"The True Spirit of America"

(Wayne Coleman)

Billy Graham wearing his World Tag Team Championship belt.

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Billy Graham with an unconcious-looking Ray Stevens argues with the referee, while his tag-team partner Paul DeMarco looks on from his corner.

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I think this was Billy Graham's favorite pose. I have dozens like this. That is Irish Pat Barrett behind him. During his interviews, Billy used to say, "I have the body men fear and women love."

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It seems like I always made friends with the heels. Billy Graham is another wrestler I especially liked. Billy was still doing some wrestling in Los Angeles for Aileen Eaton at the Olympic Auditorium. He invited me to fly down there for a few days to meet his wife and take pictures of him wrestling at the Olympic Auditorium. Of couse I jumped at the chance! I was still only 15 and really excited to see wrestling in another territory. Billy was the first wrestler to invite me over to his home. I have great memories still, after thirty years of my trip to L.A.

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When Terrible Ted came to make his rounds through the territory with his handler Nick Adams, Billy was the lucky wrestler who got to wrestle Ted every night. These photos were taken in the dressing room at the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium. I think he was there for Roy's big Thanksgiving show in 1971. Ted was HUGE! He looks smaller here because he was sitting down, but when he stood up, he was taller than Billy. I was amazed how big Ted was. You can't really get the feeling of how large he is until you were in a little room with him.

His big treat was a bottle of Root Beer. He held the bottle in his hands and drank it like a human, right out of the bottle. Billy wrestled Ted in every town in the territory and they had some great matches with each other. Ted really wrestled. He could flip guys over and do real wrestling holds. He was an incredible bear. Billy took my picture with Ted, too. I stood just outside the length of that chain so he couldn't lean over and eat me. He knew Billy by then, but he didn't know me -- and he didn't have his muzzle on either. You can't drink Root Beer with a muzzle on.

For more photos, see the page about Billy Graham and Pat Patterson when they were NWA World Tag Team Champions.

©Viktor Berry •

Illustrated History of Professional Wrestling in Northern California Promoter Roy Shire NWA Ray Stevens, Peter Maivia, Pat Patterson, Hank Renner, Big Time Wrestling, Miki Garcia