Georgia Championship Wrestling
June 14, 1980
Atlanta, GA
WTBS-17 Studios

The current GCW champs are as follows:
NWA World Heavyweight Champion: Harley Race (11/7/1979)
NWA Georgia Heavyweight Champion: Baron Von Raschke (6/8/1980)
NWA Georgia Tag Team Champions: Ole & Lars Anderson (6/8/1980)
NWA Georgia Jr. Heavyweight Champion: Kevin Sullivan (6/8/1980)
NWA National Television Champion: Tommy Rich (2/23/1980)

TIME FOR SOMETHING DIFFERENT. That’s right. While this show is incomplete and jumps around, it’s available here on YouTube for all to enjoy and there’s enough action here to warrant a watch.

Your host is Gordon Solie. He and Freddie Miller explain that Kevin Sullivan won the round-robin tournament last Sunday night in the Omni to become the first Georgia Jr. Heavyweight champion while Ole and Lars Anderson defeated Ivan Koloff and Alexis Smirnoff to become the Georgia tag team champions to which Miller comments was a great moment for America. As Solie mentions the new Georgia heavyweight champion Baron Von Raschke, he shows up and explains that Idol is just a weakling who couldn’t hang. Raschke feels that Georgia finally has a “true champion”. 

• NWA National Television Championship: Tommy Rich (c) vs. Steve “The Kid” Collins

Wow, some AWFUL looking jheri curls on Kid Collins. Whoever talked you into that hairstyle is not your friend, bro. Solie mentions how Rich left a bloody mess in the last match he had in the Omni with Mark Lewin. Collins gets a fair amount of offense considering how green he is. He’s lanky like a Kendall Windham. Troubleshooting referee Mike George talks with Solie to explain his reasoning for why the match was stopped between Tommy Rich and Mark Lewin. THESZ PRESS by Rich gets the win. (6:09) Not a bad glorified squash for Rich. That Kid Collins looked like he had Rich in trouble.

Tommy Rich comes over to Gordon Solie to discuss the match with Mark Lewin. You can see a bandage over his right eye. It seems Rich has no problem with the decision. He was mad about it at first, but soon realized he could have lost an eye. Solie understands there is somebody coming to the area to face Lewin. Rich looks forward to seeing his friend get just as nuts as Lewin – and hopes he gets another shot at Lewin down the road. 

After the break, Solie talks with the Great Mephisto – the manager of Mark Lewin. Just as Mephisto asks Solie who the crazy person Rich knows is, the video switches over to the next match.

• Don Diamond vs. Charlie Fulton

While mentioning Diamond’s boots with his initials on them, Solie calls Diamond the “Double D”. There are headlocks and armbars traded to start. Diamond takes Fulton to the mat for a short-arm scissors. Back to their feet, Fulton surprises Diamond with a few hard shots and grabs a front headlock. Diamond escapes into a hammerlock and drops knees on the elbow. He traps the arm and turns Fulton over for a series of two-counts. Fulton is able to elbow out and whips Diamond into the ropes. Diamond shocks Fulton with a sunset flip for two. Fulton falls backwards trying a slam and Diamond gets another nearfall. Diamond slams Fulton and knee drops him for two. Fulton headbutts the stomach and delivers a knee smash to the jaw for two as well. Solie lets us know we are nearing the TV time limit. Fulton grabs a chinlock, but Diamond eventually shrugs him off. Another elbow shot by Fulton rocks Diamond, but Diamond fires back with elbows of his own and connects with a jumping dropkick for two. Fulton gets an inside cradle for another two-count. As Diamond whiffs on a dropkick, Fulton covers him just as the time limit expires. (10:00) Solie says due to the new rules in Georgia Championship Wrestling, the match must have a winner. Well then, what was the point of the time limit? Evidently another match will take place at a later date. **¼

Gordon Solie talks with Tony Atlas and Mr. Wrestling II. Solie discusses arm wrestling competition with Tony. He thinks the NWA ought to have some arm wrestling. Wrestling II is in favor of it as well. They switch gears to the Omni show on Sunday June 22. Solie mentions that the Masked Superstar will be returning to Georgia on that show and he’s still got beef with Mr. Wrestling II. Tony can’t wait to be in the Omni either and he wishes Wrestling II all the luck in the world against the Masked Superstar.

• Don Diamond vs. Charlie Fulton – SUDDEN DEATH

Isn’t every match “sudden death”? The match picks up where it left off. Just realized Diamond looks like a low-rent Armstrong family member. Fulton slows down Diamond with a knee to the gut as he comes off the ropes. Big slam by Fulton gets two. More kitchen sink knees from Fulton. Diamond comes back with a backdrop and a Russian legsweep gets the win in 1:23. 

• Mark Lewin (w/the Great Mephisto) vs. Ricky Pierce

Lewin absolutely destroys this kid and finishes him off with the SLEEPERHOLD in 2:00. Mephisto covers Lewin’s eyes and puts him into darkness to get Lewin off Pierce. Solie expresses how this is Mephisto’s responsibility to get Lewin to wake up Pierce. Lewin is literally scaring the studio audience. 

Solie talks with Mephisto who says Dick Slater will be coming to Atlanta to take care of Mark Lewin, but Mephisto prays to Allah that when Slater sees Lewin staring at him in the Omni, Slater will not let the people down. The Shanghai Sleeper and the Singapore Slash are martial arts Lewin knows so well.

Next up, Gordon Solie talks with Iron Mike Sharpe. He’s glad to be back on TV and says he’s willing to arm wrestle anybody. Don Diamond stands by as well. He loves the “sudden death” rule – especially since it worked in his favor today. Lars Anderson stops by and thanks everybody for their support now that he and Ole have run the Russians out of the area. Tonight in Carrollton, Lars says he will be sending Alexis Smirnoff back to Russia. Ole Anderson shows up as Solie asks if they will defend the tag belts in the Omni. They won’t make it that far with the tag belts. Ole puts over the Dick Slater and Mark Lewin match set for the Omni on June 22. 

• Iron Mike Sharpe vs. Bob Owen

Ole sticks around to discuss a challenge put forth by the Assassins. He thinks the Assassins are here to take down Dusty Rhodes. They have made the claim that they have been chasing Dusty all over the country. Solie stands up for Dusty saying he doesn’t turn any challenges. Ole agrees and thinks nothing but the best of Dusty. He’s heard Dusty and the Assassins have had their problems down in Florida the previous year. Nothing match. Sharpe hits the PILEDRIVER for the win in 2:47. 

The Georgia heavyweight champ Baron Von Raschke stops by to tell us he’s in the driver’s seat around here. Solie wants to know if Raschke will defend the Georgia title in the Omni. Raschke says he’ll discuss that later, but right now he wants to announce that Austin Idol will be battling Abdullah the Butcher in the Omni on June 22. Raschke says Idol has to prove himself worthy before he ever gets another shot at the Georgia belt. They really are trying to turn Idol babyface here.

• The Assassins vs. Eddie Gilbert and Jim Nelson

These masked Assassins are Jody Hamilton and Randy Colley — better known as Moondog Rex. Solie mentioned at the top of the program that Dusty Rhodes is scheduled for the show, but he hasn’t shown and Solie has no explanation as to why he’s not here. Lots of headlocks on Gilbert to start. Nelson gets a tag and suffers the same punishment. He eventually gets one hiptoss on Assassin #1, but that’s about it. Assassin #2 delivers a backbreaker drop for the win in 2:58. 

Austin Idol appears right after the three-count. He calls his rival Baron Von Onionhead. He refers to Abdullah as BLOB-dullah because he’s fat. Idol says he’ll have an opponent for Baron Von Raschke as well for the Omni on June 22. WHO IS IT? Gotta keep watching to find out.

Looks like there’s an open challenge for an arm wrestling competition. Tony Atlas tells us to write into the show, give us your name, and your bicep size. 

Next up, the Great Mephisto talks up Mark Lewin and Abdullah the Butcher. Lewin and Abdullah nearly get into a fight and Solie freaks.

We skip over to Mr. Wrestling II talking with Gordon. He admits to making a mistake and getting beaten by the NWA world champ Harley Race. Talk turns to the Masked Superstar returning to Georgia. Wrestling II has no plans of leaving the area. He will stand tall and proud and always does his best. Solie sends us to an old match involving the Masked Superstar for those unfamiliar. 

• The Masked Superstar vs. Marion Crumley – (Georgia Championship Wrestling, 1979)

Ahh yes, the infamous Marion Crumley squash. Poor Marion probably thinks he’s doing a great job making Masked Superstar look like a million bucks, too. He’s got energy, but he takes some of the worst bumps you’ll probably ever see on a major promotion’s TV show. Superstar destroys him and finishes him off with the COBRA CLUTCH in 1:35. 

I’m not sure why they showed this match to introduce new fans to the Masked Superstar – unless it was a rib. Back at the studio, Solie confirms Masked Superstar is after Wrestling II’s mask. Austin Idol shows up next to discuss Abdullah the Butcher. Just like there’s only one Caesar in Rome, there’s only one Caesar around here – and it’s Austin Idol.

Solie talks with the Assassins. Jody Hamilton (Assassin #1) is one of my favorite talkers ever. He’s disappointed Dusty Rhodes isn’t here today. He feels Dusty didn’t show up today because he knew the Assassins would be here. Since Dusty is the son of a plumber, Assassin #1 jokes Dusty must be stuck in some septic tank. When they do get their hands on Dusty, they plan to put him in the bottom of a septic tank. In other news, they will not permit anyone else to wear a mask in the state of Georgia. In Rome GA tonight, they plan to get their hands on Ole Anderson and Tommy Rich. 

• The Assassins vs. Iron Mike Sharpe & Mike Davis

Davis proves to be more of a threat to the Assassins at first than you would think. Sharpe tags in and punishes the arm of Assassin #2 as he snaps the arm over his shoulder. This continues for a while. Sharpe calls for the Piledriver, but Assassin #2 slides out. Back in, he grabs Sharpe and takes him over to Assassin #1 for a tag. Sharpe throws Assassin #1 away (!!) and pounds away. Sharpe gets cornered again, but fights out and lets loose on Assassin #2. Sharpe runs into a knee in the corner however and takes an elbow drop from Assassin #2. Tag to Assassin #1. Sharpe is stuck on the wrong side of town. An Atomic Drop from Assassin #2 connects, but Sharpe presses Assassin #2 off himself. Sharpe mounts another comeback, but the Assassins are just too tough. Sharpe punches back and reaches skinny Mike for a tag. One old school headscissors connects, but the second one gets caught as Assassin #1 drops him throat-first on the top rope. Tag to Assassin #2, he delivers the BACKBREAKER DROP for the win. (7:23) The Assassins were hoping the longer the match went, Dusty Rhodes might show up. Assassin #1 shouts at the camera that Dusty is YELLOW. From this day forward, the Assassins feel Dusty Rhodes is a “marked man”. *½ 

After the break, they show Bob Sweetan telling the camera that whoever he is talking about needs to stop sticking their nose in his business. Baron Von Raschke stops by to drone on and on about how he is a respected champion. Solie wants to know why Raschke isn’t wrestling Austin Idol at the Omni on June 22. Raschke says if Abdullah the Butcher doesn’t destroy Austin Idol, maybe he’s worthy of a title shot.

• Bob Sweetan vs. Ricky Pierce

Pierce gets his butt kicked not once but twice on the same program. Snoozer of a match, but the PILEDRIVER by Sweetan looked great. That’ll do it in 3:47. BIG RED shows up and talks smack to Bob Sweetan. He challenges Sweetan for June 22 in the Omni. 

Before we go, Ole and Lars Anderson talk to Gordon about finishing off the Russians while Tommy Rich will be at a show in Griffin GA an hour before to sign autographs. Such a simpler time.

And that’s all she wrote for today. Until next time, so long for now.