Georgia Championship Wrestling (2.20.1982) Review

-Originally aired February 20, 1982.

-Your hosts are Gordon Solie & Roddy Piper. Breaking news: Bob Armstrong is now allowed back in the TV studio because GCW believes that Armstrong is capable of controlling his temper around Piper now. Also, Piper mentions that he’s been fined $500 because GCW believes he was the one who instigated a brawl a few weeks ago.

-Gary Hart comes out and predicts Bob Armstrong will take an ass-kicking from Piper if it comes to that, because there’s a reason that Bob always sends his son into the ring to wrestle instead of working on his own career.

BRAD ARMSTRONG vs. RICK BENFIELD
-Brad wins a forearm duel and snapmares Benfield down. Leapfrog almost goes comically wrong, but Brad regains his bearings and dropkicks Benfield. Benfield shows some signs of life but gets punched down, and a full powerslam by Armstrong gets the pin. Good thing he didn’t try a battery-is-only-at-25%slam.

-Gordon welcomes the mayor of Knoxville, Randy Tyree, who’s excited about the upcoming WORLD’S FAIR! So many Simpsons references, so little time! Gordon touts that GCW currently discussing doing a special series of events during the World’s Fair featuring international matches. Not sure Georgia Championship Wrestling is a name suited for a World’s fair. They should probably think about rebranding in 1982.

-Gordon asks Mayor Tyree if there’s adequate housing for visitors, and he says that there are many options within a 100-mile radius. Yeah, like when I went to Disney World and booked a hotel in Sarasota.

-Gary Hart is here with Kabuki, and lays out some money just to make the upcoming match interesting. He’s going to give a kendo stick to jobber Tommy Rogers. If Tommy can connect with any part of Kabuki other than his gloved hand, Tommy wins $200.

KENDO STICK CHALLENGE: THE GREAT KABUKI (with Gary Hart) vs. TOMMY ROGERS
-Tommy just goes nuts on Kabuki with the stick, but Kabuki blocks every shot with the glove. Kabuki suddenly gets distracted by a noise and turns his head, at which point Rogers gets a clean shot right across Kabuki’s back to win the money.

-And of course Kabuki doesn’t take that well and beats the hell out of Rogers, even knocking Gary Hart over when Hart tries to stop the attack, and a few people rush to the ring to pull Tommy to safety while Gary distracts him. So even Gary Hart is kind of afraid of his own man and doesn’t have total control over him.

-Gary Hart returns to collect his $200 and seems completely annoyed that Gordon Solie is actually holding him to the terms of the bet and won’t hand it over.

-The Masked Superstar and Super D are ready for the World Tag Team Title tournament in the Omni!

TOM PRICHARD vs. CHICK DONOVAN
-Prichard clamps on a top wristlock and takes down Donovan. Donovan goes after the arm but misses an elbow drop, and Prichard goes back to the arm. Donovan…goes…for….a…press…slam…but…can’t…quite…get…the…elevation and finally Prichard just gets out of the grip and rolls Donovan for a two-count. Backdrop and an enziguiri are enough for Prichard to get the pin.

-Leroy Brown and “Tennessee Stud” Ron Fuller are teaming up for the tournament in the Omni. We go to the Mid-Atlantic studio for comments from Big John Studd, who’s coming to prove that he’s the only stud in professional wrestling.

-Roddy Piper welcomes Gino Hernandez. He tells a story about how he hooked up with a woman once, and she had stolen a towel from the bathroom of the last wrestler she had been with. Gino gave her the night of her life and the woman gave him the other wrestler’s towel as a souvenir because he was a better lover. Gino holds up the towel, and it’s monogrammed T.R. I have a hard time believing that Gino is a better lay than Terri Runnels and the very suggestion leads me to suspect that wrestling might be a work.

GINO HERNANDEZ vs. BOBBY GARRETT
-Piper is pretty funny here, as he just has his head completely up Gino’s ass and goes crazy for a weak kick early on in the match like it’s the most brilliant scientific wrestling he’s ever seen in his life.

-Gino slams Bobby. The backward falling elbow connects and gives Gino the win. This is an interesting dichotomy–Gino’s version of it looks lame but he always wins with it. Ted DiBiase’s version was beautiful but always missed.

JIM GARVIN vs. RICK HARRIS
-We’ve skipped a month between January and February and Garvin is still exactly where he was, where he’s getting wins on TV but they still clearly have no idea what the hell to do with him.

-Garvin works the arm but gets slammed down, and Harris drops a knee. Gordon does an incredible job of describing the effects of a front facelock and even Piper gives him props for how good the breakdown of the hold was.

-Forearms by Harris, which will slow down Garvin’s usual mental processes, but Garvin surprises Harris with a backslide for three.

-Tommy Rich is out here, and he just rattles off all the cities where he’s booked, and that’s it. You’d think “Your ex gave me your old fuckin’ towel” is something you’d want to address and offer a rebuttal for but he doesn’t bring it up.

OLE ANDERSON & STAN HANSEN vs. ED TIMBS & JIM GALLAGHER
-Hansen goes nuts on Timbs with elbows and knees. Gallagher tags in and gets the same treatment. Hansen works the arm of Timbs Anderson-style before tagging Ole in. The heels have really good chemistry together, and they’re one of those pairs that just looks right. They look like a team.

-Ole works the arm, slides Timbs’ elbow pad off his arm, and throws it away while maintaining a hold! and makes the match a keeper right there. Gallagher tags in and gets slammed down. Hansen comes in and drives Gallagher down with a lariat for three.

-Roddy Piper interviews Ole & Stan at Ole’s request because Ole likes him more than Gordon. Stan Hansen explains his out-of-nowhere style by playing the classic “I don’t owe you an explanation!” card. He goes anyplace where someone waves a wad of money in front of him.

-It’s time for hour #2!

-Here are Ron Bass and Buzz Sawyer, and they’re ready for the big tournament next week!

TOMMY RICH vs. RICK HARRIS
-Backdrop by Rich, followed by a series of armdrags, and Harris goes to the floor to rethink his entire life.

-Harris fights back, but Rich fires away with right hands and it suddenly looks like the fight of a lifetime in the WTBS studio, as Rich & Harris both start doing the “45 minutes elapsed, 15 minutes remaining” sell for their stuff, and Rich connects with a Thesz press to put Harris away.

RON BASS vs. JIM GALLAGHER
-Bass clubs away at Gallagher and stomps away, and that’s pretty much all there is to say about the match. Solie recounts Bass getting himself disqualified and blowing his winning streak, and suspects that it’s made Bass BETTER because he doesn’t have a perfect record dangling over his head anymore. He has a loss to his credit now, he doesn’t have to be perfect anymore, so he just needs to dish out pain and go for a pin.

-And Bass does exactly that, ending it with a stampede.

JIM GARVIN vs. BUZZ SAWYER
-Sawyer is wearing Bob Roop-style faux-Olympian tights and it’s a weird look on him.

-Garvin gets off to a good start, putting Sawyer in a side headlock and cradling him for a quick two-count, and Gordon declares HUMAN CHESS less than two minutes into the match. Backslide by Garvin gets a very close two-count, and Sawyer leaves the ring, frustrated at how bad this match is going for him and how quickly it ended up like that.

-Side headlock by Garvin again, because it nearly got him a win before. Shoulderblock, hiptoss, snapmare, Buzz Sawyer’s life sucks.

-Ron Bass comes to ringside and immediately Sawyer turns it around thanks to the distraction. Sawyer beats on Garvin and goes for a suplex, but Garvin lands on his feet and rolls Sawyer up for a three-count out of nowhere! Bass storms the ring immediately for a two-on-one attack to avenge the loss.

-Tommy Rich comes out to formally voice his disapproval for this chicanery. He’s not upset to have actually come into the ring to stop it, however.

KELLY KINISKI vs. BOBBY GARRETT
-Kiniski works the arm as Piper posits that he’s a better wrestler at this stage in his career than his father and asks Gordon if he agrees with that, and Gordon sounds sincerely confused about how to react to that.

-Kiniski hiptosses Garrett and follows with a dropkick, and he’s not BAD, but the way Kiniski’s stuff looks reminds me of Cornette’s metaphor about “the puppy whose paws are too big.” Backbreaker by Kiniski gets a quick win.

-Gino Hernandez is scheduled for the next match, but Gino comes out in a suit and announces that he’s wrestled on TV for free way, way too much for a star of his caliber, and going forward, you’ll have to buy tickets to see his body, because he’s not wrestling in TV matches anymore.

-Kevin Sullivan declares himself the world’s only successful three-sport athlete, because now he’s held championships in weightlifting, bodybuilding, AND wrestling. And by the way, Jimmy Garvin got what he deserved, because he’s been “edging” Buzz Sawyer for a long time. I think he means “egging him on,” and then he says Jimmy was edging him a SECOND time.

KEVIN SULLIVAN vs. ALLEN TUPERELLO
-Sullivan applies a snug wristlock and stomps away. Series of forearms by Sullivan, and a double-stomp on the gut makes it an easy week for Sullivan.

-Gary Hart warns Dusty Rhodes that Kabuki will own him in the Omni next week!

-Masked Superstar and Super D will defend the Tag Team Championship against all comers!

-Buzz Sawyer storms out and says that Jimmy Garvin is messing with the wrong guy!

BOB & BRAD ARMSTRONG vs. CHIC DONOVAN & RICK BENFIELD
-Roddy Piper goes off on a tirade about Bob Armstrong as soon as we get started here, because Brad begins the match and gets a little bit of work done before Bob comes in.

-Donovan gets a smack across the face before Bob applies a chinlock. Benefield tags in, takes his licks, and tags out. Brad tags in and takes some bumps, and Piper complains that Bob is tagging in to look like the hero. This is such an awesome bit of this feud–Piper is mad at him both ways. When Bob is in the ring, he’s hogging the spotlight. When Bob isn’t in the ring, he’s making his son do all the work. Whatever Bob Armstrong does is wrong.

-Pier sixer breaks out and a FULL bodyslam and an elbow by Bob, and that’s all she wrote.

-Ole Anderson offers some closing words, offering some support for Piper because Bob Armstrong doesn’t have GUTS. Gary Hart strolls in for the mutual admiration society as we run out the clock.

6.5

The final score: review Average

The 411

Good collection of stuff this week.