Richmond Countdown #15 - 12/30/79

Chap's Top 15 Wrestling Cards in Richmond (1973-1986)
#15 - Sunday, December 30, 1979
by David Chappell, Mid-Atlantic Gateway
Graphics and Vintage Audio Mastering by Dick Bourne
Newspaper Clippings from the collection of Mark Eastridge 

This feature includes CLASSIC AUDIO from December 1979.

I'm proud to share my memories of my personal Top 15 cards ever in Richmond. Join me as I count down some of the most exciting thrill packed nights of wrestling action the Mid-Atlantic area ever saw!

* * * * **

Richmond's Top Cards: #15

In addition to a number of great matches, this card at the Richmond Coliseum had some unique features. This event was promoted for a good three weeks beforehand, as the holidays had caused the wrestlers to skip Richmond for several weeks. This event was a very rare Sunday card. Matches were almost always held in Richmond on Friday. Something else unusual was that this event was a 2:00 p.m. afternoon card. For whatever reason, Richmond was not a city that had its wrestling during the daylight hours. This spectacular afternoon event was also the last card held in Richmond during the decade of the 1970’s. What a fantastic decade the 1970’s were for Jim Crockett Promotions, particularly the mid and late 1970’s!

The main event of this card saw United States Heavyweight Champion Jimmy Snuka successfully defend his crown against Tim Woods. Gene Anderson had just become the manager of Snuka a week or so before this bout. The feud between Snuka and Woods had been building throughout the Fall of 1979 when Snuka (managed by then manager Buddy Rogers) injured the neck of Woods in a television match that aired on World Wide Wrestling. Woods came back sporting a neck brace and carrying a baseball bat (he called it the "ding-bat") vowing revenge on Snuka. Woods went as far as to print up and distribute "Wanted Posters" for Rogers and Snuka in arenas during this time frame. (See the poster at right.) This match in Richmond represented the end of this feud , with Snuka coming out on top. This would be Woods’ last Main Event ever in Richmond, and he would wrestle only one more time ever in Richmond-two weeks later in January in a mid-card match. A somewhat inglorious ending for one of Jim Crockett Promotions’ biggest stars in the 1970’s.

The semi-final bout saw Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Champion Jim Brunzell defeat newcomer Ray "The Crippler" Stevens. Brunzell was at the height of his Mid-Atlantic run with Jim Crockett Promotions. Stevens had just entered the area about a month previously with a tremendous national reputation. Stevens immediately singled out Brunzell and his title. In interviews leading up to the match, both competitors brought up their previous feud in the AWA. The heat between these two seemed genuine, and their styles both in and out of the ring were completely different. With these contrasting styles, it all added up to a terrific match where Brunzell came out on top, but Stevens ultimately became a bigger and more long-lasting star in the Mid-Atlantic area.

 

Ray Stevens: "I like to hurt people."

Jim Brunzell: "That belt would make a nice Christmas Present."



To show you what a tremendous card this was, the third match from the top was a grudge match between Ric Flair and Greg Valentine! This match would have been the top match on most cards in Richmond, particularly at this time as Flair and Valentine had never wrestled against each other before. Ric Flair had turned face in the middle of 1979, at a time when his former partner Valentine was tearing up the WWWF. When Valentine came back to the Mid-Atlantic area in December, he was anxious to team back up with Ric. The two met face to face on Mid-Atlantic television with Flair saying he had seen the light and would not team with Greg as long as he was a rule-breaker. Valentine was furious, and the feud nobody ever thought they would see had begun. Flair took the measure of Valentine in this match, and Greg would focus on tag team wrestling for about six months before again turning his attention to Flair and the U.S. belt. (Read more about how Flair and Valentine came to be facing each other in Part 6 of "Dream Team: Flair and Valentine.")

 

Greg Valentine: "I can't digest this."

Ric Flair: "We've Done It All"


The undercard saw the team of S.D. Jones and Rufus R. Jones defeat Frankie Laine and Mr. X. Rufus was the dominant performer in this match. The ageless Johnny Weaver had no trouble putting away Doug Sommers. Don Kernodle and Rick McGraw took care of David Patterson and Frank Monte. During this time frame, Monte was faring much better in the world of bodybuilding than the world of wrestling. Brute Bernard got a rare win during this time of his fading career, besting Bob Marcus. Coco Samoa opened this memorable Richmond card with a win over Tony Russo.

This was a truly great event to usher out the 1970’s and bring in the new decade with a bang!


Coming up Next: Countdown #14
May 21, 1982

This feature is being re-published from an earlier feature on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway.

Hitting the Spot: Augusta Expo in Fishersville, VA

by David Chappell
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

Nestled in the scenic Shenandoah Valley, the Augusta Expo in Fishersville, Virginia was a popular Thursday night “spot show” stop for the stars of Jim Crockett Promotions during the era of Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling. About a hundred miles northwest of Richmond and about a hundred miles north of Roanoke, “Expoland” served the wrestling needs of fans that were a little too far away from those bigger towns.

The Augusta Agricultural and Industrial Exposition in Fishersville (almost always called “Fisherville” on the local in-your-area promos) opened in 1969, and in the Mid-Atlantic days had a seating capacity of around 3,000. From 1977 through 1984, the Expo was home to Mid-Atlantic cards every few months, and every major wrestler from the territory appeared in this venue at one time or another. One of the earliest Mid-Atlantic cards that got Expoland in the regular spot show rotation was held on January 13, 1977 on a frigid night with temperatures close to zero degrees, where the main event pitted Mr. Wrestling and Dino Bravo against Blackjack Mulligan and Brute Bernard.

Like most of the smaller spot show venues that were part of the Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling circuit, the Expo in Fishersville had a few interesting quirks. One of the biggest was that due to the configuration of the building and parking lot, the wrestlers parked in the main parking lot and entered the building through the same entrance as the paying customers. That led to some interesting scenarios when the wrestlers arrived at the building late for any reason!

Long time Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling fan Tracy Doyle, who lived in nearby Staunton and attended a number of cards at the Expo in the late 70’s and early 80’s, remembered a card when the NWA World Tag Team Champions Paul Jones and Baron von Raschke were late arrivals at the Expo. Doyle explained, “During a night at Expo, or as we called it Expoland, the matches had already started. Suddenly I noticed a commotion in the crowd over by the entrance. People were going nuts and giving someone some serious grief. Yelling at them as well as a good number of one fingered salutes. Finally I noticed who the unfortunate ‘victims’ were…none other than #1 Paul Jones and Baron von Raschke! They were apparently very late and had just made it to the hall. They did not know any other way into the building other than the main entrance, and I’m not even sure Expo had any ‘locker room’ entrances. Even though those two were the ‘mean bad guys’ the look on their faces trying to make it through that crowd made them look much more like ‘mean worried guys!’
Paul Cormier, another huge Mid-Atlantic fan from Richmond at the time, remembers attending one of the final regular Mid-Atlantic cards at the Expo on August 8, 1984. Cormier related, “I vividly remember the wrestlers parking in the same parking lot as the fans and coming in through the main entrance. I lost my mind when I saw Nikita Koloff and Paul Jones getting out of the car next to us!”

One of the real pluses of seeing a Mid-Atlantic card at a smaller spot show venue was that the setting was much more intimate, and the wrestlers and fans were literally rubbing elbows with one another. The Expo in Fishersville was no exception, and it truly provided an up close and personal experience for Mid-Atlantic fans. Cormier remembers, “Unlike shows I had seen up to that point in Richmond and Roanoke, I felt like the wrestlers were much more accessible at the Expo. I got to meet most of the guys working on the show, which was much more difficult at the bigger venues. In hindsight, it was kind of like indy shows are today.”

Buzz Sawyer and Matt Borne (Tracy Doyle Photo)

Another example of the intimacy at the Expo was explained by Doyle, who reminisced, “I was hanging out in front of the babyface locker room once during a show as a group of older kids had congregated there. Two wrestlers who I did not know at the time popped their heads out and made ‘kissy’ faces to some of the younger female fans. I had my little Polaroid with me and snapped a pic at that exact time. Those wrestlers were Buzz Sawyer and Matt Borne.”

Soon after Paul Cormier saw Angelo Mosca, Jr. defeat Nikita Koloff by disqualification in a Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Title match on that August 8, 1984 card, Augusta Expo ceased being a regular spot show venue for Jim Crockett Promotions. Big time wrestling did resume at the Expo in later years, principally when the Smokey Mountain Wrestling organization ran sporadic cards there in the early 1990s as one of its easternmost venues. After another gap in time, Expoland again hosted professional wrestling in 2009 and has seen some high caliber independent shows in recent years.

Expo in Fishersville has had tenants ranging from musical acts, to craft shows to even rodeos over the years. But arguably no act that has been booked at the Expo has ever generated the level of excitement that Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling did. While the closest big towns of Richmond and Roanoke got deeper cards of Mid-Atlantic wrestling, the top bouts at the Expo were generally strong. For Mid-Atlantic fans stuck between Richmond and Roanoke, wrestling on Thursday nights every so often at Expo in Fishersville was their wrestling oasis, and it certainly hit the spot!

Ray Stevens works over Ric Flair at the Augusta Expo in Fishersville, VA
(Tracy Doyle Photo)

Flair and Steamboat Reunite for "Big Time Wrestling"

Big Time Wrestling makes another "Mid-Atlantic tour" through the Carolinas this month with stops in:

Morganton, NC - Thursday 9/22

Raleigh, NC - Friday 9/23

Spartanburg, SC - Saturday 9/24 

The big draw, especially for old-school fans, is the reuniting at all three shows of Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat, arguably the two biggest names in wrestling to have ever come out of the old Jim Crockett Promotions territory. The two had one of the most legendary, longest running feuds in wrestling history.

Flair and Steamboat will be joined by other names from the glory days of Crockett Promotions such as Magnum TA, Ivan Koloff, Jimmy Valiant, The Rock and Roll Express (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson) and others, although not all of those names will be at each show.

However, Flair and Steamboat will be at all three and there will be a rare opportunity to have your photo made with both of them together with a replica of the "Big Gold" belt that represented the NWA world heavyweight championship in 1989, the year that Flair and Steamboat traded that prestigious championship between each other.

For more information on these shows and other shows going on around the country for the group, and to purchase advance tickets, visit Big Time Wrestling's website at btwtickets.com.

Crockett Foundation: "When Wrestling Was Wrestling"

The Crockett Foundation has published their first book, "When Wrestling Was Wrestling", a collection of photographs taken by Jackie Crockett in the Mid-Atlantic area in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Legends featured in this amazing collection of images, the majority of which are being seen for the very first time, include:

Jack and Jerry Brisco, "Nature Boy" Ric Flair, Sgt. Slaughter and Don Kernodle, Ricky Steamboat, Jimmy Valiant, Roddy Piper, Greg Valentine, Bob Orton, Jr., Jay Youngblood, Johnny Weaver, Paul Jones, Blackjack Mulligan, Baron Von Raschke, and many others.

The book is available exclusively from the Crockett Foundation on their website.

From the Crockett Foundation website:

Take a walk down memory lane, in "When Wrestling Was Wrestling", complete with never before seen images from the Golden Age of Wrestling in the Crockett Foundation's first paperback book release.

Inside the pages of this wonderful book you will find never before seen pictures taken by Jackie Crockett during his tenure as camera man for Jim Crockett Promotions. As the youngest son of Jim Crockett, Sr., he had unlimited access to some of the greatest names in professional wrestling history. You will definitely be taking a trip down memory lane as you page through the images contained in this gem.

Facebook / Crockett Foundation

The book can be purchased through the Crockett Foundation online store. A portion of each sale goes towards helping veterans and retired service dogs in need. The Crockett Foundation is a tax exempt 501(C)(3) nonprofit organization. 

Crockett Foundation Tag team Partners
"Tag in, help out!"

"Great Reads"

These books are great reads and collectors items with great pics. If you aint got yours.... get em. @magateway pic.twitter.com/HUwGXTMMJ1

— JZ (@JZ_Flair) September 6, 2016

Another nice set of photos mentioning a couple of my books along with replicas of the belts. I appreciate the support, JZ!

 

Main Event Memories: Brisco, Valentine Defend Titles

MAIN EVENT MEMORIES - 42 YEARS AGO TODAY!
by Dick Bourne
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

Forty two years ago, two of the NWA's top stars defended their titles on one big card on an early September Friday night in Richmond, VA at the Richmond Coliseum. The card was loaded with current and, in one particular case, future stars.

The Super Destroyer (Don Jardine) challenged Jack Brisco for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in a match where if he won the title, he promised to unmask. The stipulation grew out of the fact that the NWA had declared they would not recognize as champion someone whose identity could not be verified. The Super Destoyer already had as a condition that he would unmask if he were defeated by pinfall or submission. Brisco was in his 14 month as NWA champion, having defeated Harley Race for the title in July of 1973 in Houston, TX.

The Super Destroyer applies his feared claw-hold to Jack Brisco during their
NWA world championship bout. (Bill Janosik Photo)

In the second main event, Johnny Valentine met arch-rival Wahoo McDaniel. It's a pretty sure bet that Valentine's Mid-Atlantic title was on the line here, although that was not stipulated in this newspaper ad. Valentine and Wahoo's rivalry went way back to their days battling in Texas. The two had renewed their feud in the Mid-Atlantic area and Wahoo spent the better part of a year chasing Valentine for the Mid-Atlantic Championship, which he finally won from Valentine in July of 1975.

Brisco was fortunate to have kept the title
after his battle with the Super Destroyer

A young Ric Flair, who had only been in the Mid-Atlantic territory only seven months at this time, would battle Paul Jones on the undercard. Jones, a very popular and established star in the area, would be a frequent opponent of Flair's in 1974 and early 1975, mentoring him toward main event status. Flair would defeat Jones for the Mid-Atlantic TV title early in 1975.

Also on the card were The Avenger (Reggie Parks), former NFL player Bob Bruggers, Mr. Ota, and many others.

David Chappell wrote about this card in his "Richmond Countdown" feature several years ago:

This card was one of the most intriguing nights in Richmond wrestling history. On top was a NWA World Heavyweight Title bout between the titleholder Jack Brisco and the masked Super Destroyer. Many fans believed that there would be a title change or an unmasking, as the Super Destroyer vowed not only to unmask if he lost by pinfall or submission, but also if he won the World Title. Alas, neither happened. The semifinal produced another classic championship battle between Wahoo McDaniel and Mid-Atlantic Champion Johnny Valentine. Third from the top was a bout between Paul Jones and the youngster Ric Flair. This was the first top flight singles opponent that Flair had wrestled in Richmond. A lot of fans, me included at the time, didn’t believe Flair could hang with the area’s "big boys" in singles competition. Ric used this match to start winning the naysayers over.

Reserved ringside seats were only $5.00 for this show in 1974, an amazing price especially considering the NWA champion was on the card. 

"Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling" aired in Richmond each Saturday at 2 PM on WTVR channel 6.

Thanks as always to Mark Eastridge for the newspaper clipping. Thanks also to Bill Janosik for his amazing photographs.

So, What are YOU Waiting for?

If you don't have these @magateway books yet what are you waiting for?! pic.twitter.com/LneoMkDj1Y

— Jeff Jewett (@jeffjewett) September 3, 2016

Thanks for the great tweet, Jeff! And thanks to those of you who re-tweeted.

For more information on buying these books, click the links below. And thanks for your support of the Mid-Atlantic Gateway and our book projects.

Mid-Atlantic Wrestling Results: Oct. - Dec. 1978

OCTOBER - DECEMBER 1978
Wrestling Results from The Clawmaster's Archives

10/1/78 Asheville, NC @ Civic Center(Afternoon Show)
Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat
Blackjack Mulligan vs. Baron Von Raschke
Ken Patera vs. Dick Murdoch
Cyclone Negro & Swede Hanson vs. Johnny Weaver & Jay Youngblood
Rudy Kay vs. Abe Jacobs
Steve Muslin vs. Herb Gallant

10/1/78 Wilmington, NC @ Legion Stadium
Baron Von Raschke & Greg Valentine vs. Paul Jones & Ricky Steamboat
Ric Flair vs. Blackjack Mulligan in a lumberjack match
Plus 4 other matches

10/2/78 Greenville, SC @ Memorial Auditorium

10/3/78 Raleigh, NC @ Dorton Arena
Baron Von Raschke & Greg Valentine beat Paul Jones & Ricky Steamboat
Skip Young beat Jacques Goulet
Jerry Oates beat Mr. X #1 by DQ
Chris Tolos beat Abe Jacobs
Herb Gallant beat Frank Monte

10/3/78 Columbia, SC @ Township Auditorium
Dick Murdoch & Blackjack Mulligan beat Ric Flair & Gene Anderson
Johnny Weaver beat Swede Hanson
Don Kernodle beat Steve Muslin
Ted Oates beat Rudy Kay
Charlie Fulton beat Ed Fury

10/4/78 Raleigh, NC @ WRAL Studios(TV)

Tully Blanchard & Arn Anderson

A little wrestling for your holiday weekend.

Dream Team: Flair and Valentine (Part 8)

PART EIGHT - THE FINALE! 
by David Chappell
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

Before diving in to this final chapter, 
check out all the previous installments of the "Dream Team."
Parts: 1  2  3  4  5  6  7) 

PART EIGHT - THE FINALE

As the Thanksgiving holiday season of 1982 approached, Ric Flair reigned as the NWA World Heavyweight Champion and Greg Valentine was the United States Heavyweight Champion. Greg was a rulebreaker on the Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling roster, while Flair was also breaking the rules and was visiting the Mid-Atlantic area. On the Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling TV show that was taped at the WPCQ studios in Charlotte, North Carolina on November 24, 1982, Ric Flair put on an amateur wrestling exhibition for the fans, while Roddy Piper was commentating on the TV broadcast with Bob Caudle.

Flair lured Piper into the ring, claiming he would teach Roddy how to be an amateur wrestler! Piper had no problem climbing in the ring with Flair, and actually got the better of the World’s Champion in their amateur wrestling sparring. An embarrassed Nature Boy then suckered Roddy, and with the help of his old pal Valentine rubbed Piper’s face raw in the mat and on the concrete floor. “Cowboy” Bob Orton, Jr. came in to save Piper from further injuries, but significant damage to Piper’s face had been done.

On the Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling show that was taped on December 8, 1982 at the WPCQ television studios, Valentine and Flair teamed up against the youthful duo of Mike Davis and Keith Larson. After defeating those youngsters, Greg and Ric were still giddy over taking advantage of Piper two weeks earlier on TV. In one interview taped that day for the Florida market, Valentine told Caudle, “What you’re seein’ right here is the men that made the Mid-Atlantic area big-time, you understand? Way back in ’76-’77, when Flair and myself were the World Tag Team Champions…and now he’s got the singles World belt and I’ve got the United States belt…there’s no stoppin’ us now!”

In another TV interview on December 8th on Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, Flair and Valentine were gloating over a photo of Piper’s face where the area around his left eye was rubbed raw. Valentine chuckled, “It all started when [Piper] tried to embarrass this man right here, the World Champion. He did everything illegal, everything dirty, to try and embarrass the World Champion. And what happened Bob Caudle; HE GOT EMBARRASESD…RODDY PIPER GOT EMBARRASED! Look at that picture…look at that picture!! He says he’s bad to the bone, well, you can see the bone right there, the cheek bone!! That’s a BAD lookin’ face! I think it’s beautiful, actually!”

Flair then chimed in, “You know, the only thing wrong with this is? It really made me hurt right here, cause a couple days ago we had Linda on our left and Mary on our right, but Betty Jo was the girl we were with that night! And you know what she told us? She said Piper looks better now than he did before! As a matter of fact, we’re gettin’ letters from cosmetic surgeons all over the country wantin’ to know our technique! Now Piper, you emaciated and frail hunk of nothin’ happenin’ EX-wrestling star…when I can take time outta MY schedule to come over here, instead of droppin’ four or five thousand at 2001, or goin’ up to Friday’s to watch Valentine assault the women, like he does and only he does, then you know we got somethin’ big goin’ on!”

On yet another TV interview on December 8th, this time on the World Wide Wrestling TV program with Valentine and Paul Jones, Ric continued to bash Piper, explaining to David Crockett, “All we did was show Roddy Piper, that he can run roughshod a lot of places in this country…Atlanta, wherever else he wants to be, but when he comes in here and opens his mouth and says somethin’ to embarrass one of us, he is gonna pay the price! Just like so many have in the past…Do you really think there’s been a waking day of my life that Roddy Piper could ride me amateur wrestling style…no way! [Valentine] saw it, and all he was doin’ was comin’ out the door to explain to Bob Caudle and myself, that he saw Piper holdin’ my sweatpants. And what happens? Piper turns around and hits Greg, and Valentine melted him right there on the floor…one punch!”