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I
received a late night telephone call recently from
Dick Bourne, and was concerned immediately from
the time of the call and the initial tone of his
voice that something might be amiss. In those
milliseconds before he broke the news, my mind
raced as to who might have possibly passed away.
My first thought was that, heaven forbid, it was a
member of his family. Then, in an almost inaudible
voice, somber in tone, he informed me of the
passing of Edward "Chief Wahoo"
McDaniel. I had not heard the news previously,
though I knew Wahoo was in poor health. We spoke
for several minutes, neither of us wanting to
believe what we both now knew was a hard
reality-Wahoo had died. When we got off the
telephone, it dawned on me that my initial
thoughts about the nature of his call had been
correct. A family member had in fact passed away.
I'm not ashamed to say that I consider Wahoo one
of my extended family, someone who I looked up to
and grew up with on a weekly basis as my junior
high years moved to high school days then on to
college and beyond. Many things changed during
those years in the 1970's and 1980's, but Chief
Wahoo was a constant. It speaks volumes about
Wahoo's charisma, ability and professionalism that
he could have such a profound impact on the life
of one, who was to him, a complete stranger. I
have absolutely no doubt that Wahoo touched many,
many others in the same way that he made a
lifelong impression upon Dick and myself.
Wahoo McDaniel had a noteworthy life that
stretched far beyond the wrestling rings of Jim
Crockett Promotions and Mid-Atlantic Championship
Wrestling. Thoughts and reflections about his many
successes and exploits in other aspects of his
life are much better left to others who better
knew Wahoo during those times. For those of us who
got to know Wahoo through his association with
Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, the love
affair began in earnest in the summer of 1974.
Chief Wahoo was arguably the greatest star in
the history of Mid-Atlantic Championship
Wrestling. Only Ric Flair could make a reasonable
argument to the contrary. As far as sheer
popularity is concerned, no other grappler came
close to Wahoo. He was the perfect fan favorite of
his era, but a "good guy" with an edge
to him. You cheered for the Chief because he was a
good man, but he could get down and nasty when the
circumstances dictated.
As a good guy for most of his Mid-Atlantic
years, Wahoo had to take his share of beatings to
set up many of his classic feuds. Who can forget
the table leg and forty stitches match in
Charlotte in May of 1976, which set up the classic
feud with Ric Flair over the Mid-Atlantic
Heavyweight Title? Or the television match in
September of 1977 where Greg Valentine broke
Wahoo's leg, setting up great battles between
those two? One of Wahoo's most appealing qualities
was his ability to take these injustices in style,
not complain or "cry" about them, and
come back and teach the villain a lesson he would
never forget!
Wahoo did not have a great physique, the best
physical ability in the ring nor did he possess
overwhelming skills on the microphone. But with
Wahoo, the sum was far greater than all of those
individual parts. Perhaps what put McDaniel on a
plane above all of his contemporaries was his all
out effort and intensity in every match. I can
honestly say that I cannot recall any match
involving Wahoo where I left feeling that Wahoo
was not at his best or did not put out maximum
effort. In many of his interviews, Wahoo was proud
to say that he gave his best in every match,
regardless of whether the bout was in a big
Coliseum or in a tiny high school gym. This
dedication to his craft showed itself, night in
and night out throughout the Mid-Atlantic circuit.
The big Chief wore his Indian heritage proudly,
and in one of his first interviews in the
Mid-Atlantic area, said that Indians had been
pushed around for many years, but now "the
pushing is over." He lived up to those words,
and then some. Wahoo's trademark Indian
headdresses were a sight to behold outside of the
ring, as were his fierce tomahawk chops inside the
ring. Without a doubt, this was one tough Indian!
There was scarcely a feud or angle that took
place in the Mid-Atlantic glory days that Wahoo
did not have a role in. McDaniel was the last in a
fantastic series of top notch singles wrestlers
that Jim Crockett Promotions brought in from mid
1973 to mid 1974 that would soon transform the
Mid-Atlantic area from a sleepy tag team territory
to one of the major hotbeds of wrestling in the
United States. Wahoo hit the area running in
August of 1974, immediately targeting established
heels in the area such as Johnny Valentine, the
Super Destroyer and Ivan Koloff. It did not take
but a couple of weeks for Koloff and the Super
Destroyer to respond by ripping up Wahoo's
beautiful headdress, and the battle lines were
immediately drawn! To fight these battles,
McDaniel formed solid tag teams right off the bat
with the likes of Paul Jones and Sonny King. Wahoo
did not taste any titles during the year of 1974,
but his matches with Johnny Valentine and the
Super Destroyer were true classic encounters. The
battles with Mid-Atlantic Champion Johnny
Valentine during 1974 were particularly rugged and
stiff encounters, ones that earned Wahoo the
undying respect of many fans for his unflinching
ability to stand toe to toe with "The
Champ." As 1974 drew to a conclusion, Wahoo
in less than six months time had established
himself as the most popular wrestler in the
Mid-Atlantic area, and the number one contender in
the territory to NWA World's Heavyweight Champion
Jack Brisco.
McDaniel's Mid-Atlantic star continued to burn
brightly in 1975. The Chief headlined nearly every
card he was on, and turned to doing a little more
tag team wrestling when Gene and Ole Anderson
brought the NWA World Tag Team Titles to the area
in late January of 1975. By the time spring rolled
around, Wahoo and popular Paul Jones upended the
Anderson's and became the World Tag Team
Champions! The team of Wahoo and Jones was a real
"dream team" for Mid-Atlantic fans, but
the title reign lasted only several weeks as the
Anderson's regained the belts in a memorable match
on Mid-Atlantic TV where Ole Anderson
"sacrificed" his brother Gene by ramming
Gene's head into Wahoo's head and capturing the
winning pinfall against McDaniel. Wahoo and Jones
had some of the greatest matches ever in the
promotion, attempting to win back the titles from
the Anderson's in the summer of 1975. Many of
these matches were sixty and ninety-minute time
limit draws that kept fans on the edges of their
seats from beginning to end. While ultimately
Wahoo and Jones never won the World belts back
from the Anderson's, these bouts were true tag
team classics for the ages.
The second half of 1975 was just as successful
for Wahoo as the first half was, maybe even more
so. The Chief went back to wrestling primarily
singles, and had a number of outstanding bouts
with NWA kingpin, Jack Brisco. While the bouts
with Brisco were "Indian versus Indian"
battles, Wahoo also had a brief but successful
program with Mid-Atlantic newcomer Blackjack
Mulligan in a classic confrontation between Cowboy
versus Indian!
During this same general time frame, Rufus R.
Jones came onto the set of Mid-Atlantic
Championship Wrestling TV, saying that he, Paul
Jones and Wahoo had unmasked the legendary Super
Destroyer. Rufus even showed a picture of Don
Jardine to the audience without his mask on.
Earlier in 1975, Wahoo vowed on an interview he
would take the Destroyer's mask off before the end
of 1975. However, Wahoo never himself took credit
for this unmasking, and Jardine has insisted in
later years that this unmasking never occurred.
Wahoo certainly cemented his Mid-Atlantic
legend forever when he did what many thought was
impossible on July 26, 1975, by defeating Johnny
Valentine for the Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Title,
a belt that Valentine had held continually for the
prior year and a half. This title victory was a
slugfest that Wahoo prevailed in just prior to the
hour time limit expiring. Upon Wahoo's victory,
there was a wild celebration in the ring that
Saturday night in Greensboro, North Carolina that
just went on and on! Wahoo held the Mid-Atlantic
title until September 20, 1975, when he lost the
title to a very young Ric Flair in Hampton,
Virginia. In this match, Flair promised to shave
his head if he lost, and resorted to knocking
Wahoo out with a foreign object to take the belt
and hold onto his blonde hair. This defeat was
only the beginning of the epic feud between Wahoo
and arch- rival "Nature Boy" Ric Flair.
The last few months of 1975 saw Wahoo's role in
the promotion become more important than ever. On
October 4, 1975, the promotion lost several
wrestlers due to a horrific plane crash that
occurred in Wilmington, North Carolina. Two of
Wahoo's top rivals, Johnny Valentine and Ric
Flair, were in that crash. Wahoo was instrumental
in helping the promotion through these difficult
days, headlining cards against newcomers Superstar
Billy Graham, Steve Strong and Angelo Mosca during
late 1975. The bouts against Mosca were
particularly interesting and entertaining, as they
were promoted as bouts between former football
stars. Both Wahoo and Mosca put on outstanding
performances in these bouts. Wahoo even had a
brief feud with "Professor" Boris
Malenko during this time period, where Malenko
claimed Wahoo broke his teeth in a match and
presented Wahoo with a $3,000 dental bill on
Mid-Atlantic TV. Predictably, Wahoo tore the bill
to shreds and handled the challenge of Malenko!
1976 was arguably Wahoo's finest year in the
Mid-Atlantic area, and was defined in large
measure by the feud between Wahoo and Ric Flair
over the Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Title. The feud
began anew when Flair returned from his injuries
occasioned by the plane crash, and wrestled his
first match back on January 31, 1976 against Wahoo
in the Greensboro Coliseum. At this time, Wahoo
actually was holding one half of the NWA World Tag
Team Titles with Rufus R. Jones, but this reign
would be just over a week in length, and Wahoo
would immediately return his focus to singles
competition.
The Chief and Flair began a series of legendary
of bouts, which extended into the spring of 1976
when Wahoo finally got the better of Ric and
captured the Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Title on May
3, 1976 in Charlotte, North Carolina. During this
general time frame, McDaniel also wrestled new NWA
World Champ Terry Funk in several terrific
matches, including a non- title victory against
Funk that was contested on Mid-Atlantic television
in the WRAL studios in Raleigh, North Carolina.
The most famous match of 1976 in the
Mid-Atlantic area involved Wahoo, and will always
be remembered by Mid-Atlantic fans as the
"table leg and forty stitches" match.
This bout between Wahoo and Ric Flair occurred on
May 24, 1976 in Charlotte, and saw Ric take the
Mid-Atlantic Title back from Wahoo. In the
process, Ric hit Wahoo with a table leg that had a
nail in it that caused Wahoo to end up in Mercy
Hospital in Charlotte with a gash on his head that
required forty stitches to close. This bout was a
rallying point for Wahoo, as he and Flair had
amazing grudge and fence matches throughout the
summer of 1976 as Wahoo sought his revenge against
Ric.
Wahoo even had an indirect role in bringing in
a new star to the area at the end of the summer.
Claiming that Wahoo had broken his teeth again,
Professor Malenko wanted revenge so he set up
Wahoo to face Bolo Mongol in a Loser Leave Town,
Hair versus Hair match. In Greensboro, Wahoo
"scalped" Bolo Mongol, forcing him to
leave the area. But the next week a new star, the
Masked Superstar, made his first Mid-Atlantic
appearance, and was also managed by Malenko. As it
turned out, while looking completely different,
Bolo Mongol and the Masked Superstar were the same
person, Bill Eadie!
Wahoo finally won the Mid-Atlantic belt back by
summer's end, beating Flair in Greenville, South
Carolina on September 11, 1976. The two continued
to battle and trade the belt, with Ric coming back
again to claim the title on October 16, 1976 in
Greensboro where two other major titles changed
hands the same night. Wahoo was out briefly with a
back injury, but continued to battle Flair into
the cold weather months of 1976. Wahoo finally
ended this feud with Flair over the Mid-Atlantic
Heavyweight Title on December 27, 1976, when he
defeated the Nature Boy in the Richmond Coliseum
in Richmond, Virginia for the belt. Ric Flair
would never hold the Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight
Title again. Perhaps it was fitting that Wahoo
scored this historic title victory against Flair
so close to the end of the year 1976, as his feud
with Ric Flair over the Mid-Atlantic belt clearly
defined Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling in
1976.
McDaniel's most significant reign as a
titleholder while in the Mid-Atlantic area
occurred during the first half of 1977. To me,
this time frame was Wahoo's "high water
mark" while with Jim Crockett Promotions.
During this time period, Wahoo had a multitude of
successful Mid-Atlantic Title defenses, and
participated in a particularly entertaining
program against the "Korean Assassin,"
Kim Duk. Matches between these two featured some
of the best chops ever thrown in any Mid-Atlantic
feud! Wahoo also wrestled new NWA World's
Heavyweight Champion Harley Race during this time
period, and these bouts were always terrific
matches.
In the spring of 1977, the promotion also
interjected Wahoo into the middle of a feud in a
most unusual way. Gene and Ole Anderson had
returned to the area and were making a run at NWA
World Tag Team Champs, Ric Flair and Greg
Valentine. Jim Crockett Promotions assigned Wahoo
as "Special Referee" in many of these
matches. While Wahoo certainly had a history with
the Anderson's, the bouts were promoted in a way
that tried to give an indication that Wahoo the
referee would side with the Anderson's and against
Flair and Valentine. Sure enough, with Wahoo
functioning as a special referee, the Anderson's
defeated Flair and Valentine for the World's belts
on May 8, 1977 in Charlotte. Flair and Valentine
claimed Wahoo tripped the Nature Boy, allowing the
Anderson's to steal the belts. This
"mishap" was the genesis of a feud that
Wahoo would soon enter into with Greg "The
Hammer" Valentine. This, along with Valentine
tearing up a portrait that was presented to Wahoo
for being named the wrestler of the year in 1976!
Wahoo continued to hold the Mid-Atlantic Title
until June 11, 1977, when he was defeated by Greg
Valentine in Greensboro. Valentine's title victory
was tainted however, as Ric Flair attacked Wahoo
prior to the match which considerably weakened the
Chief. A long running feud with Greg Valentine
started in earnest after this episode in
Greensboro. Wahoo won the title back from Greg in
early August, but the feud with Valentine was
about to get MUCH hotter.
On September 7, 1977 on Mid-Atlantic
Championship Wrestling TV, Wahoo agreed to put the
Mid-Atlantic Title on the line against two
thousand silver dollars of Greg Valentine. This
was a classic confrontation, and a terrific back
and forth battle, with Valentine ultimately
abruptly catching Wahoo's leg, falling back on it
and breaking it. Wahoo was out of the area until
November, but would periodically send in taped
interviews vowing revenge against Valentine. In
the meantime, Valentine was carrying around the
Mid-Atlantic Title, continually boasting about
putting Wahoo out of wrestling.
The "revenge" bouts between Wahoo and
Valentine started in November, usually beginning
as tag matches. By December of 1977, Wahoo and
Greg were going one on one for the Mid-Atlantic
Title in some heated bouts. These bouts were even
headlining cards over U.S. Title matches on the
same card! Wahoo slowly began to get the better of
this feud, and finally regained the Mid-Atlantic
Title from Greg in February of 1978. All appeared
to be well with the world, with Wahoo winning his
title back, but little did we know that Wahoo's
days were numbered in his first, and most
memorable, stint with Jim Crockett Promotions.
Wahoo continued to wrestle well and defend his
title in early 1978, but was not placed in any
significant angles by the promotion. Inexplicably,
at this time, the promotion was starting angles
between mid-carder Johnny Weaver and Baron Von
Raschke and newcomer Tony Atlas and another
mid-carder Cyclone Negro. For some reason, Wahoo
had appeared to fall off the promotion's radar
screen. Wahoo's diminished role with the promotion
seemed cemented when Wahoo lost his Mid-Atlantic
Heavyweight Title to Ken Patera on April 9, 1978
in Charlotte. Patera had only recently returned to
the area with a new heel persona, and had little
trouble dispatching the Chief in the title
victory, and in several title rematches around the
area in the month or so thereafter.
With his role with the promotion clearly
fading, Wahoo would only wrestle in the
Mid-Atlantic area regularly until June of 1978.
While not being pushed in his last few months with
the promotion, Wahoo did have some interesting tag
matches with fellow Texan's Dick Murdock and
former rival Blackjack Mulligan in these final
days. Clearly Mulligan's babyface turn against Ric
Flair was the area's top drawing card at this
time.
In his last interviews before leaving the area,
Wahoo said he was tired of being a nice guy and
that a nice guy attitude doesn't get you anywhere.
It certainly appeared that there was at least a
tease of a heel turn by the Chief, but then June
came and the weeks came and went, and there was no
Wahoo. Eventually it became clear that Wahoo had
left the Mid-Atlantic area, and as was usual in
wrestling, there were no formal goodbyes. To
Wahoo's many fans in the Mid-Atlantic area, the
summer of 1978 was our summer of discontent.
We would not see Wahoo wrestle regularly in the
Mid-Atlantic area again for three years. In my
view, the promotion, while having its share great
moments after Wahoo left, was never quite the same
again. It spoke volumes to the impact that Wahoo
left on the Mid-Atlantic area, that in the three
years he was away his name was mentioned often on
Mid-Atlantic TV by both announcers and wrestlers
alike. This was despite the fact that Wahoo had
absolutely no ties to the area during this time
period! Clearly, if Wahoo never came back to Jim
Crockett Promotions, his legend was secure here.
It took a long while, but Wahoo would in fact
return to the Mid-Atlantic area! We shoot ahead to
May of 1981, and anyone watching the promotion saw
the taped promo on Mid-Atlantic TV that we all had
hoped we would see again: Wahoo announcing that he
was coming back to the area!! On his
"comeback" promos, Wahoo put himself
over as the wild and crazy Indian and hinted that
he was forced from the area in 1978 due to some of
his own wild actions. This line of thought was
never specifically elaborated on by Wahoo or the
promotion in the days that followed.
Wahoo re-entered the Mid-Atlantic area during a
time when the promotion was bringing in a
multitude of stars from other parts of the
country. During this same general time frame, Jim
Crockett Promotions was introducing its fans to
new performers such as Austin Idol, Jimmy Valiant,
Mr. Wrestling II, Ernie Ladd, "Bad Bad"
Leroy Brown, and Dusty Rhodes to name a few. While
these others did not necessarily overshadow
Wahoo's return, it did seem that Wahoo was in some
ways just another of many newcomers to the area.
Wahoo came in on top immediately though, and
was wrestling in main events right off the bat.
His early matches back had him going after NWA
World Tag Champs Gene and Ole Anderson with
partners such as the Masked Superstar and old
partner Paul Jones. These matches teaming with
Jones were particularly interesting, renewing a
feud with the Anderson's that had been so
spectacular six years previous. Despite the aging
of all four, the matches between Wahoo, Jones and
the Anderson's in mid 1981 were excellent.
Wahoo also teamed in his early matches back
with fellow Indian Jay Youngblood, who had entered
the Mid-Atlantic area in 1978 just as Wahoo was
leaving. Perhaps the most unusual teaming that
Wahoo had upon his return was with his former most
hated rival, Nature Boy Ric Flair! This pairing
took some getting used to, but with Flair turning
babyface in 1979 after Wahoo had left, it made
sense for the promotion to have its two most
popular performers share some interviews and
matches together. But what a strange sight to see
these two on the same side!!
While tag team matches got Wahoo back into the
swing of things in the Mid-Atlantic area, the
Chief soon turned his attention to the major
singles title he never achieved in his earlier
Mid-Atlantic run, the United States Heavyweight
Title. In the summer of 1981, "Rowdy"
Roddy Piper held the U.S. Title; another new face
that had come on the scene while Wahoo was out of
the area. These two presented a complete contrast
of styles, yet their matches against each other
were very good. During this hot summer, these two
battled in a number of specialty matches, with
Wahoo finally capturing that elusive first U.S.
Title from Piper on August 8, 1981 in Greensboro.
The maniacal Piper didn't take this defeat
lightly, and immediately plotted how to take
revenge on Wahoo. Within several weeks, the fans
would see Piper's revenge, and one of the most
infamous sequences ever on Mid-Atlantic
television. While Wahoo was wrestling what
appeared to be a normal "squash" match
on television, out of nowhere came Abdullah the
Butcher who attacked Wahoo under the direction of
Roddy Piper. Abdullah had some sort of foreign
object (Wahoo would later call it a coat hanger)
that he ground into Wahoo's face and eye causing
Wahoo to bleed profusely. The promotion continued
to show the match, but purposely distorted the
video of the match so you couldn't make out the
extent of Wahoo's injuries. In the following
weeks, the promotion would harp on how ruthless
and brutal this attack was, yet persisted in
rerunning this "distorted" piece of
tape.
In a manner of speaking, Piper got his revenge
because Wahoo was unable to defend his belt due to
the injuries sustained in this attack, and the
promotion in September put the U.S. Title up for
grabs in a one-night tournament. Mid-Atlantic
newcomer Sergeant Slaughter captured the
tournament and U.S. belt on October 4, 1981 in
Charlotte, a tournament that Wahoo did not
participate in. When Wahoo and Slaughter would
later feud in 1982 over the U.S. Title, it was
always a sticking point for Wahoo that Slaughter
had never beaten him for the belt.
Wahoo did not reemerge to any degree in the
Mid-Atlantic area during the rest of 1981, and
when he did make his presence felt again in early
1982, it was under an unusual scenario. The NWA
had stripped Gene and Ole Anderson of the NWA
World's Tag Team Titles, and put in place an
elaborate worldwide tournament to crown new
champions whereby the Eastern and Western Division
winners would compete in a best of seven series
for the belts. Wahoo emerged with an unusual
partner, Don Muraco, in this tournament. While
still a "good guy," Wahoo more than ever
was promoted as a wild and crazy Indian during
this time frame. Muraco was promoted as a wild man
as well, and in fact Muraco was principally a rule
breaker in other parts of the country. Wahoo and
Muraco blew through the tournament and were
declared the Western Division winners, and were
prepared to face Ole Anderson and Stan Hansen for
the Titles, when Muraco turned against Wahoo and
short-circuited Wahoo's quest for tag team gold.
But Wahoo would quickly rebound from this
double-cross, and once again turn his attention to
the United States Heavyweight Title.
During the spring of 1982, the Chief was fond
of letting everybody know that U.S. Champion
Sergeant Slaughter never did beat him for the U.S.
belt, but rather merely won a tournament that he
didn't participate in. Slaughter took exception to
this, and called Wahoo a loudmouth and challenged
him in May to a non-title match on Mid-Atlantic
TV. Under the hot television lights in the
Charlotte television studio, Wahoo won a grueling
bout that took nearly the entire hour television
program to decide. This was as good a match as was
ever seen on Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling
television. Wahoo quickly followed up this
masterful performance with a title win over the
Sergeant, beating Slaughter for the U.S. Title in
Richmond, VA on May 21, 1982.
Wahoo remained in the U.S. Title picture for
most of the rest of 1982. He quickly lost the belt
back to Slaughter on June 7, 1982 in Greenville,
SC. After coming back from yet another injury, the
Chief finally took the measure of Slaughter once
and for all on August 22, 1982 in Charlotte. Wahoo
then held the U.S. belt through to November 4,
1982, when an old nemesis, Greg Valentine,
returned to the area and defeated Wahoo for the
title in Norfolk, Virginia. The buildup for the
matches with Valentine were intriguing, with the
promotion referencing the prior feuds between
these two, and even showing the famous clip from
1977 where Valentine broke Wahoo's leg.
During the time Wahoo was in the middle of the
U.S. Title picture, he also had a great series of
matches with now NWA World Champion Ric Flair. Ric
was now wrestling back as a heel, even in his home
area. The two had classic confrontations during
the summer and fall of 1982 over the NWA Title,
with Wahoo coming up just short of taking the
title from the Nature Boy. Included in this series
were some great old style two out of three fall
matches. At one point, Flair's actions against
Wahoo became so vicious that NWA President Jim
Crockett resigned as President of the NWA, hoping
this drastic action would force the NWA Board of
Directors to take some consequential action
against Flair. Unfortunately for Wahoo's fans,
nothing really changed, and he became more and
more frustrated with his failure to capture the
World's Heavyweight Championship.
After the loss to Valentine in November, Wahoo
made no further waves of note in the area for the
rest of 1982, and Mid-Atlantic fans would not see
Wahoo as a significant Mid-Atlantic regular again
until the summer of 1983. When Wahoo came back
this time, it was with far less fanfare than
before. In fact, McDaniel was in no major angles
when he came back, but he did wrestle main events
and teamed up again frequently with Ric Flair. By
this time, Harley Race had defeated Flair for the
World's Title, and Ric was wrestling as a
"good guy" again and was fighting off
Dick Slater and Bob Orton, Jr. who had collected a
$25,000 bounty from Race. Wahoo and Flair teamed
in many a tag match against Orton and Slater
during the fall of 1983. This was also the time
period right before the first Starrcade, and Wahoo
assisted Flair in his training for his return
match with Harley Race on November 24, 1983 in
Greensboro.
Wahoo also wrestled on the card in Starrcade
1983, as he did in the first four Starrcade's.
Wahoo teamed with fellow Indian and Mid-Atlantic
newcomer Mark Youngblood in a rather uneventful
bout against Bob Orton, Jr. and Dick Slater. The
bad guys prevailed, with Orton capturing the fall
against Youngblood. Despite the loss, the
Wahoo/Youngblood team showed promise and the
promotion would continue to tag the Indians
together over the next several months into early
1984.
As 1984 dawned, the world of professional
wrestling was about to change dramatically. The
WWF and Vince McMahon were starting to unleash an
all out blitz to obliterate the old territorial
system, and become the country's national
promotion. The Mid-Atlantic area started to
directly feel this early in 1984, with a drain of
its talent base slowly beginning. In fact, a
strong argument could be made that 1984 was the
last true year of the strictly regional
Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling promotion.
Against this backdrop, by early 1984 the area's
World Tag Team Championship had gone into the
hands of Don Kernodle and Bob Orton, Jr., hardly
the strongest team to ever hold these coveted
titles. While not getting a vocal push, the Indian
duo of Wahoo and Mark Youngblood took the titles
on March 4, 1984 in Charlotte. This set up an
entertaining, but far too short, program between
the Indian teams of Wahoo and Mark, and Jack and
Jerry Brisco over the NWA World's Tag Team Titles.
The Brisco's had turned heel the previous year,
and were close to bolting to the WWF themselves.
Wahoo and Mark lost the straps to Jack and Jerry
in Spartanburg, SC a month after winning them, but
came back strong and reclaimed the gold from the
Brisco's in Richmond, VA on April 27, 1984.
However, Wahoo's last reign as a World's Tag Team
Champion was a short one as the promotion put the
belts on the tandem of Don Kernodle and Ivan
Koloff a short time thereafter. With the tag team
belts gone, Wahoo would now shift gears and take a
career path that nobody was expecting!
As the spring of 1984 wore on, it was clear
from his television interviews that Wahoo was
clearly frustrated by his inability to capture the
NWA World's Heavyweight Championship. At this
point in time, the World's Title was held by Ric
Flair, who Wahoo had considered in recent months
to be a friend. Wahoo became disenchanted by
Flair's apparent reluctance to give him an
opportunity to wrestle for the World's belt. Flair
heard several of these public statements by Wahoo,
and confronted the Chief on Mid-Atlantic
television telling Wahoo that instead of
complaining to Bob Caudle about it, that he should
talk with him man to man. Before this issue could
be aired fully, Mid-Atlantic newcomer Tully
Blanchard interrupted the interview and attacked
Flair. Wahoo stood by and refused to assist Flair,
and Ric was livid that Wahoo didn't help him as
Blanchard was attacking him. Wahoo was just as
livid, screaming at Flair that he had sacrificed
to make Flair a World's champion, and that Flair
didn't have the guts to give him a title match.
Amazingly, this was the first major incident
leading to Wahoo becoming a "bad guy!"
During the next few weeks, Wahoo's style in the
ring became more aggressive and his interviews had
a much sharper edge to them. Claiming that Flair
was still afraid of him because he held more wins
over Flair than any other wrestler, Wahoo once
again turned his attention to the U.S. Title, now
held by former friend Ricky Steamboat. He
challenged Steamboat to a U.S. Title match, which
took Ricky aback but Steamboat accepted the match,
all the time wondering out loud why Wahoo's
attitude seemed so different. Wahoo gave credit to
Steamboat for having the guts to face him (unlike
Flair), but warned Steamboat that he would take
the title from Ricky "any way he could."
Wahoo and Steamboat met in a memorable U.S.
Title match in Greensboro on June 24, 1984. This
was an amazing match, seeing these two former
friends really go after each other. The match was
lengthy and evenly fought, until Tully Blanchard
snuck in the ring and knocked Ricky cold while
Wahoo was away from the action. Of course, the
referee saw none of this, and from the film it
appeared Wahoo did not see Blanchard's
interference either. All Wahoo saw was a prone
Steamboat, who he proceeded to cover and got the
three count, and with it the United States Title.
Wahoo's heel turn was cemented the next week on
Mid-Atlantic television, when he was presented
with the film from the Greensboro match. Wahoo
told the world that he had not seen Blanchard's
interference at the time nor had he requested it,
but that he had no reservations winning the belt
from Steamboat under those conditions. Essentially
he told Steamboat, "tough luck." Soon
thereafter, the promotion also showed Wahoo a clip
of another match where he interfered on Tully
Blanchard's behalf in a match Tully was having
with Ric Flair. At the end of that clip, Wahoo
attacked Flair with a shoe as Blanchard held Ric
down. When the announcers pressed Wahoo about his
actions, Wahoo responded that Flair had it coming
because Ric was gutless in failing to put his NWA
World Title on the line against him.
The NWA didn't think much of the manner in
which Wahoo won the U.S. Title from Steamboat, and
upon review of the films of that match stripped
Wahoo of the Title and declared the U.S. Title
vacant. Wahoo was incensed, becoming more bitter
than ever, believing he had been singled out
unfairly. The Chief told anyone that would listen
that he had not changed his style, but that he had
merely "sped it up."
Wahoo would eventually win a tournament held in
Charlotte later in the year to win the vacated
U.S. Title (beating Ragin' Bull Manny Fernandez in
the tournament finals), but in the meantime he cut
a wide path as a rule breaker, teaming frequently
with the sneaky Blanchard. The Chief also finally
got a number of World Title matches with Ric Flair
in the late summer and fall of 1984. These matches
were entertaining, most of all because they pitted
a babyface Flair against a heel Wahoo! Who would
have ever thought THAT would happen! Of course,
Wahoo did not capture the gold, and physically
Wahoo was no match for Flair anymore, but the
Chief's new heel persona gave these bouts some
intrigue.
As the year of 1984 wore on to conclusion,
Wahoo dominated the thinning Mid-Atlantic talent
roster as United States Champion. McDaniel had a
match near the top of the card at Starrcade 1984
in November, defeating Superstar Billy Graham in
an extremely disappointing bout that lasted
scarcely four minutes. Around the same time, Wahoo
prevailed in a feud with "Avalanche"
Buzz Tyler, who had recently come into the area
and immediately challenged Wahoo for the U.S.
Title. McDaniel dispatched Tyler with ease, and
looked ahead to 1985 and several more World Title
shots with Ric Flair, and his last major angle
while with the promotion.
A hotshot newcomer named Magnum T.A. made his
way to Jim Crockett Promotions, and was clearly
the area's fastest rising young star as the year
1985 dawned. Magnum was put over by the promotion
early on by beating opponents on TV over and over
with his belly-to-belly suplex in scant seconds.
By the time March rolled around, the young star
was ready to challenge the great Indian veteran
for the United States Heavyweight Title. In a
memorable match that was shown in its entirety on
the promotion's World Wide Wrestling TV show,
Wahoo and Magnum put on a marvelous contest for
all to see. This was Wahoo's last true hurrah in
the Mid-Atlantic area. While Wahoo passed the
torch to Magnum, and Magnum got his hand raised
and was awarded the U.S. belt, the Chief was
outstanding in defeat. And to the credit of Jim
Crockett Promotions, after the match Magnum and
every other wrestler who was interviewed in
Magnum's dressing room gave Wahoo his due as being
on of the sport's true legends.
After the defeat at the hands of Magnum, Wahoo
quietly faded away and was not heard from for
several months. When we heard from Wahoo again in
mid 1985, it was getting hard to distinguish the
Mid-Atlantic area from a Jim Crockett led
promotion that was expanding outside of the old
territorial boundaries of Virginia and the
Carolinas and had its own national aspirations.
When Wahoo resurfaced, it was the "old"
Wahoo, not the bitter man we had seen the year
previously, on a TV tape saying that an old friend
Dusty Rhodes had called him and asked him for
assistance in some troubles Dusty was having. This
was the closest we would see Wahoo to
"apologizing" for his heel turn, but he
more so focused on his need to help an old friend
out. But this was a Wahoo who did not have the
presence he did in year's past, and he was more of
a mid-card babyface when he returned to the
Mid-Atlantic states and was not involved in major
angles here, and in fact spent more time in 1985
in Florida where he still headlined cards for the
dying promotion down there. The Chief did appear
in Crockett's Starrcade 1985 in November, teaming
with Florida partner Billy Jack Haynes in a losing
effort against National Tag Team Champions Ole and
Arn Anderson.
The Mid-Atlantic area ceased to have a real
identity of its own as the year 1986 arrived and
progressed. Wahoo came back into the Jim Crockett
Promotions ever expanding family during 1986, but
he could not find a real niche in an environment
dominated by the Four Horsemen, the Rock and Roll
Express, Dusty Rhodes and Nikita Koloff. So, Wahoo
settled for being more of a role player. In April
of 1986, Wahoo did participate in the first Jim
Crockett, Sr. Memorial Tag Team Cup, advancing to
the second round with old partner Mark Youngblood.
In 1986, the Chief also had an entertaining
mid-card feud with "Gorgeous" Jimmy
Garvin, thrashing him in a number of his patented
Indian Strap Matches, which Wahoo excelled in
throughout his career. Wahoo wrestled Nikita
Koloff in a National Heavyweight Title versus
United States Heavyweight Title unification match
in September of 1986, dropping this bout to his
much younger opponent. Wahoo did close out 1986 in
style, defeating Rick Rude in another Indian Strap
Match in Starrcade 1986 in November. In fact,
Wahoo wrestled for Jim Crockett Promotions into
early 1987, appearing in the second Jim Crockett,
Sr. Memorial Tag Team Cup in April of 1987, with
partner Baron Von Raschke where the "old
timers" took a quick exit against the
"Mod Squad." Unfortunately, the Wahoo of
late 1986 and early 1987 bore little resemblance
to the Wahoo that stormed into the Mid-Atlantic
area in 1974. But Wahoo's legend in the
Mid-Atlantic area was just too large to ever be
diminished, even when "father time" was
clearly getting the better of him.
No matter how much you write about Chief Wahoo
McDaniel, it seems inadequate to do justice to
arguably the greatest star in the history of
Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling. For me, it is
impossible to envision any significant part of the
history or lore of Mid-Atlantic Wrestling and not
have Chief Wahoo front and center stage. To me, he
will always be the tough guy with the edge, the
larger than life grappler with his chop or Indian
strap that would always find a way to vanquish the
evil foe. With his passing, I will always feel
like a family member has left my life. As with a
family passing, sadness will inevitably be
replaced with a lifetime of special memories,
memories that Wahoo left for all of us that were
fortunate enough to see and hear him over the
years. Memories that can never be taken away, nor
time can ever fully diminish.
Thank you for everything Chief, and goodbye………..
David
Chappell
Richmond,
VA
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