Who remembers Georgia Championship Wrestling?

[LascoX]

This one is truely old school and is before manys time. In 1976 , The Superstation TBS went national and brought Georgia Championship Wrestling to the forefront of the NWA. It was the first NWA territory to be broadcast nationally and because of the resaulting exsposure became a magnet for NWA stars. Soon everybody that was anybody was appearing on the program and stars like Harley Race, the Brisco Brothers, The Funk brothers, the Minnesota wrecking crew, Rick Flair, Ted Dibiase , Ricky Steemboat , Stan Hansen , Mr Wrestling #1 &#2 , Jake the Snake, The Von Erics, Bruiser Brody.... the list just goes on and on as the talent was drawn to Atlanta for the national exsposure. The territory went threw many changes , most notably becoming World Championship Wrestling in 1982 and was a pivital factor in Vince's drive for national superiority when he bought it in 1984. I was there to see Gorden Solie announce the change to WCW as well as being one of the many on Black Saturday going WTF?! as the program was changed without warning to WWF programming. The more familure programing would return about a year later when Vince sold the timeslot off to Jim Crocket Jr and paved the way for the biggest battle in prowrestling history the WCW / WWE wars.
The queston for this thread though is.. Who remembers the original TBS , GCW program and who were your favorite stars and fueds from that era?

 

[TheBWO]

I remember it! Buzz and Brett Sawyer, the original Road Warrior (before he was teamed up with Hawk), Paul Ellering (when he actually wrestled), Tommy Rich, Brad Armstrong with his dad Bullet Bob Armstrong, the formation of the Horsemen (that may have been a WCW thing though). Sometimes Braves baseball would take up most of it, or start early, and even if wrestling had to run a half hour---it did. Normally it was two hours, (with the likes of Randy Barbour, George South, William "Freezer" Thompson, the Mulkey Brothers----all these were jobbers that obviously never quit their day job. Randy Barbour actually passed away within the last two years). The best fueds I thought were the ones with Tommy Rich and Buzz Sawyer. At one point, the Freebirds were on there and Michael Hayes was involved in a very violent fued---who's name escapes me at the moment. Alot of times, Roddy Piper was on there serving as color commentary, up until he actually was stabbed in the chest protecting someone over the weekend by a would-be robber. That next following week, or week after, Piper made his return (because the story was actually published in the paper) and became a face. Of course, aside from that particular actual incident, I believed everything I saw (hey, I was just a kid back then). I know that whatever main event match that was advertised, you had to sit through an hour and 56 minutes of filler, promos, etc until it got started, and never got a winner---because it went off the air at 7:05 (back even when the TBS would run everything at the :05 after mark), so you never knew who won---and the big cards were at the Omni, and you MIGHT get a result or two on the next show.....not like today.

 

[jusabro]

Yes I do. We had just got cable in my apartment complex when I heard the Dean Gorden Solie. This man gave the entire history of the wrestler. Each injury,Title ect... This is when wrestling was Pro-Wrestling.I miss those days. I wish Matt Striker would stop trying to be Solie for Godsake.

 

[Chris31974]

That was the first non AWA promotion I saw. I grew up in Chicago and only had access to AWA on channel 44. Then we got cable and I saw Ted DiBiase and Brad Armstrong for the first time. I LOVED GCW! The original Legion of Doom with Animal, Hawk, Bundy, Jake the Snake and The Spoiler. Good Times!!

 

[VencomHardcore]

GCW WAS WRESTLING - I lived in North Carolina in the Heart of Jim Crockett Territory and we only had one choice and it was GCW. Saturday morning and Late Saturday Night. Wierd time slots but it was religion.

I AM EVEN ON SOME OF THE ORIGINAL STUDIO BROADCASTS. My father would drive down to the station to watch the show and it was hard to get a spot because it was first come first serve but my dad knew a few people at the station and could get me in even if he had to wait for the show to be over.

GCW would pack out the OMNI, DORTON ARENA, GREENSBORO COLLISEUM and every other place it toured.

The wrestlers were awesome. The storylines were great and the promos. Plus GCW had the first black wrestlers that went mainstream of any territory. Ole Anderson knew what he was doing . Yes he used to own it when it was Championship Wrestling from GA .

Yeah that was the best wrestling and they knew how to use jobbers. U rarely saw the roster fight each other on tv. That is how they put butts in the seats because the only way to see them fight was to go to a show. TNA needs to learn that.

I LOVE GCW and will always see that as a model promotion .

 

[lgreene9187]

GCW had awesome storylines, great wrestlers and good long-running feuds. Some of the performers I remember in addition to the ones already mentioned were the Masked Superstar, Killer Karl Kox, Blackjack Mulligan, Steve Keirn, Kevin Sullivan and the Youngbloods, just to name a few.

 

[msavagenoble]

I have fond memories of my dad and I watching GCW on WTCG, before it became TBS. Ric Flair, Tommy "Wildfire" Rich, Bruiser Brody, Kevin Sullivan, Arn and Ole Anderson, Ted Dibiase, The Freebirds, Mr. Wrestling II, Stan Hansen, Terry Funk, Dusty Rhodes, Junkyard Dog, Tony Atlas, and, of course, Gordon Solie. Remember when The Freebirds broke Ted Dibiase's neck?! As a kid, we all felt HORRIBLE watching that! Thanks for the memories!

 

[donfryeismyhero]

I never got to watch GCW when it on but I have enjoyed watching it on WWE on Demand and I must say, it's great. I had wish I was born alot earlier than 83 because I would of been able to see so many wrestler that I would end up watching in the WWE like Piper, Flair, Slaughter etc.. But I grew up a loyal WWE fan and at that time wasnt willing to stray from high quality "real" pro wrestling to what I precieved (incorrectly btw) to be a bush league wrestling company in the NWA/WCW.

 

[LascoX]

I'm glad to see there is a few out there that remember the show I grew up with. I was glued to the set every week to GWC and Stampede Wrestling out of Calgary. It was great to see the future Hall of Famers at their prime and I see most remember GCW as I do , the show simply ROCKED as the best from all over the NWA came to show off thier skills. (L0L) at least there are a few of us on here that can remember it, thanks for the input.