One of the Biggest Names of Professional Wrestling from the 60’s and 70’s is Gone:Mid-Atlantic Legend Paul Jones has gone home at age 75

Back in the day there was #1 Paul Jones, and you know what, Paul Jones and Johnny Weaver were two of the key faces of Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling back in the late 60’s and early 70’s…Paul Jones/Paul Frederik was one of the biggest names ever to come through the Mid-Atlantic Territory…

Jones cranked up Paul Jones’ Army of heels in the early 80’s, with Shaska Whatley/Pistol Pez Whatley, Manny Fernandez, Ivan Koloff, Abdullah the Butcher and others being the forces behind the army…If you just jumped on board watching professional wrestling in the late 60’s, early 70’s and if you stayed with it on into the 80’s, you knew the name Paul Jones….In the Mid-Atlantic Territory/area, Paul Jones was a much bigger name than Bruno Sammartino ever was, since back in those days, it was all about territorial wrestling….

If there was a Top Ten of all-time Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestlers, Paul Jones would be in that Top Ten….One of my favorite wrestling lines of all time was Blackjack Mulligan saying a few choice words and they still strike a chord with me even today…Mulligan told Paul Jones, “Give me that belt Jones, Give me that belt Jones”….And those five basic words, “Give me that belt Jones”, live in TV history and I believe that exchange took place on WRAL TV 5 out of Raleigh….

Jones got started down in Florida and he finished up in part with South Atlantic Pro Wrestling and I still remember a show that his group promoted down at Eastern Guilford High School one Saturday night…Me and Jones worked out a deal on some local advertising for that show along with Frank Dusek…

Paul Jones gone, but for sure not forgotten and I still remember one time I was talking with Paul Jones and Frank Dusek and they wanted me to join them as their ring announcer for a few matches with South Atlantic Pro Wrestling and over the phone they asked me how tall I was, and I said not all that tall, kind of short to be honest with you, and they both said in unison, you are our man….The shorter the better, you will make all of the wrestlers look like giants…Never connected on that deal, but still a good memory….

In his later years, Paul Jones ran Paul Jones Body Shop, doing auto body repairs down near Charlotte….

(CLICK HERE to see much more on the death of Paul Jones at Wrestling Inc.)
Word today from the Mid-Atlantic Gateway.com: Paul passed away this week at his home near Atlanta, GA…Paul Jones had moved on past Charlotte and was down in Atlanta, when he died….Paul Jones will be missed by many, RIP Paul Jones and as he leaves us, I have one more thing to say to Paul, “Give me that Belt Jones”…….

Here is the official/unofficial word on the death of Paul Jones from Wrestling Inc.:
One of the biggest names of the 70s has passed away.

Popularly known for his villainous faction that terrorized the NWA Mid-Atlantic territory, Paul Jones has died at the age of 75.

Trained by legendary promoter Paul Boesch, Paul Frederik debuted as Paul Jones in the early 1960s, and competed in promotions all over the country, as well as toured other countries such as Japan, Canada, and Australia.

In the 1970s, Jones began to grow popularity while competing for Mid-Atlantic Championship wrestling, commencing singles and tag-team feuds with names such as Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat, and Jay Youngblood, among many others.

In 1982, Jones transitioned into being a heel manager, leading the Paul Jones’ Army stable to continue his heated feud with Jimmy Valiant. This stable was instrumental in developing names such as Rick Rude, The Barbarian, The Warlord, and Manny Fernandez, as well as promote established names such as “Superstar” Billy Graham, Ivan Koloff, Baron von Raschke and Abdullah the Butcher.

Jones retired from wrestling in 1991 after 30 years in the business. Jones will be fondly remembered as being a contribution to the success of many wrestlers over his 30-year career.