The Crockett Foundation has released its second pro wrestling book in their online store.
"Old School Rules Vol. 1" features photographs taken by veteran wrestling photographer Eddie Cheslock, supplemented by articles taken from Mid-Atlantic Wrestling magazine published by Jim Crockett Promotions from back in the day, as well as contributions from Mike Mooneyham, Bill Apter, and David Chappell.
Volume 1 of "Old School Rules" focuses on four of the biggest "babyface"stars of Jim Crockett Promotions in the 1980s: Ricky Steamboat, Ricky Morton, Robert Gibson, and Magnum T.A.
Eddie Cheslock provided photos from his archives of these great stars that also include cameo appearances by Terry Taylor, Don Kernodle, Manny Fernandez, Jimmy Valiant, and many others.
Cheslock photographed wrestling in the 1980s in the Richmond area. His photographs were featured in "The Wrestler", "Inside Wrestling", and "Pro Wrestling Illustrated."
The book also includes contributions from New York Times best selling author Mike Mooneyham, as well as from David Chappell of the Mid-Atlantic Gateway. David's Gateway interview with Magnum T.A. from 2016 has been edited and republished in the new Crockett Foundation book.
Mooneyham's contributions include previously published works that appeared in his award winning column in the Charleston Post & Courier newspaper.
The book is on sale now exclusively from the Crockett Foundation. A portion from the sale of every book goes to support the charitable work of the Crockett Foundation. Learn more on their website at CrockettFoundation.com.
David Chappell's Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling History June 1980 RosterDirectory
JUNE 1980
Much like the incoming summer heat, the month of June 1980 in Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling got off to a blistering hot start as there was a super-spectacular one night tournament on 6/2 in the Greenville Memorial Auditorium in Greenville, South Carolina that crowned new Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Champions. The tournament was necessitated by the dissolution of the team of the former champs, the Masked Superstars #1 and #2, when Superstar #2 was defeated by Blackjack Mulligan and exposed to be John Studd who subsequently left the territory.
Matt Borne and Buzz Sawyer
Mid-Atlantic Tag team Champions
The tournament finals produced the classic match-up of good versus evil, with the diabolical team of Jimmy Snuka and the Iron Sheik with their nefarious manager Gene Anderson taking on the young upstart fan favorite tandem of Matt Borne and Buzz Sawyer. In what had to be labeled a major upset, Borne and Sawyer’s youthful exuberance carried the day and they became the new Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Champions before a joyous, but somewhat stunned, packed house in Greenville. Despite the victory, it remained to be seen whether this new dynamic duo would be able to use this upset victory to catapult themselves into a main event slot.
The first Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling television show of the month of June, which was taped on June 4, 1980 from the WRAL TV studios in Raleigh, North Carolina, saw the eccentric Enforcer Luciano come on the set carrying a bag containing what he called a “family tradition” and summoning Blackjack Mulligan to join him in front of the cameras. When Mulligan appeared with Cousin Luke, the Enforcer threw a hissy-fit and Blackjack was forced to escort Luke back to the dressing room.
When Mulligan opened Luciano’s “gift,” it turned out to be of all things a fish! While everyone pondered the meaning of the fish, the Enforcer slapped Blackjack across the face enraging the big Texan. While nobody could figure out the significance of the fish, it was clear that if Luciano’s intent was to rile up Mulligan, he clearly succeeded.
Sunday June 8th at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina saw the much anticipated reunion of the dream team of Ric Flair and Greg Valentine, after Greg succeeded in convincing Ric that he had changed his ways and was ready to wear the “white hat” alongside the fan favorite “Nature Boy.” Flair and Valentine were pitted against Gene Anderson’s “Army” members Jimmy Snuka and the Iron Sheik. Soon after the bout started, it became crystal clear that Flair made an egregious mistake in taking Valentine back as his tag team partner.
Flair started the infamous tag match, but it was evident very early on that Valentine had no intentions of ever tagging Ric when he needed assistance. Instead, Valentine jumped off the ring apron and laughed as Snuka and the Sheik brutalized Flair. After Ric was pinned, Greg joyfully entered the ring and assisted in the post-match beat down. Eventually, Valentine grabbed the cane wielded by Gene Anderson and smashed it several times to the bridge of Flair’s nose. As a result, the Nature Boy’s nose was broken in gruesome fashion.
On the June 11th tapings of the Mid-Atlantic and World Wide Wrestling television shows, both Ric Flair and Valentine appeared on the set to discuss the incident in Greensboro and its repercussions. Greg was full of himself, saying that he planned to turn on Flair all along, and that his only goal going forward was to capture Ric’s United States Heavyweight Title. Valentine also told the fans that Ray Stevens was the greatest tag team partner he ever had, but that he was now with Stevens’ blessing leaving the tag team behind to go full tilt after Flair’s belt.
For his part, the Nature Boy told the fans on TV that he was going to make Valentine pay for his trickery and deceit. Unable to speak as usual because of the broken nose, Flair said he had a nose guard specially made for him and that he would wear the contraption while wrestling Valentine, as nothing was going to stop him from getting revenge on Greg.
During the remainder of the month of June, Flair would wind down his U.S. Title program with Jimmy Snuka and segue to battling Greg “the Hammer” almost immediately. Ric defeated Snuka in a vicious Fence Match in Richmond on June 13th, and followed that up with a clean victory over the Fiji islander in Lynchburg, Virginia the following Friday night.
The Nature Boy started his U.S. Title program with Valentine at the Norfolk Scope on June 19th with a wild double disqualification melee. The craziness between these two continued at the Greensboro Coliseum on June 22nd with a rabid double disqualification finish, and at the Greenville Memorial Auditorium on June 30th to close out the month with an equally inconclusive double countout conclusion.
The June 11th Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling TV show may be best remembered for a segment involving Enforcer Luciano, who was playing up the Detroit Street Brawls that he and Blackjack Mulligan were about to engage in. The rules for the Detroit Street Brawls were very similar to the rules for a Texas Death Match, meaning that falls didn’t count and the last man standing would win.
The Enforcer tried to show the TV audience his aura of invincibility by breaking a cement block with his bare fist, which Luciano said had steel pins surgically implanted. But what shook up the fans, and a visibly and audibly dumbfounded Bob Caudle, was the Enforcer breaking a light bulb on the cement block and then chewing up the glass and afterward spitting it out! After viewing this spectacle, there could be no doubt that Luciano was capable of anything.
Luciano got off to a surprisingly strong start in his battles with Mulligan in his specialty match, the Detroit Street Brawl. In June, the Enforcer defeated Blackjack in the Detroit Brawls in Raleigh’s Dorton Arena on June 17th, at the Norfolk Scope Coliseum on June 19th, in the Charlotte Coliseum on June 21st, at the Greenville Memorial Auditorium on June 23rd, in the Township Auditorium in Columbia, South Carolina on June 24th, and at the County Hall in Charleston, South Carolina on June 27th.
The Enforcer was thankful he did not have to contend with Cousin Luke Mulligan in the Detroit Street Brawls, as the first part of June saw the Enforcer and the Masked Superstar take their fair share of lumps against the Mulligan family! There were some 6 man tag matches involving the Mulligan’s and another partner and the Enforcer and the Superstar with another partner, but most were straight tag matches between the four and they were wild and crazy.
With “Crazy Luke” leading the way, the Mulligan’s dominated Luciano and the Superstar at the Norfolk Scope on June 5th, and followed that brew-ha-ha up with a count out win at County Hall in Charleston on June 6th. In Greensboro on June 8th, both teams were counted out as the combatants were traipsing through all parts of the cavernous Coliseum with all four being counted out of the ring. The following evening the Mulligan’s captured another win, but the bad guys were finally getting used to the novelty of Cousin Luke. The tide turned in favor of the guys in black during the next two tag team wars, in Madison, Virginia on June 12th and the next night in the Richmond Coliseum.
After his stint teaming with Enforcer Luciano for the first half of the month, the Superstar got busy defending his prestigious NWA Television Title later in June. Not surprisingly, the masked titleholder was drawn toward another masked man as his next major singles challenger. Sweet Ebony Diamond, who had dazzled the area’s fans with his athletic style, was ready to battle the Superstar in a mask versus mask TV Title program!
For the last two weeks of June, the two masked wrestlers put on a series of riveting TV Title bouts that saw Sweet Ebony Diamond winning all the matches by disqualification giving him the dukes in the record book, but not enabling him to wear out the championship gold. These fast paced title bouts began at the Dorton Arena in Raleigh on June 17th, and went straight through to the end of the month on June 30th in Greenville, South Carolina. In between, the masked men also battled in Norfolk, Lynchburg and Roanoke in the Commonwealth of Virginia and in Columbia and Charleston in the palmetto state of South Carolina.
During the month of June there were two impressive cards featuring Mid-Atlantic performers at the Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto Ontario, Canada. On June 15th, Ric Flair defeated Jimmy Snuka in one of their final bouts in their springtime United States Title series. Two weeks later in Toronto, Gene Anderson’s new dynamic team of Ray Stevens and Jimmy Snuka had a highly entertaining draw with Ricky Steamboat and Jay Youngblood. The Canadian Heavyweight Champion, the Iron Sheik, maintained a firm hold on that championship belt during the month of June.
In addition to holding onto his Canadian championship belt, the Iron Sheik also maintained a stranglehold on his Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship during the month of June. The Sheik battled the former Mid-Atlantic Champion Jim Brunzell during June, and began to dominate the program after a slow start early in the month. After dropping decisions to Brunzell in the border town of Savannah, Georgia on June 1st and Columbia, South Carolina on June 3rd, the Sheik hit his stride with multiple successful title defenses against “Jumpin’ Jim” as the month of June progressed.
Roanoke, Virginia saw two classic Mid-Atlantic Title battles between the Sheik and Brunzell in the month of June. On June 8th, the Sheik dominated Brunzell at the Roanoke Civic Center, but needed to take advantage of the referee to do so. This led to a return bout two weeks later with an added stipulation of two referees. The June 22nd rematch in Roanoke was a bloody affair, which saw the Sheik again successfully emerge from the fracas with his Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Title belt.
However, Brunzell used a bit of chicanery of his own against the Sheik to try and stem the tide later in the month. On the Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling TV show that was taped on June 25th, the Sheik and Brunzell wrestled in a non-title bout, but Jumpin’ Jim was able to unlace and capture the boot of the Iron Sheik that Brunzell said was loaded. Jim vowed to wear the boot and use it against the Sheik, which he hoped would give him the edge against the fearsome Iranian in their future bouts.
At the end of the month, NWA World Tag Team Champions Ricky Steamboat and Jay Youngblood relinquished their World belts after having finally gotten the upper hand in their epic feud with Greg Valentine and Ray “The Crippler” Stevens. During the earlier part of June, Steamboat and Youngblood took the measure of Stevens and Valentine in three climactic Fence Matches. In Raleigh at the Dorton Arena on June 3rd, in the Charlotte Coliseum on June 17th and finally at County Hall in Charleston, South Carolina on June 20th, Steamboat and Youngblood effectively ended the challenge of the Stevens/Valentine team with victories in the bruising battles inside a steel cage. But just as one bitter feud ended, another would begin.
After Greg Valentine double-crossed Ric Flair and essentially moved on from his team with Ray Stevens, Gene Anderson wasted no time in filling the vacuum. On the June 11th Mid-Atlantic Wrestling television show, Gene announced that he had brought in Ray Stevens to his “Army” to team with Snuka. And it didn’t take long for this new team to ace championship gold!
On June 22nd in the Greensboro Coliseum, the new tandem of Ray Stevens and Jimmy Snuka topped Ricky Steamboat and Jay Youngblood to claim the NWA World Tag Team Championship belts. On the June 25th Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling television program, Stevens claimed that during the bout Steamboat had tripped outside the ring, accidentally hit his head and his injury cost “the low class bums” the belts. But fortunately for the fans, Steamboat and Youngblood brought out a film clip from the title match in Greensboro. And in the clip it was clear to see that Stevens deliberately delivered a piledriver to Steamboat on the concrete floor, knocking Ricky out and allowing the bad guys to pin Youngblood for the championship gold.
After the title switch, the new champions Snuka and Stevens battled the former champs in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina the next night and kept the straps by getting purposely disqualified. Then on June 28th in the Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium, Gene Anderson’s antics so enraged Steamboat and Youngblood that the fan favorites were disqualified, giving the “bad guys” a rare victory by disqualification.
As the month of June ended, there were major ongoing programs between Ric Flair and Greg Valentine, Enforcer Luciano and Blackjack Mulligan, the Masked Superstar and the masked Sweet Ebony Diamond, Jim Brunzell and the Iron Sheik, and Jimmy Snuka and Ray Stevens against Ricky Steamboat and Jay Youngblood. July had all the ingredients in play for a combustible month to come in Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling…let the fireworks begin!
JUNE 1980 TITLES
NWA WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT---Harley Race
UNITED STATES---Ric Flair WORLD TAG TEAM---Ricky Steamboat and Jay Youngblood Jimmy Snuka and Ray Stevens (June 22, 1980 at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina)
CANADIAN---Iron Sheik
MID-ATLANTIC---Iron Sheik
NWA TELEVISION---Masked Superstar MID-ATLANTIC TAG TEAM---Matt Borne and Buzz Sawyer (June 2, 1980 at the Greenville Memorial Auditorium in Greenville South Carolina, defeating Jimmy Snuka and the Iron Sheik in the finals of a one night tournament)
Compiled by David Chappell for the Mid-Atlantic Gateway
(N) = newcomer to area (D) = departure from area (R) = returnee to area
MAIN EVENT
MAIN EVENT BABYFACES
MAIN EVENT HEELS
Jim Brunzell Sweet Ebony Diamond Ric Flair Rufus R. Jones (D) Blackjack Mulligan Ricky Steamboat Jay Youngblood
Enforcer Luciano Iron Sheik Jimmy Snuka Ray Stevens Superstar #1 Superstar #2 (D) Greg Valentine
MID-CARD
MID-CARD BABYFACES
MID-CARD HEELS
Matt Borne Tony Garea S.D. Jones Pedro Morales Buzz Sawyer Johnny Weaver
Ox Baker Brute Bernard Swede Hanson Gene Lewis Dewey Robertson Tenyru (N)
LOWER CARD
LOWER CARD BABYFACES
LOWER CARD HEELS
Nick DeCarlo (R) Joe Furr Abe Jacobs Don Kernodle Coco Samoa Ronnie Sexton Ron Ritchie Tony Tosi (N) Brett Wayne (N)
Ben Alexander (N) Len Denton Ricky Ferarra (N) David Patterson (R) Tank Patton (D) Tony Russo Scorpion Doug Somers Billy Starr
GUEST SHOTS
MANAGERS
Cousin Luke Mulligan
Gene Anderson
WOMEN
MIDGET
WRESTLERS
Vivian St. John Winona Littleheart Judy Martin Wendi Richter
None
REFEREES
TV
ANNOUNCERS
Sonny Fargo Stu Schwartz Tommy Young
Bob Caudle David Crockett Rich Landrum
TV PROMO
ANNOUNCERS
TV RING
ANNOUNCERS*
David Crockett
Rich Landrum
*Starting
in February of 1979, wrestler introductions were no longer made from
the ring, but instead were made from the announcer’s desk by
hosts Bob Caudle and Rich Landrum.
1. Jimmy Snuka and Ray Stevens (NR) 2. Ricky Steamboat and Jay Youngblood (2) 3. Matt Borne and Buzz Sawyer (5) 4. Greg Valentine and Ray Stevens (1) 5. Jimmy Snuka and the Iron Sheik (4)
Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling fans were teased in both 1975 and 1976 with the prospect of an Olympic medal winning wrestler coming onto the Jim Crockett Promotions roster. Chris Taylor, who was a bronze medal winner in the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, Germany, was purportedly heading to the Mid-Atlantic area to see action. Taylor, a 450 plus pound behemoth, also won the 1972 NCAA wrestling championship while at Iowa State University.
Taylor’s foray into Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling in 1975 was a true cameo appearance. On March 14, 1975 Taylor flew into Richmond, Virginia and participated in a 12 man Russian Roulette Battle Royal with a $5,400.00 purse going to the winner. Chris didn’t win the top prize, but did capture a pinfall win over Klondike Bill in one of the preliminary matches. Taylor’s appearance in Richmond drew the attention of Virginia’s statewide newspaper, the Richmond Times-Dispatch, which ran a piece on Taylor’s unlikely journey to Richmond and the professional wrestling ranks. The article stated that after Taylor finished his ‘one-night stand’ in Richmond, he immediately flew back to Chicago the next morning.
In the summer of 1976, Taylor got a bit more buildup and exposure to the Mid-Atlantic faithful, and even appeared on the Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling television show taped on July 7, 1976. Announcer Bob Caudle introduced Chris saying, “Chris Taylor, Olympic medal winner in the 1972 Olympics, and Chris let me welcome you to the Mid-Atlantic Championship area.” Taylor, the gentle giant, standing on the set with Mid-Atlantic Television Champion Paul Jones replied, “Well, I’d like to thank you very much for having me here, and I’ve been watching these matches here tonight, and I’ve watched them before. And this big [Jerry] Blackwell, and Flair, and all these guys…”
Click image to enlarge.
Caudle then interjected, “Blackjack Mulligan and Angelo Mosca, you’ve got to put them all in there!” The soft-spoken Taylor replied, “Yeah, these fellows, I’m here for a reason. I’m sure Mr. Jones can probably handle it; he probably will. I want these boys to come on down and give me a whirl sometime, and I just want to see what they got!”
Following up, Caudle commented, “I think you can take them on. And I know all the fans want to know now Chris, since you were a medal winner in 1972 in Munich ,what do you think about the U.S. wrestling in this year’s Olympics? Chris opined, “Well, I feel that this year will be a fine year for the United States in wrestling. You’ve got some of the finest athletes, I feel, ever to come out of the United States and are on a wrestling team. And of course it’s gonna be hard to copy, or to even do better than ’72, but I really hope for the best and I hope they do well, and I have confidence in the boys and I’m sure they will.”
As he then segued to Paul Jones, Caudle stated, “Well, it’s great to have you here and again let me welcome you to the area and I know, like you say the competition is tough here but I think you’re ready for it.” Taylor concluded, “Well, this is the toughest I’ve seen all over the United States and this is why I am here.”
Engaging Jones now, Caudle then announced, “All right and Paul, now of course the TV champion here and I know you’re delighted to have a fellow like this now come to the area.” Jones answered, “Well I tell you I want to be one of the first to congratulate, you know, welcome you to this area… because he’s a great athlete and I have a lot of respect for anybody that represented the United States at the Olympics and did as well as Chris did. He’s also a credit to the profession, and I tell you, I welcome him to this area. Just like I said before, all the top wrestlers come to this area, and that’s why Chris is here…I’m sure he wants top competition.”
Taylor wasn’t exactly paired with top completion during his 10 day stint in the territory in July of 1976, but the Olympic medal winner did have several entertaining bouts against fellow super-heavyweight competitor Jerry “Crusher” Blackwell. Chris scored a trio of wins against Blackwell, defeating Jerry in the Richmond Coliseum on July 9th, repeating the feat in Roanoke, Virginia at Victory Stadium the next night and then wearing out “Crusher” in Greenville, South Carolina on July 12th.
After teaming with the veteran Danny Miller to defeat Boris Malenko and Hans Schroeder in Spartanburg, South Carolina on July 17th, Chris Taylor exited the Mid-Atlantic area for the last time. True, if you would have blinked your eye you would have missed Taylor’s cameos, but it’s not every day that a legitimate Olympic wrestling medal winner graces your presence. So it’s at least a Mid-Atlantic cup of coffee worth remembering.
What a great photo by my friend Rob Riddick, a wrestling photographer back in the 1980s and early 1990s who passed away several years ago.
This is one of my favorites, the two members of the fabled "Legion of Doom" going face to face. Animal and Hawk befriended Rob in his early years taking photos at Jim Crockett Promotions events. They were introduced by veteran and legendary photographer George Napolitano.
Rob told me the Roadies were just clowning around in the back and Rob was lucky enough to get this shot. Another good one with the LOD here.
For more on Rob and some good memories (and great photos) from that time, click this link which will bring up all of our posts with his photos.
At the very end of 1974, it appeared a tremendous new tag team was about to dominate Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling. Ivan Koloff and Ric Flair had joined forces, and it appeared they would be an unstoppable tandem. But alas, this dream team pairing fizzled out soon after its formation, but it reminded me of Ric Flair’s only TV interview where he uttered nary a word!
The interview in question was on the Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling Year in Review television show, hosted by Bob Caudle, which was taped on December 11, 1974. At that point in time, the “Russian Bear” Ivan Koloff was the reigning Mid-Atlantic Television Champion, having dethroned Paul Jones in a very controversial title match in the WRAL TV studios in Raleigh on October 30, 1974. Ric Flair had just been dethroned as a co-holder of the Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Champions on December 6, 1974 and was on the hunt for a new tag team partner as Rip Hawk was about ready to leave the territory and join the upstart International Wrestling Association (IWA).
Caudle began the interview, “Fans with us at ringside right now of course, Ivan Koloff and his partner there behind him, Ric Flair.” Normally Flair would start a verbal barrage and rant, but not on this night and Koloff would explain why.
The Russian Bear growled, “Koloff like to say one thing first. Mr. Flair-ski still suffer now, cannot talk, from the crazy Paul Jones. Use karate on him…illegal to use karate.” An animated Ric Flair in the background was gesturing demonstrably as Koloff spoke about him being hit in the throat by Jones, but not a word was said by the normally verbose Flair!
Ivan then began to talk in tag team terms, saying, “Paul Jones, Tiger Conway, you STEAL belts from Mr. Flair-ski…tag team champion belts. Mr. Flair-ski and Koloff work out in gym now, for long time…we work out and know each and every move. Every time we make move we know what we do, and we work out together for long time. Now Koloff here…Mr. Flair-ski tells Koloff how you steal belt from him. Now, we gonna come after you and take belts back because Mr. Flair-ski and Koloff number one tag team wrestlers.” Flair again dying to speak but unable to, was quite entertaining with his facial expressions as the interview wound down.
Koloff boasted in conclusion, “We too strong, we too big, too good condition…we will beat you very easy and it will be very good pleasure, very nice pleasure for Koloff to be tag team partner with Mr. Flair-ski. And we will not be easy on you! We will hurt you very bad, because you try to make fool of Mr. Flair-ski too, besides Koloff, Paul Jones. We will come after you and we will make you look like fool and we will take tag team belts back again, and we will keep them!”
The silent Ric Flair nodded in the affirmative vigorously as Ivan concluded. However, Caudle brought a dose of reality to the proceedings commenting, “Well, of course Paul Jones and Tiger Conway, they’re gonna have an awful lot to say about that, and they’re just as mad at you as you are at them of course.”
Ivan gruffly finished, “They will probably keep talking like Paul Jones always talks, but talk will not get it done. We will get it done! We will win belts!”
Flair’s voice returned in the coming days and he and Koloff battled Jones and Conway a number of times over the next month, but they could not capture the Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Titles. Then suddenly Ivan followed Rip Hawk’s lead and bolted for the IWA as well, and Ric had lost a second partner to the fledgling national promotion. The Flair-Koloff tag team that had the potential for greatness, had been snuffed out in its infancy. And my lasting memory of this short-lived dream team remains and will always be the normally talkative Ric Flair’s silent interview.
RINGSIDE NEWSLETTER VOL. 1 ISSUE 2 JULY- AUGUST 1981
In 1981, Jim Crockett promotions developed a club for their fans and called it the "United States Wrestling Club." For a membership fee of $5.00 for one year, fans got the bi-monthly club newsletter "Ringside," a discounted subscription offer on "Mid-Atlantic Wrestling Magazine," discounts on tickets to local Mid-Atlantic Wrestling events, and discounts on concessions at those events. Despite being initially well received by fans, Jim Crockett Promotions folded the club after only one year.
The 3rd issue of the "Ringside" newsletter for the United States Wrestling Club arrived in early August of 1981. The feature article was editor Steve Waid's interview with Paul Jones about his interest in car restoration. Steve photographed Paul at his shop.
The issue also included "Fan Club News" and a wrestler word scramble.
Paul Jones - Car Restoration Buff
by Steve Waid
Ever since he was a youngster in Port Arthur, Texas, wrestler Paul Jones has had a deep affection for a 1955 model Ford Thunderbird.
“When I was a kid, I’d go down to the auto lot and just sit in one,” he recalled, “and I wouldn’t move until a salesman would chase me off. And you know how kids daydream. I read once where Elvis Presley had a Cadillac and he would tow a 1955 Thunderbird behind it. I thought then, I’d have one someday.”
Because he has made a successful career out of wrestling, in which he has held several championships, Jones now owns a 1955 Thunderbird. Because it is over 25 years old, it is an antique. But that’s now what makes this Thunderbird so appealing.
It was practically rebuilt from scratch and its restoration has been a long, costly process. And the man who restored the car with his own hands is Paul Jones himself.
Jones enjoys restoring old cars. In fact, he has made it a pastime, one he pursues vigorously when he’s not wrestling.
“When I grew up, I piddled around with old cars, but I sure didn’t have the money to undertake any restoration projects on my own. I’ve only been doing that for the last six years,” Jones said.
“But I read books about restoration and I talked to people who did it. I joined the Atlanta T-Bird Club and kept in touch with what was going on. But I also played a lot of golf in my free time and it never worked out that I had time to start restoring old cars. I’m neglecting my golf to do it right now.”
Jones finally purchased his beloved Thunderbird, one that was in pretty bad shape. He rolled up his sleeves and began working, “taking off one bolt at a time.” When the project was finished, Jones had a classic car, one he enjoys taking out for short rides whenever he has the time.
Because of his efforts, the Thunderbird is now worth from $15,000 to $18,000. “If you look in a newspaper and see a 1955 Thunderbird for sale at $10,000, that might sound cheap, but it’s going to be more costly for you later,” said Jones.
“The thing of it is, that car probably has a lot of the original parts and equipment missing and to replace them is going to cost you a lot of money. Before the car is completely restored, you probably will have invested $20,000 in it.”
Which says that restoring cars isn’t an inexpensive hobby. “You’d better be prepared to spend some money,” Jones explained.
“With inflation, the cost of parts has gone up a great deal,” he added. “And for classic cars, the cost is even higher. So you must be ready to spend the money if you want to restore the car properly.”
“It’s like opening a restaurant. Your initial investment is fine and it probably isn’t all that much. But you’ve got to have some money to fall back on in case you have problems. If you don’t, you are out of business. That’s the way it is with restoring cars.”
Jones is presently working on a 1963 Corvette, the model with the split rear window. It has great value.
“They only made this Corvette that one year,” he said, “because the bar in the split rear window blocked your view and it was something of a safety hazard. It’s value is more than the Thunderbird’s because of that and because the increase in replacement parts for it is so high.”
“This Corvette can be sold for $25,000. I’ll bet that makes a lot of those people who had one and sold it for $3,000 years ago wish they had it back.”
Jones, who said he has auto parts “scattered all through my basement,” has rules to follow before he begins any restoration.
“First,” he said, “I never begin work on one unless I’m able to spend at least five hours on it. It’s not worth getting so dirty and sweaty for just one hour’s worth of work.”
“Second, I concentrate only on one car. If you start two cars and attempt to work on them together, you’re not going to do a good job. You won’t be able to put all your efforts into one car and make it your best work.”
“Also, it’s going to get very expensive because you’ll spend money trying to buy two different sets of replacement parts.”
Because he was willing to spend the money and put in the required work, Paul Jones has his sparkling 1955 Thunderbird. And he’s realized a childhood dream.
Thanks to Peggy Lathan for her transcription of this article.
FAN CLUB NEWS
This column is just for you sincere wrestling fans! It will be loaded with valuable information that you will find nowhere else.
It will be a place for you to receive and give information in regards to your favorite wrestler. You will find here which wrestlers do or do not have fan clubs. Who to contact about joining a particular fan club – or if there is not one established, how you can start your own.
Here’s one you might be interested in:
Ric Flair Fan Club
c/o Donna Crawford
P. O. Box ---
Pleasant Valley, VA
Dues: $5.00 per year
Send cash, check or money order and receive a letter signed by Ric, an 8 x 10 autographed color photo, and six wrestling bulletins a year.
Gateway Note: One day will do a feature just like this on those excellent issues of the Ric Flair Fan Club Newsletter.
(Note: This material is presented for historical purposes. Reprinted from 1981 newsletter. The club is no longer active. DO NOT send money to the P.O. Box above!)
Last week at WrestleMania Axxess, the annual fan event preceding the big wrestling pay-per-view, the WWE presented an exhibit dedicated to the "Nature Boy" Ric Flair. With the help of several private collectors, the exhibit showcased some of Ric's famous wrestling robes from the 1970s-1990s and also the four original belts Ric wore that represented his 16 world championships.
West Potter photo.
The centerpiece of the exhibit was a Starrcade-themed display featuring the robes worn by Flair and Harley Race at the Starrcade '83 event in Greensboro, NC in November of 1983. Behind the robes were familiar photographs from that Starrcade that we all remember seeing countless times over the years in the newsstand magazines.
West Potter photo.
To the left of the Starrcade robes were the "domed globed" NWA World title belt Ric wore from 1981-1986, and the famous "big gold" belt that represented the NWA title from 1986-1990 and the WCW World title following that.
Ben Brown photo, courtesy of Dave Millican
To the right of the Starrcade robes were the WCW World championship belt (1991-1994, above right) and the winged-eagle (above left) WWF Championship belt, the style Flair wore there in 1992-1993.
West Potter photo.
There were several historical robes on display, but one of my favorites is the "lion robe" which goes back to the mid-1970s, and was worn at the "Battle of the belts II" in Orlando in 1986 when Flair debuted the new NWA World championship "Big Gold" belt. (There are lots of amazing photos of the robe and belt together in the book "Big Gold" which has a chapter devoted to that night in Orlando.) Special to see that robe on display in the same city for WrestleMania.
Collage from @wcwretrospect on Twitter
This collage features several images from the exhibit including the statue of Flair unveiled over the weekend, as well as the infamous "President of World Championship Wrestling" shield on display when Flair was in that role on "WCW Monday Nitro" in 1999.
Very cool stuff, and nice to see these things remembered and showcased in this way.
Republished in edited form in April of 2022 on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway.
The Crockett Foundation has released its second pro wrestling book in their online store.
