Ric Flair Exhibit Revisited (WrestleMania Axxess 2017)

by Dick Bourne
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

In 2017 at WrestleMania Axxess, the annual fan event preceding the big wrestling pay-per-view, the WWE presented an exhibit dedicated to the "Nature Boy" Ric Flair. With the help of several private collectors, the exhibit showcased some of Ric's famous wrestling robes from the 1970s-1990s and also the four original belts Ric wore that represented his 16 world championships.

West Potter photo.

The centerpiece of the exhibit was a Starrcade-themed display featuring the robes worn by Flair and Harley Race at the Starrcade '83 event in Greensboro, NC in November of 1983. Behind the robes were familiar photographs from that Starrcade that we all remember seeing countless times over the years in the newsstand magazines.

West Potter photo.

To the left of the Starrcade robes were the "domed globed" NWA World title belt Ric wore from 1981-1986, and the famous "big gold" belt that represented the NWA title from 1986-1990 and the WCW World title following that.

Ben Brown photo, courtesy of Dave Millican

To the right of the Starrcade robes were the WCW World championship belt (1991-1994, above right) and the winged-eagle (above left) WWF Championship belt, the style Flair wore there in 1992-1993.

West Potter photo.

There were several historical robes on display, but one of my favorites is the "lion robe" which goes back to the mid-1970s, and was worn at the "Battle of the belts II" in Orlando in 1986 when Flair debuted the new NWA World championship "Big Gold" belt. (There are lots of amazing photos of the robe and belt together in the book "Big Gold" which has a chapter devoted to that night in Orlando.) Special to see that robe on display in the same city for WrestleMania.

Collage from @wcwretrospect on Twitter

This collage features several images from the exhibit including the statue of Flair unveiled over the weekend, as well as the infamous "President of World Championship Wrestling" shield on display when Flair was in that role on "WCW Monday Nitro" in 1999.

Very cool stuff, and nice to see these things remembered and showcased in this way.

Originally published April of 2017 on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway

Tim Woods takes credit for costing Buddy Rogers the WWWF Championship

by Dick Bourne
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

"I'm proud to say that I was the man who caused you to get beat
in less than a minute."  - Tim Woods

In the fall of 1979, Tim Woods and Buddy Rogers were involved in a torrid feud. Rogers and his number one charge, U.S. Champion Jimmy Snuka, had badly injured Woods (in storyline) in one of the most dramatic and violent angles ever seen on Mid-Atlantic TV, and throughout the fall, Woods was intent on revenge. He even printed up his own wanted posters to hand out to fans at arenas to generate support in his quest to get even with Snuka and Rogers.

Rogers was now a manager, and occasionally still wrestled, but was most famous for his legacy in wrestling. His world title wins aside, it was his iconic nickname "Nature Boy" from the 1950s that had been bequeathed to Ric Flair back in 1975 by JCP booker George Scott that modern fans may have been more familiar with. Scott was a longtime friend and admirer of Rogers, and the rookie Flair reminded him of the original Nature Boy. It wound up being a wonderful gift that helped shape Flair's career for decades. 

But more significantly, Rogers was at that time the only man to have ever held both the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) world championships. He was also famous for the way he lost that WWWF title to Bruno Sammartino in 1963, submitting to Bruno's over-the-shoulder bearhug in just 43 seconds in Madison Square Garden. As it happens, a young Tim Woods was working the under-card of that very same show.

Behind the scenes, Woods and Rogers developed a lasting friendship during Woods' nine-month stint in the WWF in 1963. During their feud in the Mid-Atlantic area sixteen years later in 1979, the two men occasionally played off the fact that Woods was there when Rogers lost the title to Sammartino.

In an interview with Bob Caudle on Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling in late October 1979, Rogers would accuse Woods of betraying a secret that would dearly cost him. Rogers called Woods a "rat" for "squealing" his secret. The result, he claimed, cost him over two million dollars in purses that he would have won otherwise.

 
Rogers didn't go into more specifics at that time, but the details could be pieced together in various local promos that Rogers and Woods made in advance of their matches against each other in local areans throughout the territory. The best example might be in promos for their battle in Raleigh's Dorton Arena on November 20, 1979. Woods actually told Rogers how proud he was that he was the reason Rogers lost the WWWF title. "I'm proud to say that I was the man who caused you to get beat in less than a minute," Woods declared. While Bruno Sammartino's name was not specifically mentioned, the implication was clear. And by the sound of it, one could surmise that Woods must have told Sammartino that Rogers was coming into the Madison Square Garden match with a badly injured back, something Bruno would quickly exploit only seconds into their famous bout.


Buddy Rogers and Tim Woods Promos - 11/20/79 Raleigh NC

There of course was no such storyline in 1963, at least not involving Woods, who was working low on the WWWF cards at that time very early in his career. But how cool is it that Woods and Rogers would play off that historic match 16 years later, in a totally different territory, knowing they were both in the same building the night it took place? I'm guessing all of that was lost on most of the people who heard these promos in 1979, but it's a small little detail - - a sub-plot if you will - - that makes the memory of the famous Woods/Rogers feud something a little more special to reflect on now more than 40 years later.

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Special thanks to David Chappell and his 12-part Gateway series on the Woods-Rogers feud, to Mark Eastridge for the newspaper clipping, and to Gary Wray for the audio recording of the Woods-Rogers promos for Raleigh.

Jim Crockett, Jr. Makes a Rare Appearance in Madison Square Garden (1982)

Madison Square Garden, January 1982: (L-R) Jim Crockett, Jr., Hiashi Shinma, Ken Tajima, Vince McMahon, and Frank Tunney. (Photograph by George Napolitano)

by Dick Bourne
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

It was quite the gathering of dignitaries during an intermission at the WWF wrestling event at New York's Madison Square Garden on January 18, 1982. The president of the WWF, Hisashi Shinma (second from the left) was making the announcement of the first annual I.W.G.P. (International Wrestling Grand Prix) Championship Tournament to be held in 1983 in Japan. Shinma, along with being the recognized president of the WWF was also a top official with New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW). 

Shinma was flanked by his interpreter Ken Tajima, and joined by National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) president and Mid-Atlantic Wrestling promoter Jim Crockett, Jr., WWWF promoter Vincent J. McMahon, and Toronto promoter (and NWA Vice President) Frank Tunney. It's also worth noting that Tunney and Crockett were business partners at this time, as Tunney was booking a majority of talent for his Maple Leaf Garden shows through Crockett's Charlotte, NC, office. 

It was a rare appearance for Crockett in Madison Square Garden. The WWF at this time was still a member of the NWA.

This gathering was captured by famed wrestling photographer George Napolitano who had the foresight to document the occasion. I've never seen any other photos from this rather historic gathering of wrestling dignitaries.

On the MSG Network broadcast of this show, the announcement was not covered. You could see this happening in the background of a wide camera shot, but announcer Vince (K.) McMahon was rambling on about something else while this was taking place. 

The 1/18/82 show was the first Madison Square Garden show I ever saw on TV. It was broadcast on delayed basis on the USA Network which had just been added to our local cable system in Kingsport, TN, where I grew up. The main event on that show was a really good WWF title defense by Bob Backlund against Adrian Adonis, where Adonis actually got the win, but not the title, when the match was stopped for blood. 

Mid-Atlantic stalwart Greg "The Hammer" Valentine was also on this show, defeating Pedro Morales, during one of Valentine's two big WWF stints during his 1976-1984 Mid-Atlantic period. Other regular Mid-Atlantic alumni on this card included former Mid-Atlantic champion Tony Atlas and perennial journeyman Charlie Fulton.   

According to the excellent reference book "Wrestling in the Garden: The Battle for New York" (by Scott Teal and J. Michael Kenyon, Crowbar Press), the show drew 18,301 and was simulcast live via closed circuit TV at the adjoining Felt Forum. While that book is an incredibly detailed compendium of all things related to the history of wrestling at Madison Square Garden, Teal and Kenyon oddly left out the gathering of these wrestling dignitaries at that January 18, 1982 show.

Thanks to Kyle Rosser for sending the photo clipping. Republished January 2022 on the mid-Atlantic Gateway.

Fox Affliate WGHP in High Point/Greensboro Does History Feature with Gateway Contributor Wayne Brower

by Dick Bourne
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

In advance of tonight's debut of WWE Smackdown on the Fox broadcasting network, local Fox affiliate WGHP channel 8 out of the Greensboro/High Point/Winston-Salem market did a nice feature on the history of pro-wrestling at that station going back to the 1960s.

Morning anchor Brad Jones found our Gateway article on broadcast Hall-of-Famer Charlie Harville written by Gateway contributor Wayne Brower back in 2005 and had us get him in touch with Wayne for an interview for this morning's Friday morning news broadcast on WGHP. Fortunately, the video can also be found on the Fox8 website:

Walk through wrestling history ahead of WWE’s Friday evening kickoff on FOX8 

Wayne's article is one of my favorites ever submitted here, and I am thrilled WGHP came across it. Wayne did an outstanding job with them and it really takes you back to see the old photos of host Charlie Harville with wrestling legends like George Becker, Johnny Weaver, Rip Hawk, Swede Hanson, and others. Be sure to check out Wayne's article, as well as our Studio Wrestling page on wrestling at WGHP on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway Archive website.

The Lost Art of Classic Ring Announcing

Legendary Joe McHugh introduces "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers

by Dick Bourne
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

I have a fondness for many of the old-school ring announcers. They all had a a certain flare for the dramatic, and made the introduction of any match seem special. 

Good ring announcing is something of a lost art today, if you ask me. Every WWE ring announcer today sort of sounds like every other WWE ring announcer. Maybe that's their objective. For example, they all have that annoying habit of pronouncing the word championship "champion-she-ip."

WWWF Ring Announcer Joe McHugh

I guess the art of classic ring announcing went the way of the old smoke filled rooms that were the classic old venues in pro-wrestling.

One of my favorites might surprise you; the great Joe McHugh of the old W.W.W.F.

McHugh was a wrestling and boxing announcer going back to the 1950s, most famously with wrestling fans at the W.W.W.F. television tapings at Allentown, Pennsylvania's Agricultural Hall. When I first saw WWF "Championship Wrestling" on WOR-9 out of Secaucus, NJ in around 1981, I thought to myself, "Now THAT is a ring announcer."

I found a recent match on YouTube from the Philadelphia Spectrum that included a wonderful ring introduction of "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers by McHugh, and decided to include the audio here. I loved the way McHugh included the historical mention of Rogers being the only man (at that time) to have held both the NWA and WWF world titles.Those details mattered and meant something to fans.

The audio of that introduction is included here:

I always thought Joe McHugh and Raleigh's Joe Murnick (my favorite ring announcer of them all) were kindred spirits, at least in their ring announcing style, and both with accents of speech that clearly demonstrated from where they hailed. They are both at the very top of my list.

Details on first "Selected" episodes of Mid-Atlantic Wrestling on the WWE Network

The WWE Network recently announced it would be adding Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling content from the early 1980s in January of 2018. In advance of that, they apparently plan to include a selection of 10 episodes to be part of the "new content" collection in their "Collections" section of the on-demand site.

Here are the ten selected shows thought to be part of an early collection on the WWE Network in advance of the big drop of 100 shows in "The Vault." The information is taken from the WWE Network News website.

The dates listed are apparently first-run air dates, not the dates the shows were taped in studio. As was the case for decades in Jim Crockett Promotions, some markets received the tape on a "bicycle" distribution one or two weeks delayed from the original air-dates in the major markets. The dates provided are thought to be the "first-run" dates.

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

MID-ATLANTIC CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING

9/12/1981  (Special Gateway Look at this Episode)
MID-ATLANTIC TELEVISION CHAMPION RON BASS PARTNERS WITH JAY YOUNGBLOOD FOR A TAG TEAM MATCH MAIN EVENT. RODDY PIPER LEADS ABDULLAH THE BUTCHER INTO ACTION AGAINST RON RITCHIE. PLUS, SGT. SLAUGHTER, JAKE ROBERTS, AND MANY MORE IN ACTION.

12/12/1981
SGT. SLAUGHTER AND PVT. JIM NELSON TAKE TO THE RING TO BATTLE THE DUO OF TONY ANTHONY AND LARRY HAMILTON IN A TAG TEAM MATCH MAIN EVENT. PLUS, RICKY STEAMBOAT IN ACTION, IVAN KOLOFF DEFENDS THE MID-ATLANTIC TELEVISION CHAMPIONSHIP, AND MORE.

6/26/1982
CHAOS ERUPTS WHEN JAKE ROBERTS TAKES TO THE RING TO GO ONE-ON-ONE WITH RODDY PIPER. JACK BRISCO PARTNERS WITH RICKY STEAMBOAT TO BATTLE MATT BORNE AND STEVE SYBERT. PLUS, JIMMY VALIANT, WAHOO MCDANIEL, AND MANY MORE IN ACTION.

8/21/1982
NWA WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION RIC FLAIR TAKES TO THE RING TO GO ONE-ON-ONE WITH JACK BRISCO IN SINGLES COMPETITION. PLUS, RODDY PIPER PARTNERS WITH JIMMY VALIANT FOR A TAG TEAM MATCH, GENE ANDERSON CALLS OUT WAHOO MCDANIEL, AND MORE.

11/27/1982
NWA WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION RIC FLAIR LOOKS TO HUMILIATE RODDY PIPER BY CHALLENGING HIM TO A UNIQUE CONFRONTATION. PLUS, NWA UNITED STATES CHAMPION GREG VALENTINE IN ACTION, BOB ORTON JR. PARTNERS UP WITH JACK BRISCO, AND MUCH MORE.

3/12/1983
GREG VALENTINE PUTS THE COVETED NWA UNITED STATES CHAMPIONSHIP ON THE LINE AGAINST RODDY PIPER IN THE MAIN EVENT. PLUS, NWA WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION RIC FLAIR COMPETES IN SINGLES ACTION, ONE MAN GANG PARTNERS WITH MID-ATLANTIC TELEVISION CHAMPION DICK SLATER, AND MUCH MORE.

4/30/1983
TENSIONS BETWEEN RICKY STEAMBOAT AND SGT. SLAUGHTER ERUPT. RODDY PIPER CONTINUES HIS REIGN AS THE NEWLY CROWNED NWA UNITED STATES CHAMPION BY TAKING TO THE RING TO COMPETE IN SINGLES ACTION. PLUS, JOS LEDUC, THE GREAT KABUKI, AND MANY MORE IN ACTION.

7/2/1983
PAUL JONES ANNOUNCES THE WINNER OF HIS ‘DREAM CONTEST’ AFTER LEADING JAKE ROBERTS AND DORY FUNK JR. TO THE RING FOR MAIN EVENT ACTION. PLUS, RICKY STEAMBOAT LOOKS TO SHUT JERRY BRISCO’S MOUTH, WAHOO MCDANIEL GOES ONE-ON-ONE WITH THE MAGIC DRAGON, AND MORE.

9/10/1983
THINGS TAKE A DANGEROUS TURN FOR RIC FLAIR WHEN “THE NATURE BOY” TAKES TO THE RING TO CHALLENGE HARLEY RACE FOR THE NWA WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP IN THE MAIN EVENT. PLUS, BOB ORTON JR., WAHOO MCDANIEL, AND MORE IN ACTION.

10/22/1983
REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NATIONAL WRESTLING ALLIANCE MEET TO ESTABLISH THE UPCOMING BATTLE FOR THE NWA WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP BETWEEN HARLEY RACE AND RIC FLAIR AT STARRCADE. PLUS, THE ASSASSINS, RICKY STEAMBOAT, DICK SLATER, AND MANY MORE TAKE TO THE RING FOR ACTION.

Descriptions from the WWE Network via the WWE Network news website.

We'll have further updates here as they are available.

Mid-Atlantic Wrestling Coming to WWE Network in January

This announcement from the WWE Network was a nice early Christmas present for Mid-Atlantic Wrestling fans that have been wiaiting since the WWE Network launched in 2014 for them to add Mid-Atlantic television.

Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling makes its WWE Network debut with this month’s new on-demand offering. Featuring nearly 100 episodes and over 70 hours of throwback action, travel as far back as 1981 and see the very early careers of WWE Hall of Famers such as “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat, Jake “The Snake” Roberts, Sgt. Slaughter, Ric Flair, and more. Enjoy a small taste of the latest offering with this New Classic Content collection, featuring 10 memorable episodes from 1981-1983.


More information here:  WWE Network News

After Christmas, we will begin regular updates on the Gateway about episodes of Mid-Atlantic Wrestling being added to the WWE Network. 

A Thanksgiving Surprise: Starrcade Magic Returns to Greensboro

by Bruce Mitchell, Senior Columnist for PWTorch.com
Special to the Mid-Atlantic Gateway

When WWE announced that their Thanksgiving weekend house show in Greensboro would be branded WWE Starrcade, I shrugged. There hadn’t been a Thanksgiving Starrcade show in Greensboro in thirty years and between it being WWE and, well, thirty years ago, I figured this wouldn’t be much more than a token gesture.

I wasn’t mad. There are great things in these days too, and you miss out when the past overtakes you.

Thanksgiving Night Mid-Atlantic cards were one of the coolest things ever, where the biggest major league showdown matches between the biggest Mid-Atlantic stars, and where one year, the biggest match in the world, Jack Brisco challenging Dory Funk Jr. for the NWA title, took place.

Ricky Steamboat
and Shinsuke Nakamura
(Photo courtesy of Jonny Fairplay)

For many fans around here the greatest shows they ever saw weren’t Wrestlemanias, but Starrcade/Mid-Atlantic Championship Thanksgiving Night shows at the Greensboro Coliseum. All-time greats, including a significant portion of the WWE Hall of Fame, cemented their legends in this building on these nights.

Then the world changed, as it always does.

The Mid-Atlantic Gateway has a mission statement. WWE has a different one. WWE Starrcade figured to be another WWE house show, except maybe Goldust would wrestle a match, and Ricky Steamboat and The Rock’n’Roll Express would wave to the crowd. WWE has spent decades trying to rewrite history in their favor, so no way this was what it should be.

I couldn’t have been more wrong.

White ropes, Starrcade banners, loads of great old video footage, the return of the legendary steel-grey steel cage match, built before our eyes just like Klondike Bill used to do…

The Hardy Boyz talking about what it meant to sit in these seats and dream dreams, Arn Anderson with his first spine-buster since the one he threw at that Wrestlemania, Goldust morphing into the flip-flop-flying Natural Dustin Rhodes…

Dusty! Dusty! Dusty!, The New Day getting The Rock’N’Roll Express to dance, NWA Champion Harley Race and his challenger on a new throwback Starrcade ’83 t-shirt…

(Photo courtesy of Lee Petry)

Modern day innovator Shinsuke Nakamura bowing in respect to all-time innovator Ricky Steamboat…

Oh, and it turned out that early on I wasn’t the only skeptic about all this. Tickets weren’t selling that fast.

Even that worked out, because WWE called in the Great One, the one name synonymous with professional wrestling in the Greensboro Coliseum, and it all turned around.

So, as it turned out, on Saturday night, November 25th, 2017 The Nature Boy Ric Flair drew yet another big house in the old barn on the corner of Lee Street and High Point Road.

There is something indomitable, even now, in Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling.

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More on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway from Bruce Mitchell:
The Lightning and Thunder of the Nature Boys
One Night at the WRAL Mid-Atlantic Wrestling Tapings

Visit the Pro Wrestling Torch website at PWTorch.com.

"Four Horsemen" on Amazon.com                                  Mid-Atlantic Gateway Bookstore

A Second Look at "WWE Starrcade"

by Dick Bourne
Mid-Atlantic Gateway


When I first heard about the WWE calling their November 25 house show in Greensboro "WWE Starrcade" I was pretty down on the whole concept. (See "No Thanks. That's Not Starrcade" published 10/1/17.)

Now that the show is over, I've taken a second look and will admit that I see it in a little different light.

But just a little.

If I'm true to the normal way I feel about such things, I should celebrate what took place in Greensboro last Saturday night, right? After all, I celebrate the indies when they do something special to recognize wrestling's traditions and legends from the past. (The CWF's "Johnny Weaver Cup Tournament" and George South's sporadic "Anderson Brothers Classic" events are two examples.)

But what kept creeping into my mind was that it was the WWE that helped kill Starrcade. In 1987 they effectively blocked 99% of the cable systems from carrying Jim Crockett Promotions' first pay-per-view event which was one of what would be several fatal blows to Jim Crockett Promotions that forced the sale of the company, and an end to an era to go along with it.

If WWE had put this thing on their network, that at least would have given it more of a big-show feel, something a show with the name Starrcade deserved. In the end, it was just as I originally framed it - - a glorified house show.

Not that there is anything wrong with glorified house shows. It beats the heck out of "same-old" house shows. And there is no more special house to host one of those than the fabled Greensboro Coliseum.

Here are a few of the touches WWE put on this house show to make it a little more special:

1. Ric Flair appeared and introduced his daughter Charlotte (née, Ashley) who was defending her Women's championship that night in a steel cage. Flair was Starrcade, headlining all five Crockett events from 1983-1987. And I guess if you are going to have Starrcade in Greensboro again, you might as well have a Flair in a steel cage.
2. Ricky Steamboat appeared as well, and was was greeted respectfully by Shinsuke Nakamura in the ring. Steamboat was a big part of the first two Crockett Starrcades in 1983 and 1984.
3. The Rock and Roll Express (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson) participated in a skit with the New Day and a four-way tag match. The Rock and Roll Express were a big part of three Crockett Starrcades in 1985, 1986, and 1987.
4. Dustin Rhodes wrestled in his "Natural" persona from the Turner WCW days. Dustin represented his father Dusty Rhodes well in a match against Dash Wilder. The American Dream was a part of all five Crockett Starrcades, headlining two of them, and is credited with coming up with the name of the event.
5. And speaking of Dash Wilder, I couldn't help but think of the Andersons seeing video clips of Wilder wrestling Rhodes on the event. Dash and his partner Scott Dawson make up our favorite WWE tag team, The Revival. Wilder wears those classic horizontal-striped boots (a style I dubbed "Anderson boots" years ago) that were synonymous with the Anderson tag teams (comprised at different times of Gene, Lars, Ole, and Arn Anderson) of the 1960s-1980s. Ole and Arn Anderson were a big part of the Crockett Starrcades, as was Gene Anderson behind the scenes. Wilder is a North Carolina native who grew up during the Crockett Starrcade era.
6. It was fitting that Charles Robinson was the main referee on this show, having been a part of so many WCW Starrcades in the 1990s and being such a huge fan of Jim Crockett Promotions and Mid-Atlantic Wrestling growing up in the 1970s and 1980s. That, and he's the best referee in the business.
7. And finally, maybe the best moment of them all from the whole night - - Arn Anderson executing a picture perfect spine-buster on Dolph Ziggler in the center of that Greensboro ring, and then reminding Dolph he was in Horsemen country. Arn was a big part of the final three Crockett Starrcades from 1985-1987.

Arn Anderson hits Dolph Ziggler w/ a Spinebuster at #WWEStarrcade! pic.twitter.com/MZ6LCEwBMA

— NXTFanNation 🎄⛄️ (@NXTFanNation) November 26, 2017

It isn't clear what percentage of the fans in attendance last Saturday truly understood the history of Starrcade, and the history of the event in that building. Some fans surely did, like Front Row Section D who made their own return to Starrcade, even if from the 5th row in 2017. But I guess in the end what's important is that the name Starrcade continues to be relevant and that those memories are kept alive. After all, that's our sole purpose here at the Gateway.

I guess I should give thanks for WWE Starrcade after all.

No Thanks. That's Not Starrcade.

by Dick Bourne
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

When Bruce Mitchell of PWTorch.com recently tweeted that the WWE should consider bringing Tony Schiavone back to do some old-school retro promos for their upcoming "WWE Starrcade" Thanksgiving weekend show in Greensboro, he received an interesting reply from a twitter follower suggesting it would also be cool if Mean Gene Okerlund could do some backstage interviews, too.

Mitchell replied perfectly: "No thanks. That's not Starrcade."

This Okerlund response to Mitchell's Schiavone tweet was well meaning and well intended. But it registered like an off-key note. What that person didn't realize was Bruce wasn't talking about the 1990s Tony Schaivone/Gene Okerlund battlebowl WCW Starrcades of the 1990s. He was talking about the Tony Schiavone/Bob Caudle JCP Starrcades of the 1980s.

It dawned on me that so many younger fans, especially those that didn't grow up in the Mid-Atlantic area, have no idea of what Starrcade really meant to the fans in this area, no idea what Starrcade was in its purest form.

For guys like Bruce Mitchell, David Chappell, and me - - and for that matter Tony Schiavone, too - - Starrcade in its purist form were the 1983-1987 events that ended when the Crockett family sold the family business to Ted Turner in 1988.  Starrcade continued in name for well over the next decade, but it was just a WCW brand and one of a series of cookie-cutter, look-alike pay-per-views at that point. It never had that same Mid-Atlantic stardust on it that the first several years of events had.

So when Bruce made the suggestion that Tony Schiavone be brought back to do retro-Starrcade promos, he was hinting at those simple, memorable 1980s magic promos for those early events in Greensboro, and later shared with Atlanta. Those same promos that had that rockin' Frank Stallone music behind them, that familiar melody that would become synonymous with Starrcade for the first five years of its existence.

THE STARRCADE THEME
The familiar edited instrumental version of Frank Stallone's "Far From Over"
The theme music for the first 5 Starrcade events (1983 - 1987)

Some want to include Starrcade '88 alongside the Crockett-era Starrcades. Not me. That was a decent enough event, and sure enough it was largely built during the final months of the Crockett regime. But it was also the first Starrcade to be moved off of Thanksgiving (a second slap in the face following 1987's move out of Greensboro), not to mention the first to ditch the Frank Stallone soundtrack which always ticked me off. (I value and treasure the little things.) It was also the first pay-per-view for Ted Turner's new WCW, and was not a JCP production. The ink had barely dried on the Crockett/Turner contracts when Starrcade '88 took place in December of that year.

Starrcade just didn't seem the same after that. And by the time Gene Okerlund was doing backstage interviews at a Starrcade event years later, the memories of the real Starrcades were all but lost to the sands of time.

So count me among those that are less-than-enthusiastic about the return of the Starrcade name in the WWE. I will admit I had a twinge of nostalgia when it was announced. And it taking place in Greensboro at the Greensboro Coliseum on Thanksgiving weekend was a nice touch. But let's not kid ourselves; it's nothing more than a glorified house show with a legendary name from a bygone era slapped on it, morphed into a B-level special on the WWE Network. Without the Starrcade name tagged to it, it's just another WWE house show that no one would have paid much attention to otherwise, at least not more than usual anyway.

Charlotte Flair is wrestling inside of a steel cage that night. I had a good friend tell me he thought I would be happy to see Starrcade back in Greensboro. After all, one of its top matches features a Flair in a cage in Greensboro on Thanksgiving weekend. That's about as Starrcade as it gets, right?

No thanks. That's not Starrcade.

Now, get off of my lawn.

Ric Flair Exhibit at WrestleMania Axxess

by Dick Bourne
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

Last week at WrestleMania Axxess, the annual fan event preceding the big wrestling pay-per-view, the WWE presented an exhibit dedicated to the "Nature Boy" Ric Flair. With the help of several private collectors, the exhibit showcased some of Ric's famous wrestling robes from the 1970s-1990s and also the four original belts Ric wore that represented his 16 world championships.

West Potter photo.

The centerpiece of the exhibit was a Starrcade-themed display featuring the robes worn by Flair and Harley Race at the Starrcade '83 event in Greensboro, NC in November of 1983. Behind the robes were familiar photographs from that Starrcade that we all remember seeing countless times over the years in the newsstand magazines.

West Potter photo.

To the left of the Starrcade robes were the "domed globed" NWA World title belt Ric wore from 1981-1986, and the famous "big gold" belt that represented the NWA title from 1986-1990 and the WCW World title following that.

Ben Brown photo, courtesy of Dave Millican

To the right of the Starrcade robes were the WCW World championship belt (1991-1994, above right) and the winged-eagle (above left) WWF Championship belt, the style Flair wore there in 1992-1993.

West Potter photo.

There were several historical robes on display, but one of my favorites is the "lion robe" which goes back to the mid-1970s, and was worn at the "Battle of the belts II" in Orlando in 1986 when Flair debuted the new NWA World championship "Big Gold" belt. (There are lots of amazing photos of the robe and belt together in the book "Big Gold" which has a chapter devoted to that night in Orlando.) Special to see that robe on display in the same city for WrestleMania.

Collage from @wcwretrospect on Twitter

This collage features several images from the exhibit including the statue of Flair unveiled over the weekend, as well as the infamous "President of World Championship Wrestling" shield on display when Flair was in that role on "WCW Monday Nitro" in 1999.

Very cool stuff, and nice to see these things remembered and showcased in this way.

Republished in edited form in April of 2022 on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway.

The 1980 Mid-Atlantic Wrestling Reunion on Monday Night Raw

by Dick Bourne
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

Photo from WWE.com

Back in 2009 on WWE's "Monday Night Raw" (3/16/09), Ric Flair made a special appearance and brought out some of his old pals from his Mid-Atlantic Wrestling days. It was a part of a build to an angle with Chris Jericho in the wweks leading up to WrestleMania that year.

For a brief moment Roddy Piper, Jimmy Snuka, Ric Flair, and Ricky Steamboat all stood shoulder to shoulder on the RAW stage. It made for a really cool moment for Mid-Atlantic Wrestling fans who will remember that all four were top stars together for Jim Crockett Promotions in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

WWE Network

It's also interesting to note that all four were United States heavyweight champions during that era. Ric Flair both won and lost the U.S. title to all of the other three at one time or another. Three of the four (Flair, Piper, and Steamboat) held the Mid-Atlantic heavyweight championship as well.

WWE Network

A very cool moment indeed on WWE TV. This episode of Raw is available on the WWE Network, and the Mid-Atlantic moments are at 59:15 in that show.

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This is an edited version of an article we first posted on the now-domant "Mid-Atlantic Wrestling On Demand" website back in 2009, part of the Mid-Atlantic Gateway.

Striking Out On Her Own

Charlotte looks to establish WWE legacy well beyond being Ric Flair's daughter
by Brian Campbell
ESPN.com

Considered by many to be the greatest professional wrestler in history, Ric Flair has a hot take to share with you regarding his daughter, former NXT and WWE women's champion Charlotte.

"I think she's the greatest female [wrestler] of all time right now, and I don't think that's being biased," Flair told ESPN.com. "I don't know what the argument would be for anyone else."

If you think the 16-time world champion's opinion is compromised by his beaming pride as a father, you would be correct. But take a moment and think about what he's actually saying -- because he may not be wrong....


Read the entire article on ESPN.com:
http://www.espn.com/wwe/story/_/id/17317979/charlotte-steps-ric-flair-enormous-shadow-forges-own-wwe-legacy

See also: "Do It With Flair" posted in June 2015 when Charlotte ruled the roost at NXT and was making a callback to a famous t-shirt of her Dad's 30 years earlier.