In 1985 he returned to Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling (Jim Crockett Promotions), defeating Denny Brown at "MACW Title Night '85" in Raleigh, North Carolina on March 6. Landel joined manager James J. Dillon's stable, and he unsuccessfully challenged Magnum TA for the United States Heavyweight Championship on March 29, 1985. He would wrestle Magnum several more times that spring but was unable to gain the title. On June 15, 1985 Buddy Landell received his first ever shot at the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, falling in defeat to "Nature Boy" Ric Flair in Greensboro, NC. A wrestling card with a Landel-Ric Flair main event on July 31, 1985, drew an overflow crowd at J.S. Dorton Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Landel often claimed this crowd broke Elvis Presley's attendance record at the arena, but this has not been independently confirmed.) He won the NWA National Heavyweight Championship from Terry Taylor at Starrcade '85 in Greensboro, North Carolina.