Paul Jones and the early Mid-Atlantic belt

[Baltimore Jack]

I've come across a recent photo of Paul Jones holding up the early version of the Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight title. He is bloody and it appears from the nature of the photo as though maybe he just won it. Only problem with this is Paul never held the early version ofthat title. (He held the Mid-Atlantic title in the early 80s.)

Paul feuded with Johnny Valentine over the Mid-Atlantic title in late 1974 and early 1975. Anyone have any ideas on this?

[cwh47]

Paul Jones had a great feud with Johnny Valentine.
This is what I remember about Paul winning the belt.
Paul and Johnny Valentine had a cage match where
Paul had promised the fans he would win the belt.
He did just that but controversy would follow.

Back in those days a cage in JCP meant everything
goes,basically only one rule,somebody had to win
by pinfall or submission.

I remember portions of this match were later shown on
tv.Paul Jones had Johnny Valentine pinned.Valentine
put his foot on the bottom rope briefly during the
count but Paul Jones hooked that leg so the referee
never saw it.Paul Jones was declared the winner
and presented the belt.

I am not sure how much time passed before the
decision was reversed but I honestly believe that
Paul Jones wore the belt on tv at least once before
having to return the belt to Johnny Valentine.

As a fan I always felt cheated by this decision.How do
you break the rules in a match where there are no
rules? I felt like the referee's decision should have
stood and Paul Jones should have remained champ
until Johnny Valentine or someone else actually beat
him in the ring for the belt.Just my opinion.

I am looking foward to seeing the photo of Paul Jones
with the original Mid-Atlantic belt.

[Baltimore Jack]

I should have put this photo up with my original post. This is the photo I mentioned.



It's hard to see the belt well in this photo, but it is the "Knight Head' title belt that was the first Mid-Atlantic belt used in 1973-1975 and wore officially by only Jerry Brisco and Johnny Valentine. By the time Wahoo won it in the summer of 1975, something had happened to this belt (stolen perhaps?) and they used the old Eastern States title belt for the Mid-Atlantic belt before they had another belt made in 1977.

The Gateway has photos of all the Mid-Atlantic Champions wearing all four versions of the Mid-Atlantic belts. You can find those by clicking here.

A history of the first belt, and some close up photos can be found here.

____________
Thanks to Scooter Lesley for this rare Gene Gordon photo of Paul Jones holding the Mid-Atlantic title belt.

[Baltimore Jack]

Thanks for the great information CWH! Great memory! It almost makes me want to recognize Paul as an early Mid-Atlantic champion! He wuz robbed! :-)

[cwh47]

Thanks for posting that photo Jack! Since this match
took place around the spring of 1975,you are really
narrowing down the time frame in which that belt
disappeared.

[thegreatbologuy]

I witnessed several JONES / VALENTINE matches during this period.

The one I recall the most was a rare SUNDAY MATINEE JCP show at Charlotte's Park Center (as opposed to the ususal Monday night show.)

The main event was Paul versus Johnny for Valentine's Mid-Atlantic title. It was brutal. I have heard Paul say that no one ever hit him harder than Johnny Valentine. I'm not sure if this is the specific match that CWH writes about in a previous post, but I'd swear the finish was what he described. Of course, they could have used the same finish in multiple locations.

Oh yes, the reason for the SUNDAY MATINEE show was to compete with the IWA's show that afternoon at the original Charlotte Coliseum. A friend of mine went to the IWA show and saw MIL MASCARRAS defend the IWA title against someone like Erik the Red (yawn!). As we all know now, the IWA wasn't able to successfully infringe on Crockett territory Charlotte.

[cwh47]

You know what greatbologuy,I believe you have nailed it.I have just been looking
at some of the Charlotte clippings on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway.It was Sunday
March 9,1975.I was hoping you had attended this show.

[Baltimore Jack]

The clipping for that March 9 show is on the Gateway, and that match was in a cage, as CWH described above. Great job guys!

CHARLOTTE NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS MARCH 1975

Bolo, you mean to tell me you went to see Johhny Valentine vs. Paul Jones instead of Mil Mascaras vs. Erik the Red???

[phinney]

When they made the switch from the original Mid-Atlantic belt to the former Eastern States belt did they ever give a reason or at least acknowledge it? Were any of the plates changed or did it still say "Eastern States Championship"? Hell, I say add another belt to Flair's record. Give him the Eastern States reign.

[thegreatbologuy]

Hey B. Jack...

Jones versus Valentine over Mil & Erik...a no brainer. I was a faithful JCP supporter. It really upset me when Rip Hawk jumped ship to IWA, but Rip later said, I believe, in retrospect, it was the worst career move he ever made. Or maybe I'm thinking of Uncle Ivan.

[bobbyryates]

i liked eric the red....but not as much as valentine. i woulda went there too if i could have.

[Baltimore Jack]

I hope you both know I was kidding. The choice would be VERY easy for me to make.

Phinney, with regards to the belt's disappearance:

History isn't clear about what happened to that Mid-Atlantic title belt presented to Jerry Brisco in September of 1973. Brisco and Johnny Valentine were the only two men to wear it. At some point during Valentine's long reign as champion he began wearing the old Eastern Heavyweight belt again, although he was still recognized as Mid-Atlantic champion. The Mid-Atlantic belt that had originally first been presented to Brisco simply disappeared. It's not clear what happened; perhaps it was stolen. But Valentine and successive Mid-Atlantic Champions in 1975 and 1976, which included Wahoo McDaniel and Ric Flair, also wore the old Eastern title belt and were recognized as the Mid-Atlantic Champion.

from "The Origin of The Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship"

[Baltimore Jack]

One other note: It seems clear (listening to old audio tapes) that the Crockett's recognized the Eastern title history as the same as Mid-Atlantic title history. You may remember that during Jerry Brisco's final reign as Eastern Champion, the promotion changed the name of the title to "Mid-Atlantic" and presented Brisco with a new belt.) In the fall of 1975 when Danny Miller returned to the area, the TV announcers (Caudle, Crockett, Capral) all refer to him as a former Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Champion, even though Miller technically only held the Eastern title.

If you're interested in the short history of the Eastern title, follow this link:
Eastern Heavyweight Title History

[cwh47]

I believe I have found the match on one of the arena
footage tapes Steve bought a while back.While watching
the match my old vcr chewed some of the tape.Luckily
I was able to get it out without losing it completely.This
is what I can still see of the end of the match:

1.When referee Angelo Martinelli raises up after making
the three count he only sees Paul Jones covering
Johnny Valentine and Paul has Valentine's left leg
hooked.

2.Ric Flair comes into the ring after the cage is opened
to help Johnny Valentine protest and show Angelo that
Johnny Valentine's left foot was on the rope at one
point during the count.

3.Angelo Martinelli refuses to change his decision.He
then goes over and raises Paul Jones hand.Paul Jones
then leaves the ring with the belt.

At least for that night and maybe a few days more,
Mid-Atlantic fans believed Paul Jones was the champ.

[Baltimore Jack]

Excellent! Thanks CWH - I may have that clip too, then, and just never realized the significance of it. If it's part of the arena footage that has been circulating for years, I've likely got it.

So the film doesn't show Paul pulling the leg back off the ropes? Just the final count?