Georgia Championship Wrestling
Encyclopedia
Georgia Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion
whose self-titled TV program aired in the 1970s and 1980s on Atlanta, U.S.
, superstation WTBS. Though based in Atlanta
, the company also ran live wrestling shows throughout its geographic "territory" of Georgia (the U.S. pro wrestling industry was a patchwork of self-contained, regional and sub-regional companies—there was no single, nationwide promotion). The territory was affiliated with what had been the world's top sanctioning body of championship titles for decades before, the National Wrestling Alliance
(NWA
).
Another promotion called Georgia Championship Wrestling was formed by Jerry Oates in the 2000s, but later re-named itself Great Championship Wrestling. In 2011 Grady Odom, owner of the Georgia Championship Wrestling trademark, reformed the promotion with intent to bring back Georgia Championship Wrestling. His inaugural return date is set for July 2011.
, was recorded in one of WTBS' studios at 1050 Techwood Drive, in midtown Atlanta. Shows were taped before a small (yet enthusiastic), live in-studio audience, as were most professional wrestling TV shows of that era. The show featured wrestling matches, plus melodramatic monologues and inter-character confrontations—similar to the programming offered by other territories, including the Northeast-based World Wrestling Federation
(WWF).
GCW's show, which aired on Saturday evenings, was complemented with a Sunday evening edition
.
and Brad Armstrong, Dusty Rhodes ("The American Dream")
, the Road Warriors
, Jerry Oates, Jake "The Snake" Roberts
, Killer Karl Kox
, Larry Zbyszko
, The Masked Superstar
, Mr. Wrestling II
, Ole Anderson
, Stan Hansen
, Ricky Steamboat
, Steve Keirn
, Ronnie Garvin, Ted DiBiase
(later known as "The Million Dollar Man" in the WWF), Tommy Rich
, Rick Martel
, Wahoo McDaniel
and Ric "The Nature Boy" Flair
.
as ABC Booking. ABC held its matches at Atlanta's Municipal Auditorium every Friday night. Jones operated ABC for thirty years until his retirement in 1974, though from about 1970 until 1972 he was assisted by his booker Ray Gunkel
- in fact, Jones was so infirm by this time that Gunkel effectively ran the promotion. On Christmas Day of 1971
, Georgia Championship Wrestling aired its first show, which was considered a Christmas special, since the rest of the programming didn't air until late January 1972
.
The promotion underwent some big changes in 1972. Firstly, it started promoting matches at the then-brand-new Omni Coliseum
. Secondly, it switched its television outlet from its longtime home, WQXI-TV
(now WXIA) to an upstart UHF station then called WTCG but later renamed WTBS (not yet a superstation, but still owned by Ted Turner
; station in Atlanta is now WPCH-TV after being spun off from the national TBS cable channel).
in Savannah, Georgia
. The death set off some internal problems, with Ray's widow Ann Gunkel, who had worked closely with Ray and expected to get his share of the promotion being shut out in favor of Bill Watts
, with the promotion being renamed "Mid-South Sports." Ann Gunkel decided to start her own promotion outside of the National Wrestling Alliance
, which she named the All-South Wrestling Alliance.
It didn't look good for Mid-South at that point, most of their wrestlers had gone with Ann, and Ann's promotion had gotten Mid-South's television time slot, though both promotions aired on WTBS. (Ted Turner and Ann Gunkel had both attended Brown University
and were rumored to be romantically involved.) After two years of strife, a trouble-shooter was called in: Jim Barnett
, who had owned promotions in Indiana
, Michigan
, Ohio
, Colorado
and Australia
. (The Australian promotion was called World Championship Wrestling). At this point, Ann's promotion went downhill, being locked out of arena dates, with wrestlers defecting to Mid-South, and finally Ann Gunkel's All-South Wrestling Alliance cried uncle in 1974.
, making the station available to cable systems all across the USA, the renamed Georgia Championship Wrestling became the first NWA promotion to be broadcast nationally. Many of the NWA's regional promoters were unhappy, but Barnett claimed since he was only using Georgia-based wrestlers, that there was no harm. Whether or not Barnett was in fact taking the promotion national is a matter of dispute. Some wrestlers, such as Roddy Piper
, say that he was in fact doing so, but was prevented by fears of crossing organized crime
figures involved with the sport. Throughout the 1970s, Georgia Championship Wrestling was one of the main shows that kept the Superstation alive.
In 1982
, Georgia Championship Wrestling changed its main programming name to World Championship Wrestling. GCW ran shows in Ohio & Michigan; wrestling returned to Dayton, Ohio in January 1983 after a lay-off of no wrestling in Dayton for five years. The ring announcer there was Les Pomerville, a Dayton native.
Barnett was forced out in a power struggle in late 1983. This set the stage for an important move in wrestling history, involving a then-little known regional promoter: Vince McMahon
.
and Jerry Brisco
(brothers who were also superstar amateur and professional wrestlers); Jim Barnett; and Paul Jones. The remaining ten-percent stake belonged to Al Rogowski, a match booker, who also wrestled as "Ole Anderson
."
In 1984, the Briscos sold their stock in GCW to Vince McMahon
for $900,000 and guaranteed jobs with the WWF. Gerald (Jerry) Brisco, in fact, was still a road agent in today's WWE
before suffering three strokes in 2009. After working out a few prior commitments, Georgia Championship Wrestling ceased to exist.
According to Ric Flair
in his book To Be the Man
, the Road Warriors
were offered $5,000 to injure the Briscos during a tag team
match by an unnamed, disgruntled source. Instead of injuring them, they promptly informed the Briscos and told them not to worry because, "We're not those kinds of business people."
The purchase of Georgia Championship Wrestling by the WWF is still considered the tipping point
in U.S. professional wrestling's evolution from local or regional sideshow to national phenomenon. The other primary event was the demise of WCW in 2001, which the WWF liquidated much the same as it had Georgia Championship Wrestling.
, an announcer, was the only member of the original Georgia Championship Wrestling on-air cast who did not quit in protest or just get replaced by the new owner. McMahon had underestimated two major factors, however. The first was the differences in tastes between fanbases of different geographical regions. The WWF's style of wrestling sharply differed from that of GCW, with the WWF featuring cartoonish characters and storylines and squash matches and GCW featuring more athletic competition. Secondly, Southerners
resented the symbolism of a "Yankee
" company coming down from The North
and "taking over" their wrestling.
In addition, WWF World Championship Wrestling was mainly used as a re-cap show, featuring matches which had previously aired on the WWF's main programming venues such as WWF Championship Wrestling
and WWF All-Star Wrestling. This angered WTBS owner Ted Turner, who was hoping that the WWF would have original matches originating from the WTBS Studios at 1050 Techwood Drive. Eventually, the WWF would have in-studio squash matches on the show on an infrequent basis. During this time, the show was co-hosted by Miller and Gorilla Monsoon
, with Monsoon serving as the play-by-play announcer and Miller serving as the ring announcer.
The WWF version of the show received much lower ratings
than its NWA-associated forerunner. As a result, in March 1985, McMahon sold the Saturday night time slot (but not the Georgia Championship Wrestling promotion) to Jim Crockett, Jr.
, a Charlotte, North Carolina-based promoter who ran NWA-branded shows in the Mid-Atlantic states; Jim Crockett Promotions
took over production of the TV show. In time, the show was re-named WCW Saturday Night
, reflecting an overhauled look and a new home studio-arena at the CNN Center. In 2001, McMahon would gain the rights to Crockett's library of Georgia Championship Wrestling/World Championship Wrestling/NWA matches and shows—augmenting his own WWE Tape Library - through his purchase of assets and trademarks belonging to the now-defunct WCW
.
, Bob
and Brad Armstrong, Tommy Rich
, Joel Deaton, Ricky Morton
, Tony Atlas
, and many other notables are set to be a part of the GCW rebirth.
Professional wrestling promotion
A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling. Promotion also describes a role which entails management, advertising and logistics of running a wrestling event...
whose self-titled TV program aired in the 1970s and 1980s on Atlanta, U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, superstation WTBS. Though based in Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
, the company also ran live wrestling shows throughout its geographic "territory" of Georgia (the U.S. pro wrestling industry was a patchwork of self-contained, regional and sub-regional companies—there was no single, nationwide promotion). The territory was affiliated with what had been the world's top sanctioning body of championship titles for decades before, the National Wrestling Alliance
National Wrestling Alliance
The National Wrestling Alliance is a wrestling promotion company and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...
(NWA
National Wrestling Alliance
The National Wrestling Alliance is a wrestling promotion company and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...
).
Another promotion called Georgia Championship Wrestling was formed by Jerry Oates in the 2000s, but later re-named itself Great Championship Wrestling. In 2011 Grady Odom, owner of the Georgia Championship Wrestling trademark, reformed the promotion with intent to bring back Georgia Championship Wrestling. His inaugural return date is set for July 2011.
Television programming
The TV show, hosted by Gordon SolieGordon Solie
Jonard Frank Labiak , better known as Gordon Solie, was a Florida-based professional wrestling play-by-play announcer working for World Championship Wrestling...
, was recorded in one of WTBS' studios at 1050 Techwood Drive, in midtown Atlanta. Shows were taped before a small (yet enthusiastic), live in-studio audience, as were most professional wrestling TV shows of that era. The show featured wrestling matches, plus melodramatic monologues and inter-character confrontations—similar to the programming offered by other territories, including the Northeast-based World Wrestling Federation
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
(WWF).
GCW's show, which aired on Saturday evenings, was complemented with a Sunday evening edition
World Championship Wrestling: Sunday Edition
Best of World Championship Wrestling was an hour-long Sunday evening edition of TBS' Saturday night wrestling shows, Georgia Championship Wrestling and NWA World Championship Wrestling...
.
Notable alumni
Big stars who came in and out of Georgia Championship Wrestling included BobBob Armstrong
Joseph Melton James is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, "Bullet" Bob Armstrong. In the course of his career, which spanned five decades, Armstrong held numerous championships throughout the Southeastern United States...
and Brad Armstrong, Dusty Rhodes ("The American Dream")
Dusty Rhodes (wrestler)
Virgil Riley Runnels, Jr. , better known as "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, is a semi-retired American professional wrestler currently working for WWE...
, the Road Warriors
Road Warriors
The Road Warriors were a professional wrestling tag team composed of Michael "Hawk" Hegstrand and Joseph "Animal" Laurinaitis. They performed under the name "Road Warriors" in the American Wrestling Association, the National Wrestling Alliance, and World Championship Wrestling, and the name Legion...
, Jerry Oates, Jake "The Snake" Roberts
Jake Roberts
Aurelian Jake Smith, Jr. is a second-generation American professional wrestler, the son of former wrestler Aurelian "Grizzly" Smith...
, Killer Karl Kox
Herb Gerwig
Herb Gerwig was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name of Killer Karl Kox, who competed in the National Wrestling Alliance as well as international promotions such as All Japan Pro Wrestling, the International Wrestling Alliance and World Championship Wrestling during the...
, Larry Zbyszko
Larry Zbyszko
Lawrence "Larry" Whistler is a professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Larry Zbyszko. Zbyszko is perhaps best known for his feud with his mentor, wrestling legend Bruno Sammartino during the early 1980s....
, The Masked Superstar
Bill Eadie
Bill Eadie is a professional wrestler who has competed under the names of Ax as part of Demolition and The Masked Superstar...
, Mr. Wrestling II
Mr. Wrestling II
John "Johnny" Walker , better known as Mr. Wrestling II, is a retired American professional wrestler. As Mr...
, Ole Anderson
Ole Anderson
Alan Robert Rogowski , better known by his ring name of Ole Anderson, is a retired professional wrestler and a promoter. He held numerous NWA World Tag Team Championships with Gene Anderson, who was portrayed as his brother...
, Stan Hansen
Stan Hansen
John Stanley Hansen, Jr. is an American former professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Stan Hansen. As a wrestler, Hansen was well known for his stiff wrestling style, which he attributes to poor eyesight, as he is nearly blind without glasses...
, Ricky Steamboat
Ricky Steamboat
Richard Henry Blood , better known by his ring name Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, is a retired American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE working as a road agent. He was one of the few wrestlers who stayed a babyface throughout his career...
, Steve Keirn
Steve Keirn
Stephen "Steve" Paul Keirn is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for being part of the tag team The Fabulous Ones, with Stan Lane, and later for a run in the World Wrestling Federation as Skinner, a gimmick that portrayed him as a tobacco spitting alligator hunter from...
, Ronnie Garvin, Ted DiBiase
Ted DiBiase
Theodore Marvin "Ted" DiBiase, Sr. is a retired professional wrestler, manager, ordained minister and color commentator. DiBiase achieved championship success in a number of wrestling promotions, holding thirty titles during his professional wrestling career...
(later known as "The Million Dollar Man" in the WWF), Tommy Rich
Tommy Rich
Thomas Richardson , better known by his ring name, "Wildfire" Tommy Rich, is a professional wrestler. He is best known for his wrestling career in Georgia and Memphis throughout the 1980s.-Professional wrestling career:...
, Rick Martel
Rick Martel
Richard Vigneault is a retired Canadian professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation between 1980 and 1995 under the ring name Rick Martel...
, Wahoo McDaniel
Wahoo McDaniel
Edward "Wahoo" McDaniel was a Choctaw-Chickasaw Native American who achieved fame as a professional American football player and later as a professional wrestler.-Early life:...
and Ric "The Nature Boy" Flair
Ric Flair
Richard Morgan Fliehr is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Ric Flair. Also known as "The Nature Boy", Flair is one of the most well-known professional wrestlers in the world....
.
History
Georgia Championship Wrestling was formed in Atlanta in 1944 by promoter Paul JonesPaul Jones
Paul Jones may refer to:*Paul Jones , Australian politician*Paul Jones , American Episcopal Bishop*Paul Jones , British former professional boxer...
as ABC Booking. ABC held its matches at Atlanta's Municipal Auditorium every Friday night. Jones operated ABC for thirty years until his retirement in 1974, though from about 1970 until 1972 he was assisted by his booker Ray Gunkel
Ray Gunkel
Raymond Fred Gunkel , known professionally as Ray Gunkel, was an American professional wrestler and promoter in the state of Georgia. He died of heart trauma after a match in Savannah, Georgia in which he defeated Ox Baker.-Early life:Gunkell was born on February 16, 1924 in Chicago, Illinois...
- in fact, Jones was so infirm by this time that Gunkel effectively ran the promotion. On Christmas Day of 1971
1971 in television
The year 1971 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1971.For the American TV schedule, see: 1971-72 American network television schedule.-Events:...
, Georgia Championship Wrestling aired its first show, which was considered a Christmas special, since the rest of the programming didn't air until late January 1972
1972 in television
The year 1972 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1972.For the American TV schedule, see: 1972-73 American network television schedule.-Events:...
.
The promotion underwent some big changes in 1972. Firstly, it started promoting matches at the then-brand-new Omni Coliseum
Omni Coliseum
The Omni Coliseum, usually called The Omni, from the Latin for "all," or "every," was an indoor arena, located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Completed in 1972, the arena seated 16,378, for basketball and 15,278, for ice hockey...
. Secondly, it switched its television outlet from its longtime home, WQXI-TV
WXIA-TV
WXIA-TV, virtual channel 11.1 , is the NBC-affiliated television station in Atlanta, Georgia. Popularly known by its 11 Alive moniker, WXIA is owned by the Gannett Company in a duopoly with MyNetworkTV affiliate WATL...
(now WXIA) to an upstart UHF station then called WTCG but later renamed WTBS (not yet a superstation, but still owned by Ted Turner
Ted Turner
Robert Edward "Ted" Turner III is an American media mogul and philanthropist. As a businessman, he is known as founder of the cable news network CNN, the first dedicated 24-hour cable news channel. In addition, he founded WTBS, which pioneered the superstation concept in cable television...
; station in Atlanta is now WPCH-TV after being spun off from the national TBS cable channel).
The battle of Atlanta
The new television deal would be one of Gunkel's last decisions. Ray Gunkel died of a heart attack later that year after a match versus Ox BakerOx Baker
Douglas A. Baker better known professionally as Ox Baker, is an American former professional wrestler and actor, and was feared for his dreaded finishing move, the Heart Punch, sometimes called the "Hurt Punch", after Baker's famous catchphrase "I love to hurt people!" He has appeared in several...
in Savannah, Georgia
Savannah, Georgia
Savannah is the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Established in 1733, the city of Savannah was the colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. Today Savannah is an industrial center and an important...
. The death set off some internal problems, with Ray's widow Ann Gunkel, who had worked closely with Ray and expected to get his share of the promotion being shut out in favor of Bill Watts
Bill Watts
William F. "Bill" Watts is a former American professional wrestler and promoter. Watts was famous under his "Cowboy" gimmick in his wrestling career, and then as a tough, no-nonsense promoter in the Mid-South area of the United States, which grew to become the UWF.In 1992, he was the Executive...
, with the promotion being renamed "Mid-South Sports." Ann Gunkel decided to start her own promotion outside of the National Wrestling Alliance
National Wrestling Alliance
The National Wrestling Alliance is a wrestling promotion company and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...
, which she named the All-South Wrestling Alliance.
It didn't look good for Mid-South at that point, most of their wrestlers had gone with Ann, and Ann's promotion had gotten Mid-South's television time slot, though both promotions aired on WTBS. (Ted Turner and Ann Gunkel had both attended Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
and were rumored to be romantically involved.) After two years of strife, a trouble-shooter was called in: Jim Barnett
Jim Barnett (wrestling)
James E. Barnett was an American professional wrestling promoter, and owner of Georgia Championship Wrestling and Australia's World Championship Wrestling.-Professional wrestling career:...
, who had owned promotions in Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. (The Australian promotion was called World Championship Wrestling). At this point, Ann's promotion went downhill, being locked out of arena dates, with wrestlers defecting to Mid-South, and finally Ann Gunkel's All-South Wrestling Alliance cried uncle in 1974.
Superstation
When WTBS went on satellite in 19761976 in television
The year 1976 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1976.-Global television events:*The Olympics, broadcast from Montreal, Canada, draw an estimated one billion viewers worldwide....
, making the station available to cable systems all across the USA, the renamed Georgia Championship Wrestling became the first NWA promotion to be broadcast nationally. Many of the NWA's regional promoters were unhappy, but Barnett claimed since he was only using Georgia-based wrestlers, that there was no harm. Whether or not Barnett was in fact taking the promotion national is a matter of dispute. Some wrestlers, such as Roddy Piper
Roddy Piper
Roderick George Toombs , better known by his ring name "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, is a Canadian semi-retired professional wrestler and film actor who is currently signed to WWE. In professional wrestling, he is best known for his work with WWE...
, say that he was in fact doing so, but was prevented by fears of crossing organized crime
Organized crime
Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...
figures involved with the sport. Throughout the 1970s, Georgia Championship Wrestling was one of the main shows that kept the Superstation alive.
In 1982
1982 in television
The year 1982 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1982.For the American TV schedule, see: 1982-83 American network television schedule.-Events:...
, Georgia Championship Wrestling changed its main programming name to World Championship Wrestling. GCW ran shows in Ohio & Michigan; wrestling returned to Dayton, Ohio in January 1983 after a lay-off of no wrestling in Dayton for five years. The ring announcer there was Les Pomerville, a Dayton native.
Barnett was forced out in a power struggle in late 1983. This set the stage for an important move in wrestling history, involving a then-little known regional promoter: Vince McMahon
Vince McMahon
Vincent Kennedy "Vince" McMahon is an American professional wrestling promoter, announcer, commentator, film producer, actor and former occasional professional wrestler. McMahon is the current Chairman, CEO and Chairman of the Executive Committee of professional wrestling promotion WWE...
.
The move that changed wrestling history
Georgia Championship Wrestling was primarily owned in 1983 by a conglomerate of: Jack BriscoJack Brisco
Freddie Joe Brisco was an American professional wrestler, better known as Jack Brisco or Uvalde Slim. He performed for various territories of the National Wrestling Alliance , becoming a two-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion, and multi-time NWA Tag Team Champion with his brother Gerald Brisco...
and Jerry Brisco
Gerald Brisco
Floyd Gerald "Jerry" Brisco is a former American professional wrestler, and prior to June, 2009, worked as a road agent for WWE on its Raw brand....
(brothers who were also superstar amateur and professional wrestlers); Jim Barnett; and Paul Jones. The remaining ten-percent stake belonged to Al Rogowski, a match booker, who also wrestled as "Ole Anderson
Ole Anderson
Alan Robert Rogowski , better known by his ring name of Ole Anderson, is a retired professional wrestler and a promoter. He held numerous NWA World Tag Team Championships with Gene Anderson, who was portrayed as his brother...
."
In 1984, the Briscos sold their stock in GCW to Vince McMahon
Vince McMahon
Vincent Kennedy "Vince" McMahon is an American professional wrestling promoter, announcer, commentator, film producer, actor and former occasional professional wrestler. McMahon is the current Chairman, CEO and Chairman of the Executive Committee of professional wrestling promotion WWE...
for $900,000 and guaranteed jobs with the WWF. Gerald (Jerry) Brisco, in fact, was still a road agent in today's WWE
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
before suffering three strokes in 2009. After working out a few prior commitments, Georgia Championship Wrestling ceased to exist.
According to Ric Flair
Ric Flair
Richard Morgan Fliehr is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Ric Flair. Also known as "The Nature Boy", Flair is one of the most well-known professional wrestlers in the world....
in his book To Be the Man
To Be the Man
To Be the Man is an autobiographical book written by professional wrestler Ric Flair and Keith Elliot Greenberg, and edited by Mark Madden. It was published by WWE Books and distributed by Simon & Schuster in July 2004...
, the Road Warriors
Road Warriors
The Road Warriors were a professional wrestling tag team composed of Michael "Hawk" Hegstrand and Joseph "Animal" Laurinaitis. They performed under the name "Road Warriors" in the American Wrestling Association, the National Wrestling Alliance, and World Championship Wrestling, and the name Legion...
were offered $5,000 to injure the Briscos during a tag team
Tag team
Tag team professional wrestling is a variation in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. A tag team may comprise two wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of established teams who wrestle regularly as a unit and have a team name...
match by an unnamed, disgruntled source. Instead of injuring them, they promptly informed the Briscos and told them not to worry because, "We're not those kinds of business people."
The purchase of Georgia Championship Wrestling by the WWF is still considered the tipping point
Tipping point
In sociology, a tipping point is the event of a previously rare phenomenon becoming rapidly and dramatically more common. The phrase was coined in its sociological use by Morton Grodzins, by analogy with the fact in physics that adding a small amount of weight to a balanced object can cause it to...
in U.S. professional wrestling's evolution from local or regional sideshow to national phenomenon. The other primary event was the demise of WCW in 2001, which the WWF liquidated much the same as it had Georgia Championship Wrestling.
Black Saturday
On July 14, 1984 (a.k.a. Black Saturday within the U.S. professional wrestling industry), Georgia Championship Wrestling ceased to exist when Vince McMahon unexpectedly bought the promotion and its TV time slot for his then-nationally expanding WWF. Freddie MillerFreddie Miller
Freddie G. Miller was a broadcaster and television personality in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Miller worked for Atlanta television station WXIA-TV from the 1950s to the 1970s...
, an announcer, was the only member of the original Georgia Championship Wrestling on-air cast who did not quit in protest or just get replaced by the new owner. McMahon had underestimated two major factors, however. The first was the differences in tastes between fanbases of different geographical regions. The WWF's style of wrestling sharply differed from that of GCW, with the WWF featuring cartoonish characters and storylines and squash matches and GCW featuring more athletic competition. Secondly, Southerners
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
resented the symbolism of a "Yankee
Yankee
The term Yankee has several interrelated and often pejorative meanings, usually referring to people originating in the northeastern United States, or still more narrowly New England, where application of the term is largely restricted to descendants of the English settlers of the region.The...
" company coming down from The North
Northern United States
Northern United States, also sometimes the North, may refer to:* A particular grouping of states or regions of the United States of America. The United States Census Bureau divides some of the northernmost United States into the Midwest Region and the Northeast Region...
and "taking over" their wrestling.
In addition, WWF World Championship Wrestling was mainly used as a re-cap show, featuring matches which had previously aired on the WWF's main programming venues such as WWF Championship Wrestling
WWWF Championship Wrestling
WWF Championship Wrestling is a professional wrestling television program produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It aired from 1978 to 1986 and was the original television show of the WWF...
and WWF All-Star Wrestling. This angered WTBS owner Ted Turner, who was hoping that the WWF would have original matches originating from the WTBS Studios at 1050 Techwood Drive. Eventually, the WWF would have in-studio squash matches on the show on an infrequent basis. During this time, the show was co-hosted by Miller and Gorilla Monsoon
Gorilla Monsoon
Robert James "Gino" Marella , better known by his ring name of Gorilla Monsoon, was an American professional wrestler, play-by-play announcer, and booker...
, with Monsoon serving as the play-by-play announcer and Miller serving as the ring announcer.
The WWF version of the show received much lower ratings
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
than its NWA-associated forerunner. As a result, in March 1985, McMahon sold the Saturday night time slot (but not the Georgia Championship Wrestling promotion) to Jim Crockett, Jr.
Jim Crockett, Jr.
Jim Crockett, Jr. is a former professional wrestling promoter. From 1973 to 1988, he owned Jim Crockett Promotions , a wrestling company affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance...
, a Charlotte, North Carolina-based promoter who ran NWA-branded shows in the Mid-Atlantic states; Jim Crockett Promotions
Jim Crockett Promotions
Jim Crockett Promotions was a professional wrestling promotion owned by Jim Crockett, Jr. until the late 1980s. It was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance and was the forerunner to World Championship Wrestling .-Early history:...
took over production of the TV show. In time, the show was re-named WCW Saturday Night
WCW Saturday Night
WCW Saturday Night was a weekly Saturday night TV show on TBS produced by World Championship Wrestling. The program existed through various incarnations under different names before becoming WCW Saturday Night in 1992...
, reflecting an overhauled look and a new home studio-arena at the CNN Center. In 2001, McMahon would gain the rights to Crockett's library of Georgia Championship Wrestling/World Championship Wrestling/NWA matches and shows—augmenting his own WWE Tape Library - through his purchase of assets and trademarks belonging to the now-defunct WCW
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
.
The Rebirth
With its inagural return show on June 11, 2011 at the Sumter County Recreation Center in Americus Georgia, businessman & GCW owner Grady Odom began the rebirth of the traditional Georgia territory. Events scheduled : Americus Georgia, Cordele,Georgia, Macon Georgia, Athens, Georgia and Augusta ,Georgia. More events are expected to follow. Abdullah the ButcherAbdullah the Butcher
Lawrence Robert "Larry" Shreve best known as Abdullah the Butcher, and also at times The Madman from the Sudan, is a semi-retired Canadian professional wrestler known as one of the most brutal or "hardcore" professional wrestlers of all-time...
, Bob
Bob Armstrong
Joseph Melton James is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, "Bullet" Bob Armstrong. In the course of his career, which spanned five decades, Armstrong held numerous championships throughout the Southeastern United States...
and Brad Armstrong, Tommy Rich
Tommy Rich
Thomas Richardson , better known by his ring name, "Wildfire" Tommy Rich, is a professional wrestler. He is best known for his wrestling career in Georgia and Memphis throughout the 1980s.-Professional wrestling career:...
, Joel Deaton, Ricky Morton
Ricky Morton
Richard Wendell "Ricky" Morton is an American professional wrestler who has worked for such wrestling organizations as Jim Crockett Promotions, the American Wrestling Association, Extreme Championship Wrestling, World Championship Wrestling, the World Wrestling Federation and Total Nonstop Action...
, Tony Atlas
Tony Atlas
Anthony White better known by his ring name "Tony Atlas" is an American bodybuilder, powerlifter, and professional wrestler who has held multiple titles and championships in each sport. He is also known by his bodybuilding title, "Mr...
, and many other notables are set to be a part of the GCW rebirth.
GCW titles
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NWA Macon Tag Team Championship The NWA Macon Tag Team Championship was a tag team professional wrestling championship in Georgia Championship Wrestling, defended exclusively on events held at the Macon City Auditorium and Macon Coliseum in Macon, Georgia. The title lasted from 1969 to 1975.... NWA National Heavyweight Championship The original version NWA National Heavyweight Championship was the major singles title in the NWA-affiliated Georgia Championship Wrestling from 1980 until 1986... NWA National Tag Team Championship The NWA National Tag Team Championship was the major tag team title in the NWA-affiliated Georgia Championship Wrestling from 1980 until 1986.The championship was introduced in November 1980 when Georgia Tag Team Champions the Fabulous Freebirds won a tournament to determine the first champions,... NWA National Television Championship The NWA National Television Championship was a secondary singles championship in the National Wrestling Alliance's Georgia Championship Wrestling territory. It started as the NWA Georgia Television Championship. It was later renamed the National TV Championship... NWA World Tag Team Championship (Georgia version) The Georgia version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship existed from 1954 until 1969.-Title history:-See also:*National Wrestling Alliance*NWA World Tag Team Championship*Georgia Championship Wrestling... |