UWF #6 Page #2
Gino Hernandez had a terrific tag-team combination called the Dynamic Duo in Southwest Championship Wrestling, coupling with Tully Blanchard to form one of the most devastating, entertaining teams of the era. After Adams’ heel turn, Hernandez reformed the Dynamic Duo by teaming with him in WCCW. Classic stuff ensued, as Gino’s motor mouth and excellent ring persona was coupled with Adams’ British arrogance and superlative ring skills.
Adams and Hernandez were one of the best heel teams I have ever seen
. They were classic foils for the insufferable (at least for me) and tragically unrealistic superhero personas of the Von Erichs. Memorable angles included a hair vs. hair match at the Cotton Bowl against the Von Erichs in which both Gino and Adams were shaved completely bald. It might not sound like much now, but Hernandez and Adams were as despised as two wrestlers could be during that time period.Unfortunately, Hernandez died of a drug overdose in 1986 and Adams never regained his "heat" in WCCW. He came to the UWF with the reputation of being an excellent, all-around wrestler. He had already started a wrestling school (one of his earliest students was a strapping football player from North Texas State named Steve Williams, now known to a few folks as Stone Cold Steve Austin) and possessed one of wrestling’s deadliest finishers, the Superkick. No less than Shawn Michaels has used the maneuver as his finisher. Regular KM contributor James Beard has said on the Wrestling Classics message board that Adams, "no matter who he's in the ring with, good, bad, experienced, green or whatever, (he) will manage to have a good match with them.
" High praise, indeed.While the credentials he possessed were impeccable, Adams was at least partially touched by WCCW’s hard-partying, occasionally deadly image. Depending on which report you believe Adams was sentenced to a brief jail term for either (a) headbutting a stewardess on a flight or (b) a driving while intoxicated offense. Bill Watts, always looking for a way to incorporate "real life" into a wrestling angle, used Adams’ sentence as part of a storyline. Iceman King Parsons, Adams’ fellow WCCW expatriate, sometime tag-team partner and sometime nemesis, taunted Adams during their feud as "the bird that can’t fly."
Adams came in as an established, exceptional wrestler from another organization, but Terry Taylor had ties to the old Mid-South promotion. He had won the North American Title, Mid-South’s top belt, by defeating Ted DiBiase in March 1985. Taylor was also prominent in the Mid-South Television Title picture. The unique thing about the Mid-South’s TV Title is that it was not your traditional championship belt, but a medal much like Kurt Angle sports in the WWF today. In the inaugural TV tournament, Krusher Khrushchev defeated Taylor in Shreveport in May 1984. Taylor would gain his revenge by defeating Khruschev in New Orleans in June 1984. Taylor would hold the medal for 3 months before dropping it to Adrian Street.
Taylor defeated Buddy Landell to regain the TV championship in January 1985, and would hold it until he vacated in March when he won the North American strap. Terry Taylor has the distinction of being the only 2-time Mid-South Television champ. Since Watts put so much emphasis on having quality matches on television, Taylor was consistently showcased during this time.
Taylor even had two runs as a UWF tag-team champion. In December 1986, he and Jim Duggan won the straps from Bill Irwin and Leroy Brown. By January 1987, they had to vacate the titles due to Duggan losing a loser-leave-town match to the One Man Gang which paved Hacksaw’s way to a WWF exodus. Undetered, Taylor found a new teammate and regained the belts in February 1987. His partner? None other than Chris Adams!
Bill Watts gave Taylor a major push in Mid-South. As North American champ, Terry got televised pinball victories over Jake Roberts and Ted DiBiase
, two of the promotions top stars. At one of the Louisiana Superdome supercards, there was even a "Win a Date With Terry Taylor" contest! How much more big time can you be than that?Terry Taylor originally came to Mid-South from Southeast Championship Wrestling in Knoxville, TN. He had good looks and was a smart young fellow (a graduate from Shaw College with an economics degree). In Mid-South, Watts gave the youngster an opportunity and he grew up fast, becoming one of the promotion’s biggest stars. Wrestling Classic’s moderator Richard Sullivan has a classic description of Taylor: "He loves and respects the business, he works harder at getting other people over than himself, he has a good eye for detail, he believes in doing the right thing for business and he's generally thought of as a nice guy who's easy to get along with."
Taylor has spent time booking and working behind the scenes in both WCW and the WWF. He has also spent time as an announcer for both companies. In a recent interview with 1Wrestling.com, Taylor cites Paul Boesch as his favorite promoter and credits Watts for being the first to allow him to book matches
Well, that’s it for this time. I hope you have enjoyed this installment detailing the background of two consummate professionals.
Finally, Merry Christmas and a Happy (and safe) New Year to all!
NEXT MONTH:
Next time, we will look at the bad guys of the UWF as it headed in 1987. Make sure and leave your nightlight on after you read it. Stop by the UWF Message Board here sometime.