 | |
| Acronym | GCW |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1944 2020 (revival) |
| Defunct | 1984 (original promotion) |
| Style | Rasslin' |
| Headquarters | Atlanta, Georgia |
| Founder | Paul Jones |
| Owners |
|
| Parent | Georgia Championship Wrestling, Inc. (original promotion) |
Georgia Championship Wrestling is an Americanprofessional wrestling promotion based inAtlanta,Georgia. The promotion was affiliated with what had been the world's top sanctioning body of championship titles for decades before, theNational Wrestling Alliance (NWA), and ran live wrestling shows throughout its geographic "territory" of Georgia. The company was also known for itsself-titled TV program, which aired on Atlanta-basedsuperstationWTBS from the 1970s until 1984 when its timeslot waspurchased by the World Wrestling Federation.
Georgia Championship Wrestling was formed inAtlanta in 1944 by promoter Paul Jones (retired wrestler Andrew Lutzi, notPaul Frederik who later was given the name) as ABC Booking. ABC held its matches at Atlanta'sMunicipal Auditorium on Friday evenings. Jones operated ABC for thirty years until his retirement in 1974, though from about 1970 until 1972 he was assisted by hisbookerRay Gunkel. Jones was so infirm by this time (he died in 1988) that Gunkel effectively ran the promotion.
On December 25, 1971, Georgia Championship Wrestling made its television debut with a special Christmas program. Beginning in late January 1972 the promotion's regular series,Big Time Wrestling, began airing on Saturday afternoons on WQXI-TV in Atlanta; the show was recorded for later broadcast overWJBF inAugusta andWTOC-TV inSavannah, stations located in two of GCW's major cities.Big Time Wrestling was hosted by Ed Capral, and featured ring announcer Charlie Harben and referee Leo Garibaldi, and included interviews with wrestlers pertaining to their upcoming matches.
The promotion underwent some big changes in 1972. Firstly, it started promoting matches at the then-brand-newOmni Coliseum. Secondly, it switched its television outlet from its original home, then-ABC-affiliated WQXI-TV (nowWXIA-TV) toUHFindependent station WTCG, then owned byTed Turner. WTCG would become a satellite-distributedsuperstation in 1976, and change its call letters to WTBS in 1979, ultimately becoming the nationalTBS cable channel.
The new television deal would be one of Gunkel's last decisions. Ray Gunkel died of aheart attack later that year after a match versusOx Baker inSavannah, Georgia. The death set off some internal problems, with Ray's widow Ann, who had worked closely with Ray and expected to get her share of the promotion being shut out in favor ofBill Watts, with the promotion being renamed "Mid-South Sports." Ann Gunkel decided to start her own promotion outside of theNational Wrestling Alliance, which she named the "All-South Wrestling Alliance."
Mid-South Sports's longterm prospects were not good at that point, most of their wrestlers had gone with Ann, and Ann's promotion had gotten Mid-South's television time slot, though both promotions aired on WTCG. (Ted Turner and Ann Gunkel had both attendedBrown University and were rumored to be romantically involved.) After two years of strife, a trouble-shooter was called in:Jim Barnett, who had owned promotions inIndiana,Michigan,Ohio,Colorado andAustralia. (The Australian promotion was calledWorld Championship Wrestling.) At this point, Ann's promotion went downhill, being locked out of arena dates, with wrestlers defecting to Mid-South, and finally Ann Gunkel's All-South Wrestling Alliance folded in 1974.
When WTCG became distributed via satellite in 1976, the renamedGeorgia Championship Wrestling became the first television program produced by an NWA-affiliated promotion to be broadcast nationally. This program was hosted byGordon Solie and was recorded in the studios of WTCG inMidtown Atlanta. Shows were taped before a small (yet enthusiastic), live in-studio audience, as were most professional wrestling TV shows of that era. The show featured wrestling matches, plus melodramatic monologues and inter-character confrontations—similar to the programming offered by other territories, including the Northeast-based World Wrestling Federation (WWF, nowWWE). GCW's main show, which aired on Saturday evenings, was complemented with aSunday evening edition.
Many of the NWA's regional promoters were unhappy, but Barnett claimed since he was only using Georgia-based wrestlers, that there was no harm. Whether or not Barnett was in fact taking the promotion national is a matter of dispute. Some wrestlers, such asRoddy Piper, say that he was in fact doing so, but was prevented by fears of crossingorganized crime figures involved with the sport. Throughout the 1970s, Georgia Championship Wrestling was one of the main shows that kept the Superstation alive.[1]
In 1982, Georgia Championship Wrestling changed its main programming name toWorld Championship Wrestling at the request of Ted Turner. GCW also expanded its reach into parts of Ohio and Michigan which were considered "open territory" at the time. A January 1983 show in Dayton, Ohio, was the first show held in that city in five years.
A power struggle in late 1983 forced Barnett to sell most of his shares in GCW to a consortium consisting of wrestlers and brothersJack Brisco andGerald Brisco; Paul Jones; and Al Rogowski, a matchbooker, who also wrestled asOle Anderson. This move set the stage for an important move in wrestling history, involving another regional promoter:Vince McMahon.
In July 1984, the Brisco brothers sold their stock in GCW to McMahon for $900,000. In return McMahon received GCW's television time slots on WTBS, which McMahon then claimed for his WWF, which was in the midst of expanding into a national promotion. McMahon also guaranteed jobs with the WWF for the Briscos; Gerald Brisco remained with the WWF/WWE for decades before retiring in 2009. After working out a few prior commitments, Georgia Championship Wrestling ceased to exist.
GCW announcerFreddie Miller was the only member of the original GCW on-air cast who neither quit in protest nor was replaced by the new owner. McMahon had underestimated two major factors, however. The first was the differences in tastes between fanbases of different geographical regions. The WWF's style of wrestling sharply differed from that of GCW, with the WWF featuring cartoonish characters and storylines andsquash matches and GCW featuring more athletic competition. Secondly,Southerners resented the symbolism of a "Yankee" company coming down fromthe North and "taking over"their wrestling.
In addition,WWF World Championship Wrestling was mainly used as a re-cap show, featuring matches which had previously aired on the WWF's main programming such asWWF Championship Wrestling andWWF All-Star Wrestling. This angered WTBS owner Ted Turner, who believed McMahon reneged on a promise to have live matches originating fromTurner Broadcasting System's Atlanta studios.
As a result of dissatisfaction by the audience and Ted Turner himself with the WWF-produced series, which garnered lower ratings than previously, Turner began giving time slots to other southern wrestling promotions. Ole Anderson continued to operate on a smaller scale in the territory, promotingChampionship Wrestling from Georgia out of Atlanta, which briefly aired on TBS Saturday mornings. Bill Watts'Mid-South Wrestling, which operated in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, was given the Sunday evening time slot previously used by GCW that the WWF did not take.
Eventually, on March 30, 1985, McMahon sold the Saturday night time slot toJim Crockett, Jr., aCharlotte, North Carolina–based promoter who ran NWA-branded shows in theMid-Atlantic states.Jim Crockett Promotions took over production of the Saturday television show using the same set.[2] JCP purchased Watts's promotion (by then renamed the Universal Wrestling Federation) in 1987. When JCP ran into financial difficulty, Turner Broadcasting took over the promotion in November 1988 to keep the programming on its network, naming the new subsidiaryWorld Championship Wrestling (WCW) after the title of its then-flagship program.
In 2001, the WWF purchased the assets and trademarks belonging to WCW, including the entire tape libraries of GCW and JCP.
While the WWF purchased the tape library in 2001, the trademarks owned by businessman Grady Odom still remain active. Wrestler and promoter Chris Nelms took on an executive role in 2020 alongside Tim Rice, and GCW began holding events again across central Georgia,[3] though Grady Odom remained as the promotion's owner until his death in 2025.[4] The promotion has since been owned by Sherry Odom Abbott,[5] Grady's sister.[4]
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