The Rise And Fall of Georgia Championship Wrestling

DAVE KNOWS WRESTLING

[scotthunt]

All of my friends were in love with the WWF cartoon, but I was always more drawn to the more realistic presentation of GCW, and the Studio show (over the Arena show) is still my favorite model for a wrestling tv program. A stellar roster of very legitimate feeling performers, a rabid studio audience, and the Great Gordon Solie. This is still what I think of when I think of Professional Wrestling.

[tommonk]

I loved Georgia Championship Wrestling!

[kevincrozier]

Man Georgia Championship Wrestling was way better than anything McMahon ever put out. Hell, NONE of the stuff out today could compete with it.

[BClarke]

When we first got cable as a kid, I remember stumbling on Tommy Rich vs Ted DiBiase for the National title. Early LOD, Buzz & Brett Sawyer, Jay Youngblood, The Spoiler, Ronnie Garvin vs Jake Roberts for the TV belt, a few Memphis-style music videos for Kabuki, Jimmy Valiant, and the Bruise Brothers, etc. Man, I was hooked.

[MangyStray]

Watching early Piper on Georgia championship wrestling was amazing. He was the perfect color man with Gordon solie. Thanks for the great video Dave, always cool to learn the history of promotions

[repentorperish]

I was thrilled as a young boy watching Georgia Championship Wrestling. This expanded my viewing from Mid-Atlantic Wrestling, which was also great.

[charlesgrybosky]

I've seen clips of the GCW show from the late 70s-Early 80s and it is some of the best wrestling TV from the era! Thank you for covering this and for explaining how GCW got folded into Mid Atlantic under JCP in a way that I can understand without needing a flowchart. I just wish the WWE would make these episodes of GCW available on Peacock.

[junioralsept]

That was a terrible day when McMahon got involved with GCW.. I loved GCW every Saturday at 6:05pm and Sunday..

[kvosstuff]

"his face is a crimson mass..." A Gordon Solie oldie but goodie!

[JamesJohnson-ly]

Thank God for Georgia Championship Wrestling.

[michaelmohrle]

First wrestling I watched, it was on cable tv in NJ in the 70s !!

[ahmed-mazino]

I love watching your clips my friend, keep entertaining us and we will never let you down❤️🙏🏻

[Jetdoctor]

I grew up in Atlanta watching GCW. It was on Saturday night on WTCG and it was spaghetti night. It was a very cool station. I remember late at night they would show Bull fights till the bull died. They would also show taekwando fights

[jpmcpheemcphee]

The Very first time I laid eyes on GCW, I saw King Kong Bundy storming the ring to attack the Legion of Doom, which consisted of Paul Ellering, Jake Roberts, and the Road Warriors, the studio audience exploded, Gordon Solie lost his voice, and I became an instant fan!

[donwilcox]

Georgia Championship Wrestling was the greatest wrestling show ever. It was the pro wrestling all-star game every Saturday 6:05-8:05. You never knew who would show up. Gordon Solie as great as he was, raised his own bar to new heights in Georgia. The announcing team of Solie and Roddy Piper was unparalleled to this day. It was of non negotiable importance to be in front of the TV tuned in to WTBS no later than 6:04pm every Saturday. My friends who were not wrestling fans quickly learned I was unavailable and not to be disturbed for those two hours. It is my all-time favorite television program, with nothing else coming close.

[davidstewart]

Saturday mornings in the late 70's and early 80's with Gordon Solie was some of my favorite childhood memories. Then when they came to my town or they announced a show coming to my town with that music playing as they announced it. The best thing ever

[shadyacrefarm]

When I was a kid I knew the WWF was fake, but I knew GCW was REAL! 😊😊😊

[christopherkahn]

An excellent documentary, great narration, and interesting story.

[Devitciiu]

These videos are exactly what I'm looking for. I find trying to understand the history of the various promotions (other than WWE) very complex, but your commentary is pretty helpful. It would have been nice if everyone was a little more creative with naming things.

[drummondjwall]

I'm from Georgia, my father would go in the late seventies to the GCW shows in the Cobb Civic Center the wrestlers he would always talk about was Abdullah the Butcher or Andre the Giant, Dusty Rhodes... his favorite wrestler was Mr Wrestling number 2, he always used to talk about how Mr Wrestling number 2 wrestled Andre the Giant he gave him a run for his money he said he had the knee lift as a finishing move. They also said he used to go with an old lady and she would get so angry about the bad guys she literally wanted to fight them