1981 Georgia Championship Wrestling: July
Dusty Rhodes is a busy World Champion, Bruiser Brody and Blackjack Mulligan escalate their feud, and a big return. Plus, links to watch the TV!
Welcome to Georgia Championship Wrestling, in this edition you’ll read about Dusty Rhodes, Ken Patera, Tommy Rich, Ted Dibiase, Terry Gordy, Jimmy Snuka, Steve O, Michael Hayes, Bruce Reed, George Wells, Bruiser Brody, Blackjack Mulligan, and a whole lot more!
Get caught up with the full Georgia Championship Wrestling Journey!
Current Champions (As of Jul. 1, 1981)
NWA World Heavyweight Champion: Dusty Rhodes
Defeated Harley Race (Jun. 21, 1981)
NWA Georgia Heavyweight Champion: Ken Patera
Defeated Tommy Rich (Jun. 21, 1981)
NWA National Heavyweight Champion: Steve O
Defeated The Mongolian Stomper (Mar. 29, 1981)
NWA National Tag Team Champions: Steve O & Ted DiBiase
Defeated The Fabulous Freebirds (Jun. 11, 1981)
Sat. Jul. 4 Georgia Championship Wrestling
There’s a new yellow backdrop replacing the short-lived grey one.
NWA World Champion Dusty Rhodes interview. The envy of every man. He’s the man right now. There’s one thorn in his side and that’s Ole Anderson. Dusty promises finesse, violence and vengeance. Great promo and they’re able to heat up this feud whenever they need it.
Jimmy Snuka & Terry Gordy interview. They’re gonna get the tag team titles
Ted Dibiase interview. Solie wants to talk about the World Title. Dibiase has to change his strategy. Dusty is a good friend but he’ll need to compete against him. They’re really pushing Ted in World Title conversation a lot.
Bruno Sammartino Jr vs. Ed Timbs. Bruno Jr. is David getting a look. Smaller with a powerful build. He moves quick and gets the win.
Solie gets a few comments from newcomers Bruno Sammartino Jr., George Wells and Bruce Reed.
Tommy Rich interview. He wants Patera again.
Georgia Champion Ken Patera vs. Johnny Savage. An easy squash for Patera.
Blackjack Mulligan interview. Bruiser Brody’s not going to shove him around. They show Omni clips. Both are throwing bombs and brawling all around the arena. Mulligan wants a no rules match. I’ve liked this big man feud.
Bruiser Brody interview. He was the winner. Bruiser Brody is 1 and 0 THANK YOU. He’s funny. Look at my face. I’ve been beat up before. He’s gonna get up and get Mulligan. It’ll be No DQ and No Countout at The Omni.
Bruiser Brody vs. Ed Kitchens. Brody squash.
Blackjack Mulligan interview. He’s gonna teach some lessons.
Ted Dibiase workout with a bunch of babyfaces. He’s honing his skills. He’s got counters for the crossbody that Dusty used to win the World Title. Great presentation and build up of Ted. Tommy Rich thinks he’s ready. Ken Patera shows up and he thinks Dusty’s gonna kick Ted’s ass. What a jerk. Patera brags about his credentials and continues his feud with Rich.
King Kong Mosca vs. Ken Timbs. Ok Mosca squash.
Jimmy Snuka & Terry Gordy interview. They always mention that Gordy is a former freebird. They will have titles soon.
Two belts Steve O interview. He’s coming to all towns
Dusty interview. Ted is a great athlete but The Dream has a little bully in him. Dusty teases leaning heel in the match.
Results: Bruce Reed and George Wells d. José Medina and Buck Brannigan. Jay Youngblood d. Gary Royal. Bruno Sammartino Jr. d. Ed Timbs. Ken Patera d. Johnny Savage. Terry Gordy and Jimmy Snuka d. Abe Jacobs and Bobby Garrett. Blackjack Mulligan d. Rick Link. Bruiser Brody d. Ed Kitchens. Angelo Mosca d. Ken Timbs. Tommy Rich, Steve O and Mike Sharpe d. Jim Duggan, Gypsy Joe and Rick Ferrara
Sun. Jul. 5 at The Omni
Bruno Sammartino Jr. d. French Angel
Robert Gibson and Ricky Gibson d. Jim Duggan and Bryan St. John
King Kong Mosca vs. Steve O ended without a winner as a time limit draw
Bruce Reed and George Wells d. Greg Valentine and Terry Gordy
Jimmy Snuka d. Jay Youngblood
No Disqualification & No Countout Match Bruiser Brody d. Blackjack Mulligan
NWA Georgia Heavyweight Title Match Ken Patera (c) d. Tommy Rich
NWA World Heavyweight Title Match Dusty Rhodes (c) d. Ted DiBiase
Sat. Jul. 11 Georgia Championship Wrestling
Georgia Champion Ken Patera interview. He gets not respect. He’s signed for a NWA World Title match with Dusty Rhodes. He’s going to make him the second shortest champion of all time. Solie wants another hot water for Patera to do a feat of strength. Patera won’t do it at first but then he does. Patera can’t pop the bottle. Tommy Rich shows up calling him a big bag of hot air and drops him! Very good segment. Patera’s a been a great heel.
Dusty Rhodes interview. Talking about coming to Columbus for the Ole match. Ole Anderson responds calling Dusty a stuck hog.
Ole & Gene Anderson interview. No one can take the Minnesota Wrecking Crew!
Another Dusty promo on Ole. Talking about reality. They’re heating up the feud quick for Columbus.
Lars Anderson vs. Tommy Brown. Lars is back with an ok squash win.
Ted Dibiase and Tommy Rich interview. They’re great friends and they’re teaming up to come after the National Tag team Titles at The Omni. Calling themselves T&T, that’s dynamite!
Ted Dibiase & Tommy Rich vs. Ed & Ken Timbs. A squash for T&T. I like how they transitioned both right into a tag feud with two big heels after they lost their title matches. Smart booking.
Blackjack Mulligan interview. Show Bruiser Brody and Blackjack Mulligan Omni clips. He got the claw on Brody but Brody used a foreign object for the win. Blackjack kicked out at 3.1. Mulligan wants a rematch. A Texas Street Fight at The Omni.
National Tag Team Champions Terry Gordy & Jimmy Snuka vs. Bruce Reed & George Wells. Four terrific athletes. A really good competitive TV tag. I thought Reed and Gordy worked well together and Reed’s gotten over. Snuka comes in as the illega man and gets DQ’d.
Georgia Champion Ken Patera vs. Rich McPherson. A good Patera squash. He’s a heat magnet who punishes his opponents.
Results: Lars Anderson d. Tommy Brown. George Wells and Bruce Reed d. Bryan St. John and Bobby Garrett. Ted DiBiase and Tommy Rich d. Ed Timbs and Ken Timbs. Bruno Sammartino Jr. d. José Medina. Minnesota Wrecking Crew (Gene Anderson and Ole Anderson) d. Mike Fever and ??? Levant. Bruce Reed and George Wells d. Terry Gordy and Jimmy Snuka by disqualification. Ken Patera d. Rich McPherson. Bryan St. John and Jim Duggan d. Ted Savage and Ric Thor. Tommy Rich d. El Lobo. Ted DiBiase and Steve O d. Buck Brannigan and Gary Royal
Sat. Jul. 18 Georgia Championship Wrestling
Michael Hayes is back. He’s made some profound life changes. What happened to The Freebirds? Hayes says Ole Anderson him out in the last Omni match. He talks about four years with Terry Gordy and Terry just walked out out on him. Hayes went home and got his act together. He tells a story of frumpy telling him that he forgot where he came from. He’s the little man who made it big. His little brother knew he wasn’t happy at home. Fantasia is alive and well and back in Atlanta to raise some hell! He’s gotta set the right example. An excellent babyface promo from Hayes. The fans were ready to cheer him.
National Tag Team Champions Terry Gordy & Jimmy Snuka vs. Ted Dibiase & Steve O. Hayes is on commentary for this. Gordy & Snuka get lots of heat on Ted. Steve O makes a good hot tag. Gordy bumping great. This is longer than your usual TV match. Gordy hits a nasty piledriver but Ted tags himself in. He’s left on his own, though. The crowd is shrieking! Hayes gets involved and it’s a DQ. Hayes goes after Gordy to huge cheers! Ted is a little upset with Hayes for getting them DQ’d.
NWA World Champion Dusty Rhodes promo. From Florida. He’s travelling a lot and facing a lot of great challengers. Patera at The Omni.
Terry Gordy and Jimmy Snuka interview. They’re on the go defending the titles but they’re running out of competition. The World Tag Team Champions are afraid of them. Terry does a great job carrying the promo work for the team.
Bruiser Brody interview. He’s not afraid of a Texas Street Fight. He’s gonna put Mulligan in a garbage can. Maybe he can’t wrestle but he can fight! Another good one from Brody.
Results: Jimmy Snuka and Terry Gordy d. Zane Hickey and Jimmy Powell . Bruno Sammartino Jr. d. Gary Royal. 2 on 1 Handicap Match Bruiser Brody d. Barry Cummings and David White. Mike Sharpe d. Mike Fever. Bruce Reed and George Wells d. Ed Timbs and Don Gilbert. Ken Patera d. Ken Eaton. Terry Gordy and Jimmy Snuka d. Ted DiBiase and Steve O by disqualification. Bryan St. John and Jim Duggan d. Abe Jacobs and Louis Haney. Tommy Rich d. Bobby Garrett. Bruce Reed, George Wells and Bruno Sammartino Jr. d. Johnny Carr, José Medina and French Angel
Sun. Jul. 19 at The Omni
French Angel vs. Ted Oates ended without a winner as a time limit draw
Bruno Sammartino Jr. d. Ken Timbs
Mike Sharpe d. Abe Jacobs
George Wells and Bruce Reed d. Bryan St. John and Professor Sonoda
Steve O d. Jim Duggan
NWA National Tag Team Titles Match Terry Gordy and Jimmy Snuka (c) d. Tommy Rich and Ted DiBiase
Texas Street Fight Blackjack Mulligan d. Bruiser Brody
NWA World Heavyweight Title Match Dusty Rhodes (c) d. Ken Patera
Sat. Jul. 25 Georgia Championship Wrestling
Tommy Rich interview. Apparently he and Dibiase won the tag team titles but Terry Gordy & Jimmy Snuka show up with a letter from Charlotte. Based on the evidence of Michael Hayes getting involved, the titles are returned. Big heat for this. Gordy calls out Hayes. We want Michael chants. Hayes comes out and Gordy says he doesn’t want anything to do with him. He gives back a gift Hayes gave to him. Hayes wants to fight him but Gordy doesn’t want to. I like how Gordy is trying to make it seem like Hayes is the crazy one.
Bruiser Brody interview. It’s been four times with Mulligan and he’s won three times. Brody says two honky brothers showed up. Brody rips up an American flag. He’s coming after Dusty in Columbus! No one believes Dusty can beat him. They come off as natural rivals.
Ken Patera interview. He runs down his credentials again. It’ll be him and Tommy Rich at The Omni.
Kevin Von Erich interview. Kevin’s here in Georgia to fill his father’s big shoes. He’s never going lose and he’s not afraid to bend the rules.
Results: Lars Anderson d. Terry Mills. George Wells and Bruce Reed d. Jim Gallagher and Bruce Gallagher. Kevin Von Erich d. José Medina. Tommy Rich d. Mike Jackson. Steve O and Bruno Sammartino Jr. d. Bobby Garrett and Ken Timbs. Mr. Wrestling #2 d. Don Novak. Ken Patera d. Louis Haney. Kevin Von Erich d. Chang Chung. Bruiser Brody d. Ken Micone. Terry Gordy and Jimmy Snuka d. Mike Jackson and ??? Levant. Bryan St. John and French Angel d. Abe Jacobs and Jim Gallagher
If anything is missing or incorrect, please let me know.
Credits: WrestlingData, Retro Wrestling Archive, Kris Zellner, Cagematch. Wrestling Memory Grenade.
