John Tolos
In 1978 Rose partnered with John Studd to win the 50th State Big Time Wrestling tag-team championship. They would lose them on June 14, 1978 in Honolulu, HI to John Tolos and Steve Strong. Later that summer Rose entered a tournament to crown the vacant NWA San Francisco United States Heavyweight Title. He won it on September 16, 1978 when he defeated Dean Ho, securing his first singles championship. Meanwhile, in the PNW, Rose and Wiskoski were finally beaten for the PNW Tag-Team titles by Dutch Savage and Johnny Boyd on November 21, 1978.