wrestling / Video Reviews
GCW Superstars (7.30.1983) Review
Image Credit: Georgia Championship Wrestling
Loading...-So to recap, this was the effort by Memphis and Georgia to combine forces and have a promotion that was basically the B-squads of both groups to shore up the flagging house shows on the Georgia circuit. And it worked, but not well enough. Jim Cornette’s account was that Ole Anderson reviewed the house show gates and determined that they were getting an extra $800 per show out of this group and decided that the juice wasn’t worth the squeeze, so he gave orders to his second-in-command, Ronnie West, to shut down GCW Superstars and tell the TV station that they weren’t coming back.
-BUT…they still had buildings booked for the next two weeks, and…what the hell, all of the guys were going to be in the area anyway, which leads to this really funny final episode, which is officially titled “WRESTLING” (they’re using the Memphis TV show opening) and is pretty much an outlaw show with no actual wrestling promotion attached to it. Ronnie West basically just had the guys sneak into the TV studio behind Ole’s back and do one last TV taping to try to sell a few more tickets to the remaining house shows.
-Originally aired July 30, 1983.
-Your host is Michael St. John, who promises a lot of exciting action “here on Wrestling.”
THE STRAY CAT vs. MR. X
-Battle of the masked guys. The Stray Cat hails from “Tinpan Alley,” so I hope we get some vignette of him sitting at an upright piano and trying to write a song with a title like “My Carolina Baby Sweetheart’s on the Choo-Choo Train Back Home.”
-Mr. X goes out to the floor after some early offense, and Stray Cat whips out a plancha for the last day in Chattanooga. Back in, Mr. X tries a side headlock, but the Cat counters it with headscissors. X rams Cat into the turnbuckle, but Cat tricks X into getting up during an attempted pin by tapping him on the shoulder, and X thinks it’s the referee. X tries a variety of chinlockery, and a gutwrench gets two. Stray Cat reverses an Irish whip and slams X, then heads to the top rope for a NASTY-looking finish. X is on his feet and Cat comes off the top rope and just spears into him with a headbutt for three.
-Superstar Bill Dundee (who apparently got a lot of the blame for the failure of this whole idea) cuts a promo and gets cut off 16 seconds into it because the local commercial for Stuckey’s is apparently more over.
-Michael St. John and Miss Linda are here making their “debut” in this area, which is a funny thing to call it. Superstar Bill Dundee apparently got word that everyone missed his promo, so he comes back out and mooches off Adrian’s mic time to let us all know that we’re fat.
EXOTIC ADRIAN STREET (with Miss Linda) vs. JEFF YOUNG
-Elbows by Street while Bill Dundee sits in on commentary, and if you erase “fat” and “redneck,” Dundee has nothing to say.
-Uppercut and a stomp by Street. Young revers an Irish whip but runs into a boot. Young applies a a bearhug, but Street breaks it by kissing him and rolls him up for three.
THE ANGEL & “Bounty Hunter” JERRY NOVAK (with Jim Cornette) vs. STRAY CAT & PAT ROSE
-Great week for Stray Cat fans!
-Rose armdrags Angel. Shoulderblock and a series of hiptosses. Cat tags in and works the arm. Bounty Hunter tags in as Jim Cornette comes over to accuse the Stray Cat of “Illegal chemicals in his blood stream.” Cat and Rose actually clear the ring, and when Angel comes back in, Pat Rose just continues having the best week of his life, with dropkicks and more arm work.
-Novak tags back in and gets Cat on the mat for headscissors, and it seems to be that keeping Cat on the mat is the winning strategy, so Novak just wears him down with holds. Angel tries a shini…a shinn…the Million Dollar Dream, but Cat makes the ropes and makes the tag. Angel whips out a sinister glove and applies a claw to give Angel the win. Surprising showcase for Pat Rose, who was pretty much always cannon fodder.
-The Angel and Novak are ready for their coal miner’s glove match against the Fantastic Ones TONIGHT in Chattanooga.
-Superstar Bill Dundee, “the Southern Heavyweight Champion,” comes in again, and this is not any version of the Southern Heavyweight Title that Wikipedia is familiar with, and since the promotion is shutting its doors in 22 minutes, it doesn’t matter. He explains that he’s wrestling Jeff Young because the opponent who was supposed to be here today didn’t have enough guts to show up today. No idea who the opponent was supposed to be for this taping, so let’s just say it was supposed to be Antonio Inoki and make it interesting.
SUPERSTAR BILL DUNDEE (“Southern Heavyweight Champion”) vs. JEFF YOUNG
-I feel like Dundee is sidestepping an obvious strategy after we’ve established that you can get a three-count on this guy by kissing him.
-Young applies headscissors and sticks with holds until Dundee goes to the eyes. Dundee tries for a Boston crab, but Young resists and once it’s locked on, Young manages to do a push-up that causes Dundee to fall out of the ring. I feel bad for the studio audience fans because they’re having a GREAT time here and it’s just going to be yanked away from them after today. This promotion ended right when they had enough regulars to fill their TV shows.
-Back in, Dundee connects with an elbow and follows with a knee to the throat to finish.
-The Fantastic Ones are here with a “Coal Miner’s Glove,” and they have a really really shiny one that looks more like an oven mitt.
THE FANTASTIC ONES vs. SUPERSTAR BILL DUNDEE & KING CARL FERGIE (with Jim Cornette)
-Fergie is supposed to be teaming up with Norman Frederick Charles, but Cornette accuses the Fantastic Ones of sabotaging his car, so Dundee steps in. I feel like there’s a divide here between “Memphis guys” and “Georgia guys” that accounts for all the double-duty today.
-Some early chaos to start before Bobby Fulton gets Dundee on the mat with a wristlock, and the Fantastic Ones trade off on Dundee to work the arm over. Taylor cleans house and backdrops Fergie for a two-count. Fantastic Ones work Fergie’s leg, but the heels overwhelm Taylor with double-teaming. Michael St. John announces “We got about two minutes left” as a pier sixer breaks out. Referee restores order, but the chaos breaks out and this time it stays chaos as the locker room empties out for a big crazy brawl to turn out the lights on this experiment.
