1978 had been a year when both Nick Gulas and Jerry Jarrett tried to invade the other’s territory. Both failed. As 1979 started things stood where they did a year before in regards to each end of the territory. Jarrett relied on tested talent from other territories such as Jos LeDuc and Jimmy Valiant and mixed in his own headliners Jerry Lawler and Bill Dundee. Gulas used longtime star Tojo Yamamoto as a heel and headlined with young talent such as George Gulas, Bobby Eaton, Randy Savage and others. After the 1977 split the two groups had drifted apart, would 1979 continue this trend?

Mat(inee) Idol

Often professional wrestling is about transformations. A young unproven wrestler can transform into a gritty up-and-comer. Sometimes the transformation is less subtle such as when a long-standing fan favorite turns into the most disliked man in the area (or vice-versa). Other times the change is more elusive and goes unnoticed for a long time.

Around 1972 a young wrestler debuted as Dennis McCord and wrestled in the Carolinas, Florida and for Nick Gulas. McCord was a big, powerful looking man with a barrel-chested physique. He would gather more experience by traveling to Australia and holding the Austra-Asian tag titles there with Jimmy Golden. Later, McCord changed his ring name from Dennis McCord to Iron Mike McCord and the big brunette gained more recognition by working matches in the WWWF.

His stay in the WWWF, though productive, did not lead to main event matches as he fit into mid-card status. McCord, managed briefly by Lou Albano, though turned some heads during his WWWF run mainly because of his bodybuilder appearance, then sported by few in the business, and the potential he showed as an overconfident heel.