Richmond
surely
had
stronger
cards
from
top
to
bottom
than
this
lineup
on
July
14,
1978
at
the
Coliseum.
However,
I
was
never
at
a
Richmond
card
where
the
crowd
was
as
insanely
wild
as
this
one
was.
Or
at
a
card
that
had
more
excitement
generated
from
its
buildup.
Let's
be
honest;
one
match
and
one
match
alone
on
this
card
created
all
of
this
excitement
and
anticipation.
Typically,
a
"one
match
card"
would
not
be
enough
to
crack
the
Top
15.
However,
this
was
not
just
any
match---it
was
Ric
Flair
versus
Blackjack
Mulligan.
The
promos
for
the
match
always
led
in
with
the
phrase
"The
Match
The
Fans
Have
Asked
For."
What
a
huge
understatement
that
was.
For
three
years,
from
early
1975
to
early
1978,
Flair
and
Mulligan
had
become
the
best
of
friends
and
dominated
the
"bad
guy"
side
of
the
Jim
Crockett
Promotions
main
event
ledger.
For
so
long,
these
two
were
inseparable.
And
they
were
equally
hated
by
the
fans,
as
the
1976
Mid-Atlantic
Gateway
Year
End
Awards
point
out,
with
Flair
and
Mulligan
ending
up
in
a
flat-out
tie
in
the
Most
Hated
category.
However,
in
October
of
1977,
some
major
cracks
started
to
develop
in
the
Flair-Mulligan
relationship.
Mulligan
lost
his
prized
United
States
Title
to
Bobo
Brazil
in
July
of
1977,
and
Flair
would
soon
thereafter
take
the
U.S.
belt
from
Bobo.
Mulligan
went
to
Japan
to
get
his
"head
together,"
and
upon
his
return
in
October
amazingly
said
he
wanted
his
title
back
even
though
Flair
was
wearing
the
U.S.
strap.
Even
more
amazingly,
the
promotion
then
set
up
U.S.
Title
bouts
between
these
two
bad
guys
in
late
October
1977.
Richmond's
match
of
all
matches,
a
U.S.
Title
bout
between
Flair
and
Mulligan,
was
set
for
October
28,
1977
in
the
Coliseum.
Funny
thing
happened
though;
the
match
never
took
place
as
scheduled.
Ricky
Steamboat
beat
Flair
for
the
U.S.
belt
the
week
before
the
Richmond
match,
and
Steamboat,
rather
than
Flair,
wrestled
Mulligan
on
October
28,
1977.
As
it
turned
out,
Flair
and
Mulligan
would
meet
in
Richmond-it
would
just
take
about
six
more
months.
In
the
intervening
six
months,
there
were
a
few
subtle
signs
of
a
Mulligan
"good
guy"
turn
in
the
early
part
of
that
period,
but
Blackjack
wrestled
as
a
bad
guy
until
the
infamous
"hat
and
robe"
incident
that
occurred
on
Mid-Atlantic
Championship
Wrestling
Television
in
April
of
1978
in
the
WRAL
TV
studios.
At
the
time
Mulligan
(who
had
regained
the
U.S.
Title
from
Steamboat
in
early
1978)
had
just
dropped
the
U.S.
Title
to
"Mr.
Wrestling"
Tim
Woods
and
Flair
quickly
upended
Woods
for
the
Title.
Flair
had
been
goading
Mulligan
over
his
losing
to
Woods,
and
told
Blackjack
that
he
was
a
loser
and
was
"over
the
hill."
These
comments
led
to
a
confrontation
between
Flair
and
Mulligan,
with
Flair
coming
out
later
during
Mulligan's
TV
match
and
tearing
up
Mully's
cowboy
hat
given
to
him
by
Waylon
Jennings.
Mulligan
would
even
the
score
when
Flair
came
out
later
for
his
TV
match.
Mulligan
came
to
the
set
wearing
Flair's
favorite
peacock
feathered
ring
robe
and
proceeded
to
rip
it
to
shreds.
Flair
went
ballistic.
Mulligan
immediately
became
the
area's
premiere
good
guy,
and
Flair
refused
to
wrestle
him.
Instead,
Ric
put
a
$10,000.00
bounty
on
Mulligan's
head.
For
three
months,
Blackjack
battled
a
slew
of
Flair's
bounty
hunters,
including
Greg
Valentine,
Baron
Von
Raschke
and
the
Masked
Superstar.
Finally,
in
late
June
of
1978,
Mulligan
finally
got
Flair
hot
enough
to
sign
for
a
one
on
one
match.
Blackjack
came
on
Mid-Atlantic
TV
and
told
the
viewers
that
he
and
Flair
owned
an
expensive
van
together.
Mulligan
then
proceeded
to
bring
out
a
number
of
very
personal
items
that
were
in
the
van
that
he
said
belonged
to
Ric.
Flair
was
incensed,
saying
his
personal
life
was
private
and
that
Mulligan
had
crossed
the
line.
Yelling
and
screaming,
Flair
agreed
to
wrestle
Mulligan
in
a
single
match
for
the
first
time.
Truly,
this
was
the
match
the
fans
had
asked
to
see.
MAIN
EVENT---Ric
Flair
Versus
Blackjack
Mulligan
For
The
United
States
Heavyweight
Title
(The
Match
The
Fans
Have
Asked
To
See)
The
challenger
Mulligan
came
to
the
ring
to
a
rousing
ovation.
Indeed,
the
applause
seemed
like
it
would
never
end.
It
was
several
minutes
before
Flair
made
his
way
to
the
ring
carrying
the
U.S.
belt.
The
response
to
Flair
was
as
derogatory
as
one
could
imagine.
Before
getting
into
the
ring,
the
"Nature
Boy"
got
on
the
house
mic
and
insulted
Mulligan
and
the
crowd
repeatedly.
As
if
the
crowd
needed
any
more
reason
to
hate
Flair,
he
gave
them
more.
Debris
was
already
being
thrown
towards
the
ring,
and
the
match
hadn't
even
begun.
This
was
going
to
be
a
wild
bout!
Flair
was
extra
slow
taking
his
robe
off.
Mulligan
was
amazingly
patient.
After
the
bell
finally
rung,
Ric
got
on
his
horse
and
continued
to
avoid
locking
up
with
Blackjack.
The
"Nature
Boy"
spent
an
inordinate
amount
of
time
on
the
outside
of
the
ring.
The
crowd
was
howling,
as
Flair
continued
to
get
on
the
house
mic
and
insult
the
fans.
Flair
made
the
first
mistake
of
the
match,
when
he
spent
too
much
time
jawing
with
a
ringside
fan
and
Mulligan
nailed
him
from
behind.
Blackjack
threw
Flair
into
the
ring
and
Ric
begged
for
mercy.
Mulligan
would
have
none
of
it.
The
match
finally
was
underway!
Mulligan
dominated
the
early
part
of
the
in-ring
action.
There
was
little
wrestling
involved.
Mulligan
went
to
closed
fists
and
outright
chokes
early
on.
There
was
also
a
lot
of
activity
on
the
floor
around
ringside.
Flair
mounted
virtually
no
offense
early
on,
and
the
huge
crowd
loved
it.
Mulligan
posted
Flair,
and
the
Nature
Boy
became
a
bloody
mess
early
on.
Mulligan
was
giving
the
crowd
what
they
had
come
to
see-a
complete
beat-down
on
Ric
Flair.
No
one
seemed
to
care
about
the
fact
that
this
was
also
a
title
match.
Midway
through
the
match,
Flair
was
able
to
mount
some
semblance
of
offense
by
hitting
Blackjack
with
a
low
blow.
Ric
capitalized
and
controlled
the
match
for
the
next
five
minutes
or
so,
and
popped
Mulligan
open
with
a
straight
right
hand
to
the
head.
Mulligan
bled,
but
came
nowhere
close
to
the
blood
loss
Flair
was
experiencing.
Nevertheless,
Flair
was
inciting
the
fans
by
pointing
at
Mulligan's
wound
and
laughing.
Blackjack
appeared
on
his
way
to
victory
at
around
the
20
minute
mark
when
he
turned
the
tables
on
Flair
during
a
whip
across
the
ring
and
hammered
Ric
with
a
hard
elbow
to
the
head.
Flair
appeared
to
be
out,
and
Mulligan
immediately
went
to
his
famed
claw
hold.
The
lights
appeared
ready
to
go
out
for
the
Nature
Boy,
and
a
new
U.S.
Champ
was
ready
to
be
crowned
in
the
big
man
from
Eagle
Pass,
Texas.
However,
from
this
point
forward
the
match
went
from
wild
to
insane.
Flair's
buddy,
the
Masked
Superstar,
hit
the
ring
and
immediate
bedlam
ensued.
Superstar
broke
Mulligan's
claw,
and
his
interference
drew
an
immediate
disqualification
on
Flair.
Mulligan
won
the
match,
but
Flair
kept
the
U.S.
Title.
Flair
and
Superstar
double-teamed
Mulligan
and
the
crowd
rushed
the
ring
like
an
out
of
control
stampede.
I
saw
three
people
with
knives
approach
ringside
with
what
looked
like
very
evil
intentions.
There
were
so
many
fans
around
the
ring
I
didn't
see
much
else
from
this
point
on.
Obviously,
Mulligan
regrouped
as
by
the
time
I
could
see
anything
he
was
standing
in
the
ring
by
himself
with
his
hand
raised
in
victory.
Nobody
who
saw
this
match
could
forget
the
raw
emotion
that
filled
this
bout
from
beginning
to
end.
The
first
singles
match
between
Flair
and
Mulligan
was
worth
the
wait.
It
was
a
match
I
got
exhausted
just
watching,
and
it
gets
my
vote
for
Richmond's
wildest
match
ever.
Forget
the
wrestlers,
I
was
happy
to
walk
out
of
the
building
myself
in
one
piece
after
this
bout!
SEMI-FINAL---Mr.
Wrestling
(Tim
Woods)
versus
The
Masked
Superstar
This
was
an
intriguing
matchup
of
masked
men,
and
one
that
was
a
worthy
lead-in
to
the
monster
main
event
match
that
would
follow
it.
This
was
the
only
singles
bout
these
two
masked
stars
would
ever
have
against
each
other
in
Richmond,
and
it
was
a
memorable
one.
There
was
no
ongoing
feud
between
these
two
at
this
point,
but
the
mask
versus
mask
aspect
of
this
match
made
it
something
special
right
off
the
bat.
Woods
made
it
clear
in
his
promos
that
even
though
he
was
wearing
a
mask
now,
everyone
knew
what
he
looked
like.
But
this
was
not
the
case
with
Superstar,
and
Woods
vowed
to
go
after
Superstar
and
unmask
him.
Mr.
Wrestling
said
he
despised
Superstar
for
being
Flair's
primary
bounty
hunter
against
Mulligan.
The
styles
of
these
two
could
not
have
been
more
different.
Predictably,
Mr.
Wrestling
stuck
to
scientific
wrestling,
and
was
impressive
early
on.
However,
for
every
scientific
hold
that
Woods
used,
Superstar
was
able
to
counter
it
and
seize
an
advantage
with
a
roughhouse
tactic.
Superstar
threw
Woods
outside
on
the
floor,
and
was
able
to
cut
Mr.
Wrestling
on
the
forehead.
The
top
of
Mr.
Wrestling's
white
mask
became
red
underneath.
After
this
episode,
Superstar
controlled
the
middle
portion
of
the
bout.
Mr.
Wrestling
did
muster
up
a
good
flurry
of
offense,
bashing
Superstar's
head
into
the
turnbuckle
and
then
weakening
him
with
an
extended
application
of
the
abdominal
stretch.
Woods
then
made
his
play
for
Superstar's
prized
mask,
and
got
the
lower
portion
of
the
mask
pulled
up
around
Superstar's
mouth
area.
Superstar
went
berserk
as
Woods
was
messing
with
his
mask,
and
caught
Woods
with
a
low
blow
just
as
it
appeared
Woods
would
get
the
mask
completely
off.
Several
minutes
after
softening
Woods
up,
Superstar
gave
Woods
a
vicious
clothesline.
With
Woods
knocked
silly,
Superstar
followed
with
his
famed
cobra
submission
hold.
Somewhat
surprisingly,
Woods
arm
dropped
on
the
third
time
it
was
raised
and
the
referee
awarded
the
match
to
Superstar
on
a
submission.
A
clean
win
by
the
"bad
guy"
masked
man.
TAG
TEAM
MATCH---Ted
and
Jerry
Oates
versus
Gene
Anderson
and
Sgt.
Jacques
Goulet
This
was
an
excellent
bout
between
the
top
two
mid-card
teams
in
the
area
at
this
time.
It
was
a
battle
between
youth
and
experience.
It
was
also
a
crossroads
match
of
sorts,
as
the
young
Oates
brothers
were
getting
a
decent
push
from
the
promotion
at
this
time.
Anderson
and
Goulet
had
the
bigger
names
from
the
past,
but
this
was
not
a
team
that
was
upwardly
mobile
at
this
point
in
mid
1978.
The
bad
guys
overwhelmed
the
Oates'
with
their
rulebreaking
in
the
early
stages.
Soon
thereafter
though,
the
Oates'
were
able
to
show
Anderson
and
Goulet
what
a
well-oiled
tag
team
machine
they
had
become.
By
the
end
of
the
bout,
the
Oates
brothers
were
running
circles
around
their
older
opponents.
Stamina
appeared
key
in
this
bout,
and
the
Oates'
possessed
far
more
of
it
than
did
Anderson
and
Goulet.
Chalk
one
up
for
the
young
lions-the
Oates'
prevail
in
an
impressive
and
entertaining
bout.
OTHER
MATCHES
Bill
Howard
bested
Mr.
Sato
in
a
match
I
best
remember
for
Howard
raking
the
eyes
of
Sato
so
many
times
it
was
almost
comical.
Every
time
Sato
went
on
the
offense,
Howard
grounded
him
with
this
most
basic
maneuver.
But,
on
this
night,
it
was
enough.
Two
long
time
Mid-Atlantic
veterans,
Don
Kernodle
and
Frank
Monte,
hooked
up
in
the
second
match.
As
these
two
had
wrestled
against
each
other
many
times
in
the
past,
familiarity
must
have
bred
contempt
as
these
two
really
went
at
it.
While
Monte
was
starting
his
foray
into
bodybuilding
at
this
time
and
looked
to
be
the
superior
athlete,
Kernodle
tied
him
in
knots
in
the
end
to
secure
the
win
in
a
very
competitive
match.
The
curtain
raiser
between
newcomer
Richard
Blood
and
Mr.
X
#
1
was
one
of
the
best
opening
bouts
in
my
memory.
Blood
showed
speed
and
a
great
repertoire
of
wrestling
moves.
"X"
was
more
of
a
tag
team
competitor,
but
he
had
just
enough
dirty
tricks
to
hang
with
Blood
for
20
minutes.
This
one
ended
in
a
time
limit
draw.
Next
Up:
#6,
July
30,
1976 |