The Mid-Atlantic Gateway presents . . .

The Top 15 Cards Ever

in Richmond

by David Chappell



Return to TOP 15 Index


 

Number 15   -   SUNDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1979

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

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

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

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

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

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

-David Chappell


Coming up Next: Countdown #14

May 21, 1982

 

 

CLICK TO ENLARGE IMAGES

 



AUDIO FILES IN MP3 FORMAT

 

Greg Valentine - "I Can't Digest This"

"We have done everything together. And now I guess this is just one more thing we are going to do together; fight each other."

Ric Flair -  "We've Done it All"

"I taught you how to be polite to the ladies, I taught you how to be a stud, Valentine. Now I'm going to teach you how to wrestle."


plus, on their battle over the Mid-Atlantic championship:

Ray Stevens - "I Like To Hurt People"

Mid_Atlantic_belt.jpg (18102 bytes)

Jim Brunzell - "That Belt Would Make a Great Christmas Present"