| WRESTLING MEMORIES |
| Atlantic Coast Tag Team Championship |
 | |  | |  | |  | |  |
| June 1968-October 1973 (Jim Crockett Promotions) |
In the summer of 1968 Rip Hawk and Swede Hanson appeared on Championship Wrestling with a new pair
of belts. They were the new Atlantic Coast Tag Team Champions. During an interview with Charlie Harville Rip
told the audience that he and Swede had recently won this championship in Washington D.C. from Ed
Carpentier and Miguel Perez. We were in contact with Rip Hawk this past week and asked him to confirm this.
Here is his e-mail response:
of belts. They were the new Atlantic Coast Tag Team Champions. During an interview with Charlie Harville Rip
told the audience that he and Swede had recently won this championship in Washington D.C. from Ed
Carpentier and Miguel Perez. We were in contact with Rip Hawk this past week and asked him to confirm this.
Here is his e-mail response:
You will see the card for Rip Hawk and Swede
Hanson's first defense of the Atlantic Coast Tag
Team Championship in Greensboro, North
Carolina on July 4, 1968. The newspaper
preview article mentions that they won the title
two weeks earlier in Washington D.C. and it also
mentions the fact that Johnny Weaver is one half
of the Southern Tag Team Champions. There
have been some misconceptions in the past that
the Southern Tag Team Championship was
renamed the Atlantic Coast Tag Team
Championship. As we add additional pages to
this section in the future we hope to illustrate that
this was not the case. They were two separate
Championships that were defended in JCP
simultaneously for nearly a year.
Hanson's first defense of the Atlantic Coast Tag
Team Championship in Greensboro, North
Carolina on July 4, 1968. The newspaper
preview article mentions that they won the title
two weeks earlier in Washington D.C. and it also
mentions the fact that Johnny Weaver is one half
of the Southern Tag Team Champions. There
have been some misconceptions in the past that
the Southern Tag Team Championship was
renamed the Atlantic Coast Tag Team
Championship. As we add additional pages to
this section in the future we hope to illustrate that
this was not the case. They were two separate
Championships that were defended in JCP
simultaneously for nearly a year.
Rip Hawk and Swede Hanson wearing
the Atlantic Coast Tag Team Belts circa
1968. Photo by Gene Gordon, copyright
Ditch-cat Photography/Scooter Lesley.
Submitted to Wrestling Memories by the
Mid-Atlantic Gateway.
the Atlantic Coast Tag Team Belts circa
1968. Photo by Gene Gordon, copyright
Ditch-cat Photography/Scooter Lesley.
Submitted to Wrestling Memories by the
Mid-Atlantic Gateway.
It has always been believed that the origin of this title was kayfabed. However, there is now some evidence that would
support the possibility that the match between Carpentier/Perez vs. Hawk/Hanson may actually have taken place. Ed
Carpentier and Miguel Perez were both on the WWWF roster at the time. This could have been an unpublicised match where
Vince McMahon did a favor for Big Jim Crockett. The precise date has not been established but Carpentier was scheduled to
wrestle in a six man tag on June 13, 1968 in National Arena, Washington, D.C. but did not. Also Rip Hawk says the match
did happen so we are going with what Rip says.
support the possibility that the match between Carpentier/Perez vs. Hawk/Hanson may actually have taken place. Ed
Carpentier and Miguel Perez were both on the WWWF roster at the time. This could have been an unpublicised match where
Vince McMahon did a favor for Big Jim Crockett. The precise date has not been established but Carpentier was scheduled to
wrestle in a six man tag on June 13, 1968 in National Arena, Washington, D.C. but did not. Also Rip Hawk says the match
did happen so we are going with what Rip says.
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