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August of 1978 saw one of
the most grueling months
imaginable for the big man
from Eagle Pass, Texas,
Blackjack Mulligan.
Blackjack not only had eight
United States Heavyweight
Title bouts against his
arch-enemy Ric Flair during
the month, but he also had a
do or die series of rugged
matches against Flair’s top
bounty hunter, the Masked
Superstar.
The Mulligan-Flair U.S.
Title bouts during August
were off the charts in terms
of crowd excitement.
Blackjack came close to
capturing the U.S. belt
several times during the
month, but fell just short,
succumbing to Flair’s
chicanery and devious
tactics. The Nature Boy
purposely got himself
disqualified several times
during the month to hang
onto the Title.
The Scope Coliseum in
Norfolk, Virginia was home
to two Mulligan-Flair U.S.
Title battles during the
month of August. On August
10th, Ric stole a
controversial victory over
the big Texan. Two weeks
later, the two bitter
enemies returned to Norfolk
in a match billed with a
stipulation that if Flair
didn’t wrestle he would be
stripped of his Title. In
one of the wildest contests
of the year, both Ric and
Blackjack were disqualified,
after each was bleeding
profusely.
Blackjack also had eight
memorable battles against
the Masked Superstar during
the month of August. All of
these bouts had special
stipulations attached to
them, which heightened the
suspense of each of them.
Two towns in the territory
were fortunate enough to get
two Mulligan-Superstar
matches during August.
Wilmington, North Carolina
saw the pair battle in a
Texas Death Match on August
6th and then in a
bloody Fence Match on August
20th. Columbia,
South Carolina likewise saw
Blackjack and the masked man
square off in a Texas Death
Match on August 8th
and three weeks later have a
showdown on August 29th
inside of a fence.
By the end of the month of
August, it was clear that
either Blackjack or the
Superstar was going to leave
the area shortly. In fact,
in a late August TV promo
for a match in Richmond,
Virginia on September 1st,
Mulligan told the fans, “If
I don’t take that mask off,
I will never wrestler in
Richmond…ever again!” The
battle lines between these
two were clearly drawn.
August was an interesting
month for one half of the
Minnesota Wrecking Crew, the
veteran Gene Anderson. Gene
rose back to a main event
level in August, primarily
due to his interference in a
match against Ricky
Steamboat in July. Anderson
battled Steamboat in a
series a bouts during
August, and while being
defeated in all of those
matches, Gene proved to be a
tough opponent for the
younger and faster
Steamboat. In addition to
the matchups with Steamboat,
Anderson also had matches
near the top of the cards
during August against fan
favorites Mr. Wrestling and
Dick Murdock.
It was very different
hearing Gene Anderson
actually TALK during TV
promos for his August
matches! When a partner with
Ole Anderson, Gene never
said a word, and when
returning to the area in
1978, Gene never wrestled at
a main event level in
singles competition where he
would do TV promos…until the
month of August. Even then,
Gene’s promos were very
brief and to the point. In
an interview promoting a
match against Dick Murdock
at County Hall in
Charleston, South Carolina
on August 18th
Gene told the fans,
“Murdock…I know you’re a
good wrestler, but I’m the
best wrestler you’ve ever
seen. I don’t have to brag
about myself; the people in
Charleston know. They’re
gonna know when I beat Dick
Murdock.”
United States Heavyweight
Champion Ric Flair had other
top challengers besides
Blackjack Mulligan clamoring
for his belt during the
month of August. Sensational
Dick Murdock led the way,
receiving four shots at
Flair’s belt during the
month. The Nature Boy also
successfully defended his
Title twice against Ricky
Steamboat, twice against
Paul Jones and once against
Tony Atlas.
On the edition of the
Mid-Atlantic Championship
Wrestling television show
that ran around much of the
area on Saturday August 5th,
the viewing audience got a
chance to see a side of Ric
Flair that they had likely
not seen before. The Nature
Boy said, “Each week I get
thousands of letters from
all over the world saying,
Nature Boy, let us take a
peek at how the King lives;
let us see the Rolls Royce;
let us see the pretty
ladies; let us see the jet
airplanes; the fine
clothes…” And the Nature Boy
didn’t disappoint! In a
short film clip designed to
show the fans how Ric lived
life outside of the squared
circle, we got to see all of
the above, plus Ric’s new
jet!! Ric summed it up best
when he said, “My lifestyle
makes guys like Joe Namath
and all the big stars you
read about go dizzy…ladies
and gentlemen, you are
looking at the finest piece
of work in the wrestling
world today!”
NWA World Tag Team Champions
Greg Valentine and Baron von
Raschke had a productive
month of August. The champs
had four successful defenses
against the dynamic team of
Tony Atlas and Dick Murdock,
and also four successful
defenses against former
champs Paul Jones and Ricky
Steamboat. One of the
toughest and bloody Title
matches for the champs came
in a No Disqualification
Match against Jones and
Steamboat at the Florence
Stadium in Florence, South
Carolina. In the TV promos
leading up to the match,
Valentine told the fans in
Florence that Jones and
Steamboat were desperate,
and they wanted a NO DQ
Match because they “want to
be able to cheat legally.”
Greg went on to tell Jones
and Steamboat, “We’re gonna
beat you within an inch of
your lives.” The beatings
went both ways, but
Valentine and Raschke held
onto their Titles in
Florence, just as they did
in every other venue during
the course of the month.
Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight
Champion Ken Patera battled
his top challenger, Tony
Atlas, nine times during the
month of August. A number of
the bouts had an arm
wrestling contest between
the two first, and then a
regular wrestling match. One
of those “dual” events
occurred in Fayetteville,
North Carolina on August 21st.
In Fayetteville, Atlas
prevailed in the arm
wrestling contest, only to
see Patera come back and win
the contest that really
mattered…the wrestling match
for the Mid-Atlantic
Heavyweight Championship.
During August, Patera also
successfully defended his
Title against Dick Murdock,
Ricky Steamboat, Blackjack
Mulligan and Mr. Wrestling.
Ken was particularly
dismissive of the challenge
of Mr. Wrestling before
their match in Wilmington,
North Carolina at Legion
Stadium on August 20th.
Ken told the fans of
Wilmington in a pre-match TV
promo that, “I’m appalled
that I have to get in the
ring with the man that knows
a thousand holds but is the
master of none. So, Mr.
Wrestling, get ready for a
whipping!”
Speaking of Mr. Wrestling,
fans around the area that
watched the Wide World
Wrestling show that aired in
many markets on Saturday
August 12th,
heard from announcer George
Scott that Mr. Wrestling was
also known as “Mr. Audio.”
Mr. Wrestling told Scott
that was in fact true, as he
owned an electronics store
in Atlanta, Georgia. Mr.
Wrestling went on to tell
the fans that he was a
professional musician, a
fact that surely had to
greatly surprise the viewing
audience!
NWA Television Champion Paul
Jones defended his
Championship five times
during August; two times
against former titleholder
Baron von Raschke, and once
each against Cyclone Negro,
the Masked Superstar and
Greg Valentine. The most
heated bout between Jones
and Raschke occurred in
Richmond, Virginia on August
11th. It was a
return bout from two weeks
earlier, where after a wild
brawl both inside and
outside the ring, Jones
emerged with his TV Title
intact, and the Baron
emerged with a nasty scar.
In the TV promos leading up
to the Richmond rematch on
August 11th, the
Baron yelled at Jones,
screaming, “For the scar,
you will pay!!” In his promo
response, Jones told the
Baron and the Richmond fans,
“When the Baron got out here
and told everybody how much
this TV Title meant to him…I
took him awful lightly. The
man is an animal. It was a
battle royal, two men, the
last time we were in
Richmond. This time, I’ll
know how hard to fight. I’ll
fight you…I’ll fight you to
the end.”
The match in Richmond was
yet another bruising
encounter, with Jones
surviving an early onslaught
by the Baron to come out
victorious. Anybody who
witnessed this August 11th
battle came away with a real
sense of the importance of
the NWA TV Title!
The importance of another
area title was seemingly not
nearly as high. Paul Jones
and partner Ricky Steamboat,
defended their Mid-Atlantic
Tag Team Titles only one
time during the month of
August. However, that
defense was a solid and
successful one, as the
Champions took the measure
of the ferocious team of Ric
Flair and the Masked
Superstar in Spartanburg,
South Carolina on August 26th.
Saturday, August 26th
was also an eventful day for
fans around the area, as
they saw TWO big-time main
event matches on the
Mid-Atlantic Championship
Wrestling TV program that
ran that day in many
markets!
The first bout saw Greg
Valentine defend his 1,000
silver dollars against top
challenger Ricky Steamboat.
In a particularly rough
match for TV, Valentine
bloodied Steamboat, but
Steamboat slowly gained the
upper hand on Greg, and
appeared poised to win the
silver dollars. However,
Baron von Raschke
interfered, saying Steamboat
was using illegal karate,
and cost Ricky his chance at
the money. Steamboat was so
furious at the outcome, that
he came out later in the
show and TOOK Valentine’s
1000 silver dollars!
Steamboat explained to the
viewing audience, “I’m gonna
hurt Valentine where it
hurts the most…right in his
pocketbook!”
The second big TV bout on
Mid-Atlantic Championship
Wrestling on August 26th
had the fearsome team of Ken
Patera and Cyclone Negro
paired up against Tony Atlas
and newcomer Skip Young. In
what had to go down as a
rare feat on television,
Atlas pinned his arch rival
Patera in the middle of the
ring after an action packed
match! This would pave the
way for more Mid-Atlantic
Title matches between Atlas
and Patera during the month
of September.
The Mid-Atlantic action
during August of 1978 proved
to be every bit as hot as
the weather outside! The
major feuds between
Blackjack Mulligan and the
Masked Superstar and with
Ken Patera and Tony Atlas
were about to take
astounding turns as August
turned into September!
WHO’S HOT
1.
Blackjack
Mulligan---Just
keeping up the schedule that
the big Texan did during
August justifies this slot.
Blackjack’s battles with the
Masked Superstar were
legendary, and as the month
closed, Mulligan was clearly
getting the better of this
do-or-die series.
2.
Tony Atlas---Tony
not only formed an imposing
tag team with Dick Murdock,
but he was battling Ken
Patera on even terms,
inching his was closer to
the prestigious Mid-Atlantic
Heavyweight Title. And those
arm wrestling challenges
against Ken Patera were
something else!
3.
Paul Jones---Jones
not only held two Titles
during August, the NWA TV
Title and one-half of the
Mid-Atlantic Tag Titles, but
he managed to get shots
during the month at Ric
Flair’s United States
Heavyweight Title as well.
WHO’S NOT
1.
Masked
Superstar---The
talented masked man was
locked up with Blackjack
Mulligan in a brutal series
of matches during the month
of August. As the month
neared its end, it was clear
that Blackjack was getting
the upper hand in this feud
for the ages.
2.
Ken Patera---Despite
holding on to his
Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight
Title during the month,
Patera was hearing the
footsteps of Tony Atlas
behind him. And Atlas was
coming up fast!
3.
Gene Anderson---While
Gene cracked the main event
roster as a singles
competitor for the first
time in August, he was
unable to win a singles
match against a good guy on
their main event roster
during the month, despite
numerous attempts.
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©
2008 David Chappell
Mid-Atlantic Gateway
Published 09/30/08
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