Weekly Wrestling at the Lexington NC YMCA

[ddry61]

Does anyone remember weekly wrestling on Saturday nights at the Lexington YMCA?
What is the history & how many did it seat?
I can remember that my dad used to take me there when I was just 6yrs, old this was in the late 60's.
I used to pull for Johnny Weaver and whoever was his
tag team partner at the time, I think Nelson Royal.
I also remember Rip Hawk and Swede Hanson. They
used to pack-em in!
Any stories to tell?
Thanks!

[cwh47]

The Saturday night shows in Lexington were always
promoted well on Championship Wrestling with
Charlie Harville.Usually the wrestlers who were featured
in the main matches would be interviewed by Charlie
for their matches later that night at the YMCA.

I know that my Dad and my Uncle attended some
shows there in the early sixties before JCP started
running shows again in Winston-Salem in 1965.I only
went to shows in Winston-Salem and Greensboro and
the annual shows that JCP ran at our local high schools
and YMCA for around twenty years.

After the WGHP show began around late 1963 no
wrestling fan in our area wanted to miss it.The show
aired from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.That is probably the
biggest reason I never went to Lexington because I
would have to miss the tv show in order to get there
on time.

Most of the time the Winston-Salem Journal would
have the results in the Sunday paper and the wrestlers
would talk about what happened last week in
Lexington on Charlie's show.It was great for fans
who lived in and around Lexington to watch the tv show
and then go straight to the YMCA for a live show.I envy
you ddry61.

[sidney]

Oh yes, how well do I remember going to wrestling in Lexington in the early 70's with my Mother and Stepdad. I was in my early teens and we lived in Salisbury at the time. I considered myself to be the biggest Rip Hawk fan alive, and you would not believe the heat I took from other fans because of it. I mean back then it was considered a sin to be cheering for a "bad guy". I remember an older man telling me "I just don't see how you can be for some somebody as low-down and rotten as that". Another guy told me "buddy why don't you go crawl up in that ring and let him beat the hell out of you". LOL. My stepdad would tell me not to worry about it because we paid just as much money to get in as they did. One night I was determined to get Rip's autograph so I walked to the back where the wrestlers came out to go to the ring. Rip was late coming out and one man said it must be because he was scared. Referee Lucky Roberts was standing there and he looked at the man and said "he anin't scared of nobody". Rip came out and I got my autograph and even walked beside him part way to the ring. Back then cokes were served in the paper cups and people would ball them up and throw them at the "heels" as they went to the ring and needless to say we were showered with paper cups. I remember one night after a tag team match as Swede came down out of the ring to go to the back a man ran up to him screaming and cussing and reached out to hit him and Swede forearmed him through about 2 or 3 rows of metal folding chairs. The fans could get right up to the wrestlers and it could be a war, and dangerous for fans and wrestlers alike. I remember well the taped fist matches between Johnny Weaver and Art Nelson. Pancho Valdez was usually in one of the opening matches and poor Pancho always lost. LOL. There was a bitter feud at one time between the Infernos with J. C. Dykes and Bobby Red Cloud and Chief Little Eagle. Those were some of the bloodiest matches I witnessed as Chief Little Eagle would be cut up every time. They tried thier best to unmask the Infernos but never did although they ripped half of one of their masks away one night. I remember one night when Nelson Royal was attempting a flying head scissors and his opponent ducked and Nelson went flying over the top rope and into the floor, and that was the end of that match. The YMCA was not air conditioned and in the summer it was hot as blazes in there, and on more than one occasion I saw some of the older folks having to be taken out after being overcome by the heat. Those truly were the days. Long live Rip Hawk. He was truly was Ric Flair before there was Ric Flair.

[thegreatbolo]

I was never able to attend a show at the Lexington YMCA but sure remember both WGHP and WBTV shows plugging them for almost EVERY Saturday night.

I always got to the Sunday morning Winston-Salem Journal as soon as I could on Sunday mornings becuase they were very good about putting the results of the Lexington show in the sports section.

Plus Charlie Harville's Thursday night sportscast on WGHP when he would usually tell who won the Greensboro main event that night.

[RowdyRoddy]

It is funny how back in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s (early part of the decade) newspapers would print pro wrestling results in the paper. Today, it should appear in the entertainment section!