1981 Georgia Championship Wrestling: March (1/2)
A very surprising return, one the best videos of all time, and the fallout from a big Omni card. Plus, links to watch along!
Welcome to Georgia Championship Wrestling, in this edition you’ll read about the Fabulous Freebirds, Ted DiBiase, Junkyard Dog, Robert Fuller, Dusty Rhodes, Mongolian Stomper, Harley Race, Tony Atlas, Steve Keirn, Kevin Sullivan, Mr. Wrestling II, Jim Duggan, and a whole lot more!
(Note: Timestamped videos are linked throughout.)
Current Champions (As of Mar. 1, 1981)
NWA World Heavyweight Champion: Harley Race
Defeated Giant Baba (Sept. 9, 1980)
NWA National Heavyweight Champion: The Mongolian Stomper
Defeated Jack Brisco (Dec. 12, 1980)
NWA Georgia Heavyweight Champion: Tony Atlas
Defeated Dennis Condrey (Oct. 24, 1980)
NWA National Tag Team Champions: The Fabulous Freebirds
Defeated Stan Frazier & Ted DiBiase (Feb. 2, 1981)
NWA National Television Champion: Kevin Sullivan
Defeated Steve O (Feb. 21, 1981)
Sun. Mar. 1 at The Omni
Charlie Cook defeated Jim Duggan
Jos LeDuc defeated Steve O
Mr. Wrestling II defeated Bobby Eaton
NWA National Television Title Match Steve Keirn defeated Kevin Sullivan (c) - TITLE CHANGE!!!
Dick Slater defeated Ole Anderson
Fantasia Gamble Match: Fabulous Freebirds (Terry Gordy, Buddy Roberts and Michael Hayes) defeated Robert Fuller, Ted DiBiase and Junkyard Dog
NWA National Heavyweight Title Match: Dusty Rhodes defeated Mongolian Stomper (c) by disqualification
NWA World Heavyweight Title Cage Match: Harley Race (c) defeated Tony Atlas
Sat. Mar. 7 Georgia Championship Wrestling
Cowboy Bill Watts vs. The Hippie. An old squash match from Florida with the Cowboy beating up a hippie. Watts wins with an Oklahoma Slam.
Tommy Rich makes a surprise return to Georgia! It was time to come home. He helped out Steve Keirn and Steve-O by stopping a piledriver on the floor. Keirn joins and thanks Rich. He welcomes him back and shakes his hand.
Kevin Sullivan interview. He’s not going to whine about losing the TV Title. Keirn has no brains. He’s going to hurt him real bad and put an end to this. Very serious and direct Sullivan. They show Omni clips. Sullivan gives credit to Keirn for winning a game but this will be his. Sullivan tells a story of his father putting him in a tree and he landed on his head. His old man taught him not to trust anyone! He’s great at narrating the clips of him beating on Keirn. He claims Keirn had a foreign object. Great heel promo from Sullivan. He’s been one of the standouts of this journey.
TV Champion Steve Keirn interview. He says Sullivan wasted a lot of everyone's time talking. If Sullivan wants his belt, he just has to beat him. Keirn is a proper territory babyface.
Tommy Rich and Steve O interview. Steve thanks Tommy for his help. It’s time to change the numbers game on The Freebirds. They show clips from earlier where Hayes slammed Steve on the floor and Gordy went for the power bomb but Rich made the surprise save. Rich got a HUGE reaction for returning. He hit the wildfire punches in a great moment. Tommy is happy and he’s back to set Georgia on fire! He seems like he’s grown up a bit since we last saw him.
Tommy Rich music video to On The Road Again. Very cool. Rich left because he felt he let the people down by not beating Harley Race. Show clips of Rich getting read for his return. He went back to Memphis but it wasn’t the same. Show clips from Memphis of a Bounty Hunters match. More clips of Rich talking about being at rock bottom. He started winning again and working his way back up. He’s headed back to Georgia. Excellent video and reintroduction of Rich.
Michael Hayes interview. He’s upset about Rich being back. They came to take over and they’ve done it. It’s Freebird Championship Wrestling. Hayes is on point. He doesn’t care about Tommy’s family or his story. He kicked his daddy out the day he was born. He’s got his brothers by his side and that’s all he needs. Hayes was on fire here. A total home run money promo.
Results: Charlie Cook defeated Bob Garrett. Mongolian Stomper defeated Jerry Cooney. NWA National Tag Team Titles Match Steve Keirn and Steve O defeated Fabulous Freebirds (Terry Gordy and Buddy Roberts) (c) by disqualification. Kevin Sullivan defeated Jimmy Jones. Andersons (Ole Anderson and Gene Anderson) defeated Mike Davis and Mike Casaway. Mr. Wrestling II defeated Dick Sexton. Jos LeDuc defeated Zane Hickey. Bobby Eaton defeated Mike Hartness. Jim Duggan defeated Ken Timbs. Mongolian Stomper defeated Bobby Greene. Dick Slater defeated Ted Allen
Sat. Mar. 14 Georgia Championship Wrestling
Gordon Solie welcomes Zell Miller, Lt. Governor of Georgia. He’s a longtime wrestling fan and welcomes back the most popular wrestler, Tommy Rich. Miller makes Rich an honorary Lt. Colonel. More great work making Rich feel like a big deal. You’d think Rich was actually from Atlanta with how much he feels like a hometown hero.
Mongolian Stomper and Don Carson interview. Solie points out that Carson lied and interfered in the Dusty title match. Carson claims he can prove he didn't have anything to do with it. He shows clips of Dusty hitting him with a chair. The camera didn't catch Carson putting Stomper's foot on ropes. Gordon claims the footage was clearly edited.
Tommy Rich vs. Tony Anthony. Tony is the future Dirty White Boy. Big cheers for Rich and he gets a quick win.
Ted Dibiase welcomes Rich back. He’s coming for The Freebirds on March 29 at The Omni with the Junkyard Dog. Rich is facing Ivan Koloff. America versus Russia.
Mr. Wrestling II vs. Big Jim Duggan. Jim is more serious this week but showing lots of personality. He gets offense and it takes II a fair bit to beat him including a nice knee off the top. Good match.
Results: Ted DiBiase defeated Bob Garrett. Mongolian Stomper defeated Ken Woodby. Charlie Cook defeated Rick Connors. Tommy Rich defeated Tony Anthony. Mr. Wrestling II defeated Jim Duggan. Fabulous Freebirds (Terry Gordy and Buddy Roberts) defeated Mike Davis and Ken Timbs. Kevin Sullivan defeated Gerald Finley. Minnesota Wrecking Crew (Ole Anderson and Gene Anderson) defeated Charlie Cook and Jimmy Jones. Tommy Rich defeated Tim Horner. Fabulous Freebirds (Terry Gordy and Buddy Roberts) defeated Jerry Oates and Mike Jackson. Ted DiBiase defeated Rocket Monroe. Steve Keirn and Steve O defeated Bobby Greene and Larry Sexton
If anything is missing or incorrect, please let me know!
Credits: WrestlingData, Retro Wrestling Archive, Kris Zellner, Cagematch.
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