Now the period from fall 1978 - winter 1979 will be a mystery for any wrestling fan that did not attended a live match nor lived in the Dothan - Mobile area. A man that would dominate the sport for years to come, (unfortunately), Terry Bollea, and one that would dominate the Dothan wrestling scene for the next 7 years, Austin Idol, both made their debut in the Farm Center on the same night in the fall of 1978. Idols' first match was against local legend the Masked Wrestling Pro Leon Baxter. The Universal Heartthrob only made a couple of appearances at this time as he was still working Memphis, then started his first great run in Georgia before returning to Dothan in the summer of 1979. Bollea was a different story. Hulks' first match was against Robert Gibson. By the end of the night he was one of the top heels in the area. During a lumberjack match featuring Ox Baker, who was being managed by Billy Spears, Boulder got into a shoving match with Wrestling Pro and helped Baker win his match, therefore joining the Spears Family of Baker, Tanaka, Eddie Sullivan & the Challenger. It was during this heel run that nearly 6,000 fans were packed into the 5,000 seat Farm Center to witness the WrestleMania III main event of Hulk Hogan - Andre the Giant way before its time. The famous arm-wrestling angle that led to that night's match can be found on the Wrestling Gold Vol. 1 tape.
By the spring of '79, Boulder had become a "face", being kicked out of the Spears Family, and defeating Baker for the Southeastern Title. This turn landed Bollea one of, if not his first, World Championship match. During a match between Boulder and Baker, Ron Fuller, who was to face NWA Champ Harley Race later in the evening, came out to help Boulder fight off Spears' men. In return, Baker heart-punched Fuller causing him to not be able to wrestle later. His replacement, you guessed it...Terry "the Hulk" Boulder. Again over 5,000 fans saw Boulder face Race in a match with almost the same exact ending as the St. Paul, Mn. Hogan - Bockwinkle AWA title match from 1982. Boulder would receive one more match with Harley Race for the NWA title in June of 1979. This was the main event of the largest card ever held in Dothan. Nearly 8,000 fans packed Rip Hewes Stadium, the local high school football stadium, to see this match. Other matches on this card were an Austin Idol vs. Jack Brisco for the Southeastern title, Ron Slinker vs. Jerry Brisco for the Southeastern TV title, and the Samoans vs. the Dargon Twins for the Southeastern Tag titles. The finish to the Boulder - Race match you ask? Idol, who was taking still pictures at ringside, flashed Boulder in the eyes causing "blindness" and the easy pinfall. Bollea would leave the area shortly after his feud with Idol, I believe going to Knoxville as Sterling Golden, returning for a few matches with Idol before leaving the area for good. It was at this time that "IdolMania" took over the area. Idol would defend the Southeastern title for the rest of 1979 and through the early part of 1980. This was another one of those strange co-promotional periods for Southeastern as several stars from Atlanta would be working Dothan on Saturday Nights. Idol, with the help of former partner Masked Superstar (Bill Eadie) was defending the title against Bob Armstrong, plus wrestling tag matches with Superstar against Armstrong and different partners. Austin Idol also wrestled Wahoo McDaniels, Tony Atlas, Wrestling II, and Ole Anderson for the Southeastern title during this period before finally losing the belt to Tim "Mr. Wrestling" Woods.
Also a promo from Jesse James Armstrong aka Road Dogg and a beating from Jeff Jarrett
Kavana had to beat Lawler for the title or leave USWA
at doing the job to Bill Watts....but the heat
