Jim Crockett was trying to do what he could to combat the rising success of Vince McMahon and the WWF especially during "Hulkamania" and the Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection between rock 'n' roll music on MTV and the WWF and the first WrestleMania grand event.
Crockett had some success teaming with Verne Gagne of the AWA, Ole Anderson of Georgia Championship Wrestling, Jerry Lawler and Jerry Jarrett of the Memphis-based CWA, and other NWA territories to form Pro Wrestling USA and promote their joint-venture shows in WWF territories in an attempt to ruin them like McMahon was trying to do to them.
One thing McMahon did that was considered a failure was purchase Georgia Championship Wrestling's Saturday evening time slot and their flagship show World Championship Wrestling to air his WWF programing. The fans of GCW were furious with McMahon's disregard of the Southern wrestling tradition and culture by airing his own "Yankee" promotion and it did not fly with them.
Due to losing money and poor ratings, McMahon was forced to sell the GCW World Championship Wrestling time slot to Crockett and the NWA Mid-Atlantic promotion. One thing Crockett did with World Championship Wrestling on TBS that McMahon did not was have the show filmed in Ted Turner's Atlanta studios
Crockett bought out Ole Anderson's GCW promotion and merged it with Mid-Atlantic. Crockett also purchased the St. Louis Wrestling Club in the St. Louis territory to form NWA Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). Crockett was also re-elected NWA President in a further attempt to take down McMahon.
The top event of Pro Wrestling USA was the SuperClash '85 - The Night of Champions event at Comiskey Park in Chicago on September 21, 1985 with over 20,000 fans in attendance. The headlining matches for the event were Ric Flair defeating Magnum T.A. to retain the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and AWA World Heavyweight Champion Rick Martel and Stan Hansen fighting to a double count out.
Pro Wrestling USA only lasted a few more months as arguments between promoters, mostly Crockett and Verne Gagne, led to the breakup of Pro Wrestling USA in January 1986. Pro Wrestling USA shows would mostly be shows for the AWA.
Crockett added a second annual supercard to his lineup in addition to Starrcade as The Great American Bash became the annual summertime supercard. The first Great American Bash was held on July 6, 1985 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Ric Flair defended his NWA World Heavyweight Championship against "The Russian Nightmare" Nikita Koloff and defeated him to retain the title. Flair was in the middle of a brutal feud with Koloff and his uncle Ivan Koloff during the summer of 1985. Flair had been a babyface in the Mid-Atlantic territory but a heel anywhere else in the other NWA territories.
NWA-JCP head booker Dusty Rhodes defeated Tully Blanchard in a Steel Cage match to win the NWA World Television Championship. Rhodes also won the services of Blanchard's valet Baby Doll for 30 days.
At an event on September 29 at The Omni in Atlanta, Flair defeated Nikita Koloff in a Steel Cage match. Koloff and his uncle Ivan attacked Flair after the match until Rhodes ran in and chased them away. Flair's storyline cousins The Andersons (Arn and Ole Anderson) came in to thank Dusty for helping Flair.
All of a sudden, the Andersons locked the cage door and in a major double-cross, they along with Flair viciously attacked Rhodes. Flair hit a knee drop off the top rope onto Rhodes' ankle, "breaking" it. Flair then applied the Figure Four Leg Lock until other face wrestlers came in and saved Rhodes. This was one of the biggest moments in NWA-JCP history as it started the Flair-Rhodes rivalry that lasted over a year as Flair was a total mega heel.
Rhodes managed to come back from the ankle injury to challenge Flair for the NWA World Title at Starrcade '85 on November 28 from The Omni. With the referee, Tommy Young down, The Andersons ran into the ring and attacked Rhodes. Rhodes, however, rolled Flair into an inside cradle to pin him and win the match and the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.
It appeared that Flair's year-and-a-half long reign as champion was over and Rhodes won the title for the third time in his career. However, Tommy Young announced that he reversed his decision due to the interference from Arn and Ole Anderson from a Rhodes' pinfall win to a Rhodes' disqualification win. That meant that Flair retained the title as the title cannot change hands on a disqualification or a count out.
This was just the beginning of the intense Flair-Rhodes rivalry that was about to add some more "horses" to the stable as we go into 1986.
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