Atlantic Coast Championship Wrestling TV #1
March 16th, 1984
Sportatorium, Tampa, FL
Bob Caudle: From the famous Sportatorium in Tampa, FL, welcome to the premiere episode of Atlantic Coast TV. I’m Bob Caudle and it’ll be a pleasure for me to accompany you every weekend for our weekly episodes, along with Tony Schiavone, who’ll join me in a few minutes. We can already say that things have started with a bang for AWA Atlantic Coast. We already have our first champion crowned as Bill White won a 10-men battle royal to capture the AWA Florida Heavyweight Championship and we will crown all of our champions in the upcoming weeks, including the AWA Atlantic Coast TV Champion, the AWA Atlantic Coast Tag Team Champions and of course, the AWA Atlantic Coast Heavyweight Champion. Now, we could say that one man who’s ahead of the pack in the race of the AWA Atlantic Coast Heavyweight Championship is Greg Valentine. Valentine has scored two impressive wins in the last few days, one against Ricky Steamboat and the other against the returning Paul Orndorff. And it’s my pleasure to welcome one of them, Ricky Steamboat.
(Ricky Steamboat joins Bob Caudle to the desk to a nice ovation from the studio crowd.)
Bob Caudle: Ricky Steamboat, I’m sure that this isn’t how you envisioned your first official match with Atlantic Coast by losing to Greg Valentine the way you did.
Ricky Steamboat: Well, I would lie if I said that I’m not disappointed with how it turned out but that’s the way it is. But before I address this further, I’d like to wish my best friend Jay Youngblood the best of luck now that he’ll be teaming with his brother Mark. I know that he had been waiting for this opportunity to team with him for a while and I’m happy that my decision to focus on singles competition will not prevent them to pursue his goal of becoming AWA Atlantic Coast Tag Team Champion someday. And it’s with that same purpose that I want to focus on hopefully becoming the first AWA Atlantic Coast Heavyweight Champion. So now, that’s what I intend to do and I have to beat guys like Greg Valentine if I want to be the champion.
(Ricky Steamboat is interrupted by a studio crowd roar as Paul Orndorff makes his way to the interview booth.)
Bob Caudle: Well, I just spoke about you. Paul Orndorff, I’d like to officially welcome you to Atlantic Coast Championship Wrestling.
Paul Orndorff: Thank you, sir. It’s a pleasure for me to be here. I’m always up for a challenge and I truly feel like this is where I’ll get the best challenge. Now, I just heard Ricky talking about his goals and what he wanted to accomplish in the AWA and I want to make it clear to Ricky that I have so much respect for you, man. It’s one thing for me to wrestle regularly in front of my hometown crowd in Tampa going forward but being able to do so by your side, it’s an honor.
Ricky Steamboat: Well, thank you, Paul, I really appreciate that.
Paul Orndorff: But, enough pleasantries, I think it’s time we get down to business. It’s been a wild week and you look at everything going on; you look at Greg Valentine cheating left and right to win matches; you look at Oliver Humperdink assembling himself an army of misfits for his House of Humperdink and I came to realize that if we get selfish and we try to do things our way, we have no chance, man. We gotta make sure that we stick together if we want to overcome those odds. I’m fully aware that the both of us are gunning for the Atlantic Coast Heavyweight Championship but none of us can achieve that if we’re not in one piece. So, I’m not asking for us to be the best of friends or anything. But in this situation, we got to take care of that common threat we got and that is Greg Valentine. It’s pretty simple; I scratch your back and you scratch mine. So, what do you say?
Ricky Steamboat: Paul, I’ll tell you this; I definitely realize what we have ahead of us and we can’t even count out the possibility of outside threats from other territories in the AWA. I’d be willing to bet that down in World Class, Skandor Akbar is thinking about sending some of his guys here to take care of us. So, yeah, we got to stick together and I got your back, my friend.
(Steamboat and Orndorff shake hands and leave together. Tony Schiavone then comes from the opposite side to join Bob Caudle at the broadcast booth.)
Bob Caudle: Well, Ricky Steamboat and Paul Orndorff joining forces together is the best news we could have here on Atlantic Coast Championship Wrestling, especially considering what the House of Humperdink could be up to and in the race for the Atlantic Coast Heavyweight Championship, you need all the backup you can have. And now it’s my pleasure to officially welcome to the broadcast to call with me the action every week on ACCW TV, Tony Schiavone.
Tony Schiavone: Thank you, Bob, this is a true pleasure for me to be here with you and I’m looking forward to bring our viewers at home some exciting wrestling every week. And like you said, with guys like Greg Valentine, Paul Orndorff and Ricky Steamboat in the hunt for the Atlantic Coast Heavyweight title as well as Dusty Rhodes and Wahoo, I mean….anyone could win it. And that’s the beauty of what we have here in the AWA Atlantic Coast.
Bob Caudle: Our first match to kick us off will see a member of the House of Humperdink in action as The Missing Link will take center stage.
Match #1
The Missing Link (w/Sir Oliver Humperdink) squashed River Courtenay with the Figure Four Leglock
(After the match, Humperdink and The Missing Link are going to the broadcast booth for a short promo.)
Bob Caudle: Sir Oliver Humperdink, you’re building yourself quite a dangerous stable, lead by Kevin Sullivan. It’s bad enough that you added Mark Lewin, The Great Kabuki and Abdullah the Butcher to your stable, now, you’ve got this man, The Missing Link as well.
Sir Oliver Humperdink: Well, how ironic that The Missing Link exactly was what was missing for my House of Humperdink to wreak havoc in Atlantic Coast. Eddie Graham thinks he can hold us down but you can’t stop what you don’t understand. Things aren’t as simple as they seem, Mr. Caudle and Mr. Schiavone. Our mission is one of such simplicity: make everyone’s heroes’ lives a living hell and shape this territory to our image. The House of Humperdink will soon become…the Territory of Humperdink. And it is with men like the Link, Abdullah, Kabuki, the Purple Haze and Kevin Sullivan that we will accomplish this. The clock is already ticking….Can you hear it? HAHAHAHA!
(Link grabs his trademark hair and started banging his head on the backboard behind the booth before leaving with Humperdink)
Tony Schiavone: I tell you what, Bob, as much as the House of Humperdink has dangerous members, no one is more unpredictable than this guy right there, The Missing Link.
Bob Caudle: Like if it wasn’t scary enough to have all those names you just named, now you’ve got the Missing Link in there, who’s an absolute loose cannon, I mean, who could really stop them?
Tony Schiavone: Indeed, and let’s not forget that mysterious woman who threw powder in the face of Jack Brisco on Monday night and seemingly is now in the corner of the House of Humperdink as well. We still don’t know the deal with her, who she is, and what’s the relationship between her and Humperdink.
Bob Caudle: I guess we’ll see in due time but when we come back, we’ve got Angelo Mosca in action against Rufus R. Jones!
***commercial break***
Match #2
Angelo Mosca (w/Angelo Mosca Jr) beat Rufus R. Jones in 19:37 with a sleeperhold
***commercial break***
MAIN EVENT
Match #3
Dusty Rhodes beat Mark Youngblood in 14:11
(After the match, Dusty shakes hands with Mark Youngblood and then joins Bob Caudle & Tony Schiavone at the booth to close the show.)
Tony Schiavone: Dusty Rhodes, back to your old stomping grounds here in Florida and the question that everyone is asking themselves; will you throw your name in the race to become Atlantic Coast Heavyweight Champion?
Dusty Rhodes: Tony Schiavone, Bob Caudle, so many questions, and yet soooo little time to answer them all. Ya see, The American Dream, of course, came back to become the AWA Atlantic Coast Heavyweight Champion but ultimately, the Dream looks at everyone else in the AWA and the endgoal for Dusty Rhodes is to become the AWA World Heavyweight Champion and beat Jerry Lawlah, daddeh. But this is for another time. I listened earlier to Paul Orndorff and Ricky Steamboat and they said somethin’ that rang very true to the American Dream and that’s that we have to stick togetah and watch our back because when you have some bad, bad men like Abdullah the Butcher and the Great Kabuki and Kevin Sullivan, you never know how low they’ll wanna go to get what they want. But just like Paul and Ricky did earlier, Dusty Rhodes didn’t come alone, Dusty brought Wahoo McDaniel with him to watch his back, some kinda insurance policy, if you weeeeeeeeeeellll. Now, I know that everyone is looking at the roll than Greg Valentine is in lately but if you’re listening to this, Valentine, lemme tell you this, daddeh; as good as you are, as impressive as you are, your road to the AWA Atlantic Coast Heavyweight Championship has to go through the American Dream. And I’ll admit myself that my road for the same title goes through you as well. We’re on a collision course and someday, soon, only one man in Atlantic Coast Championship Wrestling will have the right and privilege to be called the AWA Atlantic Coast Heavyweight Champion. The American Dream doesn’t know if he’ll be the man to do it but I can promise every fan here at the Sportatorium, every one watching on television and everyone who’ll come see us in action every week that Dusty Rhodes will do everything he can to make that happen. Love you all!
(Dusty leaves to a huge ovation from the studio crowd.)
Bob Caudle: We’re out of time, fans, see you next week!
Next week in action on Atlantic Coast Championship Wrestling TV:
-The House of Humperdink
-The Kernodles
-The Brisco Brothers
And more!
