On June 18, 1975 Ric Flair was about a year into his tenure with Jim Crockett Promotions. While Flair was the Mid-Atlantic Television Champion at that time, the young “Nature Boy” was still clearly a work in progress. The Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling TV show that was taped that night featured a bout between reigning NWA World Heavyweight Champion Jack Brisco and the 1974 NWA Rookie of the Year, Steve Keirn. The rare appearance of the NWA World Champion on Mid-Atlantic TV was not lost on the supremely confident Flair.
In a brief interview segment on that show with announcer Bob Caudle, Ric exclaimed,
“I just want to take one minute here to tell everybody that I had a dream! You know, I have a lot of girlfriends around the country and one of ‘em happens to be a fortune-teller. And one day she looked at one line of my palm and she said, ‘You’re the best lookin’ man in the world!’ And the next day she looked at another line in my hand and she said, ‘You got the greatest body in the world!’ And the next day she looked at a line in my hand and said, ‘You’re gonna beat Paul Jones, you’re gonna beat Wahoo McDaniel, you’re gonna beat Jack Brisco, WOOOO, and you’re gonna be the World’s Champion! Because there’s only one Nature Boy, and you are the greatest wrestler in the world today Nature Boy, know it for a fact!’”
Flair concluded by saying, “I am the best, I am the good, I am the bad…I am everything daddy, and don’t you forget it!” Caudle deadpanned in response, “Well, there’s no doubt what Ric Flair thinks of himself.”
Self confidence has never been an issue for Ric Flair, even back in 1975. But when I watched this interview segment nearly 42 years ago, I didn’t see the young brash Nature Boy as a World Champion. Back then, that prospect seemed almost laughable to me. Was Flair entertaining back then? Yes, without a doubt. But, Ric Flair as a World Champion? Not even a remote possibility in my humble opinion!
As the years progressed, my opinion of Ric Flair and his World Title possibilities certainly changed. But while myself and others had to come around to the idea of Flair as a World Heavyweight Champion, the Nature Boy’s crystal ball on this subject was clear all the way back to June of 1975. And when Ric ascended to the NWA mountaintop for the first time on September 17, 1981, I vividly remember hearkening back to this interview, and realizing that he had one heck of a fortune-telling girlfriend in his past!
Originally published January 2017 on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway
October 4th, 1975 is an infamous date in Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling history and for that matter, professional wrestling history as a whole. The participants on this card at the Starland Arena in Roanoke, VA must have been grateful that they were not booked on that ill-fated chartered flight out of Charlotte to Wilmington which ended the careers of "The Champ" Johnny Valentine and Bob Bruggers, injured Tim Woods and David Crockett, and almost stopped Ric Flair's rise to the top of the wrestling world. The Wilmington plane crash this Saturday evening no doubt changed the landscape of wrestling.
The Starland main event featured Tiger Conway Jr. and Steve Keirn continuing their quest for Gene and Ole Anderson's NWA World Tag Team belts with an undercard that included Ken Patera, Mike " The Judge" Dubois, Johnny Weaver, and Two Ton Harris.
This vertical poster, as most all Starland posters were, has a pretty basic layout with all black print on a bright yellow background and the western style "Wrestling" logo.
Imagine how different the wrestling world would have become if the Roanoke and Wilmington cards had been reversed.
On June 18, 1975 Ric Flair was about a year into his tenure with Jim Crockett Promotions. While Flair was the Mid-Atlantic Television Champion at that time, the young “Nature Boy” was still clearly a work in progress. The Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling TV show that was taped that night featured a bout between reigning NWA World Heavyweight Champion Jack Brisco and the 1974 NWA Rookie of the Year, Steve Keirn. The rare appearance of the NWA World Champion on Mid-Atlantic TV was not lost on the supremely confident Flair.
In a brief interview segment on that show with announcer Bob Caudle, Ric exclaimed,
“I just want to take one minute here to tell everybody that I had a dream! You know, I have a lot of girlfriends around the country and one of ‘em happens to be a fortune-teller. And one day she looked at one line of my palm and she said, ‘You’re the best lookin’ man in the world!’ And the next day she looked at another line in my hand and she said, ‘You got the greatest body in the world!’ And the next day she looked at a line in my hand and said, ‘You’re gonna beat Paul Jones, you’re gonna beat Wahoo McDaniel, you’re gonna beat Jack Brisco, WOOOO, and you’re gonna be the World’s Champion! Because there’s only one Nature Boy, and you are the greatest wrestler in the world today Nature Boy, know it for a fact!’”
Flair concluded by saying, “I am the best, I am the good, I am the bad…I am everything daddy, and don’t you forget it!” Caudle deadpanned in response, “Well, there’s no doubt what Ric Flair thinks of himself.”
Self confidence has never been an issue for Ric Flair, even back in 1975. But when I watched this interview segment nearly 42 years ago, I didn’t see the young brash Nature Boy as a World Champion. Back then, that prospect seemed almost laughable to me. Was Flair entertaining back then? Yes, without a doubt. But, Ric Flair as a World Champion? Not even a remote possibility in my humble opinion!
As the years progressed, my opinion of Ric Flair and his World Title possibilities certainly changed. But while myself and others had to come around to the idea of Flair as a World Heavyweight Champion, the Nature Boy’s crystal ball on this subject was clear all the way back to June of 1975. And when Ric ascended to the NWA mountaintop for the first time on September 17, 1981, I vividly remember hearkening back to this interview, and realizing that he had one heck of a fortune-telling girlfriend in his past!
Originally published January 31, 2017 on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway.
I loved watching Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling on television. In fact, my Saturday’s during the Mid-Atlantic era revolved around TV wrestling! But as much as I loved my television wrestling on Richmond’s WTVR-TV 6 back in the 1970’s, the TV matches themselves were very predictable as far as who won and who lost. And that was absolutely okay with me. It made sense that an established and championship duo like Gene and Ole Anderson would whip up on and defeat the many young upstart tandems that the promoters threw in against them on TV. For me, the team of Tiger Conway and Steve Keirn fit that bill. In my mind they were in the class of a good upcoming tag team, and would certainly put up a good fight, but there was no way in the world they could beat Gene and Ole Anderson. Boy, was I in for a big surprise!
Steve Keirn & Tiger Conway, Jr.
First off, let me say that in September of 1975 Conway and Keirn brought a little more to the table than some of the typical Anderson’s TV opponents. Tiger Conway, Jr. was rapidly losing the “junior” designation…he was becoming his own man, and an accomplished wrestler. Tiger rose to one half of the Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Champions with Paul Jones in late 1974 and early 1975. But in February of 1975 when Gene and Ole Anderson took over as the area’s tag team kingpins, it was Tiger who was effectively booted out of the territory. Conway reappeared in the area with little fanfare a few weeks before being paired with Keirn in September of 1975.
Steve Keirn was building up some credentials as well. Hitting the area in the middle of 1975, the 1974 NWA Rookie of the Year put on an impressive showing against NWA World Champion Jack Brisco in a rare TV match from the WRAL TV studios soon after entering the territory. But Keirn’s performances after that were a bit uneven, and it appeared he was settling into a mid-card tag team slot with partner Ron Starr. Conway’s return to the area seemed to change things, as Tiger liked what he saw in the aggressive youngster Keirn.
Gene & Ole Anderson
During the latter days of September 1975, NWA World Tag Team Champions Gene and Ole Anderson were operating at an all-time high level. Gene and Ole were winding down one of the greatest tag teams programs ever, with Paul Jones and Wahoo McDaniel, having wrestled Jones and McDaniel in lengthy matches throughout the spring and summer. As great as the Anderson Brothers were, they perhaps were never as invincible-looking as they were in the middle of September of 1975.
The Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling TV show that was taped on September 17th was down to its final match of the program, with the World Tag Team champs Gene and Ole Anderson pitted against youngsters Tiger Conway and Steve Keirn in a non-title bout. While the match had no particular build-up, the crowd was super hyped. I probably should have sensed something unusual was up when television commentator David Crockett said, “There’s something in the air; I don’t know what it is, but these fans can feel it. They were up on their feet when Keirn and Conway walked in the ring. They’re ready!”
We love the newspaper bloopers, but this might be better classified as a major breach of kayfabe! It's from Greenville, SC, in October of 1975.
We're pretty sure this was supposed to say WORLD Tag Team Title Match. (The "K" and the "L" are actually next to each other on the keyboard, which likely explains the error somewhere in the process.)
We're also pretty sure the boys in the back got a big laugh out of this if they saw the ad in the local paper.
Worked Tag Team Title Match!
* * * * * * * * * *
Tiger Conway, Jr and Steve Keirn were the hot babyface tag team at the time, even earning a non-title win over the Andersons on television.
Interesting 2nd main event with a young Bob Backlund making a rare appearance in the area. He was in for a few dates over the previous weekend as well.
Also interesting to note that the ad announces "New Time" for the show - - but doesn't actually list the time! By checking other ads before and after this show it looks like the bell-time for Greenville events changed from 8:15 PM to 8:00 PM.
by David Chappell Mid-Atlantic Gateway Originally published in January 2017
On June 18, 1975 Ric Flair was about a year into his tenure with Jim Crockett Promotions. While Flair was the Mid-Atlantic Television Champion at that time, the young “Nature Boy” was still clearly a work in progress. The Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling TV show that was taped that night featured a bout between reigning NWA World Heavyweight Champion Jack Brisco and the 1974 NWA Rookie of the Year, Steve Keirn. The rare appearance of the NWA World Champion on Mid-Atlantic TV was not lost on the supremely confident Flair.
In a brief interview segment on that show with announcer Bob Caudle, Ric exclaimed,
“I just want to take one minute here to tell everybody that I had a dream! You know, I have a lot of girlfriends around the country and one of ‘em happens to be a fortune-teller. And one day she looked at one line of my palm and she said, ‘You’re the best lookin’ man in the world!’ And the next day she looked at another line in my hand and she said, ‘You got the greatest body in the world!’ And the next day she looked at a line in my hand and said, ‘You’re gonna beat Paul Jones, you’re gonna beat Wahoo McDaniel, you’re gonna beat Jack Brisco, WOOOO, and you’re gonna be the World’s Champion! Because there’s only one Nature Boy, and you are the greatest wrestler in the world today Nature Boy, know it for a fact!’”
Flair concluded by saying, “I am the best, I am the good, I am the bad…I am everything daddy, and don’t you forget it!” Caudle deadpanned in response, “Well, there’s no doubt what Ric Flair thinks of himself.”
Self confidence has never been an issue for Ric Flair, even back in 1975. But when I watched this interview segment nearly 42 years ago, I didn’t see the young brash Nature Boy as a World Champion. Back then, that prospect seemed almost laughable to me. Was Flair entertaining back then? Yes, without a doubt. But, Ric Flair as a World Champion? Not even a remote possibility in my humble opinion!
As the years progressed, my opinion of Ric Flair and his World Title possibilities certainly changed. But while myself and others had to come around to the idea of Flair as a World Heavyweight Champion, the Nature Boy’s crystal ball on this subject was clear all the way back to June of 1975. And when Ric ascended to the NWA mountaintop for the first time on September 17, 1981, I vividly remember hearkening back to this interview, and realizing that he had one heck of a fortune-telling girlfriend in his past!
The 1982 NWA World Tag Team Championship Tournament PART SEVEN by Dick Bourne Mid-Atlantic Gateway
If you missed earlier posts in this series, check them out in the links below, especially the INTRODUCTION, which puts the whole tournament in a perspective that serves as a launching point for the following discussions.
ST. PETERSBURG, FLA Date: March 27, 1982 Venue: The Bayfront Center
St. Petersburg, FL, would prove to be the sixth and final event in the series of tournaments for the vacant NWA World Tag Team championship conducted during the late winter and spring of 1982. Whether or not that was the original plan we may never know. (We will speculate on that in Part Eight of this series coming soon.)
The Florida territory played a role in the tournament from the very beginning. Eddie Graham, the former president of the National Wrestling Alliance and promoter in the state of Florida, was serving as Tournament Committee Chairman and had been seen on a special tape sent from Florida to the Mid-Atlantic area back in late January when the tournament was first announced.
This wound up being Florida's only tournament, although it is thought that when the idea of the tournament was conceived that there would at least be one other tournament held in Florida. But it never happened.
This tournament was unique in that it was just one part of a much larger special show in St. Petersburg called "The Bayfront Spectacular" that also featured an NWA World title defense by Ric Flair. There was a large display board shown on Florida television (seen in the graphic above) which included the main event matches and bracketing for the tournament. Ole Anderson and Stan Hansen, winners of two previous tournaments in Greensboro and Atlanta, sent in a tape from Georgia promoting their appearance in St. Petersburg. I particularly like Stan's reaction when Ole quizzed him about their possible tournament opponents:
Ole: "Can the Briscos beat you?" Stan: "No!"
Ole: "Can the Funks beat you?" Stan: "Who?"
Ole: "How about the Von Erich brothers from Texas?" Stan: "Never heard of 'em!"
Special tournament update segments were hosted by Barbara Clary in the weeks leading up to the event. One of those is seen in the video above. The tournament only featured five teams, with one team getting an early bye. But the limited line-up was still one of the most colorful of all the tournaments and featured three different brother combinations.
The five teams in St. Petersburg were:
Jack and Jerry Brisco
Steve Keirn and Mike Graham
David and Kerry Von Erich
Dory and Terry Funk
Ole Anderson and Stan
A closer look at each team:
JACK AND JERRY BRISCO
The Briscos had been regulars in Florida for many years, and had been an active team up until early March of that year (1982) when Jack entered the Mid-Atlantic territory on a full time basis as a singles competitor. The Brisco brothers had most recently been North American Tag Team champions in Florida, losing the titles three weeks before this tournament to Dory Funk, Jr. and David Von Erich. The team came into St. Pete with a tournament win already under their belt, having won in Charlotte back on February 14. They had competed in Richmond, Atlanta, and Fayetteville as well.
STEVE KEIRN AND MIKE GRAHAM
Considered the "hometown team" in this tournament, Steve Keirn and Mike Graham had a storied championship history as a tag team in Florida. They held various tag team championships from 1977-1981 including the Florida, United States, and North American Tag Team titles. Keirn was a regular in the Memphis territory at this time, and would soon be forming one of the most famous and successful tag teams of the 1980s, the Fabulous Ones (with Stan Lane.) So it was a bit of a homecoming for him to return and team with Mike Graham in Florida, the territory where Keirn had had so much success in the 1970s both as a singles and tag team competitor.
DAVID AND KERRY VON ERICH
Behind the scenes, Fritz Von Erich had sent his son David to Florida to gain experience working as a "bad guy" in hopes of helping to prepare him for a possible run as NWA World champion down the road. David was considered a top candidate for that role by the various promoters in the NWA, including the kingmaker Sam Muchnick. He was being mentored by former NWA World champion Dory Funk, Jr., and the two had recently defeated the Briscos for the North American Title. But for this tournament, David brought in his brother Kerry from their home territory of World Class Wrestling in Dallas. It was a rare opportunity for Kerry to work "heel" as well.
DORY AND TERRY FUNK
The Funk brothers were familiar faces in Florida, both having spent a great deal of time there, and Terry actually having won the NWA World title in Miami Beach from Jack Brisco in 1975. The rivalry between the Funks and the Briscos went way back to the 1960s, and the two brother teams had feuded over the North American titles as recently as two months before this tournament in St. Pete. As mentioned above, Dory was tag champs with David Von Erich at the time of the tournament, but chose his younger brother as his partner for this chance at advancing in the World Tag Team tournament. They had also competed together in the tournament in Atlanta on 2/28.
OLE ANDERSON AND STAN HANSEN
No team seemingly wanted those World Tag Team title belts more than Anderson and Hansen, having ponied up the $1000 entry fee for all five of the previous tournaments and having walked away with victories in two of them - - Greensboro and Atlanta. That night in St. Pete they were considered the "outside team," coming in from Georgia Championship Wrestling.
TOURNAMENT BRACKETING & RESULTS
You will notice in the video embedded above that Barbara Clary mentions it is possible that the Funk
Brothers could face the Von Erich Brothers in the tournament, which
presented a possible interesting plot twist, since Dory Funk and David
Von Erich were reigning North American Tag Team champions at the time. But it didn't happen. graham and Keirn eliminated the Von Erichs in the opening round. The Funk brothers received a bye to the second round.
The tournament wound up only having three matches. In the first of two opening round matches, the Briscos and Anderson/Hansen were both eliminated with a double disqualification. The winner of that match was to get a bye to the finals, but with the double DQ, both were eliminated from the tournament.
In the second opening round match, Graham and Keirn defeated David and Kerry Von Erich, avoiding the potential Funk/Von Erich clash.
With the earlier double disqualification of the Briscos and Hansen/Anderson, the match between Graham/Keirn and the Funks became the de facto championship match.
TOURNAMENT WINNERS: In what may have appeared to be an upset to an outsider looking in, but wasn't a surprise at all to fans in Florida, Steve Keirn and Mike Graham won the tournament with victories over two brother combinations: the Von Erichs and the Funks.
In a little side story told by Eddie Graham in a taped update segment from Florida shown on Mid-Atlantic television the week after the St. Petersburg tournament, Graham thanked promoter Fred Ward (promoter in Columbus, GA) for taking over as active Mat Chairman for the night of the tournament his son Mike was involved in. Graham, who was the Committee Chairman for the tournament at large, said he wanted to avoid any conflict of interest, and was pleased that Mike and Steve Keirn had won in St. Pete and had the highest hopes for their success moving forward.
Tournament Notes and Trivia:
There were three brother combinations in the tournament: the Briscos, Funks, and Von Erichs.
At the time of this tournament, Dory Funk Jr. and David Von Erich were North American Tag Team champions in Florida, but each teamed with their brother in the tournament.
Ole Anderson and Stan Hansen finished out their streak as being the only team to compete in all six city tournaments.
Florida was the fourth state to host a tournament, along with Virginia, Georgia, and North Carolina.
This was the final actual tournament ultimately held before the Eastern Division Finals, although there were some fictitious tournaments that played into the finals which will be discussed later.
Mike Graham and Steve Keirn, winners of the St. Petersburg tournament.
Coming Up in PART EIGHT:
With the city tournaments that actually took place concluded, Ole Anderson helps us take a look at the tournaments that were reportedly planned but did not take place. Ole was booking both the Georgia and Mid-Atlantic territories during this time, and was the person who initially conceived of the tournament.
After that, stay tuned for details on the Eastern Division finals, Western Division winners, and the final story on how it all fell apart at the end.
On June 18, 1975 Ric Flair was about a year into his tenure with Jim Crockett Promotions. While Flair was the Mid-Atlantic Television Champion at that time, the young “Nature Boy” was still clearly a work in progress. The Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling TV show that was taped that night featured a bout between reigning NWA World Heavyweight Champion Jack Brisco and the 1974 NWA Rookie of the Year, Steve Keirn. The rare appearance of the NWA World Champion on Mid-Atlantic TV was not lost on the supremely confident Flair.
In a brief interview segment on that show with announcer Bob Caudle, Ric exclaimed,
“I just want to take one minute here to tell everybody that I had a dream! You know, I have a lot of girlfriends around the country and one of ‘em happens to be a fortune-teller. And one day she looked at one line of my palm and she said, ‘You’re the best lookin’ man in the world!’ And the next day she looked at another line in my hand and she said, ‘You got the greatest body in the world!’ And the next day she looked at a line in my hand and said, ‘You’re gonna beat Paul Jones, you’re gonna beat Wahoo McDaniel, you’re gonna beat Jack Brisco, WOOOO, and you’re gonna be the World’s Champion! Because there’s only one Nature Boy, and you are the greatest wrestler in the world today Nature Boy, know it for a fact!’”
Flair concluded by saying, “I am the best, I am the good, I am the bad…I am everything daddy, and don’t you forget it!” Caudle deadpanned in response, “Well, there’s no doubt what Ric Flair thinks of himself.”
Self confidence has never been an issue for Ric Flair, even back in 1975. But when I watched this interview segment nearly 42 years ago, I didn’t see the young brash Nature Boy as a World Champion. Back then, that prospect seemed almost laughable to me. Was Flair entertaining back then? Yes, without a doubt. But, Ric Flair as a World Champion? Not even a remote possibility in my humble opinion!
As the years progressed, my opinion of Ric Flair and his World Title possibilities certainly changed. But while myself and others had to come around to the idea of Flair as a World Heavyweight Champion, the Nature Boy’s crystal ball on this subject was clear all the way back to June of 1975. And when Ric ascended to the NWA mountaintop for the first time on September 17, 1981, I vividly remember hearkening back to this interview, and realizing that he had one heck of a fortune-telling girlfriend in his past!
I loved watching Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling on television. In fact, my Saturday’s during the Mid-Atlantic era revolved around TV wrestling! But as much as I loved my television wrestling on Richmond’s WTVR-TV 6 back in the 1970’s, the TV matches themselves were very predictable as far as who won and who lost. And that was absolutely okay with me. It made sense that an established and championship duo like Gene and Ole Anderson would whip up on and defeat the many young upstart tandems that the promoters threw in against them on TV. For me, the team of Tiger Conway and Steve Keirn fit that bill. In my mind they were in the class of a good upcoming tag team, and would certainly put up a good fight, but there was no way in the world they could beat Gene and Ole Anderson. Boy, was I in for a big surprise!
First off, let me say that in September of 1975 Conway and Keirn brought a little more to the table than some of the typical Anderson’s TV opponents. Tiger Conway, Jr. was rapidly losing the “junior” designation…he was becoming his own man, and an accomplished wrestler. Tiger rose to one half of the Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Champions with Paul Jones in late 1974 and early 1975. But in February of 1975 when Gene and Ole Anderson took over as the area’s tag team kingpins, it was Tiger who was effectively booted out of the territory. Conway reappeared in the area with little fanfare a few weeks before being paired with Keirn in September of 1975.
Steve Keirn was building up some credentials as well. Hitting the area in the middle of 1975, the 1974 NWA Rookie of the Year put on an impressive showing against NWA World Champion Jack Brisco in a rare TV match from the WRAL TV studios soon after entering the territory. But Keirn’s performances after that were a bit uneven, and it appeared he was settling into a mid-card tag team slot with partner Ron Starr. Conway’s return to the area seemed to change things, as Tiger liked what he saw in the aggressive youngster Keirn.
Gene & Ole Anderson
During the latter days of September 1975, NWA World Tag Team Champions Gene and Ole Anderson were operating at an all-time high level. Gene and Ole were winding down one of the greatest tag teams programs ever, with Paul Jones and Wahoo McDaniel, having wrestled Jones and McDaniel in lengthy matches throughout the spring and summer. As great as the Anderson Brothers were, they perhaps were never as invincible-looking as they were in the middle of September of 1975.
The Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling TV show that was taped on September 17th was down to its final match of the program, with the World Tag Team champs Gene and Ole Anderson pitted against youngsters Tiger Conway and Steve Keirn in a non-title bout. While the match had no particular build-up, the crowd was super hyped. I probably should have sensed something unusual was up when television commentator David Crockett said, “There’s something in the air; I don’t know what it is, but these fans can feel it. They were up on their feet when Keirn and Conway walked in the ring. They’re ready!”
On June 18, 1975 Ric Flair was about a year into his tenure with Jim Crockett Promotions. While Flair was the Mid-Atlantic Television Champion at that time, the young “Nature Boy” was still clearly a work in progress. The Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling TV show that was taped that night featured a bout between reigning NWA World Heavyweight Champion Jack Brisco and the 1974 NWA Rookie of the Year, Steve Keirn. The rare appearance of the NWA World Champion on Mid-Atlantic TV was not lost on the supremely confident Flair.
