August 22, 1977- Ric Flair and Greg Valentine vs. Ricky Steamboat and Paul Jones for the Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Titles. 2 months earlier, Steamboat’s star was born when he beat Flair for the TV title in a huge upset and now he was a huge babyface, so Steamboat and Jones defeat the blond duo in a great match.

October 30, 1977- Ric Flair and Greg Valentine vs. Ole and Gene Anderson for the NWA World Tag Titles. Flair and Valentine won the belts for the 2^nd time and "breaks" Gene’s neck in the meanwhile.

April 23, 1978- NWA World Tag Title Tournament. Flair and Valentine were stripped of their belts by NWA pres Eddie Graham for "unprofessional conduct" and there was a tournament held for the vacant titles in which Paul Jones and Ricky Steamboat who were the Mid-Atlantic Tag champs defeated Masked Superstar and Ken Patera to win.

April 1, 1979- Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat for the U.S. Title. Steamboat loses the title back to Flair in another one of the great matches in their feud.

April 22, 1979- Nick Bockwinkel vs. Paul Orndorff for the AWA World title. This was one of the few defenses that Bockwinkel made in the JCP area and it was a great match for the fans to see one of the best workers of the era in Bockwinkel.

June 26, 1979- Dusty Rhodes vs. Ric Flair for the U.S. Title w/ "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers as the ref. Rhodes pinned Flair for the belt, but the decision was reversed and the belt was given back to Flair when Rogers was deemed an impartial official.

August 5, 1979- Ric Flair and Blackjack Mulligan vs. Baron Von Raschke and Paul Jones for the NWA World Tag Team Titles. The recently turned Flair and Mulligan revive their team and defeat the heel champs.

April 19, 1980- Jimmy Snuka vs. Ric Flair for the U.S. Title. Flair wins the U.S. title for the 4^th time.

May 10, 1980- Ricky Steamboat and Jay Youngblood vs. Ray "The Crippler" Stevens and Greg Valentine for the NWA World Tag Team Titles. On March 29th 1980, Stevens and Valentine defeated Steamboat and Youngblood for the tag belts, and the next week on TV while David Crockett was interviewing the new champs, Steamboat comes out with a film showing how Stevens and Valentine won the belts from them. Valentine and Stevens then snatch the film from Crockett and assault him, so a few weeks later, David Crockett announces he has gotten a referee’s license and he was going to "get" Stevens and Valentine back. So on May 10^th, Crockett refereed the re-match in which Steamboat and Youngblood won the belts back from Stevens and Valentine in a great match.

July 1980- Ric Flair and Greg Valentine vs. Jimmy Snuka and Iron Sheik. This was one of the greatest turns of all-time with Valentine "breaking" Flair’s nose with Gene Anderson’s cane and the Greensboro crowd went nuts.

November 27, 1980- Masked Superstar and Paul Jones vs. Ray Stevens and Jimmy Snuka for the NWA World Tag Titles. Jones and Superstar won the belts from Stevens and Snuka and after the match, Superstar vowed to unmask if they won the belts and he did for about 30 seconds in a stunning moment for the fans that was never showed on TV.

August 8, 1981- Roddy Piper vs. Wahoo McDaniel for the U.S. Title. The Wahoo vs. Piper feud kicks in high gear as Wahoo wins the U.S. title.

November 26, 1981- Ric Flair vs. Ole Anderson for the NWA World title. One of Flair’s 1^st defenses in Greensboro and against his bitter rival and "cousin" Anderson.

March 12, 1983- Ricky Steamboat and Jay Youngblood vs. Sgt. Slaughter and Don Kernodle for the NWA World Tag Titles. This match and feud was one of the greatest of the decade and it had a great stipulation where if Sgt. and Kernodle lost, they could never team up again. All 4 men were a bloody mess and they all worked their ass off in a match that will never be forgotten by the people that have seen it.

April 30, 1983- Roddy Piper vs. Greg Valentine for the U.S. Title. Valentine regains the title that he lost 2 weeks earlier and injures Piper’s ear in the process to really add heat to the feud between the two.

July 2, 1983- Harley Race vs. Ric Flair for the NWA Title. This was a HOT match and a lot of people say that this was a better match than the Starrcade match.

November 24, 1983- Starrcade 83. This was a show that few will forget and it helped launch JCP into a new stratosphere. The 3 top matches were the Piper vs. Valentine "Dog Collar match", The Brisco Brothers vs. Steamboat and Youngblood for the NWA Tag belts, and the Observer Match of the Year for 1983, Flair vs. Race for the NWA title w/ Gene Kiniski as the ref.

June 24, 1984- Ricky Steamboat vs. Wahoo McDaniel for the U.S. Title. Steamboat loses his title to Wahoo with help from Tully Blanchard and cements Wahoo’s heel turn.

October 20, 1984- Ivan Koloff and Don Kernodle vs. Dusty Rhodes and Manny Fernandez for the NWA World Tag Titles. Bull and Dusty win the belts and this match also started the feud with Ivan and Kernodle along with the elevation of Nikita Koloff.

November 29, 1984- Starrcade 84. This show will be remembered for the Million-Dollar challenge between Ric Flair vs. Dusty Rhodes w/ Joe Frazier as the ref. The match was stopped when Dusty’s cut over the eye was deemed too bloody to continue by Frazier and Flair walked out with the money and the NWA belt.

NEXT MONTH:

We will look at Dick Slater and his greatest moments from Jim Crockett Promotions.