was briefly recognized and defended as the Mid-Atlantic Heritage Championship from 2005-2009. It was retired by the Masked Superstar (Bill Eadie.)

Greg really seemed to enjoy that night in Spartanburg. Seeing him come down the aisle with that belt and that t-shirt took you straight back to 1977!

* * * * *

In some ways, you can say that 1977 angle was culturally relevant. It became the title of a wonderful song about various dastardly deeds of the devil on singer/songwriter Sweet G.A. Brown's album "Wordsmith." Give his brilliant song a try; it's deliciously twisted and the chorus is addictive. We wrote about it earlier on the Gateway.

 

It also became a talking point by Lucha Underground commentator Matt Striker when attempting to explain the frame of mind of luchadore Pentagon Jr.  We wrote about that, too.

 * * * * *

Sold Out in Spartanburg, Two Years in a Row

by Dick Bourne
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

For the second year in a row, Big Time Wrestling sold out the Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium for a big nostalgic card Saturday night (2/27). It was the second big night of the weekend that Big Time Wrestling drew huge crowds to classic Mid-Atlantic Wrestling venues.

Tony Hunter / Facebook

The event drew over 1,800 fans and turned away several hundred more for a mix of nostalgia and modern day independent stars. The night before (2/26), Big Time Wrestling drew a similar sized crowd at the Dorton Arena in Raleigh. Both buildings were a fabled part of the circuit of venues that Jim Crockett Promotions ran weekly in the 1950s-1980s.

The arena section of the Memorial Auditorium in Spartanburg, SC, is actually a very large basement under a huge arts theater just above it. It has played host to wrestling events going back to the 1950s. It was always recognizable on Jim Crockett Promotions television in the 1980s by the steel columns across the upper seating areas on either side of the main floor.

This event was headlined by long-time area favorites Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson (the Rock and Roll Express) vs. The Powers of Pain (the Warlord and the Barbarian) in a steel cage match. Also on the card were Jim Cornette, Baby Doll, Road Warrior Animal, Scott Steiner, and an appearance by Lex Luger, among many others.

Doug Canipe / Facebook

I would imagine it took an extraordinary amount of hard work by Big Time Wrestling and its local promoter Tony Hunter to put this card together and to promote in such a way as to draw this type of crowd. They've been advertising it for months. Amazing, really.

But put it in this perspective: during its heyday, Jim Crockett Promotions ran this building every week, nearly 50 weeks a year.  And during the 1960s and 1970s there were often two other shows  being put on by that same company in the same territory the same night. 

That's not to in any way diminish what Big Time Wrestling accomplished this weekend. In this day and age and in this market for pro wrestling, it is amazing what just happened here. By comparison, the WWE with their sophisticated marketing machine and headlining Ric Flair, Randy Orton, and Chis Benoit, couldn't fill this building back in the mid-2000s. It is a credit to the hard work of many folks and in particular Tony Hunter, who might be the hardest working local promoter on this scene in the last 30 years. That perspective is just meant as a reminder of what an amazing time it was long ago when wrestling fans in the Carolinas and Virginias were treated to such great wrestling on a regular basis.

Sam Finley / Facebook

But as the great Don Henley wrote in The Boys of Summer, "those days are gone forever, I should just let 'em go."

In the meantime, fans of all ages and of at least two distinctly different eras of pro wrestling came together in mass for another Saturday night of action in a nostalgic and memorable venue. 

Big time, indeed.

Big Time Wrestling returns to the Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium on September 24, 2016. Stay tuned to their website for more details as they are available.

Ole Anderson, the Good Samaritan

by Peggy Lathan
Special to the Mid-Atlantic Gateway

Think Ole Anderson was always a nasty, cold-hearted villain? Think again.

Those of you who know me know that during the 1970s, I was a regular on the front row at the wrestling cards in Spartanburg, SC every Saturday night. I went to the matches with my mother and grandmother and I can't remember ever missing one. No matter if I was sick, or if I had attended a Clemson football game that afternoon (and raced to Spartanburg after it was over with a Tiger Paw still painted on my face), or had just gotten back from the beach (I had to be back on Saturday!), you could bet that I was always right there on the front row - - section B, row 1, seat 10.

My mom had bought a new pocketbook that had a zippered pocket on the outside flap that folded over the main opening to the pocketbook. She would put her car keys in the zippered compartment so they would be easy to find. One night after the matches (about 11pm I guess) it was raining and when we got to the car, mom could not find her keys. The zippered pocket was empty, which meant we could not get in the locked car. We had to call my dad in Liberty, wake him up and get him to bring us another set of keys. Those were the days without cell phones - we had to use the pay phone in the auditorium. Thank goodness for collect calls! It took about an hour to get from Liberty to Spartanburg.

Anyway, here we were standing at our car in the pouring rain waiting on dad. Most everyone that had been there that night, fans and wrestlers, had already left and went home. Everyone except Ole and Gene Anderson. Being the hated villains, they would wait until the parking lot cleared out before they would leave.

I had been friends with Ole and Gene for several years. My grandmother Nannie loved giving the Anderson brothers a lot of grief at the matches for many of those years. They knew her well.

Ole and Gene came out and saw us standing there and asked me what was wrong. I told him that mom had lost her keys and we were waiting on dad to bring another set.

"So you're going to stand out here in the rain for an hour" Ole asked? I told him we had no choice.

"Wait a minute, " he said and told Gene to go on to the car. Ole went back inside the auditorium and reemerged a moment or two later with a wire clothes hanger. It took him a minute or two, but he finally got the door opened for us.

He told us to get in and lock the doors. My Nannie, who had given Ole such grief from the front row at matches all over our area, suddenly had a momentary warm spot in her heart for him. "You hurry along, too," she said. "I don't want you to catch cold." That was my Nannie.

We thanked him for going to all that trouble to help us, and he jumped in his brown Ford convertible with Gene and they left.

A few weeks after that at another Saturday night wrestling card in Spartanburg, mom lost her car keys again! We had to go to the pay phone and call my poor daddy again. Needless to say, he wasn't too thrilled about that. But my daddy is a good man and here he came again, another hour to the auditorium.

So here we are again, standing at the car and Ole came out and saw us and said "Not again!" I said yep. He just shook his head and went back inside, got another clothes hanger and opened the door for us.

Mom was so disgusted with the pocketbook, she began cleaning it out to throw it away. After emptying the main compartment, she shook it to be sure everything was out. She heard a jingling noise, but the main compartment was empty. But she could tell something was still in there! Come to find out, when she put the keys in the zippered outer pocket and lifted the flap to access the main part of the pocketbook, the keys would fall straight down into the bottom of a false-pocket. Because of a poor design, that outer zippered compartment was not sealed off at the top! There, behind the main pocket of the pocketbook, were two full sets of car keys.

Many of you may know the story of how Ole was stabbed by fan at the matches in Greenville, SC in 1976. I was there that night and helped administer first aid to him as he lay bleeding in a hallway at the Greenville Memorial Auditorium waiting for an ambulance. He always tells me I saved his life that night. Ole's good deeds to me and my mother and grandmother those two nights in Spartanburg might seem less by comparison, but they were just as significant to me. Ole didn't have to stop and help us. It was late on those Saturday nights and he and Gene needed to get on to the next town. But he did help us, and it was events such as these over many years that have led to our lifelong friendship.

I will never forget him being my family's Good Samaritan. Twice!

- Peggy Lathan

Mid-Atlantic Photographs & Memories

by Peggy Lathan
Special for the Mid-Atlantic Gateway

Back in the 1970s and 1980s, I went to wrestling almost every week in Spartanburg and Greenville, South Carolina. Over the years, I got to be good friends with many of the wrestlers, friendships I maintain to this day. We had lots of fun hanging out with Ric Flair and many of the other wrestlers out behind the Spartanburg Auditorium where the wrestlers entered the building, sometimes throwing frisbee and just killing time.

I was able to take lots of photos over the years, many of which I have shared on my facebook page. The Mid-Atlantic Gateway has presented many of them, too, and Dick Bourne has even featured several of my photos in his books.

Here are links to two online photo albums the Gateway has presented of my photos. I hope you enjoy; these are such great memories of a special time in my life with such special people.


Snapshots from Spartanburg and Greenville 1975-1981
That 70's Album: The Nature Boy Ric Flair

Photos include Roddy Piper, Ole and Gene Anderson, Greg Valentine, Tommy Young, Tully Blanchard, Ric Flair, Scott McGhee, Ricky Steamboat, Jimmy Snuka, Paul Orndorf, The Hollywood Blondes (Buddy Roberts and Jerry Brown), Ray Stevens, Dick Murdoch, Don Kernodle, Bill White, Doug Somers, Lanny Poffo, and Blackjack Mulligan.