GEORGIA WRESTLING NEWS, NOTES, AND NOSTALGIA: 03/24/2008

Courtesy of GeorgiaWrestlingHistory.com:

NEWS

We have learned that Cru Jones was hospitalized Sunday morning for emergency gall bladder surgery. As soon as we hear more, we will be sure to update his status here. (Rich Tate)

World Wrestling Entertainment will be in Columbia, SC, tonight for the live RAW broadcast at the Colonial Center with action starting at 8:00 PM. NWA Anarchy’s Shatter, Mikal Judas, Jeff Lewis, Truitt Fields, and Andrew Pendleton III are expected to appear on the card. (Rich Tate)

AWN Pro Wrestling Presents "No Unity" on March 26 in Atlanta at the Wild Mustang, hosted by Atlanta's "Maven of Mayhem" Ruby Red. Advertised: "No Unity" Heavyweight Championship Match: Nemesis (c) versus Mark Henry (aka Simon Sermon), Shatter versus Rick Michaels, and Women’s World Champion Bambi answers Nigel Sherrod's $1,000 Challenge. Also advertised: Chris Kanyon, Truitt Fields, Thomas Exodus, Ryan Michaels, and Andrew Pendelton III, as well as the first ever (?) Drag Queen Battle Royal featuring Nicole Paige Brooks, Jazmine, Kyra Mora, Alana Kelli, Alexandria Martin, and Rouge Nation. Doors open at 8pm, and the event starts at 9pm. For more information or to reserve tickets call (404) 915-5603. (Larry Goodman)

Independent Wrestling Network has announced the lineup for their April 4 debut in Columbus, GA, at the Fishcrow Arena, formerly the GCW Arena. The big surprise is Jason Cross versus A.J. Steele being advertised. Cross has been away from wrestling since Dropkick Pro shut down in Macon. Steele has been a regular with Great Championship Wrestling, and was the first and only GCW Interstate Champion until two weeks ago. Steele never agreed to appear on this card, according sources within GCW. Steele told GCW he had been approached by IWN and turned them down flat. Attempts to contact IWN owner Dwayne Bell were unsuccessful. IWN and GCW are not on what you would call friendly terms, so it will be interesting to see how this plays out. Also advertised: Mr. Hughes versus Rob Adonis, the Wrestler versus Scottie Blaze, the Southside Trash versus Frankie Valentine & Adrian Hawkins, and "The Shooter" Vordell Walker versus Austin Creed. (Larry Goodman)

The New Frontier Wrestling Association returns to Franklin, NC, on April 5 to celebrate their second anniversary at the National Guard Armory. Advertised: a four-way match, whereas if a champion in pinned, they lose their title, featuring NFWA Heavyweight Champion Brokishi, NFWA US Heavyweight Champion Dirty, Simon Sermon, and Stoney Hooker; a fan participation strap match featuring Billy Starr versus Carter Maine; the A-Team (Jamar Acid & Dark Angel) defend the NFWA Tag Team Title against the Saturday Night Sensation (Matt Sells & Ryan Michaels); Tommy Too Much versus Cornbread; and a twenty-man rumble featuring NFWA wrestlers from the past, present, and future. (Rich Tate)

Championship Wrestling Overload will be in Tennille, GA, on April 18, at the Barn, located at 5250 Old Savannah Road. Doors will open at 7:30 PM, and matches will start at 8:00. Children 5 and under get in free with a paid adult. Kids 6-12 admitted for $3. All other tickets are $5. No matches have been announced. (Rich Tate)

Southern Extreme Championship Wrestling results from the VFW Fairgrounds in Carrollton, GA, on March 23: In a title versus mask match, Bull Buchanan over the Super Destroyer, revealed to be Rob Adonis, to retain the SECW Heavyweight Title; Austin Creed, Kid Ego, and the Nightmare over Billy Love, Chick Donovan & Sal Rinauro in a two-of-three falls match; Bulldog Raines over Big Wood; Tommy Rich & Chris Lightning over Pretty Boy Floyd & Awesome TC; and Kyle Matthews over Lamar Phillips. It was reported that 150 were in attendance for this card, and that Jeff McGowan was the referee. Raines participated in an autograph session. Click here for a full report from Larry Goodman. The March 30 date has been cancelled, but SECW will return on April 6. More details as the show nears. (Rich Tate)

Georgia Independent Wrestling Alliance results from Milledgeville, GA, on March 22: A.J. Steele & the Kodiak over the Slaughter Pitt; Preston Paradise over Paul Warfield; the Georgia Cowboy over Oko Nono to retain the GIWA Mid-State Heavyweight Title; Velvet Jones & Firewalker over K.I. Elite to win the GIWA Tag Team Title; and Shawn Hunter over J-Rod to retain the GIWA Heavyweight Title. (Rich Tate)

Georgia Pro Wrestling Association results from March 20 at the City Limits in Tifton, GA: "The Real Deal" Jake Slater defeated Blue Thunder, Iron Will and Psych wrestled to a 15 minute draw, The Almighty Brokishi defeated Paul Warfield, GPWA Tag team champs, "The Marvelous Ones" Michael Stevens & Leon McMicheals lost by DQ to the "United Alliance" Johnny Romano & Prince Murphy, "The Golden Boy" Chick Donovan defeated "The Real Deal" Jake Slater, and in the main event, "The Platinum Playboy" Preston Paradise defeated "Insane" Mike Pain for the GPWA Heavyweight title when Brokishi and Mr E.D. Biggs interfered. The GPWA returns to Tifton, GA, at the City Limits on April 3. Matches advertised include: GPWA tag team champs The Marvelous Ones and Iron Will versus Johnny Romano & Prince Murphy (United Alliance) and Psych, GPWA Heavyweight champ Preston Paradise versus Sam Slaughter, and "The Real Deal" Jake Slater versus Ron Stalker. Also advertised: "Insane" Mike Pain, "Big Bank" Barfield, and the Almighty Brokishi. (Thomas Bugg)

DISCLAIMER: GWH is not liable for any card changes, cancellations, etc. We can only report what is reported to us. As always, we suggest you check with the promotion within 24 hours to verify information posted here.

NOTES

Click here for this week’s Bill Behrens’ NWA Notes update. (Rich Tate)

Monday Night Mayhem will feature John Cena, Sr., on its show tonight at 8:00 PM ET. (Rich Tate)

Jerkin' the Curtain, hosted by Trent Van Drisse, will feature Mike Promo on its show tonight at 11:00 PM ET. (Rich Tate)

Amy ‘Lita’ Dumas’ band, the Luchagors, will be playing at the Gallery Billiards Music Venue in Sarasota, FL, tonight. Check your local directories or the band’s site for more info. (Rich Tate)

GWH wishes a happy birthday to Barry Horowitz (48) and the Undertaker (46).

Warren Bockwinkel died on this day in 1986. He was 74.

On this day in 1997, Dr. Bill Miller passed away at the age of 69.

NOSTALGIA

1931: George Zaharias defeated Charley Lehman in the main event at the Atlanta Municipal Auditorium for Georgia Championship Wrestling promoter Henry Weber. Also, Paul Harper and John Paxos wrestled to a draw. It was reported that Atlanta Mayor James Key was in attendance at the card.

1936: Orville Brown defeated Pat O’Shocker by disqualification in the main event at Loew’s Grand Theatre in Atlanta for Georgia Championship Wrestling promoter Henry Weber. Dorv Roche defeated Eddie Newman in the semi-main event.

1937: Leroy McGuirk defeated Buddy Knox in two straight falls in the main event at the New Coliseum in Augusta for promoter Bill Metzger. Also, Speedy Lawrence defeated Jack Ross.

1944: Hugh Winn defeated Otto Schnabel in the main event at the Atlanta Municipal Auditorium for Georgia Championship Wrestling promoter Paul Jones. Joe Marsh and Tom George wrestled to a draw in the semi-main event.

1958: Karl Heinkler & Kurt Von Brawner defeated Jerry Graham & the Mighty Yankee in the main event at the William Bell Auditorium in Augusta for Georgia Championship Wrestling promoter Robert ‘Bibber’ McCoy. Ray Gunkel and Don Lee wrestled to a draw in the semi-main event.

1964: Choo-Choo Lynn defeated Chuck Campbell to retain the Georgia Heavyweight Title at the Macon City Auditorium for promoter Fred Ward, not affiliated with Georgia Championship Wrestling at the time. Joe McCarthy & Chief Big Heart defeated Johnny Bruce & Crusher Verdu in the semi-main event.

1967: Enrique & Ramon Torres defeated Lars & Gene Anderson in a main event tornado match at the Atlanta Municipal Auditorium for Georgia Championship Wrestling promoter Paul Jones. Bobby Graham defeated Mike Paidousis in the semi-main event. Also, Eddie Graham & Nick Kozak defeated El Mongol & Oki Shikina. Jack Crawford managed El Mongol. It was reported in the program for this card that Paul Jones had finally gotten Gene Kiniski to sign a contract to defend the NWA World Heavyweight Title against Lou Thesz, and the bout was scheduled for April 14, 1967. It claimed that the signing took place in Chicago, IL, during a meeting of the NWA Board of Governors, including Sam Muchnick, Jules Strongbow, Frank Tunney, Jim Crockett, Ed McLemore, Gust Karras, Pedro Martinez, and Jim Barnett. Supposedly, Kiniski was reprimanded by the Board as a response to his allegations of collusion between Muchnick and Jones to make the match happen. Kiniski reportedly apologized, but also insisted that an impartial referee from a different promotion be assigned to officiate the bout, and Jones agreed in order to seal the deal. Leo Garibaldi was credited as being a referee on this card. It was announced that Louie Tillet would be wrestling on the card on March 31, 1967, and that Gene Kiniski would be wrestling Lou Thesz on the card on April 14, 1967.

1970: Joe Scarpa & El Mongol defeated the Assassins by disqualification to retain the Macon Tag Team Title at the Macon City Auditorium for Georgia Championship Wrestling promoter Fred Ward. Chati Yokuchi & Fuji defeated Greg Peterson & Pedro Valdez in the semi-main event.

1972: Dory Funk, Jr., defeated Bepo Mongol, managed by Assassin #1, by disqualification to retain the NWA World Heavyweight Title at the Atlanta Municipal Auditorium for Georgia Championship Wrestling promoter Paul Jones. The Assassins defeated Dick Steinborn & El Mongol in the semi-main event, and Buddy Colt defeated Bill Dromo. Charlie Smith was credited as being a referee for this card. Funk, Jr., participated in an autograph session for fans.

1975: Jerry Brisco & Rocky Johnson defeated Georgia Tag Team Champions Toru Tanaka & Assassin #2, managed by Rock Hunter, by disqualification in a title match at the William Bell Auditorium in Augusta for Georgia Championship Wrestling promoter Charlie Harben. Tommy Gilbert defeated Don Kent in a semi-main event boxing match, and Ray Candy defeated Jerry Lawler.

1978: A main event title match featuring Georgia Heavyweight Champion Stan Hansen versus Thunderbolt Patterson was ruled a no contest at the Atlanta Municipal Auditorium for Georgia Championship Wrestling promoter Paul Jones. Tony Atlas defeated Billy Graham by countout in the semi-main event, and Dusty Rhodes defeated Terry Funk. Also, Tommy Rich & Adrian Adonis defeated Wolfgang & Helmut Schmidt, managed by Rock Hunter.

1979: Ric Flair & Paul Jones defeated Ricky Steamboat & Dino Bravo in the main event at the Savannah Civic Center for Jim Crockett Promotions promoter Aaron Newman. Pedro Morales defeated Moose Morowski in the semi-main event, and Gene Anderson defeated Nick DeCarlo.

1980: Mr. Wrestling #2 defeated Austin Idol in the main event at the William Bell Auditorium in Augusta for Georgia Championship Wrestling promoter Charlie Harben. Tommy Rich & Tony Atlas defeated Ivan Koloff & Alexis Smirnoff, managed by Rock Hunter, in the semi-main event. Also, a match featuring Wahoo McDaniel versus Baron Von Raschke ended in a double disqualification.

1982: Ric Flair defeated Tommy Rich to retain the NWA World Heavyweight Title at the Columbus Municipal Auditorium for Georgia Championship Wrestling promoter Fred Ward. Ron Bass defeated Leroy Brown by disqualification in the semi-main event to retain the National Heavyweight Title. Also, Bob & Brad Armstrong defeated Kevin Sullivan & Buzz Sawyer.

1983: Tommy Rich defeated Buzz Sawyer by disqualification in the main event in Grand Rapids, MI, for Georgia Championship Wrestling promoter Les Thatcher. Dick Murdoch & the Masked Superstar defeated Ole Anderson & Ivan Koloff in the semi-main event, and Killer Brooks defeated Paul Orndorff. Also, Tony Atlas defeated Bob Roop, and the Iron Sheik defeated Brian Blair. Larry Zbyszko defeated Johnny Rich in the opener.

Due to popular demand, and the fact that time constraints have very much delayed our goal of fully detailing each card and completing a career record for everyone who has been documented as having appeared in Georgia, we are going to go ahead and return the cards and results for the 1970s and 1980s. We had gotten as far as 1972 before it became too much to continue on a desired basis. We had hoped to continue returning this information to the site on a gradual basis as we completed them in a yearly process. However, though we are not satisfied with the completeness of the information, the information that will reappear is as accurate as we have been able to document. As always, GWH’s Cards and Results section is a constant work-in-progress, and we will continue to strive to complete all of this information, as well as the career records as found in our Who’s Who section, as time allows. The only exception to the return of the cards and results will be televised events post-1979, as we are not confident we initially had all of the matches dated correctly when it was originally available on the site. Once we more certain of this portion of the material, we will return it as well. Thanks for your continued support and patience as we attempt to pull all of this material together in the most accurate and complete form possible. (Rich Tate)