Blooper! Steamboat Wrestles Steamboat! (1980)

 

Hampton, VA  April 20, 1980

Holy cow! Not sure if this counts as a blooper or if this is the result of a late-night desk editor's acid trip.

Check out these results in the Newport News Daily Press from an April 1980 card at the Hampton Coliseum.

We always knew Paul Jones was really the devil; the Daily Press just confirmed it for us. Plus, he lost a "fench" match - - whatever the heck that is.

And it is no mean feat to wrestle yourself - - and get disqualified against yourself - - as was apparently accomplished by Ricky Steamboat.

Ray Stevens was actually Steamboat's scheduled opponent that night in Hampton. Perhaps he no-showed and Steamboat put himself in a choke hold and failed to break by the count of five.

And having nothing to do with these bloopers, but could there have possibly been a slower moving tag team in 1980 than Ox Baker and Brute Bernard? I actually kind of dig that combination. Slow, yes, but don't let them catch you!

Thanks to Mark Eastridge for the clipping and Mike Cline for the line about Steamboat. You can view more classic newspaper bloopers by clicking here.

Originally published February 2017 on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway.

Poster: Flair Defends U.S. Title Against Snuka in Roanoke

by Brack Beasley
Mid-Atlantic Gateway Contributor

This poster promotes a card held at the Roanoke Civic Center on Sunday, May 4th, 1980. With a vertical layout, it has all black print over a beautiful rainbow colored background. 

In the main event Ric Flair defended his United States title against Jimmy Snuka (managed by Gene Anderson)while Jim Brunzell put his Mid-Atlantic championship belt on the line in the semi against The Iron Sheik. 

The undercard included names like Rufus R. Jones, Swede Hanson, Don Kernodle, S.D. Jones, Tony Garea, and a young Buzz Sawyer which made for quite an exciting night of professional wrestling in Roanoke.

NO. 41 IN THE BEASLEY POSTER SERIES

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Mid-Atlantic Gateway Notes

by Dick Bourne

Ric Flair had regained the United States title from Jimmy Snuka only a few weeks earlier in Greensboro, following a bitter feud with Jimmy Snuka that stretched back to the early fall of 1979. He would continue to defend against Snuka in the summer of 1980 while also forming a tag team with Blackjack Mulligan to chase (and eventually win) the NWA World Tag Team titles. Flair lost the U.S. title to Greg valentine in late July that summer.

The Iron Sheik came up short against Brunzell this night in Roanoke, but was able to capture the Mid-Atlantic title one week later in Charlotte.   

Roddy Piper Arrives in Mid-Atlantic Wrestling (1980)

by David Chappell
Mid-Atlantic Gateway 

“Rowdy” Roddy Piper, who would become one of the biggest names in the history of professional wrestling, entered Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling in the early autumn of 1980 as a virtual unknown to the fans of Jim Crockett Promotions. Without any advance publicity, Piper debuted in the territory on October 7, 1980 at the Dorton Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina, defeating Special Delivery Jones. But it was at the next night’s TV tapings at the WRAL television studios in Raleigh that Piper was truly introduced to the fans of the Mid-Atlantic area.

Roddy Piper with his bagpipes

At the beginning of that October 8, 1980 television taping, color commentator David Crockett announced as part of the match rundown, “And we have a newcomer…Rodney Piper.” Announcer Bob Caudle responded, “David, he’s from Glasgow, Scotland, and I understand he’s a rough, tough Scot.” Crockett answered, “That’s right; he really is. He’s a young, good looking guy, though. He’s very good.”

After Piper won his first TV match with ease, Caudle attempted to introduce Roddy to the area’s fans saying, “At ringside right now, and you just saw him in the ring and I gotta say…” Piper couldn’t wait for the introduction, blurting out, “Let me just tell you something Mister. I tell you something; I come to the area here and I walk in the arena and this lady says, ‘Who are you?’ She says, ‘WHO ARE YOU,’ to me! Who am I, who am I? Do I look like the tidy bowl man?! I come to the arena; I’m in my wrestling gear. Since I’ve been 16 years old, I’ve been professional wrestling.”

A boisterous Piper continued, “I was the youngest professional wrestler in the world when I started wrestling! By the time I was 19 years old, I won the Light Heavyweight Championship of the World, brother. Who am I?? When I was 21 I took Muhammad Ali, the World Heavyweight Boxing Champion, hip tossed him right down on his buttocks, and made him look like a fool. Who am I, you say?? You take a look at me, man; I’m the whipped cream on your strawberry shortcake! Who am I?? I am Rowdy Roddy Piper, 26 years old…”

Bob Caudle with Roddy Piper

At this juncture, a chant breaks out in the studio audience of ‘Rod-dy, Rod-dy, Rod-dy,’ which Piper feeds off of and pushes forward exclaiming, “…in the prime of my life, with ten years of experience! TEN YEARS of experience! And I come in here with a body that none can disclaim. Now don’t get me wrong, barbell plates and stuff like that is not my thing, brother. I am a wrestler! I am finely honed, I’m young and I’m ready. You listen to me, I see people comin’ around here, I see people comin’ around here, the ‘Nature Boy’ Ric Flair. What’s a Nature Boy, what does that mean? He runs through the woods nude?? The guy thinks he’s Euell Gibbons, comes up here and supposed to have all these pretty chicks chasing him all around?”

Without taking a breath Piper rants more on Flair and concludes, “Saw him the other day with some chicks, looked liked a Sasquatch exhibition, brother. Well, you listen to me. I’m what’s happening. You say, ‘Who am I?’ I told ya; I gotta question for you. You do you think you are, man?”

Almost at a loss for words, Caudle comments, “I tell ya fans, there’s no doubt what Roddy Piper thinks of Roddy Piper, and he can back it up as he said. He was the youngest wrestler in the world at 16, and held many championships. And that’s the story from Roddy Piper.”

It was a Mid-Atlantic story that had its first chapter in Raleigh in early October of 1980, and within less than a month saw Piper win the NWA Television Title in Richmond, Virginia in a spectacular one-night tournament. The United States Title came soon thereafter, and then many memorable feuds that culminated in 1983 with the vicious battles with former “Dream Team” friend Greg Valentine and the epic “Dog Collar Match” at Starrcade 1983.

The lady asking Roddy Piper who he was at his first WRAL appearance asked a fair question. But in his debut interview for Jim Crockett Promotions, Piper made it crystal clear who he was, and likely never had to answer that question again while wrestling in Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling. Fans in the Carolinas and Virginia quickly recognized Rowdy Roddy Piper as a wrestling star that just doesn’t come around every day, and saw that star shining brightly even during Piper’s earliest Mid-Atlantic appearance.

Originally posted October 2016 on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway. Republished May 2017.

Remembering Hot Times at County Hall in Charleston

by Andy McDaniel
Special to the Mid-Atlantic Gateway

Charleston County Hall was famously known for being a hot place. Literally, the building held heat like nowhere else. Wahoo McDaniel once told Mike Mooneyham that even the walls at County Hall could sweat. Regardless of the heat or the raindrops from the leaky ceiling, County Hall was just a fun place to be at on Friday nights.

From time to time, I recall a fun night at County Hall and love to share those memories. I am very grateful for the Gateway and the wonderful job they do for keeping Mid-Atlantic wrestling alive. It is a true joy to have the chance to contribute a story now and then.

Blackjack Mulligan was something else. He is one of those wrestling characters that will forever be remembered. He was a larger than life figure and literally, a giant of a man. Many of his feuds will live on forever in the hearts of Mid-Atlantic fans. I loved his time with Paul Jones, Tim Woods, and of course, the great memories of his matches with and against Ric Flair. However, there was another feud that I truly enjoyed, the one with the Masked Superstar.

Several matches between these two had taken place all over the Mid-Atlantic region. There were even a few at County Hall. As with most feuds, we saw specialty matches, matches with stipulations and on occasion another couple of guys would be tossed in and a tag-team match would take place. Such was the case on this particular Friday night in Charleston.

The main event was Blackjack Mulligan and a screwball member of his family, Cousin Luke, versus their opponents the Masked Superstar and his partner for the night, Enforcer Luciano. I had seen Luciano eating light bulbs and breaking concrete blocks with his fists on TV, but now I was going to see him in person. This was such a magical time in wrestling. The fans were invested and whether it was cheering or booing, the sincerity of each side was awesome.

It was another hot, Friday night at County Hall. The action had been fierce, but now it was time for the main event. Everyone was on their feet as Blackjack and Luke came to the ring. The Superstar and Luciano were waiting for them as they stepped through the ropes. After the ring announcer made the introductions, action started, and it was a brawl. Fists were flying, boots were coming off and being used as weapons; pretty much the only thing technical or actual wrestling wise that might have been seen would have been provided by the Superstar.

It was exactly what Blackjack had promised the previous Saturday during the local promos; it was a fight. The match/brawl went on for a bit, but then the action seemed to settle down. Much to the dismay of most of the crowd, Blackjack found himself being subdued by the Superstar. The cobra clutch had brought down the big man in the center of the ring. Every time it seemed like Blackjack might break free or make the tag to Luke, Luciano would do something to steal the crowd's joy. The referee was really hearing it from the crowd. He seemed to never be able to catch the dastardly deeds being done in his ring and the fans were letting him know their feelings. Referees always seemed good at missing so many important moments. Tommy Young, Stu Schwartz, Sonny Fargo, they are such great parts of the history of Mid-Atlantic wrestling. They were so important to the matches, I always enjoyed their work.

This back and forth match went on for quite a while, the crowd was surely on an emotional roller coaster. I can remember it just like it was last night. The Superstar and his partner had exhausted the crowd. The wooden floor of County Hall bellowed out as the fans began to stomp. The railings of the balcony rang as palms began to pound against them, all in disapproval of the things being done to our heroes.

In what appeared to be an act of betrayal, right at the moment it seemed that Blackjack might break free, Cousin Luke jumped off the corner of the ring and headed toward the dressing room.

You could feel the air almost leave the room, as the crowd gasped, and shock filled the arena. The smoke that hovered just below the ceiling began to swirl at a near tornado type speed. Yes, people smoked inside back then, It was kind of part of the charm of County Hall - - smoke, popcorn, beer, etc. Those were special times indeed.

The disbelief at what was taking place before our very eyes was at an unreal level. How could this be? How could Luke turn on his own cousin? Was he really a traitor? Almost immediately, the boos started and the closer he got to the back, the louder things seemed to get.

As is most often in pro wrestling, things were not as they would seem and almost as quickly as Luke entered the dressing room, he would come back out. But he was not alone. To every one’s delight, he would bring an additional partner back the ring, but this was a partner that did not walk with him. Instead it was in his hand. It was about 4-feet long and firm in nature. Yes, good ol' Cousin Luke quickly had the fans back in his corner as he and his new partner, a 2 x 4, entered the ring to assist in what seemed to be a very unfair fight. As he evened the odds and dispatched Superstar and Luciano; Blackjack was on the road to recovery and rejoined the chaos as it unfolded. Unfortunately, the referee did not approve of all the mayhem and called for the bell and the ring announcer would soon let the rowdy crowd know that all had been disqualified.

It was one of those times that, while the victory was not found in a simple 1-2-3, the fans still went home happy because they saw justice had come to town and the bad guys were sent running.

Friday nights at County Hall: what wonderful memories. For a young kid who went to his first matches in that building starting in 1974, every time was always special. This year, 2018, will be exactly 20 years since the last matches were held in the hallowed Hall. I had the honor and absolute privilege of not only promoting that show, but was also in the main event that night. It will be a memory that I will cherish forever. To have watched all my heroes - - Wahoo, Ric, Rufus, Blackjack, Jimmy Valiant, Paul Jones - - to have seen them do battle in this special old building and to personally be able to go back there all those years later and be the one to close out wrestling forever in County Hall, is something I hold near to my heart.

This night with Blackjack, Superstar, and the rest of the crew was another hot night of pro wrestling at County Hall. It was a simple time of story-telling. It was a time when the crowd’s emotions were directed like a Maestro conducts an orchestra, by the guys in the ring. It was a time that was simply magical. I miss those days, but the memories sure are wonderful.

This story contains corrections from a previous version of the story.

Originally published January 28, 2018

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Order your copy of "Reunion at County Hall" on Amazon.com
Black & White Version   |   Color Version

Read the review by Mike Mooneyham of the Charleston Post & Courier

Wrestling Book Takes a Look at County Hall 

Mid-Atlantic Wrestling in Niagara Falls, ONT (1980)

by Dick Bourne
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

Poster image submitted by Andrew Calvert and Barry Hatchet
MapleLeafWrestling.com

This is a very rare and somewhat unusual poster from June of 1980 for a show in Niagara Falls, Ontario. It features a United States title defense by Ric Flair against Great Hossein Arab, better known to fans in the traditional Mid-Atlantic territory as the Iron Sheik. The card took place at Niagara Falls Memorial Arena, which was just across the Canadian - U.S. border in Ontario.

The show was promoted by Tony Parisi as an extension of Frank Tunney's Toronto booking office. This was during the roughly 5-year period that Tunney was booking the majority of his talent for Toronto from Jim Crockett Promotions in partnership with Crockett and booker George Scott. One of the unusual things that makes this poster so rare is that it says "Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling" instead of Maple Leaf Wrestling. Andrew Calvert from Toronto told us that posters were generally pretty scarce to begin with up his way, but the ones they did have were almost always billed as Maple Leaf Wrestling. 

The Iron Sheik was generally billed in Toronto as Hossein the Arab or Great Hossein Arab. (His name was badly misspelled on the poster.) When he first arrived in the Mid-Atlantic area in early 1980, he was referred to on television by Bob Caudle and Rich Landrum as  "Hossein the Arab, the Iron Sheik." Later, it was simply shortened to the Iron Sheik. But in Toronto, it was usually Hossein the Arab.

At the time of this card, the Sheik was Canadian Heavyweight Champion, having defeated Dewey Robertson for the gold belt back in May in Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. Oddly he is not billed as such on this poster, although newspaper articles in advance of this show mention he is champion. It appears Flair's United States title was the only championship on the line that night at the Falls arena. The Canadian title was mainly defended in Toronto, but it would seem a missed opportunity to not have a title-vs-title match, especially given that the finish of the match was reportedly a double count-out. 

Sheik was also the reigning Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight champion at this time. He is billed with neither title on this poster.

Others featured on the poster were local favorites (and former Canadian champions) Angelo "King Kong" Mosca and Dewey Robertson, teaming up to face the top heel team for Jim Crockett Promotions, Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka and Ray "The Crippler" Stevens. Snuka and Stevens won the NWA World Tag Team titles just three weeks earlier from Ricky Steamboat and Jay Youngblood in Greensboro, NC, although they are not billed as champions on the poster. Neither is their manager Gene Anderson, and it isn't clear if Anderson appeared with them on this show in Niagara Falls. Again, it seems like a missed opportunity for promoter Parisi to not bill Snuka and Stevens as tag champs and make the match a title match.

Parisi's office was spelling-challenged on this particular poster, too: they even botched local football and wrestling legend Angelo Mosca's name!

One other thing that seemed odd (and this was mentioned in the local paper, too) was the low placement on the card of Pedro Morales. To be sure, Morales was wrestling low-to-mid card for Jim Crockett Promotions during this era, even doing jobs on TV, but he had not so long ago been WWWF Heavyweight Champion, and was still occasionally a headliner in the WWWF during this era. With the WWWF television being seen in this area, and the history of the WWWF title being defended in Toronto, you would think that even being booked out of JCP, Morales would have had a more featured spot on the card here.

As seen in this image, the poster is in really rough shape, worn and torn, and with a lot of apparent water damage. It was recently sold on eBay, which is where Barry Hatchet noticed it and the image wound up making its way to us, via our mutual friend Andrew at MapleLeafWrestling.com.

 

CLICK ARTICLE IMAGE TO READ LARGER VERSION

 

 Book Store:

The Canadian Heavyweight Championship  |  The United States Championship

Blooper! Fat Boy Duncum

 
by Dick Bourne
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

We love the newspaper bloopers, but when David Chappell came across this one and sent it to me, I laughed out loud.

These are the results that appeared in the Tuesday morning Greenville, SC, newspaper following the weekly Monday night event at the Greenville Memorial Auditorium on 8/11/80.

The scheduled co-main event was to be Blackjack Mulligan vs. "Bad Boy" Bobby Duncum, but it appears that FAT BOY DUNCAN took his place!!

In other notes:

Not mentioned in this clip is that Greg Valentine was defending the U.S. title that night in his match against Sweet Ebony Diamond (Rocky Johnson.)

It's interesting to see future Japanese superstar Tenyru on the under card, forming an interesting team with Brute Bernard and the underrated Gene Lewis. Their opponents featured one of my favorite tag teams of all time, Matt Borne and Buzz Sawyer (Mid-Atlantic Tag Team champions at that time), with their partner the legendary veteran Johnny Weaver. I'm betting that was an entertaining six-man tag match before the intermission.

The opener that night, not listed in these results, was Don Kernodle vs. Tony Russo.

For more Bloopers, see the entire list here.

The Cane That Wouldn't Break: Greg Valentine Shatters Ric Flair's Face (1980)

by Dick Bourne
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

"I was looking at that cane and I could tell that cane was gonna be brutal to break over a darn cement block, let alone somebody’s head."
   - Greg Valentine

On a recent episode of Ric Flair's podcast Woooo Nation: Uncensored, a listener sent in a question asking about the time Gene Anderson hit Ric Flair with his cane, legitimately breaking Flair's nose. It's one of the most infamous and talked about angles in Mid-Atlantic Wrestling history during that era.

Except it wasn't Gene Anderson that hit him. And the cane didn't break. And that was part of the problem.

To be fair, it was Gene Anderson's cane, and it happened back in 1980, almost 42 years ago this summer, so it's easy to understand how the details of the thing can getting a little foggy over time.

It was actually Greg Valentine who tried to break Anderson's cane over Ric's head following a tag team match between Flair and Valentine against Jimmy Snuka and the Iron Sheik, who were managed at the time by the then cane-wielding Gene Anderson. Valentine failed miserably at the task, although it wasn't really his fault. However, Ric paid the price for it with a legitimately broken nose and 30-plus stitches in his head, face, and lips.  

Ric Flair battles Greg Valentine during their bloody feud of 1980.

Sadly, as memorable as you might think something like that would be to someone, Ric didn't seem to remember the details either, except that it hurt like hell. 

One guy who did remember every detail of it was Greg "The Hammer" Valentine who perpetrated the deed. David Chappell and I asked him about it back in March of 2004, just prior to his induction to the WWE Hall of Fame at Wrestlemania 20. We had the opportunity to interview him at a legends show in Lenoir, NC, promoted by Tony Hunter.

Rather than have me tell you the story of that angle, let's let Greg tell you himself, in this edited excerpt from our Gateway Interview in 2004 with The Hammer himself:

Chappell (to Greg Valentine): When you first came back from New York at the end of 1979, you asked Ric to be your partner again, and he wouldn’t do it, right?

 

Valentine: Flair turned his back on me. (laughs) When I came back fr
om New York, Ric was on the other side. He was a babyface, and he wouldn’t tag with a villain like me. (laughs)

 

Chappell: Then for a while right after that, you went back to tag team wrestling?

 

Valentine: Yeah, that’s right. Ray Stevens and I held the (World) Titles at that time.

 

Bourne: But soon after that, you went after Flair again. And you broke his nose in that feud in 1980. Now, one of the urban legends in wrestling was that you caught Ric with Gene Anderson’s cane and legitimately broke his nose with that cane. Is that true?

 

Valentine: Yeah…it’s true. You know, we were sitting back in the dressing rooms getting ready for that match. Of course, Ric was on the other side of the building. We didn’t have dressing rooms together…heels were on one side and babyfaces were on the other. George Scott came in and told me what they wanted us to do. But I was never supposed to break Flair’s nose…I was supposed to break the cane!

 

Chappell: But didn’t that whole thing have its roots from an incident on TV, where you came out and told Ric that you’d seen the light, and that you now wanted to tag back up with him? Wrestle as a fan favorite tag team, in other words?

 

Valentine: (laughing) Can you believe he trusted me?! This was against…I think it was Snuka and the Iron Sheik, right? And Gene Anderson was managing Snuka and the Sheik at that time.  So I short-armed Ric and wouldn’t tag him. The place was sold out---I thought there was going to be a riot when I refused to tag him. Ric is already bleeding, and he keeps crawling on his knees trying to tag me in…and I’m walking away from him.

 

Chappell: You were heartless! (everybody laughs)

 

Valentine: I know it! (laughs) But as I was saying before, they told me back in the dressing room, ‘We want you to hit Flair over the head with Gene Anderson’s cane and make sure you break the cane over his head.’

 

Chappell: That cane was pretty sturdy, wasn’t it?

 

Valentine: Hey, I was looking at that cane and I could tell that cane was gonna be brutal to break over a darn cement block, let alone somebody’s head. (everybody laughs) I didn’t know, but I kept saying, ‘Maybe you better gimmick up the cane a little bit, so I can make sure I can break it.’ Gene said, ‘Naw, you can break it…just hit him.’

 

Chappell: That was easy for Gene to say!

 

Valentine: (laughs) Ric knew I was supposed to break the cane. But later, I found out that the cane was made out of hickory wood. You know, the hardest wood there is! They make baseball bats out of hickory.

 

Bourne: Oh my word!

 

Chappell: Flair’s nose didn’t stand a chance, did it? (everybody laughs)

 

Valentine: At the time I didn’t know it was hickory, but I was thinking it might be something like that.  So I was out there, and the Sheik and Snuka found out that I wouldn’t tag Ric so they worked him over pretty good. After they took the fall on Ric, Gene Anderson threw me the cane and I caught it. Ric’s hanging over there in the corner trying to get away…or acting like he’s trying to get away. Now, Flair has blood all over his face by that point, and I’m thinking if I hit him, the cane is just going to slide down. But…I went for it! (everybody laughs) WHAM! I hit him as hard as I could…and it didn’t break! (everyone laughs)

 

Chappell: What was running through your mind then?

 

Valentine: I’m just looking at that cane. Gene is looking at me from the outside on the floor. Gene yelled at me, "Break it kid, break it!"  So now I really clocked Ric hard with the cane right on top of the cranium. And he’s REALLY trying to get away when he heard Gene say again, ‘BREAK THE CANE, KID!!’ (laughs)  I tried again with a wild stroke and Ric is moving trying to avoid it and I hit him across the top of his nose…the bridge of his nose. It went right down and busted his lips open…his lips were bleeding bad.

 

Chappell: Did you know you had broken his nose then?

 

Valentine: I had no idea I had broken his nose…I didn’t find out until a few hours later that his nose was broken. And I STILL didn’t break the cane! (everyone laughs) But the damage had been done then. I think it was Mulligan that came out and ran us all off. Ric went right to the hospital. He had stitches all over his lips.

 

Chappell: What was Flair’s reaction to what you had done?

 

Valentine: I called Ric up around two o’clock in the morning, and he was already back home. I apologized for it. And he said, ‘Man, don’t worry about it. We’re gonna make lots of money from it.’ (laughs)

 

As our friend George Pantas pointed out to me recently, we all sure were laughing a lot at Ric's expense. You could tell Greg enjoyed remembering that time. And of course they did make lots of money off that very real angle, drawing big houses for the matches across the territory for months to follow. The angle led eventually to Valentine defeating Ric Flair for the United States Heavyweight title later that summer. The cane angle is a notable moment in the title history of the U.S. Championship and another great chapter in the tumultuous "family" relationship between Flair and his cousins the Andersons in Mid-Atlantic Wrestling lore.

You can find video of the whole thing from Mid-Atlantic TV on YouTube if you want to search for it. We won't post the links here because the date on the YouTube footage is wrong and the video quality is atrocious. But worth at least hearing Flair's interview with Bob Caudle and David Crockett in advance of looking at the film because it is one of Ric's greatest dead-serious babyface promos of that era.

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Some links to other features on the Gateway related to this story:

Greg Valentine: The Gateway Interview
(Archive site. The above edited excerpt is from Pg. 3 )

The Ric Flair/Gene Anderson Figure Four/Hair Challenge
The angle that led to Gene Anderson needing to carry a cane.

 

Poster: Flair and Valentine Battle for the U.S. Title in Greensboro

What better way to end a long July 4th holiday weekend than a spectacular night of Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling in the Greensboro Coliseum? 

This poster promotes an event held on Sunday July 6, 1980 and it's beautiful red, white, and blue layout reflects the Independence Day theme. The blue print stands against a solid white background with the date and 4 main event participants in high impact red. 

In the main event U.S. Champion Ric Flair continued his bloody feud with former ally Greg Valentine. Although Valentine fell short in his title quest on this night, he would finally capture the U.S. belt from Flair three weeks later in Charlotte, NC, to commence his first reign as US champ.

The semi was a good ol' Texas Street Fight between Blackjack Mulligan and Enforcer Luciano while Ricky Steamboat tied up with Ray Stevens.

Andre the Giant headlined a 14 man $7,500 Battle Royal which also included Jimmy Snuka, the Iron Sheik, Sweet Ebony Diamond, Johnny Weaver, Ox Baker, and Pedro Morales, amongst others. As it says at the bottom of the poster there were seven big matches in all.

 Not surprisingly Andre would win the Battle Royal and while $7,500 doesn't really sound like a huge amount, it computes to roughly $25,000 in today's money, not too bad for a night's work. 

NO. 17 IN A SERIES

Poster: Flair and Sweet Ebony Diamond challenge Valentine and Superstar at Ernie Shore Field

 

by Brack Beasley
Mid-Atlantic Gateway Contributor

Ernie Shore Field in Winston-Salem, NC opened in 1956 and was home to the Winston-Salem minor league baseball team. On occasion this baseball stadium would host concerts as well as professional wrestling, both Mid Atlantic and IWA.

This poster takes us back to the summer of 1980 and promotes a card held on July 25th with the main event being a tag team matchup pitting the Masked Superstar and Greg Valentine against Ric Flair and Sweet Ebony Diamond.

Rocky Johnson entered the Mid Atlantic territory under a mask as Sweet Ebony Diamond and was a superb performer, but probably best known today as father of "The Rock" Dwayne Johnson. 

Dewey Robertson was also on this card, having lost the Canadian Heavyweight Championship to the Iron Sheik a couple of months earlier. Sheik was on a roll, having also won the Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship from Jim Brunzell two weeks before this card at Ernie Shore.

I'm confident it was an exciting Friday night under the stadium lights for wrestling fans with an undercard also featuring Mid-Atlantic greats Johnny Weaver and Don Kernodle. 

The poster design itself really draws your attention with black print on a bright yellow background and the date and main event in bold high impact red. It would definitely be hard to miss sitting in the front window of a local business as you're passing by.

NO. 5 IN A SERIES

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Gateway Notes:

Mid-Atlantic Wrestling was also being held that Friday night in Charleston SC and Lynchburg, VA. Charleston was headlined by Blackjack Mulligan vs. Enforcer Luciano in a Texas Street Fight. Lynchburg's main event saw Jim Brunzell trying to reclaim his Mid-Atlantic title from the Iron Sheik.

Poster: Mulligan vs. Studd Headlines Harrisonburg, VA

by Brack Beasley
Mid-Atlantic Gateway Contributor

Back in the day, even if you didn't live in a bigger town or city, you most likely had your favorite Mid-Atlantic stars visit a gym or ballpark somewhere close to you. Here is a poster promoting a great double main event at the high school gym in Harrisonburg, VA, dated January 17, 1980.

These main events could have headlined Greensboro, Charlotte, Roanoke, or any of the other bigger venues in the Mid Atlantic territory. While it must have been a cold winter Thursday night in Harrisonburg, I would bet that things got heated up in that gym.

The feud between my personal favorite Mr. Wrestling Tim Woods and Jimmy Snuka is recounted here on the Gateway in great detail by David Chappell and most likely the chain match between Mulligan and Studd was a brutal affair.

The rainbow colored background on this poster looks great and really stands out against the black print, especially on a vertical poster such as this. 

Previous poster: Andre the Giant's First Night in Greensboro (1974)

NO. 3 IN A SERIES

Blooper! No Explanation for This One

Every once in awhile, we come across a newspaper blooper for which there is simply no explanation. Such is the case with this newspaper result for the June 16, 1980 card at the Greenville Memorial Auditorium in Greenville, SC.

It was in a preliminary match on the card where Billy Starr lost a decision to that well known wrestler ..."NIFTY!"

What? Who the heck is Nifty?? We can't even guess who it was supposed to be. We've not come across the ad for this show, either, so we have no idea.

But congratulations to Nifty for his debut win in Greenville!

For more Bloopers, visit our blooper directory.

Otherwise, it surely was a wild main event as Blackjack Mulligan brought in one of the family, Cousin Luke, to team with Sweet Ebony Diamond to defeat the diverse team of Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, Enforcer Luciano, and the Masked Superstar.

We've written about Enforcer Luciano on the website, but not much about Blackjack's Cousin Luke. You may remember him sitting in the floor of the ring during tag team matches eating popcorn, much to the frustration of Blackjack who had sprung Luke "from the home" to help out in his battles with Luciano and others.

For more on Cousin Luke and all of Blackjack's crazy family and friends, visit Part 3 of the Eagle Pass Biographies in Blackjack's BBQ.

 

This Blooper originally posted on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway on April 5, 2017

The Assassination of Pvt. Jim Nelson

The Brisco Brothers Send a Message to Steamboat and Youngblood
by Dick Bourne
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

"Jack and Jerry, you told me it was an accident." 
- Pvt. Jim Nelson

One of my favorite angles from Jim Crockett Promotions in the 1980s took place on the May 21, 1983  episode of Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling where Pvt. Jim Nelson confronted the Briscos over their dastardly turn on Ricky Steamboat and Jay Youngblood. Nelson's stand against the Briscos, their subsequent destruction of the young Marine Private, and the mayhem that followed is to this day one of my favorite moments to watch over and over again, even 38 years later. Happily, that show and this angle are included on the WWE Network.

First, a little background:

In the spring of 1983, Ricky Steamboat and Jay Youngblood were ready for new challengers to their NWA World Tag Team Championships, having just dispatched their arch enemies Sgt. Slaughter and Don Kernodle in a blood feud that had boiled over since it began back in the fall of 1982. Sarge was headed to the WWF, and Kernodle would eventually regroup and align himself with Ivan Koloff to win the World Tag Team titles once again in 1984.

During Ricky and Jay's run up to winning the titles, they had some behind-the-scenes help in tormenting Slaughter and Kernodle in the form of Pvt. Jim Nelson, a member of Sarge's "platoon" and former tag partner of Pvt. Don Kernodle, who were once Mid-Atlantic Tag Team champions. Nelson had been somewhat discarded by Slaughter as the Sarge and Kernodle had moved on to win the NWA World Tag Team titles and left him behind. Nelson became somewhat of a "double agent," the secret ally of Steamboat and Youngblood, and was involved in several mysterious pranks that tormented and distracted Slaughter and Kernodle. Only recently had Pvt. Nelson revealed himself to be the co-conspirator of Steamboat and Youngblood, and this had made him a fan-favorite.

BRISCOS CLASH WITH STEAMBOAT AND YOUNGBLOOD
New challengers emerged for Ricky and Jay in the form of unlikely foes - their close friends Jack and Jerry Brisco. The Briscos had been making "quiet noise" about their desire to go after the tag titles for several months, acknowledging that they both had held many singles and tag championships over their storied careers, but had never held the world tag team titles. It was the one title they wanted the most. 

In a series of what were thought to be friendly (although quite competitive) contests between the two friendly teams, Jack Brisco had injured Ricky Steamboat's knee on two occasions, each time falling on Steamboat's leg and knee as Ricky was trapped in Jerry's figure-four leglock. The first appeared to be an accident, but the second clearly wasn't. 

As the video-tape of the controversial second injury to Steamboat was shown again on TV, Steamboat's new friend Jim Nelson came out to confront the Briscos over what they had done. 

PVT. NELSON CONFRONTS THE BRISCOS
Nelson felt betrayed as well, indicating that Jack and Jerry earlier had both promised him that the first injury was an accident. Angry, Nelson called Brisco a coward and challenged him to get in the ring with him. Brisco obliged and the two battled for a few moments until Jack got the upperhand with the figure-four and then it was Jerry this time who came off the top turnbuckle and landed on Nelson, badly injriing his knee. The injury (all storyline, of course) was so severe that Pvt. Jim nelson was put out of wrestling permanently. It would be the last time he would be seen in a wrestling ring.

In actuality it was Nelson's farewell to the Mid-Atlantic area only, as he was leaving to go work in the Mid-South area for promoter Bill Watts under a new persona, the mad Russian Boris Zhukov, a persona he would maintain for the rest of his career, culminating years later as the tag team partner of Nicolia Volkoff in the WWF.

The Brisco's elimination of Pvt. Nelson was masterfully executed, and served to fully cement them as "bad guys" to the fans, some of whom were still unsure what was happening with them. Their assassination of Nelson in the WPCQ TV studio that early Wednesday in May made it clear to everyone they were now dirty heels.

THIRTY EIGHT YEARS LATER, NELSON REMEMBERS
During a recent conversation catching up with our friend Jim Nelson, I told him I was writing a little article about the memorable angle, and asked him who came to him with the idea and how it was presented. Nelson was working a notice around the circuit before he would leave for Mid-South, and was no longer working TV. Knowing Jim would no longer be around anyway, the Briscos, Steamboat and Youngblood cooked up the angle to put Nelson out for good, and help drive home to the fans that the Briscos were now bad guys.

"Jack and Jerry worked it all out with me," Jim told me. "Gene Anderson and Johnny Weaver [who produced the TV shows] pushed and encouraged me to be direct and aggressive with Jack to get across I was mad and upset with what happened. I remember vividly Jack told me to come at him hard. 'Your upset and ticked off, so show it.'" 

Nelson did go at him hard, shoving Brisco so suddenly it almost knocked him off his feet. 

What really made the angle work though, in my opinion, was when Nelson said to them, "Jack and Jerry, you told me it was a accident." He came across so sincerely at that moment, with such sad disappointment in his voice.  It got over that not only had the Brisocs betrayed Steamboat and Youngblood, but they had betrayed him, too. Beautifully done.

Jim told me he thought he had given them what they were looking for. "It's my favorite all time angle I was ever involved in."

That's a pretty big statement. Jim Nelson as Boris Zhukov worked many angles in Southeastern Wrestling, the AWA, and the WWF, including headlining with Sgt. Slaughter over the AWA Americas title and teaming with Nikolai Volkoff as part of the famous tag team the Bolsheviks at a Wrestlemania. It indicates how much it meant to him personally to do an angle with the Brisco brothers, for whom he had such immense respect, and especially to have had this opportunity so early in his career.   

FLOWN IN JUST FOR THE ANGLE
Interestingly, the angle almost never happened. Nelson was days away from leaving for the Mid-South territory, packing up his belongings at his home in Roanoke, VA. The whole thing came as quite a surprise to him when he got the phone call to come back to Charlotte for one last shot.

"Jim Crockett flew me into Charlotte from Roanoke. I did the angle, and then flew directly home from Charlotte after the taping. Mike Rotunda took me to the airport. The show was still going on and being taped. I headed out to Louisiana a few days later, before it even aired." 

Nelson never saw it until many years later.  

"I enjoyed it immensely," Jim told me. "All the years I grew up watching Mid-Atlantic Wrestling as a kid, and then to get in the business, looking forward to a moment like that, the opportunity to work with guys like that. It was key for me that day. I wanted to make it real. You do something like that, you give it your best, your all."

 

THE TRANSCRIPT
If you have the WWE Network, you can go the 5/21/83 episode in the Territories section and watch this angle in it's entity in wonderful quality. It takes place at 18:48 into the WWE version of the show. It's also probably available somewhere on YouTube in less than wonderful quality. Either way, it's worth the trouble to see it. 

If you can't see it on video, we've included the transcript below, which starts just after Bob Caudle and the Briscos finish reviewing video tape of the controversial match with Steamboat and Youngblood.

BOB CAUDLE: All right fans, and there it was, and Jack, Jerry, that's the controversial part of the match. 

JACK BRISCO: You can see right there when Rick Steamboat deliberately tried to hurt me, threw me out here on the cement floor, intentionally trying to injure me. I looked up there in the ring and there's Youngblood and Steamboat both on my brother, so I go in there and save my brother. 

CAUDLE: Alright, and Jerry what are your comments about that? 

JERRY BRISCO: Well that's exactly right, I looked up and I saw Jay Youngblood trying to give me another shot right in the throat, and I guarantee you, if it hadn't been for my brother, I might not be able to stand out here and talk to you today.

(Jim Nelson approaches the Briscos...)

BOB CAUDLE: And Jim Nelson right here...

JIM NELSON: I can't believe you two guys. You were great friends with Steamboat and Youngblood, you wanted a chance at the belts. You said you'd wrestle them for them. I thought the first time it was a mistake. Jack and Jerry, you told me it was an accident. And after that right there - - (points at Jack Brisco) - - You tried to hurt him, you tried to put [Steamboat] out of wrestling, those belts mean more to you than anything, just like Slaughter and Kernodle. You stoop that low, a former world's champion - - You're a coward, Jack Brisco!

JACK BRISCO: I'm a coward?? (flares up, pushes Nelson)

JIM NELSON: Yeah, you're a coward! Why don't you get in the ring with me right now!!

JACK BRISCO: You don't call me no coward!! 

JIM NELSON: (shoves Brisco hard) Get in the ring with me right now! (jumps into ring)

BRISCO: I'll get in the ring with you right now....(Angrily removes jacket and shirt) 

The crowd pops!

BOB CAUDLE: All right, Jim Nelson calling Jack Brisco a coward, says get in the ring, and Jack's taken off his coat...

Jack angrily takes off his shirt and prepares to enter the ring, as the crowd cheers

JERRY BRISCO: Nelson has turned into nothing but a stooge for Youngblood and Steamboat! He's completely loosing his mind, he's the one that caused an awful lot of trouble (for Slaughter and Kernodle)

Jack Brisco charges into the ring.

CAUDLE: Jack's got his street clothes on! His (cowboy) boots and his jeans...

Referee Ron West seems to indicate he'll allow a match. Brisco quickly gains the upper hand with punches that back Nelson into the corner. Brisco snap-mares him out of the corner...

CAUDLE: And here goes Jack with a knee drop right down across Jim Nelson! With a boot to the forehead now, a couple of kicks to Nelson...

Nelson gets to his feet, blocks Brisco's punch, and throws two haymaker tomahawk-type punches that have Brisco reeling. Nelson whips Brisco int the ropes and catches him with a big boot coming back off the ropes sending Brisco prone to the canvas. Nelson mounts Jack and begins to pound away with a series of right hand punches to Brisco's head. The crowd is loving it. Jerry Brisco, meanwhile, has climbed to the ring apron. Nelson picks up Jack and delivers a big body slam, bounces off the ropes and goes to deliver his own knee-drop...

CAUDLE: These two have really went at each other, Jim Nelson calling Jack Brisco a coward - - and Jack rolls right out from under that knee! 

Nelson crashes to the mat on his knee, and cries out in pain...

CAUDLE: And it looks like now he is going to the figure-four!! 

As Jack applies his patented figure-four leg-lock to a helpless Nelson, Jerry Brisco climbs to the top turnbuckle...

CAUDLE: And now here's Jerry Brisco on that top rope!...

Jerry Brisco dives from the top turnbuckle...

CAUDLE: ...right down across Jim Nelson's leg and knee! As Jack had him in the figure four - -

 Jim Nelson screams in agony on the mat, holding his injured knee.

CAUDLE: And now there is Jerry Brisco taking his coat off. The Brisco brothers simply going wild. Jim Nelson, who really baited Jack into a match - - and Jack is going to put the figure-four on him again!! Again he's going to put it on that leg, and he continues to apply the pressure...

Jerry taunts Nelson as Jack clamps down tighter on the figure four. Within moments, Johnny Weaver, Mike Rotundo, Rufus Jones, and Jimmy Valiant all hit the ring to save Nelson. The Briscos retreat to the set with Bob Caudle.

JERRY BRISCO: (back at the desk with Caudle) He comes out here and preaches to us, Nelson comes out here and preaches - - you know, that's the thing about it, all they can do is complain, come out preaching, trying to convert us. The only way, Bob, to win those world tag team championships is to prove we are the number one contenders.

JACK BRISCO: Jim Nelson's finished! I felt the knee go!

Johnny Weaver approaches the Briscos

JOHNNY WEAVER: I thought this was all an accident, I can't believe you guys would stoop this low..

JACK BRISCO: Another preacher, huh? Get back in that ring and check on your stooge!

WEAVER: You're darn right I'll get back in there and check on him, he's my partner!

JACK BRISCO: I felt that knee go, Bob, I had that figure-four on him, and Jerry came across there, I felt the knee go. Believe me, Jim Nelson's finished. You'll never see him wrestle around here again.

Jimmy Valiant now leaves the ring and approaches the Briscos

JIMMY VALIANT: (Pleading) C'mon baby, c'mon brother! Why?

Jack sucker-punches Valiant in the gut, and the Briscos both pick Valiant up...

BOB CAUDLE: And Jack Brisco now hits Valiant and they both pick him up and slam him to the floor! The Briscos slamming Valiant to the concrete floor, grab their jacks and out they go!

The Briscos leave the studio, with Valiant hurt on the floor and Jim Nelson still in agony in the ring.

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Mulligan vs. Studd: A Long and Winding Road

by David Chappell
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

When Blackjack Mulligan morphed into a fan favorite in April of 1978, turning Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling upside down, the big Texan had to immediately had to face the wrath of Ric Flair’s $10,000.00 bounty. Through the spring and summer of 1978, Blackjack endured brutal bounty matches against some of the roughest and toughest grapplers in the world. In particular, Mulligan’s bounty matches against the Masked Superstar were legendary and are still vividly remembered by Mid-Atlantic fans to this day.

ONLINE WORLD OF WRESTLING

When Mulligan finally prevailed in the memorable bounty program with the Masked Superstar in early September of 1978, there was a slight lull as Flair could not believe that Blackjack ran off his number one bounty hunter. But by the fall of 1978, Flair had enlisted the assistance of a new giant of a bounty hunter, and the man’s name was “Big” John Studd. Long-time observers of Jim Crockett Promotions may have noticed that Studd was a familiar looking grappler, as he had appeared in the Mid-Atlantic area earlier as “Chuck O’Connor” in 1974 into the early winter of 1975.

In one of his first appearances as “John Studd” in early November of 1978 the behemoth told World Wide Wrestling announcer Rich Landrum, “A few months ago Ric Flair called me and he said, ‘Studd, John Studd, I want you to do me a favor. I want you to get rid of a man.’ I said, ‘Who?’ He said, ‘Jack Mulligan.’ I said, ‘Tell me what the man is, tell me what he looks like.’ He said, ‘The man’s big, he’s six foot eight and he weighs over 300 pounds and he’s tough.’ I said, ‘What does it mean to you?’ He said, ‘I tell ya what, I have a $10,000.00 bounty on Mulligan! It’s yours, all you gotta do is hurt him!’”

Studd smiled at Landrum and concluded, “Hey, that’s all it takes. That’s what I’m inflated with, the thought that it’s gonna make me $10,000,00! That’s all I needed. I know you’re big Mulligan, I know you’re strong, I know you’ve done away with a lot of other bounty hunters…it doesn’t bother me. You haven’t gotten to John Studd, listen to me Mulligan, six foot nine and 330 pounds, strong and mean…that’s not brag that’s fact Mulligan! And I will get you and I will get the $10,000.00 bounty, and you Mulligan will apologize to Ric Flair for any humiliation you’ve caused him!”

This was the beginning of a saga between Mulligan and Studd where the $10,000.00 bounty was always the backdrop. The long and winding road to come between these two proceeded to January of 1979 where Studd did the unthinkable and collected the bounty, and while Mulligan left the Mid-Atlantic area for about six months the big Texan made periodic cameos in the area enough to put Studd on notice that he would not just fade away.  

By the summer of 1979 Mulligan had returned in earnest and during the Fall of 1979 Blackjack and Studd engaged in a series of brutal Texas Street Fight brawls, with Blackjack gaining the upper hand in them as the new decade and the year of 1980 arrived. In some of those bouts, Studd actually put up the $10,000.00 bounty money he had earlier collected on Mulligan’s head! And on January 13, 1980 in the Greensboro Coliseum, Mulligan gained sweet revenge as he ran Studd out of the territory in a bloody Loser Leaves Town cage match that sent Studd packing! Or did it? 

In one of the stranger angles in Mid-Atlantic history, just as Blackjack got rid of his latest bounty hunter in the form of John Studd, one of the early bounty hunters against him returned…the Masked Superstar! But things would get nuttier. As soon as Superstar returned at the beginning of 1980, he would have a new wrestling companion in a huge masked grappler referred to as Superstar # 2! The team of the Superstar’s #1 and #2 then turned their attention to put Mulligan out of wrestling, at the behest of the vanquished John Studd who was supposedly pulling the strings from outside of the Mid-Atlantic area. Even at this juncture, Studd was still talking about bounty money being in play!

But the more the fans and the TV announcers saw of this Superstar #2, the more it became clear that this mountain of a man was none other than John Studd under a hood! After a number of tag team bouts between Blackjack and several partners against Superstar’s #1 and #2 during the early spring of 1980, Mulligan finally got a series of singles matches with Superstar #2. In May of 1980 in several of the bigger towns in the Mid-Atlantic area, Mulligan took the measure of Superstar #2 while Superstar #1 was locked in a small cage near ringside so he couldn’t interfere. 

Blackjack prevailed in those climatic matches in May of 1980, unmasked Superstar #2 as John Studd, and ended the saga of Mulligan versus Studd that stretched all the way back to November of 1978. A long and winding road to be sure, but one surely filled with action and excitement at every twist and turn along the way!

Masked Superstar: The First Twist of the Turn

by David Chappell
Mid-Atlantic Gateway 

August of 1980 would see a gradual change developing in one of the Mid-Atlantic area’s most feared “bad guys,” the Masked Superstar. From the Superstar’s first stint in Jim Crockett Promotions that began in September of 1976 through about six months of his second stint in the territory that began in the winter months of 1980, there was no hint that the masked marvel would be gravitating towards becoming a “fan favorite.” 

The Mid-Atlantic wrestling television tapings that took place at the WRAL TV studios in Raleigh, North Carolina on August 13, 1980 would in hindsight, provide the first clues that the Superstar would be turning into a “good guy.” The first TV show taped that evening, the Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling television program, didn’t seem to offer much out of the ordinary. On that show, Superstar teamed with fellow rulebreakers Greg Valentine and the Iron Sheik for an easy win. But it would be the second show taped later that night, World Wide Wrestling, that would provide the first twist in the turn to come.

The Superstar had a match earlier in the World Wide Wrestling show against young Brett Wayne, and came out in the show’s final segment for an interview with announcer Rich Landrum. Joining the masked man on the set were the NWA World Tag Team Champions Ray Stevens and Jimmy Snuka, along with their manager Gene Anderson. From the get-go, something seemed amiss during this interview segment.

Anderson immediately took control of the interview, extolling the virtues of his team, then claiming, “The Superfly and the Crippler, the greatest and the best World’s Champions that have ever held the belts!” At that time, Landrum turned toward the Superstar, but Stevens immediately cut in and asked Landum why his announcing partner, Johnny Weaver, wasn’t asking him questions. Stevens bellowed, “You know, I’d like to ask you a question. How come you come out here and interview us? Why doesn’t Johnny Weaver come out here and interview us sometime? I’d like to slap him right across the mouth! What’s the matter with him, doesn’t he have any guts?”

Rich responded, “I don’t think that plays a part in it in an interview…you want to come out and tell us how great you are.” Stevens then proceeded to tell the viewing audience that he and Snuka along with manager Gene Anderson were an unbeatable combination. Landrum answered, “It’s difficult to compete with a three-man team like that.” 

At that juncture Landrum attempted to bring the Superstar into the interview saying, “Superstar…” But Gene Anderson cut in immediately saying, “Hold it, hold it…” before Superstar could even get in a word. Anderson continued, “Jimmy, show ‘em that body! Flex that body, show ‘em that belt!” Gene continued extolling the virtues of Snuka’s physique and Stevens’ knowledge and experience, which Ray readily agreed with. 

Stevens then asked, “What do you think Superstar?” The masked man only got out, “I was just going to say…” before Stevens interrupted him and explained, “Well, I’ll tell you what, they [Ricky Steamboat and Jay Youngblood] don’t have a chance! There’s nobody that can compare to us, the athlete that Jimmy Snuka is, the wrestling that I know, and like I said with our main man [Gene Anderson] behind us right here, nobody’s gonna come close to beatin’ us.” 

A clearly frustrated Landrum then stated, “You know ya’ll are fine champions [but] I’d like to talk to the TV champion the Superstar about…” Surprisingly Landrum was then cut off by Snuka, who rarely spoke but on this occasion blurted out, “We wanna talk about these belts!” Anderson immediately picked up where Jimmy had left off reeling off the names of the area’s good guys and shouted, “You don’t have a chance, you get that through your head, you don’t have a chance and if any of you people want to sign a contract with the World’s champions, you just put your names on the dotted line and I’ll sign ‘em and I’ll have ‘em in the ring.”

Landrum again engaged the Superstar saying, “Superstar, you…” before Stevens butted in and bellowed, “If they wanna pay the price to try and win this [belt], they have to pay dearly with PAIN, and I mean a lotta pain because my partner and I enjoy hurting people and that’s exactly what we do.” Ray continued on about that subject and when he finished, Rich took a final stab at bringing the Superstar into the segment saying, “Super, I’d like to hear from you.” The Masked man replied, “It’s about time, I’d like to…”

At that instant there was a commotion on the set with the floor manager coming over to Landrum, whispered something in his ear which Landrum followed up on by explaining, “I’m sorry, they took all the time. Well fans, as always, too short on time [so] that’s it for this week, look forward to seeing you next week right here on World Wide Wrestling.”

Over the next couple of weeks, several more circumstances continued to push the Superstar towards a “good guy” turn, including showing compassion for Brett Wayne during another television match with him after a clothesline maneuver clearly hurt the youngster, and holding back Greg Valentine to keep the sides even when Blackjack Mulligan and Valentine’s friend Bobby Duncum had a dust-up on TV.

Superstar’s good guy turn was completed at the beginning of September 1980 when Anderson came out to the TV interview area and again interrupted the Superstar’s interview, leading to Anderson hitting the Superstar with his cane and soon thereafter the Superstar turning the tables and breaking the cane on Anderson and throwing Stevens through the air onto Snuka. In his interview after that incident, Superstar pointed to the interview interruption on August 13th as a big component of his turn to the good side.

The Masked Superstar had a solid run as a good guy, winning the NWA World Tag Team Titles with Paul Jones on Thanksgiving night of 1980 and then again in early 1981 before leaving the Mid-Atlantic area for good in the late spring of 1981. And looking back on it, the good guy persona of the Masked Superstar was born because of the disrespect shown to him during an otherwise normal interview segment at the end of the August 13th World Wide Wrestling taping…the first twist of the turn.

Hot Times at County Hall in Charleston

by Andy McDaniel
Special to the Mid-Atlantic Gateway

 
Originally published January 28, 2018

Charleston County Hall was famously known for being a hot place. Literally, the building held heat like nowhere else. Wahoo McDaniel once told Mike Mooneyham that even the walls at County Hall could sweat. Regardless of the heat or the raindrops from the leaky ceiling, County Hall was just a fun place to be at on Friday nights.

From time to time, I recall a fun night at County Hall and love to share those memories. I am very grateful for the Gateway and the wonderful job they do for keeping Mid-Atlantic wrestling alive. It is a true joy to have the chance to contribute a story now and then.

Blackjack Mulligan was something else. He is one of those wrestling characters that will forever be remembered. He was a larger than life figure and literally, a giant of a man. Many of his feuds will live on forever in the hearts of Mid-Atlantic fans. I loved his time with Paul Jones, Tim Woods, and of course, the great memories of his matches with and against Ric Flair. However, there was another feud that I truly enjoyed, the one with the Masked Superstar.

Several matches between these two had taken place all over the Mid-Atlantic region. There were even a few at County Hall. As with most feuds, we saw specialty matches, matches with stipulations and on occasion another couple of guys would be tossed in and a tag-team match would take place. Such was the case on this particular Friday night in Charleston.

The main event was Blackjack Mulligan and a screwball member of his family, Cousin Luke, versus their opponents the Masked Superstar and his partner for the night, Enforcer Luciano. I had seen Luciano eating light bulbs and breaking concrete blocks with his fists on TV, but now I was going to see him in person. This was such a magical time in wrestling. The fans were invested and whether it was cheering or booing, the sincerity of each side was awesome.

It was another hot, Friday night at County Hall. The action had been fierce, but now it was time for the main event. Everyone was on their feet as Blackjack and Luke came to the ring. The Superstar and Luciano were waiting for them as they stepped through the ropes. After the ring announcer made the introductions, action started, and it was a brawl. Fists were flying, boots were coming off and being used as weapons; pretty much the only thing technical or actual wrestling wise that might have been seen would have been provided by the Superstar.

It was exactly what Blackjack had promised the previous Saturday during the local promos; it was a fight. The match/brawl went on for a bit, but then the action seemed to settle down. Much to the dismay of most of the crowd, Blackjack found himself being subdued by the Superstar. The cobra clutch had brought down the big man in the center of the ring. Every time it seemed like Blackjack might break free or make the tag to Luke, Luciano would do something to steal the crowd's joy. The referee was really hearing it from the crowd. He seemed to never be able to catch the dastardly deeds being done in his ring and the fans were letting him know their feelings. Referees always seemed good at missing so many important moments. Tommy Young, Stu Schwartz, Sonny Fargo, they are such great parts of the history of Mid-Atlantic wrestling. They were so important to the matches, I always enjoyed their work.

This back and forth match went on for quite a while, the crowd was surely on an emotional roller coaster. I can remember it just like it was last night. The Superstar and his partner had exhausted the crowd. The wooden floor of County Hall bellowed out as the fans began to stomp. The railings of the balcony rang as palms began to pound against them, all in disapproval of the things being done to our heroes.

In what appeared to be an act of betrayal, right at the moment it seemed that Blackjack might break free, Cousin Luke jumped off the corner of the ring and headed toward the dressing room.

You could feel the air almost leave the room, as the crowd gasped, and shock filled the arena. The smoke that hovered just below the ceiling began to swirl at a near tornado type speed. Yes, people smoked inside back then, It was kind of part of the charm of County Hall - - smoke, popcorn, beer, etc. Those were special times indeed.

The disbelief at what was taking place before our very eyes was at an unreal level. How could this be? How could Luke turn on his own cousin? Was he really a traitor? Almost immediately, the boos started and the closer he got to the back, the louder things seemed to get.

As is most often in pro wrestling, things were not as they would seem and almost as quickly as Luke entered the dressing room, he would come back out. But he was not alone. To every one’s delight, he would bring an additional partner back the ring, but this was a partner that did not walk with him. Instead it was in his hand. It was about 4-feet long and firm in nature. Yes, good ol' Cousin Luke quickly had the fans back in his corner as he and his new partner, a 2 x 4, entered the ring to assist in what seemed to be a very unfair fight. As he evened the odds and dispatched Superstar and Luciano; Blackjack was on the road to recovery and rejoined the chaos as it unfolded. Unfortunately, the referee did not approve of all the mayhem and called for the bell and the ring announcer would soon let the rowdy crowd know that all had been disqualified.

It was one of those times that, while the victory was not found in a simple 1-2-3, the fans still went home happy because they saw justice had come to town and the bad guys were sent running.

Friday nights at County Hall: what wonderful memories. For a young kid who went to his first matches in that building starting in 1974, every time was always special. This year, 2018, will be exactly 20 years since the last matches were held in the hallowed Hall. I had the honor and absolute privilege of not only promoting that show, but was also in the main event that night. It will be a memory that I will cherish forever. To have watched all my heroes - - Wahoo, Ric, Rufus, Blackjack, Jimmy Valiant, Paul Jones - - to have seen them do battle in this special old building and to personally be able to go back there all those years later and be the one to close out wrestling forever in County Hall, is something I hold near to my heart.

This night with Blackjack, Superstar, and the rest of the crew was another hot night of pro wrestling at County Hall. It was a simple time of story-telling. It was a time when the crowd’s emotions were directed like a Maestro conducts an orchestra, by the guys in the ring. It was a time that was simply magical. I miss those days, but the memories sure are wonderful.

This story contains corrections from a previous version of the story.

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Read the review by Mike Mooneyham of the Charleston Post & Courier

Wrestling Book Takes a Look at County Hall