The SmarK Rant for Georgia Championship Wrestling – 12.22.79

The SmarK Rant for Georgia Championship Wrestling – 12.22.79

So unfortunately KrisP’s archive is missing a month of the show, so we jump ahead from the 11.17.79 episode all the way to Christmas week. On the upside, the last two episodes of the year are a WAY higher VQ than the rest, so that’s awesome. Unfortunately we’ve now lost Bret Hart, Sterling Golden and Bobby Heenan, who have all moved onto other things. I hear Sterling Golden has an offer from a hot young rock band to play bass with them.

Taped from Atlanta, GA

Your host is Gordon Solie, who is immediately flanked by a police officer, guarding a briefcase filled with $25,000 in cash.

Kevin Sullivan joins us after winning a squash that is edited out here, and he wants to know if Gordon is giving out free samples of the money for Christmas. Fresh faced young Kevin with a mop top is hilariously awesome. So then Gordon introduces Paul Jones (the original promoter who is older than Biden, not the manager) and he announces that the money is for the winner of a battle royale. Although when they show the open case, it’s bundles of $20 bills, which would mean you’d need 1250 bills in order to make 25K. So I’m thinking that this case of money is not entirely honest in the representation of the true dollar value.

Abdullah the Butcher v. Curtis Brazil

Abby quickly tosses the guy and then beats on him with elbows from the apron. Back in for a headbutt and he puts the boots to Brazil and then drops the elbow for two. And then he slams the guy again and drops another elbow for the pin at 2:00.

Meanwhile, we go down to Texas to see this guy named “Bruiser Brody”.

Bruiser Brody v. Terry Latham

This is from Texas All Star Wrestling although I’m not sure which promoter that was. Weird that they’re treating Brody like an unknown rookie because he already had a WWF run against Bruno by this point. Latham tries a headlock and Brody drops him with a suplex and puts the boots to him in the corner before hitting a spinning slam and dropping an elbow on him. Boston crab finishes at 2:47.

Tony Atlas joins Gordon back here in Atlanta, along with Ole, and they’re prepping for the Christmas spectacular at the Omni. Ole and Thunderbolt Patterson are challenging Ivan Koloff & Alexis Smirnoff for the tag team titles, and of course the two ring $25,000 battle royale.

Mr. Wrestling II joins Gordon, and apparently they’re still running the fake Wrestling II angle a month later because the real thing hasn’t been able to deal with him yet. “The name don’t make the person, the person makes the name”. But it’s a CAGE MATCH at the Omni, with the loser having to unmask.

Meanwhile, we go back to a house show with Masked Superstar defending the Georgia title against Dick Slater, and the ref is bumped, resulting in some argument about who was pinning whom, but they continue the match and brawl on the floor. Back in, Superstar gets an apparent in, but Slater’s foot is on the ropes and the ref is bumped a second time. But then Slater rolls him up and Superstar tosses him over the top on the kickout, and the ref calls for the DQ from the floor. Back at the studio, Superstar decides he’s not going to put the title on the line in a no DQ match because there’s nothing in it for him.

WWF champion Bob Backlund joins us, and he’s got the belt and everything! Bob talks about how he doesn’t often get a good enough workout from his opponent, so he has to work out after the matches and do another 500 pushups to stay in shape. I’d say he was exaggerating but the man was a freak of nature and he’s probably not lying.

Tommy Rich joins Gordon, having lost the Georgia title to the Superstar since our last episode, and he wishes Dick Slater luck against Superstar in his no-DQ rematch for the Georgia title.

Ivan Koloff & Alexis Smirnoff v. Big Bill Dromo & Marvin Turner

Smirnoff, unsurprisingly, is another French Canadian playing a Russian, since inevitably all Russians are either from Quebec or Minnesota or some combination thereof. The Russians double-team Dromo with headlocks, but Bill throws Smirnoff off and Ivan comes in with a bearhug. Dromo fights out of that, so Smirnoff switches in with an abdominal stretch and then Koloff switches in with his own. Over to Turner, and Koloff slams him and drops knees on him before going to a Boston crab with assistance from Smirnoff on the apron. Turner makes the ropes, so Smirnoff comes in with a Boston crab of his own and Koloff pushes him from the apron, but the ref sees it this time. So Ivan comes in with a middle rope knee for two and then lets the geek tag out to Big Bill again. Koloff backdrops him a few times, but Bill hits some offense and then immediately tags in his useless partner again. So Ivan hits Turner with a running knee, and Smirnoff suplexes Turner onto Koloff’s knee and pins him at 7:23. Cool finisher.

The Russians join Gordon and rants about his teamwork to end the first hour.

Bob Backlund v. Gerald Findley

Bob immediately takes him down and rides him, but Findley makes the ropes. Bob sweeps the leg and works on an ankle hold before flipping Findley into the corner and sweeping his leg again. Bob takes him down into a bridge for two and then suplexes him for two, retains control, and then turns it into a german suplex to finish at 2:49. Backlund was SMOOOOOOOTH back then and would have fit in perfectly well in the NWA territories.

Bob Backlund joins Gordon at the desk afterwards, talking about how he doesn’t want to ever let the people down as champion.

Kevin Sullivan joins Gordon, and he’s offended that Austin Idol has become such a liar, and tells him to “spread his legs and kiss his ass goodbye because it belongs to him now.” Well that’s spicy for 1979.

Ric Flair joins Gordon, fully into his styling and profiling persona but still a couple of years away from his first World title.

Austin Idol joins Gordon to point out that IDOLMANIA has exploded like a nuclear rocket and all the women are frustrated because they can’t get a kiss from him. Apparently he’s wrestling Ric Flair at the Omni on Christmas.

Tony Atlas v. Jack Fore

Atlas takes him down for a quick cradle, which gets two. Fore goes for a headlock and Atlas just hurls him across the ring and grabs his own headlock. Gordon notes that a publishing company is going to be doing a book on Tony Atlas, aimed at children. Man there’s gonna be some confused kids who are wondering why it’s a picture book filled with nothing but photos of feet. Atlas beats on Fore in the corner and then his a press slam into a backbreaker to finish at 3:12.

Abdullah the Butcher v. Mike Davis

Abby smashes him on the apron and then adds a shoulderblock, before choking him out and hitting a slow motion version of the Angle Slam and finishing with a pair of elbowdrops at 1:40. But then Tony Atlas stops by and he’s disgusted by Abdullah, who tried to hospitalize him. Abby just spits at him and walks past, and Tony clarifies that he’s only scared of one thing: Death. So on Christmas night at the Omni, Abdullah is gonna find that out. WHY ARE THESE OMNI SHOWS NOT ON THE NEW VAULT CHANNEL?!? I am 100% sure they exist somewhere.

Killer Khan v. Marvin Turner

Khan beats the stuffing out of Turner and puts the boots to him on the ropes, then slams him and drops a knee for two. Running knee in the corner misses and Turner tries a comeback with a snapmare for two. So Khan rakes the face and rips at his mouth before finishing with the dreaded Oriental Stomach Claw at 3:30.

Masked Superstar & the Russians join Gordon, and they promise to ally in the battle royale and then split the money. Superstar promises that if Dick Slater wants the title, he’s gonna have to come down Superstar’s throat for it. OK then.

Judy Martin v. Winona Littleheart

Weird, I thought Stephanie McMahon didn’t invent women’s wrestling until 2015 or whatever. Martin takes her down and works the leg, but Littleheart fights back with forearms and chases her out of the ring. Back in, LIttleheart catapults her across the ring, but Martin pulls her out of the ring and beats on her outside. Back in, Martin with two-handed chokes and a choke on the ropes for two before laying her on the top rope and then slamming her back to the mat again. Martin with a slam for two and she goes to work on the arm, but LIttleheart makes the comeback with the wardance and chops. But then she takes a running charge at Martin in the corner and misses. She comes back with a victory roll, however, and gets the upset win at 8:52. They were working surprisingly stiff for a women’s match in 1979.

Mr. Wrestling II joins Gordon and he promises an unmasking on Christmas. So I actually found out that the fake was named Joe Powell, and the Christmas match was basically his one claim to fame in the business and even got mentioned in his obituary in 2010.

Tommy Rich & Ray Candy v. Buck Brannigan & Rick Craven

The faces double-team Craven and Rich finishes with a quick sleeper, and then they head over and do final hype for the Omni show on Christmas to wrap things up.

Like holy crap, look at this lineup:

https://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=27825

Plus the two ring battle royale to close the show, which isn’t listed there for some reason. Get this on the YouTube channel RIGHT NOW.