Many fans started their
wrestling month of March
1980 in front of their TV
sets on Saturday March 1st,
watching Mid-Atlantic
Championship Wrestling
hosted by Bob Caudle. This
show was action packed from
beginning to end. It started
with Gene Anderson telling
the viewing audience that
the debut of the Iron Sheik
would be delayed for about
three weeks, as Gene was
sending the Sheik to Japan
to become more proficient in
the martial arts.
This Mid-Atlantic show that
aired in many markets on
March 1st had two terrific
matches in the NWA
Television Title tournament.
In the first, popular
veteran Johnny Weaver
battled “Number One” Paul
Jones. In an entertaining
bout, Jones was caught
striking Weaver in the
throat with a karate thrust,
leading to a
disqualification and sending
Weaver on to the next round.
The second Tournament bout
was a wild encounter between
Blackjack Mulligan and big
Ox Baker.
To complicate matters for
Blackjack, Superstars #1 and
#2 were sitting at ringside
cheering Baker on. Prior to
the bout, Ox was promised
$2,500 by the Superstars if
he could put Mulligan out of
wrestling during the
Tournament match. Using his
famed “heart punch,” Baker
had Mulligan beat but at the
urging of the Superstars let
the big Texan up! Mulligan
quickly turned the tables on
Ox, and pulled out an
improbable win!
The final segment of the
March 1st Mid-Atlantic
Championship Wrestling TV
show had Ray Stevens and
Greg Valentine out at
ringside watching NWA World
Tag Team Champions Ricky
Steamboat and Jay Youngblood
wrestle Doug Somers and
Frankie Lane. After the
bout, Stevens and Valentine
interrupted the Champions’
interview, with Valentine
calling them “punks” among
other unflattering things.
This led to physical
retaliation by Steamboat and
Youngblood, with the champs
getting the better of the
altercation. Steven and
Valentine were furious,
saying they were “sucker
punched,” and that they
couldn’t fire back because
they were hamstrung by being
on probation by the NWA.
On the sister World Wide
Wrestling television show
that aired in most of the
area’s markets on March 1st,
the viewing audience got to
see a fantastic match
pitting Blackjack Mulligan
and Johnny Weaver against
the duo of big Swede Hanson
and Doug Somers. The
unlikely pairing of Mulligan
and Weaver was surprisingly
smooth and strong, enabling
the “good guys” to escape
with a hard fought victory.
At the end of the show, the
Masked Superstars #1 and #2
chastised Blackjack about
Mulligan having nobody of
consequence to team up with,
and laughing that “Mully”
should team with some of
Blackjack’s crazy family!
Mulligan was none too happy
with this line of inquiry,
and told the Superstars in
no uncertain terms to keep
his family out of their
discussions!
This first World Wide
Wrestling show of the month
of March also featured a
bout in the Mid-Atlantic Tag
Team Title Tournament,
featuring the Masked
Superstars #1 and #2
defeating popular Matt Borne
and Bob Marcus. This was the
third match of the first
round, and assured the
Superstars a spot in the
Tournament semifinals. The
Superstars would go on to
capture the vacant Titles on
the World Wide Wrestling
show that was likely taped
on March 19th.
The Mid-Atlantic
Championship Wrestling
television show that was
taped from the WRAL TV
studios in Raleigh, North
Carolina on March 5th
showcased plenty of action.
Foremost, the two semifinal
matches in the NWA
Television Tournament took
place on this show. In the
first contest, Superstar #1
was triumphant over a
bruised and battered Johnny
Weaver. In the second
semifinal, Blackjack
Mulligan endured a physical
beating, but still managed
to prevail over a game Swede
Hanson. So a “dream match”
was set for the NWA TV Title
Tournament final, where old
rivals the Superstar #1 and
Blackjack Mulligan would vie
for the prestigious
Championship, with Superstar
#2 (now called “007”) in the
bad guy’s corner!
On that same action packed
March 5th Mid-Atlantic
Championship Wrestling TV
show, the rugged duo of Ray
Stevens and Greg Valentine
came out and complained to
announcer Bob Caudle that
they were “sucker punched”
during the interview the
previous week on TV by NWA
World Tag Team Champions
Ricky Steamboat at Jay
Youngblood. Caudle countered
that the two villains had
provoked Steamboat and
Youngblood, but the bad guys
denied that out of hand.
Stevens and Valentine again
said that if they hadn’t
been on probation through
the NWA, they would have
wiped the floor with
“Steamer” and Jay!
Another exciting sequence in
the March 5th Mid-Atlantic
TV show saw “Nature Boy” Ric
Flair come out to assist his
young protégé, Scott McGee.
“Superfly” Jimmy Snuka was
wrestling McGee, and taking
liberties with the young
grappler. Flair didn’t like
Snuka’s actions, and went
after Jimmy and his manager
Gene Anderson with
Anderson’s cane, cleaning
house in the process. Ric
also had a match of his own
during the hour, teaming
with former rival Rufus R.
Jones to dominate and defeat
the tandem of Billy Starr
and the Scorpion.
March for all intents and
purposes ended the bitter
breakup and brief ensuing
feud between Paul Jones and
Baron von Raschke. The two
former partners went at it
on March 1st in a bloody
battle in the Charlotte
Coliseum, where both exited
the ring in rough shape to
say the least. Jones and
Raschke followed up that
mayhem the next night at the
Greensboro Coliseum, in a
Lights Out Non-Sanctioned
blood bath! Apparently the
two could not get enough
violence, as they set a
return match in Greensboro
in two weeks inside a fence.
The March 16th Fence Match
may have been the most
vicious contest between
these combatants, with Jones
somehow emerging victorious
at the 17:00 mark. After
this bout, both Jones and
Raschke exited the
Mid-Atlantic area, except in
a curious bit of scheduling,
they met one final time in
Hampton, Virginia on April
12th with the Baron
prevailing.
Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight
Champion Jim Brunzell
successfully retained his
belt during the month,
despite some stiff
challenges by several worthy
challengers. “Jumpin’ Jim”
fended off the unorthodox Ox
Baker in Asheville, North
Carolina on March 2nd, and
then again on March 10th in
Greenville, South Carolina.
Brunzell took care of Paul
Jones at the Norfolk Scope
on March 6th, and survived
two hard hitting Title
encounters with the “Hammer”
Greg Valentine on March 3rd
in Fayetteville, North
Carolina and on March 7th in
Winston-Salem, North
Carolina. Finally, Jim
managed to keep his prized
Mid-Atlantic belt despite
the challenges of both
Masked Superstars. On March
14th, Brunzell survived the
onslaught of Superstar #1,
and followed that with a
clean victory against the
massive Superstar #2 on
March 23rd in Columbia,
South Carolina.
Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka
maintained his grip on the
United States Heavyweight
Championship during the
month of March, but Ric
Flair was hot on his heels.
Ric came close to taking the
Title several times,
dominating bouts against
Snuka in Norfolk Virginia on
March 6th, Greenville, South
Carolina on March 10th
(winning by count out),
Salem, Virginia on March
23rd and in Spartanburg,
South Carolina on March 29th
(winning by
disqualification).
During the month of March,
three area towns got two
U.S. Title matches each with
Snuka defending his
prestigious belt.
Greensboro, North Carolina
saw Flair dominate Snuka for
the most part on March 2nd,
but in two weeks Snuka
pinned Flair in the rematch,
albeit with assistance from
manager Gene Anderson.
Raleigh, North Carolina had
back to back Title bouts
between these two, starting
on March 11th. Snuka was
victorious in the first, but
Flair controlled the rematch
on March 18th for much of
the contest. Finally,
Charleston, South Carolina
saw the “Superfly” squeak
out a win over the “Nature
Boy” on March 14th, then two
weeks later saw Jimmy defeat
South Carolina’s own Rufus
R. Jones in a spirited Title
battle!
The Mid-Atlantic
Championship Wrestling
television show that was
taped on March 12th had the
viewing area buzzing with
anticipation, as Blackjack
Mulligan was to square off
against Superstar #1 in the
finals of the NWA Television
Title Tournament! However,
the opening segment of the
show raised a lot of concern
amongst Mulligan fans. A
film clip of an arena match
was shown, with Blackjack
narrating over it, showing
Superstar’s #1 and #2
brutally injuring Mulligan’s
hand with a chair. Mulligan
had a cast on his hand, and
said he couldn’t make a fist
with the hand and didn’t
know if he would ever be
able to use the “claw hold”
again. But he promised the
TV viewing audience that he
would not quit, and that he
would wrestle for the TV
Title despite being injured.
The championship match
started out with Mulligan in
control, using the cast on
his broken hand as a weapon.
However, Superstar #1 was
able to rip the cast off ,
and began punishing
Mulligan’s injured hand. In
tremendous pain and
infuriated by the tactics of
Superstar #1, Blackjack
snapped and threw Superstar
#1 over the top rope,
resulting in a
disqualification giving the
championship trophy and belt
to the hated masked man. As
if winning the TV Title
wasn’t enough, both
Superstars attacked Mulligan
after the bout, trying to do
further damage to his hand.
Luckily for Blackjack, Ric
Flair intervened for him and
was able to limit the
damage.
Highlights galore were shown
on the Mid-Atlantic
Championship Wrestling
television show that was
taped on March 19th. First,
the TV Title match from the
previous week was replayed,
so the fans once again got
to see Blackjack Mulligan
throw Superstar #1 over the
top rope and throw away his
chance for the NWA
Television Title in the
process.
The second film that was
shown was the match where
the Superstars’ had injured
Blackjack Mulligan’s hand.
The Superstar #1 narrated
over this piece of film, and
said very confidently over
and over again that Mulligan
was finished and that
Blackjack could never used
the claw hold again. After
the film was finished, Bob
Caudle read a letter from
Blackjack Mulligan
addressing his injury
situation. Mulligan said the
broken hand would not deter
him from pursuing the
Superstars until he unmasked
both of them! This got a
rise out of Superstar #2,
who rarely uttered a word.
One thing was clear from the
incoherent ramblings of
Superstar #2…his voice
sounded just like that of
John Studd!
Gene Anderson ended the
March 19th show by saying
again that the Iron Sheik
from Iran would soon be
entering the Mid-Atlantic
area. Gene also intimated
that he would be teaming the
Sheik up with United States
Heavyweight Champion Jimmy
Snuka, in what promised to
be a dynamic team.
NWA World Tag Team Champions
Ricky Steamboat and Jay
Youngblood had a busy month
of March defending their
prized belts. Other than a
defense against Superstar #1
and #2 on March 11th in
Columbia, South Carolina,
all of the Title bouts of
“Steamer” and Jay were
against their nemeses’ Greg
Valentine and the “Crippler”
Ray Stevens.
The battles between
Steamboat and Youngblood and
Stevens and Valentine
started early in the month,
March 2nd with a “double
shot” to be exact.
Asheville, North Carolina
and the border city of
Savannah, Georgia each got a
raucous Title match on March
2nd! Columbia, South
Carolina was next on March
4th with a wild championship
bout that saw Stevens and
Valentine lose by
disqualification.
Next, the two teams headed
up to Virginia where they
treated the fans in the Old
Dominion to two great
championship clashes. At the
Norfolk Scope on March 6th
no holds were seemingly
barred, and further north at
the Richmond Coliseum on
March 14th the two teams
reached new heights of
brutality. The final two
successful Title defenses by
Steamboat and Youngblood
against Stevens and
Valentine took place in
Greenville, South Carolina
on March 17th and in the
port city of Charleston,
South Carolina on March
21st. In both of these
encounters, Ricky and Jay
scored clean pinfall wins.
However, Greg and Ray would
get their revenge in the
next Title match, in
Charlotte, North Carolina on
March 29th.
Toronto, Canada had two
gigantic shows during the
month of March, with a
number of featured
Mid-Atlantic performers. On
March 9th, the Maple Leaf
Gardens saw a spirited
Canadian Heavyweight Title
contest between the Champion
Dewey Robertson and the
challenger Greg Valentine.
As part of that same March
9th super spectacular event,
the popular Indian Jay
Youngblood butted heads with
the ever dangerous Ray “The
Crippler” Stevens. In three
weeks, the wrestlers
returned to the Maple Leaf
Gardens, with the
Mid-Atlantic featured
matches being a high octane
battle between Ricky
Steambood and Jay Youngblood
versus Ray Stevens and Greg
Valentine. The fans also saw
the deranged Ox Baker whip
up on Scott McGee, and an
entertaining win by Klondike
Bill over Brute Bernard via
disqualification.
The final Mid-Atlantic
Championship Wrestling
television show of the
month, taped on March 26th,
had a couple of noteworthy
interviews that would shed
some light on future issues.
First, Ric Flair thanked the
fans for their support in
his ongoing battles with
U.S. Champion Jimmy Snuka.
Ric acknowledged that the
responsibilities of being a
“fan favorite” were
something he was still
getting used to. The “Nature
Boy” told Bob Caudle and the
viewing audience that if he
didn’t win the U.S. belt
soon that he was going to
pack his bags and leave, but
hastened to add that he had
no plans whatsoever to leave
the area!
The final interview segment
on the March 26th
Mid-Atlantic TV show saw Ray
Stevens and Greg Valentine
celebrating the fact that
they were no longer on
probation by the NWA. This
devious duo told Bob Caudle
and the fans at home that
they didn’t have to hold
back in any way now, and
that capturing the World Tag
Team Title belts from Ricky
Steamboat and Jay Youngblood
was inevitable. Those words
turned out to be prophetic
very shortly.
On Saturday night Match 29th
in the Charlotte Coliseum,
Ray Stevens and Greg
Valentine finally made their
many boasts come true, as
they defeated Ricky
Steamboat and Jay Youngblood
for the NWA World Tag Team
Titles. The Title match was
full of controversy, and
this controversy would spill
over into the month of April
as fans were left to wonder
whether the new champions
were the “people’s choice”
as they proclaimed, or
rather cowardly thief’s in
the night instead. Time
would tell, with this issue
getting the new month of
April off to a red-hot
start!
WHO’S HOT
1. Superstar #1---The rugged
and articulate masked man
won the NWA Television Title
and one half of the
Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Titles
during the month of March.
These two Tournament wins
alone warranted a trip to
the top of these rankings.
2. Superstar #2---The
massive masked man, who
sounded a lot like John
Studd, captured one half of
the Mid-Atlantic Tag Team
Titles during the month, in
addition to severely
injuring Blackjack
Mulligan’s hand during a
double team attack with his
partner.
3. Jimmy Snuka---The United
States Heavyweight Champion
continued to hold onto his
prized belt during the month
of March, despite a
persistent challenge from
“Nature Boy” Ric Flair.
Snuka knew that the upcoming
month of April would define
his run as the U.S. Champ.
WHO’S NOT
1. Paul Jones and Baron von
Raschke---The former
partners finished up their
superb Mid-Atlantic stints
in a somewhat inglorious
fashion, battling each other
in several bloody matches
where the fans just wanted
them to finish each other
off! How the once mighty had
fallen!
2. Blackjack Mulligan---The
big Texan was tough as
nails, but that didn’t stop
the Masked Superstars #1 and
#2 from injuring his hand
and costing “Mully” the NWA
TV Title. Blackjack had his
hands full trying to handle
the Masked Superstars with
only one good hand.
3. Ox Baker---Despite a
great resume and quite a
buildup by the promotion,
the wild man with the feared
“heart punch” was having
trouble advancing up the
ranks beyond mid card
status. It was starting to
look like Ox might not be
able to push through that
glass ceiling.