Our journey takes us into the new year of 1981 with Harley Race still in possession of the NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion. However, he has many contenders across the continent vying for an opportunity to take it way from him. Without further ado, let’s see how Race fared in January 1981.
Harley Race enters the new year with the World Heavyweight Title still around his waist and defended the belt 13 times over the past month.
| DATE | EVENT | RESULT |
| 1/1/81 | Central States Wrestling – Kansas City, KS | Harley Race (55th defense) and Bruiser Brody fought to a double disqualification. Race retained the NWA World Heavyweight Title. |
| 2/1/81 | St. Louis Wrestling Club – Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, MO | Harley Race (56th defense) defeated Ken Patera by two falls to one in a Best of Three Falls bout to retain his NWA World Heavyweight Championship belt. |
| 8/1/81 | Mid-Atlantic – Norfolk Scope, Norfolk, VA | Harley Race (57th defense) defeated Ric Flair. Race retained the NWA World Title. |
| 9/1/81 | Mid-Atlantic – Charleston, SC | Harley Race (58th defense) and Ric Flair fought to a double disqualification. Race retained the NWA World Heavyweight Title. |
| 10/1/81 | Mid-Atlantic – Memorial Auditorium, Spartanburg, SC | Johnny Weaver and Ricky Steamboat beat Harley Race and Roddy Piper. |
| 11/1/81 | Mid-Atlantic – Civic Center, Asheville, NC | Harley Race (59th defense) defeated Ric Flair via count out. Race retained the NWA World Title. |
| 11/1/81 | Mid-Atlantic – Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, NC | Harley Race (60th defense) beat Ric Flair to retain the NWA World Heavyweight Title. |
| 12/1/81 | Georgia Championship Wrestling – Bell Auditorium, Augusta, GA | Harley Race (61st defense) defeated Tony Atlas to retain his NWA World Heavyweight Championship belt. |
| 13/1/81 | Georgia Championship Wrestling – Macon Coliseum, Macon, GA | Harley Race (62nd defense) defeated Tony Atlas. Race retained the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. |
| 14/1/81 | Georgia Championship Wrestling – Municipal Auditorium, Columbus, GA | Harley Race (63rd defense) beat Mr. Wrestling II to retain the NWA World Heavyweight Title. |
| 16/1/81 | Georgia Championship Wrestling – The Omni, Atlanta, GA | Tony Atlas and Dusty Rhodes beat Harley Race and Ole Anderson. |
| 19/1/81 | Big Time Texas – Will Rogers Memorial Coliseum, Fort Worth, TX | Harley Race (64th defense) beat Kerry Von Erich to retain the NWA World Heavyweight Title. |
| 22/1/81 | Central States Wrestling – Memorial Hall, Kansas City, KS | Harley Race (65th defense) defeated Bruiser Brody in a No Disqualification match. Race retained the NWA World Heavyweight Title. |
| 23/1/81 | Georgia Championship Wrestling – Ohio Center, Columbus, OH | Harley Race (66th defense) and Tony Atlas went to a no contest in an NWA World Heavyweight Title match. |
| 24/1/81 | Big Time San Francisco – Cow Palace, San Francisco, CA | Pat Patterson defeated Harley Race (67th defense) via count out. Race remained the NWA World Heavyweight Champion. |
ALL-JAPAN PRO WRESTLING
It was a happy new year for Prince Tonga in Korakuen Hall on the first date of AJPW’s New Year Giant Series. The 21-year-old from the Kingdom of Tonga was victorious in the traditional New Year’s Battle Royal on the 2nd.
The tour featured two title defenses for the NWA United National champion Abdullah the Butcher. First, he battled long-time rival The Sheik to a double count out on the 3rd at Korakuen. However, he left the tour empty handed as Jumbo Tsuruta pinned the Man from Sudan in 11:20 on the final day of the tour (22nd) at the City Gymnasium in Nirasaki, Yamanashi.
On the 13th, NWA International Tag Team titles were on the line, as Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta successfully retained against the dastardly duo of Mark Lewin and Abdullah The Butcher in a three-fall encounter at the City Gymnasium in Shimabara, Nagasaki. In a bout that went 20:27, the champions won by two falls to one.
Korakuen Hall played host to a huge title match as the AWA World and PWF Heavyweight belts were up for grabs as Verne Gagne faces Giant Baba on 18th. Both men left with their titles as the bout finished with a double count out after around 19 minutes of action, with the bout tied at a fall apiece.
Baba will be vying to become a third-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion next month when Harley Race puts the gold on the line at Korakuen on 15/2.
BIG TIME WRESTLING (SAN FRANCISCO)
San Francisco promoter Roy Shire is getting out of the business and ran his final show at the Cow Palace on 24th January. Pat Patterson returned to the territory to headline the card against World champion Harley Race. Patterson defeated the champ via count out and also claimed victory in a battle royal on the same night, ousting Dick Slater over the top rope to win.
BIG TIME WRESTLING (TEXAS)
In was a busy month in the Von Erich territory that got underway on the 4th January at the Dallas Sportatorium. The card was headline by a huge match, literally, as Bruiser Brody and Andre the Giant brawled to a no contest.
Two Tag Team title changes occurred throughout the month also, firstly Gino Hernandez and Gary Young lost their NWA American Tag Team championship to the team of Kerry Von Erich and Bruiser Brody at the Sportatorium on 11th January. The NWA Texas Tag Team titles were held up late in 1980, the vacated belts were won by Raul Mata and Chief White Cloud, who defeated Raul Castro and Killer Tim Brooks.
Their biggest show of the month was at the Will Rogers Memorial Coliseum in Fort Worth (19/1) with Kerry Von Erich receiving an NWA Worlds Title bout against champion Harley Race. Race ran out the winner but the 20-year-old Kerry took the champion to the limit going close to winning the belt. In other bouts, Gino Hernandez and Kevin Von Erich continued their war in a singles contest with Kevin emerging the victor, and Brody and David Von Erich went to a time-limit draw with The Great Kabuki and Killer Tim Brooks.
CENTRAL STATES WRESTLING
Bruiser Brody arrived into the territory to challenge Harley Race for the NWA World Heavyweight Title twice but left empty handed. After the first bout ended in a double disqualification on the 1st, the rematch a night later was No DQ bout in front of packed house at the Memorial Hall in Kansas City. The hometown boy Harley defeated Brody to retained the title.
The city of Kansas mourned the death of the first NWA World Champion Orville Brown, who sadly passed away on the 24th January aged 72. He had been staying in a nursing home since 1979.
CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING FROM FLORIDA
Barry Windham experienced a month of mixed emotions as he and Mike Graham dropped their Florida Tag Team titles to The Cowboy Connection (Bobby Jaggers and RT Tyler) at the Eddie Graham Sports Arena on 2nd January. But he was crowned the new Florida champion when he defeated Dory Funk Jr. at the West Palm Beach Auditorium on the 12th.
Mike Graham gained some gold at the end of the month (27th) by defeating Dick Slater for the Florida Southern Heavyweight belt at the Fort Hesterly Armory.
A war between Assassin and Dusty Rhodes began when the Assassin (dressed in Mexican Lucha legend El Santo’s mask) brutally attacked Rhodes during an interview with Gordon Solie on the 14th January episode of Championship Wrestling from Florida. See the angle here. The Assassin recently returned to the area in December losing to Rhodes on his first match back.
Rhodes came out on top in a non-sanctioned Lights Out contest on the 29th at Stetson University in Deland and the next night in Orlando a big tag team match was signed. Rhodes and Sweet Brown Sugar defeated The Assassin and Dick Murdoch in a special ‘Whoever is pinned must leave Florida for 30 days’ match. Rhodes pinned his former long-time tag partner Murdoch to send The Texan out of the territory for a month. Rhodes and The Assassin are set to clash again at the Armory next month (24/2) with Eddie Graham handcuffed to Assassin #3 to stop the latter interfering.
GEORGIA CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING
In a ritual for wrestling in Georgia, January 1st saw a huge Omni show pull in a sold-out crowd, with a main event bout between bitter rivals Dusty Rhodes and Ole Anderson. In a no-disqualification contest, Rhodes was victorious but the result gave Anderson much to complain about. After Dusty connected a right hand to the referee accidently. Georgia Heavyweight champion, Tony Atlas, who was at ringside as cornerman for Dusty, was pulled up to the apron by Ole and they began to brawl. Rhodes surged forward into Ole which caused him to collide into Atlas and Dusty covered for the win. After the bout, Ole and Alexei Smirnoff attacked Rhodes before Atlas gathered himself and saved Dusty from a serious beating.
Atlas and Anderson continued their feud on television a few days after the Omni show (3/1) and their match escalated into a brawl which ended up outside for a double count out. The promotion ran the Omni again on the 16th with the pair clashing on either side of a huge tag team match. The team of Dusty and Atlas overcome Ole and NWA World Heavyweight champion Harley Race with young Tony getting the pin on Race.
The Georgia champion Atlas continued a busy month trying to dethrone Race in Columbus, Ohio (23/1) but the bout ended in a no contest. Atlas has also been a thorn in Alexei Smirnoff’s side. On TV, Atlas defeated and unmasked a mysterious wrestler called the Russian Assassin and of course, it was Smirnoff under the hood. Smirnoff was irate and it took many members of the locker room to hold him back after the embarrassment.
In addition, on the 17/1 show at WTBS Studios, Atlas was attacked by NWA National Champion the Mongolian Stomper. Atlas was displaying his strength in a bench press exercise at ringside which ended up with Don Carson’s man choking Atlas with the barbell.
The Fabulous Freebirds managed to escape with their Georgia Tag Team belts on New Years’ Day after Ted DiBiase and Robert Fuller were awarded the win, but via disqualification. The team of Buddy Roberts and Terry Gordy were defending the titles and looked defeated when Michael Hayes got involved and caused the DQ.
In the return match at the Omni, Hayes could not have the same impact as it was signed to be a no disqualification bout. However, for the ‘Birds to agree to such a bout, Fuller had to put the keys to his 1979 Lincoln Continental online. Hayes ended up getting involved again and with the odds three against two, the Freebirds emerged as winners nailing Fuller with a triple piledriver for the win to retain the titles and gain the keys for the car.
By the end of the month, it would be a happy ending for DiBiase and the man that Freebirds injured last month, Stan Frazier. DiBiase and Frazier defeated the ‘Birds (Roberts and Hayes) for the Georgia Tag Titles at the Bell Auditorium in Augusta on 26th but the war is far from over. On the 31st TV show, the new champs put the belts on the line in a return match with the Freebirds and Terry Gordy, after Hayes declared was injured, intervened in the bout to allow the Freebirds to win. The referee threw the match out and held up the titles and the vacant belts will be decided on 2nd February back at the Bell Auditorium.
The National Television belt changed hands twice in January with Steve O defeating champion Kevin Sullivan on the 16/1 Omni show. Unfortunately for Steve O, by the end of the month, he would lose it to Bobby Eaton on the 31st January edition of Georgia Championship Wrestling. Eaton caused the studio audience into an outrage as he won the title with his feet on the ropes, and the referee missed the infringement.
In other news, Andre the Giant and Hulk Hogan brought their feud to Georgia with the Frenchman coming out on top in a close battle at the Omni on the 1st January.
HOUSTON WRESTLING
Paul Boesch brought in the new year with five of his weekly shows at the Sam Houston Coliseum in Houston. The first show (2/1) saw Andre the Giant beat Tank Patton by two falls to nil in a Best of Three Falls bout after Patton suffered enough punishment and took a count out loss. The Frenchman also saw victory winning a two-ringed 22-man Battle Royal.
The Funks (Dory and Terry Funk) appeared on two Coliseum shows. On the 16th, both brothers were in singles competition with Dory going to a 20-minute time-limit draw with English grappler Billy Robinson and Terry defeated by Wahoo McDaniel. The Funks then challenged the Southwest Championship Wrestling Tag Team Champions Ivan Putski and Wahoo McDaniel but came up short and lost by two falls to one.
Gino Hernandez, one of the most hated men in Boesch’s territory, has started tag teaming with Southwest wrestler Tully Blanchard and the pair were successful in a bout against Tiger Conway Jr. and Scott Casey (16/1). Speaking of Gino, on the 9th January show, he was pinned by Wahoo McDaniel and they met again on 30/1 in the main event, unfortunately for “Gorgeous” Gino, Wahoo came out on top again.
Both Gino and Wahoo were announced for the one-night four-man tournament to take place on 6th February. The winner of the competition will receive a Worlds title shot against Harley Race. The other two competitors will be Ivan Putski and Terry Funk.
MAPLE LEAF WRESTLING
The Canadian Heavyweight Champion Angelo Mosca did not have the chance to ease himself into the new year as Ivan Koloff challenge for the title at the Maple Leaf Garden on the 11th January. Koloff won the bout via disqualification after Mosca punched referee Terry Yorkston at 22:48, and therefore Mosca kept the title around his waist.
On the same event, the Toronto crowd witnessed a brutal Texas Death Match between Bobby Duncum and Blackjack Mulligan. It was a wild affair with the blood flowing after both grapplers used the spurs on their boots to cut each other open. Duncum unveiled a horse show towards the end of the bout but Mulligan snatched it away and knocked out the “Bad Boy” for the win.
MID-ATLANTIC CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING
The biggest news coming out of the Carolinas was that Roddy Piper defeated Ric Flair for the United States Heavyweight title on 27th January at the Dorton Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina but in controversial circumstances. The bout itself was a back-and-forth affair with Piper using dirty tactics but Flair looked to be retaining the belt once he had Piper locked into his patented Figure-Four leglock.
Piper grabbed the ropes and Flair kept up the attack but while the referee was trying to gain order, Piper reached into his trunks and used a metal object to smash Flair in the head before throwing it into the crowd. Piper covered the champion for the three count while the Nature Boy was out cold. After protests from the Raleigh crowd, the referee searched Piper for the object but obviously this was not found.
The next day on Mid-Atlantic TV, an angry Flair was beating himself up stating he had underestimated Piper. Later in the show, Piper wearing his kilt with a shirt, jacket and bow-tie, emerged gloating and stated that “King Richard was dead” and mocking the fans by Woooo-ing down Bob Caudle’s microphone. Piper called Flair out and gave Flair a present inside an oblong box. Once Flair opened the box it had the Piper’s NWA TV title inside.
Flair was outraged by Piper for devaluing the TV title and refused the present stating he would not wear a title that he never won. Flair pulled out the metal object used by Piper at the Dorton Arena that a fan had recovered in the crowd for him. Flair continued to insult Piper’s attire and said he was wearing a “rented tuxedo”, Flair proceeded to remove his own jacket and tear it apart before leaving the studio.
As a result of that segment on TV, it was declared that the NWA Television belt was vacated and a future tournament would decide the new titleholder.
The Flair-Greg Valentine feud expanded into including Piper and Ricky Steamboat, with Piper and Valentine proclaiming themselves as the new “Dream Team”. The two duos clashed on a big Greensboro Coliseum show on 24/1 with the good guys coming out on top.
Bruno Sammartino Jr. recently made his debut and Mr. Fuji has also arrived in the Carolinas and formed a tag team with countryman Tenryu. The Japanese pairing have been challenging the Mid-Atlantic Tag Team champions George Wells and Dewey Robertson.
NEW-JAPAN PRO WRESTLING
Antonio Inoki’s promotion kicked off their New Year Golden Series tour on 9th January with a strong WWF contingent joining the excursion. The Wild Samoans and Ken Patera represented the Northeast promotion with former Mid-Atlantic talent The Enforcer, impressive youngster Tom Prichard of Houston Wrestling and the vicious Bad News Allen (Stampede) also appearing.
The opening night saw The Samoans fall by two falls to one to the pairing of Inoki and Tatsumi Fujinami and Ken Patera pinned Seiji Sakaguchi. On 16th at the City Gymnasium in Yokkaichi, Prichard challenged Fujinami for the WWF Junior Heavyweight Title but fell short and was defeated in under six minutes.
The Samoans got a shot at Riki Choshu and Seiji Sakaguchi’s NWA North American Tag Team belts at the Kochi Prefectural Gymnasium but the bout ended in a draw. They will receive a rematch on 12th February at Korakuen Hall on the final day of the 29-day series.
PACIFIC NORTHWEST WRESTLING
The most hated man in Portland, “Playboy” Buddy Rose, aimed to regain the PNW Heavyweight belt on 3rd January at the Portland Sports Arena as he battled Jay Youngblood for the upheld title in a three-falls bout amidst a ton of controversy as usual.
Youngblood punished the Playboy early on working on the arm submitting Rose the first fall. In the second fall, Youngblood continued to work on Rose’s arms slamming it into the ring post on three occasions and while referee Sandy Barr asked Rose if he wished to submit, Buddy punched Barr to have the bout thrown out. Rose continued to attack the official and Jay was unable to remove Rose, until his father Chief Jay Youngblood Sr. emerged to chop Buddy sending him to the back.
However, the belt became a bit of a hot potato as a rematch was held the following night in Pendleton, Oregon, with Youngblood emerging with the title, only to lose to Rose a night later in Longview, Washington. Rose becoming the four-time champion thanks to the help of stablemate Rip Oliver. However, Lightfoot claimed the belt again in Seattle on 8th January in a Title vs. Hair bout.
The Youngbloods and Joe Lightfoot faced Rose, Oliver and The Destroyer on the return to the Sports Arena on the 10th, with Jay getting the deciding pinfall with a reverse cradle on the Playboy but during the match, Buddy managed to grab the belt and take it to the back and declared he would throw the title over the Freemont Bridge and into the Willamette River.
Promoter Don Owens ordered Rose to pay $2,500 for a new title belt and suspended the wrestler until the 24th January. Youngblood demanded that he wanted Buddy to present him the new belt once it had been created before yet another rematch for the championship. Meanwhile, the war between Rose’s Army and the Native Americans continued as Lightfoot and Jay defended their PNW Tag Team belts against Oliver and The Destroyer on the 17th. At the match tied at one-fall piece, all four men were brawling in the ring and while referee Barr had lost control, Oliver rolled up Lightfoot for a quick pin.
On next weeks TV (24/1), Owens and Youngblood were in the ring awaiting Buddy Rose to appear to present the new PNW Heavyweight title to the young Indian. Owens threatened Rose with a further two-week suspension if he failed to present the champion with the new $2,500 strap so, to avoid the suspension, the Playboy obliged… but then smashed Jay with a punch and laid the boots into him. Youngblood Sr. and Lightfoot emerged from the back and chopped Rose until he fled. This led to Rose getting involved in a Rip Oliver and The Destroyer vs. Lightfoot and Youngblood Sr. tag team title match. Rose attacked both men during the men to end the bout with a disqualification so his Army retained their gold.
In addition, Jonathan Boyd has declared war on the Army. Boyd challenged any member of the Army to match a match on TV (24/1) and the Destroyer and Oliver left the Australian grappler a bloody mess. In other news, the former Mid-Atlantic Tag Team champions Buzz Sawyer and Matt Borne have arrived in the territory.
SOUTHEASTERN CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING
Randy Rose and Dennis Condrey won the Southeastern Tag Team belts from Brad and Bob Armstrong (13/1 in Mobile, Alabama) due to interference from Mr. Saito. The team of Paul Orndorff and Norvell Austin are vying to uncrown the new champions but so far to no avail.
Saito vs. Bob Armstrong is the most high-profile feud in the promotion with pair feuding over the Alabama State Heavyweight title. Saito defeated Bullet Bob for the strap at the Boutwell Auditorium in Birmingham.
Brad Armstrong has been crowned the youngest wrestler to ever win the United States Junior Heavyweight belt, after Jerry Stubbs was stripped of the belt and Armstrong won a big one-night tournament at Mobile’s Expo Hall on 20th January in a huge sell-out show. Other competitors in the tournament were Robert Gibson, Frank Lavertt, Roy Lee Welch and Japanese veteran Oki Shikina.
Stubbs did have gold around his waist shortly after as he beat NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion Les Thornton for his title at the 20/1 Expo Hall show, although the Englishman did reclaim it just four days later in Dothan.
Additionally, on the 20/1 show, in a brutal double Bullrope match, Jimmy Golden turned heel on his cousin “The Tennessee Stud” Ron Fuller. Golden and Fuller were battling Ron and Don Bass the Bullrope match and Don Bass suffered a broken leg after Fuller had the Texan locked in a Inside Step Over Toe Hold for a considerable amount of time. Golden broke the hold and smashed his cousin in the head with the cowbell. Golden appeared on the television show proclaiming himself to the new “Tennessee Stud”. A week earlier, Johnny Valiant also suffered a broken leg due to Fuller’s hold, who is a former partner of Johnny’s, and Valiant is set to miss some time.
ST. LOUIS WRESTLING CLUB
Sam Muchnick’s St. Louis Wrestling started with a bang with a sell-out show at the Kiel Auditorium which was headlined with a Harley Race-Ken Patera World title bout. The champion ran out a two-falls to one winner but Patera showed the packed crowd he was worth every penny of the ticket. In other matches, the Missouri champion Ted DiBiase overcame the big challenge of Ox Baker and King Kong Brody and Pat O’Connor beat Mike Kelly and Big John Studd.
Before the month was out, the promotion returned to the Kiel with the team of Brody and Andre the Giant pairing up for the first time ever. The sheer size of the duo was a sight to behold in a tag match against Dick Murdoch and Ric Flair. Obviously, the big men ran out winners. In what has become quite the ritual everywhere he goes, Andre also won a battle royal.
It was announced that DiBiase will get a shot at the NWA World Championship on 6th February at the next Kiel show in a three falls encounter.
STAMPEDE WRESTLING
After returning home to wrestle in England last October, The Dynamite Kid is back in Calgary and has been tag-teaming with David Schultz to battle the Harts (Bruce and Bret Hart). Bret Hart is still in possession of the Stampede North American title despite the efforts of the 6-foot 6-inch-tall Schultz.
VANCOUVER ALL STAR WRESTLING
Continuing their feud from Portland, Buddy Rose and his army took their feud with Jay Youngblood up to Canada. On the 12th January Rose and Rip Oliver defeated Youngblood and Joe Ventura for the Pacific Coast Tag Team titles.
WORLD WRESTLING FEDERATION
The newly crowned Intercontinental Champion Pedro Morales has experienced no shortage of contenders for the belt. The Puerto Rican has defended against Sgt. Slaughter, The Hangman, Stan Hansen and Killer Khan over the last 31 days and still remains the titleholder.
Sgt. Slaughter has also been trying to win the WWF Heavyweight belt from Bob Backlund. The pair have clashed on big shows in the Nassau Coliseum (2nd), Capital Center (3rd and 31st) and the Philadelphia Spectrum (10th), but Backlund has possession of the title.
There was no Madison Square Garden show this month, but the Fed will return to the arena on February 16th with Stan Hansen challenging Backlund for the WWF Title and Slaughter facing Morales for the I.C. strap.
Hansen and former two-time champion Bruno Sammartino have battling across the Northeast this past month. The wild brawling Texan picked up two count-out victories against the former two-time World Champion at the Boston Garden (10/1) and the Pittsburgh Civic Center (16/1), while the pair went to a double count out on 31/1 in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Sammartino was lucky to escape the Pittsburgh bout without an injury after a brutal display from Hansen. The Texan removed his elbow pad while Sammartino was on the outside and as the Italian climbed back up to the apron, Hansen smashed Bruno with his patented Lariat clothesline. Bruno went tumbling down to the arena floor knocked unconscious and was counted out.
One of the WWF Tag Team Champions, Rick Martel suffered an elbow injury in a successful title defense (16/1 – Pittsburgh) against The Moondogs and partner Tony Garea worked the majority of the bout. Martel and Garea won the bout when guest referee Special Delivery Jones disqualified the ‘Dogs, after King hit Garea over the head with a bone. Martel returned to action on 27th at the Civic Center, Portland, Maine in a defeat against The Hangman.
| NWA WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION | NWA WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS |
|---|---|
| HARLEY RACE | PAUL JONES & THE MASKED SUPERSTAR |
| 1. Antonio Inoki | 1. Giant Baba/Jumbo Tsuruta |
| 2. Roddy Piper | 2. The Fabulous Freebirds |
| 3. Ric Flair | 3. Dory & Terry Funk |
| 4. Bob Backlund | 4. Ray Stevens/Jimmy Snuka |
| 5. Tony Atlas | 5. Tony Garea/Rick Martel |
| 6. Gino Hernandez | 6. The Wild Samoans |
| 7. Andre the Giant | 7. Antonio Inoki/Tatsumi Fujinami |
| 8. Giant Baba | 8. Riki Choshu/Seiji Sakaguchi |
| 9. Bruiser Brody | 9. David & Kevin Von Erich |
| 10. Ted DiBiase | 10. Robert Fuller & Ted DiBiase |
See Ric Flair talk through his NWA United States Heavyweight Title loss against Roddy Piper here on an episode of Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling. No footage of the full match at the Dorton Arena, 27th January 1981 is currently available but this video shows you the finish and listen to Flair’s opinion on the match.
All Japan: Korakuen plays host to a Race-Baba match where the Giant will be aiming to become NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion for a third time.
Big Time Wrestling (Texas): The huge Star Wars show takes place at Reunion Arena in Dallas on 22nd Feb. The full report coming.
Florida: Dusty has sworn that he will get revenge against The Assassin. They meet in a big bout at the Fort Hesterley Armory on 24th Feb.
Georgia: New Georgia Tag Team Champions will be crowned at the Bell Auditorium on 2nd Feb as Dibiase and Fuller meet the Freebirds once again to decide the vacant belts.
Mid-Atlantic: Flair vows to regain the US strap from Piper and with Steamboat and Valentine now involved in the feud, there should be some hot action coming out of the Carolinas.
New Japan: The New Year Golden Series concludes with a big Inoki vs. Bobby Duncum bout.
Southeastern: The promotion host ‘Championship Month’ on their TV show with a title defended on each week of television.
St. Louis: Can Ted DiBiase wrestle away the NWA World Title from champion Harley Race?
WWF: Stan Hansen returns to New York to face Bob Backlund at MSG on 16th Feb. Can the big Texan finally take the belt away from Backlund?
As always, thanks for reading…
Will Burns
Sources: Cagematch.net, Mid-Atlantic Gateway, MapleLeafWrestling.com, WrestlingData, Joseph Shedlock Newsletters
Project Territories 