Memories
Chapter Four: Miscellaneous, but Precious, Juvenile Diary, Television Memories
#PWHS #Article #Memories
February 17, 1968
“Becker & Weaver gets “shoe” of Infernos”. (Probably my favorite two teams. Maybe today my choice would be different if I saw the video of the match, but I sincerely doubt it.) For those unfortunate to see these five stars, there is a part of me that weeps for you. The “shoe” refers to the built-up shoe of the one Inferno that would be involved in almost every match. At the needed time, he would kick the toe of his shoe so a piece of heavy metal would slide down into the toe. Then a swift kick to the body or head and then a pin would often follow. On this day, the founding team of Jim Crockett Promotions, George Becker & Johnny Weaver, caught the “handicapped” Inferno and stole this loaded shoe. Then I laughed to watch the Infernos and manager JC Dykes act like spoiled kids jumping up and down complaining how they had been robbed and someone needs to make the good guys return their wrestling gear. This led to a great series of matches where George Becker wore the loaded boot against the Infernos and their newly-found replacement boot.
Recently I found an old diary of mine and in it contained four entries that seemed like a winning lottery ticket when I found my pre-teen scribblings and 1 mid-teen entry. The other three:
March 2, 1968
“George and Sandy Scott tore off JC Dykes shirt and coat”. Can’t you hear the excitement of the WRAL TV studio crowd? Roaring cheers and laughter as the Scotts gets the better of the red-headed Manager of the Infernos! The sound meters would be red-lining as the crowd roared their approval.
March 16, 1968
“Gene Conisky (Kiniski) over Jesse James. J. (Johnny) Weaver over B. (Bulldog ) L. (Lee) Henning. (Rip) Hawk and (Swede) Hansen over Don Rico and Alex Medina.” Mid-Atlantic fans, doesn’t that entry bring back precious memories? I would guess that was the entire show with the last match probably being a two out of three falls match, which was a two fall victory for the Blond Bombers most certainly.
March 20, 1971
“Hawk and Hanson defeats Becker and Weaver for Atlantic Coast Championship. Pile Driver was banned. Playboy Gary Hart manager pile drives Weaver to win”. A special match I would say! I made a point to write this down for me never to forget.
Just 4 peeks of how Mid-Atlantic Wrestling with Bob Caudle was an important part of my life. I looked forward to my wrestling on Saturdays almost as much as Christmas day. Oh I wish I would have written down every TV show (no matter how boring at times because of lopsided matches) so I could relive these precious memories forever. I am so grateful for men like Mark James and others who capture the past in detail.
Becker and Weaver were the foundation of Jim Crockett Promotions defending the Mid-Atlantic against the bad guys that kept on invading. Bogni-Lubich with manager Homer O’Dell or Two Ton Harris, The Infernos with manager JC Dykes, Hawk-Hansen with Homer O’Dell or Gary Hart, Skull Murphy-Brute Bernard. On and on memories flood my mind through the years. Sailor Art Thomas. Hollywood Blondes. The Bolos. Missouri Mauler. Klondike Bill. Bill White. Charlie Fulton. Amazing Zuma. Argentina Apollo. George and Sandy Scott. Professor Boris Malenko. Masked Superstars. Masked Red Devils. Tony Atlas. Lars and Gene Anderson. Bill Howard. Danny Miller. Judge Dubois. Sgt Jacque Goulet. Rufus Jones. Superstar Billy Graham. Steve Strong. The Avenger. Abe Jacobs. Mike Paidousis. Penny Banner. Nelson Royal. Tex McKensie. Bulldog Lee Hennig. Tinker Todd. Gregg Peterson. Silento Rodriguez. El Gaucho. Rock Hunter. Billy Spears. Mr Wrestling. Sam Steamboat. Terry and Ronnie Garvin. Luther Lindsay. Art Nelson. Pedro Godoy. Matti Suzuki. Oni Wiki Wiki. Bobby and Rudy Kay. Tony Romano. Tommie Siegler. Kurt and Karl Von Steiger. Johnny Heidman.
I’m sure I missed a lot of wrestlers, but there is my memories of the 60’s through the wrestlers that were mainstays in my memory. Soon Ric Flair would become Rip Hawk’s partner and win his first championship and wrestling as we know it would never be the same. I would not take anything for my memories and wish that youngsters today could have them also. I know each generation thinks their era was the best, and so do I. hope it brings back some great memories as you read each wrestler I named above.
“Becker & Weaver gets “shoe” of Infernos”. (Probably my favorite two teams. Maybe today my choice would be different if I saw the video of the match, but I sincerely doubt it.) For those unfortunate to see these five stars, there is a part of me that weeps for you. The “shoe” refers to the built-up shoe of the one Inferno that would be involved in almost every match. At the needed time, he would kick the toe of his shoe so a piece of heavy metal would slide down into the toe. Then a swift kick to the body or head and then a pin would often follow. On this day, the founding team of Jim Crockett Promotions, George Becker & Johnny Weaver, caught the “handicapped” Inferno and stole this loaded shoe. Then I laughed to watch the Infernos and manager JC Dykes act like spoiled kids jumping up and down complaining how they had been robbed and someone needs to make the good guys return their wrestling gear. This led to a great series of matches where George Becker wore the loaded boot against the Infernos and their newly-found replacement boot.
Recently I found an old diary of mine and in it contained four entries that seemed like a winning lottery ticket when I found my pre-teen scribblings and 1 mid-teen entry. The other three:
March 2, 1968
“George and Sandy Scott tore off JC Dykes shirt and coat”. Can’t you hear the excitement of the WRAL TV studio crowd? Roaring cheers and laughter as the Scotts gets the better of the red-headed Manager of the Infernos! The sound meters would be red-lining as the crowd roared their approval.
March 16, 1968
“Gene Conisky (Kiniski) over Jesse James. J. (Johnny) Weaver over B. (Bulldog ) L. (Lee) Henning. (Rip) Hawk and (Swede) Hansen over Don Rico and Alex Medina.” Mid-Atlantic fans, doesn’t that entry bring back precious memories? I would guess that was the entire show with the last match probably being a two out of three falls match, which was a two fall victory for the Blond Bombers most certainly.
March 20, 1971
“Hawk and Hanson defeats Becker and Weaver for Atlantic Coast Championship. Pile Driver was banned. Playboy Gary Hart manager pile drives Weaver to win”. A special match I would say! I made a point to write this down for me never to forget.
Just 4 peeks of how Mid-Atlantic Wrestling with Bob Caudle was an important part of my life. I looked forward to my wrestling on Saturdays almost as much as Christmas day. Oh I wish I would have written down every TV show (no matter how boring at times because of lopsided matches) so I could relive these precious memories forever. I am so grateful for men like Mark James and others who capture the past in detail.
Becker and Weaver were the foundation of Jim Crockett Promotions defending the Mid-Atlantic against the bad guys that kept on invading. Bogni-Lubich with manager Homer O’Dell or Two Ton Harris, The Infernos with manager JC Dykes, Hawk-Hansen with Homer O’Dell or Gary Hart, Skull Murphy-Brute Bernard. On and on memories flood my mind through the years. Sailor Art Thomas. Hollywood Blondes. The Bolos. Missouri Mauler. Klondike Bill. Bill White. Charlie Fulton. Amazing Zuma. Argentina Apollo. George and Sandy Scott. Professor Boris Malenko. Masked Superstars. Masked Red Devils. Tony Atlas. Lars and Gene Anderson. Bill Howard. Danny Miller. Judge Dubois. Sgt Jacque Goulet. Rufus Jones. Superstar Billy Graham. Steve Strong. The Avenger. Abe Jacobs. Mike Paidousis. Penny Banner. Nelson Royal. Tex McKensie. Bulldog Lee Hennig. Tinker Todd. Gregg Peterson. Silento Rodriguez. El Gaucho. Rock Hunter. Billy Spears. Mr Wrestling. Sam Steamboat. Terry and Ronnie Garvin. Luther Lindsay. Art Nelson. Pedro Godoy. Matti Suzuki. Oni Wiki Wiki. Bobby and Rudy Kay. Tony Romano. Tommie Siegler. Kurt and Karl Von Steiger. Johnny Heidman.
I’m sure I missed a lot of wrestlers, but there is my memories of the 60’s through the wrestlers that were mainstays in my memory. Soon Ric Flair would become Rip Hawk’s partner and win his first championship and wrestling as we know it would never be the same. I would not take anything for my memories and wish that youngsters today could have them also. I know each generation thinks their era was the best, and so do I. hope it brings back some great memories as you read each wrestler I named above.
Unique content strictly for the Professional Wrestling Historical Society.
Memories: Chapter Three.
Author: Terry Kent.
Published: March 20, 2016.
Article: #139.
Editor: Jimmy Wheeler.
Memories: Chapter Three.
Author: Terry Kent.
Published: March 20, 2016.
Article: #139.
Editor: Jimmy Wheeler.
Memories: Chapter Four - Read Here.
Memories: Chapter Three - Read Here.
Other articles by Terry can be Read Here.