Georgia Championship Wrestling (12.26.1981) Review

-Originally aired December 26, 1981.

-Your hosts are Gordon Solie & Roddy Piper. Gordon is giving off major “woke up ten minutes ago” vibes for some reason. But Gordon and Roddy have a great exchange to lead off. Roddy needles Gordon for “not getting any Christmas cards yesterday.” Gordon cheerfully responds that he actually DID get both of Piper’s cards in the mail, and Piper has a funny egg-on-my-face reaction to that.

-The Armstrongs show up and Piper immediately puts down his microphone and leaves. They’re glad that they’ve got the National Tag Team Titles going into 1982 and they’re gonna keep them all year.

-Tommy Rich is here. He’s STILL feuding with the Masked Superstar, and a few fans have pointed out that it’s never really the Superstar who does damage to Tommy; it’s the henchmen that Superstar always has with him. So Tommy waves a fistful of bills and pledges that he has a hired goon of his own now, and he’ll be showing up in Georgia soon. Gordon hints that he already knows a specific detail that Tommy didn’t mention in the interview, and there’s going to be more info coming later.

JIM GARVIN vs. KEN TIMBS
-Garvin is clean-shaven all of a sudden, and it’s a pretty good look.

-Piper attempts to do commentary on a microphone that isn’t working while Garvin flings Timbs around and works the arm. Garvin whips Timbs and clotheslines him down for a three-count. Wow, a clothesline for the three-count. I’d say Garvin is readayyyyyy for the Survivor Series.

-Masked Superstar is out here, demanding information about Tommy Rich’s henchman because he doesn’t like surprises and he’s the National Heavyweight Champion, dammit! Gordon says he’s not at liberty to reveal what he knows and throws it to the ring.

KEVIN SULLIVAN vs. DON GILBERT
-Sullivan elbows Gilbert down and puts the boots to his back. Sullivan works the arm while the crowd chants “Go home, Kevin,” so apparently Georgia was so lax about kayfabe at this point that they had the studio audience giving the time cues to the wrestlers. Stun gun and an elbow by Sullivan for the win.

-Tommy Rich is back out here with Bad Bad Leroy Brown. We flashback to Steve O tricking Super Destroyer into reacting to the name “Superstar,” which actually kind of makes everyone look a little stupid now that in kayfabe, we know that’s not him.

-Next, we go to the Omni on Thanksgiving night with Rich battling Superstar. Both men get wiped out and Steve O & Buzz Sawyer suddenly head to the ring and brawl for reasons not explored. With the referee’s attention diverted, Superstar pulls a switcheroo with Destroyer, and Superstar gets a tainted win to capture the National Title.

-So now, on New Year’s Day, Tommy has a match signed for the Omni: a six-man elimination match. Tommy, Leroy, and Stan Hansen vs. Super Destroyer, Terry Gordy, & Austin Idol.

-We run down the card for the omni on New Year’s Day and this is a pretty damn stacked show:
Kabuki vs. Dick Slater
Bob & Brad Armstrong vs. Funk Brothers
Abdullah the Butcher vs. Masked Superstar
Andre the Giant vs. The Assassin with the mask on the line
Plus the elimination match.

BOB & BRAD ARMSTRONG (National Tag Team Champions) vs. RICK HUNTER & ED TIMBS
-Armstrongs double-team Hunter (who is not the jobbing Rick Hunter that I’m familiar with) and Piper is instantly disgusted. And while he’s at it, how the hell is Brad ever going to learn how to be a wrestler on his own when absolutely everything in his career is what his daddy tells him to do? It would have been an awesome payoff if we got Brad taking the bait and turning heel to become a running buddy for Piper, but I feel like that kind of twist wouldn’t even occur to anybody booking in 1981.

-Timbs tags in and Brad drives knees into him. Jobbers trap Brad in the corner, but Dad immediately comes to the rescue. Brad bounces off the ropes and bodypresses Timbs for a three-count.

-Ron Bass is here to remind us that he is, in fact, a heel.

-Masked Superstar is here again, and in the span of about one minute, he rattles off every babyface in the company and explains why he dislikes each of them, and it’s actually really impressive how he managed to do that off the top of his head.

RON BASS vs. TOM ROGERS
-Bass pounds down Rogers while Bob Armstrong storms over to the commentary table and tells Piper that if he has anything to say, he’s a big boy and he’s welcome to say it face-to-face. And of course, Piper waits for him to walk away before offering his rebuttal.

-Bass dominates Rogers, and finishes him in no time with the Texas stampede.

EL GRAN APOLLO vs. MIKE JACKSON
-Apollo continues his “We have NO idea what to do with this guy” tour in this territory. He snapmares Jackson down. Jackson collects his bearings and backs him into the ropes while Piper tells us that he eats steak three times a day, just because he can. There’s your fun fact for this week’s episode.

-Jackson takes down Apollo and applies a side headlock. Succession of moves leads to Apollo clamping down on Jackson with headscissors. German suplay by Apollo gets the three-count out of nowhere. Felt like they were just getting started in there.

-We get a great promo from Terry & Dory to hype their title shot on New Year’s night. Don’t bother opening any other businesses in Atlanta because it’s going to be THE event in the city that night. And the Funks promise they’re going to be at every Omni show in 1982 because they aren’t losing those belts this year.

BUZZ SAWYER vs. KEN HALL
-Sawyer with forearms to start off, and he dumps Hall on the concrete. Hall comes to life and whips Sawyer into the ropes, but the attempted dropkick fails. I really, really want them to stop taping and check the ring, because every time somebody hits the ropes, the opposite side of the ring comes off the floor, and it’s scaring the hell out of me.

-Sawyer ties up Hall on the mat and clamps on a headlock. Powerslam by Sawyer, and Gordon confirms that it was, in fact, a FULL powerslam, for the win.

-Ole Anderson comes out to advocate on behalf of Sawyer, wanting to know why no REAL competition will sign contracts to face him.

-Let’s start hour #2!

-Tommy Rich & Leroy Brown are back out here, and Tommy is still waving his money around and bragging about what he can get done by offering a few bucks to the right person. Superstar and Destroyer take issue with this and confront Tommy, but when Tommy acts like he’s ready to fight back, the masked guys leave.

PAUL JONES vs. MARVIN TURNER
-Jones shoulderblocks Turner and works Turner’s arm. Fans gave Jones a cheer when he was introduced, but Piper is putting him way, way over, so I’m not clear on his heel/face status in this territory.

-Jones throws an aggressive punch and takes Turner down for an armbar. Jones goes after the back and again, he’s coming off heel, but he suddenly calls out Piper and dares him to be Turner’s partner to make it a handicap match, and the crowd pops huge for Jones throwing down the gauntlet. Jones heads back in and finishes Turner with the Indian deathlock.

-Gordon welcomes Michael Hayes to the commentary table, and they very definitely taped this before they let the audience in and it’s a weird vibe.

MASKED SUPERSTAR & SUPER DESTROYER vs. KEN HALL & TONY VALENTINO
-Masked guys switch off on Hall and beat on him. Valentino tags in and gets knocked around. Hall gets beaten up. Valentino gets beaten up.

-Tommy Rich comes out for guest commentary, and Superstar immediately throws Valentino over the top rope, intentionally getting disqualified just to end the match and clear the ring so he can have words with Rich, and Rich is up for a fight, so we have a brawl in the studio, with Rich holding his own early on, but the moment the 2-on-1 advantage turns into a problem, Leroy Brown is out there and he beats the hell out of Destroyer with his helmet as we go to a commercial break.

-Tommy Rich heads out and yells “To heck with the bounty hunter!” just immediately scratching that angle after teasing it in the first hour, so I feel like somebody no-showed the taping. So now his new deal is that he’s not going to wrestle another match until he has a match signed with Superstar AND Super Destroyer.

-Freddie Miller is here. He made some phone calls to the higher-ups at GCW, and has been authorized to make the following announcement: The card for New Year’s night at the Omni has been altered. The elimination tag team match is off, and Tommy Rich & Bad Bad Leroy Brown will now be facing Super Destroyer and Masked Superstar. So SOMETHING happened to whoever was supposed to make the surprise appearance as the bounty hunter.

-And apparently the GCW higher-ups were feeling really playful, because Bob Armstrong pops in to quickly announce that the title match against the Funks is now a Texas tornado match.

-Super Destroyer and Masked Superstar are out here, and Superstar is enraged that AGAIN, GCW has surprised him with a match.

JIM GARVIN vs. JACK FULLER
-Garvin works over Fuller with a toehold, and a shoulderblock gets the win. Oh come on, a shoulderblock?!

-Buzz Sawyer is still trying to get the idea across that he’s a pretty boy now.

BUZZ SAWYER vs. WAYNE BLALOCK
-Sawyer charges the ring and rams Blalock, then slams him. Sawyer pounds away while Ole Anderson strolls over and reveals that he’s made an arrangement to Buzz to start “coaching” his career. Series of backbreakers by Buzz, and a big elbow gets the three-count.

BOB & BRAD ARMSTRONG (National Tag Team Champions) vs. JIM VERTEROSA & DEKE RIVERS
-Armstrong works over Verterosa. I was sitting here grasping for a snarky comment about how much Verterosa looks like a very young Ole Anderson, and finally the light bulb went on. This is ARN going by a different name at the very start of his career. What’s funny is he’s wearing Ole-style tights and boots with the stars on them, like he already knows what his destiny is.

-Heels get the upper hand, and Vertarosa elbows him down for a one-count. Brad applies a side headlock on Vertarosa, and I kind of want to ask Arn if he has any memory of this TV taping, because what’s jumping out at me here is that his left boot is being held together with tape.

-Jobbers get the upper hand on Brad, beating on him while Piper rides Bob’s ass for just staying out there and letting his son take a beating, exactly the opposite of his beef with Bob in their previous match.

-Hot tag to Bob, and all four men brawl in the ring. Bob gets Vertarosa with a bodypress off the second rope for the three-count.