In the 1970s it was not uncommon for wrestling territories, especially in the South, to hold Cadillac tournaments with the winner's purse being a new Cadillac.
On Saturday night, March 26, 1977 the Roanoke Civic Center (presented erroneously as the Roanoke Coliseum on this poster) the promotion changed it up a bit and instead hosted an elimination tournament for a new 1977 Lincoln Continental Mark V.
The lineup of participants was impressive: Ric Flair, Greg Valentine, Brute Bernard, Jacques Goulet, Jerry Blackwell, Johnny Weaver, Wahoo McDaniel, Bill White, Ron Starr, Danny Miller, Dino Bravo, and Johnny Eagle. I would love to know what the pairings were for this tournament of twelve leading up to the final match in which Flair got the best of Wahoo to win the Lincoln.
Battle royal and tournament posters always had a different look to them and this one does as well with all the wrestler's names printed in the same sized font and apparently in no particular order. The all black print on this horizontal poster looks great over a bright pink background with three wrestler images down each side and the "wrestling" splash in the top left corner seems to have been seldomly used for Roanoke.
What an awesome night of Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling it must have been for the fans fortunate enough to be in Roanoke, VA this Saturday in 1977, although most probably left disappointed seeing the Nature Boy win the Lincoln.
NO. 9 IN A SERIES. NEWSPAPER CLIPPING COURTESY OF MARK EASTRIDGE.
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Gateway Notes by Dick Bourne, Mid-Atlantic Gateway
Flair's tournament win for the Lincoln Continental in Roanoke provided the set-up for the next show for promoter Pete Apostolou in the Star City which would be held on April 9, 1977. Wahoo would attempt to get revenge for losing out on the Lincoln Continental, likely due to Flair's underhanded heel tactics, in an Indian Strap match with the Nature Boy at the Roanoke Civic Center.
Both Flair and McDaniel held championship gold at the time of this tournament. Wahoo was the reigning Mid-Atlantic champion. His feud with Flair stretched all the way back to the fall of 1975 when Flair defeated Wahoo for that same Mid-Atlantic title in Hampton, VA. The two had battled back and forth trading that title for most of the year of 1976. Now they were feuding over that Lincoln.
Wahoo was a few weeks away from settling in for a new feud over his title, this time with Greg Valentine, which would eventually lead to Wahoo getting his leg broken in a TV match with "The Hammer" that same year.
Flair's gold belt was one half of the NWA World Tag Team titles that he and Valentine held, having defeated Flair's cousins the Anderson Brothers back in December of 1976. The Andersons had moved on to Georgia Championship Wrestling, but continued to return periodically to continue their feud with Ric and Greg in the Mid-Atlantic area over the tag titles throughout 1977 and into 1978, which also led to Ole Anderson teaming up with longtime foe Wahoo McDaniel late in 1977. It was a magical time in Mid-Atlantic Wrestling.
As summer turned to autumn in 1984, the "Awesome Twosome" of Wahoo McDaniel and Tully Blanchard were blazing a trail of terror through the Mid-Atlantic area, but it became clear that Wahoo wasn't interested in long term tag team action. He wanted his U.S. title back. The NWA held up the belt back in August and Jim Crockett Promotions had been dragging its feet on figuring out how the whole situation between Wahoo and Ricky Steamboat would be settled. Each wrestler made a credible claim to the title.
Eventually, the decision was made not return the title to either Wahoo or Steamboat, and the issue would be resolved in a tournament to be held in Charlotte, NC on October 7, 1984.
Charlotte had hosted a United States title tournament once before, back in October of 1981 when Jimmy Snuka won the honors after, interestingly enough, Wahoo McDaniel had been stripped of the same title under questionable circumstances in a wild feud with Roddy Piper that involved Abdullah the Butcher. The fact that the title had been taken from him again and put in a tournament obviously angered and frustrated the Chief, and he made that point abundantly clear to David Crockett and Bob Caudle on the two JCP television programs.
THE TOURNAMENT
Initially sixteen wrestlers were entered in the tournament. Barry Windham, one of the original 16, defaulted by no-showing the event, having left days earlier to enter the World Wrestling Federation.
The tournament featured three wrestlers from outside of the territory. Superstar Billy Graham came in from Florida and Carlos Colon flew in from Puerto Rico. The third outsider was Manny Fernandez, who had arrived full-time a few weeks earlier and who would stay with the promotion for the next several years.
The Charlotte card was part of a huge weekend for Jim Crockett Promotions. The night before in Greensboro was the big “Starrcade Rally” show, with a concert and autograph signings, and where announcements of the big matches would take place for the upcoming mega-event Starrcade ’84. Originally, the card was to have been the launching point for a big push for Barry Windham, who had recently arrived to the territory from Florida. Instead, Barry and his father, Blackjack Mulligan, jumped ship to the World Wrestling Federation. The defection left a big hole in Jim Crockett’s long-term plans moving forward.
History will never know for sure what the original plans for the tournament were and how the departure of Barry Windham might have affected them. There seems little doubt that the finals would have come down to Windham and Wahoo McDaniel, building toward a title match between the two at Starrcade ’84. However, it’s less certain who would have won that final match in the tournament had Windham stayed with Crockett.
The likelihood is that Wahoo McDaniel would still have won this tournament, which would have set up Windham winning the U.S. title from him at Starrcade ‘84. Windham had been introduced on television in early August as having signed the most lucrative contract in pro-wrestling history (!) with Jim Crockett giving him the keys to a brand new sports car as well. He was clearly in line for the huge push, and would have no doubt been the top contender in the area for Ric Flair’s NWA world championship, just as he had been in Florida over the last couple of years. The other less likely possibility was to put Barry over strong by having him win this tournament and then defeat Wahoo again at Starrcade.
Manny Fernandez assumed Barry Windham’s spot in the tournament. He defeated Superstar Billy Graham and reigning TV champion Tully Blanchard before eventually losing to McDaniel in the finals.
Wahoo defeated former tag-team partner Mark Youngblood, as well as Mike Rotundo, and finally Fernandez on his way to his 5th United States championship.
First Round Matches
• Wahoo McDaniel defeated Mark Youngblood
• Mike Rotundo defeated The Assassin #1 (Jody Hammilton) by DQ
• Ivan Koloff defeated Brian Adias
• Dusty Rhodes defeated Don Kernodle
• Superstar Billy Graham defeated Carlos Colon by count-out
• Manny Fernandez received a bye when Barry Windham defaults
• Tully Blanchard defeated Jimmy Valiant
• Ricky Steamboat and Ron Bass wrestled to a draw – Both eliminated
Second Round Matches - Quarter Finals
• Wahoo McDaniel defeated Mike Rotundo
• Dusty Rhodes and Ivan Koloff double-DQ – Both Eliminated
• Manny Fernandez defeated Superstar Billy Graham via DQ
• Tully Blanchard received a bye due to Steamboat/Bass draw.
Third Round Matches – Semi Finals
• Wahoo McDaniel received a bye due to the Rhodes/Koloff double DQ
• Manny Fernandez defeated Tully Blanchard
Final Round – Tournament Championship
• Wahoo McDaniel defeated Manny Fernandez to win the U.S. Championship
Needless to say, after Wahoo had regained the title by winning the tournament, he was on cloud nine and cocky as ever. But you really couldn't blame him. It had been a long, hot, controversial summer, and he had finally been vindicated.
Wahoo went on to defend the U.S. title Thanksgiving night at Starrcade '84, soundly defeating Superstar Billy Graham. As 1984 came to a close, a new challenger appeared on the horizon. Magnum T.A., having just arrived from the Mid-South territory, quickly established himself as the number one contender for the United States Championship and eventually defeated Wahoo for the title in a dramatic moment on "World Wide Wrestling" taped March 23, 1985 in Charlotte.
THE SUNSHINE STATE
Wahoo immediately left the Mid-Atlantic area after the loss to Magnum, and became the booker for the Florida territory, as well as its number one popular star. When he entered the sunshine state, he left his "bad guy" days behind him.
Later that summer, Dusty Rhodes would recruit Wahoo to return to the Mid-Atlantic area for a few select appearances over the next months. He asked Wahoo to be his partner against Tully Blanchard and his paid henchman Abdullah the Butcher. Wahoo sent in a tape from the set of "Championship Wrestling from Florida" asking Dusty for his forgiveness and his trust, and telling him he would be there if he needed him. Wahoo received a heroes welcome when he did return.
In the early fall, Wahoo returned once more to team with Dusty and Magnum in their battles with Tully Blanchard and the Andersons, only a few months before the latter would join NWA Champion Ric Flair and form the Four Horsemen.
The 1982 NWA World Tag Team Championship Tournament PART FIVE by Dick Bourne Mid-Atlantic Gateway
More video below.
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.
ATLANTA, GEORGIA Date: February 28, 1982 Venue: The Omni
Atlanta became the first city outside of the Mid-Atlantic territory to host tournament. As mentioned in earlier posts in this series, Ole Anderson was booking both the Mid-Atlantic and Georgia territories during this time, and the relationship between the two offices lent itself to Georgia Championship Wrestling hosting one of the city tournaments.
Atlanta rivaled Greensboro in the diversity and depth of the tournament field, including a team from All Japan Pro Wrestling.
Two teams had wrestled in the previous tournaments in Greensboro, Charlotte, and Richmond:
Line-Up Sheet included with the "Ringsider" program sold at the Omni
Ole Anderson and Stan Hansen
Jack and Jerry Brisco
Eight new teams entered in Atlanta:
Terry Funk and Dory Funk, Jr.
Buddy Rose and Rip Oliver
Jumbo Tsuruta and Genichiro Tenryu
Ron Bass and Kevin Sullivan
Ron Fuller and Leroy Brown
The Mongolian Stomper and Ricky Harris
Bob and Brad Armstrong*
Masked Superstar and The Super Destroyer
TEAMS FEATURING OUTSIDE TALENT
Jack and Jerry Brisco - The Brisco Brothers were in from Championship Wrestling from Florida and were making their third appearance in the tournaments, having also competed in Richmond and won in Charlotte.
Terry Funk and Dory Funk, Jr. - The famous Funk Brothers from Amarillo, Texas came in from Texas for the tournament, although it's fair to say they could also be counted as an entrant from Florida, since that is where they spent most of their time wrestling during these days (when they were not in Japan.) But they were considered an entry from Texas. They would make one further appearance in another tournament to come. It was cool to have the Funk Brothers involved in this series of shows.
Buddy Rose and Rip Oliver - Rose and Oliver were stalwarts in the Pacific Northwest territory (out of Portland promoted by Don Owen) and had held the Pacific Northwest Tag team championships on several occasions in 1981 and 1982. In commentary on Georgia TV, Gordon Solie referred to them as Pacific Northwest champions, but at the time of the Atlanta tournament Rip Oliver actually held those titles with Matt Borne.
Jumbo Tsuruta and Genichiro Tenyru - Two of the top stars for All Japan Pro Wrestling teamed up for the tournament in Atlanta. They were in as a contingent of Japanese stars along with Giant Baba and the Great Kabuki, the latter two appearing in singles matches on this huge Atlanta card.
Ron Fuller and Leroy Brown - Ron Fuller came in from Southeast Championship Wrestling in Alabama, while Leroy Brown was splitting time between both Georgia and the Mid-Atlantic area. Fuller was making several appearances during this time for Georgia.
The Mongolian Stomper and Ricky Harris - The Stomper was also in from Southeast Championship Wrestling, while Ricky Harris was splitting time for both Georgia and Mid-Atlantic.
THE GEORGIA TEAMS
Bob and Brad Armstrong promote the Feb. 28 tournament in Atlanta with Gordon Solie, host of "Georgia Championship Wrestling." Bob was not able to appear and was replaced by Tommy Rogers.
Bob and Brad Armstrong (Tommy Rogers) - The Armstrongs would have been the second father-and-son team entered in the broader tournaments (in addition to Blackjack Mulligan Sr. and Jr. in Charlotte) and were billed for this tournament, but Bob did not appear and was replaced by a young Tommy Rogers. It's too bad Bob couldn't be there; he and Brad were hot off a victory three months earlier in Atlanta's annual Thanksgiving Night Tag Team Tournament held in that very same building. Not sure if this tidbit is related or not, but Bob Armstrong appeared on a 3 PM matinee show in Asheville, NC that same Sunday, teaming with Ray Stevens against Roddy Piper and Austin Idol. Perhaps his no-show in Atlanta was related to travel or weather issues getting from Asheville to Atlanta.
The Masked Superstar and the Super Destroyer were reigning National Tag Team champions at the time of the Atlanta tournament, but were upset in the first round.
Ron Bass and Kevin Sullivan rounded out the tournament.
TOURNAMENT BRACKETS & RESULTS
The Atlanta leg of the tournament featured ten total teams, which
doesn't lend itself well to balanced bracketing. Four teams were
selected (either by seeding or more likely at random) to have two "play
in" matches to get the field down to eight teams. (Bracketing information was gathered through an official bracket published in Gong Magazine in Japan, seen inset beside the brackets below.)
The tournament came down to Stan Hansen and Ole Anderson vs. Jack and Jerry Brisco in the finals. Both teams had won prior tournaments - - Anderson/Hansen in Greensboro and the Briscos in Charlotte.
The Briscos defeated Ron Bass and Kevin Sullivan by DQ in the quarter final round, and then topped their arch rivals the Funk Brothers (Terry and Dory) by pinfall in the semi-finals.
Ole and Stan defeated Brad Armstrong and Tommy Rogers (replacing Bob Armstrong) in the quarter-final round, and then topped the Japanese team of Tenryu and Tsuruta in the semi-finals, a team that had already wrestled two matches because of being selected for the early "play in" round.
Video of that semi-final match was shown on television. The video originally aired on "Best of Championship Wrestling" on WTBS
out of Atlanta with Steve Olsenoski narrating over the Japanese
commentary.
In the end it was Anderson and Hansen defeating the Brisco Brothers to
win Atlanta and the $25,000 city prize, making them the first team to
win two city tournaments, a fact that would have more significance two months down the road.
ATLANTA WINNERS: Ole Anderson and Stan Hansen
With this Atlanta tournament, Ole Anderson and Stan Hansen continued
their streak as the only team to appear in all four tournaments so far
(Greensboro, Charlotte, Richmond, and Atlanta). They also become the
first team to win two separate tournaments (Greensboro and Atlanta.)
"Ringsider" program sold at the March 14 Omni show
reporting on the tournament win by Anderson and Hansen
OTHER MAIN EVENTS
NWA WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP RIC FLAIR vs. HARLEY RACE
Ric Flair was only five months into his first NWA title reign. Former six-time champion Harley Race was hot on his trail to regain the championship for a record breaking seventh time. This angle was played up strong on WTBS television, with Flair adamant that Race would not use him to break that record. (Ironically, Race would indeed break the record by beating Flair for the title in June of 1983 in St. Louis.) The match ended up a no-contest, and set up a return in the Omni on 3/14/82 in a 2-of-3 falls contest.
PACIFIC WRESTLING FEDERATION CHAMPIONSHIP GIANT BABA vs. TERRY GORDY
Terry Gordy was on the verge of becoming a breakout star in Japan and his match with Giant Baba for the Pacific Wrestling Federation (PWF) title got him well on his way in the eyes of the Japanese fans and press. Baba retained the title, but Gordy's stock rose considerably in the Land of the Rising Sun.
SPECIAL ATTRACTION - DRAGON SHI MATCH
THE GREAT KABUKI (mgd by Gary Hart) vs. DUSTY RHODES
SPECIAL CHALLENGE MATCH
BUZZ SAWYER vs. JIMMY GARVIN
THE JAPAN CONNECTION
Georgia promoter Paul Jones reports on the
tournament winners.
If the you've noticed a real
Japanese-feel to this card in Atlanta, there is good reason. Giant
Baba and his contingent were in the United States for a series of
shows for several different NWA territories, including a big card in Charlotte one
week later as well as Championship Wrestling from Florida and World Class Wrestling. The All Japan TV crew was with them, recording the matches at
the Omni for broadcast in Japan.
Baba defended the Pacific Wrestling
Federation (PWF) title against Terry Gordy, who was beginning to make a
name for himself in the Land of the Rising Sun. Baba's two top stars from
All Japan, Jumbo Tsuruta and Genichiro Tenyru, teamed up in the
tournament. Another star in Japan, the Great Kabuki, battled "The
American Dream" Dusty Rhodes in a special attraction match. Kabuki had
become a star in the United States and would be a force to be reckoned with
in Georgia, World Class Wrestling, and Mid-Atlantic Wrestling in the
coming years.
Having the Funks and Briscos on the card made the show
attractive to Japanese audiences as well, as Jack, Terry, and Dory had
all defended the NWA world title there for All Japan Pro Wrestling. The
Funks in particular were legends there, and were responsible behind the scenes for
booking U.S. talent to appear on All Japan cards.
A good
portion of this Atlanta Omni card was broadcast later in Japan, and
clips of two matches were seen on WTBS. The Anderson/Hansen vs. Tsuruta/Tenyru semi-finals were
shown on "Best of Championship Wrestling" with Steve Olsenoski narrating over the Japanese commentary. The NWA World title match between Ric Flair and Harley Race aired on "Georgia Championship Wrestling."
Coming up in PART SIX:
We take a brief look at the city tournament held in Fayetteville, NC one day after Atlanta, a tournament we know very little about. Fayetteville is the home to Fort Bragg, and two Marine privates fared well in the backyard of the largest military installation in the world. Stay tuned for our next post about the very interesting 1982 NWA World Tag Team Championship Tournament.
Special thanks to Mark Eastridge for the newspaper clippings, and Brian Rogers for the Japanese magazine images.
As we get close to NCAA "March Madness" and tournament time in college basketball, it seemed fitting to take a look at one of Mid-Atlantic Wrestling's great tournaments from back in the day.
Tony Schiavone talked about attending this show in our interview with him. It was one of the great tournaments held in the 1970s in Greensboro and featured talent from outside our territory coming in just for this show. That list included Jack and Jerry Brisco, Stan "The Lariat" Hansen, and Andre the Giant.
The tournament was being held because previous champions Ric Flair and Greg Valentine were stripped of the titles after continually failing to defend them.
TOURNAMENT: NWA World Tag Team Championship
DATE: April 23, 1978
LOCATION: Greensboro NC
VENUE: Greensboro Coliseum
WINNERS: Paul Jones and Ricky Steamboat
TEAMS ENTERED: 10
BRACKET
Single Elimination, Three Rounds, Four Teams compete in an additional qualifying round for advance to the semi-finals.*
REASON FOR TOURNAMENT
Previous champions Ric Flair and Greg Valentine were stripped of the titles by the NWA for failure to defend the titles.
OFFICIALS AT RINGSIDE
Sandy Scott, David Crockett, Joe Murnick, Wally Dusek, Ring Announcer Tom Miller
FIRST ROUND - FIVE MATCHES (1) Wahoo McDaniel and Andre the Giant defeated Ric Flair and Greg Valentine by forfeit.
*Winner advances to special qualifying round to move to semi finals - see brackets.
Valentine came out in a 3-piece suit, Flair was nowhere to be found. Valentine said that they were not going to compete in the tournament because nobody had defeated them for the belts. Wahoo grabbed the microphone and told Valentine that they would have lost if Flair had shown up.
(2) Ken Patera and the Masked Superstar beat Bobo Brazil and Tony Atlas
*Winner advances to special qualifying round to move to semi finals - see brackets.
(3) Gene and Ole Anderson defeated Jack and Jerry Brisco
Jack Brisco went for a body slam on Ole Anderson; Ole held onto the leg and cradled Jack cleanly for the pin.
(4) Paul Jones and Steamboat beat Cyclone Negro and Baron Von Raschke
Side note: Jones and Steamboat are the reigning Mid-Atlantic Tag Team champions.
(5) Blackjack Mulligan and Stan Hansen beat Johnny Weaver and Mr. Wrestling Tim Woods
Mulligan was booed as a heel at this point, even though the famous "hat & robe" angle turning Mulligan babyface had already occurred.
SPECIAL QUALIFYING ROUND*Winners from the first two first-round matches compete for semi-final slot - see brackets. Patera and Superstar beat Wahoo and Andre
Ken Patera body slammed Andre the Giant in this match. Match went to a time limit draw. Winner was to be decided on a coin flip. The referee flipped the coin and Patera went down to pick it up.
Wahoo stomped on the coin. When he moved his foot, he saw he had lost the toss. Patera and Superstar jumped around the ring in celebration.
SEMI-FINALS (1) Jones and Steamboat beat the Anderson Brothers (2) Patera and Superstar beat Mulligan and Hansen by DQ
Mulligan challenged Superstar to come into the ring and "get his ass kicked", since Flair had put the bounty up and Superstar said he would collect it. Mulligan got DQ'd by pushing the referee when trying to take off Superstar's mask. He tore the top and Superstar had to change his mask for the finals. Mulligan was cheered heavily in contrast to the reaction he received in the first round.
CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS WINNERS AWARDED WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS
Jones and Steamboat beat Patera and Superstar
Steamboat won with a bodypress.
Special thanks to Mark Isley, who was in attendance that night in Greensboro, for his assistance with this feature.
