Paul Frederick (June 16, 1942 – April 18, 2018) was an American professional wrestler and professional wrestling manager, better known by his ring name Paul Jones. He debuted in 1961 and wrestled all over the U.S., as well as in Canada and Japan, eventually making his home in the Carolinas. He later became a manager and is best known for his long feud with Jimmy Valiant.
Along with his 3 reigns as NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Champion, he was a 2x NWA PNW Heavyweight Champion, a 1x NWA PNW Tag Team Champion with Pepper Martin, a 1x NWA (Mid-South) United States Tag Team Champion with Gorgeous George Jr., a 1x NWA Atlantic Coast Tag Team Champion with Nelson Royal, a 1x NWA Florida Brass Knuckles Champion, a 2x NWA Florida Television Champion, a 3x NWA Florida Heavyweight Champion, a 1x NWA Southern (Florida) Heavyweight Champion, a 5x NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Champion (1x w/Bob Bruggers, 1x w/Tiger Conway Jr. and 3x w/Ricky Steamboat), a 5x NWA Mid-Atlantic Television Champion, a 6x NWA World (Mid-Atlantic) Tag Team Champion (1x w/Chief Wahoo McDaniel, 1x w/Ricky Steamboat, 2x w/Baron Von Raschke, and 2x w/The Masked Superstar [Bill "Demolition Ax" Eadie]), a 1x NWA Georgia Heavyweight Champion and a 1x SAPW Heavyweight Champion.
He has nothing to do with Led Zeppelin bandmember John Paul Jones, Manfred Mann bandmember Paul Jones, or the naval commander from The American Revolution John Paul Jones (from which the Led Zeppelin member named himself after).
"Number One Tropes":
- Arch-Enemy: Jimmy Valiant was his most impotant enemy as a manager.
- Bald of Evil: As part of his feud as a heel manager against Jimmy Valiant, Valiant defeated him in a Hair vs. Hair Match at Starrcade 1986, leaving Jones bald.
- Heel: He spent his career as a manager as a heel.
- I Have Many Names: Also wrestled under the names Al Fredericks and Mr. Florida.
- Loser Leaves Town: He defeated Valiant in a Loser Leaves Town Tuxedo Street Fight at Starrcade 1984, which famously led to Valiant becoming Charlie Brown from Outta Town.
- Power Stable:
- He was the manager of Paul Jones' Army: Baron Von Raschke, Ivan Koloff, "Superstar" Billy Graham, The Powers of Pain (The Warlord and The Barbarian), Kamala, The Assassins (#1 and #2), Abdullah the Butcher, Rick Rude, Manny Fernandez, Shaska Whatley, Teijo Khan, Vladimir Petrov.
- He was also a member of the House of Humperdink.
- (in SAPW): Jones' Rangers, with Ranger Ross, Bo Ragin, Vince Torelli and Chris Chavis.
- Red Baron: "Number One", and an unwanted one in "Weasel" by other wrestlers he antagonized with.
- Retired Badass: He was a very successful singles and tag team wrestler in the southeastern territorial scene from the early 60s through the early 80s, but he had to retire from active wrestling in '82 due to accumulated back injuries.
