PART SIX |
by Dick Bourne and Mark Eastridge
Mid-Atlantic Gateway
For the third straight Monday night show in a row at the Bell Auditorium
in Augusta, GA, Mid-Atlantic Wrestling regulars appeared on the card as
part of a de facto Mid-Atlantic/Georgia talent exchange during the year 1977.
As we've discussed in 5 earlier installments in this series,
full time wrestlers from both groups made appearances in each other's
territories for one night special events. Augusta Georgia was "ground
zero" for Georgia Championship Wrestling in this exchange.
PART SIX
On two different nights in the previous months, Georgia fan favorite
Thunderbolt Patterson had travelled to the Mid-Atlantic area to team
with Wahoo McDaniel. He had most recently joined the Chief on 4/30/77 in
Hampton, VA to take on the NWA World Tag Team champions from Ric Flair
and Greg Valentine. (See Part 2 of the series for more on Thunderbolt's many appearance for Jim Crockett Promotions in the spring of 1977.)
The two failed to take the belts in Hampton, but formed a very impressive combination that the fans really got behind. Two weeks later, on Monday 5/16 in Augusta, GA, Wahoo returned the favor to T-bolt and came to Georgia, as this popular combination received another chance at the World Tag Team titles, except this time from a different team.
A packed Bell Auditorium crowd saw Wahoo McDaniel come in for one night only to team with Thunderbolt to challenge the new World Tag Team champions Gene and Ole Anderson.
The Anderson Brothers had defeated Flair and Valentine for the titles a week and a day earlier, taking the titles on 5/8 in Charlotte, NC. (See Part 4 and Part 5 of this series for more on that historic night.) You will note that the article above from the Augusta newspaper mentions that the Andersons had regained the titles in Charlotte. What wasn't mentioned was that Wahoo McDaniel was the special referee in that match where the title changed hands. Even though Wahoo had found himself a strange ally to the Andersons in their battles with Flair in Valentine in the Mid-Atlantic area, he would set that aside to team with Thunderbolt to attempt to wrest the titles from the Minnesota Wrecking Crew.
Wahoo and T-bolt won the match by disqualification but, as we all know well, the titles can't change hands on DQ. The Anderson brothers retained the titles.
Much of the undercard on this show would be recently familiar to Mid-Atlantic fans, too. Roberto Soto, Bill Howard, Abe Jacobs, Charlie Fulton, and Don Kernodle loaded the Bell Auditorium card, and all had been Mid-Atlantic regulars over recent years.
Republished on September 30, 2020 on the mid-Atlantic Gateway.
Previous installments in the Mid-Atlantic/Georgia Talent Exchange Feature:
Part One: Paul Jones and the Hollywood Blondes in Augusta
Part Two: Thunderbolt Patterson tours the Mid-Atlantic area
Part Three: The Mid-Atlantic Challengers in Augusta 5/9
Part Four: Georgia Fans Find Out About World Tag Title Change - Before It Happens
Part Five: Paul Jones Surprises Charlotte During Mid-Atlantic/Georgia Talent Exchange
And one more thing - - - we've spotted another blooper! In that April 30 Hampton, VA card up top, it appears there might be an inter-gender match scheduled - - Johnny Eagle facing MRS. X!
And thanks to Charlie G. who points out Cowboy Frankie LAN and Steve KOVADS on the same clipping. Those might be considered more typos than bloopers, but I sure missed them first pass through.
See more Bloopers!