The United States of America turned 200 years young during the summer of 1976. Professional wrestling continued to draw good crowds in the cities promoted by Nick Gulas and Roy Welch. Welch, though, was in poor health. Welch had taken Jerry Jarrett, son of longtime Gulas employee Christine Jarrett, under his wing several years earlier and by 1976, Jarrett was not only a major in-ring performer in the area but had also acquired power and respect behind the scenes by running the western end of the territory. Meantime, the in-ring action remained wild and woolly.

The 1970s were full of many great tag teams. A short list of such teams would include Ray Stevens and Nick Bockwinkel, Ole and Gene Anderson, Black Gordman and The Great Goliath, Ric Flair and Greg Valentine, Jack Brisco and Jerry Brisco and Dory Funk, Jr. and Terry Funk. More than likely that short list would not include the tag team of Phil Hickerson and Dennis Condrey. Some who remember them though say they belong on such a list.

Not many fans outside the Gulas territory ever had the chance to see the combination of Hickerson and Condrey. In a sense it poses a question similar to that age-old question: "If a tree falls in a forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?" Since the team of Hickerson and Condrey never appeared in a major TV market (such as New York City, Chicago or Los Angeles) as a team does that mean they weren’t a good team? The Tennessee territory received very little press in the newsstand magazines during the time period, especially in the glossy Apter magazines. Coverage in the Apter magazines often meant that whoever, or whatever territory the Apter magazines were featuring became stars in the business (or became bigger stars) since these magazines were available to more fans coast to coast. Hickerson and Condrey rarely appeared in these magazines so their reputation as a team is remembered by those who were fortunate enough to see them when they teamed in the territory.