by Liam Byrne
Appendix
Black Saturday
July the 14th was a date that would go down in wresting infamy as ‘Black Saturday’, the day that Vince McMahon’s WWF would be aired in the 6.05 timeslot on Superstation WTBS instead of the usual Georgia Championship Wrestling. Without warning, fans who had been used to seeing the trials and tribulations of wrestlers such as Ronnie Garvin, Jake Roberts and the Road Warriors, all marshalled along by Gordon Solie, were ‘treated’ to an introduction from Vince McMahon that proceeded taped matches from a selection of WWF superstars instead. Unsurprisingly, the response to this change was poor.
Unbeknownst to many casual fans, McMahon bought out the Brisco brothers and Jim Barnett’s stake in Georgia Championship Wrestling, giving him the controlling stake in the promotion and effectively ending it as an entity in its own right. Seeking a way to expose his product to as many eyes as possible, McMahon seized on disruption in the Georgia booking team, mainly caused by Ole Anderson’s approach to booking the company. McMahon had no interest in the promotion itself; his desire was all about the nationally televised slot that WTBS offered him, a timeslot he had sought (and failed) to buy from Turner before picking up the stake in GCW. In its infancy, and much to the chagrin of those who ran the channel, McMahon would offer only pre-taped footage, rather than fresh new content. Though this would change with the addition of some studio squash matches in time, the project as a whole would fall flat and lead to McMahon selling the timeslot to Jim Crockett in March of 1985.
In the growth of the WWF as a national promotion, it was one of the few missteps McMahon made, though one that clearly didn’t damage the company too much in the long run. However, any territorial coverage of 1984 as a year in wrestling would be remiss without looking at the action contained in that episode of Georgia Championship Wrestling.
Georgia Championship Wrestling 14.7.84
It is Freddie Miller, not Gordon Solie, who greets the fans of Georgia Championship Wrestling to this historic episode of the programme. He introduces Vince McMahon, who runs down a show including matches with the Iron Sheik, Adrian Adonis teaming alongside Dick Murdoch, Jesse Ventura and Big John Studd. Alongside these contests, we will also get interviews that include Paul Orndorff. It doesn’t look like a show that is designed to win new fans, but it does showcase some of the bigger names the promotion were looking to push at this time.
The problem with the shows initially was the use of pre-taped footage that was already available through other outlets. This is clear from the first match, as Adrian Adonis and Dick Murdoch take on Nick DeCarlo and S.D. Jones in a match that was shown on Championship Wrestling on the 27th of June. Here were my thoughts:
The tag team contest with Adrian Adonis and Dick Murdoch is a non-title contest as they are going up against S.D. Jones and Nick DeCarlo, not exactly a team who are setting the world alight. The reactions, both positive and negative, are noticeably louder than they usually are on episodes of Championship Wrestling. It is Jones and Murdoch who begin the contest for their respective teams, with Jones outmuscling Murdoch and wisely backing off when Adonis is tagged in on the blindside. Both Adonis and Murdoch are good at stooging and bumping, with Adonis taking a slam from Jones and flying into a punch from DeCarlo, much to the delight of the crowd as Jones shimmies in the center of the ring. As Garea suggests the champions are at least keeping a fresh man in, DeCarlo gets his first legal introduction into the contest and sends both Adonis and Murdoch down to the mat with armdrag style takedowns.
It is DeCarlo who loses control for the underdogs, eating a Murdoch punch before the champions land a double elbowdrop. Jones enters the ring to break an Adonis abdominal stretch with a headbutt, whilst DeCarlo manages to crawl through Murdoch’s legs shortly afterwards to make a hot tag. An Irish whip sees the champions collide mid-ring, but Adonis takes advantage of Jones focusing on Murdoch by hitting him in the back with a knee. This time, it is Jones who manages to fight back, landing another headbutt on Adonis to allow him to tag in DeCarlo. This sets up the finish though, as a DeCarlo charge into the corner meets a Murdoch knee and the champions finish him off with the back suplex/top rope clothesline combination. A longer match that might have been expected, but Adonis and Murdoch are gold in these situations and this is very watchable.
The first interview of this show is the latest acquisition of Mr Fuji, George ‘The Animal’ Steele. Fuji is now wearing the suit and bowler hat that would become his trademark, a look that Gene Okerlund compliments. Steele comes into camera shot and stands in front of Okerlund, with the interviewer asking whether he might have a chance to communicate. Fuji allows Steele to talk, which sees us wait several moments for him to release a guttural cry to end the interview. A very cartoonish step away from what the Georgia fans would be used to.
Jesse Ventura is up next, with his opponent, Chris Curtis, already in the ring. Ventura takes his time to get into the ring, before offering some strong words towards an American Football player who is in the crowd. The bell has sounded but Ventura still has yet to remove his walk in gear. He continues to milk the time at the expense of action, but as he does engage, Curtis gets sent into the turnbuckle and thus begins a methodical beatdown. A choke and a chop have Curtis on the canvas, but Ventura misses a legdrop that allows Curtis to fire back with some punches of his own. Unfortunately for the jobber, he charges straight into a knee by Ventura, putting The Body back in control. Ventura yanks away on Curtis’ arm before targeting the back with several big forearms to the kidney. This all sets up for the inverted body vice submission finisher that gives Ventura the win. With Ventura versus Hulk Hogan a match that the WWF would try to run with later in the year, it is understandable to see Ventura highlighted here, but he isn’t exactly known for his in-ring dynamism.
Okerlund is now with B. Brian Blair to speak about how tough the competition is in the promotion, with Blair running down the various champions and a number of different wrestlers who are coming to earn their shot. Blair is apparently teaming with Spike Huber – a combination we’ve never seen – and is targeting a run at the tag belts. Speaking of someone we’ve never seen, Alexis Smirnoff is the next person for Okerlund to interview, with a Russian character unsurprisingly talking about the Olympics and the Russian boycott.
It is the Iron Sheik who is up next, as he faces Ron Hutchison. McMahon builds him up by talking about he was WWF World Heavyweight Champion until being dethroned by Hulk Hogan, though it does just beg the question: why not showcase Hogan on this episode? A fireman’s carry opens the contest for the Sheik and he follows up with a turnbuckle smash and back body drop. A gutbuster has Hutchison screaming in agony, whilst also eliciting ‘We want Slaughter’ chants from the crowd. The camel clutch is applied off the back of a beautiful back suplex and that is the contest. The Iron Sheik is a really underrated squash match worker, with this made even better as he gets on the microphone to challenge ‘that fat soldier’.
We then head to a match with Big John Studd taking on Bobo Brazil, the legend who was making sporadic appearances for the WWF after a six year absence. Both men test the ropes to begin, before the first exchange sees both men tee off with forearm strikes and elbows. An Irish whip and a back elbow has Brazil on the canvas, though Studd then goes straight to the bearhug to slow things down. Brazil manages to reverse the bearhug into one of his own, only to have it broken with an eye rake. He retaliates with one of his own before a headbutt has Studd heading to ringside in a daze. Studd returns to the ring with two big forearm blows, leading to a choke and a shoulderblock for two. Studd applies a chinlock, but after escaping the hold, Brazil collides twice into Studd with competing shoulderblocks and then staggers him with a headbutt. Another headbutt follows a kick in the corner, but Brazil misses a legdrop and gets nailed with an elbowdrop for a Studd win. Competitive, yet short enough to not outstay its welcome, though nothing to set the world alight.
Before we finish (notably without the Paul Orndorff promo), McMahon speaks about Hulk
Hogan appearing on next week’s show, before both McMahon and Miller are there to sign off on the first episode in a new era for Georgia Championship Wrestling and the 6.05 timeslot. Whilst the show wasn’t egregiously bad, it highlighted a lot of the wrestling that fans of Georgia would have hated about the WWF product. To many, WWF offered the sizzle and not the steak; that wasn’t what the fans in Georgia at this time desired.
Championship Wrestling from Georgia
Not content to just sit back and accept that Georgia Championship Wrestling was over, the fans revolted against the new brand of wrestling that was being peddled at them by the WWF and on WTBS. Complaints were made, numbering in their thousands, with apparently a significant portion complaining about the lack of Gordon Solie. Having aired a clip show with Solie at the helm the week after Black Saturday dubbed ‘World Championship Wrestling ’84’, it would be two weeks after this that the voices were finally heard.
The Georgia Championship Wrestling promotional group were afforded a timeslot on Superstation WTBS, though at the less visible time of 7.35am on a Saturday morning. Still, it allowed them a chance to air wrestling under the branding of Championship Wrestling from Georgia, with Solie and Ole Anderson back working together once more. Having television back on the Superstation also allowed the promotion to continue running events under its new branding , with over one hundred more events run by the company in just under a year.
Eventually, this revival attempt would effectively be subsumed by Jim Crockett Promotions in April 1985, signalling the final nail in the coffin for the lingering Georgia brand.
Championship Wrestling from Georgia 4.8.84
The set looks thrown together, as I assume it was, with a very basic white screen with the Georgia logo on it. Gordon Solie starts off the show by mentioning that Jimmy Valiant and Pez Whatley will be in action, before introducing Ole Anderson. The two men run down the show, with footage of the Road Warriors and Bob Roop also in the offing.
When Solie throws to the first match on the show, Jimmy Valiant versus Bobby Bass, it is clear that the footage is from Valiant’s run in Mid-Atlantic earlier in the year. Solie and Anderson do the commentary over the top of the video, which always makes things feel disjointed even though they had limited options at this point in time. Bass tries to attack Valiant from the ring, earning him two punches in the process that have the crowd on their feet, whilst the in-ring battle begins with a Valiant bodyslam. Several hiptosses have Bass rolling to ringside to regroup. Valiant uses the ropes to pull Bass back into the ring, leading to the jobber begging off and the Handsome One giving him a punch for his trouble. A nerve hold leads to a back elbow and an elbowdrop for the Valiant win. It is typical Valiant squash, so make of that what you will.
The next contest is The Assassins (1 and 3) against Keith Larsen and John Bonello. It is #3 and Larsen who start the contest, with Larsen coming out on top of a trade of armdrags, though #3 eventually just punches him several times and tags out. #1 tries to hold Larsen on the canvas with a reverse nelson, leading to numerous two counts in a row as Larsen bridges out. We get some fourth wall breaking as Solie talks about the quality of Tommy Young and Nick Patrick as referees, whilst #3 strikes Larsen on the back of the head with a couple of elbows. Larsen manages to scoot through the legs of #3 and make the tag, but Bonello’s fire is cut off almost instantly as he doesn’t see a blind tag that allows #1 to grab him by the air. More generic heel beatdown has Bonello seemingly in trouble, but he ducks a clothesline and hits a crossbody on #3 for a nearfall. Bonello uses this opportunity to tag, only for Larsen to wander straight into some more Assassin double teaming. Bonello has more luck after another tag, hitting #3 with a dropkick, but an illegal kick from the apron stops him in his tracks. #3 lands a powerslam and then #1 hits a top rope kneedrop for the victory. Decent enough, though fairly generic heel work really.
We get our first interview of the new era as Junkyard Dog joins Solie to discuss the matches at a show in Marietta, though he quickly veers away from that to sing ‘Georgia’ at Solie and complain about how he hasn’t got a bone to chew on. This Marietta show would be one of the first few under the new branding, with Ted Dibiase against Brad Armstrong in the main event.
After a commercial break, it is Pez Whatley up against Randy Barber, with Barber actually jumping Whatley before the bell. However, an errant swing allows Whatley to hit an atomic drop, nail a bodyslam and a hit an impressive dropkick off of an Irish whip. A throw sees Barber scoot out of the ring and hit the apron in disgust as his plans unravel in front of him. Two high hiptosses greet him when he gets back into the ring, leading to an arm wringer by Whatley. A turnbuckle smash and shoulderblock allows Whatley to use a snapmare to setup a chinlock. Barber does try to fight back, but a headbutt and a gutwrench suplex both earn Whatley two counts. The flying headbutt finally keeps Barber down for the three in an energetic squash that kept the pace high to keep it engaging.
Bob Roop is in the ring next against Vinnie Valentino, and it is unsurprising that he takes the match to the canvas straight away. Roop tries to use a crucifix to pin Valentino, before the two men end up standing with duelling facelocks. A suplex allows Roop to reapply his facelock with no comeback, whilst a couple of strikes then sees him take the match to the canvas with the facelock once more. A gutwrench suplex earns Roop a one count, with a back elbow then getting him a two count. Valentino rolls twice to get some distance from Roop, which actually works as it allows him to hit Roop with some strikes, a slam and a shoulderblock, only to get cut off with a high knee. A ropey swinging neckbreaker – as Valentino bumps too early - leads to a piledriver for the Roop victory, one that was perfectly adequate if a little uninspiring.
Don Kernodle, Ivan Koloff and Nikita Koloff join Solie in the studio, with Kernodle reiterating what he often does: that the champions will take on anyone who wants to step up to the plate. Ivan adds a word or two about some of the teams they will be dealing with in the territory, but it is a very brief interview.
Tully Blanchard is in the ring waving the money around that is on offer to anyone who can beat him for the Television Title. The man looking to take the cash off of him this week is Sam Houston, who manages to outmuscle Blanchard twice in collar and elbow tie ups. Indeed, it is the rookie who has control early on as he avoids some grappling on the mat and sends Blanchard to ringside following a hiptoss. Blanchard tries to run when Houston grabs his arm; Houston pulls him back over the top rope with ease. In order to halt his momentum once more, Blanchard is back to ringside, which works as he catches Houston with a knee instead of locking up with a collar and elbow. He still struggles to keep Houston down, though a drop toe hold allows the champion to grapevine the leg and slap his opponent around the back of the head in a condescending fashion.
Houston does manage to reverse an Irish whip into the corner and land a dropkick, but a second dropkick is brushed off by Blanchard. A slingshot that sees Blanchard drive Houston’s throat into the bottom rope is all that is needed to set up for the slingshot suplex for the three count. A good little match, especially as it showcased Blanchard’s ability to overcome initial difficulties in the contest to win.
Blanchard’s eventual running buddy, Wahoo McDaniel, is up next, taking on Barry Orton which implies this contest happened before the turn. McDaniel takes control instantly, sending Orton to the canvas and keeping him there with an armlock. A shoulderblock and an armdrag sees McDaniel go back to working the arm. Orton does hit a bodyslam, only to lean straight into a kick from McDaniel that sees him immediately regain control. A McDaniel’s slap has Orton head outside for some peace. This break does end up with Orton taking over, hitting a knee to the midsection to break a hammerlock, before crashing down with a big elbowdrop and controlling the bigger man with a side headlock on the canvas. An Irish whip in the corner reversal allows McDaniel to fight back, hitting a chop and a butterfly suplex for the quick finish. Fair enough contest, though McDaniel’s heel turn definitely has livened up the character.
Tully Blanchard joins Solie to shill the event in Marietta, with a second instance of guys who are not on the card talking about the event. Solie tries to get Blanchard talking about Jerry Blackwell, but Blanchard instead speaks about how Ted Dibiase will deal with Brad Armstrong in the main event.
The final match on the show is the Road Warriors, back when they were National Tag Team Champions, against Steve Brinson and Larry Hamilton. You know what you are going to get with the Warriors in ’84, as Hamilton gets sent to the outside to allow Hawk and Animal to initially target Brinson. Brinson then gets thrown into the jobber corner, and they repeat the beatdown on Hamilton, including a Hawk press slam and an Animal backbreaker. Brinson gets one more chance to be slapped about by the Warriors, all leading to the proto-Doomsday Device clothesline finisher.
To finish, we have a brief word from Ann Gunkel about the NWA events that are happening in the area, a segment somewhat overshadowed by Solie’s inability to work out how long they have left, something he audibly mentions as well.