1977 saw the large territory owned by Nick Gulas and booked by Jerry Jarrett split in two because of differences between the two men. Gulas ended up with the eastern end of the territory (Nashville, Chattanooga, Huntsville and Birmingham) while Jarrett ended up with the western end of the territory (Memphis, Louisville, Lexington and Evansville). Gulas wound up with longtime stars Jackie Fargo and Tojo Yamamoto and such young talent as Bobby Eaton and Nick’s son, George. Jarrett’s top stars were Jerry Lawler and Bill Dundee. As 1978 starts both groups were doing good business in their own ends of the area but a peaceful coexistence would not be possible for much of the year ahead.

For years, this territory used a lot of homegrown talent that, for the most part, didn’t stray too far away from home. When the territory encompassed a large section of the South this strategy could work. Wrestlers could work one end of the territory for several months before moving on to the other end where they hadn’t appeared in awhile which meant they were fresh again to the fans. After the territory began breaking apart this strategy would not work. New talent was developed from several promising young stars while veteran talent was brought in from other territories to work with existing talent exposing area fans to some talent they hadn’t seen previously.