1971

1970 Recap

1970 was the year Dr. Ken Ramey and the Masked Interns hit the area and made a major impact. Another team having a big year was the fan favorite combo of Tojo Yamamoto & Jerry Jarrett. Also making their presence felt during the year were such stars as Big Bad John, Dennis Hall, Jimmy Golden and others. One of the areas mainstay tag teams, Don & Al Greene added a cocky Englishman manager, Sir Steve Clements and continued to headline many cards. Other regulars such as Bearcat Brown, Jackie Fargo and Len Rossi continued to hold their place at the top of area cards. On the business front, the promotion added Louisville and Lexington , Kentucky and Evansville , Indiana to their regular weekly circuit, a move that helped create one of the business’s largest territories stretching from northward to Indiana westward into Arkansas southward into northern Mississippi and Alabama and eastward into east Tennessee .  

1971 Preview

1971 would continue to be a year dominated by tag teams with Don & Al Greene, The Masked Interns, Lorenzo Parente & Bobby Hart, Len Rossi & Bearcat Brown, Tojo Yamamoto & Jerry Jarrett and Kurt & Karl Von Brauner all having banner years. The area would also feature a number of new tag teams including such exotically named teams as The Alaskans and The Samoans. Veteran Dandy Jack Donovan began working a good deal in the area during 1971. Two future area legends began to build steam in 1971 as Tommy Gilbert began to turn a lot of heads while Jerry Lawler began paying his dues.  

January-March 1971

The new year began with Don Greene & Al Greene holding the Southern tag championship. The Greenes were managed by Sir Steve Clements. Their reign though ended in early January when Tojo Yamamoto & Jerry Jarrett took the titles.

The lineage of the World tag titles is unclear during the first few weeks of 1971. Oni Wiki Wiki & Young (Omar) Atlas were titleholders in December 1970. By February, 1971, the team of Lorenzo Parente & Bobby Hart with manager Gentleman Saul Weingeroff had captured the belts. Whether or not the titles changed hands from Wiki Wiki & Atlas and Parente & Hart is not known by this writer. In March, Dennis Hall & Jimmy Golden snatched the titles only to lose them back to Parente & Hart. A week later, the masked team of The Avengers won the titles. Under the masks were Hall & Golden.

Don Greene wrestled some in this time period billed as the U.S. Junior heavyweight champion. The lineage of the Southern Junior heavyweight title is murky at this time.

Wrestlers working the territory during the first three months of 1971 included Len Rossi, Big Bad John, Pepe Lopez, Bearcat Brown, Hans Steinke, Roy Klein, Mack York, Tony Russo, Paul Morton, Sonny King, George Strickland, Eli Kashey, The Masked Green Shadow, Bobby Whitlock, Mike Pappas, Guy LaRosa, Chief White Eagle, The Masked Outlaws, Joey Corea, The Alaskans: Mike York & Frank Monte, Johnny Long, Siki Samara, Hans Mortier, Frankie Cain, Tinker Todd, Frank Hester, The Samoans, Tony Mendoza, Chico Mendoza, Eric Von Brauner, Frank Hickey and more.

Ron Wright & Don Wright defended the Tennessee tag titles in some stops on the circuit and dropped them for a brief time to Tojo Yamamoto & Jerry Jarrett. Lady stars Sylvia Hackney and Barbara Owens worked in the area at this time also.

The hottest feud during the first three months of 1971 revolved around The Greene Brothers against Tojo Yamamoto & Jerry Jarrett and their battles often centered around the Southern tag titles. The team of Bobby Hart & Lorenzo Parente also had some major battles against various combinations of Dennis Hall, Jimmy Golden and Len Rossi.

The area had long been one where the focus was on the tag team action. When singles matches occurred most of the action centered on such stars as Len Rossi, who was a junior heavyweight. Mike Pappas though seemed smaller than some of the area’s junior heavyweights. Pappas, billed from Greece , often worked cards for Gulas-Welch, but rarely, if ever worked at the top of area cards.  More...