With tomorrow being the last day in February, Hidden Gems has one last opportunity to honor the black pro wrestlers of the past as part of Black History Month. That chance has not been squandered, as four bouts from the AWA, Georgia Championship Wrestling, Stampede Wrestling, and WCW are on the menu. Let’s take a look.

Going chronologically, we have Dusty Rhodes and Dick Murdoch vs Ernie Ladd and “Sailor” Art Thomas. WWE has this dated as 12/16/1972. This lines up perfectly with an AWA event at the International Amphitheater in Chicago as this tag team bout was indeed the main event for that card. Incidentally, this match is actually older than the Rhodes/Murdoch tag match available in the Dusty collection, quite possibly making it the oldest in-ring AWA footage (the Verne Gagne workout routine that’s also in Hidden Gems is significantly older) on the WWE Network thus far. While no footage of this match is easily accessible online, it is available in trading circles. Still, any chance to see a young heel Dusty is like gold dust (pardon the pun) to most.

Moving on, we’re headed to Georgia Championship Wrestling in 1977. To be precise, we’re headed to the Omni on 06/24/77, where the original “Minnesota Wrecking Crew” Ole and Gene Anderson took on Bill Watts and “Thunderbolt” Patterson in the main event of the night. Once again, I can’t find any video of this match online but the relatively short runtime suggests that it aired on TV at a later date or we’re going to be treated to clipped, film reel highlights tomorrow.

Thirdly, we’re headed across the border for some Stampede Wrestling. Dated 05/11/1979, this roughly 5-minute clip sees Big Daddy Ritter (the future Junkyard Dog) take on a young Jim Neidhart. This match comes straight from Stampede’s TV and will undoubtedly be joined in progress at the closing moments, as was the tradition for the territory’s on-air product.

Finally, we have quite the curiosity from 1998 WCW. Considering that August 1998 was at the height of an era that has been mined meticulously for content, you wouldn’t expect many truly rare gems to surface. This may just be one. Dated 08/01/1998, this is around 4 and a half minutes of what WWE is referring to as “some friendly amateur wrestling” at WCW’s Power Plant training facility between Booker T and Craig “Pitbull” Pittman. There’s no mention of a specific TV show and I can’t find any references to this airing as a segment anywhere (even on a C-level show), so this may well be part of a training regime that was taped. Interesting at the very least.

As always, here are the official synopses:

AWA 12/16/1972 – The Cat and The Sailor [Duration: 12:59] Dusty Rhodes and Dick Murdoch take on the tough team of Ernie Ladd and Sailor Art Thomas in this bout from Chicago. Georgia Championship Wrestling 06/24/1977 – Thunder in the Omni [Duration: 07:20] Cowboy Bill Watts teams with the legendary Thunderbolt Patterson to face The Minnesota Wrecking Crew of Ole and Gene Anderson. Stampede Wrestling 05/11/1979 – From Calgary to New York [Duration: 05:11] Before he became the Junkyard Dog, Big Daddy Ritter challenged fellow WWE legend Jim ‘The Anvil’ Neidhart in this bout from Stampede. WCW 08/01/1998 – The Spirit of Competition [Duration: 04:26] WWE Hall of Famer Booker T and former marine Craig ‘Pitbull’ Pittman engage in some friendly amateur wrestling at the WCW Power Plant.

As a reminder, the above content will be added to the Hidden Gems category of the Vault section on WWE Network between 9 and 10 AM EST tomorrow.