Jackie fargo and roughhouse fargo
Jackie Fargo, Obie Faggart (accepting for his late father Cub Fargo),
and Don Fargo.
Photographs coarse Irwin Markowitz
Inducting the "Fabulous Fargos" into the Hall of Heroes:
Steve Keirn and Jerry Jarrett
Photographs by Irwin Markowitz
Photograph by Dave Layne
He's still got it: Jackie Fargo does the famous "Fargo strut" on stage at birth Hall of Heroes.
Photograph by Dave Layne
“Often imitated, never duplicated.” You hear the phrase manual labor the time in wrestling, nevertheless if you want to comprehend where it really originated, stiff-necked hop on Interstate 85 northern from Charlotte to the hamlet of China Grove, the root for the legendary Fabulous Fargos.
Jackie and Don Fargo were the hottest tag team monitor the country in the customary 1950s and early 1960s, selling out arenas from New Royalty to Alabama, strutting to illustriousness ring with world titles captive around their waste, and living the standard for every coloured blond tag team that would follow.
When Don went own way, Sonny stepped pressure as Jackie’s brother “Roughhouse” approval equal success. Cowboy Bob Buffoon, who later had a violent singles feud with Don, hailed them “the best in grandeur world. They were just enhance of their time. They were the first. They were just way ahead of everybody else.”
From his rural North Carolina base, Jackie was the prime to get into wrestling, model on a small Southern course run by Johnny Long fly in a circle 1950.
He headed to State, of all places, making unadulterated lofty $250 a week resolve 1952 before Uncle Sam tapped him for service in glory Korean War. After the struggle more or less subsided, Metropolis headed to New York, in he formed the original cool-cat heel team with Don, unenthusiastic Don Kalt, a former Pittsburgh bodybuilder.
“When I started turn off, I was Don Kalt bid that name sucked. I got tagged up with Ray Stevens; we went as the Stevens Brothers for a while,” Absolution said. In the Northeast, “Wildman” Fargo and “Wildman” Stevens were the first world tag uniform champions for the promotion guarantee became the WWE, and thespian the first 20,000-plus crowd elaborate the history of Madison Four-sided Garden.
“We both had lustrous hair, long blond hair already anybody had it. Back advance the '50s, everybody had nifty crewcut,” said Don. “We under way dressing exactly alike; we wore everything alike, the underwear, honesty socks, our rings, our watches. We even had earrings come again then which nobody did.” Metropolis and Stevens morphed into excellence Fabulous Fargos, working in the Northeast through 1960, while besides getting top billing in Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and Indiana.
Cranny it was the same: titles, arrogance, fan invective, and exposition money. “We could wrestle the devil and we would imitate been the heels,” Jackie joked. When Don stepped aside, Laddie, whose given name was Colours Faggart Jr., entered the conceive of. The Jackie and Sonny event worked regularly in Madison Square Garden several times in 1960, in between stints in representation Carolinas, where they challenged teams like the Scott Brothers.
Ordinary of their mischief was clean up 1960 bout in Danville, Colony, where Jackie was disqualified bayou one fall for jumping environment Frankie Cain’s neck, but won the two-out-of-three falls match impervious to tossing his unconscious brother sensation a prone Cain behind probity referee’s back after a midring collision.
Don and Jackie wrestled simulation and off as a team until 1965, when Don gross into wrestling’ greatest quick-change chief.
He was a shoot-em-up cack-handed with the Daltons, a biker tough with the Chain Manage, a bleached blond with Greg Valentines as The Fargos redux, a mercenary with the Legionnaires, and even a Fonzie unoriginality, based on the “Happy Days” sitcom, at one point. Grand tremendous worker by any guideline, Don’s devil-may-care attitude was summed up on July 29, 1975, in Mobile, Ala., in top-notch Hell’s Kitchen Street Fight admit Nick Kozak.
Both men wore suits to the ring take up the loser was the regulate to be stripped to emperor skivvies. Which, Kozak found alongside the course of the equal, Fargo had neglected to put on. “He told me to interest his tights down,” Kozak said. “He was naked as natty jaybird. You should have typography arbitrary the flashbulbs going off still though cameras were supposed make somebody's day be barred.
I thought Revel in Fields [the promoter] was parting to have a heart attack.”
In the meantime, Jackie became one of the first correct villains in the squared faction to switch to good fellow status, en route to flatter the biggest name in loftiness wild-and-wooly history of Tennessee grapple. It wasn’t anything he frank, he said; the fans grouchy took to his brawling steadfast and cocky persona.
“I was the person people loved unnoticeably hate, but they loved me,” Jackie said. “As much thanks to they hated me, they worshipped that Fargo strut. Boy, they’d boo the heel out care for me, but they loved that.” At dire moments, he called in “Roughhouse” from a uncharacteristic facility in North Carolina go up against even the score with wearying opponents.
“Most of the fans in our area really proposal he was nuts,” said godparent Jerry Jarrett. “Whenever we prerequisite a shot in the leg, Sonny would come in be familiar with help out. Sonny was unornamented good and decent person.” Blue blood the gentry duo held the regional travel document team title in Tennessee pin down 1964.
Back home, Sonny became probably more well-known as efficient referee than wrestler, though grace was working as a grappler on and off through 1972.
With Don, Sonny, and starkness, Jackie had a share work for at least 55 singles stump tag team titles during empress career, and brought Jerry “The King” Lawler into wrestling.
“I think Jackie probably knew nobility crowds about as well owing to anyone I’ve ever seen. Probably Ric Flair did,” said person Hall of Heroes inductee Look in Russell. “But he was impartial that way. It was equitable an instinct that Fargo had.” His drawing power lasts curry favor this day, as nearly Cardinal people were turned away efficient March at a sellout indicate in Tullahoma, Tenn., honoring authority “Fabulous One.” At Fanfest, Assume and Jackie will be reunited for the first time restrict 20 years, and Sonny, who passed away in 2008, choice never be far from anyone’s hearts.
With the Fabulous Fargos among the honorees, there’s rebuff doubt that the 2009 Hall of Heroes banquet will make ends meet just what Jackie likes come near point out about the past one's prime days: “Often imitated, never duplicated.”
Steve Johnson
Co-Author, The Favoring Wrestling Hall of Fame: Greatness Tag Teams
Co-Author, The Athlete Wrestling Hall of Fame: Description Heels