wrestler Johnny Weaver
JLN
Carolina tag team legend, who perfected the sleeperhold, was
commentator as well
By CHRIS SCHRAMM - SLAM! Wrestling
Many claim he was the inventor of the sleeperhold made popular to this
day in wrestling. He called it the "Weaverlock" and would put away
thousands of opponents over the years with the hold. Johnny Weaver,
the master of the "Weaverlock" died today in Charlotte, N.C., at the
age of 73.
When co-workers of his noticed he was not at work Friday morning, they
called his house. After hearing no response they went to his house to
find him dead. Although autopsy examination is forthcoming, he is
initially believed to have died from natural causes.
After the national expansion of wrestling in the 1980s, many fans came
to know Weaver as an announcer for Mid-Atlantic Wrestling, which would
become World Championship Wrestling. Few fans knew of his in-ring
achievements as a multiple tag team champion in numerous territories
in the Southeastern United States.
Born John Meyers in Indianapolis on November 17, 1935, he made his
professional debut in 1957, around his hometown for promoters Jim
Barnett and Johnny Doyle, including work as a referee, and on the road
as Johnny Ace. He was initially paired with Sonny Myers as Sonny and
Johnny Weaver. In 1960, Weaver was called "the current 'rage' of the
teenagers," and the "Rage" nickname stuck with him in his early years.
He won his first title, the NWA Southern Tag Team titles, with partner
Cowboy Bob Ellis in December 1963.
George Becker would become Weaver's most familiar partner over the
years. Becker was a big name in the San Francisco territory before
settling in the Mid-Atlantic area in the mid-1960s. The two would
capture the NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team titles five times. Their most
memorable feud was with Swede Hanson and Rip Hawk, who they first won
the titles from on May 1, 1969, in Washington, D.C.
Weaver explained to Steven Johnson how the pairing came about for The
Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Tag Teams. "That came from Jim
Crockett. He's the one that pushed us together. Of course, when I came
down here I was the young guy, George was older with experience,"
Weaver said.
The veteran George Becker and the young Johnny Weaver.
"He was a good guy, a hard wrestler and produced when he got in the
ring," Rip Hawk told SLAM! Wrestling after hearing the news of
Weaver's death on Friday evening. "Despite our ill feelings in the
ring, we could be friends outside the ring."
The two teams would exchange the title until September 27, 1971, when
Weaver and Becker would capture the titles for the fourth time as a
time. After dropping the belt a few months later, the team would
disband after one of the most successful tag team runs at the time.
When Weaver and Becker held the titles, times were much different. Tag
team title matches were often on the main event slot of the card. The
titles were not considered second tier and were respected as much as
the Heavyweight title was in the territories.
Rene Goulet was a big Johnny Weaver fan. "Every time Johnny Weaver was
in the ring, it was a great match," Goulet said in The Tag Teams. "He
was over in the territory, sold good, he was a great babyface. He was
a hell of a worker in the ring. People liked him. When you used to
beat the hell of him, the people used to go crazy."
Weaver would also win the Mid-Atlantic Tag Team titles with partners
Art Nielson (on two occasions), Dewey Robertson (who later became The
Missing Link) and Jay Youngblood. Weaver's last run with Youngblood
would be in December 1981 before losing to Ox Baker and Carl Fergie.
He would find himself successful at times as a singles wrestler too.
He would hold the NWA Florida Southern Heavyweight Championship on
numerous occasions starting in 1967. He would also caputre the Mid-
Atlantic Television title from Baron von Raschke on March 5, 1978 in
Charlotte, N.C. He would drop the title back to von Raschke on March
26.
His role as a booker for the Mid-Atlantic territory came surprisingly
years apart. His first filled the role in the late 1960s and in the
early 1980s, he booked Mid-Atlantic house shows in South Carolina and
Georgia. Weaver was also the booker for the time in the late 1970s/
early 1980s that Jim Crockett owned the Toronto territory, in
partnership with George Scott and the Tunneys.
In 1979, he started as announcer for the territory while still active
in the ring next to Rich Landrum on World Wide Wrestling Weaver would
also partner with David Crockett and Bob Caudle before leaving the
company in 1988, before the sale to Ted Turner.
In a lengthy interview with the Mid-Atlantic Gateway website from late
2007, Weaver addressed his aging in front of the fans. "You know how I
knew time was passing me by? I was always fan friendly and I would get
dressed and go out and talk to the people all the time during all of
the matches up until it was time for me to go on. I did that for years
and years and years. The girls would all run up and hug me. And then
finally, they started running up to me, the girls, and they'd throw
their arms around me, about a 100 of them, and they'd whisper in my
ear, 'Go get Ricky Steamboat.' (laughter) And then I knew I was over
the hill."
In an infamous angle, while just a commentator, Weaver was placed in a
sleeper by Hiro Matsuda on World Wide Wrestling, causing Weaver to
bleed from the mouth. The angle helped set-up the Starrcade '87 match
between Dusty Rhodes and Lex Luger for the NWA United States title.
Weaver accompanied Rhodes while Matsuda was in Luger's corner. Luger
would be disqualified for using a chair.
Weaver was married twice, the first time to Betty, with whom he had a
son named Bill.
But most people associate Weaver with women's wrestler Penny Banner,
whom he married in 1959 in St. Louis, with the reception at the
Claridge Hotel, where wrestling promoter Sam Muchnick had his office.
They had a daughter together, named Wendi.
The Weaver-Banner marriage was a popular one with the press and fans.
"The Weavers have been married for several years and those in the
trade say it has been a very happy marriage with a minimum of serious
quarrels. A few armlocks, half-Nelsons, backbreakers, with possibly a
few of those wrestling wallops to the jaw, but nothing serious, and
those bits of physical torture come under the heading of practice,"
hypothesized Johnny Janes of the San Antonio Express in the April 9,
1963 edition.
But the truth wasn't far from the newspaperman's creative license
claimed Banner in her autobiography, Banner Days, which detailed the
years of physical and mental abuse she suffered at the hands of
Weaver.
"It didn't take long to realize that marrying Johnny (the wrestler,
not the referee) had a real down side," wrote Banner. "The fact was
that was he was a young and handsome rising wrestler and was so
recently put in the limelight, he now had women known as 'arena rats'
throwing themselves at him every night. It made a huge difference in
our relationship." They divorced in 1995.
Weaver was still semi-active in the area as a deputy sheriff for the
Charlotte, N.C., police department. He would also make visits to area
wrestling reunions and independent shows. CWF Mid-Atlantic, a
promotions based out Burlington, N.C., has run the Johnny Weaver Cup
annually since 2004. Weaver has been attendance each year to award the
winner with a trophy.
"I last saw him in the summer," Hawk said. "We talked about old times,
and he seemed to be in good health and spirits."
aad...@gmail.com
Wrestling's 'dean' dies
By Mike Mooneyham
The Post and Courier
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Johnny Weaver, one of the most popular professional wrestlers to ever
appear in the Carolinas, died of natural causes Friday at his home in
Charlotte at the age of 72.
Weaver was the top babyface (good guy) for the Charlotte-based
CrockettPromotions throughout the '60s and early '70s and teamed for
much of that time as a headline act with partner George Becker. The
two held the regional tag-team titles on several occasions. Weaver
also held a slew of singles titles during his lengthy ring career. He
won his first title, the NWA Southern tag-team belts, with partner
Cowboy Bob Ellis in 1963.
Known as "the dean of professional wrestling," Weaver wore many hats
during his career, including wrestler, broadcaster, booker and
mentor.
Born in East St. Louis, Ill., Weaver began his pro career in 1957 and
teamed with the late Sonny Myers as the Weaver Brothers. He came to
Charlotte in 1962 to work for promoter Jim Crockett Sr., and had lived
there ever since.
Weaver, whose effective sleeper hold became known as the "Weaverlock,"
was formerly married to women's wrestling star Penny Banner, and the
couple had one daughter, Wendi.
"The business has lost one of the greats," former pro wrestling star
Blackjack Mulligan (Bob Windham) said Friday night. "He was a master
at this business. He ran the territory for 30 years for Crockett. He's
going to be missed greatly."
Mulligan said he had recently told son Barry (Windham), now a producer
with WWE, that Weaver would be a great asset for any wrestling
company.
"He was the greatest finish man there ever was. This is a great loss,
and there's going to be a big gap in this business."
Weaver had planned on retiring from the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's
Department, where he had worked as a deputy sheriff since the end of
his in-ring wrestling career, in October.
"I'm counting down the days," Weaver said in an interview two weeks
ago.
http://www.charleston.net/news/2008/feb/16/wrestlings_dean_dies30863/
KingDaevid
> Johnny Weaver dead at 72
> Carolina tag team legend, who perfected the sleeperhold
...hmmm. Anyone know how early Verne Gagne was using a sleeper as
*his* finisher?...
kdm
http://amp.az/home/User/KingDaevid
http://1480kphx.com
peace 'n oranges...
The Kentucky Wizard
consultations with my Joint Chiefs of Staff, being briefed by members of my
Cabinet and many telephone conversations with various World Leaders, I have
come to the following conclusions:
> On Feb 15, 8:18 pm, JLN <jln4...@yahoo.com> passes along:
>
>> Johnny Weaver dead at 72
>> Carolina tag team legend, who perfected the sleeperhold
>
> ...hmmm. Anyone know how early Verne Gagne was using a sleeper as
> *his* finisher?...
>
His wedding night, perhaps?
--
Never argue with an idiot; they'll drag you down to their level and
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