Oddball, quirky, "what makes me wonder these things", question of the week:

In the opening theme sequence of Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling from the mid-70s until the early 80s, there was a brief clip of an arena match between two wrestlers, one maybe cradling the other from a spinning toe hold or something.

Anyone know the answer to this?

Posted by Richard Sullivan on April 01, 1999 at 23:12:42:

I think the move was a legdrop to escape a hammerlock or a takeover from a reverse hammerlock position or something. Hmmm ...

I'm humming the theme right now. Doo doo doo ... doo doo doo ... doo doo doo ... do ... do ... doo ... do do do ... do do do ... do do do ... do do do ... daaaa ... daaaa ... duh duh duh duh ... daaa ... dahhh ...

Uhhh ... is one of them Cowboy Frankie Laine?

Posted by David Chappell on April 02, 1999 at 11:43:48:

****If memory serves, that "issue" was raised during a Mid-Atlantic TV show at some point, and I remember the announcers telling us that one of the wrestlers was Wahoo McDaniel! There might have even been a brief contest as to who these wrestlers were. For the life of me I can't remember who the other wrestler was. The reason that I remember so well being told by Caudle/Crockett that one was Wahoo is because I don't think either of those wrestlers bears the faintest resemblance to Wahoo!!

Posted by Kyle Rosser on April 02, 1999 at 11:57:47:

: :If my memory is correct it was Paul Jones & Blackjack Mulligan. I would like to see the graphic to be sure.

Posted by Richard Sullivan on April 02, 1999 at 14:21:11:

: I was becoming a believer; now my faith is shattered.

I looked at the tape and I'd say it's probably Mulligan and Jones. Almost certain the guy on the mat is Mulligan (with the solid black boots and red kneepads circa 1976). The guy who has the spinning toehold (I guess that's what it was) is wearing blue trunks and I believe red boots (bad lighting) so it could easily be Jones, although his big move was the Indian deathlock. I can see how you might think those two guys could be a hundred different wrestlers (even Terry Funk and Harley Race), but no way either of them is Wahoo.

Posted by Shawn Hudson on April 02, 1999 at 16:26:14:

ok, With this myriad of guesses( thanks for the memories Dick!) it is coming back to me. Watched it a million times twenty years ago. Terry funk won the title from Brisco by grabbing a cradle from the figure four as Brisco was applying it. I saw the tape of that match and it was the first time I had seen that counter. I believe that this opening was done in silhouette and it aired after that match. I think it was Funk and Brisco.

I sure would like to see that thing again!

*** end of thread ***

The mystery has since been solved, and you can read more about that in Smoke Filled Rooms:

Rocking the Cradle: The Mystery of the Wrestlers in the Mid-Atlantic Open

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