THE
4th QUARTER 1976
The final three months of 1976 were chopped full of
action and historical moments as Jim Crockett Promotions
moved towards the New Year of 1977.
October saw an amazing
night of action happen in the Greensboro Coliseum on
October 16, 1976 where three major titles changed hands on
the same card. Perhaps the most noteworthy of these
changes was Paul Jones defeating Blackjack Mulligan for
the United States Heavyweight Title, breaking Mulligan’s
seven month stranglehold on that title. October also saw
the first signs of a developing feud between NWA Tag Team
Champions Gene and Ole Anderson and the new dynamic team
of Ric Flair and Greg Valentine. This feud would start in
1976, but would last through all of 1977.
The month of November started with the crowning of new
Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Champions, Dino Bravo and "Mr.
Wrestling" Tim Woods. The Mid-Atlantic Tag Team
Titles had been dormant for nearly two years, but were put
up in a six-week television tournament after Gene and Ole
Anderson left the area. November also saw the first
singles titles for Greg Valentine and Rufus R. Jones, with
both holding the Mid-Atlantic TV Title during this month.
The Masked Superstar was being pushed as a dominating
force by the promotion, and the masked man had an
intriguing series of matches with Andre the Giant during
the Thanksgiving holiday shows around the area.
December of 1976 saw NWA Champion Terry Funk have his
final major tour through the area as the NWA World
Heavyweight Champion. December also saw main event stars
come and go. Angelo Mosca would leave the promotion after
a solid year at the top of cards, and Kim Duk and the
Mighty Igor would enter the promotion. Igor, particularly,
would be a major player for Jim Crockett Promotions in
1977. Two of the biggest feuds in the history of
Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling essentially ended in
December with Blackjack Mulligan taking the measure of
Paul Jones (albeit in controversial fashion) for the U.S.
Title, and Wahoo McDaniel topping Ric Flair for the
Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship. Neither Paul Jones
nor Ric Flair would ever hold those respective titles
again.
One could easily make a case that the fourth quarter of
1976 was the most exciting and eventful three-month period
for the promotion during 1976. It certainly brought to a
climactic conclusion several great feuds, while at the
same time generating heat and enthusiasm for new ones to
blossom in the New Year. The prospects for 1977 certainly
looked great, and as fate would have it, Jim Crockett
Promotions would continue to flourish in the year of 1977!
OCTOBER 1976
October of 1976 will likely always be best remember for
a special night of wrestling action in the Greensboro
Coliseum that occurred during that month. On
October 16, 1976, the three singles titles in Jim Crockett
Promotions all changed hands in Greensboro! No one
could ever remember such a thing happening, and what a
night it was!
In the first switch on that October 16, 1976 Greensboro
card, "Mr.
Wrestling" Tim Woods defeated Angelo Mosca for the
Mid-Atlantic TV Title. Mosca had originally beaten
Woods in the finals of a tournament in April of 1976 for
this title. Woods claimed Mosca had cheated him out of
this title in that April encounter, so "Mr.
Wrestling" exacted a measure of revenge in
Greensboro. Mosca’s defeat signaled the end for him as a
top star for the promotion, and he would leave the area
before the end of the year, jobbing to Wahoo McDaniel in
his final television appearance. Woods would not have a
significant reign as TV Champion, losing the belt to Greg
Valentine in about three weeks hence.
Ric
Flair topped Wahoo McDaniel for the Mid-Atlantic
Heavyweight Title in the second title switch in Greensboro
on October 16, 1976, again injuring Wahoo in the process
by repeatedly ramming his back into the steel ring post.
Wahoo would return to action in several weeks and these
two embarked in a memorable series of matches that would
wind down perhaps the greatest feud in the history of the
promotion.
The final title change on this October night in
Greensboro saw Paul
Jones upset Blackjack Mulligan for the area’s top
singles title, the United States Heavyweight Championship.
Mulligan had held this title for seven months without
interruption, in one of the most impressive reigns of any
champion during the Mid-Atlantic era. While Mulligan would
go on to other stints as the U.S. Champion, Jones’
victory shattered Mulligan’s air of invincibility that
he had built up during most of 1976.
The Masked Superstar was extremely impressive during
the month of October 1976. Managed by
"Professor" Boris Malenko, Superstar immediately
began getting headline matches with such stars as Wahoo
McDaniel, Dino Bravo and Rufus R. Jones. During October,
the Superstar issued a challenge that would be the focus
of many matches in the Mid-Atlantic area for years to
come. The
Superstar promised to remove his mask if any wrestler
could defeat him by pinfall or submission. Malenko
further guaranteed to pay $5000 to anyone who could do the
same. Malenko also started a ritual in October that
would be the focal point of a major angle in early 1977
with the Mighty Igor, lighting
up a "victory cigar" after each of the Superstar’s
victories.
October also saw the majority of action in a unique
twelve-team tournament to crown new Mid-Atlantic Tag Team
Champions. The Mid-Atlantic tag belts were put up for
grabs after Gene and Ole Anderson took the NWA World Tag
Team Titles out of the area, and were only making sporadic
appearances for Jim Crockett Promotions. Having twelve
teams compete in the tournament made for interesting
brackets to say the least! Matches were held on
Mid-Atlantic television every week, and when a marquee match up
in late October involving Ric Flair and Greg Valentine
versus Paul Jones and Rufus Jones ended up as a double
disqualification, the tournament was left with only two
teams to vie for the crown! The two remaining teams, Dino
Bravo and "Mr. Wrestling" Tim Woods and the team
of Mike "The Judge" DuBois and
"Sergeant" Jacques Goulet, would battle for the
Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship on television during
the first week in November of 1976.
NOVEMBER 1976
November of 1976 started off with a bang as on the
first Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling television show
of the month, Dino Bravo and "Mr. Wrestling" Tim
Woods defeated Mike "The Judge" DuBois and
"Sergeant" Jacques Goulet in the finals of the
Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship tournament. Bravo and
Mr. Wrestling would hold the titles through the remainder
of 1976 before dropping them in January of 1977 when Mr.
Wrestling left the area.
TOURNAMENT BRACKETS - A Gateway Exclusive!
The beginning of November also saw the first seeds sown
in what would be a momentous feud between Ric Flair, and
his cousins Gene and Ole Anderson. In a six-man match that
aired on Wide World Wrestling, Flair
slapped partner Gene Anderson because Ric said Gene was
telling him how to wrestle the match. This "slap
heard ‘round the world" was the catalyst of the
memorable feud which would soon erupt between Flair and
new partner Greg Valentine, and the NWA World Tag Team
Champions Gene and Ole Anderson.
Greg Valentine had a very busy month of November. On
November 8, 1976 he won his first title in Jim Crockett
Promotions, besting "Mr. Wrestling" Tim Woods
for the Mid-Atlantic TV Title in Fayetteville, N.C. Greg
would lose the belt to Rufus R. Jones at the tail end of
the month. November also saw Valentine
institute the $1,000.00 silver dollar challenge that his
father (at this point he was saying his
"brother") Johnny Valentine had made famous
several years earlier. This challenge would continue
for years, where Greg would offer a fish bowl full of
silver dollars if any wrestler could pin him or make him
submit within ten minutes in a television match. Finally,
Greg injured long time fan favorite Johnny Weaver in a
televised November match. Weaver was out of action for
about four months, and he and Valentine had a short
program against each other when Weaver returned in early
1977.
The Masked Superstar continued to dominate foes in an
impressive string of victories in the month of November.
Superstar had an amazing clothesline maneuver, and his
cobra submission hold was lethal. Andre the Giant was
brought in by the promotion in late November to test the
Superstar and his rapidly growing reputation of being
unbeatable and invincible. The matches between Superstar
and Andre were inconclusive, but the mere fact that even
Andre the Giant couldn’t beat and unmask this masked man
just added to Superstar’s growing legend.
Blackjack Mulligan ended November on a positive note by
beating Paul Jones for the U.S. Title on November 28, 1976
in the Charlotte Coliseum. This was a clean win by
Mulligan over Jones in a rare two out of three falls
match. This match also marked the high water mark for
Mulligan as the United States Champion. While Mulligan
would hold this title for much of 1977 and a portion of
1978, his future reigns were not defined by dominance as
had previously been the case, but instead were clouded by
controversy. The first such controversy was waiting just
two weeks down the road.
DECEMBER 1976
December of 1976 started with a sweep through the area
by the NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion, Terry Funk. His
principal defenses were against Paul Jones. This would be
Funk’s last major swing through the Mid-Atlantic area as
the World Champion, before giving way to Harley Race in
early 1977. Funk appeared in the Mid-Atlantic area often
during 1976, and gave fans in the area a wealth of great
championship bouts during his reign as the NWA king.
In addition to his title matches against Funk, Paul
Jones had an incident with Blackjack Mulligan that made it
a December to remember for him, if not in a very positive
way. Jones defeated Blackjack Mulligan for the U.S. Title
in the middle of the month, and appeared ready to settle
in for another solid reign as U.S. Champion. However, on
the Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling TV program that
was taped on December 15, 1976 (airing on December 18,
1976) Mulligan pulled a rabbit out of his hat. Blackjack
told the TV audience that he had filed an official protest
of the match where Jones had defeated him days earlier
with NWA President Eddie Graham. Graham and the Board of
Directors of the NWA reviewed films of the match and
Graham sent the NWA’s official decision on Mulligan’s
protest via videotape to the WRAL studios to be played in
front of Mulligan, Jones, Jim Crockett and the entire
Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling television viewing
audience. Graham stated on the tape that while Jones did
pin Mulligan, Jones’ feet were approximately six inches
under the ring ropes (not on the ropes) when he captured
the pinfall on Blackjack. Graham thus invalidated Jones’
victory on highly technical grounds, saying in effect that
the referee should have broken up the pinning combination
when Jones’ feet were barely under the ropes. After
hearing Graham’s decision on tape, Jim Crockett
reluctantly forced Jones to physically hand the U.S. belt
over to the gloating Mulligan. Jones went berserk, taking
out his anger on his opponent for the TV show, Lanny
Poffo. Jones never really recovered from this episode, and
never held the U.S. belt again despite being in the area
for most of the next ten years. Mulligan would again
attempt to use NWA President Eddie Graham as a crutch in
July of 1977 when he lost the U.S. belt to Bobo Brazil and
attempted to have Graham reverse the decision via another
TV videotape. This time Graham sided with Brazil, sending
Mulligan into the same type of frenzy that Jones
experienced in December of 1976!
The fourth quarter of 1976 saw a great deal of talent
movement at all levels of the promotion. December saw its
share of major movements in that regard. Angelo Mosca left
the area after a solid year as a main event star. Mosca’s
last TV match was a clean loss to Wahoo McDaniel who was
his first program opponent when he entered the promotion
in late 1975. Newcomers in December included the Mighty
Igor and Kim Duk. Igor was a powerhouse who would be a
main event star throughout 1977. Igor’s primary feud was
against the Masked Superstar. Kim Duk would team with
Superstar for the first part of 1977, and had a brief
program against Wahoo McDaniel over the Mid-Atlantic Title
in the early months of 1977.
The last week of December saw two huge title changes.
In the first, Ric Flair and Greg Valentine defeated Gene
and Ole Anderson on December 26, 1976 in the Greensboro
Coliseum for the NWA World’s Tag Team Championship. The
Flair/Valentine combination was an awesome one, and they
would battle on even terms with the Anderson’s for the
World Titles during much of 1977. The next night in
Richmond, Virginia at the Richmond Coliseum, Wahoo
McDaniel defeated Ric Flair for the Mid-Atlantic
Heavyweight Championship. Prior to this match, Wahoo vowed
to never wrestle in Richmond again if he didn’t win the
title from Ric. Flair would never hold the Mid-Atlantic
title again after this night. And while he and Wahoo would
wrestle many more times over the years, this match
effectively ended their greatest feud over the
Mid-Atlantic Title that started in the middle of 1975 and
lasted until the final days of 1976.
The final three months of 1976 were a fitting way to
end what was an outstanding year of wrestling put on by
Jim Crockett Promotions. The fourth quarter had it
all---major titles changing, promising newcomers to the
area, controversial finishes, ends to great feuds and the
beginnings of great new feuds. But as good as 1976 was,
there was promise that 1977 could be even better!
Who's
Hot & Who's Not
WHO’S HOT
- MASKED SUPERSTAR—Superstar put $5,000.00 and
his mask on the line to any wrestler who could beat him
by pinfall or submission in a singles match. There were
a lot of comers in the last three months of 1976 for
this challenge, but no one could pull it off and defeat
the masked man. Superstar had an impressive list of
victims, and he and his manager "Professor
"Boris Malenko formed quite an imposing duo. At the
end of December 1976, Kim Duk joined with Superstar and
Malenko creating the Malenko "family" that
would cause havoc in Jim Crockett Promotions during the
early months of 1977.
- GREG VALENTINE---
Valentine won his first singles
title in Jim Crockett Promotions, the Mid-Atlantic TV
Title, in November 1976. He became one half of the NWA
World Tag Team Champions with Ric Flair in December 1976.
Greg also instituted his famous $1,000.00 silver dollar
challenge during the fourth quarter of 1976. And perhaps
what pleased the sadistic Valentine the most during this
time frame was that he injured fan favorite Johnny Weaver,
putting Weaver out of action for four months. Without
question, an eventful three months for the "Bionic
Elbow."
- RIC FLAIR---
The "Nature Boy" defeated
Wahoo McDaniel for the Mid-Atlantic Title on October 16,
1976 in Greensboro, and had many outstanding bouts against
Wahoo during the fourth quarter. Ric won his first World’s
title this quarter, teaming with buddy Greg Valentine to
defeat his "cousins" and fellow heels, Gene and
Ole Anderson. The last three months of 1976 were
undoubtedly the best for Ric in 1976, truly a breakout
year for the rising superstar.
WHO’S NOT
- ANGELO MOSCA---"Big Nasty" lost his
Mid-Atlantic TV Title to Mr. Wrestling on October 16,
1976 in Greensboro, and never recovered. Mosca wrestled
in fewer and fewer main events after this loss, and was
overshadowed by newcomers Greg Valentine and the Masked
Superstar on the heel side of Jim Crockett’s roster.
Mosca left the Mid-Atlantic area completely in December
of 1976, losing his last television match cleanly to
Wahoo McDaniel. Ironically, McDaniel was Mosca’s first
big name opponent when Angelo entered the area almost
exactly a year earlier in matches promoted as battles
between the ex-football stars.
- JOHNNY WEAVER---The ever-popular Weaver suffered an
embarrassing loss and injury to Greg Valentine on
television, a match that put Weaver on the shelf for
approximately four months. This match helped put over
Valentine as a true "crippler," while at the
same time diminishing the legend of Weaver who was
unable to break out of the mid-card ranks for the most
part. Weaver did make a comeback in early 1977 and
attempted to exact revenge from Valentine for this
injury, but was unable to make much headway against the
younger, stronger Valentine.
- "SERGEANT" JACQUES GOULET---The Sergeant
formed a solid mid-card tag team with Mike "The
Judge" DuBois for most of the year 1976. When that
duo lost to Dino Bravo and Mr. Wrestling in the finals
of the Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Title tournament in early
November 1976, it effectively spelled the end for this
twosome as a competitive tag team. Goulet started
wrestling by himself, and the results were not good for
him. His won-loss record started to slip noticeably, and
it appeared that any kind of run as a singles competitor
was not in the offing.
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