I can't tell you often this made my entire week! As a Young man growing up, regardless of how bad my week was, Superstation TBS and Georgia Championship Wrestling was it for me. It solidified my Fandom in professional rasslin.
And-Mr. Wrestling 2 was completely right! The only time that "The Assassin" could get anything done, was when he had his Minion, the other Assassin, there to cover for him! The Assassin? Please! Give me a break!!!
I believe, as much as I miss the NWA on TBS, Georgia Championship Wrestling and Continental Championship Wrestling were the very best wrestling shows ever. Thanks for sharing!
What's funny, is the language these two are using, before the fists start flying. Sounds like a couple of Harvard graduates arguing, and this is Georgia Championship Wrestling in the '80's!
man I'm glad I grew up during this time and got to see wrestling when these guys would go out there without A rehearsed promo, and it was compelling, and believable. Especially these two, The Assassin/Flame was so cd and calculated, and Mr Wrestling 2 was A true professional I'm every sense of the word. when these guys were on tv, you paid attention. and listened to every word, they were that good
Yeah you're right it was very exciting to watch, I never forget the wrestler the Flame, he was awesome with throwing those fire balls and mess those wrestlers up with it!
@@MikePilcher-hv7jmMost definitely! He was definitely a Heel Wrestler, but he was MILES AHEAD of Ric Flair! I did a check on Ric Flair's Career Wins and Losses...and found out, that "The Nature Boy" won less than half of the matches, that he was ever involved in.
*Two of the most iconic masked professional wrestlers of all-time. Rest in peace, Gordon Solie, Mr. Wrestling 2, Jodie Hamilton/The Flame/The Masked Assassin, Tim Woodin/Mr. Wrestling, and Hercules Hernandez/The Masked Assassin 2.*
I have watched this several times ....its one of my favorite Georgia Championship Wrestling moments . Seeing a masked man get his hood pulled would always get me hopping ...
It's always nice to see these old tapes of how wrestling was in the 60s and 70s. Obviously this was before my time as I grew up in the late 80s and early 90s watching WWF, NWA, WCW and even AJPW and NJPW when I was really lucky. But there is something endearing about the smaller and older promotions like GCW and AWA and Jim Crockett Promotions
Boy, two wrestlers with brains. You are not going to hear wrestlers talk like this these days. Ole used to sound like this, Arn absolutely got his interview style from guys like this. Awesome!!
Mine too. I'm from Chattanooga and tuned in every single week to NWA/Georgia Championship Wrestling! I grew up on wrestlers like Tommy Wildfire Rich, Dusty Rhodes, Mr. Wrestling 2, The Superstar, Buzz Sawyer, etc.
😂 me too. Wrasslin I and wrasslin II were hella funny. I saw them in the old municipal auditorium in Atlanta. I bugged my dad until he finally took me as a birthday present
just the simple realistic name Assasins and that mask.. is scary and lets you know they a bad guy... no need for the BS of today with most unrealistic lame names ever...
Something as simple as fighting over a mask. Better than any angle since 2001 . I miss Georgia Chanpionship Wrestling,Mid Atlantic Wrestling, the Minnesota Wrecking Crew, Freebirds, Junkyard Dog, and Gordon Solie!
Before he unmasked himself in 1972 I think it was Tom Renesto usually did most of the talking for the assassins if I remember correctly but I'm getting old and that was a long time ago...
I can't believe after all these years, I marked out as I watched this. Love it. Ain't no shame! I remember seeing II in person when Mid-South came to the Myriad Arena (now the Cox Convention Center) in Oklahoma City back around 1984. I hollered down from my seat and he stood still so I could take a pic.
I can remember watching this when it first aired. Mr. Wrestling 2 was my favorite wrestler when I was a kid. Man I hated the Assassins but then again, I was supposed to.
Wrestling will never be this great again. Mid-Atlantic and Georgia Champion Ship were the greatest of all time. The wrestlers there knew how to make it qall believeable.
I love the NWA back then . You had state champs for the U.S TITLE. USA champ went for the world title. Not just some company title. Like the wwe is today. The tv champ meant something. 6 man tag. You also had state tag team and us tag teams.
I remember when Tim Woods (Mr Wrestling 1) took off his mask & wanted Mr Wrestling 2 to do the same. They ended up in a mask vs hair match which Wrestling 2 won. He shaved Tim Woods head.
Woods also took off his mask on Mid-Atlantic during his feud with Jimmy Snuka and Buddy Rogers. He also walked around with a baseball bat threatening to put them both out of wrestling.
You're welcome, My late father always enjoyed El Mongol. As for me, I knew a lot of wrestlers personally especially when we had WCW. But one wrestling legend from back during those days that I met was Robert Fuller. I showed my old programs, one with him on the cover and he couldn't believe it.:) ;
OMG.... I remember watching this #1 and #2 were badass dudes man... I'll never forget my grand daddy taking me to the Coliseum in Macon Ga to watch that...Ric Flair, Tommy Rich, Tony Atlas, Rocky Johnson....Man oh man, I miss those times.. And let's not forget, schoolhouse rock and Buggs Bunny on Saturday morning...Ernie Ladd "The Big Cat"...JYD , Bob Armstrong...Abdullah the Butcher, Dusty Rhodes....I can go on and on ....
Damn straight! Watched this stuff all the time back in high school. A friend and I always wondered what Wrestling II's driver's license picture looked like...
I forgot the exact date BUT it was the late 70s and the greatest match EVER!! Wrestling #1 vs #2 hair vs mask!...Tim Woods made the mistake of going for a backdrop and met #2s kneelift...10 minutes later he knelt down in the middle of the ring while the barber went to work...that was awesome..from the Omni on a saturday night!
I didn't know he had his restaurant that long. I had thought he had given it up years before. My great grand mother was crazy about El Mongol. Thanks for taking the time to help me remember back. We are talking 40 years ago here. I showed this video to my sister the other day and she said she still loved MW2. Then I showed her the video with him unmasked years later and she was stunned. She has a picture of her and him when she was about 15. She never knew who he really was and was surprised.
Gordon Solie made everything that was scripted seem so real you could not help but believe in this Wrestling from Atlanta.The excitement that was felt every week when those stars would appear on screen and you saw World Championship Wrestling,s music was something that The WWWF,WWF or WWE was never able to achieve,Even when McMahon tried to weezel in on there show by buying all the air time The Fans Spoke up and within two weeks NWA And WCW was back with Gordon Solie..
When Barry Windham went heel and joined The Four Horsemen, The Midnight Rider stormed into the dressing room to confront him. As they were arguing, Rider untied his mask. They all jumped him and took his mask off. Thankfully, the faces burst in and got Rider out. You only saw the top of his head, but it looked familiar, "if yew weel."
My favorite days of wrestling ! Don't know the year of this my guess would be late 70's very early 80's I was young, pushing 20 years old. What is called wrestling today is crap compared to the old school. When is the last time you've heard of a knee lift,head lock, full nelson, boston crab? Or maybe because I don't watch the crap today, more show for rating than real wrestling. Thanks for the video, good ole memories !
In 1979, a new pro wrestling publication hit newsstands and magazine racks across the nation. It was Pro Wresting Illustrated. When the first issue went to press, Mr. Wrestling #2 was ranked at #5 in the Most Popular Wrestler category.
I remember when Hamilton and Walker were both heels, in Dothan, AL. Both were part of "The Stud Stable" (not at the same time) and went after "Bullet" Bob Armstrong. Armstrong wore a mask and called himself "The Bullet". He unmasked both men himself. I miss the days of aggressive wrestling.
I remember salivating at looking forward to being in front of the TV Saturday evening at 5:05 on WTBS (I lived in the Central time zone, while GCW was advertised as being telecast at 6:05). My mother would always want to go shopping ( she didn't drive) at 3:00-3:30, where we wouldn't get back until the last match would be concluding. Very frustrating. Missed a lot of good matches. Think she did it out of spite, she didn't like wrestling.
I agree! In my opinion, the ONLY positive things coming from TODAY'S WWE are the DVDs featuring the "old school" matches and/or interviews! Heck, in my opinion, even TNA can't "repair" the "damage" done by today's WWE!
This was one of the greatest tv angles of all time in wrestling. I bore witness to it. Wrestling 2, Assassin 1, and Masked Superstar had the greatest masked man rivalries. Pure wrestling gold. GCW was the crown jewel of wrestling in the early 80s. Nothing else was close. With TBS to push it to all of North America, it could have lasted 30 years more. Sad that greed and adherence to an obsolete system allowed sup-par usurpers to take the reins and become something that GCW/WCW could have been. Yes, im talking about you - WWF/WWE.
Not only is this good wrestling, it's also great entertainment! Both Mr.Wrestling 2 AND The Assassin were great on the mic! Not only that, I really didn't expect the blow up that followed because it wasn't telegraphed at the beginning! They made me want to see the match between these two but of course, I can't! That's NOT how they're doing it today!
Were matches in these days choreographed or did they call spots in the ring like they do today? I'd imagine in the smaller more intimate venues they had back then it would've been harder to do the latter
It was "Sports Entertainment" back then too. The difference is the audience SUSPECTED that it was but the wrestlers made it look more realistic so the audience didn't know for sure; that way, they could get into the drama! WWE Sports Entertainment treats the whole thing like a JOKE so there IS NO DRAMA or SUSPENSE! Also, the WWE just can't figure out that the "Face" of the company outside the arena, doesn't necessarily have to be the World Champion. Just look at Cena at the Espy's, he KILLED IT! He was funny and entertaining but he had no belt around his waist! Unlike the great promoters, Vince Jr. doesn't listen to the crowd. If this had been the Old Days, Roman Reigns would have turned "heel" a long time ago!
+Pulsar Stargrave what you said is completely right, but I'm going to defend Vince just a little bit. I do agree that WWE doesn't take wrestling as a form of entertainment as seriously anymore and has a huge problem connecting with the fans. But I feel like he was kind of being backed into a corner because as wrestling started to get really big in the 80s it also drew more detractors saying that it was a low form of entertainment into it as well. Plus the growing generation of kids were starting to get less imaginative and less likely to enjoy themselves in a suspension of disbelief (as a kid in that generation I can concur). So I feel like when he really held on strongly to kayfabe he was worried that his product wouldn't become a world wide industry because people wouldn't take it seriously, so he started to transform it into some that didn't take itself seriously so hopefully he could show that his product was self aware so it would look better to a casual audience.
+Pulsar Stargrave not saying that was the right decision, but I see where and why he made those decisions. The downside is that the product isn't high quality and he's seeing that in lost ratings. But hindsight is 20/20
I don't know if I mentioned it here but Vince's sole motivation for dropping Kayfabe was he didn't want to follow the rules of the New York State Athletic Commission. ("It's not a REAL competition!") Also, today some people STILL consider it "lowbrow" entertainment. But fans don't care about what they think. Snob: "Is it real or is it fake?" Fan: "It's real fake!" As long as the in-ring work was good, fans didn't care.Sure, Vince Sr. had colorful guys like The Grand Wizard but they were treated seriously. I started to lose interest in Vince Jr.'s WWE style of wrestling when they started doing food fights, Uncle Elmer's marriage, wrestlers singing their own entrance themes and things like that.
Had wrestling shows stayed this way without over-acting soap operas and stupid characters that have plagued wrestling for the past 20 years, I would have still been a fan. This reminds me of my childhood when I used to watch: Mil Mascaras, Cowboy Tom Prichard, Al Madril, Chavo Guerrero; etc. I didn't care for the rock, stone cold austin and all the newer garbage.
Back in the mid-sixties for several months, the Assassins would do battle royal with the Kentuckians, Big Tiny Smith and his partner Luke Brown. I believe. The Kentuckians always wanted to take the Assassins' masks off. Fortunately for me my dad knew the promoters here in the OKC area, Jack and Jimmy Hull, as well as the matchmaker, Leroy McGuirk. Got a lot of wrestling pictures that way, of which I still have. My all time favorite is of the Great Bolo, aka Al Lovelock is a specialized pose with his mask on. Larry N. Boyington, aka Larry Neal, former curator of the Wax Museum on the big 1520 KOMA
God I love this. i was a fan of all 4 of them. i seen Assassin 1 fight Ox baker in Atlanta once and could not talk for a week after screaming all night. I was only around 12 or so at the time and was setting in the front row. Assassin 1, Don Grenesto, had Ox baker against the rope and was hitting him. I screamed hit him again. He looked at me and smiled and said you want me to hit him again. I screamed yes and he knock fire from Ox bakers ass.
Haha 😂was that in the old municipal auditorium? My dad took me there when I was about 12. He didn’t want to but I bugged him until he agreed I think it was my birthday present haha 😆
@litehouse6 No. After Renesto left, Hercules Hernandez came along, then it was longtime journeyman Roger Smith. Smith would later go to Memphis as Dirty Rhodes, distant cousin of Dusty Rhodes.
There is nothing like watching wrestling on a Saturday night with Gordon Solie! Brings back alot of memories!
I remember those days..
I need a DDT
YES MYSELF AND MY BUDDIES HERE IN Arkansas, we would watch Georgia championship wrestling every weekend ,we always cheer for the heel's lol@@nathueil1
I can't tell you often this made my entire week! As a Young man growing up, regardless of how bad my week was, Superstation TBS and Georgia Championship Wrestling was it for me. It solidified my Fandom in professional rasslin.
And-Mr. Wrestling 2 was completely right! The only time that "The Assassin" could get anything done, was when he had his Minion, the other Assassin, there to cover for him!
The Assassin?
Please!
Give me a break!!!
I believe, as much as I miss the NWA on TBS, Georgia Championship Wrestling and Continental Championship Wrestling were the very best wrestling shows ever. Thanks for sharing!
I remember seeing this live and I was blown away. I love how it slowly escalated and just kept building. This was such a masterpiece.
I remember this as a kid too! I saw this episode on a Saturday with my family. Fun times. Mr. Wrestling was exciting to watch!
Great champs could work the mic 🎤 had the crowd in a frenzy
@@derricklivingston5596
I loved Mr. Wrestling 2. One of my fav. old school wrestlers.
Amen...loved him too
RIP with Gordon and Ole. Bet they’re all sharing good laughs with drinks upstairs
I smiled and teared up at the same time as my Grandmother and I as a kid had a 6pm date every Saturday evening to watch these 2 teams.
I think many genuine family memories were made in front of GA wrestling.
My friends and myself made sure we were home by 6:05pm every Saturday. By far the best 2 hrs on TBS.
*Same here. I used to LOVE watching this programming with my grandfather and my grandmother.*
Center Stage Theatre
Luuuucky :). Grandma knew what was good.
The Masked Assassin had a menacing promo style. He made you believe he could kick anyone's ass at any time. Loved Mr. Wrestling II Mr. Johnny Walker.
LOVE the clip-on tie that Mr. Wrestling 2 is sporting! Georgia Championship Wrestling was the highlight of my Saturday evenings as a young boy.
What's funny, is the language these two are using, before the fists start flying. Sounds like a couple of Harvard graduates arguing, and this is Georgia Championship Wrestling in the '80's!
too too funny...great point tho.!
Exactly.
Two very highly intelligent men.
😴💤💤💤💤
listen to Jake Roberts.
Now this is an interview! The talent on the mic that both of these guys display can't be understated. thanks for posting!
man I'm glad I grew up during this time and got to see wrestling when these guys would go out there without A rehearsed promo, and it was compelling, and believable. Especially these two, The Assassin/Flame was so cd and calculated, and Mr Wrestling 2 was A true professional I'm every sense of the word. when these guys were on tv, you paid attention. and listened to every word, they were that good
AMEN.
Yeah you're right it was very exciting to watch, I never forget the wrestler the Flame, he was awesome with throwing those fire balls and mess those wrestlers up with it!
Gordon was a great commentator!!
The moment I heard Assassain Jody Hamilton had died I had to come see this again. Rest in peace, Jody
Johnny Walker & Jody Hamilton are great here. That's why they're respected.
RIP Jody Hamilton. One of the best ever
Oh wow didn't know he passed away RIP
Jody was way better than Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan combined and for a lot longer period of time. Absolute master of the mind games.
@@MikePilcher-hv7jmMost definitely! He was definitely a Heel Wrestler, but he was MILES AHEAD of Ric Flair!
I did a check on Ric Flair's Career Wins and Losses...and found out, that "The Nature Boy" won less than half of the matches, that he was ever involved in.
*Two of the most iconic masked professional wrestlers of all-time. Rest in peace, Gordon Solie, Mr. Wrestling 2, Jodie Hamilton/The Flame/The Masked Assassin, Tim Woodin/Mr. Wrestling, and Hercules Hernandez/The Masked Assassin 2.*
Tom Renasto was also Assassin 2. How many different Assassin 2's were there?
*There were, at least, three of them,* @@Rusty3659*. Probably more than that.*
the art of a wrestling heel done brilliantly by the assassin
I have watched this several times ....its one of my favorite Georgia Championship Wrestling moments . Seeing a masked man get his hood pulled would always get me hopping ...
It's always nice to see these old tapes of how wrestling was in the 60s and 70s. Obviously this was before my time as I grew up in the late 80s and early 90s watching WWF, NWA, WCW and even AJPW and NJPW when I was really lucky. But there is something endearing about the smaller and older promotions like GCW and AWA and Jim Crockett Promotions
Boy, two wrestlers with brains. You are not going to hear wrestlers talk like this these days. Ole used to sound like this, Arn absolutely got his interview style from guys like this. Awesome!!
mr wrestling 2 was my favorite wrestler from back in the day..
Mine too. I'm from Chattanooga and tuned in every single week to NWA/Georgia Championship Wrestling! I grew up on wrestlers like Tommy Wildfire Rich, Dusty Rhodes, Mr. Wrestling 2, The Superstar, Buzz Sawyer, etc.
😂 me too. Wrasslin I and wrasslin II were hella funny. I saw them in the old municipal auditorium in Atlanta. I bugged my dad until he finally took me as a birthday present
Gordon Solie is without a doubt the best commentator ever.
The GOAT
Amen.
Awesome angle! Love the clip on tie that II was wearing, and not to mention the shirt by I. How I wish wrestling were still this way.
There are no wrestlers today who can get in front of a mic and speak as good as these two.
RIP Mr Wrestling I.
Chris Jericho can, but the WWE would not let him.
@@user-jq2iz9zn4p lol
this is when wrestling was respectable. now it is only a spectacle.
james ryanyeah a spectacle like a bicycle with a flat tire.
This promo i pretty much believe, the stuff today is for 6 year olds
just the simple realistic name Assasins and that mask.. is scary and lets you know they a bad guy... no need for the BS of today with most unrealistic lame names ever...
Something as simple as fighting over a mask. Better than any angle since 2001 . I miss Georgia Chanpionship Wrestling,Mid Atlantic Wrestling, the Minnesota Wrecking Crew, Freebirds, Junkyard Dog, and Gordon Solie!
always loved the fact that these guys always wore suits in their interviews , just for thought, the assassin is nick patricks father
Two unmaskings on the same Saturday afternoon, history was made!
This was an awesome exchange between 2 and the assassin.
RIP Mr. Hamilton (The Assassin). He passed away today, joining Mr. Wrestling II in Heaven.
This is Sooo Classic. Especially the announcer. Remember watching this when I was 7 years old.
The build up between these 2 is incredible.
I've had a healty respect for Jody Hamilton (Assassin 1) over the years. I 'like' MW2 but absolutely enjoy listening to the Assassin
you like Modern Warfare 2? Me too!
Before he unmasked himself in 1972 I think it was Tom Renesto usually did most of the talking for the assassins if I remember correctly but I'm getting old and that was a long time ago...
I can't believe after all these years, I marked out as I watched this. Love it. Ain't no shame!
I remember seeing II in person when Mid-South came to the Myriad Arena (now the Cox Convention Center) in Oklahoma City back around 1984. I hollered down from my seat and he stood still so I could take a pic.
Loved wrestling I & II I remember the feud they had to see who was the best!What great times those where in the 60's and 70's
I remember the 1 and 2 feud it was great
This is Wrestling interview Gold! Something they were VERY good at back then.
Wow this brings back the memories. I remember watching this segment as a kid.
I can remember watching this when it first aired. Mr. Wrestling 2 was my favorite wrestler when I was a kid. Man I hated the Assassins but then again, I was supposed to.
dog-gone-it this is the good old days of the legendary NWA Pro-Wrestling at it's best!
Mr .Wrestling 2 was always a first class gentleman in and out of the ring. He will be missed
Wrestling will never be this great again. Mid-Atlantic and Georgia Champion Ship were the greatest of all time. The wrestlers there knew how to make it qall believeable.
Loved the clip on tie. I haven't worn one of those since I was eight years old.
I love the NWA back then .
You had state champs for the U.S TITLE. USA champ went for the world title. Not just some company title. Like the wwe is today.
The tv champ meant something. 6 man tag.
You also had state tag team and us tag teams.
Back in the day, what appeals to me about Wrestling is it had STRUCTURE AND INTEGRITY with its TITLES!!!
I remember when Tim Woods (Mr Wrestling 1) took off his mask & wanted Mr Wrestling 2 to do the same. They ended up in a mask vs hair match which Wrestling 2 won. He shaved Tim Woods head.
Woods also took off his mask on Mid-Atlantic during his feud with Jimmy Snuka and Buddy Rogers. He also walked around with a baseball bat threatening to put them both out of wrestling.
You're welcome, My late father always enjoyed El Mongol. As for me, I knew a lot of wrestlers personally especially when we had WCW. But one wrestling legend from back during those days that I met was Robert Fuller. I showed my old programs, one with him on the cover and he couldn't believe it.:)
;
OMG.... I remember watching this #1 and #2 were badass dudes man... I'll never forget my grand daddy taking me to the Coliseum in Macon Ga to watch that...Ric Flair, Tommy Rich, Tony Atlas, Rocky Johnson....Man oh man, I miss those times.. And let's not forget, schoolhouse rock and Buggs Bunny on Saturday morning...Ernie Ladd "The Big Cat"...JYD , Bob Armstrong...Abdullah the Butcher, Dusty Rhodes....I can go on and on ....
😂remember haystack Calhoun?
@@OwenGilmoreOG OH hell yeah... crazy 😂
Loved GCW and the feud with the Assassins and Mr. Wrestling 1 & 2 in the 70's.
"An uncontrollable temper only denotes someone that has a feeble mind."
I'm going to say that to my girlfriend the next time she gets pissed at me LOL
Damn straight! Watched this stuff all the time back in high school. A friend and I always wondered what Wrestling II's driver's license picture looked like...
We miss them. They still passed away . Best channel 17 on tv
Amen
This is when wrestling meant something.
CJ Mack this is stupid and cheap
TBS was great on Saturday night. Miss those days.
This shit is golden!
Mr.Wrestling II is one of my alltime favorites
4:32 "Well let me tell you somethin' right now, pus gut." Funniest dig I've ever heard!!!
I forgot the exact date BUT it was the late 70s and the greatest match EVER!! Wrestling #1 vs #2 hair vs mask!...Tim Woods made the mistake of going for a backdrop and met #2s kneelift...10 minutes later he knelt down in the middle of the ring while the barber went to work...that was awesome..from the Omni on a saturday night!
I didn't know he had his restaurant that long. I had thought he had given it up years before. My great grand mother was crazy about El Mongol. Thanks for taking the time to help me remember back. We are talking 40 years ago here.
I showed this video to my sister the other day and she said she still loved MW2. Then I showed her the video with him unmasked years later and she was stunned. She has a picture of her and him when she was about 15. She never knew who he really was and was surprised.
When I was 16-18 and on, Mr.Wrestling 2 was my favorite Wrestler and wrestling 1
I remember this well always had Bill Dance fishing show would come on before the wrestling show came on both were great awesome
Lol and Bill Dance was always falling overboard on the boat he was in.
Gordon Solie made everything that was scripted seem so real you could not help but believe in this Wrestling from Atlanta.The excitement that was felt every week when those stars would appear on screen and you saw World Championship Wrestling,s music was something that The WWWF,WWF or WWE was never able to achieve,Even when McMahon tried to weezel in on there show by buying all the air time The Fans Spoke up and within two weeks NWA And WCW was back with Gordon Solie..
Jody Hamilton was a true psychological master of the mic as assassin number 2
Anyone ever notice how "difficult" it is to unmask a wrestler? Just adds to the excitement.
When Barry Windham went heel and joined The Four Horsemen, The Midnight Rider stormed into the dressing room to confront him. As they were arguing, Rider untied his mask. They all jumped him and took his mask off. Thankfully, the faces burst in and got Rider out. You only saw the top of his head, but it looked familiar, "if yew weel."
My favorite days of wrestling ! Don't know the year of this my guess would be late 70's very early 80's I was young, pushing 20 years old. What is called wrestling today is crap compared to the old school. When is the last time you've heard of a knee lift,head lock, full nelson, boston crab? Or maybe because I don't watch the crap today, more show for rating than real wrestling. Thanks for the video, good ole memories !
"Oh my.....Aren't we becoming emotional"
Gold
GCW had some of the best characters of all time
back in the days of unscipted promos....so much better back then....
God I miss classic TV wrestling like Georgia
In 1979, a new pro wrestling publication hit newsstands and magazine racks across the nation. It was Pro Wresting Illustrated. When the first issue went to press, Mr. Wrestling #2 was ranked at #5 in the Most Popular Wrestler category.
I watched this on tv when it aired originally.
I remember when Hamilton and Walker were both heels, in Dothan, AL. Both were part of "The Stud Stable" (not at the same time) and went after "Bullet" Bob Armstrong. Armstrong wore a mask and called himself "The Bullet". He unmasked both men himself. I miss the days of aggressive wrestling.
I remember salivating at looking forward to being in front of the TV Saturday evening at 5:05 on WTBS (I lived in the Central time zone, while GCW was advertised as being telecast at 6:05). My mother would always want to go shopping ( she didn't drive) at 3:00-3:30, where we wouldn't get back until the last match would be concluding. Very frustrating. Missed a lot of good matches. Think she did it out of spite, she didn't like wrestling.
So Long from the peach state of Georgia! Damn I miss ol Gordon Solie.
That was REALLY compelling! I loved seeing Wrestling I WITH II!
The Masked Assassin was very good on the mic. He knew how to cut a promo.
I agree! In my opinion, the ONLY positive things coming from TODAY'S WWE are the DVDs featuring the "old school" matches and/or interviews! Heck, in my opinion, even TNA can't "repair" the "damage" done by today's WWE!
I'm a big AEW watcher but I will say that almost everyone on the AEW roster needs to watch The Assassin closely. He's a master of his craft.
Mr. Wrestling 2 passed away today. RIP Johnny Walker.
and that knee lift was hell!
Gotta love the clip-on tie.
Jody Hamilton (The Assassin) is one of the GOATS when it came promos. Dude commanded the room when he talked.
This was one of the greatest tv angles of all time in wrestling. I bore witness to it. Wrestling 2, Assassin 1, and Masked Superstar had the greatest masked man rivalries. Pure wrestling gold. GCW was the crown jewel of wrestling in the early 80s. Nothing else was close. With TBS to push it to all of North America, it could have lasted 30 years more. Sad that greed and adherence to an obsolete system allowed sup-par usurpers to take the reins and become something that GCW/WCW could have been. Yes, im talking about you - WWF/WWE.
Not only is this good wrestling, it's also great entertainment! Both Mr.Wrestling 2 AND The Assassin were great on the mic! Not only that, I really didn't expect the blow up that followed because it wasn't telegraphed at the beginning! They made me want to see the match between these two but of course, I can't! That's NOT how they're doing it today!
Were matches in these days choreographed or did they call spots in the ring like they do today? I'd imagine in the smaller more intimate venues they had back then it would've been harder to do the latter
It was "Sports Entertainment" back then too. The difference is the audience SUSPECTED that it was but the wrestlers made it look more realistic so the audience didn't know for sure; that way, they could get into the drama! WWE Sports Entertainment treats the whole thing like a JOKE so there IS NO DRAMA or SUSPENSE! Also, the WWE just can't figure out that the "Face" of the company outside the arena, doesn't necessarily have to be the World Champion. Just look at Cena at the Espy's, he KILLED IT! He was funny and entertaining but he had no belt around his waist! Unlike the great promoters, Vince Jr. doesn't listen to the crowd. If this had been the Old Days, Roman Reigns would have turned "heel" a long time ago!
+Pulsar Stargrave what you said is completely right, but I'm going to defend Vince just a little bit. I do agree that WWE doesn't take wrestling as a form of entertainment as seriously anymore and has a huge problem connecting with the fans. But I feel like he was kind of being backed into a corner because as wrestling started to get really big in the 80s it also drew more detractors saying that it was a low form of entertainment into it as well. Plus the growing generation of kids were starting to get less imaginative and less likely to enjoy themselves in a suspension of disbelief (as a kid in that generation I can concur). So I feel like when he really held on strongly to kayfabe he was worried that his product wouldn't become a world wide industry because people wouldn't take it seriously, so he started to transform it into some that didn't take itself seriously so hopefully he could show that his product was self aware so it would look better to a casual audience.
+Pulsar Stargrave not saying that was the right decision, but I see where and why he made those decisions. The downside is that the product isn't high quality and he's seeing that in lost ratings. But hindsight is 20/20
I don't know if I mentioned it here but Vince's sole motivation for dropping Kayfabe was he didn't want to follow the rules of the New York State Athletic Commission. ("It's not a REAL competition!") Also, today some people STILL consider it "lowbrow" entertainment. But fans don't care about what they think. Snob: "Is it real or is it fake?" Fan: "It's real fake!" As long as the in-ring work was good, fans didn't care.Sure, Vince Sr. had colorful guys like The Grand Wizard but they were treated seriously. I started to lose interest in Vince Jr.'s WWE style of wrestling when they started doing food fights, Uncle Elmer's marriage, wrestlers singing their own entrance themes and things like that.
The Assassin speaks very eloquently, he was obviously an intelligent man, he could bring the heat too!
R.I.P. Johnny Walker...A.K.A Mr. Wrestling II.
Reliving my youth here. lol Mr Wrestling II was the greatest back then.
And that mask... white, black and crimson... The Assassin has it!
Iconic.
If only presidential debates had this kind of merit and dignity.
In a way they are, you have Trump as the heel and Biden is the face but Biden is such a weakling that the heel ends up making him look foolish 😂
Had wrestling shows stayed this way without over-acting soap operas and stupid characters that have plagued wrestling for the past 20 years, I would have still been a fan. This reminds me of my childhood when I used to watch: Mil Mascaras, Cowboy Tom Prichard, Al Madril, Chavo Guerrero; etc. I didn't care for the rock, stone cold austin and all the newer garbage.
p4horror they would rather have kids that spend money as fans.
These two guys talk at the mic better any one that I every seen in my life!!!!!!
I'd say those were the best years, for me in the GA area in particular.
This is amazing.
This is classic stuff!!!!
@EverydaySteeze Nice. My cats are named Mr. Wrestling 1 and 2. He was the first wrestler I ever saw on TV and I've been hooked ever since.
Back in the mid-sixties for several months, the Assassins would do battle royal with the Kentuckians, Big Tiny Smith and his partner Luke Brown. I believe. The Kentuckians always wanted to take the Assassins' masks off. Fortunately for me my dad knew the promoters here in the OKC area, Jack and Jimmy Hull, as well as the matchmaker, Leroy McGuirk. Got a lot of wrestling pictures that way, of which I still have. My all time favorite is of the Great Bolo, aka Al Lovelock is a specialized pose with his mask on.
Larry N. Boyington, aka Larry Neal, former curator of the Wax Museum on the big 1520 KOMA
How on earth did mild mannered Gordon Solie put up with all this madness! He was Legendary!
God I love this. i was a fan of all 4 of them. i seen Assassin 1 fight Ox baker in Atlanta once and could not talk for a week after screaming all night. I was only around 12 or so at the time and was setting in the front row. Assassin 1, Don Grenesto, had Ox baker against the rope and was hitting him. I screamed hit him again. He looked at me and smiled and said you want me to hit him again. I screamed yes and he knock fire from Ox bakers ass.
Haha 😂was that in the old municipal auditorium? My dad took me there when I was about 12. He didn’t want to but I bugged him until he agreed I think it was my birthday present haha 😆
Mr Wrestling 2 was always in that gray area of good or bad guy. He had that x-factor
03:45 Check out Gordon Solie's expression!
@litehouse6 No. After Renesto left, Hercules Hernandez came along, then it was longtime journeyman Roger Smith. Smith would later go to Memphis as Dirty Rhodes, distant cousin of Dusty Rhodes.
Wrestling Two rockin' the clip on tie
"It appears now that Wrestling II has been lacerated!"
assassin #1 has always been one mean sob and he did it for over 20 years. one hell of a heel.
looking back at all these videos imagine if they had him take the title from Dusty how that would have fueled the fans and feud.