NWA WORLD
TAG TEAM---Greg
Valentine and Baron von
Raschke
UNITED
STATES HEAVYWEIGHT---Ric
Flair
MID-
ATLANTIC HEAVYWEIGHT---
• Ken Patera
NWA
TELEVISION---Paul
Jones
MID-ATLANTIC TAG TEAM---
• Ric Flair and John
Studd (October 30, 1978
at the Greenville
Memorial Auditorium in
Greenville, South
Carolina)
• Paul Jones and Ricky
Steamboat (Nov. 5,
Greensboro Coliseum,
Greensboro NC)
November of 1978 in Mid-Atlantic Championship
Wrestling includes the continuation of one of the most memorable angles in the
promotion’s history, the end of one of the shortest title reigns ever in the
territory, and the development of a new dominant tag team in the area.
On the Mid-Atlantic
Championship Wrestling
television show that aired
in most markets on Saturday,
November 4th,
United States Heavyweight
Champion Ric Flair came out
at the beginning of the
program with two beautiful
women on each arm, and
showed a photo of Ricky
Steamboat which showed the
damage that Flair had done
to Ricky’s face and eye two
weeks earlier. The Nature
Boy told announcer Bob
Caudle that he had destroyed
Steamboat, and that he and
his women were about to head
to Las Vegas or another big
city to enjoy the good life!
Then all of a sudden, an
enraged Ricky Steamboat
stormed the set as Ric was
telling his women, “Check
out the turkey!” Ricky
tossed Flair in the ring and
proceeded to rip all of
Flair’s clothes off down to
his underwear, as Ric’s two
women looked on in
disbelief! Steamboat then
came back to the interview
area and told Bob Caudle,
“We’re not even even.”
Steamboat had certainly
exacted some revenge for
having his face and eye
injured, and what was
already a hot feud with
Flair got a whole lot
hotter!
The Flair-Steamboat battles
in November 1978 over Ric’s
United States Title were
legendary. The two battled
eight times during the month
in long bloody matches. All
of the bouts had count out
or disqualification
finishes, so the Nature Boy
maintained his Title for the
entirety of the month of
November.
One of the wildest matches
between the two occurred on
November 21st in
Columbia, South Carolina.
After the heated action
spilled onto the Township
Auditorium floor, neither
man would cease his assault
on the other, and the match
ended with both wrestlers
being counted out of the
ring. Both wrestlers were
also disqualified during
their U.S. Title encounters
during the month. On
November 24th in
the Richmond Coliseum in
Richmond, Virginia,
Steamboat emerged with a
victory when a berserk Flair
manhandled the referee and
was disqualified after an
ultra exciting bout. Two
days later in Charlotte,
North Carolina, the
intensity of this feud was
really shown. Ricky
Steamboat became enraged
during a pivotal point in
that Title contest, and was
actually disqualified for
his out of character
actions! A befuddled Ric
Flair actually left the
Charlotte Coliseum with a
victory by disqualification!
The Nature Boy’s other U.S.
Title defenses during the
month of November were
against his bitter
adversary, Blackjack
Mulligan. Flair appeared to
be gaining an edge in his
battles with Mulligan,
probably because Blackjack
was preoccupied with the
mammoth Big John Studd. Ric
defeated Blackjack in all
three of their U.S Title
matches during the month,
including an epic win over
Blackjack at the annual
Thanksgiving spectacular
show at the Greensboro
Coliseum in Greensboro,
North Carolina. A rowdy
crowd of 13,447 fans
witnessed Flair turn back
one of Blackjack’s final
challenges to his coveted
U.S. belt.
But Ric Flair wasn’t
successful in all of his
Title matches during the
month of November. Entering
the month, Flair and John
Studd were the Mid-Atlantic
Tag Team Champions, having
defeated Paul Jones and
Ricky Steamboat for those
belts on October 30th.
The main event for a
spectacular card at the
Greensboro Coliseum on
November 5th,
pitted Flair and Studd
against Jones and Steamboat
in a rematch for the
Mid-Atlantic Tag Titles. In
what would have to be
classified as an upset at
the time, Jones and
Steamboat won the Titles
back as Steamboat captured
the pinfall on Flair in
stunning fashion! What was
equally stunning, was that
the powerhouse duo of Flair
and Studd were titleholders
for a mere six days! Jones
and Steamboat would continue
to hold the Titles
throughout the month of
November.
NWA World Heavyweight
Champion Harley Race
defended his Championship in
the area at the beginning
and at the end of the month
of November. On November 2nd,
Harley and Paul Jones
wrestled to a sixty minute
draw before a boisterous
crowd at the Scope Coliseum
in Norfolk, Virginia. Then
three weeks later in
Norfolk, Race and Jones
battled in a World Title
bout with the special
stipulation being the match
had a ninety minute time
limit. Race would prevail in
the rematch, but only after
a titanic struggle.
Nearing the end of the
month, Race successfully
defended his World Title two
other times. At the
Greenville Memorial
Auditorium in Greenville,
South Carolina on November
20th, Race
retained his Title via a
double disqualification with
Ricky Steamboat. The
following night at the
Dorton Arena in Raleigh,
North Carolina, Harley
maintained his World belt
when Blackjack Mulligan was
disqualified after a wild
melee.
Another major national star
passing through the
Mid-Atlantic area in
November of 1978 was the
humongous Andre the Giant.
Andre wrestled several times
in the territory during the
last week of the month, and
there was excitement
everywhere he went. In fact,
on November 26, 1978, the
Giant wrestled John Studd
twice! At a 3:00 p.m. card
at the Roanoke Civic Center
in Roanoke, Virginia, Andre
and Studd wrestled in a
rugged bout, and the two
turned right around and
wrestled at the Charlotte
Coliseum that evening! In
the Charlotte contest, both
behemoths were disqualified.
Andre finished out the month
by defeating John Studd by
disqualification on November
27th in the
Greenville Memorial
Auditorium, and the next
night in the Township
Auditorium in Columbia,
South Carolina, Andre
battled Ken Patera in a
Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight
Title match. In the Columbia
bout, both Andre and Patera
were disqualified for
excessive roughness. And
finally, little Nashville,
North Carolina got a visit
from Andre the Giant on
November 29, 1978! The fans
there were treated to a
chaotic tag team match,
where Andre and Ricky
Steamboat teamed to defeat
Ric Flair and John Studd.
NWA World Tag Team Champions
Greg Valentine and Baron von
Raschke defended their
Titles against a wide
variety of opponents during
the month of November. The
champs successfully defended
two times against the new
dynamic duo of Paul Orndorff
and Jimmy Snuka. Orndorff
and Snuka appeared on the
doorstep of securing the
belts during a November 23rd
battle at the Scope
Coliseum, only to see the
wily champs pull victory
from the jaws of defeat.
Valentine and Raschke also
turned back two challenges
from Paul Jones and Tony
Atlas during the month.
Among their other Title
defenses during the month,
Valentine and Raschke
interestingly enough
defended only one time
against former champs Paul
Jones and Ricky Steamboat.
That bout occurred on
November 11, 1978 in
Winston-Salem, North
Carolina, with the
challengers getting a win by
disqualification.
But the non-title matches
involving Valentine and
Raschke during the month of
November may have been the
most interesting. On
November 4th in
Spartanburg and on November
5th in Savannah,
Georgia, the Champs were set
to wrestle Tony Atlas and
Jay Youngblood in Title
matches. However, the Oates
brothers subbed for
Youngblood on both
occasions, turning the bouts
into non-title affairs. In
surprising outcomes, Atlas
and Ted Oates defeated the
Baron and Valentine on
November 4th, and
on November 5th,
Atlas and Jerry Oates took
the measure of the
Champions!
By far the most significant
non-title match wrestled by
Valentine and Raschke during
the month occurred on the
Wide World Wrestling
television program. On that
Jim Crockett Promotions
show, newcomers Paul
Orndorff and Jimmy Snuka,
who tagged up for the first
time on November 4th
in Charlotte, North
Carolina, combined their
talents to upset the stunned
title holders, and to
immediately vault themselves
into the number one
contenders slot for the NWA
World Tag Team Championship.
The athletic Orndorff, a
former football star, and
the acrobatic Snuka, with
his dives from nearly one
side of the ring to the
other, were certainly
blending well in the squared
circle, and had the look of
legitimate Title contenders.
Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight
Champion Ken Patera had an
active month defending his
prestigious belt. During
November, Ken successfully
defended his Title against
Tony Atlas, Paul Jones,
Jimmy Snuka and as mentioned
earlier, even Andre the
Giant!
Patera’s most frequent
Mid-Atlantic Title adversary
was against his old nemesis,
Tony Atlas. Ken wrestled
Atlas for the Title seven
times during November,
including a double shot on
November 26th
where he and Atlas battled
in Lumberjack Matches first
during an afternoon card in
Roanoke, then later that
evening in Savannah,
Georgia. While not
recapturing the Mid-Atlantic
Championship from Patera
during the month, Atlas did
get a measure of revenge. On
November 21st in
Columbia, South Carolina,
Atlas and Patera squared off
in a 10 Round Boxing Match!
Pretty much dominating the
action throughout, Tony
mercifully ended matters
with a 7th round
knockout of Patera.
In an extremely rare
encounter, Patera wrestled
WWWF Champion Bob Backlund
at the Greensboro Coliseum
on November 5th.
Neither Title was at stake
during this most unusual
matchup. The bout was second
from the top of the card,
preceding the Title change
where Paul Jones and Ricky
Steamboat defeated Ric Flair
and John Studd for the
Mid-Atlantic Tag Team
Titles. The match between
Backlund and Patera saw the
WWWF Champion score a
victory via
disqualification.
NWA Television Champion Paul
Jones had a slow, and rough
month with his Title
defenses during November.
All of his defenses were
during the last week of the
month, and all but one of
his defenses were against
John Studd. Jones defended
against Studd in
Harrisonburg, Virginia on
November 21st,
Spartanburg, South Carolina
on November 25th
and on November 28th
in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Studd said Paul Jones was
“Number One” on his “Studd
List,” and there was no
doubt that the massive Studd
had the edge on Jones in
their TV Title matchups,
beating Jones each time, but
doing it after the fifteen
minute mark which allowed
Jones to maintain possession
of his TV Title.
Studd also had some
memorable matches with
Blackjack Mulligan during
the month of November. These
two superheavyweights
squared off four times in
$10,000 Bounty Matches
during the month, with each
of these uncontrollable
melees ending in a double
disqualification fashion!
While not collecting Ric
Flair’s Bounty during the
month of November, Studd was
definitely wearing down
Mulligan with each
successive bout. The Bounty
Match in Asheville, North
Carolina was maybe the most
out of control of their
matches during November,
with both Studd and Mulligan
losing huge amounts of
blood.
November of 1978 had its
share of thrills and
excitement on many levels,
and gave way to the month of
December that would in its
first few days, see an
explosive confrontation that
would shock Mid-Atlantic
Championship Wrestling to
its very core!
WHO’S HOT
1.
Jimmy
Snuka---The
high flyer from the Fiji
Islands took the territory
by storm during the month of
November. Using ariel
maneuvers never before seen
in the area, Snuka emerged
as a major threat to all the
titles in Mid-Atlantic
Championship Wrestling.
2.
Paul Orndorff---
This newcomer also had
“star” written all over him.
The former football star
possessed a rare combination
of strength and finesse that
was proving very difficult
for his opponents to handle.
3.
John Studd---But
for surprisingly dropping
one-half of the Mid-Atlantic
Tag Team Titles early during
the month, Studd would have
probably been at the top of
this list. Studd dominated
both Paul Jones and
Blackjack Mulligan during
the month---no easy feat!
WHO’S NOT
1.
Paul Jones---Number
One was having a difficult
month in November, and the
strain had begun to show in
his interviews and promos by
the end of the month. He and
Ricky Steamboat were no
longer the top challengers
to the World Tag Team
Titles, and Paul was being
dominated in his TV Title
bouts with John Studd.
2.
Blackjack
Mulligan---Blackjack
lost all of his U.S. Title
bouts to Ric Flair during
the month, and was then
having to deal with the most
formidable bounty hunter he
had yet faced, Big John
Studd. Not a rosy picture
for Mulligan.
3.
Tony Atlas---The
Roanoke strongman fell
further and further away
from reclaiming the
Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight
Championship from Ken Patera
during the month. Instead,
Tony seemed relegated to
more and more tag team
matches---with mixed
results.
In an extremely rare
encounter, Patera wrestled
WWWF Champion Bob Backlund
at the Greensboro Coliseum
on November 5th.
Neither Title was at stake
during this most unusual
matchup. The bout was second
from the top of the card,
preceding the Title change
where Paul Jones and Ricky
Steamboat defeated Ric Flair
and John Studd for the
Mid-Atlantic Tag Team
Titles. The match between
Backlund and Patera saw the
WWWF Champion score a
victory via
disqualification.