"BYE!," he shouted. "BYE-BYE!!" The crowd mimicked Cooley, as Von Colt covered his ears - he left Continental and didn't come back. That left Cooley free to pursue "Nature Boy" Buddy Landel, and the one singles title that "Wildcat" Wendall Cooley had not held in the area: the flagship, the Continental title. The angle was that Cooley had been following Landel around for months on the road, begging for title shots - or so Landel said.

Landel "hired" the Shogun, a small wrestler dressed in a ninja outfit with some karate skills, to get rid of Cooley. Cooley quickly disposed of the Shogun at house shows around the area, and was rewarded with a series of title matches against Landel.

Most of them ended in wild brawls, with many of the other wrestlers becoming involved. But on April 27, 1987, Cooley finally climbed the mountain. Landel slipped away from the Stampede on the first try, smashing Cooley into referee Roy George. But on the second occasion, Cooley connected, and even with the Shogun's interference, Cooley grabbed Landel, turned him over, and alerted George, who counted the pinfall. As the crowd went nuts - they had little to cheer for in previous months, under Landel's reign - Cooley grabbed the title and leapt into the arms of "cousin" Scott Casey (don't know if there was actually relation there or not) and celebrated.

"For months," Cooley said, after winning the title, "me and these people have had to listen to Buddy Landel walk around here and say, 'Mmm, daddy, I'm the cock of the walk.' Well, you ain't the cock of the walk no more, Landel." Cooley became the cock of the walk, and Landel took a powder, leaving the area. But Cooley would soon be confronted with a bigger challenge - the notorious "Dirty" Dutch Mantell, in a feud that would define Cooley's time in the area - and confirm him as one of its legends.

NEXT MONTH:

Cooley and Mantell become entangled in a war to unify the Continental and Southeastern titles - a war fought, at times, with bullwhips; Cooley does the unthinkable, joining the Stud Stable; he realizes the errors of his ways; and Cooley disappears for almost a year, only to return to feud with "Dr." Tom Prichard for the Continental Wrestling Federation title.