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David
Chappell's
Mid-Atlantic
Championship Wrestling
History
January
1978
by David Chappell
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Who's
Hot
&
Who's Not
The
Almanac
Almanac
Index
Championship Picture
This Month:
NWA
WORLD---Harley Race
NWA WORLD TAG TEAM---Ric
Flair & Greg Valentine
UNITED STATES---Ricky
Steamboat
Blackjack Mulligan
(January 1,
1978—Greensboro
Coliseum, Greensboro,
North Carolina)
MID-ATLANTIC
HEAVYWEIGHT---Greg
Valentine
MID-ATLANTIC
TELEVISION---Baron Von
Raschke
MID-ATLANTIC TAG
TEAM---Paul Jones &
Ricky Steamboat
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The new year of 1978 got off
to an eventful start on the
very first day of the year,
as Blackjack Mulligan
upended Ricky Steamboat to
capture the United States
Heavyweight Championship in
the Greensboro Coliseum
before a crowd 6,339
enthusiastic Mid-Atlantic
Championship Wrestling fans.
While it would be a stretch
to say Blackjack’s U.S.
Title win on New Year’s Day
was an upset, it did end a
nearly six month title
drought for the big Texan
from Eagle Pass, Texas. In
fact, Mulligan had been
mired in an arm wrestling
program with the Mighty Igor
at the end of 1977, so
Blackjack’s United States
Title prospects did not
appear overly bright as the
new year of 1978 dawned. But
Mulligan changed all of that
on New Year’s Day in
Greensboro, and vowed he
would take on all comers as
the greatest United States
Champion ever.
It didn’t take Mulligan very
long to prove to everyone
that he did intend to
wrestle any and everybody
for his United States
Heavyweight Championship. On
January 15th in the
Charlotte Coliseum,
Blackjack put his U.S. Title
on the line against fellow
rulebreaker, the Masked
Superstar. In the rare bad
guy versus bad guy
encounter, Mulligan retained
his Championship when both
he and the Superstar were
counted out of the ring.
This bout certainly proved
to everybody that Blackjack
was very serious about
defending his newly
reacquired title against
anybody during this title
reign.
Mulligan was certainly very
busy during the month of
January, winding down his
arm wrestling program with
the Mighty Igor, and also
putting up his new title
against the Polish
strongman. Additionally, the
big Texan gave Ricky
Steamboat numerous rematches
for the United States
Heavyweight Championship
throughout January,
retaining the title on each
occasion. In the Dorton
Arena in Raleigh, North
Carolina on January 22nd, a
title rematch between
Mulligan and Steamboat had
George Scott as Special
Referee, but Blackjack still
managed to come out on top
despite that special
stipulation.
Perhaps the hottest feud of
January 1978 was between
Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight
Champion Greg Valentine, and
Chief Wahoo McDaniel. The
battles between these two
escalated during the month
of January, as Wahoo
continued to extract revenge
for having his leg broken by
Valentine in late 1977. In
January, there were a number
of Indian Strap matches,
which was Wahoo’s specialty
match. McDaniel got the
better of all of the strap
matches, and as the month
wound down, the big Chief
crept closer and closer to
capturing Valentine’s
Mid-Atlantic Title. While
Valentine held onto his
title through the end of the
month of January, it
appeared the “Hammer” was
being worn down by the
onslaught of Wahoo.
Perhaps a reason why
Valentine appeared to be
wearing down by the end of
the month was because Greg
also had to defend one half
of the NWA World Tag Team
Title simultaneously with
his Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight
Title defenses! With partner
“Nature Boy” Ric Flair, the
blond duo defended their tag
team championship regularly
against a number of high
powered combinations. During
the month of January, Flair
and Valentine successfully
defended their titles
against such teams as Wahoo
McDaniel and Ricky
Steamboat, Wahoo and Bobo
Brazil, and later in the
month against the tandem of
McDaniel and Paul Jones.
Flair and Valentine nemesis
Ole Anderson also made a
return appearance to the
area during the month,
teaming with old foe Wahoo
McDaniel to challenge Ric
and Greg for their NWA World
Tag Team Titles. As with
their other defenses during
the month of January 1978,
Flair and Valentine survived
that stern test and emerged
with their title belts
intact.
Another big time feud that
carried over into January
from the latter part of
1977, was the program
between Mid-Atlantic
Television Champion Baron
Von Raschke and Mr.
Wrestling Tim Woods. Mr.
Wrestling continued to seek
revenge against the Baron
for giving him a concussion
after the completion of
their amateur rules match on
television. Von Raschke’s
Television Championship was
on the line for each match
the two had, and this led to
some interesting results in
the month of January. In a
number of their January
bouts, Mr. Wrestling
captured a pinfall, but
after the fifteen minute
time limit that applied for
winning the Television
Title. In those contests,
Mr. Wresting was awarded the
victory, but not the Baron’s
title belt as the win came
too late. Regardless of the
outcomes, and the Baron
maintaining his grip on the
TV Title, these two
competitors put on some
memorable matches for
Mid-Atlantic fans during the
month of January.
While no title was at stake,
one of 1977’s hottest feuds
wound down as the calendar
flipped over to January of
1978. The Masked Superstar
battled the Mighty Igor in a
number of heated bouts
during January, that for all
intents and purposes
concluded their program
after nearly a calendar year
of spectacular matches. The
Superstar emerged victorious
in these January matches,
and would move into other
main event programs, while
Igor would begin his descent
down the cards which would
eventually result in his
leaving the Mid-Atlantic
area during the Spring of
1978.
A feud that the Superstar
picked back up in January,
was his program with Paul
Jones. “Mr. Number 1” had
been out of action for a
couple of months with a knee
injury and a subsequent
operation, but Jones
returned to action on
January 22nd in the Roanoke
Civic Center, when he
battled the Masked
Superstar. Still boiling
over having his hair cut by
the Superstar in the Fall of
1977, Jones was disqualified
in the Roanoke match, but
Paul proved to everyone that
his feud with the Superstar
was far from over. Jones
eased back into action
during the end of the month,
even serving as a Special
Referee in a TV Title match
between Ricky Steamboat and
Baron Von Raschke in
Lynchburg, Virginia on
January 27th.
Because of Jones’ injury,
Mid-Atlantic Tag Team
Champions Paul Jones and
Ricky Steamboat did not
defend their titles during
the month of January.
However, the duo’s title
defenses picked up in
earnest during the month of
February, including some
epic “Title versus Title”
bouts with NWA World Tag
Team title holder’s Ric
Flair and Greg Valentine.
The month of January also
saw the comings and goings
of some significant talent
in the Mid-Atlantic area.
Dino Bravo wrestled several
mid card matches in the
early part of the month,
which turned out to be his
last matches in the area
after a superlative main
event run during much of
1976 and 1977. Bravo would
return for another main
event tenure in the
territory in early 1979.
Entering the area in January
was a youngster by the name
of Richard Blood. While
never rising significantly
on Mid-Atlantic cards during
the year of 1978, Blood
would later go on to fame
under the name “Tito
Santana” in years to come in
the WWF. Also entering the
area in January was the
burly Cyclone Negro. Cyclone
debuted in the area on
January 17th in the Dorton
Arena in Raleigh, and would
soon hook up with the
Missouri Mauler as his
manager, and become a strong
mid card performer in the
territory for much of 1978,
even wrestling an occasional
main event for the
promotion.
January of 1978 in Jim
Crockett Promotions saw the
continuation of a number of
great programs from the
dying days of 1977, and the
battles only figured to get
more intense as the new
month of February loomed on
the horizon.
WHO'S
HOT
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BLACKJACK MULLIGAN---The
big Texan from Eagle
Pass, Texas reclaimed
his throne as the United
States Heavyweight
Champion. As impressive
as his New Year’s Day
Title victory was, the
vigor of his defenses
during the month of
January was even more
astounding.
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BARON VON RASCHKE---The
Baron maintained his
Mid-Atlantic Television
Title throughout the
month of January,
surviving the strong
challenge from Mr.
Wrestling, Tim Woods.
Raschke and Mr. Wresting
engaged in some of
January’s fiercest and
most competitive
matches.
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CYCLONE NEGRO---Negro
got off to a roaring
start in the
Mid-Atlantic area, after
entering the territory
during mid January. This
newcomer looked like he
would definitely be a
force to be reckoned
with for all of the
area’s good guys.
WHO'S
NOT
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MIGHTY IGOR---Igor
dropped the last bouts
in his epic feud with
the Masked Superstar
during January, and also
came up short in the
wrestling matches
portion of his arm
wrestling program with
Blackjack Mulligan, that
effectively ended their
short run together. The
strongman from Poland
would start falling down
the cards as the month
of January progressed.
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RICKY STEAMBOAT---Steamboat
dropped the prestigious
United States Title to
Blackjack Mulligan on
New Year’s Day, and
couldn’t regain it later
during the month of
January, despite
repeated chances. While
still one half of the
Mid-Atlantic Tag Team
Champions, Steamboat
didn’t participate in
defending that title
during the month because
of partner’s Paul Jones’
knee injury.
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RUSSIAN STOMPER---After
a promising start in the
Mid-Atlantic area during
the middle of 1977, the
powerhouse from Moscow
continued to struggle
during the early days of
1978.
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Posted 6/11/06
©
2006 David Chappell /
Mid-Atlantic Gateway
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