Georgia Championship Wrestling (9.26.1981) Review

-Originally aired September 26, 1981.

-Your host is Gordon Solie, who announces that he has somber news about the Von Erich family. We’re a little early for that…

-Kevin Von Erich’s knee got all messed up in a match against Snuka & Gordy, which has screwed up his chance to hold the Tag Team Titles with his good friend Michael P.S. Hayes. Kevin announces that he’ll be back and payback is going to be hell.

-Michael Hayes needs a new partner, and he excitedly announces his new partner: the one and only Otis Sistrunk! He was one of the meanest men in the Oakland Raiders, and he warns everyone that he’ll be the meanest man in the ring real soon.

-We head to house show action in Columbus, Georgia. Hayes is stuck in the ring alone, being double-teamed by Terry Gordy & Jimmy Snuka. Otis Sistrunk storms the ring and rescues Hayes with forearms, and a brutal bungled backdrop that I would not have included in this footage.

STEVE O & BRIAN BLAIR vs. THE ANGEL & IRON MIKE SHARPE
-Steve O should have teamed back up with Blair in the WWF when they began calling him B. Brian Blair, and then the tag team could have been B.O.

-Angel gets armdragged around. Blair applies a wristlock on Sharpe, but Sharpe goes to the eyes. Angel tags in and applies a side headlock. Sharpe heads back in but runs right into a dropkick and it’s HOT TAG Steve O. Sharpe does a funny bit, trying to tag out but running to the wrong corner and just panicking when he realizes it, so he just runs back and forth without actually doing anything until he finally makes it to the right corner. Angel does about three seconds of work before tagging Iron Mike back in, and Blair is a house of warmth.

-Blair gets caught in the heel corner but he escapes and tags in Steve O. Heels work over Steve O, but O slips away and tags Blair back in. Blair gets caught in the heel corner again, as the heels are just going to keep trying that until it works for them. All four men end up in the ring for a brawl and the referee loses control of this one quickly, so he calls for the bell. All four guys are at fault, but Sharpe made the mistake of shoving the referee in the fracas, so Steve O and Blair get their hands raised. Decent starter.

-Hayes and Sistrunk are out here again. Sistrunk emphasizes that he’s not a professional wrestler (yes you technically ARE) but he’ll prove that he’s the man at the Omni.

TOR KAMATA (with Great Mephisto) vs. THE COMPETITOR
-Kamata attacks before the bell. Gordon Solie just never bothers to identify the jobber in any way, just calling him “Kamata’s competitor for this match.”

-Dropkicks by The Competitor are no-sold and Kamata just lifts his opponent and heaves him across the ring. Kamata headbutts “his man” and continues to dominate “the situation” and it’s amazing how Gordon can’t be bothered to give us even a fragment of this schlub’s name. Kamata throws him to the floor, where Mephisto taunts “This Young Man.” Back in, Kamata beats on “The Youngster” some more before throwing him back outside. Kamata brings “This Opponent” back into the ring and slams him. Camel clutch is locked on, and whoever the hell Kamata was applying it to submits.

-Gordon talks to Mephisto. Liars and thieves are dealt with severely in his home country, and Abdullah the Butcher will be no exception.

-Tommy Rich is here with footage from Augusta. He’s battling Masked Superstar in a lumberjack match. Ray Stevens throws a weapon into the ring, causing a brawl to erupt among the lumberjacks on the floor; meanwhile, Superstar gets his hands on the weapon and KOs Rich to get the win.

MR. WRESTLING II vs. DON GILBERT
-Gordon slurs really badly and calls the jobber “Don Giller,” so I guess he was a wrestler before he started cataloging David Letterman’s career. II does some mat wrestling while Solie mentions that II seems to be using a lot of new uncharacteristic tactics in his matches, and they still just cannot bring themselves to go all the way and turn him heel.

-II applies an armbar, following with a FULL bodyslam, not the three-quarter bodyslam that apparently exists, and the knee gets the win.

-II warns Ric Flair that he’s living the Omni tomorrow night with the NWA World Title belt!

RIC FLAIR (World Champion) vs. TERRY FLYNN
-And this is a different kind of Ric Flair squash match, as he really does just obliterate the guy, suplexing him and going straight to the figure four to get a win in about one minute. Gordon casually points out that Flair is doing it wrong and marvels that he got the win anyway. And really, all Gordon seems to mean is that he’s doing it in the way that creates a backwards four with the legs, but I’m pretty sure it still hurts like hell that way.

-Flair vows to keep his title, and what the hell, he might just take II’s mask from the Omni with him!

-We kick off the second hour and Flair is back out there because Gordon didn’t give him top billing when he rattled off the card for the show. Gordon goes in-depth, reminding us that Flair was a spoiled rich boy and he had his choice of any college sport he wanted, and Flair, rather than taking “the easy way out” by playing college football, opted for a sport that’s actually difficult, professional wrestling.

-Flair goes on a tangent about how Georgia has too many guys like Terry Flynn, who act like they want to be wrestlers but the moment they actually have to wrestle a match, they can’t handle it. Flair acknowledges that he actually tries to injure guys like Flynn because they don’t belong if they can’t handle it. This is so neat because he’s not “Woo, stylin’ profilin’ Ric Flair,” he’s just a condescending dick. In other words, a HEEL. Not like a 1987 show where he’s technically a heel but he’s making the announcers break and he’s getting laughs and applause from the audience for saying ridiculous shit.

TOMMY RICH vs. PROFESSOR SONODA
-Rich targets the leg while Gordon mentions that there are people from Kokomo, Indiana, in the audience today, and that is a very specific era of wrestling that fascinates me: cable is this new, relatively alien technology, and this couple that’s on a road trip made it a point to stop in Atlanta to see the far-away wrestling that they see on TV.

-Rich whips Sonoda into the corner, then snapmares Sonoda by his braid in a painful-looking spot. He goes to a chinlock and just BARELY avoids making it a choke. I love how that’s a clean-cut babyface standard of aggression–he’s so fired up that he ALMOST…CONSIDERED…a choke.

-Sonoda gets the upper hand and applies a nerve hold, which is technically a lower hand. Rich fights out with a series of rights and applies an abdominal stretch for the submission.

-Masked Superstar, out here in a Bob Backlund open-collar suit and his mask, reminds everyone that wrestling is about WINNING MATCHES, not popularity contests. He got a trophy because fans cheer for him, but does Tommy have a title belt? NO! And by the way, Tommy’s not leaving the ring, he’s hanging out with his fans at ringside when Superstar is out here for what’s supposed to be HIS TV time. God, most wrestlers are lucky to have one gimmick that’s successful. After growing up with Demolition Ax, I just marvel at Masked Superstar. Bill Eadie is so good, while working a different style and playing an altogether different character.

SUPERFLY JIMMY SNUKA & TERRY GORDY vs. DEKE RIVERS & GEORGE WELLS
-Wells armdrags Snuka around and gets a series of rapid near-falls. Wells goes to a side headlock to try to wear him down, but Snuka manages to reach out for the tag and Gordy comes in. Wells fights him off and tags in Deke Rivers, whose first name just makes me think of every Saturday morning cartoon of the 1980s and it’s hard to concentrate.

-Gordy snaps Deke down and applies a chinlock, tagging Snuka behind his back so Snuka can just sneak-attack his opponent for no reason. Snuka sends Deke outside, brings him back inside, and boots him. Deke manages to hang on while a “We want Michael!” chant goes up. Hot tag to George Wells, who beats on Gordy and then tags in Deke, who just tagged out 20 seconds ago after getting his ass kicked. Samoan drop, Superfly splash, three-count. Technically Deke lost the fall, but that was completely Wells’ fault.

-Gordy and Snuka aren’t worried about their cage match tomorrow night. Hayes’ partner is a stinkin’ FOOTBALL PLAYER!

RAY STEVENS & TOR KAMATA (with Great Mephisto) vs. MIKE FEVER & BOBBY GARRETT
-Masked Superstar comes to the ring and whispers something to Stevens on the apron while Kamata beats on his opponents. Stevens stunguns Fever, and a piledriver gets three.

-Michael Hayes & Otis Sistrunk are here, and Sistrunk calmly says that if everyone thinks he’s not ready for wrestling, he has a simple demonstration for all of us. And with that, Hayes just smacks him over the head with a chair, and Sistrunk doesn’t budge. Well, if there’s one thing we can say for sure, it’s that football players have no issues with repeated blows to the head, so I like their chances in the Omni!

STEVE O & BRIAN BLAIR vs. RICK FERRERA & KEN TIMBS
-Amateur takedown by Blair, and he applies a sitting hold that Gordon cheekily dubs “the banana split.” Great succession of moves leads to Blair slipping out of a “full Boston crab” before Steve O tags in. Timbs gets his arm worked over by The Railroad Connection (B&O), and Blair airplane spins him before Steve O finishes with an axehandle.

-An interesting promo from Mr. Wrestling II, and by “interesting” I mean I absolutely cannot figure out where they’re going with him at this point. II basically walks back all of the heel-like things that he said during the Most Popular Wrestler voting and explains that he’s confident in himself, and if you aren’t confident, you shouldn’t be in wrestling, and he’s sorry if the fans took all that talk to mean something that he never intended.

MR. WRESTLING II vs. DON FORRESTER
-Forrester is a huge jobber, just towering over II and weighing every bit of 300 pounds. And there’s a story here, as II asked match makers to find him a massive opponent for an exhibition match so he’d have a great tune-up for his World Title match in the Omni tomorrow.

-II works the arm before locking on the full Japanese armbar for the full submission.

-Mephisto is here with Ray Stevens & Tor Kamata. Gordon asks about why Superstar came out for seemingly no reason, and Stevens explains that it sure wasn’t because he was passing some kind of object to Superstar that Superstar needed later, no sir, that’s not what happened at all.

OATES BROTHERS vs. GALLAGHER BROTHERS
-Boy does this match have a “run out the clock” vibe to it. It’s two teams of brothers, and it’s annoying how Gordon never gives us first names, he just calls whoever is in the ring “Gallagher” and “Oates.” And when there’s a tag…”Tagging in HIS BROTHER now…” Tell me who I’m watching, Gordon!

-Somebody applies a chinlock and then his opponent fights back with a shoulderblock. Tag is made by one guy, and the guy he tagged in gets a near-fall. Snapmare into a two-count by a different guy than the last guy who got a near-fall. Front facelock by the guy who got the last near-fall, and then he tags in his brother, who may have the same last name as him. Spinning toehold gets the win by the team who are apparently the Oates Brothers.

-Ric Flair strolls out one last time, and like II, it’s another one where a guy has to walk back what he said earlier, and Flair clarifies that the talent in Georgia is TOP NOTCH!

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

Great episode. I particularly enjoyed the performance by the, uh, individual in the ring, and his, err, opponent.