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.   

Action Figure Friday: "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka, U.S. Champion

Very cool customization of "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka with a custom U.S. title belt, presented by our friends at @wrestlerweekly.

Snuka was United States champion in 1979 and 1980 and had a memorable, long, bloody feud with "Nature Boy" Ric Flair over that title belt. You can read all about Snuka's run as United States champion (as well as the entire history of that championship) in our full-color book "Jim Crockett Promotions' United States Championship", available on Amazon and via the Mid-Atlantic Gateway bookstore. 

Originally published in March of 2022 on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway.

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

Poster: Six Man Main Event at University Hall

by Jody Shifflett
Mid-Atlantic Gateway Contributor

This is one of my favorite posters from my collection. This was from November 3, 1978, a great 6-man card featuring six of the greatest wrestlers to grace the sport of professional wrestling: Greg Valentine, John Studd and Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat, Jimmy Snuka, and Paul Jones.

It happened at University Hall in Charlottesville, VA, which was not a regular stop like Richmond or Roanoke but with more frequent stops than just a spot show. University Hall was built during the same era as the Hampton Coliseum and Norfolk Scope and it had a very unique roof that resembled a clam-shell and was definitely a landmark in Charlottesville until it was torn down in 2019.  

This poster has terrific rainbow coloring and was one of many great cards to take place in this historic building.

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Mid-Atlantic Gateway Notes
by David Chappell

This was Jimmy Snuka's first main event match in Jim Crockett Promotions. He and Paul Orndorf, who wrestled Gene Anderson on the semi-main, would team up soon and eventually win the NWA World Tag Team Championships!

NO. 1 IN THE SHIFFLETT POSTER SERIES

Wrestling Art: NWA Tag Champs Jimmy Snuka and Paul Orndorff

The next art from Robby Bannister's series of Mid-Atlantic Wrestling Magazine art covers features the NWA World Tag Team Champions from late 1978 and 1979 Paul Orndorff and Jimmy Snuka. The duo won the titles from Greg Valentine and Baron Von Raschke in December 1978.

Robby is creating a series of these faux magazine covers in homage to the original series of Mid-Atlantic Wrestling Magazine covers from the 1970s and 1980s. The magazines were sold as event programs at the local arenas and also could be purchased by mail directly from the Crockett offices in Charlotte. 

Robby's first cover in this series featured Blackjack Mulligan as United States champion from 1976 and his second cover featured "The Enforcer" Arn Anderson. His introductory cover was of Don Kernodle.

Here is more info on the championship tag team of Orndorff and Snuka from David Chappell's December 1978 entry in the Mid-Atlantic Wrestling Almanac:

NWA World Tag Team Champions Greg Valentine and Baron von Raschke had more than their hands full in the month of December with the challenge of Paul Orndorff and Jimmy Snuka. The athleticism of Orndorff and Snuka seemed to keep the Champions guessing and off balance. During the month, Valentine and Raschke were able to hold onto the Championship by the skin of their teeth, often purposely getting themselves disqualified to save their Titles. But on December 26, 1978 at the Richmond Coliseum, Orndorff and Snuka got the Title Match they wanted---one with No Disqualifications!

The Richmond match was a lengthy encounter, with both teams pulling out all the stops. The see-saw battle saw both teams have their opportunities to come out on top, but ultimately the challengers were able to capture a quick pinfall to the delight of the huge Coliseum crowd. The hated Champions had been dethroned by the upstart challengers! An enraged Baron von Raschke could not accept that he was no longer one half of the World Champions, and he proceeded to assault the referee, and then dropped him on his head with a piledriver! The NWA acted quickly on the Baron’s reprehensive conduct, suspending him almost immediately for his actions in Richmond. 

We're looking forward to more great art covers from Robby in the future!

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Check out more of Robby Bannister's art on his Facebook page featuring wrestlers from various territories over different eras. 

NO. 3 IN A SERIES

Best of: Jimmy Snuka - Good Guy No More

by David Chappell 

Mid-Atlantic Gateway 

When “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka entered the Mid-Atlantic territory in November of 1978, he rapidly became one of the most beloved wrestlers in the promotion. Highly athletic and humble, Snuka in short order became one half of the NWA World Tag Team Champions with Paul Orndorff, and despite losing that championship in about four months, Jimmy continued to be the adored high-flying “good guy” in Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling into July of 1979. But then, the unthinkable happened.

"Superfly" Jimmy Snuka

When the television card for Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling was announced on the July 18, 1979 show, color commentator David Crockett said, “Then we have another tag team match, an unusual tag team match, we have Buddy Rogers and Jimmy Snuka teamed up, and they’re going against Leo Burke and Gary Young.” While it wasn’t highlighted at that moment, the pairing of Snuka and Rogers was more than unusual, it was shocking! The “immortal” Buddy Rogers, former World Heavyweight Champion, had entered the area recently, and while he wrestled infrequently, Rogers was notorious in his still evolving role in the area. Why the fan-favorite Snuka would be teaming with a man like Rogers was a mystery, but it wouldn’t take long for the mystery to be solved.

When the Snuka/Rogers team came into the ring, the first thing that seemed odd was that Snuka was wearing wrestling boots, where before he always grappled barefooted. But that would be the first of many anomalies in this TV bout. From the outset of the match, Rogers was using illegal tactics, and Snuka was in the corner grinning and shaking his head in the affirmative. This led announcer Bob Caudle to comment, “It’s a little baffling to me exactly why [Snuka’s] doing that and what it means.”

Very quickly, things got much more baffling. Rather that employ his graceful aerial moves that the fans were accustomed to seeing, Snuka instead used a ground and pound style that was accentuated by out-and-out rulebreaking. The TV announcers were in a word…stunned. A perplexed Crockett stammered, “I can’t…really…I’m just completely baffled.” Caudle followed, his voice rising, “It amazes you, and disturbs you, as really to what Snuka’s doing.”

After a brief comeback by Burke and Young, Snuka again took control with a vicious knee as Young came off the ropes. Jimmy then went back to a familiar maneuver, the “superfly” leap off the top rope almost all the way across the ring onto a prone Gary Young. But what followed next was head-scratching. Rather than easily pinning Young, Snuka lifted Young’s shoulders off the mat before a three count could be made. Caudle exclaimed, “He lifted him up!” Crockett added, “No, come on now…come on.” Caudle added, “He looked over at Buddy Rogers with a smile on his face and just raised Gary Young.”

Clearly Snuka wanted to punish Young, and then began to manically grind his clinched fist into Young’s temple. Astonished, Caudle said, “That looks like a corkscrew, David, right into the side of the temple. Here’s Rogers in now after Burke, as Burke goes back out. And Snuka after having Gary Young in a pin position there, after that superfly from all the way across the ring…the referee says ring the bell! And he still keeps driving in that corkscrew right in the side of the temple!” And emotional Crockett yelled, “He won’t stop! He won’t stop!” The flabbergasted fans in the studio audience couldn’t believe Snuka’s conduct, but they would soon get a detailed explanation for it.

At the end of the program, Bob Caudle excitedly cornered Buddy Rogers and said, “I gotta ask you, and I gotta ask Jimmy Snuka, what in the world happened to Jimmy Snuka?” Rogers replied, “I’ll tell ya what happened. I’ll do the talking, I’ll do the thinking from here on out, Bobby. And that is, this man is like a diamond that needs cutting. I’m the guy that can do that cutting. Let me tell ya, he’s got one of the greatest bodies in the business; he’s got charisma, and a four letter word called guts…bar none! The one thing he lacks is that ability between good and great, and I’m the guy that’s got that ability.”

Rogers continued, “I don’t have to talk about myself; my records and my past speaks for itself. But let me tell you, in this man you’re going to see without a doubt the next champion. Give me about three or four months at the latest, and you will see…” At this point Caudle interjected, “How disappointed all of his fans are…” Rogers indignantly retorted, “Wait a minute! Tell his fans that there’s one leader in this business, and you’re lookin’ at him. And this man is being led by me. I’m leading him to where nobody else, including himself, could he get to the top like I’m gonna put him there.”

In finishing, Rogers told the fans, “And you know, there’s an old saying that good guys don’t win ball games; I taught him as of the last two weeks, that good guys don’t win wrestling matches. And the moment that anybody listening in thinks for one minute that this guy will ever be a nice guy again, they’re mighty mistaken.”

Rogers turned out to be a man of his word, as Jimmy Snuka became a champion very quickly under Rogers, winning the United States Heavyweight Title on September 1, 1979 and he was never a fan favorite again while wrestling for Jim Crockett Promotions. Jimmy rarely uttered a word, as he let his viciousness do his talking. While Rogers left the area and Snuka picked up Gene Anderson as his mouthpiece at the tail end of 1979, the Superfly maintained his hold on the U.S. Belt until the spring of 1980, and even after dropping that title to Ric Flair, Jimmy went on an impressive run as NWA World Tag Team Champions with partner Ray Stevens.

When Snuka finally left the Mid-Atlantic area for good in the early spring of 1981, the Superfly was as nasty and surly as he became on that astonishing TV taping in July of 1979. Buddy Rogers, long since out of the area, would have been proud of the staying power of the monster he created. Truly, Jimmy Snuka was a nice guy no more.

Originally posted November 2016 on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway

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

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 August Night in Richmond (Revisited)

by David Chappell, Mid-Atlantic Gateway
from the Mid-Atlantic Gateway Archives 2001


INCLUDES RARE VINTAGE AUDIO CLIPS BELOW

August 1, 1980 was a scorching summer’s day in the Richmond area. On that Friday, the temperature soared, and then soared some more. It felt like about a 120 degrees, though the official high was "only" 99 degrees in Richmond and 104 degrees in nearby Norfolk.

Being a Friday, of course, Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling was in town that evening. Typically, Jim Crockett Promotions would bring in a sizzling card of wrestling action to match the hot weather outside. Such was the case on this night, though in a somewhat different fashion. This card at the Richmond Coliseum, while in no measure one of Jim Crockett’s best, gave me two of my most lasting memories of Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling.

The semi-final bout of the evening saw Blackjack Mulligan square off with Enforcer Luciano in a Texas Street Fight. While Blackjack was a familiar face to Mid-Atlantic fans, the Enforcer was a strange character who was only in the area for about three months. As the story goes, the Enforcer came into the area from Detroit with a "contract " out on Mulligan. In actuality, Mulligan had dispatched the challenge of Superstar # 2 (John Studd) in the late spring of 1980, and Mulligan’s next significant program would not occur until mid-August 1980 with newcomer "Bad Boy" Bobby Duncum. Hence, the Enforcer was only a brief transition figure, but a pretty entertaining one. Many may best remember Luciano for breaking cement blocks with his bare fist and chewing up a light bulb on the Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling television program!

The Texas Street Fight was Mulligan’s specialty match, and involved the participants dressing however they wanted and bringing whatever they wanted into the ring. It amazed me how many "foreign objects" that Luciano could cram into his clothing. He had nearly everything on him but the kitchen sink. Despite chains, brass knuckles, powder, etc. Luciano never got on track against Mulligan. It became clear after a couple of minutes, that this would be a slaughter and Luciano’s swan song in the Mid-Atlantic area. After wearing the Enforcer down, Mulligan took one of his cowboy boots off, flung Luciano into the ropes and smashed him in the head with the hard boot. The Enforcer was counted out, and Luciano proceeded to lay flat on his back with his arms and legs spread out wide for a good five minutes. The image of Luciano laying in the middle of the ring for so long has always stayed with me. To this day, when I see anyone in any sport get a real butt-kicking, I remember the Enforcer on this night and think to myself that they didn’t get laid out nearly as badly as Luciano did! Needless to say, Enforcer Luciano was never heard from again after this Texas Street Fight!

The Richmond Coliseum

The main event on this hot August night also provided me with a lasting remembrance of Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling. The match was a NWA World Tag Team Title match with Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka and Ray Stevens defending against Ricky Steamboat and Jay Youngblood in a fence match. It was always an adventure when there was a fence match in Richmond. There would be a number of men that would come out before the match with the four sections of the fence and "attach" the fence sections to the four ring posts. It never made for a sturdy looking structure, and apparently it wasn’t as at least four men stayed during the match itself acting as a "human brace" with their hands holding onto the fence. You always wondered if the fence would collapse, particularly when a wrestler was thrown headfirst into the fence, which happened often. On this night, the high flying Jimmy Snuka would give the fence its ultimate test.

Hear match promos from Ray Stevens and manager Gene Anderson:

[ More audio clips at the bottom of this post, including Steamboat, Youngblood, Mulligan, and Luciano. ]

Snuka’s usual finishing move was a dive off the top rope with his opponent lying nearly on the other side of the ring. It was a breathtaking maneuver, particularly during this time period, as wrestling did not showcase many aerial moves in this era. During this match, Ray Stevens had weakened Jay Youngblood considerably and tagged in Snuka. The "Superfly" mounted the ropes, with Youngblood a good three-quarters of the way across the ring from him. Snuka perched himself on the top rope, crouched, and we in attendance all thought the great dive would begin. But then Snuka inexplicably paused, turned, and looked toward the top of the rickety fence. We were all thinking, NO, he couldn’t be considering going to the top of the fence!! But that’s exactly what he was doing….everyone in attendance held their collective breaths as Snuka attempted to navigate from the top rope to the top of the 10 foot fence as the flimsy fence was swaying. He eventually made it and was somehow standing on top of the fence, with the men below holding on to their respective parts of the fence with all their might. When the "Superfly" raised his arms above his head in preparation for his jump, he appeared to lose his tenuous balance and everyone in the Coliseum had their hearts in their throats. I know I was positive that he was going to fall backwards off of the fence. Somehow, miraculously, Snuka kept from falling off the fence and righted himself and actually jumped upward but still flew through the air far enough to reach a prone Jay Youngblood. Jay moved out of the way a split second before Snuka arrived, and Snuka plowed face-first into the mat. The other three wrestlers backed off momentarily, obviously waiting to see if Jimmy was all right. Snuka was down for about thirty seconds and then was able to make a tag to Stevens, while Youngblood was in turn making his tag to Steamboat. The match continued in anti-climactic fashion, with Stevens and Snuka ultimately capturing the win and keeping their titles.

Anyone who saw Snuka scale and jump off that fence will never forget that magical moment. I sweated during the early part of that Friday because of the searing heat, but never more so than later that night inside the Coliseum when Jimmy Snuka was teetering on top of that fence. This was undoubtedly a hot August night in Richmond that I’ll always remember!


Postscript: The Madison Square Garden Connection

It is interesting to note that Jimmy Snuka later received national acclaim after moving to the WWF for doing a similar dive off the top of a cage in Madison Square Garden in New York City during a title match against Bob Backlund. You heard about that match, and the well publicized story about Mick Foley seeing Snuka dive off the cage in MSG and emulating Snuka by jumping off his own house onto a mattress which literally sprung Foley into a great career in professional wrestling. What you never heard, though, was that Snuka first performed the death defying maneuver in the Mid-Atlantic area under much more dangerous circumstances, and emerged intact to be able to do it later for a bigger audience in the "Big Apple."

Originally published  in 2001 on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway

then republished June 15, 2015.

MORE AUDIO! Additional  promos have been added to this post for this big August 1980 card in Richmond. Great memories - - Enjoy! 

Ricky Steamboat & Jay Youngblood Promo


Blackjack Mulligan


Enforcer Luciano

Action Figures Friday: U.S. Champion Jimmy Snuka!

Very cool customization of "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka with a custom U.S. title belt, presented by our friends at @wrestlerweekly.

Snuka was United States champion in 1979 and 1980 and had a memorable, long, bloody feud with "Nature Boy" Ric Flair over that title belt. You can read all about Snuka's run as United States champion (as well as the entire history of that championship) in our full-color book "Jim Crockett Promotions' United States Championship", available on Amazon and via the Mid-Atlantic Gateway bookstore.  

Republished in September of 2022 on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway.

Blooper from Toronto!

 

Thanks to Andrew Calvert at MapleLeafWrestling.com for sending us this ad from November 1980 featuring an interesting nickname for Jimmy Snuka! 

"When you first started posting the bloopers I went through the Toronto ads thinking there must be a ton of them," Andrew wrote me. "It was the only one I could find!"

What a great card at the Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. A significant amount of talent booked on Toronto cards during this era (1978-1983) came from the Charlotte booking office of the NWA, Jim Crockett Promotions. 

All the Crockett championships were defended there during this time, along with the Canadian title. And both the NWA and WWF world titles were defended there, too. It was a unique city and special place for wrestling in those days.

For more Boopers, visit here.

Almanac History - July 1980 (Part Two)

David Chappell's
Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling History
ALMANAC DIRECTORY

JULY 1980 - PART TWO

JULY 1980             WEEK 2

The second week of July of 1980 kicked off in earnest with the Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling television taping in the WRAL TV 5 studios in Raleigh, North Carolina on July 9th. The TV card featured a good mix of Mid-Atlantic stars, but the final bout of the card really stole the show!

The first television bout featured a mid-card matchup where Johnny Weaver and Special Delivery Jones bested the duo of Swede Hanson and Billy Starr. Greg "The Hammer" Valentine defeated Ron Ritchie, and the program also showcased wins by "Bad Boy" Bobby Duncum in his second TV appearance and the former World Tag Team Champions Ricky Steamboat and Jay Youngblood. But the last bout on the program would see a return to action of the former World Tag Team Champions...in a quite unexpected way.

Jimmy Snuka and Ray Stevens
with manager Gene Anderson
 

Inserted in the middle of the July 9th TV taping was a film of the match where Jimmy Snuka and Ray Stevens defeated Ricky Steamboat and Jay Youngblood for the NWA World Tag Team Championship. Announcer Rich Landrum narrated the video snippets, along with Steamboat and Youngblood. The end of the match saw Stevens piledriving Steamboat on the concrete floor, soon after Ricky had been hit with the cane of manager Gene Anderson.

The film clip went on to show that almost simultaneous to Steamboat being laid out on the arena's concrete floor, Snuka hit Youngblood with a flying head-butt with the "Superfly" capturing the three count on Jay for the pinfall victory.

Steamboat was particularly bitter about the loss of the titles in this way, and vented to Landrum while watching the film, "I'm motionless, I'm laying there [and] I'm knocked out cold. I don't know nothing, I don't feel nothing, but there's gonna be a time and day when Stevens and Snuka [are] gonna feel that cement floor on their heads!"

Ricky and Jay's anger came out in full force and effect when the last match on the July 9th TV program was about to begin. Jimmy Snuka and Ray Stevens were prepared to wrestle Tony Garea and Nick DeCarlo, and both teams were in the ring waiting for the opening bell to ring. At that very instant, Steamboat and Youngblood raced into the ring and immediately tore into Snuka and Stevens! Garea and DeCarlo seem startled by the turn of events, but left the ring, and the final bout of the show became a "main event" caliber match between the World Tag Team Champions and the former champs!

Color commentator David Crockett exclaimed, "This is the rematch...I wish the championship was on the line!" An equally excited announcer Bob Caudle followed, "What a match! It's all impromptu, at least as far as Snuka and Stevens are concerned and Gene Anderson...because it definitely wasn't on their minds they were gonna wrestle this match. Certainly not today!"

Ricky Steamboat and Jay Youngblood appear to defeat Jimmy Snuka and Ray Stevens in the unscheduled TV match---but referee Tommy Young is forced to make a controversial ruling!

To be continued...                                                        ALMANAC DIRECTORY

Mr. Wrestling Tim Wood's Last Stand - The Finale (Part 12!)

by David Chappell
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

This is the finale! Catch up on this entire story in:
PART ONE  |  PART TWO  |  PART THREE  |  PART FOUR
PART FIVE  |  PART SIX  |  PART SEVEN  |  PART EIGHT
PART NINE  |  PART TEN  |  PART ELEVEN

* * * * * * * * * * * *

PART TWELVE - THE FINALE

With the arrival of 1980, Tim Woods got multiple chances to exact the ultimate revenge against Jimmy Snuka in the month of January. That is, defeat the "Wildman" for his United States Heavyweight  Championship belt. The first of the January U.S. Title bouts occurred in the port city of Charleston, South Carolina on January 4th, as Snuka slipped through to a pinfall victory at County Hall in a contest that was evenly fought throughout.

Woods and Snuka met again on January 7th, this time in the Cumberland County Memorial Auditorium in Fayetteville, North Carolina in perhaps the most violent bout to date between the arch-rivals. Jimmy, despite losing copious amounts of blood, still left Fayetteville with his prestigious belt in tow.

The next night at the Township Auditorium in Columbia, South Carolina, the match for the U.S. Title had a decidedly different flavor. Tim controlled the majority of the encounter, prompting Snuka and Gene Anderson to leave the ring before a decision was reached, leading to a countout win for Woods.  However, the win was a hollow one for Woods as Jimmy still retained the belt. But it gave promoter Henry Marcus a good reason to bring the combatants back to Columbia the following week in a match where the "Superfly" couldn't run!

On January 15, 1980, Tim had his best shot to date at whipping Snuka for the United States Title, as the return match in Columbia was a Lumberjack match and the Superfly couldn't leave the ring when things got heated. A host of other wrestlers surrounded the ring and were poised to throw Jimmy right back into the squared circle if he tried to take off. Tim's loss in this specialty match, one that seemed to highly favor him, appeared to signal that "Mr. Wrestling" was unlikely to ultimately dethrone the Superfly.

In the remaining two U.S. Title bouts in January, Snuka showed more of a dominating presence and did not require Gene Anderson's chicanery to emerge victorious. On January 18th in the Winston-Salem Memorial Coliseum, Jimmy wore down Tim with his strength and power to score a decisive victory. More of the same occurred in the Charlotte Coliseum on the afternoon of Super Bowl Sunday, January 20th. In what would be Tim Woods' last crack at Jimmy Snuka and the United States Heavyweight Title, the Superfly dispatched Tim in twenty-four minutes for a convincing win before a disappointed crowd in Charlotte.

For the next couple of weeks, Tim Woods wrestled mid-card bouts against the likes of Dewey Robertson and the results were a mixed bag. Tim's last significant match ever in Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling was an opening round tournament match that was taped on February 6, 1980 against the Masked Superstar #1 in the TV tournament for the vacant NWA Television Title. Woods dropped that bout, and Superstar #1 would go on to ultimately win the tournament.

When Tim Woods stopped appearing in Jim Crockett Promotions events later in February of 1980, there was no reason to believe that we wouldn't see "Mr. Wrestling" again soon. After all, he had many short absences from the Crockett territory during the 1970s, only to reappear and be engaged in a new and different program. But this go-round there would be no returns for Tim "Mr. Wrestling" Woods.

We as fans had to be content to remember all the great skills and thrills this exceptional grappler provided us over many years in the Carolinas and Virginia...including a very memorable "last stand."

* * * * * * * * * * * *

This is the finale! If you missed any earlier chapter, catch up on the entire story in:

PART ONE  |  PART TWO  |  PART THREE  |  PART FOUR

PART FIVE  |  PART SIX  |  PART SEVEN  |  PART EIGHT

PART NINE  |  PART TEN  |  PART ELEVEN  |  PART TWELVE

Classic Poster Friday: Tag Team Titles Change Hands and Bob Backlund Pays a Visit

Brack Beasley Collection

by Dick Bourne
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

What a classic poster we feature this week from March 22, 1981 in Greensboro, North Carolina, featuring an NWA World Tag Team title change and a rare World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) title defense on an NWA show.

NWA WORLD TAG TEAM TITLES CHANGE HANDS
In the late summer of 1980, the Masked Superstar became a "good guy" in the Mid-Atlantic area, feuding with Gene Anderson's Army. He teamed up with former adversary "No. 1" Paul Jones and the two of them defeated Gene Anderson's team of Jimmy Snuka and Ray Stevens for the NWA World Tag Team titles on Thanksgiving night 1980 in Greensboro.

Jones and Superstar lost the titles to Stevens and his new partner Ivan Koloff in February of 1981 in Greensboro, but were determined to get them back. On this night they did just that, taking 2-out-of-3 falls to recapture the gold.

Jones and Superstar would hold the titles for about 6 weeks until losing them again to Gene and Ole, the Anderson Brothers. Gene had been a manager since December of 1979, but returned to the ring in April of 1981 to join his brother who was returning from Georgia to get the gold belts back.

BOB BACKLUND DEFENDS THE WWWF TITLE IN GREENSBORO
In the semi-main event, WWWF Champion Bob Backlund defended his title against "Bad Boy" Bobby Duncum. The two renewed their rivalry from a year earlier where Duncum had been Backlund's number one contender for that title in the WWWF.

Interesting to see Backlund billed here as "Bobby" Backlund. I actually like that better.

Backlund didn't make too many title defenses outside the traditional WWWF territory, but over the years he took the title to several NWA territories, including Florida and a memorable WWWF vs. NWA battle with Ric Flair in Georgia.

It wasn't the first time Bob Backlund defended the WWWF title in Greensboro. Back in November of 1978, Backlund brought the title to the Greensboro Coliseum and successfully retained against the Mid-Atlantic Champion Ken Patera. The two of them had feuded over the WWWF title a year or so earlier.

OTHER NOTES ON THIS CARD
- Jimmy Snuka and Ricky Steamboat were magic in the ring together, and had another match up here, battling over Steamboat's Mid-Atlantic Championship. Their matches could be brutal, but could also be textbook examples of beautiful scientific pro wrestling.
- Bruno Sammartino, Jr. is on this card, and it's interesting seeing the names Sammartino and Backlund on a Mid-Atlantic card.
- Don Kernodle and Jim Nelson are in opening bouts, but each would be getting ready for big career breaks just a year later as part of Sgt. Slaughter's Marine unit.
- Sweet Diamond, most people know, was Rocky Johnson.
- Mr. Fuji and Tenyru were Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Champions at this time. 

Mr. Wrestling Tim Woods' Last Stand (Part Eleven)

by David Chappell
Mid-Atlantic Gateway


Catch up on this entire story in:
PART ONE  |  PART TWO  |  PART THREE  |  PART FOUR
PART FIVE  |  PART SIX  |  PART SEVEN  |  PART EIGHT
PART NINE  |  PART TEN
* * * * *

PART ELEVEN
Just as Tim Woods was beginning to exact his revenge on Buddy Rogers and Jimmy Snuka in November of 1979, the last Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling program of that month would shockingly alter this bitter rivalry forever. Sandwiched between the initial singles bout between Woods and Snuka in Greensboro, North Carolina on November 22nd that ended in a wild double count-out affair, Raleigh, North Carolina at the Dorton Arena saw Woods get his first individual shots at Buddy Rogers, where on November 20th Rogers eked out a count-out victory, only to lose the return bout a week later when Woods got his hand raised in a match that had two referees.  But the very next night in the WRAL TV studios in Raleigh, everything would change in the "hate triangle" between Woods, Snuka and Rogers.

On the November 28, 1979 Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling television show, Ric Flair attacked Buddy Rogers in an impromptu melee between the two Nature Boys. Ric got the upper hand quickly, and unmercifully drove his fists into the right ear of Rogers, an ear that had previously given Rogers fits. Buddy was escorted from the studio by Jimmy Snuka clutching his ear and in obvious pain. When the program went off the air, there was no update on Rogers' condition. However, the mystery on Buddy's status would be solved the following week on TV.

Announcer David Crockett appeared on the December 5, 1979 Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling television taping and read a letter from Buddy Rogers, the contents of which conveyed to the fans that it would be very unlikely Buddy would return as Snuka's manager due to the injuries that Ric Flair had inflicted on his ear. In the letter, Rogers said he was actively pursuing a prospective buyer of his managerial contract with Jimmy Snuka. This signaled the end of Rogers' role in Tim Woods' "last stand." At the same time Rogers departed the scene, Woods left for a two week tour of Japan and U.S. Title bouts between he and Snuka would be set to begin upon his return.

While Tim was in Japan, Gene Anderson was shockingly announced as Jimmy Snuka's new manager. Anderson went from being a veteran wrestler who very rarely ever uttered a word on camera, to being the mouthpiece for Snuka and John Studd. Gene accompanied Snuka to the ring, and figured in both of the initial Snuka/Woods United States Title matches, at the Dorton Arena in Raleigh on December 26th and at the Richmond Coliseum in Richmond, Virginia on December 30th.



The U.S. Title match between Woods and Snuka at Dorton Arena on December 26th was part of a rare "on location" television taping of Mid-Atlantic and World Wide Wrestling, with some of the bigger matches that evening being reserved for the live crowd and not taped for TV. This TV taping was also the television return of Tim Woods after his being absent on TV for several weeks, and Tim talked at length to announcer Rich Landrum on the World Wide Wrestling show. Landrum opened with, "Mr. Wrestling, Tim Woods, and you're still after Jimmy Snuka for that U.S. Title and whatever else you want to get even for."

Woods then summed up nicely his issues with Snuka saying in response, "Well, what I really want to get even for is the man that put me out of wrestling for seven weeks as a matter of fact, and I haven't forgotten it. And I know that 1980 is going to be a lot better year than 1979 for me...because I said to everybody and I'll say it to you again once more Snuka. I'm out to getcha, I'm gonna settle the score just as soon as I can get you in that ring."

Tim continued, "And it won't be long because I've been pushing for it. In fact, I just came back from a two week tour of Japan; I talked to NWA officials over there and I told everybody about it and I mean to get Jimmy Snuka one way or another." Woods got his first dose of manager Gene Anderson in Snuka's corner in the Dorton Arena U.S. Title match that Jimmy prevailed in, setting up the long awaited Richmond U.S Championship bout that had been promoted locally for the whole month of December.

In the final week of the lead up to the Richmond bout on December 30th, the rhetoric got quite heated on TV. Anderson told the Virginia fans, "Tim Woods, you used to be a good amateur wrestler but this is professional wrestling ...this is wrestling where you can get hurt. And to beat a good amateur wrestler, all you do is take him off his feet. And Tim Woods, Jimmy Snuka is gonna take you off your feet and maybe break one of your legs."

Woods answered Gene for the Richmond fans just as forcefully explaining, "Gene Anderson thinks he's going to get the job done where nobody else could. I tell you something Gene Anderson, you get your man Jimmy Snuka in the best shape possible, you train him any way you want. You know, I remember a match with you Gene Anderson when I beat you for the World's Tag Team Championship. That's all in the past...now Snuka I want you [and] I've got you in Richmond. I want your body, I wanna hurt you, I wanna beat you for your belt."

With the assistance of Gene Anderson, Snuka prevailed over Woods in the Richmond main event of an afternoon card there, but Tim got a measure of revenge later that same day when he beat Gene in a singles match that evening in the Greensboro Coliseum. The Greensboro bout would be Woods' last of the year and the decade of the 1970s, leading up to the month of January 1980 where Tim Woods and Jimmy Snuka would play out the final chapter of their month's-long feud and decide who would carry the prestigious United States Heavyweight Championship into the decade of the 1980s.

Tim Woods and Jimmy Snuka conclude their battles over the United States Heavyweight Championship in January of 1980...to be continued in the finale to our series, Part 12!

Mr. Wrestling Tim Woods' Last Stand (Part 10)

by David Chappell
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

Catch up on this entire story in:
PART ONE  |  PART TWO  |  PART THREE  |  PART FOUR
PART FIVE  |  PART SIX  |  PART SEVEN  |  PART EIGHT
PART NINE

* * * * *

PART TEN

Nov. 11, 1979    Columbia SC

Immediately after Tim Woods returned to the ring on Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling television programming on October 31, 2019, he finally met Jimmy Snuka and Buddy Rogers in the squared circle! In fact, the first such bout occurred the very next night at the Scope Coliseum in Norfolk, Virginia. But like nearly all of Woods' bouts in November of 1979, this was a tag team bout where Tim would have to wait a little while longer to confront Snuka and Rogers one-on-one.


The wild bout in Norfolk was one of the final 8-man tag team matches that were showcased throughout the area in October of 1979. The Scope match saw Ric Flair, Blackjack Mulligan, Jay Youngblood and Woods defeat Ken Patera, John Studd, Rogers and Snuka. The next night, November 2nd, at County Hall in Charleston, South Carolina saw Tim in a 6-man tag match with Rogers and Snuka included in the opposing corner. The following night in Charlotte, the last of the 8-man tag team matches pitted Flair, Mulligan, Jim Brunzell and Woods against the same foursome from Norfolk. Again in the “Queen City,” the "good guys" prevailed and just like at the Scope, Snuka and Rogers went to great lengths to avoid being in the ring at the same time as Woods, but there were short stints where these arch-rivals squared off to boisterous reactions from the fans in both towns!

Another twist to these early matches with Woods returning to the ring: he wasn't billed on those first few shows! Woods' return on TV was taped on Wednesday 10/31/79, but didn't air on TV until Saturday 11/3/79. In both the Norfolk (Thursday 11/1) and Charleston (Friday 11/2) matches, the teams facing Rogers' crew had a "mystery partner" which wound up being Tim Woods and his baseball bat to the delight of fans in those towns. In Charlotte (Saturday 11/3), the day Woods' TV appearance aired, Woods actually replaced an "injured" Ricky Steamboat in the billed main event. While fans surely were disappointed that Steamboat didn't appear, they were surprised and thrilled to see Woods finally get a chance to get in the ring with Buddy Rogers and his crew.

On November 8, 1979 in Petersburg, Virginia, Woods would tag with Blackjack Mulligan to battle Snuka and John Studd with Rogers in their corner in a chaotic encounter. In the pre-match promos, Rogers told announcer Rich Landrum, "Really, I don't want to talk too much about this for the mere reason big John wants to say it all!" Studd then chimed in, "Right there we're gonna put an end to this...Woods and Mulligan you've both had it!" Tim later commented to Landrum about the Petersburg bout, "Well, I couldn't have a better partner than Blackjack Mulligan, a man fully equal to John Studd in every way, and a little bit more as far as I'm concerned...and you know how I feel about the other man involved."

Tim Woods (with his "Ding Bat") and
partner Ric Flair battled Rogers and Snuka

The first conventional tag team match involving Woods against Snuka and Rogers occurred in Columbia, South Carolina on November 11th when Tim teamed with old foe Ric Flair to battle Woods' antagonists. The normally even-tempered Woods could not control himself at all, letting his anger get the best of him and was disqualified costing his team the match. A similar script followed the next night in Greenville, South Carolina where Woods' temper cost himself and partner Blackjack Mulligan, another old foe, allowing Snuka and Rogers to again leave the ring with their hands raised.

The Greenville outburst appeared to resonate with Tim, and Woods seemed to hold his temper in check a bit better going forward...and the results soon thereafter reflected the change. The next night, November 13th in Raleigh, Woods and Blackjack Mulligan got their hands raised in victory over Snuka and Rogers and this time it was the "bad guys" who couldn't keep their cool and were disqualified.

 The weekend of Thanksgiving 1979 saw Woods exact some revenge against Snuka and Rogers in a tag team setting in Richmond and Hampton, Virginia. On the Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling program that was taped on November 21st and shown the Saturday after Thanksgiving, announcers Bob Caudle and David Crockett queried Buddy Rogers about Tim Woods' return to the ring. Rogers confidently replied, "He might have come back, but I'll tell ya I'm gonna settle him once and for all. I'm here to let everybody know we're not running away from Tim Woods, we want Tim Woods!"

November 20, 1979   Raleigh NC

Rogers continued his diatribe ranting, "And when that time comes when I step in the ring with him he's gonna know the ol' Nature Boy was right back! When it comes to Mulligan, Flair and Tim Woods, we want 'em every night in the week, in fact just due to the fact that it's around 'Turkey Day' we want all three of them turkeys anytime we can get 'em! Any time at all!"

Crockett then cut Rogers off snidely, "You're gonna get more than you want to eat!" Rogers retorted, "Listen, let me tell you what...I've never seen the day that I took a bite out of anything that I couldn't devour it. And that goes for Mulligan, Flair or Tim Woods so you can tell 'em for me once and for all."

Later in that same November 21st TV program Woods told the fans, "Rogers is yellow, Snuka isn't much better...whether he's hypnotized or not it will take more than hypnotism to save their necks, and I mean necks, because I've got a score to settle around the neck." Bob Caudle commented, “Well, I tell you, you know they injured you in the neck and you came back 100%...how about that, are you gonna repay him Tim?" Woods answered, “I'm back [and] I've great partners and I AM gonna repay one way or another Snuka, one way or another Rogers. You are gonna pay, neck for neck, eye for eye."

The bout in Richmond on the day after Thanksgiving pitted Woods and Flair against Rogers and Snuka. A confident and hyped-up Buddy Rogers told the fans in Richmond in a pre-match promo, “This will be the day after ‘Turkey Day’ but we’re still gonna have plenty of white meat left! I guarantee you that when Flair and Woods get in the ring with Jimmy Snuka and myself we’re gonna do a job on them that they’ll never forget Thanksgiving of 1979! Once and for all, we’re gonna be the victors!”

Tim and Ric had other ideas as they discussed the Richmond tag team bout with promo announcer Rich Landrum. Ric began, “Well, what a night it’s gonna be! I’m not only honored, I’m privileged that Tim Woods would ask me to be his partner. Rogers, I don’t think you’ve got it, and I’m not the only one. A lot of people around here have waited to see you pull those tights over those skinny little legs of yours. We’re ready for you my friend. Look at Tim Woods…payback brother, remember!”

Woods then took the mic, “You’re right, Rogers hasn’t got it, but Rogers is gonna get it! And so is Jimmy Snuka, when you and I team against them. I’m gonna settle that score Ric.” Flair then shouted, “Richmond’s the place baby! WOOO!”

After winning the Richmond bout in dramatic fashion, Woods made the short trip to Hampton, Virginia the next night to team with Mulligan against the duo of Rogers and Studd. Woods while holding up one of his “Wanted” posters in a pre-match TV promo told the fans in Hampton prior to the contest, “Well, this ‘Wanted’ poster is no news to anybody. I’ve told everybody about it and they’ve seen a lot of ‘em. I’m very happy to be teamed up with you Mulligan, the biggest man in wrestling, and I know there’s gonna be a score settled. You know, Buddy Rogers came out here with a little patch on his head…he’s gonna look like checkerboard square after this match!”

The Woods and Mulligan win by disqualification in Hampton on November 24th was a demarcation line of sorts in Tim Wood’s ‘Last Stand’ in Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling. Tim’s ‘revenge tour’ would henceforth become almost exclusively singles matches against Jimmy Snuka for the United States Heavyweight Title during the last month of the decade of the 1970s. And shockingly, because of events on November 28th, those matches with Tim and the ‘Superfly’ would thereafter be without Snuka’s legendary co-conspirator during this epic feud.

Buddy Rogers is unceremoniously excised from Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling and the Tim Woods/Jimmy Snuka feud…to be continued in Part 11!

Thanks to Brack Beasley for the photos and Mark Eastridge for the newspaper clippings.

Mr. Wrestling Tim Woods' Last Stand (Part 9)

by David Chappell
Mid-Atlantic Gateway


Catch up on this entire story in:
PART ONE  |  PART TWO  |  PART THREE  |  PART FOUR
PART FIVE  |  PART SIX  |  PART SEVEN  |  PART EIGHT

* * *

PART NINE

Tim Woods made his long awaited return to in-ring action on the Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling television program that was taped on October 31, 1979 and was shown in most markets on Saturday, November 3rd. Woods looked impressive in his return to the ring as he and the ageless veteran Johnny Weaver got the dukes over the roughhouse team of David Patterson and Bill White.

Later in that same show, announcer Bob Caudle spoke with Woods and his partner Johnny Weaver, along with Jim Brunzell. Tim had his "Wanted" poster in one hand, and he was clutching his baseball bat with Jimmy Snuka's name on it tightly with the other. Caudle opened, "Right here [is]Tim Woods, 'Wanted' Tim, and I tell you, you got you a weapon right here." Woods smiled and replied, "Ahhh, this is my best friend right now, called my 'ding-bat,' and this is going to be a very famous sports personality here because I'm gonna carry it with me everywhere I go, and it's specially designed to fit Jimmy Snuka and Buddy Rogers...and I mean fit!"

Tim continued, "And so far it doesn't have any nicks or bruises on it, but I expect that sooner or later there may be. I'm just telling everybody right now, they hurt me once, they hurt me twice ...but it's not gonna happen again. I'm deadly serious about this, and I MEAN to settle the score!" Bob responded, "Well I tell ya, I know you fellas saw what happened at the beginning of our program...they've got this John Studd with 'em now. All these guys are WILD!"

Woods paused, and then explained, "Rogers is a former World Champion, he has the capability, but I have never realized that the man is as gutless as he is, as he's got to hide behind somebody...if it's not a big man like Studd it's somebody like Snuka who's equally violent." Caudle then inquired, "I've got to ask you about the neck Tim; is it completely recovered?" Tim answered,  "Absolutely, for two months I've been doing exercises with my neck and believe me it's 100%, maybe even stronger than it was before."

Jim Brunzell then chimed in, "I just want to comment on a remarkable recovery that Tim has made, he's fully recovered and I know that in his heart he's gonna get even with Buddy Rogers. Buddy Rogers has manipulated people, used them to his advantage and it's gonna come to a quick halt when Mr. Woods gets a hold of 'em!" As Brunzell was trying to speak, Snuka, Studd and Rogers were up in the ring trying to interrupt him. Woods then ended the segment joking about Rogers' wrestlers saying, "He really got hit with a sack full of uglies, didn't he?"

Woods also made an appearance on the companion World Wide Wrestling TV show, and stood before announcer Rich Landrum with his baseball bat again firmly in hand! Landrum commented, "Speaking of returning, you've got something you want...not return but give someone don't you Tim Woods?" Tim smiled and responded, "Ohhh, let me tell ya, this is my ding-bat here! This is my protector. Rogers and Snuka never go one at a time, if there's one of 'em there's always two of 'em."

Tim continued, "What this is, is just a little reminder [that] whenever they think about doubling up on me again...even though I appear to be alone I'm going to have the ding-bat with me and I have no reservations whatsoever about using it. You know, the interesting thing about this bat ...this was a gift from a friend of mine; it's unbreakable!"

Landrum added, "It's a metal bat." Tim then noted, "So I think maybe they ought to think about that...I've got a score to settle. I'd laid in the hospital a long time with a brace around my neck, in traction, but I'm back! And I haven't forgotten, and it's just a matter of time before I settle the score."

Later in the same show, Landrum gave Buddy Rogers equal time to address Woods' earlier comments. Rich told Buddy and Jimmy Snuka, "I was talkin' with a guy earlier out here, and he has a great big metal bat about so long, and he's got a big name right across it...and it happens to be this fella right back here!" An irritated Rogers fired back, "Let me tell ya, when [Tim Woods] steps in that ring he's gonna need more than a bat! Because what we did to him before is only a sample of what we're gonna do when we get him in that ring."

Rogers then added, "There's one thing he's got to look forward to, and that is to make another reservation in that hospital bed...and then he can put two more alongside of it. And the names on those beds will be Flair, Blackjack 'Hooligan' and you know...Tim Woods! Them three will be laying side by side I guarantee you, flat on their backs when we're done with 'em!"

Tim Woods would finally battle Jimmy Snuka and Buddy Rogers in the ring in November of 1979, but those battles would begin as wild tag team matches... to be continued in Part 10!

(Special thanks to Brack Beasley for the photos!)

Mr. Wrestling Tim Woods' Last Stand (Part 8)

by David Chappell
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

Catch up on this entire story in:
PART ONE  |  PART TWO  |  PART THREE  |  PART FOUR
PART FIVE  |  PART SIX  |  PART SEVEN

* * *

PART EIGHT

At the World Wide Wrestling television taping on October 24, 1979 Tim Woods and Buddy Rogers had their final dueling TV interviews before the bombastic in-ring action between Woods and Jimmy Snuka finally occurred. Announcer Rich Landrum opened the program with Tim Woods standing beside him holding one of his "Wanted" posters. Landrum told the fans, "Tim Woods, Mr. Wrestling,  joining us... what have you got there?"

Woods answered, "Well, all it is, is just a 'Wanted' poster...I've been distributing these to all the arenas and to anybody that will take one from me. This is at my expense, they are free of charge to the people. I just want 'em to know, and I want especially Rogers and Snuka to know that I want 'em out of wrestling, and I'm gonna put 'em out of wrestling."

Tim then pulled out his baseball bat with Snuka's name on it, that he now referred to as his "ding-bat," and continued, "All I want is my hands on either one of 'em anytime I can get, and I will be carrying an equalizer here. It's not baseball season anymore as far as I'm concerned..." Landrum then interrupted, "It's a Louisville Slugger though!" Woods agreed, "It's a Louisville Slugger and I assure you they hurt me once, they hurt me twice, but they're not gonna do it again!

Tim Woods and his "Ding Bat"

Landrum then commented on Woods' recovery, "Well, I see you don't have the collar on and I'm glad of that; you must be progressing fairly well." Tim responded, "I'm comin' along real fine, I've taken the mask off and I said I'd leave it off until I settled the score. And if nothing else maybe that should make you believe that I mean what I say. I WILL settle the score. I'm a firm believer in doing unto others as they have done unto you. And Rogers and Snuka, you've got something coming and I'm gonna give it to you...that's all I've got to say." Rich then concluded the segment, "Thank you Tim Woods, Mr. Wrestling, glad to see him recovering too, and I know he means what he says."

Later during the same World Wide Wrestling television taping, Snuka and Rogers got equal time. Landrum addressed the fans as Rogers stood next to him holding one of the posters Woods had left behind."Jimmy Snuka, U. S. Heavyweight Champion, is here and his manager Buddy Rogers, and Tim Woods, Mr. Wrestling, was out here on the opening of the program...yeah, he had one of those 'Wanted' posters," Landrum stated.

Rogers countered about the 'Wanted' poster, "Well, I don't know if you people seen this thing but just imagine, this would be about the lowest thing you could do to a man in his livelihood. We've put a whole lifetime in wrestling, Snuka and I, and by golly we come in this business to be square shooters, straight guys, all the way. Well let me tell you, when a man can do what this man did, this is trying to deprive him of a livelihood, and trying to hurt him..."

That prompted a quick rebuke from Landrum, "Well that's exactly what you tried the do!" Rogers fired back, "Wait a minute! We hurt the man because he came out here and challenged us. Well, we got news for him, he'll wait a long time before he ever gets a shot at this man's title, because as long as I'm this man's manager I will guarantee you that he will never get that shot at the title...this man will have to be next to dead before he gives him that title shot."

Rich replied, "Well, I tell you Tim Woods has assured me that he's on his way back and he's gonna get some kind of revenge." Rogers scoffed at that idea laughing, "Like I said, I don't care where he's at...we don't fear him, we're ready for him anytime at all but before he gets a title shot, which I know he wants, he'll wait a long, long time. As far as Snuka and I are concerned, he'll never do nothin' to us...we're just too much for him to handle!"

The October war of words in this feud were boiling red hot, but they had finally reached their zenith. Tim Woods would return to the ring in a week's time, and the time for talking would be done. In November it would be action time!

Tim Woods returns to in-ring action...to be continued in Part 9!

(Special thanks to Brack Beasley for the photos!)