Don Kernodle
| Don Kernodle | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Charles Donald Kernodle Jr. |
| Born |
May 2, 1950 Burlington, North Carolina |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Don Kernodle |
| Billed height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
| Billed weight | 290 lb (132 kg) |
| Trained by |
Ole Anderson Gene Anderson |
| Debut | 1973 |
Charles Donald "Don" Kernodle Jr. (born May 2, 1950) is a former American professional wrestler with the National Wrestling Alliance's Jim Crockett Promotions.
After graduating from Elon College, Kernodle started wrestling in 1973 in the National Wrestling Alliance's Jim Crockett Promotions. He got his start by accepting a "shoot" wrestling challenge from Bob Roop. Although Roop defeated Kernodle by submission, Kernodle's skills impressed Ole Anderson and Gene Anderson who both offered to train Kernodle for free.
At first, he (now known as Pvt. Kernodle) was part of Sgt. Slaughter's "Cobra Corps" and teamed with Slaughter and Pvt. Jim Nelson. In 1982, the team of Kernodle and Nelson won the NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship from Porkchop Cash and Jay Youngblood. They later lost the title to Cash and King Parsons, from whom they also regained the title. After Nelson was removed from the alliance, Kernodle became the tag partner of Sgt. Slaughter, with whom he held the NWA World Tag Team Championship (Mid-Atlantic version) in late 1982 and early 1983. They lost the titles in a legendary steel cage match vs. Rick Steamboat and Jay Youngblood on March 12, 1983.
Following the title loss, Kernodle remained a villain and formed a tag team with Bob Orton, Jr. and was managed by Gary Hart. He soon turned against America and formed a tag team with Ivan Koloff and won the NWA World Tag Team Title. When Koloff's "nephew" Nikita Koloff arrived in late 1984, Kernodle helped to train him. Also in 1984, the Koloffs turned on Kernodle after he and Ivan lost the NWA World Tag Titles to Dusty Rhodes and Manny "The Raging Bull" Fernandez and started a feud. Kernodle teamed with his brother Rocky to feud with the Koloffs and helped the Rock 'n' Roll Express to win the Tag Team Title from them at Starrcade '85: The Gathering.
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