1 week Ago By AdamNedeff
-Originally aired October 30, 1982. -Your host is Gordon Solie. -Buzz Sawyer & Ivan Koloff are here with a gift for Johnny Rich, and they think he’ll like it.
Ivan says that Buzz is so unpredictable that he should be called “Mad Dog” instead of Buzz. Oh wait, is that where the name came from? This promo? SUPER DESTROYER vs. RANDY BARBER -Again, this show tinkers with presentation, as the match starts with a pretty cool close-up of the timekeeper’s hand ringing the bell.
-Wristlock by Super D, followed by a hard forearm to the chest. Shoulderbreaker COULD finish, but Super D wants to beat him up more. I mean, he calls himself SUPER Destroyer, that’s one level up from destroying the man.
-And it may be a mistake because Barber just completely eats a can of spinach and levels Super D with a dropkick and a flurry of right hands. Super D boots him down and breaks the fans’ hearts in the process, and the superplex finishes. -We go to film of the Omni.
Paul Orndorff is battling the Masked Superstar, and Super D is at ringside at Superstar’s request because they figured Orndorff would try some kind of dirty tricks. Referee gets bumped with the Omni crowd letting out a really satisfying “Oooooooh” in unison. Super D comes in the ring and attacks because he saw Orndorff pulling a weapon out of his tights (“I’m not even going to debate you on this, sir” says a disgusted Gordon) and Johnny Rich dives in the ring to slug it out, but there IS a weapon in the ring, and Superstar loads his mask and KOs Orndorff to get a tainted win.
HACKSAW BUTCH REED vs. MIKE THOMPSON -Reed shoves Thompson down and works his arm while Gordon runs through Butch’s college credentials. Rapid-fire lefts and one big right send Thompson out to the floor.
Gorilla press gets a three-count. -Gordon, wearing a different suit, chats with Butch, who lets us know he’s “back in town” and he’s thrown down a challenge to the Super Destroyer. -Oh, okay, so we’re back “live” as Gordon elaborates that the match and interview took place last week.
Gordon chats with Johnny Rich. He wants a piece of Buzz Sawyer in retaliation for all the dirty tricks he’s pulled on Cousin Tommy. -Roddy Piper is here to talk about his match against Jerry Lawler at the next show in the Omni.
I’d love to see this match in its entirety and see how it compares to their 1994 match. That’s a LOW bar but that’s why I’m so curious. Roddy Piper of 1982 says that the crown on Lawler’s head only proves that he’s bought margarine.
-Johnny Rich is back here to watch more Omni footage. Cousin Tommy is fighting Buzz Sawyer. Buzz lays a beating on Tommy on the floor and appears to have injured Tommy’s eye, so Johnny rushes to ringside with a chair and sends Buzz scurrying out of there.
-In the studio, Buzz Sawyer comes in with his gift box and tries to taunt Johnny, but Johnny just decks him right in the eye, and Buzz runs off shocked that Johnny did that. JOHNNY RICH vs. MACKENZIE -We don’t get a full name for Mackenzie, but the tape quality on this one is pretty good, so I can say for sure it’s neither Phillips nor Astin.
(I met Mackenzie Phillips a few months ago when we were both signing autographs at a convention and she is a SWEETHEART, by the way.) -Slam and an elbow by Rich. Okalahoma side roll gets the three count.
Post-match, Buzz Sawyer returns with his buddy Ivan. They tangle Johnny in the ropes and Buzz opens the gift box, pulling out a pair of scissors and taking off a few locks of Johnny’s hair. IVAN KOLOFF vs.
DALE VEASEY -Koloff tries intimidating Veasey with his chain, then just gives up and attacks him. Veasey connects with a knee and a dropkick. Koloff comes back quickly and puts him away with a facebuster.
-Jerry Lawler sends in an interview from Memphis wearing a devil mask, and says that tomorrow is Halloween, the only day of the year when a dress-wearing bagpipe player can look like a normal person. Lawler is coming to Atlanta because MONTHS AGO, the people of Memphis saw him on TV and asked Jerry to go down to Atlanta to shut Piper up. And in the past few weeks, Jerry has seen Atlanta wrestling on TV and he’s appalled to discover that Atlanta likes Roddy Piper now, which says something about the whole city’s character.
Jerry brags about the Halloween party he’s throwing with his friends tomorrow night; David Letterman and Rodney Dangerfield are going to be there, and King throws in some video clips and photos to prove that he knows both of them. -Gordon is in the studio with Roddy. Piper says that kings usually sit in their throne and make people kneel to him.
What kind of king books a flight from Memphis to Atlanta to pick a fight with a guy? This was a weird promo because Piper was really distractingly reading something on Gordon’s podium through almost the whole thing. IRON SHEIK (with Sonny King) vs. MIKE THOMPSON -Update from Gordon: It’s been a month since our last look at WCW and Sheik STILL hasn’t been defeated in the clubs challenge.
And Gordon still will not call them Persian clubs. -Sheik attacks the back while Sonny reiterates that the $5,000 is still up for grabs and describes the open challenge they’ve been doing at house shows where fans can try to swing the clubs as many times as Sheik and nobody comes close. -Sheik surfboards Thompson and throws him to the floor, ramming him back-first into the post.
Back in, Sheik finishes with a German suplex. TITO SANTANA & BRAD ARMSTRONG vs. CHIC DONOVAN AND UH, HIS PARTNER -This one was really funny because the jobbers walked right past Gordon as he was introducing the match and he introduces Donovan, then glances at his partner, pauses, and stops just short of saying “Who the hell.
..” -Brad applies a side headlock on Donovan while somebody manages to give Gordon the name “Hamilton” but Gordon still doesn’t know the guy’s first name.
Tito tags in and works over Chic’s arm. Hamilton tags in while Gordon tells us he was on the wrestling team at the University of Tampa, while still not knowing his first name. -Tito works Hamilton’s arm.
Hamilton does flippy shit to counter it and the studio is surprised to see that from an enhancement guy. Brad tags in and clamps on some headscissors while Gordon declares the match to be Human Chess. Tito tags back in and hiptosses Hamilton into a wristlock, but Hamilton bridges out and sunset flips Santana for two, and the crowd POPS for that because even though Tito’s a babyface, the no-name rookie is impressing them with how clever he is.
-Donovan tags in and misses a right hand. Faces take advantage with a double elbow for one. Donovan rallies with a stungun and an elbow on Brad for a one-count.
Snapmare into a chinlock by Donovan. Hot tag Tito. Tito boots Chic out to the floor.
Reverse Indian deathlock by Tito gets the pin. Some checking around makes me fairly certain that the impressive no-namer is Larry Hamilton, who got a minor push as Thunderbolt Hamilton as the territories started dropping like flies. -We kick off hour #2 with Ivan Koloff demanding that somebody, ANYBODY, get in the ring right now to face him in a Russian chain match, and he completely holds up the show while officials come out and tell him there cannot be a Russian chain match on TV.
PAUL ORNDORFF’S TRAINING REGIMEN -Brad Armstrong joins Paul in the ring for a glimpse of how wrestlers train, and the gist is that Orndorff uses a live human instead of weights and machines. He does deep knee squats with Armstrong on his shoulders, which is IMPRESSIVE, then does a series of neck bridges in quick succession while Armstrong holds his wrists. To conclude the workout, Orndorff asks Armstrong to apply a cobra hold, the finisher of Masked Superstar.
Armstrong applies it, and Orndorff breaks it, causing Gordon Solie to yell louder than I’ve ever heard him yell in my life. Gordon just goes into Jim Ross mode at the shock of Orndorff not only finding a counter to the hold, but breaking it as fast as he did. IVAN KOLOFF vs.
TOM PRICHARD -Koloff is standing outside with the ring, still demanding a chain match while Ron West refuses to allow it. Koloff reluctantly surrenders his chain, only for Prichard to immediately start hammering him on the apron and whip him into the ring to start the match. Backdrop by Prichard, and he manages to sunset flip Koloff for two.
Side headlock by Prichard. -Koloff turns to headscissors to finally get control. Prichard gets to his feet and bodypresses him before locking on a side headlock.
Koloff whips Prichard and heads to the top rope, crashing down with a double axehandle. He throws Prichard out to the concrete and goes for another axehandle on the floor, but Prichard gives him a shot to the gut. Koloff has had enough of this and goes for his chain again, but Brad Armstrong won’t allow it and attacks Koloff, getting Prichard DQed but preventing Koloff from using the chain.
MATCH OF THE WEEK, holy crap. Prichard looked like a million bucks and they told a nice story with everything. -Koloff wants, nay, DEMANDS a chain match with Brad Armstrong! -We flashback to last week again, with Jerry Lawler in the studio.
He’s already proven he’s the king of Memphis, and now he’s decided it’s time to come to Atlanta to grow his domain. He’s been told that the king of Atlanta is Roddy Piper and uses some of his material from his Letterman appearance to run down Piper. Also, ISN’T IT CONVENIENT that Piper isn’t in the studio on a day that Lawler is here and dressed to wrestle? JERRY “The King” LAWLER vs.
MIKE JACKSON -Jackson backs Lawler into the corner right away, and Lawler complains about a punch that hasn’t been throne yet. Jackson hiptosses Lawler, which Gordon calls “abdicating the throne.” Lawler throws the first actual punch and follows with a knee.
Lawler gives no quarter, according to Gordon, as he continues the onslaught of elbows. It’s amazing to watch virtuous babyface Lawler in Memphis and watch him at the same time doing this guest shots in territories across the country where he plays heel and he’s able to slide in and out of each role like a glove. -Jackson mounts a comeback but misses a dropkick, and Lawler finishes with the piledriver.
-Back live in the studio. “I don’t hit a man when he’s down, I kick him!” -Super Destroyer has some comments about Butch Reed. In order to enlighten him about Reed’s talents, Gordon suggests we rewatch Reed’s entire match from the first hour.
I’m venturing a guess here that the increasing travel schedule for this territory was causing havoc for TV tapings, which is why we’re seeing more and more episodes padded with “rerun” matches. SUPER DESTROYER vs. LARRY HAMILTON -Gordon still doesn’t know his first name.
Destroyer knees him down, then brings him back up for a bearhug. Rear chinlock by Super D. Hamilton shows signs of life but misses a dropkick and gets stungunned.
Superplex finishes. -Commercial bumper warns us that we’ll “have to listen to” Buzz Sawyer in a few minutes. -We get pretaped words from JJ Dillon, who has all kinds of offers to take the Moondogs around the world, and JJ suspects that it’s actually a scheme from wrestlers in Georgia to keep them out of the country as much as possible.
BUZZ SAWYER vs. DIESEL MACKENZIE -I think that’s what Gordon calls him. That’s actually not a bad wrestler name.
-They go to the mat as Ole Anderson, “Buzz Sawyer’s only friend,” drops in for commentary. Sawyer does a nice job tying Mackenzie up on the mat, then powerslams him for an easy three-count. -We get a parade of comments from Ole, Buzz, Tommy, Johnny, and Paul about the week’s upcoming house shows.
-Sonny King and his Samoans want a piece of Ole Anderson & Stan Hansen, so Gordon suggests, wait for it, that we watch a previous match, and we flash way back to GEORGIA Championship Wrestling for an old squash match to run out the clock on this week’s show. 7.8 The final score: review Good The 411 This was a REALLY good show, with lots of angles to cover and some solid back-and-forth action in the squashes.
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.
