THE BATTLE CONTINUES IN CHARLOTTE
by David Chappell
Mid-Atlantic Gateway
Catch up on what you missed in PART ONE that set the stage for the tremendous battle between Ric Flair and Tiger Conway, Jr.
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PART TWO
When Greg Valentine was confronted by David Crockett regarding the disappearance of Wahoo McDaniel an indignant Valentine snarled, “Well, why do you have a feeling that I know where Wahoo is?” Crockett answered, “We’ll see what happens in the match. Right now…now Ric Flair is up to his usual tricks, he has his man down and he wants to punish the man.” Greg, smiling now as he’s viewing the film cackles, “Now you see, this is what I told you before…STAMINA! Tiger Conway is blowed up; he’s had all he can take! Desperation punch there, but he is tired…”
Crockett then interjected, “That’s right, he’s tired from wrestling a previous match.” Valentine then deadpanned, “Now, this surprised me that he had energy to do that.” As Conway turned the tide, an excited Crockett exclaimed, “Look at this, look at this!! Tremendous slam, almost all the way across the ring!” At this juncture, announcer Bob Caudle clarified for the fans watching on TV the key point that the fans in Charlotte witnessed in person, “David, you mean that he’d all ready wrestled a match prior to this?” Crockett affirmed, “That’s correct, and Tiger he’s goin’ full gun. Ric Flair now, Ric Flair’s on the defensive…he’s backing up!”
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| Mark Eastridge Collection |
Valentine fired right back at Crockett saying, “I’ll have to disagree with you there. The match is still new; the match has only been goin’ five or six minutes. As I said before, Ric Flair will wear the man down.” Caudle then again clarified the situation for the fans at home noting, “David, do you think Ric Flair knew where Wahoo was?” Crockett answered, “I think he did.” Caudle followed, “You think Ric also knew, then?” David reiterated, “I think he did, I definitely do.”
As the film continued to play, it showcased what was a very competitive match between Flair and Conway that had to be thrown together because of the surprising absence of Chief Wahoo McDaniel. David Crockett continued, “Tiger Conway, Jr., he’s doing very well taking up for Wahoo. He’s doing a fantastic job! Now Ric Flair…” The “Hammer” then interrupted, “That’s a familiar hold right there, a familiar knee right into the old bread basket.” Crockett concurred, “Yes it is, and now Ric is working on the mid section.” Seeing Tiger in trouble, Valentine then gleefully quipped, “Now you see Tiger Conway, laying flat on the mat!”
The back and forth between Flair and Conway was intense, and the film showed how enraptured the Park Center crowd was with this impromptu bout between these two. But there came a time during the film replay that a booming crowd reaction came that didn’t seem to track a brief lull in the action in the ring. It was even to the point that Ric and Tiger almost stopped their brutal assault against each other to see what the crowd was reacting to. While viewing the film at this point, David Crockett’s voice rose in anticipation, “Now, wait a minute…wait a minute! Ric Flair’s looking around! I think he senses something…”
What was unfolding before Crockett’s eyes was the dizzying spectacle that the fans in Charlotte watched with in amazement in person, and one that the fans around the Mid-Atlantic area on television would momentarily witness in disbelief!
TO BE CONTINUED IN PART 3
