At that time the territory boasted some of the top tag teams in the country.
“It really was the hotbed of tag-team wrestling,” recalled Heiniemi, now 85 and an entrepreneur who helps run a family-owned business called Shield N Seal. The company produces specialized vacuum food-saving sealer machines, along with patent-pending technology sealing bags that serve as protection for food preservation.
It was in the Carolinas where Gene, who had worked for Crockett Promotions several years earlier, and Lars would hone their tag-team skills.
“If you didn’t have a tag partner, you didn’t get past the second or third match on the card. It set the tone for my career as a tag-team wrestler. The style that we created there nobody ever really duplicated,” said Heiniemi.
“The promoter there, old man Crockett, said he had been pushing The Missouri Mauler and The Great Malenko. He indicated that it would have been much better to have pushed us, since they weren’t drawing. We were there for about six months and then went to Atlanta.”
The Andersons made a big splash in Georgia, winning that territory’s version of the NWA world tag-team title, and selling out venues for their bouts with the brother team of Enrique and Ramon Torres.
“We were on top in Atlanta, and we stayed there for about six or seven months before returning to Charlotte. The rest is history.”
Complementary styles
Gene and Lars, now established heels with a proven track record, hit their stride when they returned to the Carolinas in May 1967. The tag-team competition was intense, and the Andersons wasted little time in making their presence known.
With Gene’s stiff style in the ring and Lars’ strong mic ability, the duo found just the right chemistry. Along with Gene, said Lars (Heiniemi), the two would create most of the Anderson Brothers’ famed repertoire.
“Gene and I got along very well. But he didn’t have any camera presence. He couldn’t project and had really never made any money in the industry. He had the work down more, but he couldn’t handle the microphone. I could handle the microphone back in those days. It just all came together,” he said.
