| MY OWN PERSONAL TAKE ON BLACK SATURDAY
July 2004 – Rich Tate Note: This article first appeared in a print edition of Peach State Pandemonium. First of all, I consider myself born at least ten years too late. I didn’t begin watching Georgia Championship Wrestling until around the age of eight, which puts it around 1976 or so. In other words, I missed seeing folks like El Mongol, the Professional, Ray Gunkel, Paul DeMarco, the Vachons, Bill Dromo, Dick Steinborn, Nick Bockwinkel, the original Assassins, and a host of others, most of whom I have only read about. I didn’t get to see Lou Thesz in his final run as the NWA World Heavyweight Champion. I didn’t get to see Dory Funk, Jr., or Gene Kiniski during their runs at the top. I never heard Ed Capral call a match in Georgia. I wasn’t conscious to the fact there was a promotional wrestling war going on inside my own state. Still, I consider myself fortunate to have seen almost a full decade of the remainder of local wrestling in Georgia. I was lucky enough to hear Gordon Solie and Freddy Miller telling me just how important the matches were, as well as the ailing Paul Jones making an occasional appearance in matters of urgency and seriousness. Mr. Wrestling #2, Dusty Rhodes, the Masked Superstar, Stan Hansen, Tommy Rich, Tony Atlas, a second incarnation of the Assassins, the Minnesota Wrecking Crew, Austin Idol, Ric Flair, the Freebirds were people I was able to see and attach myself to as a fan. Every Saturday night, I begged and pleaded to watch wrestling. My father would let me, but only to shut me up, then ridicule me while I cheered and jeered along with the action. My mother would be watching along with me, and often we would find ourselves headlocking one another on the floor in front of the tube. Eventually, my father came up with the idea of providing me with my own television set. By 1983, I noticed a change in what I was seeing, but still had no idea of the inner workings of the business. I had no idea GCW was on the brink of bankruptcy, or that Jim Barnett had been let go, or even that Jack and Jerry Brisco or Ole Anderson owned part of the company. I had no idea how it worked. In addition, I was on the edge of sixteen years old, and girls began to occupy some of my time, and as I turned sixteen, I got myself a job to make sure I could occupy more of my time with girls. Of course, this meant missing World Championship Wrestling, as I was the unlucky new guy at work who always – without fail – had to work on Saturday afternoons and evenings. How excited I was when the boss gave me a Saturday off. I was going to do nothing but catch up on wrestling so I could get into it again. I had missed it. I was going to see it. Nothing was going to get between me and my television set. Hang a Do Not Disturb sign on my bedroom door. At 6:05 pm ET that evening, I saw Freddy Miller introduce Vincent Kennedy McMahon. I forgot about wrestling for the next sixteen years. And even then it was only studying the history, as the current product wasn’t appealing. |
| Copyright © Georgia Wrestling History, Inc.
All rights reserved. |
 |
| WRITERS |