In 1977, Steamboat entered the National Wrestling Alliance-sanctioned Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) (which ran under the concurrent brand names "Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling" and "Wide World Wrestling"—later "World Wide Wrestling"—as well as airing syndicated TV programs under those respective names), where he would remain for the next eight years of his career. Steamboat, who had been brought in by JCP booker George Scott on the recommendation of Wahoo McDaniel, was initially billed as a babyface protege of Wahoo and barely spoke above whispers in interviews. Matching him with his brash young counterpart, Ric Flair, was a natural fit. Steamboat was doing an interview on the syndicated "Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling" when Flair, then Mid-Atlantic television champion, began goading him. Steamboat knocked Flair out with a backhand chop to set up a match between the two. Steamboat's star-making performance came when he pinned Flair after a double thrust off the top rope to win the NWA Mid-Atlantic Television Championship at the WRAL-TV studios in Raleigh, North Carolina.