Tracking the Territories 1984- Volume Three

by Liam Byrne

  In a match that doesn’t look particularly noteworthy on paper, Chief Joe Lightfoot meets Larry Hamilton in the next contest, with Hamilton getting his amateur credentials read out as he is introduced. Solie and Colt talk up the technical abilities of both men, with Hamilton having the best of the initial exchanges down on the canvas. The two men trade drop toeholds, before a Lightfoot shoulderblock is followed by a Hamilton armdrag and armbar. Lightfoot manages to fight his way back to his feet and into a side headlock, but as he tries to use a drop toehold to take the match back to the canvas, Hamilton reverses his way out of the subsequent hold and locks Lightfoot in a cradle for three. An odd match due to how it was primarily just mat wrestling and then a finish, but it does explain the elongated introduction for a guy who was a jobber in Memphis yet clearly someone Florida want to push at least initially.

  An interview by Scott McGhee (for a match which sees him team with Mike Graham and Billy Jack to take on Jesse Barr, Dory Funk Jr. and Dick Slater) involves Solie having to grab him physically by the hand to push the microphone closer to the Brit, yet somehow the promo with Jesse Barr that follows is even worse. Barr stumbles over his attempts to talk up how good Funk Jr. is, before being saved by the man himself. Billy Graham and Kevin Sullivan at least show how it is done, though Solie does refer to Sullivan as ‘celibate’ and Graham feels he needs to namedrop Sugar Ray Robinson as he talks about the detached retina he almost suffered at the hands of Sullivan.

  After we see a repeat of the tarring and feathering from the previous week, a big time match follows as Jesse Barr and Dory Funk Jr. face Mike Graham and his partner of choice, Harley Race! Typically as it is Florida, we go to commercial and rejoin mid match as Race sends Funk Jr. to the canvas with a suplex and tags out to Graham. Two punches from Graham sees Funk Jr. go to ringside to regroup, only for a man in a chicken suit to appear at ringside briefly and for Race to do the universal sign of the chicken to his two opponents. With the match returning to the ring, Graham almost slaps the figure four on Funk Jr., leading to a stand-off between all four men.

  Graham catches Barr out of midair as the two men indulge in a criss cross, but is unable to apply the figure four leglock as more stalling outside of the ring ensues. He tries once more after a missed kneedrop by Barr, though this time the heel uses the ring ropes to pull himself out of the ring. Graham ends up chasing Barr around the ring moments later, catching him with a drop toehold as the match heads back inside the squared circle. A vicious modified single leg Boston crab has Barr in a lot of trouble before multiple knees only add to the hurt. Talking of vicious, Barr slams his leg across Graham’s face to break the hold, only to miss a kneedrop that has Graham hunting the figure four again, almost getting it on both Barr and Funk Jr. within seconds. Funk Jr. grabs a handful of hair to stop the attempt, which leads to all four men in the ring and Race physically moving the referee out of the way as they tease an all out brawl.

  We take a commercial break at this point, coming back in to a Graham side headlock on Barr. As Graham hits the ropes, Funk Jr. plants a knee into the lower back of his opponent, finally turning the tide conclusively in favour of the heels. Barr scores a two count off of an elbowdrop, whilst most of the resulting offense targets the back area with Funk Jr. using a body scissors to squeeze the air out of Graham. Another use of Graham’s hair by Funk Jr. takes the match to the canvas as it looks like the hold might be broken.

  A blind tag to Race means he can’t come into the contest; the former NWA World Heavyweight Champion throws the referee out of the ring and gets involved anyway! Graham is thrown over the top rope before Race and Barr spill over the top rope as Barr goes for a slam. Graham gets the visible pin on Funk Jr. as he reverses a spinning toe hold attempt, but the referee is nowhere to be seen until the pin is broken, Graham and Funk Jr. collide mid ring and Barr slaps on a cobra clutch on a clearly unconscious man. Oddly, Barr then drops Graham rather than win the contest, though this is in order to attempt to tar and feather him once again. Jim Nighthart comes out to help, but the heels are held off by the arriving Scott McGhee and Billy Graham as we head off the air in the middle of a staredown.

  These arena Florida shows are always a nice change of pace, whilst also often offering a more competitive selection of matches. The main event was really action packed, though perhaps was all a bit too focused on the apparent killer move, Graham’s figure four leglock. Nothing else is amazing, but moments like the Rock and Roll Express debuting and Nighthart’s dynamic power to finish his contest at least add something to a show that is all about the top end.

  MACW World Wide Wrestling 29.9.84

  Having graduated from shilling duties, this is the first Tony Schiavone on commentary episode of Mid-Atlantic I’ve covered. He is joined by Tully Blanchard as Mike Rotunda and Paul Kelly start the in ring action this week. Kelly lands a shoulderblock to start, but after a drop down and a leapfrog, Rotunda regains control with a dropkick. A quick slam and an elbowdrop earn Rotunda a one count before he slaps on a side headlock to wear Kelly down. The match springs into action as Rotunda ducks a clothesline as both men hit the ropes and lands a crossbody for two, though things slow down once more as the side headlock is reapplied. Kelly manages to power Rotunda back into the corner and hit some strikes, but Rotunda shrugs off a turnbuckle smash and gets a two count after a standing dropkick/legdrop moments later. This sets up for the airplane spin and the three count in a match that was a little too competitive for my liking; Rotunda just has never felt to me like a good squash match worker.

  Schiavone is joined by the Koloffs and Don Kernodle with the focus once more on an arm wrestling match between Nikita and Dusty Rhodes. Ivan went to the Russian embassy apparently to offset all these wrestlers breaking the rules that Rhodes has brought in, so they now finally have the right footage to be shown. We are shown the arm wrestling contest, one that is pretty equal up until the point where Nikita grabs the edge of the table for some extra leverage. As these type of competitions go, this was a fairly tame affair as Barry Windham would complain on Rhodes’ behalf, but Nikita was declared the winner.

  Speaking of Nikita, he is in the ring next as Mark Fleming is his opponent. Fleming has some brief success and even lands a dropkick that has Koloff rocked, yet it doesn’t last long as Nikita lifts him with up with a double handed choke hold. Strikes, a slam and a big back elbow put Koloff in complete control, before Fleming gets thrown across the ring by his Russian adversary. The camera cuts to a member of the audience so we almost miss Nikita dropping Fleming throat first on the top rope as a set up for his cobra clutch. Fleming is out within seconds and Nikita has a dominant victory.

  The Starrcade Rally is the push for the shilling segments as Ron Bass comes out to talk about ‘a young man called Mark Youngblood’ before Wahoo McDaniel defends his actions in walking out of his last contest with Manny Fernandez ahead of their next scrap. Don Kernodle and Ivan Koloff are defending the belts against Barry Windham and Ole Anderson of all people as well, whilst Tully Blanchard meets Ricky Steamboat in a match that has a fifty minute time limit as Steamboat has been unable to beat Blanchard across a number of different limits.

  Blanchard is with Schiavone in the studio next as the Television Title champion talks about how he is ‘looking for a 10’ when he turns up to the arenas. Moving on to wrestling, Blanchard talks about Rhodes, Steamboat and Flair falling short against him, but Schiavone then suggests Barry Windham. To prove his point, we are shown Windham facing Bob Owens and Jeff Swords in separate occasions that tallied about one minute in the ring total. Both men would fall to the Windham clothesline, with Swords in particular barely escaping ten seconds. Blanchard’s argument the whole interview is the standard of talent Windham has faced; if Windham is able to do that against the best, Blanchard will give him a shot.

  Brian Adias – called ‘Adidas’ by Schiavone, so lord knows what he is actually going as at this point – is up against Mike Jackson next, so we get a handshake prior to lock up and two clean
breaks in quick order. Quick reversals and blocks see both men kick the other away whilst on the canvas, hiptosses by both and the standard side headlock/headscissors trade of holds, before another handshake leads to another exchange of holds. This time, Jackson gets a two off of a backslide, yet it is Adias that takes control with a monkey flip and side headlock takedown. Jackson manages to fight out and use a drop toehold, only for Adias to scoot out the back of a headlock and apply a hammerlock. Jackson comes back with an enziguri, but Adias again manages to work his way into the advantage with a hammerlock.

  Eventually, Jackson punches his way out of the hold and lands a dropkick, only to find himself back in an armlock moments later. The match has slowed down from its lightning quick start and it picks back up as Jackson lands a second rope crossbody that Adias rolls through for a two count. Jackson also lands a jumping back elbow as both men run the ropes. Adias comes close to the win with a sunset flip, whilst an abdominal stretch into a cradle seconds later is enough; Jackson battling him all the way in the hold. It lost its way in the middle, but was a surprisingly good match by Adias/Adidas, mainly due to Jackson being able to bring his skills to the contest. The only real knock on it is that it doesn’t exactly make Adias look good to have Jackson go toe to toe with him for as long as he does.

  Dusty Rhodes and Manny Fernandez join Schiavone as they talk about the ‘Unity Tour’, with Fernandez lacking a bit of finesse on the mic, but making up for it with a lot of passion about taking care of business. We are shown once more the footage from Fernandez versus Wahoo McDaniel as McDaniel walked out of the contest – Rhodes dubs it ‘skipping the light fandango’.

  JJ Dillon is with Schiavone next to speak Starrcade ’84, with a particular focus on the rally that will spark off the festivities that lead up to the biggest event of the year. Dillon likens it to the big parties that happen before the biggest football matches, reeling off all the names that would be gracing the card at the event.

  Dusty Rhodes and Manny Fernandez are up in the ring following their interview and against the team of Randy Barber and Steve Brinson. On commentary, Blanchard explains that Wahoo McDaniel had been expecting to fight Blackjack Mulligan, but Fernandez was a ringer after Mulligan was unable to compete. Thus, McDaniel made the best choice by choosing to go away and regroup for another day. Barber and Fernandez collide in the ring to begin and both men go down, but the Raging Bull lands two quick slams before tagging in Rhodes for a double shoulderblock.

  Rhodes gets fans cheering with a punch combination, whilst Fernandez comes back in with what effectively is a vertical splash off of the second rope. Barber does manage to make a tag, but Brinson walks straight into a Fernandez suplex. We actually miss the finish as Rhodes manages to get the win, yet the camera is on the ringside as the Koloffs and Don Kernodle grab Fernandez and assault him with a chain across the forehead. The match was a simple showcase of the face team which also allowed us some storyline development in the process – easy booking.

  Tully Blanchard steps away from commentary for the next match as he teams with Wahoo McDaniel to take on Don Sanders and Steve Miller. Or maybe he doesn’t as it is quickly clear that this match was taped earlier and we get the odd circumstance of Blanchard commentating on Blanchard. Blanchard and McDaniel are, like Ric Rude and King Kong Bundy in Memphis, another team that are trying to use ‘The Awesome Twosome’ moniker. Blanchard actually shakes hands with both opponents, but when McDaniel is tagged in early, he dumps Sanders hard with a back breaker. Sanders actually punches his way through Blanchard to make a tag to Miller, though this mainly leads to Blanchard grappling his opponent down on the canvas whilst Blanchard talks up his own performance on commentary.

  Blanchard throws Miller to ringside in order to allow McDaniel to hit a chop, before a slingshot into the bottom rope continues the punishment. McDaniel is no nonsense when he enters the contest, slamming Miller hard into the canvas and taking him down with two big chops. A butterfly suplex sends Miller too close to his partner, allowing him to get out to Sanders. Blanchard then throws Sanders immediately back into the face corner for another tag in an odd spot. McDaniel trips up Miller as he hits the ropes and Blanchard follows up with the slingshot suplex for the three count. Nothing special, though the Blanchard commentates on Blanchard element was fun for what it was.

  After a shill by Barry Windham, Manny Fernandez and Dusty Rhodes for the Starrcade Rally that only actually talks about one match (Fernandez versus Wahoo McDaniel), we join Joel Deaton versus Mark Youngblood in progress as Deaton has Youngblood down with an armlock. As Youngblood threatens to escape, Deaton grabs a handful of hair to take the hold back to the canvas, a move he repeats moments later after a brief stand-off once the hold is initially broken. A slam earns Deaton a one count, but Youngblood starts to build momentum with several strikes and a war dance, only for Deaton to head to the corner to halt Youngblood’s fire, at least initially. However, a trip and several chops to both the head and the chest has the fans behind Youngblood, but a flying chop is only enough to keep Deaton down for a 3.1 count by his reckoning. There was nothing notable about this contest, though I do hate wrestlers in preliminary positions who kick out of pins the second they are ‘over’.

  To finish, Tully Blanchard re-tells the story about how Wahoo McDaniel was sold a ringer in the form of Manny Fernandez, whilst also proclaiming that the ‘Unity Tour’ doesn’t have gold in the form of his Television Title and won’t win the United States Heavyweight Title Tournament either.

  A really average show for Mid-Atlantic, with the best match Brian Adias versus Mike Jackson by far. There were bigger characters and better wrestlers on show, but no-one matched up to that surprisingly good encounter. However, having an Adias match as the best on the show probably speaks more about the weakness of the rest of what was on offer.

  World Class Championship Wrestling 29.9.84

  No encore match this week in World Class as we have a busy card ahead; Bill Mercer announces not only a main event with Kevin Von Erich joining forces with Chris Adams to take on Killer Khan and Scott Irwin, but we will also have action from Skip Young, the Pretty Young Things and Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts.

  Indeed, it is Jake Roberts who opens the show for us as he takes on someone who had got a bit of a push in recent months, Chief Jules Strongbow. This feels like Roberts slowly starting a move up the card after defeating jobbers primarily, but an early chop from the Chief shows that things aren’t going to be getting any easier. Roberts tries twice to grab Strongbow’s arm, only to be thrown off and blasted with another chop that has the Snake slithering to the outside to regroup. Roberts seeks to return the favour when Strongbow grabs his arm, but his attempts to throw off the Chief fail as Strongbow holds on and drags him to the canvas instead. It takes a good old fashioned right hand to the face to allow Roberts some success, yet Strongbow is quick to work his way out of a side headlock.

  Roberts is backing off and choosing when to strike, a plan that works in his favour as he hits a knee and a hair-assisted snapmare. The Snake drives a knee into the back whilst working the arms, before dropping a knee to the face as Strongbow aims to kick him off. A chinlock continues the wear down, but Strongbow begins the war dance with several chops, only to miss an elbowdrop; one clothesline and a DDT later, Roberts has the win. Competitive, but lacking a little as it just felt quite slow and ponderous.

  Stella Mae French is with Mark Lowrance in some pre-taped footage, arriving behind the wheel of her ‘rig’ – a 18 wheeler. She has a two-by-four that she promises has one side for Gino Hernandez, and one for Andrea.

  With his tag partner in main event action, Bill Irwin gets a much easier ride of things as he meets Mike Galleger. It is Galleger who does begin the better, slapping on a side headlock, but the two men completely whiff on a spot that looks like it should see Galleger slip under an Irwin strike, but they just end up standing in the middle of the ring – until Irwin punches him in the face. They somewhat repeat the spot later, though this ti
me a leapfrog by Galleger allows him to hit a dropkick and take Irwin to the mat by the arm. A knee against the ropes breaks the hold, whilst Irwin immediately follows up with a gutwrench suplex and a kneedrop for two. This time, it is Irwin who lands a leapfrog and hits a big running bicycle kick for three. Short and unspectacular, outside of the clear miscommunication near the start of the match that didn’t help matters whatsoever.

  Before we head to a match between Norvell Austin and Skip Young, we see Lowrance in the locker room as he speaks to Jake Roberts. Roberts speaks about how he made one mistake which has led him to take it out on people like Chief Jules Strongbow, before talking up the devastating manner of the DDT finish. It isn’t quite clear who he is referring to, but what is clear is how good he is already on the microphone. Skandor Akbar joins Lowrance after Roberts leaves, complaining about the cameras in the locker room. His focus is the Six Man Tag Team Title, belts which he believes have not come his way due to favouritism in the booking offices of World Class. Before we head back to the ring, Akbar also mentions that Gary Hart will be in the corner of Chris Adams tonight and he wants five minutes in the ring with Akbar, minutes that will apparently be the longest of Hart’s life.