-Originally aired November 14, 1981. -Your hosts are Gordon Solie & Roddy Piper. One great detail here: Piper always addresses Gordon as “Mr. Solie,” and it’s a fantastic thing to just keep in the back of your head. Piper, even in peak “obnoxious jerky heel” mode, definitely respects Gordon. And if they were thinking that far ahead in showing that the heel respects Gordon, then that’s some remarkable planning for down the road. -BREAKING: NWA President Jim Crockett has lifted the suspension of the Masked Superstar, so the Masked Superstar is officially back in the promotion. EL GRAND APOLLO vs. MIKE JACKSON -A good scientific battle to start off. Apollo takes Jackson down in a side headlock. Jackson breaks free and after a succession of moves, they shake heads. Jackson goes to headscissors, and Piper is disgusted that he’s doing a hold when the handshake gave him an opening to dive low and take out Apollo’s leg. -Hammerlock by Apollo and Piper is still managing to find fault with every little thing with what the guys are doing. Side headlock by Apollo. Jackson fights free, but Apollo connects with a bodypress for two. They trade holds on the mat. Jackson cradles Apollo for two as there’s a clear disagreement on commentary about whether to call it a small package or an inside cradle. Apollo locks on a 3/4-Nelson and rolls over to make it a pinning combination, and it works, giving Apollo the win. Nice technical showcase here. -Tommy is delighted that Superstar has been reinstated, and Tommy & Gordon opt to look at some videotape of Super Destroyer and review the controversy. Part of the debate here is “Super Destroyer ALSO has stars on his mask, and that’s suspicious,” like the mask store won’t just sell a starred mask to anybody who walks in. -After recapping all the video, Gordon announces that the promoters have ORDERED a
Texas Death Match on
Thanksgiving night between Tommy Rich and Masked Superstar. I love that the promoters can order that without either guy being notified until now. I would have liked it if Tommy Rich had reacted to that by saying, “Uh, actually the girlfriend and I already made plans for that night. We’re seeing Time Bandits .” -Mr. Wrestling II is here in a three-piece banker’s suit and his mask, and he’s excited about all the great competition he’ll be facing in the Omni and other arenas throughout November. -Masked Superstar is here, all pissed off about the fact that he got forced into a Texas Death Match without authorization. DENNY BROWN vs. THE ANGEL -Angel pounds Brown down and clamps on a chinlock. Hard knee by Angel, followed by a backdrop. Angel throws Brown to the concrete as this has been a shockingly one-sided match for a jobber vs. jobber bout. -Brown throws a few punches, apparently anticipating that I’d type that, and Angel fights right back, hammering Brown. Backdrop by Angel gets two. Angel goes to a chinlock but Brown elbows out. Angel shrugs that off and finishes Brown off for a shoulderbreaker, getting a three-count and capping the greatest week of his career. -Austin Idol & Terry Gordy are here, in matching robes to establish that they’re a team now. Michael Hayes is touting a surprise tag team partner, and Austin eliminates a few suspects, explaining why it couldn’t be Dusty Rhodes or Andre the Giant, but no matter who it is…it just don’t matter, baby. AUSTIN IDOL & TERRY GORDY vs. BRUNO SAMMARTINO, JR. & KEITH LARSEN -Bruno works Gordy’s arm, then Idol’s arm, then Gordy’s arm. Keith “Red Shirt” Larsen tags in to take his beating. FULL bodyslams by Gordy, followed by a knee. Backbreaker/kneedrop combo by the heels–basically a decapitator, but a knee instead of an elbow–gets three for Idol and Gordy. -Austin Idol maintains that he’s the biggest star in Georgia, and he’s ready to put Michael Hayes and his mystery partner in their place. -Michael Hayes shows up, and Idol demands to know who and where his mystery partner is, and in comes 400-pound Big Red. He’d rather be eating on Thanksgiving, but instead, he’s looking forward to whoopin’ Gordy and Idol. -Ivan Koloff strolls in to remind us that he’s the TV champion, and since channel 17 in Atlanta goes across the entire country, that means his belt is now the most important and prestigious belt. TV TITLE: IVAN KOLOFF (Champion) vs. TONY ANTHONY -Gordon congratulates a couple that’s attending this taping on their honeymoon. -Koloff whips Anthony back and forth, then rams him into the corner and faceplants him from the top for an easy victory. Tony Anthony should consider some dirtier and whiter tactics to advance his career. -Sunday, November 22, Georgia Championship Wrestling rolls into Columbus, Ohio, and Ric Flair will be defending against Tommy Rich with a special 90-minute time limit. -The Armstrongs are looking forward to top competition on Thanksgiving night. -We run down the card in the Omni again. -Mr. Wrestling II runs down a bunch of other tour dates for the company, and there’s a pronounced vibe of padding for some reason right now. BOB & BRAD ARMSTRONG vs. BIG JIM DUGGAN & DEKE RIVERS -Damn, this promotion soured on Duggan really fast! -Duggan misses a punch and is immediately flustered. Duggan’s anonymous partner tags in and takes a few shots before Duggan heads back in. Armstrongs work Duggan’s arm. Jobbers manage to get Brad in the corner and work him over. Rivers tags in and gets Brad in an atomic drop. They trap him in the corner again, since that strategy worked before. Brad throws a flurry of punches to try to get them to back off. Bullet Bob has had enough and come in there to help his son. He dropkicks both opponents, and Brad throws a dropkick of his own on Deke Rivers to get the three-count. -Ole Anderson predicts that Tommy Rich will have a short career. SHEEPHERDERS vs. BOB RUSSELL & TED OATES -Luke gives Oates a right hand to start, following with a backdrop. Jonathan Boyd tags in and lights into Oates, slugging him repeatedly before going to a chinlock. Russell tags in as Gordon jumps in to clarify that this was supposed to be both of the Oates against the Sheepherders, but Jerry isn’t here because, uh, hey look over there! -Sheepherders work over Russell for a good long while. Russell gets a few lucky shots on Boyd but pretty much forgets to tag out and just goes right back to getting beaten to death. Battering ram, and then another one. Stomachbreaker finishes for the Sheepherders. -We recap the Tommy/Superstar feud, and Superstar is good and mad about being put into this stupid match on Thanksgiving night. TOMMY RICH vs. THIS MAN -Gordon calls him This Man, which I guess is a Dutch name. He knocks This Man out to the floor, then rips the straps down from This Man’s singlet and elbows him. Legdrop by Rich while he screams for Superstar to come to the ring. Elbow by Rich gets three. -Michael Hayes, now dressed as a Chippendale dancer, has a friend in Big Red, and they’re ready for the big night at the Omni. -Ivan Koloff brags that he is the World TV Champion and brags about the superiority of
Russian athletes. NIKOLAI VOLKOFF & CHRIS MARKOFF (with Lord Alfred Hayes) vs. COWBOY YOUNG & JACK LINCOLN -We head over to Southeastern Championship Wrestling to get a look at the Russian team that will be visiting the Omni on Thanksgiving night. Volkoff and Markoff have a bizarre look, wearing headgear that looks like they took standard wrestling masks and cut the faces out of them. -They maul Young in the corner. Markoff losses his grip while trying to work the arm, allowing a tag to Lincoln. Lincoln connects with dropkicks and Markoff backs off, tagging out to Nikolai, who regains the advantage. Volkoff does a one-handed chokeslam, which was not a common move in this era. -Young tags back in, all rested up and he’s a house of just kidding he runs into a knee. Volkoff works the arm, and they just keep dismantling Young. Press slam by Volkoff, and Markoff drives a series of knees into Young before finally putting him out of his misery. MIKE JACKSON vs. JOSE MEDINA -Jackson puts on a clinic of holds and an enziguiri, which gets no reaction from these philistines. Medina fights back and applies the abdominal stretch, but Jackson hiptosses out for reasons that all Monsoonites keenly understand. Series of dropkicks by Jackson, and he scores the pin for a victory over Medina. -The Armstrongs & Mr. Wrestling II are here. All of them are strongly in favor of giving 110% for those great fans. OLE ANDERSON vs. GERALD FINLEY -Ole applies a top wristlock and takes Finley down. Anderson works the arm in classic Anderson
fashion, then launches Finley out to the floor. Hammerlock slam by Ole, and a big elbow gives Ole the victory. -Superstar is still mad at Tommy Rich, and has not changed his mind about that in the past two hours. In fact, all he’s been able to do for five and a half weeks is sit at home and be angry. FREEBIRD MICHAEL HAYES & BIG RED vs. IRON MIKE SHARPE & MARVIN TURNER -Hayes and Red take turns grinding Sharpe with a side headlock. Turner tags in and tries waistlocks and bodyslams, and none of it goes well. -Double clothesline by the faces, and a splash by Big Red gets the three. 6.4 The final score: review Average The 411 Not bad at all. legend 0 - 0.9 Torture 1 - 1.9 Extremely Horrendous 2 - 2.9 Very Bad 3 - 3.9 Bad 4 - 4.9 Poor 5 - 5.9 Not So Good 6 - 6.9 Average 7 - 7.9 Good 8 - 8.9 Very Good 9 - 9.9 Amazing 10 Virtually Perfect