U.S Champ Jimmy Snuka defended against Angelo Mosca. Big Ange was accompanied to the ring by Canadian Champ Dewey Robertson to offset Snuka's manager Gene Anderson. After some ferocious action, Mosca had Snuka in the backbreaker and was about to force a submission out of the champ when Anderson interfered with his cane and got Snuka disqualified.

Former Canadian Champ Dino Bravo was busy working his way up the ladder in the AWA. Bravo would be billed as Canadian Champ in the Winnipeg area and earn bouts with AWA Champ Nick Bockwinkel. The Montreal strongman would also slam Crusher Blackwell several times in his $1000 challenge but would always be denied the cash.

Mosca would also spend time in the Winnipeg area including teaming with Quebec legend Mad Dog Vachon to defeat AWA Tag Champs Jesse Ventura and Adrian Adonis in a non-title affair.

On the Indy circuit, the war between The Sheik and Mighty Igor came north. Cage matches and bloody battles would rage throughout the region with an especially bloody match in Scarborough around the end of March. The Sheik would also be seen teaming with "Bulldog" Don Kent in a violent feud with the big Davidson Brothers who had lost a loser leaves town (Detroit) match against Bonello and Scott. Igor would gain the coveted U.S belt in May from the legendary Sheik.

April

Dewey matched up well with the tough Race, and would have more battles with him while in the Central States region in 1982. A week after this match, Dewey would team up with famed villain Ox Baker and Toronto bad guy Brute Bernard in Greensboro, NC. They would participate in a six-man tag against the popular Jim Brunzell, Tony Garea and S.D Jones. 

May

Robertson loses the belt to Hussein The Arab-The Iron Sheik on the last card of the month. The former amateur standout also holds the prestigious Mid-Atlantic belt at this time to become a double titleholder. Both victories were achieved with his famous "loaded boot" trick.

July

One of the greatest feuds in history came to Toronto when U.S Champ Ric Flair met his former partner and now arch enemy Greg Valentine. It was an exciting match that saw Flair retain his belt. Valentine had tried to sooplay him in from the apron but Flair shifted his weight to get the pin. Valentine spent a lot of his time repeatedly beating on Flair's broken nose covering the "Nature Boy" in a crimson mask. After the match, both competitors bloody and exhausted continued to fight down the ramp while other wrestlers tried to break them up.

This same card saw Mosca win the Canadian belt from Hussein The Arab- The Iron Sheik and begin a successful run as the main face in the area. His first title reign would be short however, with Hussein winning the belt back on the next card. Mosca would win the belt by using the ropes for leverage and Arab's manager Gene Anderson would dispute Mosca's claim to the belt and promise to regain the title.

Longtime area veteran Rocky Johnson returned to the area under a mask as Sweet Ebony Diamond. Rocky was feuding with  Valentine at the time and earned a DQ victory over "The Hammer". Johnson was as exciting a performer as they come, always getting a huge pop from the (somewhat hometown) crowd.

We would also see the International Tag Team Champs "Jumbo' Tommy Tsuruta and "Giant" Baba take on the rough and tough team of Bruiser Brody and Scott Irwin. Frank Tunney had booked The Champs from the Far East as part of their North American tour. A best 2/3 falls match saw the Champs get the first fall on a DQ after they tied Tsuruta up in the ropes and refused to stop beating on their victim. The Champs took the second fall and the match when Tsuruta executed a perfect flying body press off the top turnbuckle to pin Irwin. Also on this card was a (by then) rare appearance by Dory Funk Jr. and Abdullah the Butcher in an exciting match that saw the former NWA champ lift the massive Abdullah up in a vertical sooplay and slam him hard to the canvas. As with most of The Butcher's ring foray's it would end with both men brawling outside the ring to a bloody finish.

On the Ontario circuit, the Bearman's summer tour was in full swing with the regular cast of characters including Danny Johnson, Vic Rossetani and The General.

August

There would be a huge build-up to the Aug 25 card that had Steamboat and Youngblood getting another crack at Snuka and Stevens, this time in a steel cage. At this time, the cage was the sides only- no top. This always led to the excitement of one competitor climbing the cage only to be brought thunderously down at the last moment. The champs would retain the titles in the cage. The next night in Guelph however, the fan favorites would get revenge teaming with Mosca to beat the champs and their manager Gene Anderson.

Ricky Johnson (Rocky's brother) made his only MLG appearance giving veteran Chris Tolos his last MLG win. Ricky would also be seen on the independent circuit through the decade and acquire quite a fan following. 

At the Aug 9 show at Shea Stadium, local favorite Domenic Denucci would score a win over longtime rival Baron Mikel Scicluna (appeared in Toronto as Mike Valentino in the 60's) on the under card of the Bruno/Zybszko cage match.

September

Tunney would bring the Mid-Atlantic stars into Buffalo and the first two shows were somewhat successful with over 8000 fans. Buffalo would become an integral part of the circuit at this time and see it's share of title matches and big feuds.

In a Tunney-like promotional coup, Backlund defended title vs. title against Race at MSG, ending in a DQ win for the very popular in Toronto, WWF Champ. 

October

The battle between former gridiron stars Mosca and "Big Bad" Bobby Duncum came to a climax with Blackjack Mulligan as a special referee. Some of the more violent battles over the years would be any of Big Ange's feuds. Legitimately TOUGH and a very underrated worker for the time. Filling out the under cards would be soon-to-be familiar names to the local fans. The Marcus Brothers, Tim Gerrard, "Silent" Brian Macnee, Nick DeCarlo, and an up-and-coming Ron Ritchie would all take their bumps at the expense of the stars when at MLG.

November-December

Anyone who saw the Flair/Race wars through the years can attest to the drama and emotion these two ring warriors could deliver. The ramp played an important role in these match-ups with both competitors delivering their famed sooplay's to a roaring crowd. Race dropping his famous flying/falling head butt on a bloody Flair. The Nature Boy would be denied on his first attempt but the fans knew they were watching a future World Champ cheering Flair's every move in the squared circle.

November would mark the first appearance of "Rowdy" Roddy Piper defending his newly won Mid Atlantic TV Title against Frankie Laine. The fans began a long love/hate relationship with the future "Hot Rod" that would include a later incident where he attacked everyone's favorite, Billy "Red" Lyons. 

The year would end with Mosca defeating the hated Iranian in a steel cage match to regain the Canadian belt. Mosca would defend the belt until July 1981, first losing then regaining the title from the devious Mr. Fuji.

FLASHBACK - May 17 1983 Toronto Star

I fist met Frank (Tunney) 46 years ago, "(Sam) Muchnick related. "We were kids, working for big promoters, and we were witnesses at an anti-trust trial (to do with wrestling) in Columbus, Ohio. It was declared a mistrial- as good as a win- and even better, I acquired a friend for life." 

Muchnick chuckled at the memory of Tunney's casual approach to business matters.

"Frank had a piece of the action when I was running shows in St. Louis," he said. "I'd mail him a cheque every so often but lots of times years would go by before he'd cash one. The bank would call up to see if they were still any good. They'd have been buried in a pile of stuff on top of his desk. 

"One time he asked me to pull something out of the heap. It was a hydro bill from a year before. 'Guess that's why they shut off my power,' he said. I pulled again. It was an envelope with several $100 bills in it. He had no idea where that came from."

Thanks to Gary Will