FROM THE DESK OF...
BILL APTER
Editor, Pro Wrestling Illustrated
As we head into 1982, the rapid, explosive growth of cable and satellite television has made a regional promotion in the southeast a national promotion whether it wants to admit to that fact or not.
Georgia Championship Wrestling is now a national promotion because of its exposure into millions of housesholds across the United States. Fans tune in across the Fruited Plain every week to see stars like The Masked Superstar, Tommy Rich, Roddy Piper, the Armstrongs, Ole Anderson, Buzz Sawyer and a host of others lace up the boots and step inside the squared circle.
The ringmaster of this spectacle is announcer Gordon Solie. The man known as the Walter Cronkite of wrestling is the glue that holds everything together on this roller coaster ride of a program. His co-host is the colorful, bombastic Scotsman, Roddy Piper. The two make for an interesting odd couple pairing but their commentary is one of the key things that keeps the programs lively and interesting.
Whether Piper is schmoozing with one of his fellow rule breakers or insulting one of the fan favorites, you can't turn your eyes, or ears, away. Piper may make you furious. But he's nothing if not mesmerizing on the mic. He's like that car crash you just have to look at even though you don't want to.
The talent pool is solid. The Masked Superstar is your National Heavyweight Champion. Bob Armstrong and son Brad are the National Tag Team Champions. A tournament to decide a new TV champion will be held later this year. The list of challengers will be long for these belts in 1982.
There will be plenty of great championship battles, feuds and all around great wrestling to keep fans glued to Superstation WTBS this year.
And, it may be time for Georgia Championship Wrestling to start exploring one thing...
It may be time to consider gradually expanding outside the Peach State and looking to spread out nationally. Fans in Seattle, Minnapolis and New York know the Georgia wrestlers as well as they know their own repsective stars in the Pacific Northwest, AWA and the WWF. The fans are clamoring to see the stars of Georgia Championship Wrestling all across this great nation of ours.
With cable and satellite continuing to grow, a promotion is bound to take the leap and try their hand at going national. Right now, Georgia has the biggest and best opportunity.
The question that needs to be asked is: do those who run Georgia Championship Wrestling have the vision and backbone to take the gamble, roll the dice and make Georgia Championship Wrestling much bigger than just a TV show outside the state of Georgia?