Georgia Championship Wrestling (7.17.1982) Review

-Only one hour of this week’s show. Let’s get to it!

-Originally aired July 24, 1982.

-Your host is Gordon Solie.

-World Tag Team Champions Ole Anderson and Stan Hansen immediately interrupt and complain about fans asking them about other tag teams. They take a shot at the Freebirds, and the Freebirds stroll out with their National Tag Team Title belts and start a shoving match. The Freebirds dare Ole and Stan to get in the ring and have a title match right now, and the studio audience is AMPED, thinking that we’re going to have a main event immediately on this week’s episode.

MASKED SUPERSTAR vs. TERRY GIBBS
-Gibbs threatens a cheap shot at the bell, which catches Superstar off-guard. Gibbs manages to get Superstar in headscissors while we see Mr. Wrestling II glowering at Superstar in “get off my lawn” fashion.

-Gibbs applies a side headlock and Superstar gets to the ropes to break. Gordon can’t help noting that this match is kind of a disaster for what should be an easy victory for Superstar. Superstar tries to get things going with a chinlock, but Gibbs slips out and hooks a hammerlock onto Superstar.

-Superstar finally just throws Gibbs to the floor in a fit of frustration. Gibbs comes back in and retaliates with his own aggressive offense. Superstar goes out of the ring for a breather but he’s on the side where II is sitting in the frownin’ chair, and Superstar just seems completely frustrated by how badly this is going for him.

-Back in, punches and a neckbreaker by Superstar as he just wants to END it at this point, but Gibbs kicks out at two. Bodypress by Gibbs gets a one count. Snapmare by Gibbs and he goes for the mask. Superstar punches him away and goes to the floor again, this time going to the commentary table to complain to Gordon that this whole match is just total bullshit, and he leaves! Gibbs gets a surprise win by count-out, and II heads to the commentary table to make a point that Superstar just runs away when things are getting tough. Gibbs comes over to point out that II never did ANYTHING during the match, so as far as Gibbs his concerned, he got a fair victory.

-Gerald Brisco is here for another trophy ceremony, this time presenting the Rookie of the Year trophy to Brad Armstrong. And then the mayor of Atlanta shows up, looking disgusted because Brad’s trophy is bigger than the one from his ceremony on the show a few weeks ago, and challenges Brad to a World-World Championship match. Shocking turn of events there.

-Tommy Rich is here to call bullshit on Ric Flair claiming that he beat Bob Backlund in the Omni, because everybody there KNOWS it was a double countout.

-Roddy Piper and Don Muraco are here, and Piper assures us all that he doesn’t want any trouble. First piece of business, he hands Muraco $5000 as a reward for kicking Dusty Rhodes’ ass and chasing him out of the territory. Tommy Rich smirks and says Dusty is coming back sooner than he thinks.

-Muraco wonders what he’s talking about, and Gordon hints that Dusty has signed on to be a referee for an upcoming series of matches involving Muraco. Piper takes his $5000 back but then offers Muraco $10,000 if he actually does once and for all take Dusty Rhodes out of wrestling.

DON MURACO vs. CHARLIE WHITE
-Muraco puts on a lot of bravado about Dusty’s return not being a big deal, but then just beats the hell out of White, giving away how angry he actually is about it. He Irish whips White into referee Nick Patrick, and then rams White in the corner several times while Patrick is trapped behind him. Patrick has had the wind knocked out of him, so Paul Orndorff heads out to check on him, and Orndorff is so mad about Muraco acting like an asshole that he just storms into the ring and tells Muraco, “Look at me. I’m the referee now.”

-White applies a side headlock. Muraco winds up for a punch to break the hold, but Orndorff grabs his arm and pulls it away mid-punch. Muraco slams White down and elbows him. Muraco piledrives White and gives him an all-time atomic wedgie on the way up for a visual that stops Gordon right in his tracks. Orndorff counts the three but won’t raise Muraco’s arm because he’s so disgusted with Muraco’s bullshit.

-Tommy Rich and Paul Orndorff promise to get crazy with Piper & Muraco in the Omni, baby.

-Superstar gripes about II’s bullshit earlier in the show, and pledges that Buzz Sawyer will do something about it as a personal favor.

MR. WRESTLING II vs. BUZZ SAWYER (with Masked Superstar)
-Sawyer tries to attack from behind, but II is ready for him, striking him and backdropping him. Superstar grabs II’s entrance robe and tears it to pieces at ringside. II sees it happening and goes to do something about it, but Sawyer grabs him and takes him down. And then Sawyer just leaves ringside without bothering to finish the match because they ruined II’s day and that’s really all that he was interested in.

-Post-match, II is so damn mad that he declares himself to be Mr. Wrestling I. Oh…snap?

FABULOUS FREEBIRDS (National Tag Team Champions) vs. CHIC DONOVAN & RICK BENFIELD
-Hayes works over Donovan with a series of holds. Everybody tags and Gordy throws Benfield around. Hayes comes back in and bulldogs him, and Gordy finishes with a piledriver.

-We flash back to an altercation between the Freebirds and Ole/Hansen last week, and the Freebirds pledge to fight dirty and stay dirty.

STAN HANSEN & OLE ANDERSON (World Tag Team Champions) vs. RICK THOR & TODD JAMES
-Hansen hammers Thor. James tags in and gets the arm worked over. Hansen tags back in and just beats up everybody. Slam and an elbow by Ole gets three.

-The Freebirds explain why the National Tag Team Title is just as important as the World Tag Team Title and why they want the World Tag Team Title even though we just established that the National Tag Team Title is just as impressive.

PAUL ORNDORFF vs. ABDUL ZATAR
-Atomic drop by Orndorff gets a one-count right away.

-Orndorff works the arm while sitting on Zatar’s head, and the match keeps going, but the tape of the episode doesn’t. All done here…

8.0

The final score: review Very Good

The 411

I'm actually fine with missing half of this episode because the hour I got here was packed!