Saturday Wrestling: Florida

This show in advance of the first "Battle of the Belts" broadcast. 

Special Thanks to our Veterans

Military.com

A heart-felt thank-you to all our military veterans and active duty service members.

Your dedication and sacrifice for the sake of your family and fellow countrymen is appreciated.

And a note to the rest of us: don't confuse Veteran's Day with Memorial Day. Veterans Day is a time to thank those who are serving or have served and are still with us. Memorial Day is to reflect and remember those who lost their lives in service to their country. Confusing the two or combining the two diminishes the importance of both. (from Military.com.)

8 Ways to Express Appreciation on Veterans Day
Military.com

Loaded Card in Florida in 1975

This is a great looking ad from "Championship Wrestling from Florida" featuring NWA Champion Jack Brisco and "the ten pounds of gold."

What a loaded 10-match card! Not only was Jack defending the title against Terry Funk, but two former world champs were also meeting in the semi-final as Terry's brother Dory Funk, Jr. met Harley Race. Plus Eddie Graham, Jim ("J.J.") Dillon, Johnny Weaver, and others.

The card was held at the beautiful Bayfront Center in St. Petersburg, Florida on April 19, 1975. The Bayfront, for my money, was one of the most beautiful arenas in wrestling, sitting by the water, it is just about as perfect a setting of any venue in Florida.

We love the old newspaper ads and this one features all the components of a perfect promo ad: a cool looking marquee header, the old traditional NWA logo, old-school wrestler-artwork, great photo of the champ and his belt, all in a well designed package. Belltime 8:30!!


This ad was first featured on our sister-website, The Domed Globe.
This article previously posted on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway.

Photos of Blackjack Mulligan

I've had Blackjack Mulligan on my mind today. No reason, just missing one of Mid-Atlantic Wrestling's greatest ever.

Lots of fun Mulligan stuff in Blackjack's Bar-B-Que. 

Asheville City Auditorium (Update)

Steven Medford passed along a photo he came across online of the Asheville City Auditorium as it originally looked in the early 1900s. The photo was featured on the "Asheville The Way It Was" Facebook group.

The Asheville City Auditorium was the regular home on Wednesday nights for Jim Crockett Promotions wrestling going back at least to the 1950s. When the new Asheville Civic Center was built next door, wrestling moved to Sunday afternoons.

The old City Auditorium is now known as the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium and is part of the complex now known as the U.S. Cellular Center, which includes the old Civic Center.

For a further look at this old wrestling venue, see the following page on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway Archive website:
http://midatlanticwrestling.net/resourcecenter/venues/asheville/auditorium.htm

The Great Bolo: Colorful Franchise Player in a Black & White World

It's not often that we publish about wrestlers or events from the 1950s (the main focus of our website is the 1970s and 1980s), but it's fun to occasionally take a look back and learn about some of the key players for Jim Crockett Promotions in earlier years.

Mike Cline recently wrote about some of his memories of The Great Bolo on his "Mid-Atlantic Grapplin' Greats" site and we have republished that article here with his permission.

THE GREAT BOLO  =  FRANCHISE  
by Mike Cline
Mid-Atlantic Grapplin' Greats 

In the late 1950s, JIM CROCKETT PROMOTIONS was virtually built around one guy, a really 'bad guy'...THE GREAT BOLO.

He wore a yellow gold mask with matching attire. No wrestling fan knew his true identity, and according to a lengthy interview by the man under the hood himself (TOM RENESTO), the other wrestlers didn't, at the time, know either. This idea, he said, was designed by JIM CROCKETT himself. BIG JIM felt that keeping the wrestler's identity a real secret made for a more realistic approach to the storyline.

THE GREAT BOLO had his own private dressing room, and he wore the mask into the building upon arrival and out of the building when he left. (I'm not sure if I really buy into that, but true or not, it makes a great story.)

THE GREAT BOLO was BIG! Fans laid out their money every night in some city hoping to find out who the guy really was. All of the top wrestlers ('babyfaces' and 'heels') in the territory worked the masked man.

I experienced my first LIVE wrestling event fifty-seven years ago at the old semi-pro baseball park one summer night in Statesville, North Carolina. The main event was Indian star BILLY TWO RIVERS VERSUS THE GREAT BOLO. Next to GEORGE BECKER, BILLY was the top 'good guy' in JCP at the time.

Most of us tikes in the neighborhood went. We lived in a black and white world in the late Fifties, and when THE GREAT BOLO stepped out of one of the dugouts and made his way towards the ring, we were stunned by the bright gold colors. Up to that point, we could only guess what colors he wore. On black and white TV, it could have been most any shade.

My group, along with some other local kids, made a dash towards the masked man, whopping it up and trying to taunt him. A threatening move and a loud growl-like sound scattered us all back to our grandstand seats in record-setting speed.

Several years later, with tag team wrestling becoming extremely popular, THE GREAT BOLO brought in a partner BOLO (JODY HAMILTON). From this point on, the duo was billed as THE GREAT BOLO and BOLO, or simply THE BOLOS.

Either way, they were just as hot as RENESTO had been as a single.

* * * * *

This article was originally published on Mike Cline's "Mid-Atlantic Grapplin' Greats" website and is republished here with his permission. © 2016 Mike Cline

Saturday TV: Greg Valentine Coming to Atlanta

by Dick Bourne 
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

On May 17, 1981 at the Omni in Atlanta, there was a one-night tournament for the vacated Georgia Heavyweight Championship. Ten men were entered in the tournament, including a couple of guys advertised as coming in from outside the territory to compete including Bruiser Brody and Greg Valentine.

Brody no-showed (or perhaps was never really going to appear to begin with, who knows) but Valentine came in from the Mid-Atlantic area and went all the way to the finals, defeating Mr. Wrestling II in the quarter finals and Iron Mike Sharpe in the semi-finals before losing to "Wildfire" Tommy Rich in the finals.

Prior to the tournament, Greg Valentine sent in a taped interview from Raleigh to promote his appearance in the tournament. The interview was conducted by Rich Landrum (host of "World Wide Wrestling") in the studios of WRAL TV.

The video below, which is the final seven minutes of the Georgia TV show leading up to that big Omni card contains the Greg Valentine promo, plus another tape from the Mid-Atlantic area featuring the reigning NWA World Tag Team champions Gene and Ole Anderson.

(No idea why the person who posted this clip labeled it from "WGHP-TV High Point Fox 8..." because the clip has nothing to do with any of that.)

GENERAL NOTES

• The match with the Anderson brothers from WRAL is from the summer of 1981 and is from "Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling" with Bob Caudle and Lord Alfred Hayes calling the action.  
• Tommy Rich was wrestling in that tournament with a $10,000 bounty on his head, allegedly placed there by NWA World Champion Harley Race, who was trying to avoid having to face Rich for the NWA title. Greg Valentine mentions being interested in collecting the bounty in his promo, but was apparently unable to do so as Rich defeated him in the tournament finals to win the Georgia title and then went on to challenge Race for the NWA title at the next show at the Omni on 5/31/81. Race would successfully defend against Rich on 5/31, but then lost the NWA world title to Dusty Rhodes on the following Omni show on 6/21/81. 
• If you look closely, you will see part of the Georgia championship belt extending off the front of Gordon Solie's podium. 
• In a Studio Wrestling note, the backdrop you see in the Valentine interview (as seen in the image at top) was the Mid-Atlantic set used from 1975-1977 and is my favorite of all the old sets, mainly because it was first one a really remember and was used during the years I first really loved wrestling. 
• This Georgia Championship Wrestling show featured two other Mid-Atlantic clips not seen in the video above. The first featured a match between Greg Valentine and Steve Muslin from 1980 on "Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling." The second was a promotional interview similar to Greg Valentine's with Rich Landrum interviewing "The Dream." (I hope to present those in a future post.)

GEORGIA TOURNAMENT NOTES

• Gordon Solie promoted the tournament as a round-robin tournament, although it was not competed in such a fashion. There were 10 men announced as appearing in the tournament: Dusty Rhodes, Iron Mike Sharpe, Mr. Wrestling II, Tommy Rich, Ray Candy, Bruiser Brody, Greg Valentine, Ken Patera, Mike Boyer, and Bill Irwin. Brody and Boyer diod not appear, but Nickolia Volkoff and Jim Duggan replaced them.
• From the tournament results posted on The History of the WWE website, it appears that 2 of the 10 (Rhodes and Volkoff) received byes, but I've been unable to figure out the elimination brackets from these results. But they are listed as:

Quarter Finals: Tommy Rich defeated Bill Irwin
Quarter Finals: Ken Patera defeated Ray Candy
Quarter Finals: Greg Valentine defeated Mr. Wrestling #2
Quarter Finals: Iron Mike Sharpe defeated Jim Duggan
Semi Finals: Ken Patera fought Dusty Rhodes to a no contest
Semi Finals: Tommy Rich defeated Nikolai Volkoff
Semi Finals: Greg Valentine defeated Iron Mike Sharpe
Finals: Tommy Rich defeated Greg Valentine to win the title

Republished in November 2021 on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway.

Almanac Roster - May 1980

Mid-Atlantic Wrestling Roster - May 1980

Compiled by David Chappell for the Mid-Atlantic Gateway

(N) = newcomer to area  (D) = departure from area  (R) = returnee to area

MAIN EVENT
BABYFACES	HEELS
Jim Brunzell Sweet Ebony Diamond (N) Ric Flair Rufus R. Jones Blackjack Mulligan Ricky Steamboat Jay Youngblood	Enforcer Luciano (N) Iron Sheik Jimmy Snuka Ray Stevens Superstar #1 Superstar #2 (D) Greg Valentine
MID-CARD
BABYFACES	HEELS
Matt Borne Tony Garea S.D. Jones Rick McGraw (D) Pedro Morales (R) Buzz Sawyer Johnny Weaver	Ox Baker Brute Bernard Swede Hanson Gene Lewis Dewey Robertson
LOWER CARD
BABYFACES	HEELS
Joe Furr Abe Jacobs Don Kernodle Bob Marcus (D) Coco Samoa Ronnie Sexton Ron Ritchie	John Condroy (D) Len Denton (N) “Cowboy” Frankie Lane (D) Tank Patton (N) Tony Russo Scorpion Doug Somers Billy Starr
GUEST SHOTS	MANAGERS
Wahoo McDaniel Cousin Luke Mulligan Tommy Rich	Gene Anderson
WOMEN	MIDGET WRESTLERS
None	None
REFEREES	TV ANNOUNCERS
David Crockett (special) Sonny Fargo Stu Schwartz Tommy Young	Bob Caudle David Crockett Rich Landrum
TV PROMO ANNOUNCERS	TV RING ANNOUNCERS*
David Crockett Rich Landrum	*Starting in February of 1979, wrestler introductions were no longer made from the ring, but instead were made from the announcer’s desk by hosts Bob Caudle and Rich Landrum.
CUMULATIVE RATINGS
SINGLES	TAG TEAMS
1.    Ric Flair (1) 2.    Iron Sheik (6) 3.    Blackjack Mulligan (4) 4.    Superstar #1 (5) 5.    Jimmy Snuka (3) 6.    Greg Valentine (9) 7.    Enforcer Luciano (NR) 8.    Ray Stevens (NR) 9.    Rufus R. Jones (10) 10.    Sweet Ebony Diamond (NR)	1.    Ricky Steamboat and Jay Youngblood (2) 2.    Greg Valentine and Ray Stevens (1) 3.    Matt Borne and Buzz Sawyer (5) 4.    Jimmy Snuka and the Iron Sheik (4) 5.    Rufus R. Jones and S. D. Jones (NR)
Copyright © 2016 David Chappell • Mid-Atlantic Gateway

Almanac History - May 1980

David Chappell's
Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling History
May 1980

The beginning of the month of May 1980 marked the final matches in the Mid-Atlantic area of the Masked Superstar #2. In a continuation of matches from the end of April, Blackjack Mulligan battled Superstar #2 in “anything goes” matches with Superstar #1 locked in a small cage at ringside. At County Hall in Charleston, South Carolina on May 2nd, Township Auditorium in Columbia, South Carolina on May 6th and at the Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium in Spartanburg, South Carolina on May 10th Mulligan defeated Superstar #2 and unmasked the mass of humanity as his old adversary John Studd. The Masked Superstar #1 watched on in horror as his partner was unmasked. Superstar # 2 would leave the territory, and Blackjack vowed to turn his attention to Superstar #1 after the Spartanburg unmasking. However, the very next night at the Charlotte Coliseum a new thorn would emerge in Mulligan’s side.


ENFORCER LUCIANO

May 11, 1980 in Charlotte, North Carolina Mid-Atlantic fans would get their first glimpse of one of the strangest characters in the rich history of Jim Crockett Promotions, Enforcer Luciano. Billed at 265 pounds from Las Vegas, and sporting a patch over one of his eyes, the Enforcer easily dispatched Coco Samoa in Charlotte. He then made his first television appearance in the area on the May 14th Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling show taping. Announcer Bob Caudle asked the Enforcer, “The Enforcer Luciano, what brings you to the area?” The menacing Luciano replied, “In the first place, that’s Mr. Luciano…the Enforcer. And what brings me into this area is money, more money. I have millions now, and I want to add to my fortune. I hear there’s a bounty on Mulligan’s head. Well, I’m the world’s number one bounty hunter. I am 100 percent successful, every single time! That’s what I’m here for.”

This new development led Mulligan to get on a plane and head to Texas to get some help. This help was in the form of Blackjack’s cousin, “Crazy” Luke Mulligan! Blackjack told Bob Caudle on that same May 14th TV taping, “I’m leaving on a plane very, very shortly. I’m going to the Big Springs hospital, checking out on a pass, maybe a two week pass, my cousin Crazy Luke Mulligan! He ain’t a bad man, he never was a bad man, drank a little bit of whisky, got messed up in a couple of wrong deals, and got violent one night…his old lady went off with a rock and roll band. Found the bus about three days later, everything all messed up, and they haven’t seen the van since. Very violent man when he gets upset! I’m gonna have him here next week on television; never been on television before. It ain’t funny; ain’t nothing to laugh about. Enforcer Luciano, you have NO idea what kind of trouble you’re in. Superstar #1, you have no idea what kind of trouble you’re in!”


COUSIN LUKE MULLIGAN

Blackjack was true to his word! On the Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling television show that was taped on May 21st, the area’s fans got to see Crazy Luke Mulligan up close and personal! Mulligan had his hands plenty full in a match with the sadistic Ox Baker, but Blackjack brought Cousin Luke to ringside to observe. Well, it wasn’t long before Luke got into the action, coming into the ring with a bag of popcorn! Caudle commented, “Uh oh David, getting into the ring…here’s Luke! He goes right into the ring. And he’s in there just clappin’ with Mulligan, as Mulligan’s got Baker down, got him in the headlock. He’s got popcorn all over the ring.”

As Blackjack tried to escort Luke out of the ring, Ox was able to hit Mulligan from behind and threw him out of the ring. Luke got back in the ring and was none too happy with how Baker had treated Blackjack. But Baker got hold of Luke while Mulligan was out on the floor. Caudle exclaimed, “We’ve got popcorn all over the ring. Here’s Baker, here goes Luke, and Baker’s got him! He knocked his chewing tobacco right out of his pocket, David. He took a boot off! You could hear that one everywhere! He took his boot off, and he hit Baker right in the head with it! Baker’s down on his back in the ring! And now [Luke’s] gonna get out with his hat, his popcorn and everything…and Baker’s gonna be counted out!” The fans in the studio audience couldn’t believe their eyes. What a memorable TV debut for Cousin Luke!


IRON SHEIK WINS THE MID-ATLANTIC TITLE

Mid-Atlantic Champion Iron Sheik

The super spectacular card in Charlotte on May 11th was also quite significant because it hosted a match for the Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Title where the Iron Sheik defeated “Jumping” Jim Brunzell for the championship. Brunzell and the Sheik rapidly developed a bitter feud in advance of the Charlotte title-change bout. In Welcome, North Carolina on May 2nd and again in Fayetteville, North Carolina on May 5th, Brunzell and Ric Flair battled the Iron Sheik and Jimmy Snuka in tag team bouts. These tag matches in reality became two singles battles, with Brunzell and the Sheik tearing into each other with the same thing occurring between Flair and Snuka!

Leading up to the Charlotte title-switch on May 11th, the Sheik was gaining momentum in bouts with Brunzell in Asheville, North Carolina on May 4th, at Raleigh’s Dorton Arena on May 6th and in Charleston, South Carolina on May 9th. While “Hussein the Arab” came up short in these early May bouts, he was clearly getting in Brunzell’s head with his Iranian suplexes and seemingly being impervious to pain while in Jim’s best maneuver, the spinning toe hold.

Brunzell addressed his Mid-Atlantic Title defeat by the Sheik to the fans in the territory on the Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling TV program that was taped on May 28th. Jim told Bob Caudle, “This is the first opportunity I’ve had to come on TV and tell my side of the story. I don’t want to belabor that, but I’m tired of having Gene Anderson and the Iron Sheik come out here, Bob, and downgrade me when that was on Mother’s Day in Charlotte; I had him beat until he loaded that boot. And believe you me, I’m going to change my style, because I know that’s the only way that I can beat him. He is tough, he’s got a hard body, and he’s got vast knowledge, but believe you me, I’m gonna do it.”


DAVID CROCKETT INVOLVED IN NWA WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE CHANGE

The night before that mega May 11th Charlotte card, at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina, another feud was set to take a major turn. The card on May 10th in Greensboro featured a bout for the NWA World Tag Team Titles pitting champions Greg Valentine and Ray Stevens against former champs Ricky Steamboat and Jay Youngblood. The match had the unusual stipulation of being a best two-out-of-three falls contest. But the most unique facet of this bout was that color commentator David Crockett was serving in the position of special referee! Crockett had gone this route after having been assaulted by Valentine in April in a fracas over a video tape of the match where Valentine and Stevens won the titles in controversial fashion from Steamboat and Youngblood.

Controversy reigned in the May 10th match, and not surprisingly, it involved David Crockett! According to Stevens and Valentine, Crockett showed favoritism in the deciding fall, allowing an illegal man in the ring to capture the fall giving back the World Titles to Steamboat and Youngblood.

On the May 14th Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling TV show, Ray Stevens told the fans, “Let’s just clear one thing up here. You’ve got some new World Tag Team Champions, but they didn’t win the thing. They won it because of this man right over here, David Crockett. He knows that the illegal man was in the ring. No way in the world they should have won the thing. But I’ll guarantee you, it won’t take us very long, we’ll have them belts right back.” They were forceful words by Stevens, but this defeat seemed to take a lot of the starch out of the Valentine/Stevens duo, and this formidable team was unable to recapture the World belts despite multiple opportunities during the remainder of the month of May.

Bob Caudle talked to Jay Youngblood on the May 28th Mid-Atlantic TV show taping saying, “The competition is really, really getting tough. When you look at the Superstar, you look at Luciano, you look at Snuka and you look at the Iron Sheik…and you go on and on.” Jay agreed, “Bob I tell you what…not just them. I know there are a lot of kids that are upcoming grapplers right now, that would give their right hand to be in my shoes or Rick Steamboat’s shoes. Rick and I are trying our hardest, and our darnest, and with the support of these people right here, we’re gonna try our hardest to keep these World belts.”

Youngblood continued, “You know, you talk about the competition here. There’s not only competition here, there’s competition like in New York, Los Angeles, Japan. But I tell you the truth, right now the two hardest guys Rick and I, and I’m sure Rick will agree, are Valentine and Stevens. These guys have put up one of the hardest fights we’ve ever come up against.”


SWEET EBONY DIAMOND ARRIVES

Earlier in the month of May, a newcomer with much promise made his first television appearance in the Mid-Atlantic area. Ric Flair had earlier told the fans that he had recently seen Sweet Ebony Diamond in St. Louis, and that the 6 foot 2 inch 250 pounder was on his way to Jim Crockett Promotions. On the May 7th television taping of Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, the masked “Diamond” was impressive in his TV debut against the roughhouse Billy Starr. After a series of magnificent dropkicks, Diamond subdued Starr with color commentator David Crockett exclaiming, “He got him! Very impressive win!”

Diamond was equally as impressive in his second outing on Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling television, on the show that was taped on May 14th. Sweet Ebony told Bob Caudle, “You know, that’s what I like is rough and tough competition. I’ve been all around the world once, and some places twice. And they told me right here, daddy, this is where all the action is, this is where all the happenin’ is, this is where all the gettin’ down is, and that’s what I want brother.” At that point, Diamond’s good friend Ric Flair appeared on the set and said, “We talked about it, we told ‘em about it, the Ebony Diamond, brother! There’s only one like him, anywhere in the world. One of the real studs that can walk the walk, as well as talk the talk!”


RIC FLAIR AND THE UNITED STATES CHAMPIONSHIP

The United States Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair had a multitude of ferocious battles in May over his prestigious belt. The most taxing bouts were against former champ Jimmy Snuka, and his nefarious manager Gene Anderson. Snuka and Anderson hijacked one of the Nature Boy’s priceless ring robes, and vowed to hold it hostage until Ric gave the “Superfly” a suitable number of U.S. Title bout rematches.

Also featured on the May 14th Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling TV taping, Jimmy Snuka along with his manager Gene Anderson were talking over a film clip of where Ric Flair defeated Snuka for the U.S. belt. Anderson was claiming, not overly convincingly, that Flair pulled Snuka’s tights to win the title. Anderson and Snuka also gloated at having possession of one of Ric’s cherished ring robes! Anderson chuckled, “The Superfly is still the uncrowned United States Champion. And you can see Ric Flair’s robe. And Ric Flair, you said you’re not gonna give us any more return matches. This is gonna force you into return matches, and you’re only gonna get it back after we hold that belt.” Flair was furious at that tactic, but had no problem giving Snuka his United States Title rematches.

Raleigh, North Carolina saw three classic confrontations between Flair and Snuka over the U.S. belt during the month of May at Dorton Arena. On May 6th, an enraged “Nature Boy” completely lost his cool and was disqualified for his actions saddling him with a DQ loss. The following Tuesday night Flair and Snuka returned to the Dorton Arena, this time with Ric capturing the win despite the best efforts of Gene Anderson! A “rubber match” of sorts was set in Raleigh between Ric and Jimmy on May 27th, but this time with a “lumberjack” stipulation to hopefully prevent Snuka from running and Gene Anderson from interfering. Flair prevailed, but this hotly contested program carried on for several more weeks.

Flair also had a number of bitter U.S. Title bouts during the month of May against the Iron Sheik. On May 3rd at the Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium, at the Greenville Memorial Auditorium on May 12th, the Winston-Salem Memorial Coliseum on May 16th and at County Hall in Charleston, South Carolina on May 23rd, the Nature Boy had his hands full but managed in each instance to hold the U.S. Title out of the Sheik’s reach.

But Ric’s most noteworthy United States Title defense of the month likely occurred against old friend Greg Valentine on May 25th at the Greensboro Coliseum. On the World Wide Wrestling television show that was taped on May 28th, Valentine referenced the Greensboro match when he called Flair out and pleaded for Ric to be his tag team partner again. Greg told Flair that he was the most fantastic wrestler of all time, and that he had changed his ways and wanted to be on the side of good with Ric. The Nature Boy wanted to believe that Valentine was sincere, but told him he would give Greg’s offer “some serious thought.” Thus fans on May 28th were left with a bit of a cliffhanger as to whether Valentine and Flair would reunite their top-flight tag team.


SUPERSTAR, ENFORCER, TORONTO

Since Superstar #2 was unmasked and left the area for all intents and purposes early in the month, Superstar #1 was simply referred to again as the Masked Superstar as the month of May progressed. Superstar continued his hold over the NWA Television Championship during the month of May, but the hold was tenuous at best. After beating Rufus R. “Freight Train” Jones handily in Charleston, South Carolina on May 2nd and in Columbia on May 6th, the road got rockier. Back in Charleston on May 9th, Superstar was defeated by Blackjack Mulligan, but retained the title. A week later in the port city in a Lumberjack match, the results were the same. Still later in the month, Mulligan defeated the masked man by disqualification in Greenville on May 19th, and then again in Charlotte on May 24th. However, as there was no pinfall or submission, the Superstar left both towns with his NWA TV Title belt in tow.

The final Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling television show of the month, taped on May 28th, began with a clip of the antics of Cousin Luke Mulligan from the week before. When Bob Caudle interviewed Enforcer Luciano about the escapades of Luke, the Enforcer noted, “Yeah, I’m aware, I’m very much aware. Did you see what that character did? Cuckoo Luke is what I call him. He’s in the ring, outta the ring. He’s not even supposed to be here to wrestle! Why was he in the ring? Why did he do what he did? I have a lotta questions about this character. This guy has a hole in his marble bag, there’s no doubt about it!”

Caudle told the Enforcer that Luciano and the Superstar were ganging up on Mulligan, and that Blackjack needed help from his family. Luciano didn’t want to hear any of it, saying, “Mr. Mulligan, I respect you. You’re a big man; you’re a tough man. I’m a big man; I’m a tough man. You’re a brawler; I’m a brawler. But this Cuckoo Luke, Cousin Luke, is ridiculous! He doesn’t belong anywhere near a wrestling ring. This man could do any kind of damage he wanted to do, just because he doesn’t know any better. There’s no reason for him to be near a ring!”

Toronto Ontario, Canada saw two noteworthy cards at Maple Leaf Gardens in the month of May involving the stars from Jim Crockett Promotions. On May 4, 1980 the then-World Tag Team Champions Ray Stevens and Greg Valentine lost by disqualification to Ricky Steamboat and Jay Youngblood, but retained their belts. On that same show, Blackjack Mulligan and the Canadian Champion Dewey Robertson defeated Superstars #1 and #2. At the next Maple Leaf Gardens show on May 25th, Blackjack Mulligan unmasked Superstar #2 as being John Studd, several weeks after a number of unmaskings had already taken place in the Mid-Atlantic states. And on that same card, in a title change, the Iron Sheik bested Dewey Robertson for the Canadian Heavyweight Championship.

With Superstar #2 being unmasked and leaving the Mid-Atlantic area during the month of May, it cast a shadow over the Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship which was held by the Superstars #1 and #2. The promotion came up with an answer to that quandary, vacating the title belts and setting up a one night tournament to declare new Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Champions. The Greenville Memorial Auditorium was selected as the tournament venue, and the date of the tournament was set for June 2, 1980. June of 1980 in Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling was thus assured to get off to a red-hot start!



CHAMPIONSHIPS MAY 1980

NWA WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT---Harley Race

UNITED STATES---Ric Flair

WORLD TAG TEAM---Ray Stevens and Greg Valentine, Ricky Steamboat and Jay Youngblood (May 10, 1980 at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina)

CANADIAN---Dewey Robertson,  Iron Sheik (May 25, 1980 at the Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto Ontario, Canada)

MID-ATLANTIC---Jim Brunzell, Iron Sheik (May 11, 1980 at the Charlotte Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina)

NWA TELEVISION---Superstar #1

MID-ATLANTIC TAG TEAM---Superstar #1 and Superstar #2, VACANT (Title becomes vacant when Superstar #2 leaves area; tournament set for June 2, 1980 to crown new champions)                                      
                                                       

"I Never Quit" - Magnum's Story Told Like Never Before

by Dick Bourne
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

Highspots.com recently released another in a series of excellent documentaries directed by Michael Elliot. Following on the footsteps of such acclaimed features as "The Funks" and "Jim Crockett Promotions: The Good Old Days" comes the telling of one of pro-wrestling's most inspirational stories, "I Never Quit: The Magnum T.A. Story."

I'm guessing you've heard the story before, but you've never quite heard it told this way.

Elliot takes Magnum back to the very spot of his tragic automobile accident that ended the meteoric rise of his relatively short wrestling career. Literally. Magnum sits on his Segway on the sidewalk on Sardis road, looking at the very spot where his career ended and he almost lost his life. He then begins to layout the whole story of his wrestling career that all led that spot on that road. It's a remarkable story of how he became one of the most popular and remembered pro-wrestlers of his generation. And it also bears witness to the physical struggle he's gone through every day of his life since that tragic day in October of 1986, and the rewarding professional and personal life he's built in its aftermath.

Think about it like this: Magnum only wrestled for Jim Crockett Promotions for 22 months. But his major feuds during those 22 months - with Wahoo McDaniel, Tully Blanchard, and Nikita Koloff -- all of which were fought over the United States Heavyweight Championship -- are still talked about to this day, some 30 years after Magnum's wrestling career came to that tragic end.

His classic matches are so fondly remembered that 30 years after the famous "I Quit" match at Starrcade '85, fans gathered in a huge ballroom at the NWA Wrestling Legends Fanfest in Charlotte in 2015 to hear Magnum and Tully Blanchard just sit there and talk about it. That's pretty remarkable when you think about it.

The documentary starts at the scene of the accident, but then shifts to the story of how a young Terry Allen broke into the wrestling business, including (literally) a road map through all the territories where he cut his teeth. These include never before seen footage of Magnum early in his career. (See the official trailer video, embedded below.)

One of my favorite segments was a scene where Magnum is sitting in his office watching old video footage of a TV match he had with AWA World Champion Nick Bockwinkle. It was relatively early in his career. He remembered it, but he had never seen it before. It was a special little moment.

Another favorite segment was with Magnum's mother, Marion, remembering back to the day in 1986 sitting around a conference room table where Nikita Koloff trash-talked her and an enraged Magnum jumped across the table and a brawl ensued. It was part of the great angle that led to the famous "best-of-seven" match series between Magnum and Nikita. The interesting thing was Magnum had never "smartened up" his Mom, and the incident unfolding in front of her was very real to her. It's great hearing them both tell this.

While his wrestling experience in all the different territories where he worked is covered, my favorite of course is the in-depth discussion of the three major feuds in the Mid-Atlantic area, and nationally for the NWA on WTBS, especially the "I Quit" match with Blanchard which I remember more for the brilliantly executed finish than even the match itself (which is a bonafide classic.)

This isn't a stereo-typical "shoot interview." This is a full blown documentary with supporting photographs and video and commentary from folks like Jim Crockett, Jr., Tully Blanchard, Nikita Koloff, Jimmy Valiant, Baby Doll, Ricky Morton, Dusty Rhodes, George South, and many others, as well as perspective from wrestling journalists Dave Meltzer and Bruce Mitchell. If you've seen other work by Michael Elliot, you know the professional polish he puts on his projects.

For his part, Magnum's performance is excellent as well. His narration is warm and inviting and every bit of that part of his personality comes right through. It's amazing (and inspiring) to see someone who was dealt a pretty tough hand seem so comfortable in his own skin.

"I Never Quit: The Magnum T.A. Story" is available on DVD for $14.99 from Highspots.com, or an autographed copy of the DVD is available for $19.99.  A digital download is available for $9.99 from the Highspots Wrestling Network.

Related Links:
The Gateway Interview: Magnum T.A.
Great American Bash Tour 1986 
U.S. Title Memories: Harley Race challenges Magnum T.A.
Nikita Koloff Wins the Best-Of-7 Series and the U.S. Championship
Former U.S. Champions from the Title's Golden Age appearing in Charlotte at Fanfest
1980s Dusty Booking Era Babyface Reunion