One thing about Tony Atlas, he was not the kind to stay quiet. He was very vocal about wrestlers he didn't like and would often take matters in his own hands. One day after defeating an opponent, Von Erich went to the corner to get his towel. While he was in the corner, Tony Atlas came into the ring to check on the victim. Von Erich did his normal routine of throwing the towel on his fallen opponent and walked off. Atlas grabbed the towel, came behind Von Erich and started choking the hated villain with the towel much to the delight of the fans. Von Erich swore revenge and the feud was on. The two had several great matches at The Omni and The Atlanta City Auditorium. If Tony Atlas wasn't enough of a problem, Von Erich soon had to deal with Dusty Rhodes. The hated German finally packed his bags and left town.

Later in the year Tony had another foreigner giving him problems by the name of Pak Song, who was managed by Rock Hunter. Hunter was tired of hearing about how strong Atlas was. On television, he challenged Tony to get in the ring and press some weights above his hand. As Atlas started lifting, Song attacked Atlas. The weights crashed down on Tony's ribs. He was rushed to the hospital and was back the week after with his ribs taped up. He had several grudge matches against Song that always saw Hunter interfere for the disqualification. In September Tony teamed up with an exciting newcomer by the name of Tommy Rich in a tournament to crown new Georgia Tag Team Champions. The two made it to the finals losing to Pak Song and The Executioner.

During this time period, United States Champion Ric Flair started making appearances in Georgia. Many of the fans in Georgia, have never seen a wrestler like Ric Flair. Wearing expensive robes and often being escorted by a beautiful female, Flair was very vocal about how great he was. Atlas and Flair took an immediately disliking to each other. The two has several verbal confrontations on television until finally Flair agreed to put the United States title up against Atlas at the Omni. In a great match Tony defeated Flair by disqualification to prove that he was worthy to be a top contender. Meanwhile Rich and Atlas continued to team up. The fans were nuts about this team and they were known as TNT. In November Atlas gained some revenge against Pak Song as he and Rich defeated Song and The Executioner to win the Georgia Tag Team Championship.

In 1977 in matches against Abdullah, Von Erich, Pak Song and Ric Flair, Tony Atlas proved that he could wrestle with the best and was main event material. His success in Georgia continued in 1978 against some of the top wrestlers in the world, including Superstar Billy Graham, AWA World Champion Nick Bockwinkle and once again United States Champion Ric Flair.

I will take a look at the year 1978 as wrestlers from all over the world invaded Georgia, including the bad man from Borger, Texas.