NWA-JCP 1985:JCP and NWA See Major Formation and Expansion; The Start of the Flair-Rhodes Rivalry; The First Great American Bash

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.

NWA-Mid Atlantic-JCP 1984: Vince McMahon Invades the NWA Territories; JCP, NWA, and AWA Join Forces in Response to McMahon and the WWF

With Vincent Kennedy McMahon taking over the WWF from his ailing father Vincent James McMahon, the younger McMahon broke several major cardinal rules such as not invading other territories and taking them over and raiding the other promotions of their top talent. He'd even book his shows in other's respective territories.

McMahon acquired many top wrestlers, managers, and announcers in late 1983 and 1984 from various NWA top affiliates as well as Verne Gagne's AWA such as "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, Bob Orton Jr., Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, Ken Patera, "Mean" Gene Okerlund, and the biggest acquisition Hulk Hogan, who was the number one promoter in the WWF.

Even though the elder McMahon and his WWF was not affiliated with the top and oldest wrestling promotion at the time the NWA and it's various territories throughout the United States, the elder McMahon still respected the code of staying in his territory. This was a lot like Gagne and his Minneapolis-based AWA, who also wasn't affiliated with the NWA but stayed only in his region and did not dare go to the other territories and they left him alone.

In 1984, the younger McMahon took over a major NWA affiliate by purchasing Georgia Championship Wrestling and taking over its Saturday night time slot to show his WWF programming beginning on July 14, 1984. The incident was known on as "Black Saturday." The war was on.

Promoters knew they had to either team up against McMahon or be out of business. The owner and promoter of the NWA's therefore wrestling's top promotion Jim Crockett Jr. of Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling decided to fight back.

Crockett formed an alliance with other promoters Gagne of the AWA, Jerry Jarrett and Jerry Lawler of Continental Wrestling Association (CWA), and Ole Anderson of Georgia Championship Wrestling along with other promoters of various NWA territories to create Pro Wrestling USA.

The joint venture was created to promote shows throughout the country and take it to McMahon and the WWF. They taped many shows in East Rutherford, New Jersey in the heart of WWF country in an attempt to undermine them.

Even though the WWF was on its way up with "Hulkamania", the NWA Mid Atlantic-JCP was still the top promotion in 1984 and the NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair was recognized as the top world heavyweight champion in wrestling, even more than the WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan.

Flair won the title, his second reign as NWA world champion, from the legendary Harley Race on Thanksgiving Night November 24, 1983 at the inaugural Starrcade supercars from Greensboro, North Carolina. The inaugural Starrcade event changed the face of professional wrestling as super cards were shown only on closed circuit television and eventually on pay-per-view (PPV).

Both the NWA and soon after the WWF, beginning with WrestleMania, began showing these supercards on PPV once a year and soon added another, and another, and another. Soon there would be a PPV event up to six times a year to now where there is one every month of the year.

Flair was the NWA world champion, the best in the business. After trading the championship with Race during an international tour in March 1984, Flair's next challenger was a kid from Dallas, Texas Kerry Von Erich.

Kerry was from the famous Von Erich family from Texas' NWA affiliate World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) as the NWA recognized Kerry as the number one contender to Flair's NWA World Title. Before Kerry, his brother David Von Erich was actually the number one contender to the NWA World Title.

The NWA Championship Committee supposedly voted David to defeat Flair for the title in either March or April 1984. Sadly, on February 10, 1984 during a tour of Japan, David Von Erich died suddenly from an intestinal rupture caused by a stomach ailment. This was the start of the "Von Erich family curse" where brothers Mike, Chris, and Kerry would eventually kill themselves in later years.

Flair defended the NWA title against Kerry at Texas Stadium on May 6, 1984 in the David Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions event held in the honor of David Von Erich. Over 45,000 fans witnessed the Texan Kerry Von Erich defeating Flair to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.

18 days later in Yokosuka, Japan, Flair won back the NWA World Title from Kerry Von Erich for his fourth reign as world champion. This reign as world champion for Flair would last for over two years, 793 days.

Flair defended the title against Dusty Rhodes in a one million dollar challenge at Starrcade '84 on Thanksgiving Night, November 22, 1984 from Greensboro. Flair defeated Rhodes to retain the title when special guest referee and Boxing legend "Smokin" Joe Frazier stopped the match due to excessive blood from Rhodes.

Flair dominated 1984 on his way to an even more successful 1985. The NWA and JCP was quiet outside of the Pro Wrestling USA merger, but things would get interesting as Jim Crockett and the NWA would start consolidating territories into one super power to take on Vince McMahon and the WWF.