Going Broadway 05.01.12 Bloody Starrcade: Magnum T.A. vs. Tully Blanchard

Jim Ross once answered the question of ‘what makes a great rivalry’ very simply and succinctly when he remarked that it was a great adversary that made a great rivalry. We’ve seen that in past editions of Going Broadway with the Memphis feuds of Sputnik Monroe/Billy Wicks and Jackie Fargo/Jerry Lawler as well as the Tri-State (early ECW) feud between Eddie Gilbert and Cactus Jack. We even saw it in the unconventional (at the time) feud between Bruno Sammartino and Pedro Morales in the WWWF that packed Shea Stadium in 1972.

But in 1984, two men entered the Mid Atlantic territory of the NWA. Two distinctly different characters set onto a collision course that would ignite one of the fiercest, bloodiest, most emotional feuds of the 1980’s.

Tully Blanchard and Magnum T.A.: Two great adversaries that would define one another’s careers in 1985.

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The wrestling business had already been a part of the Blanchard family when Tully was born in 1954. His father Joe not only worked for the AWA, himself, as a wrestler, but he also later entered the promoter side of the business by starting Southwest Championship Wrestling based out of San Antonio, Texas.

From a young age, Blanchard was involved in SCW from working the concession stand for his father to eventually refereeing matches when he was in his teens. But Blanchard left the wrestling business for college when he enrolled at West Texas State where he would play football alongside future wrestling stars such as Ted Dibiase and Tito Santana.

After college, Blanchard came back to the family business in SCW and began his training to become an in-ring worker like his father. As a tandem, they would battle together against the nefarious Funk brothers, with the Blanchards working the baby face role. (One of the few times the younger Blanchard would work a face during his peak years).

Later on, Blanchard would branch off into a team-up with Gino Hernandez, forming the heel tag team The Dynamic Duo, a team which would become famous for their bombastic, arrogant playboy villain persona.

The Duo went their separate ways in 1984 when Hernandez returned to WCCW where he would reform The Dynamic Duo with Chris Adams while Blanchard planted stakes in Mid Atlantic Wrestling under Jim Crockett, Jr. His appeal, charisma, and in-ring talent quickly vaulted him into a lengthy Television Title reign for the promotion while battling the likes of Ricky Steamboat and Dusty Rhodes. (Blanchard’s TV Title reign would, in fact, be a record setting 353 days.)

Despite eventually dropping the belt to Rhodes in 1985, Blanchard picked up the valet services of Baby Doll, nicknamed “The Perfect 10,” and also frequent company with the Andersons (Ole and Arn) and Ric Flair.

With the TV Title behind him, Blanchard set his sights on the United States Championship and it’s 6 foot, 245 pound title holder. He had long curly hair and a mustache that could have easily had him mistaken for Tom Selleck. He was born Terry Allen, but he was better known in the wrestling world as Magnum T.A.

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Terry Allen’s road into professional wrestling came out of a short tenure at Old Dominion University where he wrestled collegiality to less than stellar results. After his second year, he departed college and ventured out west to Oregon where he took the next step to professional wrestling in the Pacific Northwest Wrestling territory, making his pro debut in 1977,

Allen was a journeyman to begin his career but found moderate success working for Championship Wrestling From Florida (later reborn as Florida Championship Wrestling) where he won the tag team titles on multiple occasions.

He moved on to Bill Watts’ Mid-South Wrestling where a chance meeting with Andre The Giant would change his career forever. Andre, impressed with Allen’s work recognized the resemblance to Tom Selleck because of his mustache and suggested that he change his in-ring name to Magnum T.A. as a take off on the popular television series Magnum P.I. The name change would stick for the rest of Allen’s career.

He captured the NWA North American Heavyweight Title after defeating Mr. Wrestling II but lost it later to Ernie Ladd and left Mid-South not long after to join Crockett’s Mid-Atlantic promotion in 1984. By March of 1985, Allen had already secured the United States Championship from Wahoo McDaniel and found next in his path the recently dethroned Television Champion, Tully Blanchard, with the date of July 21, 1985 set for their encounter with the title on the line.

Their battle that took place in Charlotte, North Carolina saw a tight back and forth battle with Allen gaining the upper hand on Blanchard towards match’s end. But in classic heel booking, Baby Doll, disguised as a security guard, slipped a foreign object to Blanchard without the referee noticing which allowed the challenger to blindside Allen and steal the pinfall victory as well as the United States Championship.

An enraged Allen spent the next four months trying to get not only his hands on the United States Title but also on the villainous Blanchard who had screwed him out of the title in July.

No rivalry pitted two better foils for one another than Allen and Blanchard. Allen, the motorcycle riding, denim wearing blue-collar hero epitomized the man every guy would want at his back in a bar fight and the man every girl would want to take home at the end of the night.

Blanchard, on the other hand, continued his run as the playboy with the money in his pocket and the pretty girl at this side. The kind of guy you would be lucky to hang out with but probably never would. The perfect heel to root against.

It didn’t hurt Blanchard had his partners Flair and the Andersons to fall back on either. Their tactics stymied Allen’s efforts to get his due revenge on Blanchard. At Allen’s side, Rhodes would appear as a comparable ally, and the two would appear frequently as a tag team against Blanchard and other heel tag teams.

But with all of his efforts coming up short, Allen finally received the opportunity to have Blanchard in the ring without the benefit of his running buddies or any other interference. A steel cage match to culminate the cat and mouse game they had been playing for the last four months with the United States Title up for grabs.

The date: November 28th. Starrcade ’85. Greensboro, North Carolina. “I Quit” Match

Despite both men being gifted wrestlers, to call their encounter a wrestling match would b e a gross embellishment. This was a brawl. Plain and simple. With a built in psychology from months of ill will toward one another, both men tore each other apart, often times bashing one another with the same microphone used to end the match with an emphatic vocal surrender.

As the time crept closer to the twenty minute mark, Blanchard went back to the same well that gave him the United States Title in the first place. Baby Doll, again acting in her man’s best interests, tossed to him a disheveled wooden chair that Blanchard broke into multiple parts; the piece catching his attention a pointed shard which became the focal point for the final minutes of the match.

Blanchard took the shard and tried to impale Allen’s face; an image perfectly framed like a scene from an action movie with both men selling the moment to the maximum. But Allen escaped the precarious position which also reversed possession of the shard, and in return he drove the shard into Blanchard’s already profusely bleeding forehead, causing the champion to emphatically scream “I Quit.” Allen had done it. Not only had he regained his United States Title, but he had finally vanquished his bitter rival.

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The fallout from Starrcade saw both men move onto separate paths and battles for the most part. in 1986, Blanchard, along with Flair and the Andersons officially christened themselves The Four Horesemen with JJ Dillon taking the role as their manager. (Blanchard, in turn, promptly dismissed Baby Doll after slapping her during a promo.) As The Horsemen, Blanchard and Arn Anderson became multiple time NWA Tag Team Champions and feuded with pretty much any face tag team that was popular at the time including The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express, the Road Warriors, even Allen and Rhodes on occasion.

But by 1988, after disputes with Crockett and other management , Blanchard and Anderson left Mid Atlantic for the WWF and Vince McMahon. Renamed “The Brain Busters,” Blanchard and Anderson quickly won the WWF Tag Team Championships from Demolition. But their tenure would be short in the company as they planned to head back to Mid Atlantic once differences over monetary compensation were settled.

Plans changed, however, when Blanchard failed a WWF drug test when cocaine was found to be in his system, causing his release from the company. But the damage did not stop there. Once word of the failed test reached Mid Atlantic, any offer to return to the NWA fold was rescinded, while Anderson rejoined The Horsemen.

For the remainder of his wrestling career, Blanchard would appear on the independent scene along with the AWA and other organizations. In 1990 he did appear briefly with The Horsemen in WCW, but again, monetary issues got in the way of the reunion being long lasting. In 1995, he also wrestled ECW Champion Shane Douglas in match that ended in a draw. He later worked for WWE as a road agent and also became a preacher as well. Blanchard was honored recently at Wrestlemania 28 when he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of The Four Horsemen.

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By 1986, Allen had moved on from his feud with Blanchard and head long into another with “The Russian Nightmare” Nikita Koloff over Allen’s United States Title. Another feud very popular for the 1980’s: the American hero fending off the Communist aggressor. The perfect Cold War microcosm.

The climax of their feud saw them both wrestle in a best of seven series over (what became) the vacant United States Title. (Allen had the title stripped by management after striking Bob Geigal. Thank god I was able to find the video of this.)

Although Allen fought back from a three match deficit to force an eventual seventh match with Koloff, he fell short of winning the title thanks to interference from Koloff’s uncle Ivan and Krusher Khruschev.

However, Allen’s loss was all part of a bigger plan for him to eventually ramp up and dethrone Flair to become the new NWA World Heavyweight Champion. The idea being to put Allen’s growing popularity and rapport with the fans up against Hulk Hogan’s surging popularity in McMahon’s company.

The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men…

On October 14, 1986, Allen wrestled Jimmy Garvin in Greenville, South Carolina and afterwards drove to a party in Charlotte where he would drop off Dick Murdoch and start back to his house not too far away.

As he navigated the heavy rain on Sardis Road (while not exceeding the speed limit), Allen lost control of his Porsche and violently crashed into a telephone pole. It would be two hours before he would be discovered and rushed to the hospital…

The prognosis was grim despite Allen being in stable condition. His C4 and C5 vertebrae had exploded, and he was left paralyzed on one side of his body. It was doubtful he would walk again, let alone ever step into the squared circle again.

Despite being forced into an early retirement, Allen made an emotional return in 1987 at the Crockett Cup tournament where he stood at ringside for the team of Rhodes and Koloff (who had turned face in the wake of Allen’s accident).

Although he would later work commentary in WCW and appear at other events in a special guest capacity, Allen would retreat from the spotlight of wrestling since he could no longer compete in the ring himself. He did make an appearance at the Vengeance: Night of Champions pay per view in 2007 with other former United States Champions at ringside.

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The rivalry that ran between Tully Blanchard and Magnum T.A. might not have had the longevity of other notable time spanning feuds in wrestling. However, what both men brought to the table for those four months of 1985 made for great wrestling, great television, and one hell of a great pay per view pay off at Starrcade ’85.

The tragedy of it all is the fact that both men for different reasons found themselves out of wrestling before they should have been. Especially with Allen’s accident, the wrestling world was deprived of a future world champion that could have had a run as impressive as Flair or anyone else after him.
(This was a promo of Allen and Flair from 1985.)

If Blanchard had been able to return to Mid Atlantic and the NWA, who knows what a reignited feud between the two could have brought to wrestling. For the meantime, though, we’ll always have the highlights and the promos of 1985.

Interesting footnote to this rivalry: After Allen and his first wife Tamara divorced, he remarried of all people Courtney Shattuck-Blanchard, the ex-wife of Tully Blanchard.