NWA: Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling
July 16, 1983
(taped on 7/13/83)

The current MACW champs were as follows:
NWA World Heavyweight Champion: Harley Race (6/10/1983)
NWA U.S. Heavyweight Champion: Greg Valentine (4/30/1983)
NWA World Tag Team Champions: Jack & Jerry Brisco (6/18/1983)
NWA Television Champion: Great Kabuki (5/23/1983)
NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Champion: Dory Funk Jr. (1/30/1983)
NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Champions: One Man Gang & Kelly Kiniski (5/23/1983)

Your host is Bob Caudle.

• Mike Rotundo vs. Golden Boy Grey
  

Very amateurish type match until Rotundo catches Golden Boy with a dropkick and pins him after an AIRPLANE SPIN at 4:11. Rotundo is SO SWEATY.

They show us some footage of Ricky Steamboat and Jay Youngblood saving a couple of jabronis from those bullies Jack and Jerry Brisco.

After a break, we get set for a squash match for the Brisco brothers. Unfortunately for them, Ricky Steamboat and Jay Youngblood have paid off the jobbers and signed a match with the tag champs. YES.

• Jack & Jerry Brisco vs. Ricky Steamboat & Jay Youngblood
  

Of course it’s not a title match, but who cares. THIS IS AWESOME. Bob Orton Jr. joins Bob Caudle to explain to us rubes what just happened. NWA official Sandy Scott is out to confirm that this is legit. Steamboat grabs a chinlock on Jack to keep him contained. Jack goes to the eyes and tags out, but Jerry runs straight into an armdrag. Tag to Jay, Steamboat whips Jerry into the ropes and picks up Jay for a dropkick. It doesn’t make sense, but I like it. Jerry struggles to tag out. When he finally reaches Jack, Steamboat is right there waiting for him. Steamboat goes to run Jack from corner to corner, but gets shoved off and nearly falls over the top rope. Thankfully, Tommy Young saves him from falling and facing CERTAIN DOOM. Jack and Jerry keep Steamboat on their side of the ring beating on his ribs and choking him when it’s convenient. Steamboat fights off a bow and arrow submission applied by Jack. Jerry makes the mistake of slamming Steamboat over at Jay for a tag, but he pounces on Steamboat just in time and rolls him back over for a couple nearfalls. That’s some DRAMA right there. Steamboat fires back with chops, but it’s a losing effort as he’s backed into the Brisco corner. As Jack goes over to jaw with Jay, Steamboat rolls up Jack only for the ref to be completely distracted by Jerry and costing Steamboat a couple seconds off the count. Back on the Brisco side of town, Steamboat powers out of a butterfly suplex from Jerry and backslides him for 1-2-NO! Steamboat HEADBUTTS Jerry down and leapfrogs a charge to send Jerry crashing into the corner so he can make a HOT TAG TO JAY YOUNGBLOOD! There’s CHOPS EVERYWHERE. All four are in the ring as Jack and Jerry are whipped into one another. While Tommy Young tries to keep a VERY DESPERATE Steamboat out of the ring, Jay has an Indian Deathlock applied on Jerry. The reason Steamboat is so desperate to get in the ring is because Jack is coming off the top rope and crashes down upon Youngblood’s ribs! Jay is absolutely writhing in pain! Since he can’t continue, Tommy Young calls for the bell. (8:31) Steamboat is PISSED. Just a great TV match with two of the best tag teams ever. I might even like this more than the Starrcade match. ***¾

• Greg Valentine vs. Brett Hart
  

As I’ve mentioned before, this is Barry Horowitz without his beard. Jews aren’t taken seriously in the south, I guess. Valentine hammerlock slams Hart and goes to work on the arm like an Anderson. Brett scores with a couple lifters, but Valentine is back on him with a back suplex. He drops a couple elbows like only Greg can do and picks up the win at 3:55.

Bob Caudle talks with Gary Hart whose wrestler and NWA TV champ Great Kabuki is not Americanized. He’s not soft like all these American wrestlers. Kabuki denies himself the pleasures of life, which is why he’s so pissed off and mean all the time.

• NWA TV Champion Great Kabuki (w/Gary Hart) vs. Keith Larson
  

Every now and then, Kabuki will catch Larson with reverse kicks and crimp the neck with cravats and nerve holds. Larson tries to be pretty aggressive, but Kabuki wins with by walking the second rope and dropping a fist into Larson’s throat at 3:35.

Bob Caudle meets up with Rufus R. Jones. Dory Funk Jr. has put up $100,000 if Rufus can beat him. SERIOUSLY? For 100 grand, Rufus says he’ll beat Dory, Paul Jones, and Jake the Snake if he has to. WOO BABY. Roddy Piper comes by to tell us he’s still waiting to fight Greg Valentine whenever and wherever. Piper says James Dean ain’t dead, they just got him wrapped a little different, man!

Now let’s go to the NWA world champion Harley Race. Ric Flair has pushed him to this extreme. He is offering $25,000 to any HUMAN BEING who can take Flair out of wrestling. Paul Jones’ Army, Dick Slater, Great Kabuki, Jack Brisco – ANY HUMAN BEING. SOMEBODY TAKE THE DAMN MONEY! RACE WANTS RID OF FLAIR! So Dory Funk Jr. puts up $100,000 just for Rufus R. Jones to score a pinfall on him, but to injure someone to the point they can no longer wrestle is only worth $25,000?

• Bob Orton Jr. vs. Joel Deaton
  

Nothing really of note to talk about here. It doesn’t last long as Orton wins via SUPERPLEX at 2:34.

Bob Caudle gets Ric Flair’s reaction to Harley Race placing the bounty on him. Flair just knows Race is worried about him taking back the NWA world title. A very distraught Ricky Steamboat comes by to tell us about Jay’s condition. The man can HARDLY BREATHE. With Youngblood’s ribs cracked, now Steamboat is without a partner. Ric Flair immediately speaks up and says he’ll join forces with Steamboat. If Steamboat will watch Flair’s back, Flair will team up with Steamboat against the Briscos. Without thinking about it twice, Steamboat takes Flair by his word. This is like the Mega Powers joining forces. WOO!

• Dory Funk Jr. (w/Paul Jones) vs. Rufus R. Jones
  

If Rufus wins, he gets a check from Paul Jones for $100,000. Yes, that is the correct amount of zeroes. With thirty years of inflation, that comes to almost a quarter of a million dollars. Rufus could buy a ton of decent Kansas City hookers and blow for that amount. The Mid-Atlantic title isn’t on the line, by the way. With that much dough at stake, who cares about the title? Dory takes a shoulderblock from Rufus and doesn’t go down, but does hide in the ropes for a break. Rufus twists on the arm and headbutts the deltoids a bit. Once Dory breaks loose, he nails Rufus with a bunch of lifters as only Dory can do. Hammerlocks are traded back and forth. Rufus fights out of a corner though and hiptosses Dory to knock him down with a shoulderblock. Seeing his man is in trouble, Paul Jones distracts Rufus from the apron. Dory knees him from behind and rolls up Rufus for the 1-2-3! Oh, but Paul Jones was giving Dory some extra leverage. Match continues! Rufus blocks a slam and inside cradles Dory for the real three-count. (3:48) Can’t imagine Flair having to go an hour with Rufus R. Jones. ¾*

As the Freight Train’s arm is raised, Jake the Snake Roberts slides into the ring and tackles Rufus down. Dory shoves Tommy Young away so they can do a number on Rufus without any interruption. Hey wait, here comes Bob Orton Jr. They seem to forget that Paul Jones was ever a wrestler because he cowers in the corner while the guys pair off. Rufus and Dory beat each other up on the floor while Orton powerslams Roberts real good. Orton goes after Jones, but Dory nails him from behind with Jake the Snake’s boot. After getting posted on the floor by Dory, Rufus runs in and cleans house on the heels.

Over to Bob Caudle who is standing with the Assassins. Paul Jones interrupts and says Rufus R. Jones will not be getting the $100,000 check because he cheated! Jake Roberts come over to back up Paul Jones. Rufus is going to get IT, but IT will not be $100,000. Back to the Assassins. They are here to be successful and will do that because they have mastered the basic fundamentals of wrestling. They want the NWA world tag titles! Nah.

That’ll do it for this week. Until next time, so long for now.