Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling: Q3 1973
Here’s a look at the 3rd quarter of 1973 in Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling. We look at the talent roster, title histories, the big feuds in the territory, and a schedule of all known house shows.
I’d like to thank Dick Bourne and Mark Eastridge of the Mid-Atlantic Gateway for providing the bulk of the house show records I used to compile this data. The Gateway, which is updated regularly by David Chappell, is an invaluable resource. I strongly encourage you to visit (and bookmark!) it: http://www.midatlanticgateway.com
Here is the roster for the quarter. Wrestlers are listed in descending order by their average SPOT Rating during the quarter. Directly below their week-by-week SPOT Ratings is a list of their Frequent Partners and Frequent Opponents (if applicable):
ROSTER NOTES
Newcomers: Among the newcomers during the third quarter were Rufus R. Jones, Jay York, Joe Turner, and Bill Bowman. A young Ed Wiskowski (the future Col. DeBeers) and Dennis Condrey also come in and work a little further down the cards.
Departures: Among the wrestlers who left the territory during the third quarter were Thunderbolt Patterson, Ron Garvin, Bob Roop, and Les Thatcher.
OTHER WRESTLERS NOT LISTED IN THE SPOT RATINGS
NATIONALLY KNOWN STARS
Bill Watts, Dory Funk Jr., Harley Race, Jack Brisco, Joe Louis, and Tim Woods
Dory came in to face Johnny Weaver on August 13th in Charlotte; Weaver won the bout. That same card also saw Harley Race come in and lose to Jerry Brisco.
Race had been in for four nights in early July while still NWA World Heavyweight champ, defending against Jerry Brisco (time limit draw), Jonathan Boyd (won by Race), Weaver (won by Race), and Rip Hawk (won by Race).
Jack Brisco made a couple of appearances early in the quarter. When he returned for several days in September, he was the NWA World Heavyweight champ. He faced Johnny Weaver twice plus Ole Anderson and Jonathan Boyd one time each, with Brisco winning all four bouts.
Former boxing great Joe Louis was brought in for several dates in early September to serve as a special referee.
PART-TIMERS
The Demon, Devoy Brunson, Don Duffy, Don Wright, Ed Wolfe, Hercules, Klondike Bill, the Menace, Ron Wright, and Stan Wiskowski (likely a typo for Ed)
Some of these wrestlers were based in East Tennessee and worked on a show in Kingsport that featured Art Nelson & Johnny Weaver vs Gene & Ole Anderson
WOMEN WRESTLERS
Ava Seedorff, Belle Starr, Donna Christianello, Fabulous Moolah, Jan Sheridan, Joyce Grable, Lilly Thomas, Paula Kaye, Peggy Allen, Penny Banner, Susan Green, Toni Rose, and Vivian Vachon
(their overall SPOT Rating was a .64 this quarter)
MALE MIDGET WRESTLERS
Billy the Kid, Bobo Johnson, Cowboy Lang, Little Bruiser, Little Tokyo, and Wee Willie Wilson
(their overall SPOT Rating was a .70 this quarter)
MANAGERS
Homer O’Dell continued to manage Rip Hawk & Swede Hanson. Hanson is off the cards for much of the quarter (I believe he’s on the ‘injured reserve’ list) and in his absence Bobby Shane teams with Rip regularly, so O’Dell may have managed Shane as well.
Beauregard begins his run here as a babyface mid-carder, but at some point is switched over to a heel manager. He manages Jay York & Brute Bernard.
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TITLE HISTORIES
The promotion had two main titles at this time. The singles title was billed as the Eastern States Heavyweight title and the tag belts were the Atlantic Coast Tag Team titles.
Ole Anderson was the Eastern States champ at the beginning of the quarter while Jerry Brisco & Thunderbolt Patterson were the Atlantic Coast Tag Team champs.
On July 3rd in Columbia, Jerry Brisco defeated Ole to win the Eastern States title and become a “champ-champ”. He wouldn’t get too used to holding two titles though, as Ole & Gene beat Jerry & Thunderbolt two nights later in Greensboro to win the Atlantic Coast Tag Team titles.
There was a third title that was occasionally defended in the territory at this time: the Brass Knucks Tag Team titles. Jonathan Boyd & Norman Charles were the champs at the beginning of the quarter. Most title history sources have them losing those titles to Art Nelson & Johnny Weaver on September 28th in Richmond. However, ads & articles from the July 5th show in Greensboro seem to indicate that Nelson & Weaver won the titles there. There are also a couple of references to Boyd & Charles being billed as champs AFTER July 5th, so do with this information what you will.
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Here’s a look at two of the biggest feuds in the territory during the quarter and how they progressed in each city/market. Details and match stipulations are listed where known, but keep in mind that this information is often incomplete.
1) ART NELSON & JOHNNY WEAVER vs JONATHAN BOYD & NELSON CHARLES
Greensboro NC
7/5 Nelson & Weaver beat Boyd & Charles in what was billed as a Brass Knucks Tag Team title bout; detailed results indicate the match ended “after 23 minutes when Weaver downed Jonathan Boyd with a kayo punch”
Richmond VA
7/6 (no results)
7/13 Nelson & Weaver beat Boyd & Charles in a match with two referees and a “$500 fine if anyone bothers the referees”
7/27 Nelson & Weaver beat Boyd & Charles in a taped fist match
9/28 Nelson & Weaver beat Boyd & Charles in a “taped fists death match” for the Brass Knucks Tag Team titles
Anderson SC
7/12 Nelson & Weaver beat Boyd & Charles
8/30 Boyd & Charles beat Nelson & Weaver in a taped fist “fight to the finish”
Florence SC
7/14 Nelson & Weaver beat Boyd & Charles by countout
7/21 Nelson & Weaver beat Boyd & Charles in a taped fist death match
Raleigh NC
7/24 Boyd & Charles beat Nelson & Weaver by disqualification
8/7 Boyd & Charles beat Nelson & Weaver in a no disqualification match
8/14 Nelson & Weaver beat Boyd & Charles in a “taped fists death match”
8/28 Boyd & Charles beat Nelson & Weaver in a Brass Knucks title match
Collinsville VA
8/10 Nelson & Weaver beat Boyd & Charles; in an article promoting this match, it was stated that the Kangaroos had previously defeated Weaver and Nelson for the taped-fist championship with no date specified
Charleston SC
8/17 Boyd & Charles beat Nelson & Weaver in a taped fist match
8/24 Taped fist match with a $100 “side bet” (results unknown)
Norfolk VA
9/6 Nelson & Weaver beat Boyd & Charles
9/13 Nelson & Weaver beat Boyd & Charles in a taped fist match
Columbia SC
9/11 Boyd & Charles (billed as champs going in) beat Nelson & Weaver; however, the results also state that the Kangaroos “capture[d]” the titles with this victory
9/18 Nelson & Weaver beat Boyd & Charles in a Texas death match
2) NELSON ROYAL & SANDY SCOTT vs FRANK MONTE & MIKE YORK
Raleigh NC
7/3 Monte & York beat Royal & Scott
7/10 Royal & Scott beat Monte & York
7/17 Royal & Scott beat Monte & York
Norfolk VA
7/5 Royal & Scott beat Monte & York
7/12 Royal & Scott beat Monte & York by disqualification
Asheville NC
7/18 Royal & Scott beat Monte & York
7/25 Royal & Scott beat Monte & York
Richmond VA
7/20 Royal & Scott beat Monte & York
Colonial Heights VA
7/30 (results unknown)
Roanoke VA
8/4 “things got out of hand and the referee halted action”
8/11 (results unknown)
9/8 Special referee Joe Louis (results unknown)
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Here is a calendar of all known house shows in the territory during the quarter.
Match listings and results from many of these shows can be found in various places. In addition to the Mid-Atlantic Gateway, I recommend the following sites for wrestling results:
