WWE Network has begun releasing weekly content under “Hidden Gems” in its Vault section, and my aim is to explore that content monthly.
There isn’t much rhyme or reason to these releases, though the 6/14 release had five additions with a theme that seemed to be both Father’s Day and taking advantage of the buzz from Kenny Omega’s IWGP Heavyweight Title win as well as he and The Young Bucks vs. The New Day in a Street Fighter competition at E3.
The basic format here is this: I will start with some history, then review the match. The star rating at the bottom has little bearing on how awesome or weird the thing was. Read the review for that.
Brisco’s Last Golden Opprtunity – NWA World Heavyweight Title: Ric Flair [c] vs. Jack Brisco (JIP; GCW Live Event Baltimore, MD 4/7/84)
This is the last televised Jack Brisco shot at the NWA World Heavyweight Championship that he held from July 1973 until December 1975, with a 4-day switch with Giant Baba somewhere in there. After his big run, he went on to wrestle in Florida, Georgia, and Mid-Atlantic for the next decade, finding his most success teaming with his brother Jerry.
Ric Flair was on his fourth reign with the title and firmly in the middle of his big run. These two had crossed paths many times before, particularly in the Mid-Atlantic region.
By now, Georgia Championship Wrestling had changed its TV show name to World Championship Wrestling, was being booked by Ole Anderson, and was dipping their toes in going national while Vince McMahon was doing the same.
The match took place on a GCW event at the Baltimore Civic Center that also saw Wahoo McDaniel & King Kong Bundy vs. The Road Warriors and Ron Garvin challenging Jake Roberts for the Georgia TV Title.
This Hidden Gem is a tale of two sections: of course there is the match, but perhaps most notable is the pre-match stuff, where an uncomfortably friendly Ole Anderson interviews fans and local promoter Gary Juster and absolute hijinks ensue.
Ole, holding a mic amongst the crowd, asks a Christine what she thinks about GCW – she says she loves it and watches it every Saturday at 12. A raucous gentleman behind them keeps screaming that he wants to see Ronnie Garvin win the belt (he did!), so Ole moves to him and he introduces himself as MUSCLEMAN – Mike Muscleman. He says he likes Bundy more than Andre (“We like Bundy!”), which is a bummer for Muscleman because Bundy would head to the WWF in the next year.
Christine’s friend Joy wishes Tommy Rich was there and wants to see Garvin beat Jake Roberts (he did!). Finally, Wayne Jones tells Ole he’s doing a pretty good job and thinks it’s a toss-up between Flair and Brisco. Just a nice slice of life from the average Georgia wrestling fan.
Ole then interviews GCW promoter Gary Juster and there is an incredible blooper left in where he forgets Juster’s name and they have to re-shoot. This is must-watch stuff.
The match is pretty good too, just a good old-fashioned technical 20+ minute NWA Title match. It is JIP with Brisco cranking a headlock – BIG SURPRISE. The action might not always be “compelling” but these two are always fighting for holds, the crowd is always buzzing, and Flair is selling big. The atmosphere is cool too: no commentary, one-camera shoot, and the crowd is dark while flashing cameras surround the ring. Earl Hebner is your referee.
Brisco is firmly in control for a bit with headlocks and armbars and in between it all Ricky Flair is taking shoulder tackles, backdrops, and hiptosses. Flair eventually kicks Brisco low while the ref is trying to get them out of the corner and goes to work – a backbreaker causes Brisco to SHAKE, a WOO gets the crowd bumping, but then that pesky Brisco keeps catching him with holds so he has to beg off.
Brisco has such a gravitas to him, this 70s pure wrestling seriousness, and it’s a cool contrast to the bleached-hair 80s jackass he is up against, with Flair still trying to play it straight so he can keep up with Brisco but just not being able to help himself. There is such a feel to their exchanges of – I don’t want to say realism, but that’s what it is. All their actions, even if it’s stupid fake wrestling, are based in reality. They take this serious, even if Flair occasionally hams it up.
Flair keeps getting in some offense but Brisco is right there with him. They pick up the intensity after about 15 minutes, as Brisco throws a couple sweet lefts, ducks a wild Flair swing, throws a few sweet rights and left punches Flair down. Flair sells a Brisco figure-four like a maniac, his white hair flying in the wind, but gets to the ropes. They exchange figure-fours and Flair goes up top and gets slammed down, but manages an abdominal stretch that he turns into a roll-up for 3. The crowd is just DELIGHTED at the match they just witnessed, and with good reason: it was very good. ***3/4
Just a few months after this, the Briscos would sell their shares in GCW to Vince McMahon, and after a brief run in the WWF, Jack left the business. McMahon sold the TV slot to Jim Crockett Jr. after a year.
Monsters and Demons – Kane vs. Leviathan w/ Sinn (OVW Christmas Chaos 1/31/01)
This is a terrible match brought up by an awesome Attitude Era finish.
It took place at OVW’s Christmas Chaos at a time when the WWF was on fire and their new developmental territory out of Louisville, Kentucky was reaping the rewards. In addition to overseeing the formative years of John Cena, Randy Orton, Shelton Benjamin and Brock Lesnar, OVW was able to call in some major names for their big shows.
Kane had re-debuted in the WWF as The Undertaker’s masked brother in October 1997 and by 2001 was a major wrestling superstar. Just a week earlier he had set the then-record for most Royal Rumble eliminations and reunited with his big bro.
Dave Batista was just getting started. After the WCW Power Plant sent him away, he debuted in OVW in 2000 as The Leviathan, a member of Synn’s The Disciples of Synn stable. The gimmick was that he had been summoned from the deep by Synn and was now hell-bent on dominating… the wrestling industry. At this point, he was undefeated.
Christmas Chaos also saw a young Lesnar, Benjamin, Orton, Rob Conway, and Rico Constantino in action, as well as WWF vs. OVW matches in the form of Big Show vs. Mark Henry, The Hardys & Lita vs. The Disciples of Synn, Chris Benoit vs. Nick Dinsmore for the OVW Heavyweight Title, and this match.
The video quality here is absolute dirt. Then-OVW booker Jim Cornette is on commentary hyping up Leviathan as one of Kane’s biggest tests. A shirtless guy is in the front row. Everybody goes nuts and stands up for the SUPERSTAR that is Kane.
What you need to know about this match is that it is terrible, but the last few minutes are a bizarre blast. Leviathan is green, and not in a “I know wrestling terms!” way – I mean this guy sucks. Bad punches, no oomph behind anything he does, awkward movements (enjoyed his early bump on a clothesline, where Cornette says he tried to jump)… no good. He DID already have a good spinebuster and spear though!
Kane runs through his stuff, and though he’s a pro it’s not like 2001 Kane was a superworker – he was over but wasn’t going to make up for Leviathan’s bullshit.
Regardless, the finish is a clusterfuck in the best possible way. There’s a ref bump, then Synn jumps in and Kane grabs her by the throat (ew), then Synn’s Disciples run-in and bump for Kane until Batista hits a spear and Kane’s overwhelmed. THE HARDY BOYS and LITA then run-in, but their brawl with the Disciples leads to Leviathan standing over Kane… until STONE COLD STEVE AUSTIN RUNS IN AND STARES DOWN BATISTA! Austin and The Demon! Austin and The Demon!
Leviathan takes a Stunner and Austin exits, but Leviathan GETS UP and you bet your ass Jim Cornette is hard selling the shit out of it. Kane hits a chokeslam, then sets something else up and they clip to Kane throwing the ref in and ending the undefeated streak of the Demon of the Deep. I wonder how bad Leviathan took that second finisher. Shit match but a wild finish – it’s always fun seeing these WWF guys at the height of their run work these small shows. *1/2
Later in the year Leviathan would win the OVW Heavyweight Title before heading to superstardom the WWF’s main roster in 2002. I still find it so funny that Cornette spent all this time building up Batista as a monster and he got brought up to SmackDown as a goofy Deacon for a rebranded Reverend D-Von Dudley.
3. Putting Hard Work to Use – Bob Orton Sr. & Bob Orton Jr. vs. Steve Keirn & Mike Graham (Footage of Bob Orton Jr. and Bob Orton Sr. training before the match) (Reel footage; CWF 4/20/76)
This is a weird little deal, yessir. The match is short and is basically silent footage from a film reel, while the majority of this clip is uncomfortably long footage (most of it also silent) of Bob Orton Jr. training as his dad watches.
Orton Sr. (Bob’s pop and Randy’s granddad) was an old pro who worked and held championships throughout the 50s, 60s and 70s in Florida, the Central States, the AWA, and the WWWF. Bob Jr. had joined the business just a few years before this footage. He held a few masked gimmicks before taking his dad’s namesake around the time of this footage. After competing in the same areas as his dad, he rose up as a heel in the NWA before heading to the WWF during the height of Hulkamania as Rowdy Roddy Piper’s infamous bodyguard.
Mike Graham and Steve Keirn both debuted in 1972 and were based for much of their career in the Florida territory where this match takes place. The two held the NWA Florida Tag Team Title nine times throughout the 70s. Graham’s dad Eddie ran the territory since the 60s, though he sadly committed suicide just a year prior to this footage.
In this era, Dusty was still The Man in Florida. The card this was on saw he and Billy Robinson vs. The Assassin & The Missouri Mauler as well as a main event of Jack Brisco vs. Harley Race to determine the #1 Contender for Terry Funk’s NWA World Heavyweight Title.
The majority of this thing is chopped up clips of young Bobby Orton Jr. quietly lifting weights. At the start it seems inoffensive enough, but then it KEEPS GOING and I start to feel odd. They are briefly interviewed as Sr. wears a Gene LeBell Universal Pharmacy t-shirt. Sr. notes that he wants to get Jr. in the ring with OJ Simpson so they can put wrestling in the same place as other sports. “The All-American Boy” (Bob Backlund, who was working in the NWA at the time) is brought up and Jr. doesn’t think he has the intestinal fortitude to go with him – they’d actually wrestle for the WWWF Title some years later.
If silent weight lifting wasn’t enough, we then go to silent footage of a shirtless Bob Jr. running, silent footage of the Orton’s playing tennis, and finally silent footage of Orton Jr. biking with Sr. tracking him. This all goes like 15 minutes of the 20 minute video.
The match itself is more interesting for the performances, as it is film reel quality with no sound outside of occasional bursts of crowd noise. The match is high energy, if anything. Orton Jr. is all fiery, Sr. is throwing big knees, Graham sells a shot to the throat HUGE, and seeing Skinner as a young basic-ass babyface is a trip . An Orton Sr. piledriver appears to KO Keirn and that seems to be a wrap, though Orton Jr. is pissed and the Oroton family keeps attacking Keirn as Graham lays his body over him.
Semi-interesting to see but not positive why this of all things was chosen to be put up, even if it was for Father’s Day.
The Road to Perfection – AWA World Tag Team Title: The Road Warriors (Hawk & Animal) [c] w/ Paul Ellering vs. Larry “The Axe” Hennig & Curt Hennig (Don Owen 60th Anniversary Show 5/21/85)
This match actually took place in Portland, OR, at the Don Owen 60th Anniversary Show. While Hulkamania was running wild, brother, a show was ran to honor the Owen family’s 60 years of promoting in the Northwest, and actually featured not just talent from the AWA and the NWA but the WWF.
Rowdy Roddy Piper and Buddy Rose (who got their starts in Portland) worked each other on the show, though the WWF was not so kind the next year. In addition to this AWA World Tag Team Title match, the show also featured NWA World Champion Ric Flair vs. Billy Jack Haynes, AWA World Champion Rick Martel vs. Mike Miller, and Sgt. Slaughter vs. Kendo Nagasaki.
In 1985, Larry Hennig was nearly 50 years old with a legendary career behind him in the AWA and Texas. He was most recently tagging with his son Curt, who had debuted a few years earlier, and would retire later in the year.
Curt Hennig started with the AWA in 1980 and would soon rise up the ranks, winning the AWA World Tag Team Title with Scott Hall in 1986 and ending Nick Bockwinkel’s fourth and final reign with the AWA World Heavyweight Title at SuperClash 2 in 1987, before heading to the WWF as Mr. Perfect.
The Road Warriors had quickly becoming a top team after a couple years in the business. Throughout the mid-80s they worked in Georgia, the AWA, and Japan, where they were top draws, before they moved to JCP full-time soon after this.
This is as special match, as it is total formula tag stuff, but it is a blast to see Larry “The Axe” Hennig in the twilight of his career no-selling The Road Warriors. Hawk & Animal might’ve been unstoppable badasses at this point, but right at the bell, The Axe is having NONE of their shit – he backs Animal in the corner, no-sells a shoulderblock, and CLAPS when Hawk is tagged in. They basically get no offense on Axe until his son tags in.
Curt is all scrappy and babyface with his armdrags and dropkicks, but starts getting worked over. Curt gets in some shots, some hope spots, and bumps big off a clothesline and kneelift, but he can’t get anything moving. When Animal hits a powerslam, Axe just runs in punching away. When Animal pins Curt, Axe just comes in and swats him on the back. Hennig puts his knees up on a splash and the hot tag is finally made, but Axe only gets a few shots in before tagging out, which seems ill-advised.
Everybody runs into the ring, including Precious Paul, and the bell rings because I believe one of the Road Warriors got thrown over the top, though it’s confusing. Regardless, Axe just fires off an elbow to the referee’s face and that is all I need. This is super basic but old no-selling Axe Man is a revelation. ***1/4
The Road Warriors and Ellering are interviewed post-match and put out a warning: “Any team that wants to enter the twilight zone with the Legion of Doom better get ready to enter a new dimension because we’re gonna beat you all, just the way we always do – EASY! 1-2-3.” Hawk then barks, “We still got the belts! You don’t like it? We don’t care!”
The Armstrongs and the Horsemen – Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup – Quarter Final: Bob Armstrong & Brad Armstrong vs. Tully Blanchard & Lex Luger w/ JJ Dillon (JCP 4/11/87)
This is SUCH an awesome match – it is basically an inverse Southern tag, with the heel taking heat and unable to make a hot tag, which results in the crowd having an absolute blast.
“Bullet” Bob Armstrong is a wrestling legend and the patriarch of the Armstrong Family, father to Brad, Scott, Steve and Brian. He ruled the Southeast territory throughout the 60s and 70s, both under his namesake and a mask as The Bullet. By the late-80s he was teaming with his sons a lot and still working pretty regularly in the Southeast and JCP.
Bob’s son Brad had been rising up the ranks in Georgia for a few years before he and his dad found their way back to JCP in early 1987 where they teamed together in the Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup.
Their opponents were running high as a part of the Four Horsemen. Tully Blanchard (along with his manager JJ Dillon) was an original member, coming to JCP after several years in his father Joe’s Southwest territory. Tully had held the NWA TV, National, and U.S. Titles and been a part of epic feuds with Dusty Rhodes and Magnum T.A. that were highlights of JCP’s flagship event, Starrcade.
Luger had debuted in wrestling in 1985 and by early 1987 he was already in JCP, first loosely aligned with The Four Horsemen and once Ole Anderson was kicked out, an official member. At the time of this match he was still fresh to the company.
The Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Tag Team Tournament was a 24-team tournament first held in 1986 as a one-day event, with afternoon and evening shows. It was won by The Road Warriors, who defeated Ronnie Garvin & Magnum T.A. in the finals. The 1987 edition was a two-day event, one show a day, and again featured 24 teams, including The Midnight Express, Road Warriors, Rock n’ Roll Express, and The Super Powers (Dusty and Nikita).
Once again – this match is SO awesome. Tully is taking heat from The Armstrongs and is an absolute MANIAC, flopping and selling all over the place. The crowd is in LOVE with him taking armdrags, being dragged across the ring on a headlock when he tries to escape, being unable to win a tug-of-war with Bullet Bob when he tries to tag Lex.
As time goes on his attempts to tag out get more desperate and he’s just tripping all over himself and the crowd is just ECSTATIC. JJ meanwhile just sighs in disappointment. Hebner refuses Lex tagging Tully’s boot but right after buys a tag behind his back from Brad because he makes a “clapping” sound and the crowd is just having the best night of their lives.
Eventually Tully does tag out to Luger and Brad comes in all fired up. Luger pushes him down and poses like a dick, but Brad pushes Luger down and dropkicks him and the crowd just flips their shit. Brad takes a little beating before Bob does an incredible hot tag until that son of a bitch JJ trips him. Everybody begins to brawl leading to a double clothesline from Tully and JJ on Brad and a 3-count. Just an absolute blast – I’d put Tully’s performance in the first 10 minutes up against anything. ****1/4
Tully and Luger would make it all the way to the finals of the Cup before losing to Dusty and Nikita. Tully would then move on to team with Arn Anderson in JCP before they jumped to the WWF as The Brainbusters. Luger went on to win the NWA U.S. Title, dropping it to Dusty Rhodes at Starrcade ’87 in a Steel Cage thanks to botched interference by JJ Dillon. Luger soon exited the Horsemen and ended up challenging Ric Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight Title at Starrcade ’88.
The Cup would be held once more in 1987, with Luger and Sting defeating Tully and Arn in the finals.
The Real Omega Man – Kenny Omega vs. Cru Jones (DSW TV 9/3/06)
This match holds significance as not just Kenny Omega’s first appearance on the WWE Network but his final match with WWE.
Omega began wrestling in 2000 in Canada, and after some success there he he started in Deep South under a WWE developmental contract. He spent a year there, working guys like Heath Slater, Matt Striker, and Vladimir Kozlov, and after not enjoying his experience he requested his release almost right after this match, less than a year into his tenure.
He went back to Canda, then began competing on the U.S. indy circuit, and in 2008 he began wrestling in Japanese promotion DDT, which led to not only him wrestling a 9-year-old girl but a spot with New Japan Pro Wrestling.
As for Cru Jones – I have no god damn idea. All I know is that he was trained by AJ Styles’ trainer Rick Michaels and he had a developmental contract around this time. He had some muscles and a catchphrase where he yelled YEAHYEAHYEAH, so WWE probably thought he’d be the next John Cena.
Seeing baby Omega is amazing – he does a super basic 30-second promo, and then the match is like 4 minutes. You can sense IT and there’s a pop to everything he does, but he’s not quite there yet. It’s a quick nothing developmental match, more notable than anything for commentary kind of shitting on Omega, saying Cru Jones is all business and Omega needs to stop trying to make people smile. Kind of amazing considering where the business has gone. Inexplicably however, commentary does call the Shiranui, which Omega uses to win. *1/2
Into the Woods – Xavier Woods vs. Michael Tarver (FCW TV 6/5/11)
This is another bit of footage from WWE developmental. A lot of this TV was online when it originally aired, but other than random YouTube uploads not a lot of it is out there.
Woods had joined WWE developmental in July 2010 after an eventful five years spent in NWA Anarchy as Austin Creed and TNA as Consequences Creed. In a fun bit of trivia, during his formative years he competed in New Japan’s 2010 Super J Tag Tournament, teaming with Kenny Omega’s pal Kota Ibushi.
Tarver meanwhile had already seen the stratosphere and was coming off a run as a member of The Nexus. In October 2010 he was injured and put out of action by John Cena, which led to Wade Barrett kicking him out of Nexus. He’d weirdly appear in random backstage segments when he was ready to return in early 2011, but nothing came of it and he continued working in FCW.
The match? The match isn’t much, but there are some notable parts. Woods is RIPPED. Tarver is such a What If – he didn’t seem to get along in The System, but the man is INTENSE. He responds to a drop-down and leapfrog with a straight kick to the gut, which I find so great. He also takes a straight back body drop on the steel steps.
The finish sees Tarver set up a suplex only for them to blow a spike DDT reversal, so they do it again and good lord does Tarver take it like an insane person. Commentator Regal ends the clip with this, of Woods: “He managed to pull off his signature maneuver at the end there, but he still needs to go back and watch this and learn from a lot of the mistakes that he made.” Did he ever. *3/4
Woods would end up on the main roster in late-2013 teaming with R-Truth before The New Day run began in early 2015. Tarver was released a month after this match.
Skip to my Boo – Boo Bradley vs. Chris Candido (Bradley & Cactus Jack and Chris Candido promos before the match) (SMW Super Saturday Night Fever 1/21/95)
This covers a relatively infamous angle in SMW, which the first 2 minutes of the clip go over – and there is A LOT going on. Good Ol’ JR is taking us through the history: Chris Candido and Boo Bradley were partners, managed by Tamara Fytch. Dim-witted Boo was basically playing a George “The Animal” Steele for the 90s. Candido and Tammy took advantage of and berated him, but held his loyalty through his “only true friend” – Boots the Cat.
Cactus Jack feuded with them and tried to get Boo to see the light and be a good guy to no avail. This was until Cactus pinned Candido at Christmas Chaos 1994 in a tag match with Boo. After the match Candido put Boots in a bag and leg dropped him off the top, KILLING HIM!!! This caused Boo to finally see that damn light and align with Cactus.
Boo, the future Balls Mahoney, trained and came up with Candido in the late-80s and started in SMW in 1994 as Candido’s aloof buddy. Cactus was in between WCW and ECW stints, stopping by SMW to work this angle. He actually left SMW by the time this match happened, though he was nice enough to cut a promo for it.
Candido and his girlfriend Tammy Sytch were rising up in SMW after Candido’s brief stint in ECW. Just a couple months before this, Candido had won the NWA World Heavyweight Title after Shane Douglas had vacated it in ECW.
SMW wasn’t doing too bad in early 1995 as Cornette was working in the WWF, which led to a talent exchange. They also had an agreement with the NWA, even if the NWA was no longer very relevant.
SMW Super Saturday Night Fever also saw D-Lo Brown in action, Ricky Morton vs. Unabomb AKA Kane, Buddy Landel vs. Tracy Smothers, Jerry Lawler challenging Dirty White Boy for the SMW Heavyweight Title, White Boy vs. Landel in a Lights Out Match, The Gangstas vs. The Heavenly Bodies, and a Battle Royal – WHAT A CARD.
After the feud recap, Cactus and Bradley do a promo from a field where Cactus gives Boo the tights that he wore in Germany the night his ear got torn off. Boo, master of promotion, promises he will defeat Candido “at that… Saturday fever night… special… thing.” Candido cuts a great dickhead promo after this saying Boo is an idiot and should eat dog food.
The match? The match is bad. Just a sloppy brawl that goes less than 5 minutes. JR is on commentary. Mark Curtis is ref. There’s a nice clothesline by Boo and bump by Candido. The ref goes down, Sytch (banned from ringside) comes out dressed as an old lady, leading to a distraction win for Candido. But Curtis takes off Sytch’s wig and REVERSES THE DECISION. Candido then grabs the dog food and stuffs it down Boo’s mouth, and then Boo chases him. Gross. DUD
Candido lost the NWA Title soon after this to Dan Severn. The Candido/Bradley feud blew off with a Loser Leaves Town Dog Collar Match at SMW Sunday Bloody Sunday II in February that Bradley won, sending Candido and Fytch to the WWF as Skip and Sunny. Bradley headed to the WWF later in the year as Xanta Klaus before showing up in ECW in 1997 as Balls Mahoney. Foley went to ECW and Japan and then the WWF. SMW went out of business at the end of the year.
It’s a bad match in the midst of a weird wild time for pro wrestling.
American Pride – Sgt. Slaughter w/ Grand Wizard vs. Jim Duggan (WWF Championship Wrestling 1/31/81)
In order to celebrate the impending July 4th, in order to celebrate AMERICA, the WWE Network put up a match from two patriotic wrestling legends that took place a few years before they actually became patriotic.
After an initial run in the AWA, Sarge was having his first WWF run as a heel, managed by Grand Wizard and running around offering $5,000 to anyone who could break his Cobra Clutch. He was a top contender to WWF Champion Bob Backlund’s title too.
Jim Duggan was just getting started, only a couple years into the business, and here was in the midst of a brief stay in the WWF as “Big” Jim Duggan before he went to Mid-South.
Not sure I trust the date the WWE Network has listed – results at Graham Cawthon’s TheHistoryOfWWE.com list Duggan as having accepted the Cobra Clutch Challenge on Championship Wrestling 1/31/81, but this is just a standard match. There was an All-Star Wrestling that aired on 2/7/81 with Slaughter vs. Duggan, so this might be that.
Vince McMahon and Pat Patterson are doing commentary. Duggan is a lot slimmer and generic than anyone who’s ever seen him do anything might be used to. The highlight of this is Slaughter going back-and-forth with a big fat guy in the front row who keeps yelling and posing at him – these darn fans always trying to make the show about THEM!
Otherwise, it’s a real average early 80s WWF TV squash AKA interesting for the frame of reference but not good at all. Slaughter just hammers on Duggan. Duggan fires back when he gets distracted by the fat guy. A piledriver, tombstone piledriver (kind of), and Cobra Clutch ends it. *
Slaughter would have the famous Alley Fight with Patterson a couple months later before heading to NWA Mid-Atlantic, then returning to the WWF where he eventually went full America before leaving again in 1985. After the Mid-South run, Duggan returned to the WWF in January 1987, where he too went full America.
