Monday, April 30, 2018

Missed Opportunities: The Lost Tournaments of 1982

The 1982 NWA World Tag Team Championship Tournament
PART EIGHT
by Dick Bourne
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

If you missed earlier posts in this series, check them out in the links below, especially the INTRODUCTION, which puts the whole tournament in a perspective that serves as a launching point for the following discussions. 

PART ONE: Introduction
PART TWO: Greensboro
PART THREE: Charlotte
PART FOUR: Richmond
PART FIVE: Atlanta
PART SIX: Fayetteville 
PART SEVEN: St. Petersburg


PLANS UNFULFILLED
Now that we have completed a review of all six city tournaments that actually took place in the NWA World Tag Team tournament in the late winter and early spring of 1982 (links above), it's time to take a look at some of the cities where tournaments were initially planned but, for various reasons, never took place.

When the tournament concept was originally conceived by booker Ole Anderson and Jim Crockett Promotions, the thought was that they would have several tournaments outside of the traditional Mid-Atlantic territory in other areas where they had promotional ties and good relationships.

I talked with Ole Anderson twice about these tournaments, once in 2008 (with mutual friend Peggy Lathan visiting Ole and Paul Jones outside Atlanta) and again in 2011 (at the NWA Wrestling Legends Fanfest in Atlanta.) Based on those conversations, here is where I believe those tournaments were to have taken place.


TORONTO: Maple Leaf Wrestling
There is little doubt that the original plan was to have a tournament in Toronto, Ontario in Canada for Frank Tunney's "Maple Leaf Wrestling" promotion.  Toronto was frequently mentioned by Sandy Scott during his early appearances pumping up the tournament as a whole. The Crockett's had been booking talent into Toronto for Tunney since 1978. But that Toronto tournament never came together.

"I can tell you that it was one of the biggest disappointments that it never happened here," Andrew Calvert told me via email. Andrew publishes the excellent Maple Leaf Wrestling history website and was a fan attending matches regularly in Toronto at that time. "There were rumors on Wood Street, the street behind Maple Leaf Gardens where all the fans congregated, that it would happen here."

Mosca and Khan teamed in the U.S. but likely would not have teamed
in Toronto. Mosca was a very popular Canadian champion.
__________________________________
Andrew pointed out that there was a Cadillac tournament scheduled for Toronto on January 31, just before the tag tournaments began in earnest in the Mid-Atlantic area, but it was cancelled due to a huge snowstorm. "We figured we might have gotten the tag tournament instead," he said.

But it never happened.

"It would have been a natural, as times were good here then," Andrew continued, "and Tunney had been praised over the years for having 'popularized tag team wrestling in North America.' We had Adonis and Ventura here, too, for their only appearance as a tag team on January 17, 1982 and they were a huge hit." Adrian Adonis and Jessie Ventura were constantly mentioned on Mid-Atlantic TV as possibly entering several tournaments, and did participate in the Greensboro show.

One of the key wrestlers discussed for the tournament early on during Mid-Atlantic TV broadcasts was Angelo Mosca, who was Canadian Heavyweight champion at the time and one of top stars in Toronto. Who his partner for a tournament in Toronto would have been, had one been held there, isn't exactly clear. His partner in the United States was Killer Khan. They wrestled as a team on Mid-Atlantic TV and were in the finals in Charlotte. But Mosca was "good guy" at the time in Toronto and Khan decidedly was not. We'll never know, as a Toronto tournament regrettably never took place.


KNOXVILLE
NWA Southern Championship Wrestling
In 1981, a group of partners affiliated with Jim Crockett promotions bought the Knoxville  territory, which ran towns in east Tennessee, southwest Virginia and West Virginia.  Blackjack Mulligan was the primary partner, running the territory as a way to help season the skills of his son Barry Windham, who was wrestling as Blackjack Mulligan, Jr. at that time. Along with local Knoxville area talent, Mulligan booked a number of wrestlers regularly from Jim Crockett Promotions including John Studd, Jay Youngblood, Terry Taylor, and Johnny Weaver, Weaver helped Mulligan book the territory.

Blackjack Mulligan Sr. and Jr. would have surely been a
favorite if a tournament had been held in Knoxville.
__________________________________
Ole Anderson said plans were definitely to have a tournament in Knoxville, but they never could work out the schedule to get enough teams there to get it done, and Knoxville was just about too small a territory at that time to have an 8-team tournament on its own. Time passed, there was no urgency, and it just never happened.
 
Mulligan Sr. and Jr. appeared for both the Knoxville group and Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling during this time. Their only tournament appearance was in Charlotte.


COLUMBUS/MACON
Georgia Championship Wrestling/Fred Ward Promotions
Ole also told us that plans were to have a second tournament in Georgia in addition to the huge tournament held at the Omni in Atlanta. Promoter Fred Ward, who ran Columbus, Albany, and Macon, was to have hosted the second tournament in one of his towns, but for any number of reasons, it just never happened.


THE SUNSHINE STATE
Championship Wrestling from Florida
When the idea of the tournament was first conceived, Florida was in on the action and Florida promoter Eddie Graham was chosen as the figurehead tournament director, and introduced the tournament in a special video recorded on the set of "Championship Wrestling from Florida" with Gordon Solie. The video was seen both on "Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling" and "Georgia Championship Wrestling."

The Bayfront Arena in St. Petersburg hosted a tournament that was part of a big "Bayfront Spectacular" show. Ole Anderson confirmed there was to be at least one other tournament in Florida, perhaps more, but had no idea where. JCP was willing to send talent, but all of that was left up to Eddie Graham. St. Petersburg wound up being the final city tournament all together, and the only tournament to take place in Florida.


THE PALMETTO STATE
Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling
Certainly there had to have been thoughts of having more tournaments in the Mid-Atlantic area, which only had four total. North Carolina got three tournaments (Greensboro, Charlotte, and Fayetteville) and Virginia got one (Richmond) but the third big state in the Mid-Atlantic territory, South Carolina, did not have one city with a tournament. It's hard to believe that one of the regular towns there (such as Greenville, Spartanburg, Charleston, or Columbia) weren't figured in the plans when the idea of the tournament was first conceived. But for whatever the reasons, there regrettably wasn't one in the Palmetto State.


* * * * *

Coming Up in PART NINE:
A look at the fictional tournaments that were created as part of the larger tournament story, including the entire Western Division tournament which had its mythical finals in the state of Hawaii. And as part of that story, it would eventually be a "beach bum" wrestler from Hawaii that would throw a huge wrench in the works as the tournament neared its conclusion.


http://www.midatlanticgateway.com/p/big-gold.html

Saturday, April 28, 2018

Major Leaguer: Terry Funk Insists "It's My Moment!"




"I am a major leaguer. 
I am just like Nolan Ryan; 42 and tryin' 
to teach you people what a true hero is today. "

by Dick Bourne
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

We usually don't stray much past 1988 on this website, but this is one of my favorite Terry Funk interviews ever during his 1989 run in the early days of Ted Turner's WCW.

During the spring of 1989, Funk had some very memorable interviews and TV matches setting him up as the wild and unpredictable challenger to NWA World champion Ric Flair. WCW had initiated the "Top 10" concept and Terry hadn't made into the top 10 yet and was very frustrated by that fact. This was in the weeks following his "pearl harbor" attack on Ric Flair in Nashville.

Frustrating Funk further was the fact that Lance Russell interrupted him to go to the ring for the "Rookie Challenge" where two young competitors would have a shot at "their moment" on national television.

But a protesting Funk insisted it was HIS moment, and he made sure he stole that moment from rookies Lee Scott and Dwayne Bruce. Mayhem ensues.

My favorite visual is near the end of this video when Funk piledrives Lee Scott and you see Funk between Scott's extended legs with a big grin on his face screaming "It's my moment!"

Sidebar: Funk evoked the name of Nolan Ryan in this interview, a reference to the Major League Baseball Hall of Famer who in this same year of 1989 for the Texas Rangers would lead the American League in strikeouts with an incredible .615 winning percentage and would be voted to the All-Star game that year - - amazingly all at the age of 42. The same age as Funk.

The clip is from an episode of "NWA Pro Wrestling" taped at the Center Stage Theater in Atlanta (also regular home to "World Championship Wrestling" on WTBS.) Commentary is by my favorite 1989 broadcast team of Lance Russell and Bob Caudle.


http://horsemen.midatlanticgateway.com

Friday, April 27, 2018

Action Figures Friday: U.S. Champ Sgt. Slaughter


by Dick Bourne
Mid-Atlantic Gateway
Photograph by Mike Simmerman

Another great photo by Mike Simmerman from his custom collection of figures. This one depicts United States Heavyweight Champion Sgt. Slaughter on the set of "Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling" with host Bob Caudle.

Slaughter was a two-time U.S. champion during the years 1981 and 1982 and had a memorable series of matches with Wahoo McDaniel over the championship.

Slaughter's entire run as U.S. champion is well documented in the shows currently available in the VAULT section of the WWE Network streaming service.

He first won the title in a tournament held on 10/4/81 in Charlotte, defeating Ricky Steamboat in the finals. The title had been vacated following former champ Wahoo McDaniel's inability to defend it following an injury suffered at the hands of Abdullah the Butcher and Roddy Piper. Wahoo got redemption when he defeated Slaughter for the title on 5/21/82 in Richmond, VA. But in a cruel twist of fate, the title was again stripped from McDaniel when he was injured by Slaughter and temporary rules in place by the NWA at the time required the title to be forfeited to the challenger if the champion was unable to defend on any given night. Wahoo again redeemed himself by beating Slaughter for the title a second time on 8/22/82 in Charlotte.

The entire history of Jim Crockett's U.S. championship from 1975 until the company was sold to Ted Turner in 1988 is chronicled in great detail in the book "United States Championship" available on Amazon or from the Mid-Atlantic Gateway.


Wednesday, April 25, 2018

Paul Jones Will Always Be "Number One" To Me

by David Chappell
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

When Dick Bourne called me recently to relay the sad news that "Number One" Paul Jones had passed away, I was stunned, feeling as though I had been hit squarely with one of Paul's famous football tackles. In the ring, Paul would normally follow up his football tackles with one of his equally famous finishing submission maneuvers. Much like one of Paul's many vanquished wrestling opponents, I was down for the count after learning of his death, and submitted to a period of profound sadness. But unlike most of Paul's ring conquests, I was back up quickly, as my wonderful Mid-Atlantic memories of "Number One" thoroughly defeated thoughts of his passing away faster than a Tommy Young three-count.

Paul Jones was a major force in Jim Crockett Promotions from his arrival in 1968 until the demise of the promotion at the end of 1988. While Paul ventured away from the Carolinas on occasion during those two decades, the Mid-Atlantic states were his primary wrestling home without a doubt.

In my evolution as a fan of Jim Crockett Promotions, Jones was front and center of my most enduring professional wrestling memories. Those earliest and foggiest memories for me as a child younger than ten years old go back to the late 1960's, where I saw a young "Number One" teaming with Nelson Royal to battle truly scary villains the likes of Gene and Lars Anderson, Rip Hawk and Swede Hanson and the masked Infernos.

When the calendar turned over to the year of 1974, my interest in professional wrestling was surging and Paul Jones was right there in the middle of it. My first solid recollection of a Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling card in my hometown of Richmond, Virginia was on August 23, 1974 and included a bout between Paul and the "Mad Russian" Ivan Koloff. At the time the two were battling over the Mid-Atlantic Television Title. A stipulation in that Richmond match stated that if Jones lost the match, he would give 1000 silver dollars to the fans! Even with $1000.00 on the line, I couldn't find it within myself to root against "Number One." Paul went on to conquer the "Russian Bear" that night.

As was the case with Dick Bourne, the "supreme sacrifice" TV angle on June 11, 1975 hooked me on Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling for life. Paul and Wahoo McDaniel dropped the NWA World Tag Team Titles to Gene and Ole Anderson in that televised bout, where Ole slammed Wahoo's head into Gene's head knocking them both goofy but getting Wahoo pinned in the process. But Jones' role in this match was the most noteworthy for me, as Paul's storytelling while getting brutalized by the Andersons and trying to make a tag to Wahoo had me spellbound and even prompted announcer Bob Caudle to note during the bout that Wahoo was "almost in tears" as he desperately reached for Paul's tag.

Soon after the World Tag Team Title loss, "Number One" went on a run for the remainder of 1975 that saw him win the Mid-Atlantic TV Title and later the United States Heavyweight Championship, becoming the number one contender for the NWA World Heavyweight Title in the process. Throughout 1976 Paul battled Blackjack Mulligan over that coveted  U.S. belt, and Jones finished the year with arguably the best two year run as a "good guy" ever in the storied history of Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling.

The following two years saw Paul still playing a major role on the babyface side of the Mid-Atlantic roster, but several notches below his torrid 1975-76 run. Jones teamed up with newcomer Ricky Steamboat, and the two captured both the Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Titles and the World Tag Team Titles. But by the end of 1978 the unthinkable happened, as Jones and Steamboat split in Charlotte during a two-ring Battle Royal and Paul went over to the dark side!

1979 was the year of Paul Jones as a rulebreaker, and "Number One" clearly relished the role and embraced it in ultra entertaining ways. Jones teamed up with former rival Baron Von Raschke to form a dominating duo that captured the World Tag Team Titles. After the inevitable split between Paul and the Baron in early 1980, Jones took a hiatus from the Mid-Atlantic area and when he returned in the summer, he apologized to the Mid-Atlantic fans for his rulebreaking actions and began wrestling as a fan favorite again.

For roughly the next two years Paul wrestled as a good guy but never recaptured the spark that he generated during prior years as a fan favorite. Because Paul played the "bad guy" role so superbly in 1979, the fans could never fully reinvest in him again as a fan favorite. With that handwriting on the wall, Paul flipped one final time to the rulebreaking side of the talent ledger, and finished the second half of 1982 with a noteworthy feud with Jack Brisco, becoming the Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Champion in the process.

Paul's in-ring career ended at the beginning of 1983, and many fans that began following wrestling in the 1980's remember Paul only as a manager. "Number One" was exceedingly entertaining as a manager, despite rarely being given a stable of top-of-the-card wrestlers to guide. But Jones found a way to make it work, and his feud with Jimmy "Boogie Man" Valiant continued to capture the imagination of fans for years well into the 1980's.

Fast forward to the year 2003, and the Mid-Atlantic Gateway had only been up and running for several years. In one of those rare moments where you know exactly where you were and what you were doing at a significant moment in time, I got a call from Dick Bourne that we had a chance to meet the one and only "Number One" Paul Jones! I was floored with a mixture of anticipation and nervousness, as I had never once met in-person one of my Mid-Atlantic heroes. Those emotions were heightened when the Gateway's friend George South made that meeting with Jones a reality in Charlotte.

On that hot day in Charlotte, Paul put the "Gateway Boys" though a bit of a hazing which ratcheted up my nervousness almost to the breaking point. Paul saw firsthand probably the two biggest Mid-Atlantic "marks" on the planet in Dick and I , and I don't think he quite knew what to make of us at first. As we traveled around Charlotte that day and saw any number of wrestling related sights, I believe "Number One" respected the way the "Gateway Boys" wore unabashedly our love of Mid-Atlantic wrestling on our sleeves for all to see, and that we weren't out to make a quick buck off of the boys with our website. At that point, Paul accepted us and established a friendship that lasted until he died.

In recent years, seeing Paul Jones was the highlight of any wrestling related get-together for me. When talking to Paul about wrestling, it was hard for him to avoid complaining about how Ricky Steamboat turned on him on that fateful night in Charlotte in December of 1978. It got so bad that I purposely avoided making any references to "the turn" in my Gateway pieces about Paul. It was not worth the fallout if Paul would read anything under my hand that dared implied he was the one that turned on Steamboat!

While he was always willing to talk wrestling, Paul was genuinely interested in me, my work and my family which meant a great deal to me. Paul was up to date on current national news and politics, and was not shy about voicing his opinions on the same! "Number One" also had a sharp and biting sense of humor, that he didn't mind unleashing on those closest to him. It took me a while to get used to Paul's "zingers," but I eventually realized that Paul never "zinged" anybody in a mean-spirited way and it was normally done with a wink and a smile. I received email from Paul nearly every day, and while much of it was non-consequential forwarded jokes and the like, it still was surreal to me that my Mid-Atlantic hero would take the time to send me anything.

Over the last year or so, Paul enjoyed receiving emails from me that contained photos of "Number One" references that I came across in everyday life. For instance, I recently sent him a photo from Fuddruckers when my order number was "No. 1" and one from my county dump where a sign said "Go To Number 1" for the numbered receptacle that was open to dump my trash into.

Just a couple of days before Paul's death I went to a college baseball game with my Dad, and when a batter late in the contest approached the plate the first thing I noticed was that he was wearing the number 1. Forgetting about the game itself, my first instinct was to get a good view of this player's number so I could send a photo of it to Paul! I in fact snapped a good photo, but I unfortunately didn't get to send that final "Number One" salute to Paul before he passed away. While I'll always regret that I didn't send that last remembrance out to Paul in a timely manner, I am sure Paul knew, and knows, that Paul Jones will always be "Number One" to me.

Rest in peace my Mid-Atlantic hero, and my friend.

Monday, April 23, 2018

The Anderson Brothers Pay the Price in 1975

by David Chappell
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

During the height of the epic feud between Gene and Ole Anderson and Wahoo McDaniel and Paul Jones during the summer of 1975, the Andersons’ went out of their way to make examples of their hapless opponents on Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling television programming. Several times after winning their TV contests Gene and Ole persisted in torturing their prey after the bouts were over, causing injury to their opponent’s brutalized arms. In response, the powers-that-be took the highly unusual step of taking the NWA World Tag Team Champions off of television as punishment for their actions, along with assessing fines.

On the Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling TV program that was taped on August 20, 1975, Gene and Ole were seemingly on their best behavior as they dispatched the tandem of big Swede Hanson and Don Serrano. The champs forced Serrano to submit to win the match, but the submission arm bar maneuver was broken cleanly when the match was declared as being over by the referee.

In the show’s final segment, legendary announcer Bob Caudle commented, “Well fans, you just saw ‘em in the ring, of course the World Tag Team Champions Gene and Ole Anderson, the finest tag team in the world right now and the belts prove that. But again, you fellas were suspended from television for a couple of weeks Ole; you were fined $500 apiece for injuring an opponent after the bell. I saw you broke on Serrano, when he said he submitted you let him up, you didn’t try to hurt him.”

Ole was as blunt as usual and responded pointedly, “Well, you know, of all the places that we’ve wrestled and we’ve wrestled all over the world…I have never seen anything like it. How in the world, in this one place, even though it might be the best wrestling in the whole world right now. I don’t see what authority they could possibly have to suspend the World Champions, and yet that’s what they did.”

Becoming more indignant, Ole continued, “They not only suspended us, but they fined each one of us $500 apiece. It’s never happened anywhere before in the world. Wrestling is a man’s sport, and I feel that if you can’t take the punishment that you shouldn’t be in it. All right, right now they think they’ve got us calmed down a little bit. They put the fine on us, they’ve suspended us for two weeks…Gene doesn’t like it; I don’t like it! We like to be in front of our fans; we like to have people see us.”

As Ole continued to pontificate, you could sense he had plotted his future course. “Okay, when we get on TV we’re gonna break right away…you saw me do it tonight,” Ole stated. Caudle confirmed, “Yeah, I saw you.” Ole then chuckled, “Ha, but don’t get too overjoyed because you people sitting at home, when you go to the wrestling matches in an arena or a coliseum, or wherever it might be, we’re gonna be entirely different. Because there’s nothing, there’s no jurisdiction in an arena or a coliseum, there’s nothing that says that once a man gives up, I have to let go or Gene has to let go.”

Caudle then challenged Ole claiming, “Sportsmanship says that!” Ole immediately shot back, “Sportsmanship doesn’t mean anything.” Bob answered, “Sure it does.” Ole then explained, “If you let a man go, he comes back a week later and tells everybody with a couple of days training he could beat you. Now, that’s where our mistake has been.”

Ole concluded the show noting all the area’s good guys were in his crosshairs, including Tim Woods who had a bounty recently placed on his head by United States Heavyweight Champion Johnny Valentine. Ole bellicosely snarled, “Guys like Paul Jones or Wahoo, or Rufus R. Jones or Ken Patera…or this upstart, the guy that came back after a broken leg, Timmy Woods. And when I think about that, I don’t know what John Valentine has in mind about in terms of money, but Gene and I never turned down a buck yet. If Valentine comes up with the right price we’ll even go after Woods, but there won’t be anybody to stop us then, and we’ll go ahead and break the arm, or the leg or whatever it happens to be.”

As Bob Caudle closed the program, I couldn’t help but think that while the Andersons’ had to pay the price in August of 1975, both monetarily and by being booted off of TV, Gene and Ole clearly hadn’t learned their lesson on the value of sportsmanship in professional wrestling…and probably never would.


http://www.midatlanticgateway.com/p/yearbooks.html

Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Paul Jones Passes Away

PAUL JONES
by Dick Bourne
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

It is with real sadness that we learn of the death of one of our childhood heroes, "No. 1" Paul Jones. Paul passed away this week at his home near Atlanta, GA.

Late edit: We're getting lots of calls and questions about what more we know about Paul Jones. Sadly, no details are yet available on cause of death or even exactly when he died. Our friend Peggy Lathan, who was a close friend of Paul's, received word from Paul's son this afternoon (4/18) that he had been notified of his Dad's passing and he was on the way to Atlanta, where Paul lived. That's all we know at this time, but more information should be forthcoming in a day or two.

Edit #2: We have no further word on the circumstances surrounding the death of Paul Jones as of Thursday evening 4/19.  It may be several days before cause of death and funeral arrangements are announced. The Mid-Atlantic Gateway will be on hiatus for the next several days regardless, but we will update early next week, and plan on sharing lots of memories about “No. 1” Paul Jones. Please keep Paul’s son (Paul Jr.) in your thoughts and prayers.

When David Chappell and I first got hooked on wrestling in the mid-1970s, Paul Jones was one of the top stars for Jim Crockett Promotions. My first major memory of Paul was in early 1975 when he was upset by the brash young upstart Ric Flair for the Mid-Atlantic TV title, only to rebound months later to defeat the Anderson Brothers to win the NWA World Tag Team titles with partner Wahoo McDaniel. Later that same year he defeated Terry Funk for the United States Heavyweight championship. It was an amazing year for him. Funk would win the NWA World title a few weeks later and Paul would be one of his top challengers in our area during Funk's entire reign as champion.

Jones was one of the most popular wrestlers in the Mid-Atlantic territory but that would all change a few years later when he would turn on his young protege Ricky Steamboat and the two had one of the most bloody and violent feuds of the 1970s in Mid-Atlantic Wrestling. Jones always insisted, though, it was Steamboat that turned on him, continuing to have fun at wrestling conventions with that story. It was his story, and he was sticking to it.

As loved as he had been by fans as a "good guy," he was as equally hated as a "bad guy" and formed one of the more memorable heel tag teams with Baron Von Raschke in 1979. The two held the NWA World Tag team titles and feuded with teams such as Ric Flair/Blackjack Mulligan and Jay Youngblood/Ricky Steamboat.

In the final years of his in-ring wrestling career, he feuded with old Florida rival Jack Brisco over the Mid-Atlantic Championship. He retired from regular in ring competition in 1983 and became a manager for the next seven years. After a brief return to the ring in the early 1990s, he retired from the business for good.

He began his career in the 1960s in Texas and California before becoming a huge star in the 1970s in the Georgia, Florida, and Mid-Atlantic territories. His most memorable period for David and I, though, will always be that 1975-1979 period where everything he was involved in was gold.

With Paul Jones in 2003

David and I were blessed to get to know Paul not long after starting the Mid-Atlantic Gateway, and stayed in touch with him over the years. We last saw him at the Mid-Atlantic Wrestling Legends Fanfest in August of 2016 in Charlotte.

We will be posting some of our fond memories about Paul in and out of the ring, as a wrestler and as a friend, in the upcoming weeks.

Rest in peace.

Pro Wrestling Illustrated Scouting Reports on WTBS "Best of Championship Wrestling" (1985-1986)

by Dick Bourne
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

In September of 1985, six months after Jim Crockett Promotions had taken over the wrestling slots on Superstation WTBS, they began airing taped segments during Sunday's "Best of Championship Wrestling" program called "Pro Wrestling Illustrated Scouting Report." The segments were in conjunction with Weston Publishing's "Pro Wrestling Illustrated" (PWI) magazine and were hosted by Senior Editor of PWI Bill Apter.

Bill Apter and Magnum T.A. on the set of
"Pro Wrestling Illustrated Scouting Report"
Initially the segments were all co-hosted by NWA World Champion Ric Flair. It became a running gag in those early weeks of the show that Flair would tell Apter that he (Ric) was actually the host of the segments and that Apter served as co-host at Flair's pleasure. By late October, other JCP wrestlers began co-hosting the segments (Magnum T.A., Tully Blanchard, Dusty Rhodes, and many others) and even some wrestlers outside of the promotions such as Jerry Lawler and Ted DiBiase. Apter now referred to them as his guests. Flair was would continue to be the guest most featured throughout the segment's entire run.

"Scouting Report" had been a segment on other territory wrestling TV shows at various times in the past, sometimes co-hosted by Craig Peters in addition to Apter, but this was the first time a promotion had hosted a series of segments than ran for this long of a period of time. There were 44 weekly segments in all, stretching though late August of 1986. The show ended in advance of the end of the "Best of" show which became "World Championship Wrestling Sunday Edition" in September of 1986, a live-to-tape show that would no longer feature the pre-taped "Scouting Report" segments.

"Scouting Report" usually lasted two complete show segments, with a WTBS commercial break in the middle. Apter would select 2-3 wrestlers to "scout" and his guest would provide analysis. When Flair was the guest, they usually reviewed his top contenders for the NWA title, not only in Crockett Promotions but in other territories as well. Sometimes tapes were shown of the wrestlers being "scouted", other times just photos or slides that occasionally included stats on the scouted wrestler.

Jim Crockett Promotions created a special set for the show, with "Superstars" and "The Superstation" featured in the background as well as a chroma-key screen for showing video clips. Apter would always be seated on the left, while the co-host would be seated on the right. A coffee-table would be between them, usually with an issue or two of the magazine on display, as well as occasionally the title belt held by the wrestler featured as guest or co-host.

The set was located at the Crockett Promotions main office on Briarbend Drive in Charlotte, NC. They would tape three to four episodes at a time to air over the next several weeks on "Best of Championship Wrestling." The shows were taped on the same day that they taped the local promotional inserts for the syndicated shows (Mid-Atlantic and Wide World Wrestling) at Briarbend Drive.

Listed below are all 44 installments of "Pro Wrestling Illustrated Scouting Report." There was one episode that aired on Saturday's "World Championship Wrestling", and there were a handful of episodes hosted by someone other than Bill Apter. They are notated within the list.

http://www.midatlanticgateway.com/p/almanac.html
The list is maintained as part of the Mid-Atlantic Gateway Almanac and is permanently located at this link.

 Complete List of all Pro Wrestling Illustrated Scouting Reports
(Superstation WTBS 1985 - 1986)
as featured on the "Best of World Championship Wrestling"
Hosted by Bill Apter

PWI Scouting Report

DATE
GUEST
SCOUTING REPORT / TOPICS
1
09/15/85
Ric Flair
Nikita Koloff, Carlos Colon (UWC),
Magnum T.A.
2
09/22/85
Ric Flair
Billy Jack Haynes (Florida),
Kerry Von Erich (World Class), Nikita Koloff
3
9/29/85
Ric Flair
Magnum T.A., Jerry Lawler (Memphis),
Butch Reed (Mid-South)
4
10/06/85
Ric Flair
Bob Armstrong (Southeast/Continental),
Wahoo McDaniel (Florida),
Road Warrior Animal
5
10/13/85
Ric Flair
Jim Duggan (Mid-South), Terry Taylor,
Dusty Rhodes
6
10/20/85
Ric Flair
Dick Murdoch, Ron Garvin, Dusty Rhodes
(featured live hook-up with Rhodes)
7
10/27/85
Jerry Lawler
Bill Dundee (Memphis), Arn Anderson,
Dusty Rhodes
8
11/03/85
Ivan & Nikita Koloff
Road Warriors (AWA), Wahoo McDaniel and Billy Jack Haynes (Florida), Rock & Roll Express, Don Kernodle.
9
11/10/85
Tully Blanchard
Terry Taylor, Ronnie Garvin, Magnum T.A.
10
11/17/85
Ric Flair
Ole and Arn Anderson
11
11/24/85
Ric Flair
Arn Anderson, Dusty Rhodes
12
12/01/85
Bill Apter
(solo from the Omni)
NWA TV Title Tournament,
Bunkhouse Stampede (Fireside),
Starrcade '85 Highlights
13
12/08/85
Paul Ellering &
The Road Warriors
Ivan & Nikita Koloff
14
12/15/85
Ric Flair
NWA TV Title Tournament, Starrcade match with Dusty Rhodes, Mike Ditka & The Bears, Ted Turner, Buddy Landel, Magnum T.A.
15
12/22/85
Dusty Rhodes
NWA TV Title Tournament, Ric Flair,
Starrcade '85
16
12/29/85
PWI Year End Awards
Jim Cornette, Road Warriors, Ric Flair
(all present to accept awards)
17
01/05/86
Magnum T.A.
Tully Blanchard, Buddy Landel,
Dusty Rhodes, Ric Flair
18
01/11/86
(Sat.)
Magnum T.A.
NWA TV Tournament Highlights,
Arn Anderson, Bobby Jaggers (Pacific Northwest),
Ted DiBiase (Mid-South), Nikita Koloff
Q&A: Ronnie Garvin
19
01/19/86
Ron Garvin
Ric Flair, Q&A: Ricky & Robert
20
01/26/86
Ric Flair
Dusty Rhodes, Ole Anderson, Magnum T.A.,
Ron Garvin, Q&A: Magnum T.A.
21
02/02/86
Ricky & Robert
(Rock & Roll Express)
Midnight Express, Q&A: Ric Flair
22
02/09/86
Baby Doll
(No Bill Apter)
Dusty Rhodes, Tully Blanchard
23
02/16/86
Jim Cornette
Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup, Dusty Rhodes and Magnum T.A (America's Team), Sam Houston & Nelson Royal, Q&A: Dusty Rhodes
24
03/09/86
Ted DiBiase

(originally pre-empted by Braves Baseball on 2/23/86)
Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup
Dr. Death Steve Williams (Mid-South),
Wahoo McDaniel & Mark Youngblood,
The Koloffs, Rock & Roll Express, Q&A: Jim Cornette, Stan Hansen & Bruiser Brody,
Road Warriors, Ric Flair
25
03/02/86
Dusty Rhodes
Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup
Terry Funk history, Four Horsemen: Ole Anderson, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, Ric Flair,
Carlos Colon & Invader (UWC),
Q&A: Ted DiBiase (Mid-South), Magnum T.A.
26
03/16/86
Bill Watts
Crockett Promotions Co-Ventures,
Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup,
Mid-South Wrestling, Q&A: Bill Watts
27
03/23/86
James J. Dillon
Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup,
Baby Doll, Tully Blanchard & Arn Anderson, Ric Flair, Q&A: J.J. Dillon
28
3/30/86
Paul Boesch
Houston Wrestling History
Johnny Valentine, Wild Bill Curry
29
04/06/86
Paul Boesch
History of Team Wrestling, Jim Crockett Sr., George "Two Ton" Harris, Q&A: Bill Apter
30
04/13/86
Bob Taylor
(No Bill Apter)
Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup Brackets
31
4/27/86
Paul Boesch
Houston Wrestling in the 1950s
32
05/04/86
Paul Boesch
The Graham Brothers, Buddy Rogers,
Killer Kowalski
33
05/11/86
Paul Boesch
Killer Kowalski
34
05/18/86
Gloria Allen
(Magnum's Mom)
Wrestling News by Bill Apter: Stan Hansen (AWA), The Fabulous Ones Stan Lane and Steve Keirn (Florida), Garvin vs. Blanchard, Freebirds Sign with the UWF, plus clips of Ron Garvin, Tully Blanchard, Ric Flair, Ricky Morton, Midnight Express, and Baby Doll
35
05/25/86
Baby Doll
Magnum T.A., Tully Blanchard, Midnight Express, Q&A: Baby Doll
36
06/01/86
Ricky & Robert
(Rock & Roll Express)
Guest host: Bob Taylor
Ric Flair
37
06/08/86
Ricky & Robert
(Rock & Roll Express)
Guest host: Bob Taylor
Rock & Roll Express Super Summer Sizzler Tour
The Russians, Ric Flair
38
06/15/86
Ricky & Robert
(Rock & Roll Express), Ric Flair
Guest host: Bob Taylor
Rock & Roll Express Super Summer Sizzler Tour
Great American Bash Tour
39
06/22/86
Magnum T.A.
Nikita Koloff,  Phone Call with Bob Geigel
40
06/29/86
Ricky & Robert
(Rock & Roll Express)
Rock & Roll Express Super Summer Sizzler Tour
Q&A: Ricky & Robert
"Best of Championship Wrestling" on Sundays preempted the entire month of July for the Goodwill Games and Braves Baseball
41
08/03/86
Paul Jones
(Joined in Progress)
Jimmy Valiant
42
08/10/86
Ron Garvin
Tully Blanchard
43
08/17/86
Ric Flair
Dusty Rhodes, Four Horsemen,
Kansas City & St. Louis,
4th NWA World Title Victory
44
08/24/86
Dick Murdoch
Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes


http://bookstore.midatlanticgateway.com

Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Visit with Bob Caudle



Had a wonderful visit with Bob Caudle and his wife Jackie this past weekend at their home in Raleigh. Bob is doing well and sends best wishes to everyone. We enjoyed looking at some old Mid-Atlantic Wrestling memorabilia and even watched some of his old shows that are on the WWE Network. A true gentleman and a class act in every sense of the word.
-Dick Bourne on Mid-Atlantic Gateway Facebook 4/16/18             

* * * * * *

The above post was on our social media pages Monday 4/16/18 and it got a big response. Bob Caudle is beloved by wrestling fans young and old.

There were many very nice things said about Bob on Facebook. Some of his friends in the business had nice things to say, too.

"Great to see Bob looking so good." - Gerald Brisco on Facebook
"Much love & respect for my dear friend & former broadcast partner, plus I love that magazine cover I've seen somewhere before!" - Les Thatcher on Facebook

We love Bob Caudle. Nice to see so many others out there tell him that, too.

* * * * * *

See also: An Afternoon with Bob Caudle (Jan. 2017)

Mid-Atlantic Wrestling Draws Huge Shares in Austin, Texas (1978)

TEXAS CONNECTIONS IN THE MID-ATLANTIC AREA

PART SIX - BONUS MATERIAL
by Dick Bourne
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

Back in November, I wrote a series of posts about the various connections Mid-Atlantic Wrestling had to the Lone Star State of Texas, through its wrestlers making appearances there, storylines, and television coverage.

Mid-Atlantic Gateway contributor Mark Eastridge recently came across a 1978 article in the Austin, TX newspaper talking about the big ratings wrestling was getting on television in the Austin area.

Promoter Joe Blanchard's "All Star Wrestling" show aired at 12:30 PM Saturday afternoon on KVUE-24 and drew a 44% share of the TV audience (as of the time of this article, July 14, 1978.)

One of the other programs airing there at that time was "Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling", which we covered in PART THREE of our Texas Connections feature about Crockett television in Texas in 1977-1978.

The article also mentions Mid-Atlantic Wrestling:

"Channel 36, KTVV, airs Mid-Atlantic Wrestling, originating in Raleigh, NC, late Sunday night - 12:30 AM. At 12:30 it has  33 percent of all viewers. By 1:15 AM, 99 percent of those looking at local television are watching wrestling."

A 99% share?? Granted, there apparently wasn't a whole lot else on at that time, but that's unheard of!  Back in those days, most local stations didn't broadcast 24-hours, and usually would sign off around midnight or so. But still, a 99% share is crazy, and shows the amazing popularity of professional wrestling in the territory days on local broadcast television, before the business became almost exclusively tied to cable.

In the audio clip below, Bob Caudle and David Crockett welcomed Austin, Texas television station KTVV to the Mid-Atlantic Wrestling network. (KTVV-36 is now KXAN in Austin.)

Listen to this short audio clip of Bob Caudle and David Crockett:


This announcement took place on the 5-13-78 broadcast of "Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling", and that very next Wednesday night, Ricky Steamboat traveled to San Antonio from the Mid-Atlantic area to challenge Tully Blanchard for his Southwest Heavyweight Championship belt. (It was a loaded card. See the details in PART TWO of this series.)

With both of Jim Crockett Promotion's television programs airing in the south Texas territory, Joe Blanchard booked many of Crockett's top stars to appear on some of big cards. His home base of San Antonio fell in between Corpus Christi and Austin and so much of the main territory fell with in broadcast range of these two shows.

* * * * * * * *

Check out the earlier installments of the "Texas Connections" series published last fall on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway

PART ONE: Mid-Atlantic Wrestlers Hailing from the Great State of Texas
PART TWO: Crockett's Connections with Joe Blanchard's Southwest Wrestling
PART THREE: Crockett TV in Texas
PART FOUR: Terry Funk Takes the U.S. Title Back to Texas
PART FIVE: Sound Clips!
PART SIX: (This Post) Bonus: Big Ratings in Austin, TX

http://horsemen.midatlanticgateway.com

Saturday, April 14, 2018

From Resignation to Indignation: Wahoo's 1977 Title Loss to Greg Valentine

by David Chappell
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

On June 11, 1977 in the Greensboro Coliseum, the unceremonious ending of Wahoo McDaniel’s most dominating championship run in the Mid-Atlantic area was also the springboard that catapulted Greg Valentine as a bonafide singles star in Jim Crockett Promotions. But Valentine’s ascension to the Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship could not have happened without an assist from McDaniel’s arch-rival, “Nature Boy” Ric Flair. While at one moment Wahoo rationalized the loss as one that had to inevitably happen, but as the bitterness set in the great Indian Chief spewed some astounding venom towards Greg Valentine, and shockingly JOHNNY Valentine, while explaining the devastating defeat to the fans.

On the Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling television program that was taped on June 15, 1977 announcer Bob Caudle broke the news to the fans about Wahoo’s title loss in Greensboro at the top of the show. Wahoo emerged onto the set and Caudle said, “Right now I think we ought to get to this former champion we were talking about just a few moments ago…Wahoo McDaniel. And Wahoo, you lost that match and you lost that title to of course Greg Valentine.”

McDaniel calmly reflected, “That’s right, you know, if you’re a champion and you wrestle long enough, it happens. But the way it happened, I’m just thinking one man didn’t beat me. But I’m not crying over spilled milk, because I know the man will have to get back in the ring, Valentine, and wrestle me. When he does I’m gonna take the title back. And I’d like for the people to see what happened.”

Caudle inquired, “And you’ve got some film of that match?” The Chief confirmed, “We’ve got some film of it.” Caudle then said to color commentator David Crockett, “David, I’d like to see that and I think all the fans would like to.” Crockett agreed, “I definitely would; I think all the fans want to see this film.” As the film became visible for the TV audience Caudle declared, “All right Wahoo, let’s look at it.”

Bill Janosik Photo
The grainy filmed showed Wahoo coming to the ring as Ric Flair was exiting ringside having finished the bout immediately before. Wahoo explained, “As you can see right here, Flair was involved in a match before me and jumped me before the bell…as you can see right here he picks the belt up and hits me right over the head with it and knocked my eye open.” An incredulous Caudle asked Wahoo, “This was before your match then with Valentine?” McDaniel answered, “[Ric Flair] was in a match before with Bobo Brazil and got knocked out of the ring and as you can see he jumped on me before the match even started. See…Valentine hasn’t even gotten to the ring yet.”

Bob Caudle then opined, “Well, what you’re saying is that you were in bad shape even before you started that match against Valentine.” Wahoo admitted, “Well, [Flair] stung me and hurt me…as you can see I’m still a little mad here. I’ve been stung before; I’ve been hurt before. But the man got some good licks on me…he hit me with the belt.” Caudle added, “Caught you off guard, too.” Wahoo continued to narrate, “As you can see here, [referee] Tommy Young is trying to raise my hand and give me a disqualification and give me the belt, but like I said when I get up in the morning I have to look in the mirror and I want to see a man in the mirror…I didn’t want to win it on a disqualification.”

The film then shows Valentine walking down the aisle, seemingly oblivious to the brutal attack Wahoo just suffered. The Chief noted, “There’s Valentine just arriving at the ring.” Caudle analyses, “He looks like he doesn’t even know what was going on…I wonder if that’s really the case?” McDaniel followed up, “I don’t know if that’s the case or not. I went ahead and fought the man…the match didn’t last that long, maybe ten or twelve minutes, and he beat me for the belt.” Caudle commented in response to Crockett, “David, I’d say that’s a heck of a way to lose a belt.” Crockett added, “So really, instead of wrestling one man he had to wrestle two.”

Wahoo declined to accept David’s opening to explain the loss, “Like I said, I’m not cryin’ over spilled milk…the man has to wrestle me individually for that title. Every night, they’re at least 50 guys out there layin’ awake conniving and trying to figure out some way they can take that belt away from you. Believe me, he’s gonna have to wrestle me…he’s gonna get it.”

The focus of the film clip then shifted to the short bout between an injured and bloody Wahoo and a fresh as a daisy Valentine. Caudle said, “Now, this is some of the action in that match?” Wahoo noted, “This is action during the match; this tape is abbreviated. You can see right there I’m bleeding pretty good; my eye was knocked almost shut.” Crockett exclaimed, “Valentine’s laying in those sledgehammer rights!” Caudle observed, “He’s hittin’ you right in that eye again, too.”

Wahoo agreed, “That’s right, he’s taking advantage because the man saw my head’s bleeding…I wouldn’t blame him. I fought hard.” Crockett then excitedly uttered, “It looks like you’re getting’ ready to take Valentine’s head off!” Unfortunately for the fans, that was Wahoo’s only semblance of an offense during the entire match. Wahoo then harkened back to the events that put him in such an awful position saying, “I don’t know if [Flair] had anything to do with it or not, but I’m just sayin’ Flair had no business there. It’s the second time, [Valentine] saved Flair one time on TV a week or two ago, and now Flair saved him here and he won the title. But like I said, I’m not crying, he’s got to wrestle me.”

As the bout neared its conclusion, McDaniel explained, “You see right there he suplexed me…but I did manage to kick out.” Bob Caudle then brought up a historical reference, remembering, “This Ric Flair, he’s gotten you a couple of times. I remember a table leg here a while back Wahoo…and now a belt across the eye.” That recollection from Bob dramatically altered Wahoo’s take on the situation, as his mood changed from resignation to anger and defiance. McDaniel shot back, “That’s right, and like I told the fans on TV, I’m through being on the short end of the stick. I’m going to wrestle like I used to wrestle, and I’m not gonna be the one that’s hurt all the time and doin’ all the suffering…I’m tired of it!”

Increasingly perturbed, Wahoo continued, “Right here, the man beat me. A big elbow, just to make sure I’m down…the man beat me for the title. No doubt about that…one, two, three.” Caudle unknowingly stoked the Chief’s growing anger when he told Crockett, “Well David as I said before, I think it was really a tough way to go Wahoo…I really don’t think you should have had to fought that match.” Trying to maintain his composure, Wahoo replied, “Well, the one thing about it, you’ve gotta be the champion to get beat for the belt…I was proud to be the champion for as long as I was. I feel like I let the people down a little bit, I know I can get the belt back…I beat the man before.”

After Crockett commented, “Everything he’s said so far he’s backed up so he’ll probably be champion again,” Wahoo blew a gasket! “Well, the man goes around tellin’ he’s Johnny Valentine’s brother,” McDaniel fumed about Greg. Wahoo, now totally incensed at the whole situation snarled “Well, he’s Johnny Valentine’s son, I know this, and I know [Johnny]Valentine hated my guts all these years and I know he sent [Greg Valentine] after me and that’s one thing [Johnny]Valentine told him to beat me and get me out of wrestling and that’s what he’s tryin’ to do and he’s gonna have a hard time doin’ it!”

Wahoo gruffly retorted, “Thank you,” and marched of the set. Crockett then stated the obvious, “Well, we’re gonna hear a lot from this man,” to which Caudle answered, “No doubt about that and there’s gonna be a lot more about that incident, I’m sure about that.” Crockett concluded the riveting TV segment, “Oh yes, there definitely will.”

This incident set up the rest of 1977 as an enduring saga of Wahoo versus Greg Valentine, one of the greatest feuds in Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling history. Wahoo, true to his word would regain the Mid-Atlantic Title in August, but then would lose it and 2,000 silver dollars to Greg on TV in September when Valentine broke Wahoo’s leg. After the Chief recovered in November, the inevitable chase to get revenge on Valentine and regain the Mid-Atlantic belt carried over into early April of 1978 and was successful for McDaniel, then both men went their separate wrestling ways.

While the monumental singles program between Wahoo McDaniel and Greg Valentine may have been born in the Greensboro Coliseum on that Saturday night in June, it really took hold on TV at the WRAL TV studios the following Wednesday night. In the space of a few minutes in a television interview, Wahoo’s mindset on Ric Flair and the Valentines’ went from contrived reticence to real anger and shockingly brutal honesty. And that change in tone was the catalyst for perhaps the greatest Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling feud ever!


http://bookstore.midatlanticgateway.com

Friday, April 13, 2018

Action Figures Friday: Ten Pounds of Gold

The NWA Champions that wore the original "Ten Pounds of Gold" (1973-1986)
L-R: Terry Funk, Giant Baba, Dusty Rhodes, Harley Race, Ric Flair,
Kerry Von Erich, Jack Brisco, and Tommy Rich


http://www.midatlanticgateway.com/p/ten-pounds-of-gold.html

Tuesday, April 10, 2018

Graham & Keirn Win the Bayfront Spectacular

The 1982 NWA World Tag Team Championship Tournament
PART SEVEN
by Dick Bourne
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

If you missed earlier posts in this series, check them out in the links below, especially the INTRODUCTION, which puts the whole tournament in a perspective that serves as a launching point for the following discussions. 

PART ONE: Introduction
PART TWO: Greensboro
PART THREE: Charlotte
PART FOUR: Richmond
PART FIVE: Atlanta
PART SIX: Fayetteville


ST. PETERSBURG, FLA
Date: March 27, 1982
Venue: The Bayfront Center

St. Petersburg, FL, would prove to be the sixth and final event in the series of tournaments for the vacant NWA World Tag Team championship conducted during the late winter and spring of 1982. Whether or not that was the original plan we may never know. (We will speculate on that in Part Eight of this series coming soon.)


The Florida territory played a role in the tournament from the very beginning. Eddie Graham, the former president of the National Wrestling Alliance and promoter in the state of Florida, was serving as Tournament Committee Chairman and had been seen on a special tape sent from Florida to the Mid-Atlantic area back in late January when the tournament was first announced.

This wound up being Florida's only tournament, although it is thought that when the idea of the tournament was conceived that there would at least be one other tournament held in Florida. But it never happened.

This tournament was unique in that it was just one part of a much larger special show in St. Petersburg called "The Bayfront Spectacular" that also featured an NWA World title defense by Ric Flair. There was a large display board shown on Florida television (seen in the graphic above) which included the main event matches and bracketing for the tournament. Ole Anderson and Stan Hansen, winners of two previous tournaments in Greensboro and Atlanta, sent in a tape from Georgia promoting their appearance in St. Petersburg. I particularly like Stan's reaction when Ole quizzed him about their possible tournament opponents:



Ole: "Can the Briscos beat you?"        Stan: "No!" 
Ole: "Can the Funks beat you?"        Stan: "Who?"
Ole: "How about the Von Erich brothers from Texas?"    Stan:  "Never heard of 'em!"

Special tournament update segments were hosted by Barbara Clary in the weeks leading up to the event. One of those is seen in the video above. The tournament only featured five teams, with one team getting an early bye. But the limited line-up was still one of the most colorful of all the tournaments and featured three different brother combinations.

The five teams in St. Petersburg were:
  • Jack and Jerry Brisco
  • Steve Keirn and Mike Graham
  • David and Kerry Von Erich
  • Dory and Terry Funk
  • Ole Anderson and Stan
A closer look at each team:

JACK AND JERRY BRISCO
The Briscos had been regulars in Florida for many years, and had been an active team up until early March of that year (1982) when Jack entered the Mid-Atlantic territory on a full time basis as a singles competitor. The Brisco brothers had most recently been North American Tag Team champions in Florida, losing the titles three weeks before this tournament to Dory Funk, Jr. and David Von Erich. The team came into St. Pete with a tournament win already under their belt, having won in Charlotte back on February 14. They had competed in Richmond, Atlanta, and Fayetteville as well.

STEVE KEIRN AND MIKE GRAHAM
Considered the "hometown team" in this tournament, Steve Keirn and Mike Graham had a storied championship history as a tag team in Florida. They held various tag team championships from 1977-1981 including the Florida, United States, and North American Tag Team titles. Keirn was a regular in the Memphis territory at this time, and would soon be forming one of the most famous and successful tag teams of the 1980s, the Fabulous Ones (with Stan Lane.) So it was a bit of a homecoming for him to return and team with Mike Graham in Florida, the territory where Keirn had had so much success in the 1970s both as a singles and tag team competitor.

DAVID AND KERRY VON ERICH
Behind the scenes, Fritz Von Erich had sent his son David to Florida to gain experience working as a "bad guy" in hopes of helping to prepare him for a possible run as NWA World champion down the road. David was considered a top candidate for that role by the various promoters in the NWA, including the kingmaker Sam Muchnick. He was being mentored by former NWA World champion Dory Funk, Jr., and the two had recently defeated the Briscos for the North American Title. But for this tournament, David brought in his brother Kerry from their home territory of World Class Wrestling in Dallas. It was a rare opportunity for Kerry to work "heel" as well.

DORY AND TERRY FUNK
The Funk brothers were familiar faces in Florida, both having spent a great deal of time there, and Terry actually having won the NWA World title in Miami Beach from Jack Brisco in 1975. The rivalry between the Funks and the Briscos went way back to the 1960s, and the two brother teams had feuded over the North American titles as recently as two months before this tournament in St. Pete. As mentioned above, Dory was tag champs with David Von Erich at the time of the tournament, but chose his younger brother as his partner for this chance at advancing in the World Tag Team tournament. They had also competed together in the tournament in Atlanta on 2/28.

OLE ANDERSON AND STAN HANSEN
No team seemingly wanted those World Tag Team title belts more than Anderson and Hansen, having ponied up the $1000 entry fee for all five of the previous tournaments and having walked away with victories in two of them  - - Greensboro and Atlanta. That night in St. Pete they were considered the "outside team," coming in from Georgia Championship Wrestling.


TOURNAMENT BRACKETING & RESULTS

You will notice in the video embedded above that Barbara Clary mentions it is possible that the Funk Brothers could face the Von Erich Brothers in the tournament, which presented a possible interesting plot twist, since Dory Funk and David Von Erich were reigning North American Tag Team champions at the time. But it didn't happen. graham and Keirn eliminated the Von Erichs in the opening round. The Funk brothers received a bye to the second round.

The tournament wound up only having three matches. In the first of two opening round matches, the Briscos and Anderson/Hansen were both eliminated with a double disqualification. The winner of that match was to get a bye to the finals, but with the double DQ, both were eliminated from the tournament.

In the second opening round match, Graham and Keirn defeated David and Kerry Von Erich, avoiding the potential Funk/Von Erich clash.

With the earlier double disqualification of the Briscos and Hansen/Anderson, the match between Graham/Keirn and the Funks became the de facto championship match.

TOURNAMENT WINNERS:
In what may have appeared to be an upset to an outsider looking in, but wasn't a surprise at all to fans in Florida, Steve Keirn and Mike Graham won the tournament with victories over two brother combinations: the Von Erichs and the Funks.

In a little side story told by Eddie Graham in a taped update segment from Florida shown on Mid-Atlantic television the week after the St. Petersburg tournament, Graham thanked promoter Fred Ward (promoter in Columbus, GA) for taking over as active Mat Chairman for the night of the tournament his son Mike was involved in. Graham, who was the Committee Chairman for the tournament at large, said he wanted to avoid any conflict of interest, and was pleased that Mike and Steve Keirn had won in St. Pete and had the highest hopes for their success moving forward.


Tournament Notes and Trivia:
  • There were three brother combinations in the tournament: the Briscos, Funks, and Von Erichs.
  • At the time of this tournament, Dory Funk Jr. and David Von Erich were North American Tag Team champions in Florida, but each teamed with their brother in the tournament.
  • Ole Anderson and Stan Hansen finished out their streak as being the only team to compete in all six city tournaments. 
  • Florida was the fourth state to host a tournament, along with Virginia, Georgia, and North Carolina. 
  • This was the final actual tournament ultimately held before the Eastern Division Finals, although there were some fictitious  tournaments that played into the finals which will be discussed later.
Mike Graham and Steve Keirn, winners of the St. Petersburg tournament.
  
Coming Up in PART EIGHT:
With the city tournaments that actually took place concluded, Ole Anderson helps us take a look at the tournaments that were reportedly planned but did not take place.  Ole was booking both the Georgia and Mid-Atlantic territories during this time, and was the person who initially conceived of the tournament.

After that, stay tuned for details on the Eastern Division finals, Western Division winners, and the final story on how it all fell apart at the end.

THE 1982 NWA WORLD TAG TEAM TOURNAMENT

 http://horsemen.midatlanticgateway.com

Sunday, April 08, 2018

Classic Poster: Wahoo McDaniel vs. Ric Flair in Roanoke

Mid-Atlantic Gateway Collection
by Dick Bourne
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

This beautifully designed classic poster is from 1975 and features one of the definitive main events of the era - - Wahoo McDaniel vs. Ric Flair for the Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight championship.

At first glance, you might think this was a poster form 1976 when the Flair/Wahoo feud was one of the main feuds of that year, and lasted nearly the entire year. But it is actually from the summer of 1975, less than three months before the Wilmington, NC, plane crash that threatened to prematurely end Flair's career.

Wahoo was the reigning Mid-Atlantic champion here, having defeated Johnny Valentine for the title three weeks earlier in Asheville, NC. With Valentine having subsequently defeated Harley Race for the U.S. title and no longer a threat to Wahoo, the Chief had moved on to the challenge presented by Valentine's protege, Ric Flair. The feud with Flair was in its very early stages, but it was already clear to anyone paying attention that this was a money program.

Flair would win the Mid-Atlantic championship from Wahoo in Hampton, VA, almost exactly two months after this Roanoke stadium show. Two weeks later, the private charter plane Flair was on went down short of the Wilmington runway and put Flair out of action for nearly four months. The 30-day rule was apparently waived through special dispensation and he was allowed to keep the Mid-Atlantic title until he returned to action in early 1976 and immediately began the long program with Wahoo. The two traded the Mid-Atlantic title back and forth for all of 1976, and they remained rivals for most of the rest of Wahoo's career, as Wahoo would become a top challenger for Flair's NWA world title at various times in the 1980s.


THINGS TO LOVE ABOUT THIS POSTER
  • Roanoke posters always had the cool designation at the top: "Roanoke Sports Club Presents." The Roanoke Sports Club was the name of the promotional company run by local Roanoke promoter Pete Apostolou. 
  • This is my favorite of all the typical designs for wrestling posters in that era: portrait (vertical) orientation with the main event in big block letters so that it jumps off the poster. Notice also in this case that Flair's name stacked on Wahoo's made the perfect pyramid. Just a great looking poster.
  • Advance tickets for wrestling in Roanoke were always on sale at The Sportsman, a bowling and entertainment facility owned by Pete Apostolou in downtown Roanoke.
  • Interesting to see Jerry Blackwell early in his career billed here as "Man Mountain Blackwell."
  • Victory Stadium was one of three regular venues for wrestling in Roanoke, the other two being Starland Arena and the Roanoke Civic Center.