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Paul Jones dies at age 75

Posted: Apr 19th 2018 By: Dick Bourne

It is with real sadness that we learn of the death of one of our childhood heroes, "No. 1" Paul Jones. Paul passed away this week at his home near Atlanta, GA.

Sadly, no details are yet available on cause of death or even exactly when he died. Our friend Peggy Lathan, who was a close friend of Paul's, received word from Paul's son [on April 18] that he had been notified of his Dad's passing and he was on the way to Atlanta, where Paul lived. That's all we know at this time, but more information should be forthcoming in a day or two.

When David Chappell and I first got hooked on wrestling in the mid-1970s, Paul Jones was one of the top stars for Jim Crockett Promotions. My first major memory of Paul was in early 1975 when he was upset by the brash young upstart Ric Flair for the Mid-Atlantic TV title, only to rebound months later to defeat the Anderson Brothers to win the NWA World Tag Team titles with partner Wahoo McDaniel. Later that same year he defeated Terry Funk for the United States Heavyweight championship. It was an amazing year for him. Funk would win the NWA World title a few weeks later and Paul would be one of his top challengers in our area during Funk's entire reign as champion.

Jones was one of the most popular wrestlers in the Mid- Atlantic territory but that would all change a few years later when he would turn on his young protege Ricky Steamboat and the two had one of the most bloody and violent feuds of the 1970s in Mid-Atlantic Wrestling. Jones always insisted, though, it was Steamboat that turned on him, continuing to have fun at wrestling conventions with that story. It was his story, and he was sticking to it.

As loved as he had been by fans as a "good guy," he was as equally hated as a "bad guy" and formed one of the more memorable heel tag teams with Baron Von Raschke in 1979. The two held the NWA World Tag team titles and feuded with teams such as Ric Flair/Blackjack Mulligan and Jay
Youngblood/Ricky Steamboat.

In the final years of his in-ring wrestling career, he feuded with career rival Jack Brisco over the Mid-Atlantic Championship. He retired from regular in ring competition in 1983 and became a manager for the next seven years. After a brief return to the ring in the early 1990s, he retired from the business for good.

He began his career in the 1960s in Texas and California before becoming a huge star in the 1970s in the Georgia, Florida, and Mid-Atlantic territories. His most memorable period for David and I, though, will always be that 1975-1979 period where everything he was involved in was gold.