1981 Georgia Championship Wrestling: March (2/2)
The famous four piledrivers angle, Tommy Rich gets back in the mix, and Steve O goes for gold. Plus, links to watch along!
Welcome to Georgia Championship Wrestling, in this edition you’ll read about Tommy Rich, The Mongolian Stomper, Steve O, The Fabulous Freebirds, Junkyard Dog, Mr. Wrestling II, Steve Keirn, Jim Duggan, Kevin Sullivan, and a whole lot more!
Sat. Mar. 21 Georgia Championship Wrestling
Tommy Rich interview. Solie asks him about his knee. It’s 100% now. He’s facing Kevin Sullivan. It should be a good test.
Tommy Rich vs. Kevin Sullivan. They go right at it and it’s that familiar good competitive Georgia TV wrestling. Sullivan bails and eventually cheap shots Rich to get the advantage. Rich is so great at selling and always firing back. Sullivan goes after the knee and it just fires Rich up more. Rich wins with a Thesz Press.
Tommy Rich interview. He’s got Koloff at The Omni and wants to show people he’s back and strong.
Junkyard Dog and Ted Dibiase interview. JYD is jacked. Ted talks about Louisiana and their history. They’re friends. They talk about the blinding by The Freebirds. JYD is here for business.
Junkyard Dog & Ted Dibiase vs. Bobby Eaton & Buck Brannigan. Ted and Eaton are great working together. Really moving. JYD is explosive. They use a lot of quick tags. Ted is a machine and we get a lot of Ted and Eaton throughout which is top notch. JYD’s hot tag is very good. Ted wins with a figure four. Terrific TV match.
Tommy Rich vs. Big Jim Duggan. Another test for Rich. Has to be clever against the powerful Duggan. I’m really enjoying this heel variation of Duggan. The fans are on fire for Rich and he wins with a rollup. Rich cuts a fired up promo after on Ivan Koloff. He overcame two tests today. They’ve pushed Rich super strong upon his return.
National Title Mongolian Stomper vs. Steve O. Steve is quite popular and has great fire. Stomper is a classic heel. O shows a lot here before Carson gets involved. Another really good match this week.
Results: Steve O d. Ken Woodby. Tommy Rich d. Kevin Sullivan. Fabulous Freebirds (Terry Gordy and Buddy Roberts) d. Jimmy Jones and Jimmy Powell. Steve Keirn d. Bounty Hunter #1. Ted DiBiase and Junkyard Dog d. Bobby Eaton and Buck Brannigan. Mongolian Stomper d. Dave Stanley. Tommy Rich d. Jim Duggan. NWA National Heavyweight Title Match Steve O d. Mongolian Stomper (c) by disqualification. Kevin Sullivan d. Jimmy Powell. Jos LeDuc d. Buck Brannigan. Ted DiBiase and Junkyard Dog d. Mike Casaway and Bounty Hunter #2. Fabulous Freebirds (Terry Gordy and Buddy Roberts) d. Gerald Finley and Zane Hickey
Sat. Mar. 28 Georgia Championship Wrestling
National Tag Team Titles Fabulous Freebirds (Buddy Roberts and Terry Gordy) vs. Junkyard Dog & Ted Dibiase. A big time match for TV and it’s a good battle. Roberts and Gordy were a really strong working team. Ted and JYD are good together again as well. Hayes gets frustrated and pulls down the ropes. Terry Gordy piledrives Ted on the floor! Ted is busted open! He crawls back in so Gordy hits a second piledriver. Ted kicks out! A third and Ted kicks out again. A fourth piledriver and once again Ted kicks out. Finally Tommy Rich throws in the towel, there’s a big brawl and The Freebirds leave. Solie sells it big and calls for an ambulance as they stretcher Dibiase out. The match was good and the angle was strong.
JYD interview. He apologizes to the people. The Freebirds keep injuring his partners. He appreciates Tommy helping and he’s not sure if Ted will be back. Rich would love to team up but JYD is hesitant. He doesn't want to be responsible. Tommy's gonna be there. I’m really digging this blend of Mid-South and Georgia.
JYD and Rich talk over the angle again. They really reinforce the details. They dedicate the match to Ted. Dog is gonna fight. It will get crazy and Wildfire is gonna get crazy too!
Freebirds interview. Hayes is low key here. It’s his birthday party. There’s no Ted. He pushed too much. Hayes blames everyone else for making him do it. Great work.
Results: Tommy Rich d. Jim Nelson. NWA National Tag Team Titles Match Fabulous Freebirds (Terry Gordy and Buddy Roberts) (c) d. Ted DiBiase and Junkyard Dog. Roberto Soto d. Tim Horner. Jim Duggan d. Gerald Finley. Steve Keirn d. Ken Timbs. Andersons (Ole Anderson and Gene Anderson) d. Mike Fever and Tom Hart. Ivan Koloff d. Ron Ritchie. Tony Atlas d. Jim Nelson. Bobby Eaton d. Mike Davis
Sun. Mar. 29 Best Of Georgia Championship Wrestling
Ole Anderson interview. He’s trying to think of someone as good as him. No one is better than The Andersons!
Tommy Rich & JYD promo. They’re mad. Tonight’s the night. They promised Ted. They’re coming to fight. Feels like a big money match!
Dusty Rhodes vs. Pat Rose. An old squash.
Steve O interview. Puts over Dusty. Very charismatic. The American Dream.
Sun. Mar. 29 at The Omni
Kevin Sullivan d. Mike Davis
Bobby Eaton d. Roberto Soto
Steve Keirn and Steve O d. Andersons (Gene Anderson and Ole Anderson) by disqualification
Mr. Wrestling II d. Jim Duggan
Junkyard Dog and Tommy Rich d. Fabulous Freebirds (Terry Gordy and Buddy Roberts)
NWA National Heavyweight Title Match: Steve O d. Mongolian Stomper (c) - TITLE CHANGE!!!
WWF Heavyweight Title Match: Bob Backlund (c) d. Ivan Koloff
Interesting that they ran a WWF Title match on top. Obviously the TV is incomplete but it feels very tacked on.
If anything is missing or incorrect, please let me know!
Credits: WrestlingData, Retro Wrestling Archive, Kris Zellner, Cagematch.