During the Christmas/New
Year’s holiday season, an
unholy alliance was forged
between two tough grapplers
that would have major
ramifications for
Mid-Atlantic Championship
Wrestling for the first half
of 1980. Ray “The Crippler”
Stevens and Greg “The
Hammer” Valentine joined
forces, with the express
intent of capturing the NWA
World Tag Team Titles from
the current titleholders
Ricky Steamboat and Jay
Youngblood.
However, before the New Year
got too far along, Greg
Valentine had several more
matches against his former
best friend, Ric Flair. This
series of matches, which
most fans believed they
would never see, started in
late December when Flair
spurned Valentine’s offer to
reform their dynamic tag
team combination. These two
squared off on three
consecutive nights, on
January 6th in Savannah,
Georgia, January 7th in
Greenville, South Carolina
and in Raleigh, North
Carolina on January 8th,
with Ric dominating these
contests to the delight of
the fans.
On the first television show
of the New Year, the
Mid-Atlantic Championship
Wrestling show taped at the
WRAL TV studios in Raleigh,
North Carolina on January
2nd, Ray Stevens and Greg
Valentine came out and
quickly challenged the tag
team champs Ricky Steamboat
and Jay Youngblood. There
could be no doubt that Ricky
and Jay were the primary
targets of Valentine and
Stevens, but the bad guys
also issued challenges to
the top tier teams of
Blackjack Mulligan and Ric
Flair, and Jim Brunzell and
Rufus R. Jones.
While Stevens and Valentine
would continually challenge
Steamboat and Youngblood
during the month, the two
teams only wrestled once for
the Titles during the month
of January. That bout saw
Ricky and Jay score an
impressive victory over
Stevens and Valentine in
Spartanburg, South Carolina
on January 12th. The next
night in Greensboro, North
Carolina, the champs won a
scientific matchup with Jack
and Jerry Brisco, who were
flown in to challenge for
the World Tag Team Titles.
Other than those two nights,
Steamboat and Youngblood had
a full month of January
Title defenses, staving off
the last gasp challenge of
Paul Jones and Baron von
Raschke.
The World Tag Team Title
bouts between Ricky
Steamboat and Jay Youngblood
versus Paul Jones and Baron
von Raschke in January were
replete with significant
stipulations. In fact, the
New Year’s Day match between
these four in Greenville,
South Carolina was the only
one during the month that
did not have a stipulation.
But like in all of the
others to come, Steamboat
and Youngblood prevailed. On
January 4th in
Winston-Salem, North
Carolina, “Steamer” and Jay
came out on top in an
unusual Texas Tornado Title
Match. Steamboat and
Youngblood again took the
measure of Jones and Raschke
in bloody Fence Matches in
Savannah, Georgia on January
6th, Norfolk, Virginia on
January 17th and then again
in Fayetteville, North
Carolina on January 21st. In
the Norfolk Scope pre-match
promos, Paul Jones told the
Baron they could not blow
this chance, Jay Youngblood
said it was his first Fence
Match ever and Ricky
Steamboat called Jones and
the Baron “desperate.” And
at the very end of the month
in Last Chance, Falls Count
Anywhere, No
Disqualification and There
Must Be A Winner climactic
bouts, Ricky and Jay came
out on top in Charleston,
South Carolina on January
25th and in Greensboro,
North Carolina on January
27th.
The January 2nd Mid-Atlantic
TV show also featured
announcers Bob Caudle and
David Crockett telling the
viewing audience that the
tournament for the vacant
NWA Television Title would
begin next week. This show
additionally had a real
rarity, a match between fan
favorites that were highly
regarded in the territory,
as Mid-Atlantic Champion Jim
Brunzell battled Johnny
Weaver in a scientific
encounter. Finally, Gene
Anderson, who was now
principally operating as the
manager of John Studd and
Jimmy Snuka, informed the
fans that the Masked
Superstar would be returning
to the area very soon!
The next edition of the
Mid-Atlantic Championship
Wrestling television
program, which was taped on
January 9th, saw announcer
David Crockett comment that
the tournament for the NWA
TV Title had gotten so big
that the promotion was
constructing a “big board”
to help everyone keep track
of the results. The board
was promised to be unveiled
the next week or the week
following that. The first
match of the tournament
occurred on this show, and
featured a bout between two
veterans of the territory,
Johnny Weaver and Brute
Bernard. Weaver prevailed,
and thus was the first
competitor to advance to the
second round.
The new combination of Ray
Stevens and Greg Valentine
were very much in evidence
on this January 9th TV show
as well. Early in the hour,
Stevens and Valentine came
out and challenged Steamboat
and Youngblood for the World
Tag Team Titles, proclaiming
themselves the greatest tag
team of all-time. At the end
of the program, when Bob
Caudle was interviewing
Ricky and Jay, Stevens and
Valentine interrupted the
interview, saying they
wanted to confront the
Champions “face to face.”
When Greg accused the champs
of “hiding in the closet,”
Ricky promptly told
Valentine to get out of his
face. Miraculously, nothing
physical transpired and
Stevens and Valentine left
the interview area.
After Stevens and Valentine
departed, Steamboat and
Youngblood explained to Bob
Caudle that they would
wrestle Greg and Ray, but
would be reluctant to give
this new team Title matches
until they proved
themselves. Certainly
whenever Stevens and
Valentine heard the
Champions’ position on this
situation, they were not
going to be happy campers!
United States Heavyweight
Champion Jimmy Snuka was
quite active defending his
Title during the month of
January. For the most part,
the “Superfly” derailed the
challenge of “Mr. Wrestling”
Tim Woods during January,
although Jimmy did defend
his Title against other
worthy challengers over the
course of the month.
Through
the middle of January, Snuka
and his new manager Gene
Anderson had a long string
of successful U.S. Title
defenses against Tim Woods.
The very beginning of the
month saw lively United
States Title bouts between
Snuka and Woods in
Charleston, South Carolina
on January 4th and
Fayetteville, North Carolina
on January 7th. Then the two
battled in Columbia, South
Carolina in two epic bouts.
On January 8th in Columbia,
Mr. Wrestling confounded
Jimmy by upsetting him in a
countout victory. This led
promoter Henry Marcus to
bring Snuka and Woods back
to Columbia the next Tuesday
night, January 15th, for a
rematch with Lumberjack
rules where there would be
no outside of the ring
issues. In the return bout,
Snuka prevailed with some
sneaky assistance from Gene
Anderson.
Tim Woods’ last hurrah as a
U.S. Title challenger
occurred on three
consecutive days in the
middle of the month, where
he came up short against
Snuka in his quest for the
U.S. belt. In Winston-Salem,
North Carolina on January
18th, Asheville, North
Carolina on January 19th and
Charlotte, North Carolina on
January 20th the Superfly
dominated Mr. Wrestling, and
ended his threat to Jimmy’s
coveted Championship.
The Wildman from the Fiji
Islands ended the month of
January defending his United
States Championship twice on
Sunday, January 27th! He
first faced, and defeated,
Jim Brunzell in a rare
Sunday afternoon card in
Columbia. Then the Superfly
traveled to the Greensboro
Coliseum where he lost to
Blackjack Mulligan on a
disqualification that same
night. But Snuka’s next real
challenge appeared to be
looming from Ric Flair. The
“Nature Boy” told Bob Caudle
on the January 9th
Mid-Atlantic Championship
Wrestling television show
that he wasn’t entering the
TV Title tournament, so he
could concentrate on Snuka
and the U.S. belt. While not
being able to wrestle the
U.S. belt from Jimmy in
Asheville on January 6th and
Charleston, South Carolina
on January 11th, Flair’s
quest for the United States
Heavyweight Championship was
clearly just beginning in
January!
The Mid-Atlantic
Championship Wrestling
television program that was
taped on January 16th
featured a match in the NWA
Television Title tournament
that pitted two top flight
wrestlers, Rufus R. Jones
and Baron von Raschke. In
what was a competitive and
entertaining contest, Rufus
prevailed when the Baron was
disqualified for fighting
outside of the ring. The
January 16th show also
featured another appearance
by Greg Valentine and Ray
Stevens, clamoring again for
a World Tag Team Title match
with Ricky Steamboat and Jay
Youngblood. In this
interview, Stevens and
Valentine were more agitated
than ever, saying their
patience was running out in
getting contracts signed for
Title shots. Ominously, both
Greg and Ray said that if
Steamboat and Youngblood
didn’t step up soon,
something “drastic” was
going to happen to them!
A number of stars from
Mid-Atlantic Championship
Wrestling invaded Toronto,
Canada on January 13th for a
super spectacular card
there. Greg Valentine
renewed an old feud with
Johnny Weaver in one of the
bouts, while the duo of the
Canadian Heavyweight
Champion Dewey Robertson and
Ric Flair battled a new
vicious combination of Jimmy
Snuka and Ray Stevens in an
action packed main event
match.
Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight
Champion Jim Brunzell had a
number of Title defenses
during the month of January,
but Jumpin’ Jim also was
part of several top tag team
combinations in January. The
majority of Brunzell’s
defenses were against his
old nemesis Ray Stevens, but
as Stevens began to
concentrate on the World Tag
Team belts, those contracts
for the Mid-Atlantic Title
began to shrivel up. Jim had
successful Mid-Atlantic
Heavyweight Title defenses
against Stevens in
Charleston, South Carolina
on January 4th, Greenville,
South Carolina on January
7th and at Raleigh’s Dorton
Arena on January 8th.
Perhaps the wildest Title
defense that Brunzell had
during the month of January
was in Charlotte, North
Carolina on January 20th. In
this titanic struggle,
Brunzell held on for dear
life against a fiercely
determined Ray Stevens. Ray
eventually let his emotions
get the better of him and
was disqualified, handing
Brunzell an unexpected
victory. Brunzell also
wrestled Paul Jones a couple
of times during January for
the Mid-Atlantic Title,
besting Paul in the port
city of Charleston on
January 11th and then at the
Greensboro Coliseum on
January 13th.
The epic feud between
Blackjack Mulligan and Big
John Studd, which began in
the Fall of 1978, finally
reached its end during the
middle of January. Blackjack
prevailed in brutal and
bloody Loser Leaves Town
matches in three of the
territory’s biggest cities,
sending Studd packing back
to Los Angeles. On January
11th in Richmond, Virginia
in a Texas Death Match with
Street Fight rules, Mulligan
came out victorious in a
long arduous encounter. Two
days later in the Greensboro
Coliseum, the two battled
again in a Fence Match with
Street Fight rules. Using
everything at his disposal,
Mulligan triumphed in 27
minutes with a deadly
piledriver. The last battle
of this three match “Loser
Leaves Town” series occurred
in Charleston, South
Carolina on January 18th,
featuring a wild Texas Death
Match where falls counted
anywhere in the building!
Blackjack chased Studd all
over County Hall before
finishing “Big John” off for
good.
The January 23rd taping of
the Mid-Atlantic
Championship Wrestling TV
show started off with the
unveiling of the new NWA TV
Tournament board. To help
oversee the new board and to
announce the Tournament
matchups and results, “Miss
Julie” was introduced to the
television audience.
Upcoming matchups were then
shown to the fans, including
in the first bracket where
Paul Jones would meet (and
defeat) Tony Garea later in
the program, to set up a
second round match with
Johnny Weaver. Other
upcoming matches in the
first round would feature
Frankie Laine versus S.D.
Jones and Superstar # 1
against Tim Woods.
Announcer David Crockett
proceeded to nickname the
second bracket of the
Tournament as the “black and
blue division.” In addition
to the completed bout where
Rufus R. Jones defeated
Baron von Raschke, bouts on
this side would feature
returning Swede Hanson
versus Matt Bourne,
Blackjack Mulligan against
newcomer Dutch Mantell and
Ox Baker was set to face off
against Austin Idol.
And speaking of the
vociferous Ox Baker, he was
interviewed by Bob Caudle
early in the program taped
on January 23rd. Yelling at
the top of his lungs, Ox
complained that he had to
win a “Midwest Tournament”
to even get into the NWA TV
Title Tournament, but said
he was nevertheless going to
win it all with the use of
his dreaded “heart punch.”
After the interview, Bob
Caudle said he didn’t think
he would be able to hear for
a week!
The loaded January 23rd TV
show also featured a video
tape from Georgia with
announcer Freddie Miller,
interviewing John Studd,
along with the Masked
Superstars #1 and #2. John
Studd explained that he lost
Loser Leaves Town matches to
Blackjack Mulligan, and was
thus out of the Mid-Atlantic
area. But John said he did
not lose those matches
fairly, and that his lawyers
were working on getting him
reinstated into Jim Crockett
Promotions. Studd explained
that he hired Superstars #1
and #2 to get rid of
Mulligan while his lawyers
were getting him back into
the Mid-Atlantic area
wrestling wars.
Superstar # 1 spoke to
Freddie Miller, and it was
clearly the same “Superstar”
that had been in Jim
Crockett Promotions during
1976 through 1978. Superstar
# 1 spoke of the bloody
matches he and Mulligan had
in the past, and that
Blackjack’s nightmares of
those bouts were getting
ready to start again.
Superstar #1 said he
respected Blackjack, but he
didn’t like him. Superstar
#2, the bigger masked man of
the two, stood totally
silent during the taped
interview.
The fans were treated to
another bombshell during the
January 23rd TV show. Greg
Valentine and Ray Stevens
came out before Jay
Youngblood’s match with
Frank Monte, again demanding
World Tag Team Title matches
against Ricky Steamboat and
Youngblood. Ricky Steamboat
was said to be at a speaking
engagement, thus leaving
Youngblood by himself in the
ring. Jay essentially told
Stevens and Valentine that
they would have to wait
their turn to get World Tag
Team Title bouts. Ray and
Greg did TV commentary
during the Youngblood/Monte
match, becoming more and
more upset over Youngblood’s
comments. Then suddenly
Stevens said he had to leave
and go and get something.
After Stevens returned, he
and Valentine continued to
commentate for a few more
minutes before they rushed
the ring and attacked Jay.
Stevens pulled out a pair of
large scissors and started
cutting big hunks of hair
out of Youngblood’s head!
Then Valentine viciously
scraped the Indian’s head
across the mat, creating a
nasty mat-burn. The
television program ended
with Stevens and Valentine
gloating
over
what they did, and confident
that a humiliated Jay
Youngblood would have to
grant them a Title match
now.
The month of January ended
with the beginning of a
series of intriguing
challenge matches between
Ric Flair and Gene Anderson.
While Gene was almost
exclusively a manager at
this point, he was
nevertheless willing to don
the tights again if it meant
he could embarrass his
cousin! These were 30 minute
time-limit matches that
Flair had to win with the
figure four leglock, or Ric
would have to get his head
shaved! The “Nature Boy”
came out on top with his
hair intact after the first
two of the bouts, which both
occurred on January 27th,
first in Columbia during the
afternoon and then latter in
Greensboro that night. More
of these challenge matches
between Gene and Ric would
spill over into the early
days of February.
The last Mid-Atlantic
Championship Wrestling
television show of the month
was taped on January 30th.
The TV Tournament match for
this week featured S.D.
Jones versus Frankie Laine,
with the blonde Miss Julie
again manning the giant TV
Tournament board.
The fans got to see another
video tape from Georgia,
narrated by Freddie Miller,
where John Studd and
Superstars #1 and #2 again
appeared on the subject of
Blackjack Mulligan. Studd
said he had put up a very
large sum of money in
escrow, and that the funds
would go to the Superstars
when they put Blackjack out
of wrestling. John again
expressed confidence that
his attorneys would be
getting him reinstated in
the Mid-Atlantic area very
soon. Again, Superstar # 1
did all the talking for the
masked men, and said
Mulligan had reached “the
end of the road.”
Blackjack Mulligan came out
later in the show to comment
on this latest tape from
Studd and the Superstars.
Mulligan said that wrestling
was entering the era of the
“super-heavyweights,” and
that he might have to bring
in some of his “kin folks”
to help him out, including
cousin Crazy Luke Mulligan!
A very angry and focused Ric
Flair came out during the
January 30th TV show, and
showed a short video clip of
Jimmy Snuka jumping him from
behind, hitting the
piledriver on him and
ramming his head into the
steel ring post. That last
action severely lacerated
Ric, and 36 stitches were
required to close that head
wound. Flair vowed revenge
on Jimmy, and said he would
be showing the fans a longer
version of the video clip of
this same incident next
week.
Finally, at the end of the
January 30th TV program, Jim
Crockett came out to address
the incident from last week
where Greg Valentine and Ray
Stevens cut Jay Youngblood’s
hair and ran his face all
over the mat. Crockett told
the fans that the NWA had
suspended Valentine and
Stevens, but when he
informed Steamboat and
Youngblood of that action
the Champions threatened to
sue the NWA because they had
a valid previously signed
contract with the bad guys.
Based on that, the NWA
rescinded the suspension but
still fined Valentine and
Stevens. According to
Crockett, Ray and Greg were
hoping to be suspended so
they wouldn’t have to face
the enraged tag team champs.
Youngblood and Steamboat
were clearly elated that
there was no suspension, and
that they could now get
their hands on the men that
had injured and humiliated
Jay. February was certainly
shaping up to be a heated
month in this suddenly
torrid feud!