DCP119 – Mr. Wrestling I and II

Mr. Wrestling I (Tim Woods) — born George Burrell Woodin on July 28, 1934, in Ithaca, New York — was one of the most legitimately credentialed athletes ever to enter the professional ranks: a three-time AAU national champion, two-time Big Ten wrestling champion at Michigan State, and two-time NCAA All-American. In 1964, Nebraska promoter Joe Dusek gave him the character that would define his career — Mr. Wrestling — a white-masked, white-singleted, purely scientific wrestler who defied every convention of the era by being a masked babyface at a time when hoods were reserved almost exclusively for the most hated heels in the business. The gambit worked. Woods became one of the biggest stars in the NWA's Georgia, Florida, Texas, and Mid-Atlantic territories, drawing sellout crowds and becoming, in Gordon Solie's often-repeated praise, "poetry in motion — what the Greeks had in mind when they invented the sport."

Woods was aboard the fateful 1975 plane crash outside Wilmington, North Carolina that ended Johnny Valentine's career, broke Ric Flair's back, and killed the pilot. As the only babyface on a plane full of heels, Woods protected kayfabe from his hospital bed by giving his real name and telling reporters he was a promoter — and got back in the ring in agonizing pain two weeks later to preserve the business. Flair later called him "the man who saved wrestling." Woods retired in 1983 with a sold-out final match at the Atlanta Omni. He passed away on November 30, 2002, at the age of 68.

Mr. Wrestling II (Johnny Walker) — born John Francis Walker on September 10, 1934, in Charleston, South Carolina — was the man who took the Mr. Wrestling name and turned it into a Georgia institution. Trained by two-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion Pat O'Connor and Tony Morelli, Walker debuted in 1955 under his real name and worked the Southern territories for nearly two decades. He was best known during those years as "Rubberman" Johnny Walker — a nickname given to him by Houston promoter Paul Boesch for his uncanny flexibility — and later worked Florida as the masked heel The Grappler. By 1972, Walker was semi-retired and running a gas station in Tennessee when Georgia promoter Paul Jones and booker Leo Garibaldi came calling.

On January 26, 1973, at Paul Jones's Atlanta promotion, Walker was introduced to the fans as Mr. Wrestling II — brought in as the partner of the original Mr. Wrestling (Tim Woods), whose commitments in Florida meant he couldn't wrestle Atlanta full-time. Walker was an instant sensation. He would become an eleven-time NWA Georgia Heavyweight Champion — a record that still stands — and a seven-time NWA Georgia Tag Team Champion, four of those reigns alongside Woods himself as this photograph documents. Walker's signature knee-lift finisher and his snake-like "Rubberman" back-shiver signaled to in-the-know Georgia fans exactly who was under the hood. He appeared on the covers of all the major wrestling magazines of the era and became one of the first true national stars of Ted Turner's SuperStation cable era.

Walker's most famous fan was President Jimmy Carter. Carter — who served as Governor of Georgia during Walker's peak run in the state before winning the presidency in 1976 — considered Mr. Wrestling II his favorite wrestler, as did his mother, Miss Lillian Carter. Walker was invited to the 1977 presidential inauguration, but declined the invitation when the United States Secret Service insisted he appear unmasked for security reasons. Given the ramifications of exposing his identity at the peak of his popularity, he could not justify accepting. He did, however, enjoy several private audiences with Miss Lillian — under the mask each time — Secret Service scrutiny notwithstanding.

Walker went on to work Mid-South Wrestling in the early 1980s, capturing two Mid-South North American Championships and two Mid-South Tag Team Championships (including a legendary 1983 run with a young Magnum T.A. that ended when Walker turned on his partner to help elevate him to main-event stardom). He also worked Continental Championship Wrestling and Southern Championship Wrestling before formally retiring in 1990. In a moment that captured the spirit of the man, Walker came out of retirement at age 73 in 2007 to wrestle a match in Wahiawa, Hawaii, alongside Steve Corino. His late wife Olivia — a celebrated seamstress — created wrestling robes for Ric Flair, Greg Valentine, Paul Orndorff, Tommy Rich, and countless other stars of the era. Walker was inducted into the WCW Hall of Fame in 1993, the NWA Hall of Fame in 2012, and the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2014. He passed away on June 10, 2020, in Honolulu, Hawaii, at the age of 85.

This photograph — captured by Ditch-Cat Photo during their NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship reign — preserves the two most beloved masked babyfaces in the history of Georgia Championship Wrestling in their prime, holding the belts that anchored countless main events across the territory. The story of Mr. Wrestling and Mr. Wrestling II is the story of an era when a mask meant something, when a babyface champion could turn down the President of the United States to protect the business, and when two men could carry an entire territory on the shoulders of a shared name.

About the NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship

Established in the mid-1960s, the NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship was the top tag team title of Georgia Championship Wrestling — its belts marked with the distinctive state-of-Georgia crest matching the singles championship of the same territory. Held throughout its run by Mr. Wrestling I and II (four reigns together as a team), the Anderson Brothers (Gene and Ole), the Assassins, Bob Armstrong and Robert Fuller, and countless other combinations of the territory's top tag teams, the championship was a fixture of Saturday-afternoon WTBS broadcasts throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. The title was retired in the mid-1980s as Georgia Championship Wrestling consolidated its championship structure around the NWA National Tag Team Championship during the territory's final years.