The next week they showed another Wahoo McDaniel match from the Mid-Atlantic area. This match didn’t have commentary either and I don’t know the name of Wahoo’s opponent. I do know that he wore a blue mask and he had long black hair that he wore in a ponytail. Wahoo won the match pretty easily with a vertical suplex.

Also in this hour of All-Star Wrestling they showed a clip from the Mid-Atlantic area with Ric Flair with a microphone about his upcoming match in Kansas City on May 10, 1984. Ric was going to Kansas City to defend his title against Wahoo McDaniel. "Let me say one thing about Kansas City Missouri. I don’t know why anybody in the whole world would want to live in a hick town like Kansas City." The weird thing about this interview was that Ric was in full heel mode, but he was a face in the Mid Atlantic area. He was a heel throughout the rest of the NWA. At one point of the interview, Ric said: "Now Bob Geigel brings in Wahoo McDaniel, the great Indian Chief, one of the top 10 wrestlers in the world his entire career to Kansas City, thinking in the back of his mind he’s found someone that can eliminate me from the World Heavyweight Championship. Well, I got news for you Wahoo, and I got news for you Bob Geigel, and I got real big news for Kansas City, this [belt] is mine. I worked for it brother, Whoo! I’m the Big Daddy, I’m the man that makes wrestling what it is today. And Kansas City, Wahoo McDaniel, Bob Geigel, it makes no difference. Wahoo, gear up, brother, because the World Champion’s coming to town to take you down, brother. Whoo!"

Later in this hour of All-Star Wrestling, they showed a match between Ric Flair and one of my favorite jobbers of the 1980’s, Pat Rose. This match came from Georgia, and Gordon Solie was doing the commentary for it. Pat Rose also wrestled in Mid-South Wrestling as well. Ric Flair won the match with the figure four, and before he put it on, he said his catch phrase "Now we go to school."

Still later in the show, they showed an interview from the Mid-Atlantic area from Wahoo McDaniel. The interviewer was Tony Schiavone and he just held the mic. Wahoo had said that he helped train Ric some when he first started. Also in the interview he said "To get the chance there in Kansas City where a lot of people don’t know me but a lot of people are gonna know me. I’m gonna come there Flair with one thing in mind. And you know how tough I can be and you know I don’t always play by the rules and this may be one of those times I have to break a few rules. Because I want to win that championship."

I remember the morning of May 13, 1984 very well. I could smell the biscuits baking in the oven when Kevin Wall opened the show by saying "The big news in pro wrestling, around the world, is the fact that the World Champion, Ric Flair is no more." He paused just long enough for me to think, "How did Ric die?" but Kevin then said "He was defeated, on May 6th, Irving Texas, before a crowd of over 36,000. The winner and new champion, Kerry Von Erich. We will see how the title changed hands in this hour of All-Star Wrestling." The crowd at Texas Stadium was actually over 43,000. I thought for sure in that brief moment that Ric Flair was no longer with us.

So on the next episode of All-Star Wrestling, they showed the match from May 10th between Ric Flair and Wahoo McDaniel. This match was not for the World Title anymore since Kerry Von Erich was the champ. The special Referee in this match was Buzz "Avalanche" Tyler. We joined the match five minutes in progress. After some action, they take it outside. Ric Flair rammed Wahoo McDaniel into the steel ringpost and Wahoo got a cut over his eye. Ric Flair and Buzz Tyler get into a shoving match and Wahoo gets back into the ring. Flair with a kneedrop on Wahoo’s head to open the cut even wider. Flair got a few two counts by using the ropes for leverage but Buzz caught it. Flair puts Wahoo in the Abdominal Stretch and he used the ropes for leverage twice before Wahoo turned it into a hiptoss. Wahoo’s face is a mask of blood. He does a wardance and with one chop Flair is down, Wahoo with the advantage now. Wahoo with a backdrop and he goes for the pin and gets a one count. Wahoo with a barrage of fists and chops in the corner. He gives Flair an Irish Whip into the opposite turnbuckle but Flair doesn’t go all the way over. Flair got caught in the "tree of woe." Buzz untangles Flair. Wahoo with a double arm suplex for a two count. Flair threw Wahoo outside and they brawl outside at the fifteen minute mark. Back in the ring, Flair with a piledriver. Wahoo put Flair in a headlock and Flair turned it into a belly to back suplex. Flair comes off the ropes, Wahoo tries for a powerslam but Flair slips out and gets behind Wahoo. Flair tries to push Wahoo into the turnbuckles but Wahoo gets behind Flair and rolls him up for the three count. Kevin Wall says that this was to have been a title match. "If Flair had not lost on May 6th, Wahoo McDaniel would’ve been champion, but instead it’s another victory and a big one for Chief Wahoo McDaniel." Wahoo goes to leave the ring but Flair invites him back in. Wahoo comes back in the ring and they brawl quickly and Flair has had enough and he leaves the ring. Wahoo is in the ring as the show went off the air.

NEXT MONTH:

From Indians to Cowboys, next month we’ll look at Stan Hansen.