October 4, 1975: The Plane Crash That Ended Johnny Valentine And Created The Nature Boy

In the history of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), the territory system was a web of grueling travel schedules, high-mileage road trips, and the constant pressure to make the next town. For the stars of Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling in 1975, the road was the office. However, on October 4, 1975, an attempt to shorten that travel time resulted in a tragedy that fundamentally altered the trajectory of the wrestling business.A twin-engine Cessna 310, carrying four of the territory’s top stars and one pilot, ran out of fuel over Wilmington, North Carolina. The subsequent crash into a railroad embankment did not just mangle steel and break bone; it ended the career of one of the toughest men to ever enter the ring, threatened the life of a future icon, and forced a babyface to wrestl