Eventually, Tully regained the Southwest singles title again. He even regained some popularity when he rescued his father from a beating at the hands of The Sheepherders. Still, Tully had grown restless, and he headed to the Central States region. This was a big step for him since this promotion was under the banner of the National Wrestling Alliance. Although he won the Central States Title from Buzz Tyler, this title reign was short, and he moved to the red-hot Mid-Atlantic area.

Under the schooling of the area's most despised manager, Paul Jones, Tully Blanchard won the Mid-Atlantic TV Title from Mark Youngblood on March 28, 1984. Not satisfied with just that title, Tully spent most of his efforts harassing every other titleholder in the area, and used his own belt to humiliate others in his spare time. Everything Tully did revolved around his lust for more titles, more glory, and more money.

Did we say money? Tully Blanchard has always been known to have matches with cash-prize stipulations, and this was only the beginning. Young Brian Adias, the boyhood friend of the Von Erich brothers, took Tully's offer of $10,000 for anyone who could pin his shoulders to the mat. Adias never won the title, but he shocked Tully with a non-title pinfall victory which earned him some quick cash. Brian tossed some of the bucks to the crowd, but Tully got the last laugh by injuring Brian's knee in another encounter. At the 1984 Cadillac Cup Tournament, Tully got past Adias, as well as Manny Fernandez and Jimmy Valiant. However, the indominitible Dusty Rhodes ended Tully's fortune in the final round. Surprisingly, Adias got the better of Blanchard when they locked up in a tournament for the Canadian Heavyweight Title. It was no fluke, as Adias made it all the way to the finals, losing to Ivan Koloff.

Before you knew it, it was time for Starrcade '84. Tully Blanchard accepted the challenge of Ricky Steamboat for the Television Championship in a special match with two stipulations. First, the winner would take home $10,000, no questions asked. Second (and the one that hindered Tully's style the most), this was to be a "No Run" match. This meant that if Tully got counted out, he would lose the match and the title immediately. Stalling outside of the ring was a big part of his defensive gameplan, so Tully needed to bring some extra help. That something extra was a small weapon which he used to KO Steamboat in the midst of a sunset flip. 1,2,3. Tully survived. This victory earned Tully a handful of title matches with Ric Flair, but he was unable to take the NWA World Title from The Nature Boy.

To Tully's relief, Ricky Steamboat joined the WWF in 1985, but Dusty Rhodes, having been unsuccessful at winning the World Title from Flair, set his sights on hunting Blanchard. In March, just before Tully's one-year anniversary as champion, Dusty Rhodes put Tully in the poor house by winning the TV Title at SilverStarr '85. Although Tully Blanchard Enterprises, which now included the vivacious Baby Doll, regained the championship a month later, the war would not end any time soon, no matter who was the champion. At the first-ever Great American Bash, Dusty Rhodes pinned Tully in a steel cage to win both the TV Title and 30 days of Baby Doll's services. Although Tully fought for weeks to regain that belt, another piece of gold was gradually becoming Tully's next target

The popular Magnum T.A. had become the United States Champion by pinning Wahoo McDaniel in a steel cage match in March. Despite a huge amount of momentum, he couldn't keep away from Tully Blanchard indefinitely. Whereas Baby Doll was Tully's price for losing to Dusty, she comprised part of his championship victory by dressing as a security guard at his US Title shot on July 21 in Charlotte, NC. She slipped him an "international object" which Tully used to knock Magnum out. Three seconds later, Tully Blanchard had won the United States Heavyweight Title.

It was that time of year again. Starrcade '85 was being held in two locations this year and Tully was set to defend his United States Title in what was to be one of the most memorable matches in history. It was a testament to Tully's manhood (or perhaps just his ego?) that he would agree to defend his coveted gold against his nemesis, Magnum T.A.while locked inside a steel cage. As if that wasn't enough, this was a No-DQ "I Quit" Match. After their previous encounters, neither man was a stranger to violence, but this match exceeded their own expectations. After several minutes of each man using the cage as a weapon, both men were bleeding. Tully then beat the referee senseless and instructed Baby Doll to toss a wooden chair over the top of the cage. Instead of striking Magnum with the chair, Tully immediately smashed it against the cage, shattering it into several sharp stakes. The crowd shrieked in disbelief as Tully took a pice the size and shape of an icepick and aimed it down at Magnum's face. Both men struggled for the weapon, and Magnum finally had it in his hands. With the referee back in place, Magnum drove the wooden object into Tully's already-bloody temple until he screamed out his submission.

After losing to Magnum a second time at the December Star Wars card, Tully knew better than to try to corner Magnum T.A. again. At this point, James J. Dillon decided to intervene into Tully's business, at Baby Doll's expense. Dillon had been the manager for "Nature Boy" Buddy Landel, but he was left without a protege when Landel's personal problems pushed him out of the NWA. In January, Dillon was at Blanchard's side as he tried to recapture the TV Title in a tournament. Blanchard did his new manager a favor by defeating Dillon's arch-rival Ron Bass in round one. Unfortunately, Dillon's interference caused him to lose to Wahoo McDaniel in the semi-finals of the tournament (which was won by Tully's ally Arn Anderson.) In spite of falling short in the tournament, the Dillon-Blanchard alliance seemed strong.

Nothing had really changed between these two rivals except that Dusty was now toting the National Heavyweight Title. Even before a match could be signed between the two foes, Blanchard interceded on behalf of Arn Anderson in a steel cage match with Dusty on February 23. Along with Ric Flair, Tully and Arn tried (unsuccessfully) to break Dusty's ankle again. The Blanchard - Rhodes war was on all over again. Dusty wanted to avenge Baby Doll's treatment. Tully wanted another prize for his championship collection. The two officially met at the Superstars On The Superstation event, but the match went the time limit before anything could be settled.

A rematch was signed for March 4, 1986. A very polite Ric Flair offered to do color commentary at ringside. To the viewers' amazement, Flair was very impartial as he gave Rhodes credit for having been a formidable foe, and he complimented Rhodes' gameplan as the match progressed. This could not last too long, though. Dusty threw Tully out of the ring at Flair's feet and proceeded to attack Dillon on the apron. Flair helped Tully up to his feet and placed the always-useful and easily-disposable foreign object in Blanchard's fist. Rhodes brought Tully back in the ring with a suplex, but Tully popped Rhodes in the head with the object on the way down. Tully pinned Dusty to win the National Heavyweight Title. As Blanchard, Flair, and Dillon celebrated, Baby Doll slapped Flair in the face. Apparently, this situation required assistance, so Arn Anderson hit the ring. The four men attempted to put Baby Doll away with a top-rope kneedrop from Flair! The ring was immediately flooded with other wrestlers, and Baby Doll was saved.

The trio of Blanchard, Anderson, and Flair ran roughshod all over the east coast and beyond. Each man was a champion, but they acted more like hunters than targets. Blanchard and Anderson were teaming up on a regular basis because of an incident that took place on New Years Day. Ole Anderson's leg had been injured by Dusty Rhodes and The Road Warriors in retaliation for an Andersons & Flair attack the previous Fall. The new duo of Tully and Arn made their way into the First Annual Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup Tag Team Tournament with a bye into round two, but lost their first match to The Fantastics, Bobby Fulton & Tommy Rogers. Teaming with Arn was fun for Tully, but his National Title was top priority, and men such as Ronnie Garvin, former champion Dusty Rhodes, and his former partner Wahoo McDaniel were all gunning for "The Superbrat."

Garvin went on to win a series of matches with his hand heavily taped to protect it while it healed. He secured a title match with Tully on a night that saw Dusty Rhodes providing TV color commentary. Tully and Dillon objected both to Dusty's presence, as well as to the tape on Garvin's hand. Referee Tommy Young allowed Rhodes to stay at the announcers' desk, but Garvin's taped fists were not permitted. A wild and brutal match began with each man enduring huge amounts of punishment. Tully worked on the injured hand, but Garvin kept fighting (and punching) back despite the pain. After about thirty minutes, Young was knocked into the corner, and both men were prone in the ring. Dillon placed a roll of quarters in Tully's lifeless hand, but Dusty countered by taping up Garvin's KO fist. When the two warriors staggered to their feet, it was Garvin who connected with the first blow. Young recovered to make a three-count against Tully to give Garvin the title! Or did he? Dillon insisted that Young inspect Garvin's right hand. Sure enough, the tape was evidence enough to reverse the decision to a DQ win for Tully! Dusty was outraged, as he even showed Tommy Young the pile of coins left in the ring by Blanchard. Still, the decision remained in Blanchard's favor. With this momentum, Blanchard went on to defeat Garvin by DQ again at the AWA's Rage In A Cage event as well.