Wahoo McDaniel: Missing in Action (Part 4 - Final Chapter)

by David Chappell
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

Catch up on what you missed earlier:
PART ONE  |  PART TWO  |  PART THREE

And now the final chapter of the saga of Wahoo McDaniel missing in action in Charlotte:

PART FOUR - THE FINAL CHAPTER

Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling fans were on the edge of their seats as Greg Valentine was pressed to weigh in on the reasons for Wahoo McDaniel showing up late to the Charlotte Park Center in a bloody, bruised and battered condition. An unrepentant Valentine explained:

"Listen, I don’t know why Wahoo showed up late. Maybe he went to some bar and got drunk and got beat up by a bunch of guys. I don’t know why, I don’t know why he had blood all over him. But I’ve heard we’ve been accused of beating up Wahoo McDaniel at some package store, or some Safeway store or whatever. Well that’s ridiculous! It’s ridiculous and it’s absurd!"

Safeway Supermarket

Unconvinced, David Crockett turned everyone's attention back to the film clip from the infamous night in Charlotte. Crockett said, "Well, we’re gonna hear from Wahoo right now." As the film played again, the fans could hear the Charlotte ring announcer say, "The referee’s decision for this match is a no contest, a no decision match," to a loud chorus of boos.

At this juncture everyone would finally hear from the Indian Chief himself, Wahoo McDaniel! Wahoo bellowed, "Let me tell you something, when I was on my way to the match I stopped at the store and both of ‘em jumped on me! I tell you one thing, I’ll get ‘em both! Nobody’s ever done this to me and got by with it, I promise you!"

Bob Caudle then pronounced, "And that’s what Wahoo said happened." A grinning Valentine scoffed, "Yeah, I heard him and that doesn’t make any difference because let me tell you something...Wahoo McDaniel, you are lying, you are lying through your teeth! You were over at some bar out there getting drunk, and you got beat up by about five or six bums and that’s why you got there late!"

The Hammer continued to roll, "And you’re tryin’ to accuse it on the Nature Boy and myself well let me tell you something Wahoo McDaniel…I don’t need Ric Flair to beat you up! I can beat you up by myself anywhere, anytime in a street, in a bar, in any arena! I don’t need Ric Flair and Ric Flair doesn’t need me to beat you up…we can handle you by ourselves!"

As the Bionic Elbow strutted out of the television studio, the perturbed Crockett shouted at Greg, "I hope you try it, I definitely hope you try it!" Caudle concurred, "I do too David, because I think this is something that we’ve seen the beginning, but certainly not the end of this." Crockett concluded the segment, "That’s right, we’re gonna see Wahoo…he’s got two of them, he’s gonna get them singly now."

This explosive TV segment served to begin the transition of Wahoo McDaniel moving out of his 1976 epic singles program with Ric Flair to one with the newcomer Greg Valentine that would dominate much of the following year, including the memorable TV match where Valentine broke Wahoo's leg in September of 1977.

Bob Caudle was certainly prophetic when he commented that this episode was only the beginning and not the end of Wahoo's issues with Flair and more particularly with Valentine. And who would have ever thought that a dust-up at a Safeway store would usher in one of the greatest feuds in Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling history?  Wahoo's disappearance in Charlotte and the reason why unlocked the key to much of what we were to see between McDaniel and Valentine for many years and great matches later!

Republished in December of 2021 on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway