Georgia Championship Wrestling (10.24.1981) Review

-Originally aired October 24, 1981.

-Your host is Gordon Solie.

BRIAN BLAIR vs. KEN TIMBS
-We play with the format a little this week, with the match starting before Gordon has even introduced himself.

-Gutwrench and a front facelock by Blair. I’m used to this promotion calling the front facelock a “chancery,” but I don’t get Gordon calling a gutwrench suplex a Salto. It looks nothing like a Salto. Airplane spin and a Samoan drop get Blair the win.

-Gary Hart is here to discuss the Great Kabuki, discussing his mastery of gung fu and the art of targeting the center of the body.

THE GREAT KABUKI (with Gary Hart) vs. GERALD FINLEY
-Finley catches Kabuki with punches and blocks a kick, but Kabuki targets the throat to take control. Irish whip by Kabuki, and Finley takes an ugly bump there. Kabuki comes off the second rope with a shot to the chest, and that puts Finley away.

-Great Mephisto, Tor Kamata, and Ray Stevens are here. Masked Superstar’s bounty hasn’t been paid out yet, and if Tommy Rich is going to go around and sign “mystery partners” for protection, then Mephisto will play that game too, and he touts a mystery partner for Tor Kamata at the next Omni card.

-Gordon is here with referee Nick Patrick, who needs to explain what happened in the Flair/Rhodes match at the Omni last week. Apparently…and you’ll never believe this…the first referee in the match got bumped, Nick Patrick hurried into the ring, Dusty Rhodes was under the impression that he had won the match, but Patrick was actually disqualifying him for using the title belt as a weapon on Flair. Well, I hope somebody makes a note of this bullshit and keeps Nick Patrick far away from important world title matches in the future.

-We follow this with a great promo from Ric Flair, who totally ignores the fact that he retained the belt on a bullshit DQ finish and just hypes himself for being the greatest damn wrestler in the world and proving it when he got in the ring.

JERRY OATES vs. ED TIMBS
-Ed attacks before the bell and slams Oates, but Oates avoids an elbow and boots Timbs. Front facelock follows and for a few seconds, there is absolute SILENCE in the studio. They’re motionless in the hold, Gordon isn’t talking, and not a sound is coming from any of the fans. It’s so weird.

-Oates wakes everyone up with a shoulderblock that connects with an audible thwack. Forearm and another front facelock. Backdrop gets a two-count. Timbs tries to get something going, but misses a corner charge, and Oates finishes with a spinning toehold.

-The Minnesota Wrecking Crew has arrived in Georgia. Gene and Ole aren’t pretty and they aren’t flashy dressers, but they’re the best damn wrestlers in the world and nobody can argue that.

MINNESOTA WRECKING CREW vs. GEORGE WELLS & RICK THOR
-MWC does a pretty standard squash for them while Gordon does a great job of outlining their technique: tag in and out nonstop, and cut the ring in half. Ole ties up Wells in a hold, but Wells breaks free and tags Thor. Andersons work the arm, and Ole clamps on an armbar for the submission.

-We get ANOTHER Ric Flair promo because he’s feeling it and he has the time.

TOMMY RICH (National Champion) vs. DON GILBERT
-Headscissors by Tommy, then he switches to a front facelock and a takedown for one. Into a rear chinlock. Gilbert throws forearms, and the crowd PANICS as soon as Gilbert unleashes the slightest bit of offense and they’re begging Tommy to get it together. Tommy shakes off the cobwebs and fights back.

All of a sudden, Great Mephisto is in the house, and he has a masked man that we’ve never seen before. They quietly scout Tommy, who manages to keep an eye on them while dishing out his offense, and an abdominal stretch by Tommy gets the win.

-Tommy Rich ain’t afraid of anyone that Mephisto brings into the territory!

-Steve O, who’s been training more heavily lately, says he’s going to start doing something new in the ring that will help him win matches. We’ll just have to watch for it.

-A return match has been signed for the Omni! Flair vs. Rhodes with TWO referees!

BRUNO SAMMARTINO, JR. vs. JOSE MEDINA
-Junior unleashes a flurry of holds right out of the starting gate. Medina comes to life with forearms, but Bruno Jr. comes back to life with a slam and a hiptoss. Su-play finishes things for Bruno Jr.

TERRY GORDY & BIG JIM DUGGAN vs. MIKE JACKSON & JIM GALLAGHER
-Jackson and Gallagher manage to get Gordy caught in a hold and fare well with it. Duggan tags in and just goes straight to aggressive strikes to turn it around. Mike Jackson tags in and he’s a house of fire, using stick-and-move strategy to frustrate Duggan before tagging Gallagher back in, basically leaving him to get punished for it. Neckbreaker by Duggan, and a piledriver by Gordy gets the win.

-Tommy Rich is out here. Great Mephisto has explained that the large man we saw earlier is Super Destroyer, and Tommy is incredibly suspicious that it’s just Masked Superstar wearing a different outfit. Mephisto even went to the trouble of submitting a sworn affidavit to GCW promising that it’s NOT Superstar, and the fact that he even went to the effort to do that is a little suspicious.

RIC FLAIR vs. RICK HARRIS
-This is archival footage (although not THAT old) from CWF, with Gordon screening it because it gives us a sense of the greatness that Flair had in him before he won the title. Harris is the future Black Bart, for those keeping track.

-Flair throws Harris out to the concrete right away. Back in, Harris throws some desperate punches, but Flair backdrops him and follows with a suplex. Figure four gets the submission. Okay, hornet’s nest stirring time, but I kind of get Bret Hart’s complaints about Flair’s psychology, because he was laser-focused on the back for that whole squash and then finished with a submission hold on the leg.

-More words from Flair on the mic, as it looks like he just spent a 10-hour day cutting promos and Georgia went ahead and decided to use all of them.

RAY STEVENS vs. RICK BENEFIELD
-Not familiar with Benefield, but Solie is putting him over as an actual name opponent, noting that he uses the figure four as a finisher.

-Stevens whips him across the ring and out to the floor. Piledriver gets the quick win for Stevens.

MR. WRESTLING II & STEVE O vs. THE ANGEL & DAVE FORRESTER
-Jobbers control the match quickly, dominating II until Steve O tags in to come to the rescue. Forrester tags back in and ties up O in a front facelock. II tags back in and takes Forrester down with a kneelift, and Steve O finishes it with a top rope axehandle.

GREAT KABUKI (with Gary Hart) vs. TED OATES
-Oates works the arm. They trade hiptosses, with Oates getting the upper hand and applying an armbar. Kabuki fights back with kicks and a nerve hold. Series of chops. Show cuts off at this point, but educated guess is that it’s a win for Kabuki.

6.4

The final score: review Average

The 411

A couple of decent squashes this week.