The match was billed as a "Winner Take All, Fight to a Finish!" Also on the same card, Tojo Yammoto and Leaping Lanny Poffo were featured in one tag team match and in another, Kurt and Karl Von Steiger, who at one point in their careers were known as The Germans. They were managed by my friend, Wendell Burchett (or Bur'chette, as he was billed). For all of you wrestling trivia fans, Wendell wore an army helmet and used it as a weapon of distraction during matches, although more times than not, as he once related to me, the helmet was grabbed by an opponent and used on him.
By the way, about that match between Randy Savage and Dale Mann forty years ago today, Mann won by disqualification. As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, Feb. 8, 1978 was the third time in eight days that Savage and Mann had wrestled each other. The first, on Feb. 1st at Nashville, was for the NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Championship. Savage retained the title because of a time limit draw. The second time was on Feb. 7th at Birmingham, Alabama, and again Savage retained the title because of a time limit draw.
Another piece of wrestling trivia, for a time, before Savage ascended to the throne at the WWE in Samford, Connecticut, the Poffo family wrestled regularly throughout Kentucky. Most always, the ring they used was provided by Dale Mann.
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