Weekly Update: NWA Wrestling Legends Fanfest

[HardcoreHeroes]

Please make plans now to be with us for 3 HUGE DAYS celebrating NWA tradition!


The NWA Wrestling Legends Fanfest takes place August 19-21 at the Hilton University Place Hotel in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Featuring more than three dozen former NWA wrestling heroes and villains, the legends confirmed thus far include former NWA World Heavyweight champions Harley Race, Dory Funk Jr., Terry Funk and Jack Brisco, former "Four Horsemen" Ole Anderson, Tully Blanchard and James J. Dillon, Stan Hansen, Dick Slater, Ricky Morton, Robert Gibson, Dennis Condrey, Bobby Eaton, Paul Jones, Baron Von Raschke, "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka, Masked Superstar, The Barbarian, Ken Patera, Tony Atlas, Mr. Wrestling II, Greg Valentine, Brad Armstrong, "Playboy" Gary Hart, Denny Brown, Ox Baker, Sir Oliver Humperdink, Tracy Smothers, Bob Caudle, Penny Banner, George South, Bill White, Ron Rossi, and The Mulkeys.

Plus, we are happy to have the incomparable Bret Hart as a very special guest. Widely considered by his peers to be the most technically proficient wrestler of this generation, "The Hitman" will be with us on Sunday, August 21. Bret will be signing autographs as one of our featured guests, posing for photos with fans, and taking part in our first-ever Sunday afternoon VIP Q&A session.

Advance tickets are on sale now! There are three ticket options, including our VIP "All Access" Pass which gets you early access to each day's activities, priority seating at the Autograph Stage, exclusive admission to our Friday night and Sunday afternoon "Question-and-Answer Sessions," ringside seats for the Saturday night wrestling matches, and much, much more.

At just $99, the VIP "All Access" pass is a tremendous bargain. Nearly half of the VIP "All Access" passes have already been sold, so wait no longer. Get your tickets today at www.NWALegends.com.

Don't miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness the largest ever gathering of National Wrestling Alliance legends and be part of a truly special weekend in the heart of one of the greatest wrestling territories ever.

New this week......



Fanfest VIP Q&A with Horseman J.J. Dillon

James J. Dillon, the leader of the Four Horsemen and author of the new book "Wrestlers Are Like Seagulls," will be featured in one of our VIP Question-and-Answer sessions at the NWA Wrestling Legends Fanfest.

J.J. has done almost everything there is to do in wrestling. Following his days as an active wrestler, Dillon worked behind the scenes as a top executive for both the WWF and WCW. "Wrestlers Are Like Seagulls" is his unique story and experiences in more than 40 years in the sport.

J.J. Dillon will share some of those recollections and answer fans' questions from 7-9 p.m. on Friday, August 19. Other VIP Q&A guests at fanfest weekend are Terry Funk and Bret "Hit Man" Hart.

"Wrestlers Are Like Seagulls" is available now for preorder at www.JJDillon.com, and will also be available at fanfest.



Stan Lane Autograph Signing July 30th

Sweet Stan Lane will be signing autographs and taking pictures with fans at Inside Pitch's Toy, Hobby, Doll, Sportscard & NASCAR collectibles show at the Metrolina Expo Center in Charlotte, NC from 11 am-2 pm on Saturday, July 30.

Mailorder will be available for folks that can't make it.

Unfortunately, Stan will be unable to attend our NWA Wrestling Legends Fanfest in August due to a prior boat racing commitment, so this will be a great opportunity to still catch up with Stan, get your Midnight Express stuff signed, and get your photo taken with him.

The Metrolina Expo Center is at Interstate 77 and Sunset Road (exit 16A) and the collectibles show is in the main building (building #1.)



"Fanfest TV" Now Available Online

With a high-speed internet connection, you can now watch some great video promos for this year's fanfest. Visit www.NWALegends.com to see new interviews with Terry Funk and Ricky Morton.



Legends on the airwaves......

Leading up to fanfest weekend, various NWA legends will be hitting the airwaves to help promote the event.

Next Wednesday (June 15,) Chris Young and "The Breakfast Bunch" from Oldies 93 in Greensboro, NC will have #1 Paul Jones on the air at 7:20 and 9:30 am eastern. In the following weeks, Ole Anderson (June 22) and Dennis Condrey (June 29) will also do "The Breakfast Bunch" morning show.

Condrey will also be a guest on the "Tap Out Wrestling Show," available on the internet at www.TapOutShow.com, on Sunday evening, June 26 at 11 pm eastern.



Mystery Wrestler Contest

New to the Mid-Atlantic Fan Forum is a weekly "Mystery Wrestler Contest." Visit legendsfanfest.proboards1.com for details and your chance to win some great prizes.



Air Travel to Fanfest Just Got Cheaper...

For those of you travelling to Charlotte from other parts of the country, airfares to Charlotte just got less expensive. A second discount airline has just begun service to the Queen City and American Airlines is offering great fares on new non-stop service from New York's LaGuardia airport.

AirTran Airways began service to Charlotte on May 4 from more than 45 cities around the country, with one-way fares ranging from $59-$149. For more information, please visit www.Airtran.com.

Independence Air (www.Flyi.com) is another discount carrier serving Charlotte from Washington, DC and connecting service from 45 other destinations -- with new West Coast service from San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, and Seattle.

For our friends in the Northeast, American Airlines has just begun new nonstop service from New York's LaGuardia airport, with fares $89 each way. Book your flight out of the "Big Apple" at www.aa.com.

If you have discovered other travel bargains to Charlotte, please pass them along to us so that we may share them with other fanfest attendees.



Discounted Weekend and VIP Passes on sale now at www.NWALegends.com


The Hilton University Place is the host hotel for the NWA Wrestling Legends Fanfest. The hotel is offering a special room rate of $78 per night for fanfest attendees. More hotel info available at www.NWALegends.com/hotel.htm
The discounted rate is available Wednesday night, August 17 through Tuesday night, August 23 -- a full 7 days -- so if you want to come early or stay late, you may still book at the special rate. This will make a great summer vacation!

Remember, Charlotte is the heart of stock car country (the hotel is just a couple miles down the road from Lowe's Motor Speedway and dozens of NASCAR race shops in the region,) and home to Paramount's Carowinds (North Carolina's premier theme park and family entertainment destination, including WaterWorks, a 13-acre water park featuring more than nine football fields of winding water slides and gushing playgrounds of overflowing fun,) so why not make it a summer vacation and take in a little bit of everything?

[ssteward]

it's going to be an excellent weekend

[dudleyboyz3d]

Any chance you can get some ECW / TNA stars for younger generation of fans at the fanfest.There is only some many times you can see The Rock N roll Express and Ole"Mr. Personality" Anderson.How about incorporating stars like Raven, Sandman, New Jack, Kid Kash.Tony Hunter at www.Carolinachampionshipwrestlin.com does a great job of incorporating both veterans and todays stars at his show, and he draws great money.

[bluedevil71]

I'm sure Greg will bring us some of the best talent that's out there.

[ssteward]

dudleyboyz3d said:

There is only some many times you can see The Rock N roll Express and Ole.

No way. I can't wait to see them again.

I'd like to see all of people you mentioned, but I doubt New Jack or Sandman will be there. I expect it will be more "wrestling" oriented. Greg already said that TNA guys, former WWE guys and some indy guys will be on the card.

[hitmangirl]

I WANT TO NEET BRET HART !!!!!!
IM COMING ALL THE WAY FROM ISRAEL... HOPEFULY I'LL WIN BREAKFAST WITH HIM!!!

[loony]

I hope you win too. Coming that far you deserve to win the Breakfast!

[marktheboilerman]

If I won the breakfast I'd probably sell it in a heartbeat. But, if it was breakfast with Funk, Ole,
Hansen, II,................that would be a different story!

[ncringfan]

"Another Former NWA Champ Coming To Fanfest For The First Time

Stay tuned. We will be making an announcement Monday on a former NWA World champion that has committed to being at this year's fanfest. This is a gentleman we've tried many times to have at previous fanfests, but this will be his first."

My guess is Barry Windham. Besides Flair (and I doubt it's him, but I'd love it if it was) who else would it be? SHane Douglas? ;D

[tafkadixie]

I would say there is NO doubt that it is Windham. Especially considering Tony Hunter is handling his bookings, has been a friend of GPs for a long time, and has a booth at FF.

[natureboy14]

in my mind it wouldnt be barry, i classify former nwa world champions as holding the nwa globe belt and before that time. (but i could be wrong)

[ssteward]

but he did hold the NWA title a little BEFORE it got pimped into being the "International Title."
I know BW was the first name that popped into my head and it would be AWESOME if it was him. Other than Gene Kiniski, I can't think of anyone else it could possibly be. Dan Severn? We'll see Monday.

[natureboy14]

someone answer this for me, I cant ever recall seeing dory funk jr actually holding the nwa globe belt, does anyone have a pic of him with the belt or ever seen a pic of him with it?

I know he was nwa world champ but just never knew of him to hold that particular belt during his reign, just the belt before the globe belt

[HardcoreHeroes]

natureboy14 said:

someone answer this for me, I cant ever recall seeing dory funk jr actually holding the nwa globe belt, does anyone have a pic of him with the belt or ever seen a pic of him with it?

I know he was nwa world champ but just never knew of him to hold that particular belt during his reign, just the belt before the globe belt

I think (and I stress the word THINK) the new globe belt wasn't around until the post-Dory era.

[Baltimore Jack]

HardcoreHeroes is correct; the Domed Globe belt was not used until after Dory's reign as champion.

Harley Race was the first person to wear the Domed Globe belt. He was presented the new belt by NWA President Sam Muchnick before his match on the night Jack Brisco took the belt from him in 1973.

Only 8 men held the Domed Globe version of the NWA title. (Modern day NWA/TNA era not included!)

The eight men were: Harley Race, Jack Brisco, Giant Baba, Terry Funk, Dusty Rhodes, Tommy Rich, Ric Flair, and Kerry Von Erich.

The Big Gold belt (which looked almost exactly like the belt used for the "World Champion" in WWE RAW today) replaced the Domed Globe belt in February of 1986. Ironically, perhaps fittingly, this coincided with the period of time where the territorial system was on its last legs, and the NWA Champion was no longer really a touring champion, but was basically controlled by Crockett Promotions. I always thought Jim Crockett getting that new belt made for Flair was his and Dusty’s way of saying “this title belongs to us.” But that’s a subject for another thread!