NWA WORLD
TAG TEAM---Greg
Valentine and Baron von
Raschke
UNITED
STATES HEAVYWEIGHT---Ric
Flair
MID-
ATLANTIC HEAVYWEIGHT---
• Ken
Patera
• Tony Atlas (September
17, 1978 at the Roanoke
Civic Center, Roanoke,
Virginia)
NWA
TELEVISION---Paul
Jones
MID-ATLANTIC TAG TEAM---Paul
Jones and Ricky
Steamboat
The month of September 1978
saw the culmination of one
of the hottest feuds in
Mid-Atlantic Championship
Wrestling history, the
legendary battles between
Blackjack Mulligan and the
Masked Superstar. At the
beginning of the month, the
two were set to go at it in
brutal Fence Matches across
the territory. By the end of
September, the Superstar had
been unmasked in numerous
venues throughout the
territory, and had left the
area entirely.
The first week of September
saw epic battles between
Mulligan and Superstar, with
all of the matches ending up
as Mulligan victories and
Superstar’s mask being
pulled off in the process.
On September 1st
in the Richmond Coliseum in
Richmond, Virginia, before a
huge raucous crowd,
Blackjack whipped the
Superstar inside of a Fence,
with George Scott as Special
Referee. And at long last to
the delight of the fans in
Richmond, Mulligan pulled
the mask off of the
Superstar! The Superstar
suffered similar Fence Match
defeats and unmaskings at
the Dorton Arena in Raleigh,
North Carolina on September
5th and at the
Norfolk Scope in Norfolk,
Virginia on September 7th.
On September 3rd
in the Charlotte Coliseum in
Charlotte, North Carolina,
Mulligan took the measure
of the Superstar in a brutal
Lumberjack Match. Blackjack
was able to pull Superstar’s
mask off, but Superstar
managed to run from the ring
to the back without his
identity being exposed. This
led to the Superstar being
able to come back to
Charlotte one last time on
September 23rd,
which would be his final
match in the Mid-Atlantic
area until he returned in
1980. In the Masked
Superstar’s swan song on
September 23, 1978, he and
partner Sgt. Jacques Goulet
lost to Mr. Wrestling and
Johnny Weaver via
disqualification for making
two saves.
September also saw a major
Title change hands! After a
lengthy run as the
Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight
Champion, Ken Patera lost
his belt to the youngster
from Roanoke, Virginia, Tony
Atlas. And to make matters
all the more sweeter for
Atlas, Tony defeated Patera
for the Title in his
hometown of Roanoke at the
Civic Center on September
17th.
On the Mid-Atlantic
Championship Wrestling
television show that ran in
most markets on September
16, 1978, the day before
Atlas’ Title victory, Patera
told the fans that he was
sick of Atlas, and that he
was going to drop him “like
a bad habit.” Unfortunately
for Patera, he was not going
to get rid of the challenges
from Tony Atlas nearly that
easily.
Prior to Atlas’ Title
victory, he and Patera were
battling hot and heavy in
both Championship matches
and arm wrestling contests
around the territory. In the
typical situation, the two
would have an arm wrestling
contest, and after that the
regularly scheduled
Mid-Atlantic Title match. In
fact, during the first full
week in September, Atlas and
Patera had combined arm
wrestling contests and
Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight
Title bouts in Richmond on
September 1st,
Roanoke on September 2nd,
Charlotte on September 3rd
and Fishersville, Virginia
on September 7th.
Immediately after defeating
Patera for the Mid-Atlantic
Title, Atlas turned around
the next night and
successfully defended his
new belt against Patera in
Myrtle Beach, South
Carolina. And closing out
the month of September, Tony
again fended off the
championship challenge of
Ken Patera in Spartanburg,
South Carolina on September
30th.
United States Heavyweight
Champion Ric Flair was busy
during the month of
September, defending his
prestigious Title against a
number of top challengers.
Ricky Steamboat was Flair’s
most frequent opponent
during the month, taking the
champ to the brink of defeat
on several occasions.
A classic bout between Flair
and Steamboat took place at
the Greensboro Coliseum in
Greensboro, North Carolina
on September 24th,
as part of a star-studded
line-up. A bloody “Nature
Boy” captured a rare clean
win over Steamboat, but only
after an exhausting battle
that went close to the
allotted time limit. During
September, Flair maintained
his Tile against the
challenges of Steamboat in
Charlotte, Columbia and
Asheville, North Carolina.
In the Asheville match on
September 17th,
Ric retained his Title over
Steamboat as part of the
3:00 p.m. Sunday afternoon
card, then raced to Richmond
and won by Disqualification
over Blackjack Mulligan at
the 8:00 p.m. card there!
Flair also defended his U.S.
Title against Blackjack
Mulligan during the month of
September in a very unique
match. On September 21st
in the Norfolk Scope, the
Nature Boy was put in the
unenviable position of
wrestling Mulligan with the
U.S. belt on the line…with
Andre the Giant keeping
order as the Special
Referee! After pushing
Andre’s buttons for the
better part of the bout,
Flair finally pushed Andre
to disqualify him, and
retained his U.S. Title yet
again.
In addition to his battles
with the Masked Superstar
and Ric Flair, Blackjack
Mulligan also had a run in
with another big-name
villain during the month of
September. On the
Mid-Atlantic Championship
Wrestling television program
that aired in most markets
on September 9, 1978,
Blackjack was presented a
large and beautiful trophy
from the Mid-Atlantic fans,
naming him the Outstanding
Wrestler for 1977-1978. Not
able to stand the fact that
Mulligan was getting
recognition from the fans
and he wasn’t, Baron von
Raschke attacked Mulligan,
and broke the trophy over
Blackjack’s head in front of
the TV audience! This led to
significant bad blood
between the two men, who
both used the Claw as their
primary finishing hold.
Fans may also remember this
September 9, 1978 TV show as
being a particularly tough
one for Blackjack Mulligan.
In addition to having the
trophy broken over his head,
Blackjack also had a brutal
match with Crusher Blackwell
on that same show! The match
between Mulligan and
Blackwell was such a
classic, that it was shown
on the promotion’s year end
highlight show for 1978.
Blackjack won that bout, but
appeared to be headed for a
“crushing” defeat at several
critical junctures during
the contest.
Baron von Raschke, the big
German, and his partner Greg
Valentine continued to
dominate the tag team scene
during the month of
September 1978. During the
month, Raschke and Valentine
primarily defended their NWA
World Tag Team Titles
against former champs Paul
Jones and Ricky Steamboat.
Raschke and Valentine
successfully defended their
Titles against the
formidable duo of Jones and
Steamboat four times during
the month, including a 90
minute time limit bout in
Greensboro on September 3rd,
and a wild Texas Tornado
match in Wilmington, North
Carolina on September 10th.
But by far the most
controversial bout between
the Champions and Jones and
Steamboat was the Greensboro
Title match on September 3rd.
In that bout, Jones and
Steamboat left the
Greensboro Coliseum with the
NWA World Tag Team Titles in
their hands after Steamboat
pinned Valentine with a
small package hold at the 32
minute mark. Fans that saw
that match in Greensboro no
doubt turned on the
Mid-Atlantic Championship
Wrestling television show
that aired on September 9th,
eagerly awaiting to see
Jones and Steamboat
announced on TV as the new
NWA World Tag Team
Champions. Instead, they got
a much different
announcement.
Leading off the September 9th
TV show, Raschke and
Valentine immediately told
the viewers that Jones and
Steamboat didn’t win the
belts from them fairly, and
that they had sent the film
of the match to NWA
President Bob Geigel to
review. Jones and Steamboat
then came out to confront
Raschke and Valentine, and
film excerpts of the match
were shown.
During the confusing last
few minutes of the match, it
became clear that Ricky
Steamboat was not the legal
man in the ring when referee
Sonny Fargo allowed the
three count pinfall on Greg
Valentine. In their glee,
Valentine and Raschke asked
announcer David Crockett to
read a telegram from
President Geigel regarding
the dispute. Crockett then
read the telegram from
Geigel, saying, “After
reviewing the film of this
match, it is my decision
that the NWA Tag Team Titles
should be returned to Greg
Valentine and Baron von
Raschke.”
A shocked Jones and
Steamboat were forced to
hand over the NWA World Tag
Team Title belts in front of
the area-wide viewing
audience. Greg Valentine
summed up the amazing turn
of events, saying, “We just
showed what kind of men they
are…the illegal man pinned
me, and we had the proof!”
Ricky Steamboat also got two
additional Title shots at
Raschke and Valentine during
September, with Sensational
Dick Murdock being his
partner. The four battled in
Fayetteville, North Carolina
on September 18th, and then
turned around on September
21st and had a
particularly wild melee in
Norfolk, Virginia, where all
four participants were
disqualified!
Steamboat had an individual
feud with Greg Valentine
that also flared up during
September of 1978. Its
origin was from August,
where Steamboat physically
took, and kept, Greg’s 1000
silver dollars after a
controversial match on
Mid-Atlantic Championship
Wrestling television. In
September, Steamboat and
Valentine batted in Rocky
Mount, North Carolina on
September 13th,
Raleigh on September 19th,
Charlotte on September 23rd
and in Columbia, South
Carolina on September 26th.
These battles were as fierce
as one could imagine, with
Valentine attempting to
recoup his 1000 silver
dollars. But for the most
part, Steamboat was able to
withstand the violence and
ferocity from Valentine, and
emerge victorious.
NWA Television Champion Paul
Jones was relatively
inactive during the month of
September. The most
interesting Title defense
that Jones had during the
month was against
Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight
Champion Ken Patera on
September 4th in
Fayetteville in a Title vs.
Title encounter. Jones won
this bruising battle after
Patera was disqualified.
Jones’ last TV Title defense
during September was against
the Masked Superstar on
September 16th in
Spartanburg, South Carolina.
Jones prevailed in that
contest, which was one of
Superstar’s last matches in
the Mid-Atlantic area.
Even less frequently
defended during the month of
September were the
Mid-Atlantic Tag Team
Titles. Champions Paul Jones
and Ricky Steamboat defended
their Titles only once
during the month, a spirited
encounter against the
formidable duo of Ric Flair
and Gene Anderson on
September 7th in
Anderson, South Carolina.
However, action would pick
up considerably in the month
of October 1978 regarding
the Mid-Atlantic Tag Team
Titles!
Speaking of October, that
month in the Mid-Atlantic
area would usher in some
impressive new talent, along
with some notable
departures. But September of
1978 proved to be a
significant month in its own
right, giving us a title
change, a title change that
was reversed by Bob Geigel
and the culmination of one
of the most brutal feuds in
Mid-Atlantic history between
Blackjack Mulligan and the
Masked Superstar.
WHO’ HOT
1.
Blackjack
Mulligan---The
big Texan finally, once and
for all, took the measure of
the Masked Superstar and ran
him out of the Mid-Atlantic
area. This one was truly a
feud for the ages!
2.
Tony Atlas---The
strongman from Roanoke,
Virginia captured the
Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight
Championship from Ken Patera
during the month of
September. And winning the
Title in his hometown of
Roanoke, made the victory
even sweeter.
3.
Ric Flair---The
Nature Boy continued to hold
onto the prestigious United
States Heavyweight
Championship during the
month of September. Flair
also teamed up with his
cousin Gene Anderson at
times during the month.
WHO’S NOT
1.
Masked
Superstar---A
great two year run in the
Mid-Atlantic area ended in
September for the talented
masked man. In the end,
Blackjack Mulligan claimed
his mask while Superstar was
unable to collect the
$10,000 bounty.
2.
Ken Patera---After
feats of strength contests,
arm wrestling contests and a
lot of heated words, Patera
finally fell victim in
September to the upset he
was desperately trying to
avoid—losing the
Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight
Championship to Tony Atlas.
3.
Mr.
Wrestling---The slow
and steady descent down the
cards for the man with the
white mask from Michigan
continued during September.
This slide started almost
immediately after the end of
his brief U.S. Title reign
in April.