The
third quarter of 1977 was replete with
torrid action, title changes and some of
the most memorable angles ever in the
history of Jim Crockett Promotions. The
United States Title slipped from the
grasp of Blackjack Mulligan nearly as
soon as the quarter got underway, and
Mulligan would pull out all stops in
July of 1977 to attempt to recapture the
"gold" from Bobo Brazil. But
by the time July ended, the U.S. belt
was in the hands of Ric Flair for the
first time, the title amazingly having
been shared by three different wrestlers
in the span of one month! Things did not
slow down at all in the month of August
of 1977, with Wahoo McDaniel defeating
Greg Valentine for the Mid-Atlantic
Heavyweight Title early in the month.
Later in the month, the new combination
of Paul Jones and Ricky Steamboat took
the measure of Ric Flair and Greg
Valentine for the Mid-Atlantic Tag Team
Titles. Throughout the month of August,
Mid-Atlantic newcomer Baron Von Raschke
was making a lasting first impression
with the area's fans. September of 1977
was defined by Greg Valentine defeating
Wahoo McDaniel for the Mid-Atlantic
Heavyweight Title in a match on
Mid-Atlantic TV, breaking Wahoo's leg in
the process. This angle, the aftermath
of which played itself out for months,
was one of the most memorable angles
ever in the promotion and to this day is
remembered vividly by many Mid-Atlantic
fans.
JULY 1977
Blackjack Mulligan ran into
difficulty almost immediately as the
third quarter of 1977 began. A brief
series of United States Heavyweight
Title matches against top challenger
Bobo Brazil ended in disaster for
Mulligan on July 7, 1977 in Norfolk,
Virginia when Brazil upended the
seemingly unbeatable Texan for the
coveted U.S. belt.
But Brazil's victory was not without
controversy, at least in the eyes of
Mulligan. On the ensuing television show
of Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling,
Brazil's victory interview with Bob
Caudle was interrupted by Mulligan, who
claimed that interference by special
referee George Scott cost him the
victory. Specifically, Blackjack claimed
that Scott grabbed his arm without
reason, allowing Brazil to get a clean
"coco butt" on him enabling
Bobo to knock him senseless and score
the three count.
In an attempt to have history repeat
itself, Mulligan as he did in December
of 1976, protested the decision and sent
the tape of this match to NWA President
Eddie Graham for review. Again, as in
December of 1976, an ultra confident
Mulligan produced a videotape from
Graham to be played on Mid-Atlantic TV
for fans of the area to see the decision
reversed and Blackjack installed as U.S.
Champion again. But unlike December of
1976 when Graham ruled that Mulligan be
given back the U.S. belt, this time the
President sided with Brazil, saying that
George Scott's actions as special
referee in no way prejudiced Mulligan.
Blackjack watched in astonishment as
Graham ruled against him, flew into a
rage, and vowed to get Scott, whom he
held responsible for cheating him out of
the U.S. belt.
Mulligan's anger against George Scott
grew even fiercer several days later
when Blackjack had apparently won the
title back from Brazil in a return
match, only to have Scott step in when
Mulligan was being awarded the U.S belt
and reversing the decision back to
Brazil because Mulligan had used brass
knuckles on Bobo to capture the pin
fall. Blackjack went ballistic, attacked
Scott with the brass knuckles, opening
up a huge bloody gash on Scott's head
which required emergency medical
attention. Mulligan had gotten his
revenge on Scott, or so he thought!
Soon thereafter on an edition of NWA
Wide World Wrestling, George Scott was
being interviewed by Ed Capperal when
Mulligan interrupted the proceedings by
gloating over injuring Scott and
challenging George to a match. Scott
countered by saying he didn't wrestle
anymore, which met with Mulligan calling
Scott a coward and roughing him up on
the set. Scott later came back saying
that he had enough of Blackjack and that
he would wrestle Mulligan, and produced
a contract for Mulligan to sign.
Blackjack broke out laughing saying that
Scott was nuts and that he would destroy
him, and signed George's contract
without reading the fine print. It
turned out that Blackjack had signed a
contract to wrestle George Scott AND a
mystery partner in TWO ON ONE HANDICAP
MATCHES!! When Mulligan realized his
mistake, he broke out in a hilarious
tirade that was one of the funniest
outbursts ever on Mid-Atlantic
Championship Wrestling television!!
These handicap matches would occupy
Mulligan throughout the area until the
middle of August!
Lost in the July 1977 Mulligan-Brazil
saga was the fact that Bobo was destined
to be merely a transitional U.S.
Champion. As on July 29, 1977,
"Nature Boy" Ric Flair
captured the United States Heavyweight
Title in Richmond, Virginia from Brazil,
ending Bobo's reign after a scant 22
days. Flair's victory over Brazil in the
Richmond Coliseum came about with Ric
surviving one of the strangest match
stipulations ever. Flair promised to
"streak" the Richmond Coliseum
if he failed to win the match and the
U.S. belt from Brazil that night!!
Flair's first United States Title
victory clearly established the
"Nature Boy" as a mega star in
the business. Though his first U.S.
Title reign only lasted about two and a
half months, Ric Flair was a major step
closer to his ultimate goal of becoming
the NWA World's Heavyweight Champion.
July saw an unusual amount of comings
and goings with big names in the
promotion. Dino Bravo, who had been a
main event mainstay in the area since
April of 1976, abruptly dropped to
mid-card status and left the area as a
regular competitor during the month of
July. During this same time period,
Bravo and partner Tiger Conway were
replaced as Mid-Atlantic Tag Team
Champions by the tandem of Ric Flair and
Greg Valentine.
A couple of well-known big names,
Paul Jones and "Mr. Wrestling"
Tim Woods, also reappeared in the area
during July. Both had left the area in
early 1977. Neither of these stars
jumped right back into big angles
immediately, but by early in the fourth
quarter of 1977 both would be embroiled
in historic feuds. But in July, Jones
did most of his duty as a special
referee and Mr. Wrestling did some
stints as a color commentator on the
area's TV shows.
Finally, a major new star entered the
Mid-Atlantic area during the last week
in July of 1977. Baron Von Raschke was
introduced to the area's fans as a
worldwide star that was one of the few
men to ever beat Bruno Sammartino.
Raschke would get an immediate push from
the promotion, and he would be a mega
star in the area all the way through
until early 1980.
AUGUST 1977
August of 1977 began with the series
of matches around the circuit where
Blackjack Mulligan squared off against
George Scott and his mystery partners.
Mulligan came out on the short end of
these handicap matches, losing to George
Scott and his numerous partners such as
Mr. Wrestling, Ricky Steamboat and even
George's brother, Sandy Scott! Mulligan,
disheartened over the loss of his U.S.
Title and the George Scott situation,
left the Mid-Atlantic area completely in
mid August and did not return until
October of 1977. At that time Mulligan
explained that he left the area to tour
Japan, and to get his "head
together," and regain his focus.
On the Mid-Atlantic Championship
Wrestling television show that aired
around the area on August 13, 1977, it
was announced that Wahoo McDaniel
defeated Greg Valentine for the
Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Title, ending
Valentine's title reign after
approximately two months. Ric Flair came
out and interrupted Wahoo's interview,
challenging Wahoo to go after his U.S.
Title, if Wahoo "was man
enough." Wahoo countered by saying
that he was on a lucky streak and was
after Flair's U.S. belt and Harley
Race's NWA World Title, and that he
might be the first man in history to win
those three prestigious titles in the
same week! As it turned out, Wahoo had
only a one-month reign as Mid-Atlantic
Champion before suffering a serious
injury in early September 1977.
The long-standing feud between the
Masked Superstar and the Mighty Igor
began to wind toward conclusion in
August with a series of brutal Russian
Chain matches between the two
combatants. This specialty match was a
staple of Superstar's manager, Professor
Boris Malenko, so it was a bit
surprising that Igor got the better of
the masked man in these encounters.
However, this feud would take a final
and decisive turn in September.
A great new tag team was formed in
the area in August with returning
veteran Paul Jones joining forces with
the rapidly rising newcomer Ricky
Steamboat. It did not take the new duo
long to ace a championship, as on August
22, 1977 Jones and Steamboat defeated
Ric Flair and Greg Valentine in
Charlotte, NC for the Mid-Atlantic Tag
Team Titles. At this time, the
Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Titles were at
their highest level of importance ever
as the NWA World Tag Team Titles were
not held by Mid-Atlantic wrestlers or
being defended in the Mid-Atlantic area.
Despite dropping the tag belts, both
Flair and Valentine were then able to
concentrate on wrestling in singles and
were very successful in the singles
division for the remainder of the
quarter.
August of 1977 was the first full
month of action for Mid-Atlantic
newcomer Baron Von Raschke, and what an
impressive month it was for the big
German. Espousing his German superiority
and using his vicious "brain
claw" with great effectiveness,
Raschke demolished all his opponents on
Mid-Atlantic television with startling
ease. Raschke got immediate title
matches in August with TV champion Ricky
Steamboat and Mid-Atlantic champ Wahoo
McDaniel. While the Baron did not win
any titles during the third quarter of
1977, it was obvious with all of his
abilities that it was only going to be a
short matter of time before he tasted a
championship in the Mid-Atlantic area.
SEPTEMBER 1977
Fans of Mid-Atlantic Championship
Wrestling will always remember September
of 1977 for the televised match between
Wahoo McDaniel and Greg Valentine that
aired on TV around the area on September
10, 1977. This match pitted Wahoo
putting up his Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight
Title against 2,000 silver dollars of
Greg Valentine. Valentine had challenged
Wahoo to a title rematch earlier, but
Wahoo declined to put the title up on TV
unless Greg put up something additional
as well. A deal was struck whereby Wahoo
would defend his Mid-Atlantic Title on
TV against Greg if Valentine put up an
additional 1,000 silver dollars with the
1,000 silver dollars he routinely put up
in single matches on Mid-Atlantic
television.
The match was a classic hard-hitting
encounter that was closely contested
throughout. After about 15 minutes of
non-stop action, Valentine grabbed
Wahoo's leg and fell backward and held
onto the leg. Wahoo began screaming in
pain, and Valentine would never let
Wahoo's leg loose.
The referee said
Wahoo's leg had been broken, and awarded
the match and Mid-Atlantic Title to Greg
Valentine. Announcer David Crockett said
the hold that did the damage was a
"leg-ankle suplex", while
Wahoo later said that the hold was a
European version of the figure-four and
eighty percent of the time that it was
applied it broke a man's leg. Whatever
the hold was called, Valentine's win set
off a wild celebration in the ring with
good friend Ric Flair, while a fallen
Wahoo lay "flailing" in agony in the ring
just a few feet from the jubilant
Valentine.
The following week's Mid-Atlantic
Championship Wrestling TV show was a
very memorable one. Wahoo was brought
out to the television set on crutches to
explain what happened the previous week.
McDaniel was unable to make it out to
the announcing area on crutches, and
instead had to be wheeled out to Bob
Caudle and David Crockett in a
wheelchair. Soon after telling the fans
that he was embarrassed by the title
loss and the broken leg, Greg Valentine
and Ric Flair came out and interrupted
Wahoo's interview. Valentine mercilessly
taunted Wahoo about breaking his leg,
calling McDaniel "boy" on
numerous occasions and telling Wahoo
that his wrestling career was over.
Wahoo vowed to come back at all costs
and pay back Valentine, but Greg just
laughed while asking Wahoo if he had to
get his wheelchair "custom
made" for his fat body.

The promotion used the remaining
weeks in September showing Valentine
wearing t-shirts sporting the slogan
"I Broke Wahoo's Leg."
Valentine said that he had his boys in
Las Vegas produce these t-shirts, and
continued to brag and boast incessantly
about putting Wahoo out of action. This
continued boasting by Greg generated
tremendous heat with Wahoo and his many
fans, and set the stage for a tremendous
series of revenge grudge matches when
Wahoo finally came back to action in
late November.
The month of September 1977 saw the
Masked Superstar transition into a new
feud while putting to rest one that had
lasted for the majority of 1977. On
September 4, 1977, the Superstar had his
mask taken off by Paul Jones during a
match in Greensboro, NC. Due to some
quick thinking by Superstar's manager
Boris Malenko, the masked man's identity
was never revealed. But nonetheless,
Paul Jones believed he had the
Superstar's number, particularly in the
Greensboro Coliseum. Superstar had
different ideas, and was determined to
make his point the next time the two
battled in Greensboro in early October.
Another one of the Mid-Atlantic's
greatest angles would play itself out
between Jones and Superstar at that
time.
In the meantime, the Superstar used
the month of September to finally end
his long running feud with the Polish
strongman, the Mighty Igor. A series of
climactic fence matches around the area
between these two finally tipped the
scales towards the Superstar. While the
Superstar would soon thereafter go on to
a memorable feud with Paul Jones, the
Mighty Igor was involved in only one
more minor angle before his successful
run with Jim Crockett Promotions ended
in early 1978.
September also saw United States
Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair defend
his new title with considerable vigor
against a series of worthy adversaries.
Bobo Brazil, Paul Jones and Ricky
Steamboat were all unable to wrest the
prestigious belt from the Nature Boy's
grasp. Flair's matches against
Steamboat, which were typically billed
as U.S. Title vs. TV Title matches, were
some of the finest yet between these two
great competitors. The Flair-Steamboat
feud, still in its infancy, was already
producing classic matches for the ages!
The third quarter of 1977 will likely
be best remembered for the September
television match where Greg Valentine
broke Wahoo McDaniel's leg and the
aftermath that flowed from that event.
But this three-month period had so much
more to offer to the fans, including the
Mulligan-Brazil saga, Ric Flair's first
U.S. Title victory, the emergence of
Baron Von Raschke and his "brain
claw," and the return to the area
of Paul Jones and Mr. Wrestling. The
third quarter also set the stage for
several major angles that would play
themselves out fully in the final three
months of 1977. The fourth quarter of
1977 would certainly offer up some
surprises that none of us would have
expected! And we would not have to wait
long, as several pieces of astounding
news in the wrestling world hit the
Mid-Atlantic area right as the calendar
turned over to October of 1977!
WHO'S
HOT & WHO'S NOT
Who's Hot
1. Ric Flair---The Nature Boy
captured his first United States
Heavyweight Title in July and
successfully defended it throughout the
third quarter of 1977. Ric was
impressive in rematches against Bobo
Brazil, along with impressive defenses
against old rival Paul Jones and up and
coming star Ricky Steamboat. Flair
showed everyone during this time period
that he was a U.S. Champion to be
reckoned with.
2. Greg Valentine---Greg started and
ended the third quarter of 1977 with the
Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship
belt. In the middle of the quarter he
lost the title to Wahoo McDaniel, but
would win the belt back in stunning
fashion in September. But Valentine not
only won the title back, he did what
many thought was impossible, putting the
great Indian Chief on the shelf with a
broken leg. The "Bionic Elbow"
was riding high and at his pompous best
as the third quarter ended.
3. Baron Von Raschke---The Baron came
on the scene in July of 1977 and made an
immediate impact in the area.
Terrorizing opponents with his feared
"brain claw," the Baron
immediately was thrust into main event
matches with the likes of Mr. Wrestling
and Ricky Steamboat. These two opponents
would provide the Baron with his first
major angles in the Mid-Atlantic area as
the fourth quarter of 1977 got underway.
Who's Not
1. Blackjack Mulligan---The third
quarter of 1977 was an extremely
difficult time period for the big man
from Eagle Pass, Texas. Mully lost his
prized U.S. Title to Bobo Brazil, and
was unable to recapture it despite going
again to NWA President Eddie Graham to
bail him out. Blackjack then got
suckered into a series of handicap
matches with NWA executive George Scott.
When Mulligan came out on the short end
of this series of matches, Blackjack
left the area completely for the
remainder of the quarter to "get
his head together."
2. Wahoo McDaniel---Despite holding
the Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Title for a
month during the third quarter of 1977,
Wahoo was humiliated by Greg Valentine
when Greg beat Wahoo for the title and
broke the Indian's leg in a televised
bout in September. Wahoo then had to
endure Greg's verbal and psychological
abuse as he attempted to heal up.
Wahoo's first extended injury as a
regular competitor in the Mid-Atlantic
area was a top entry on Valentine's
resume` for years to come.
3. Dino Bravo---Bravo had been a main
event performer in the area for well
over a year, but quickly dropped out of
sight early during the third quarter of
1977. As he left the area, Dino would
also relinquish his portion of the
Mid-Atlantic Tag Titles with Tiger
Conway to the tandem of Ric Flair and
Greg Valentine. Dino would not return to
the area again as a regular competitor
until early 1979.
(Check
back regularly in the Almanac
Index for the 1977 3rd Quarter
Update)
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