- Fred Avery, Jr.

Welcome to my first article for Kayfabe Memories.  Each month I will tell you about some of the greatest feuds this sport has ever seen and the wrestlers, referees, and managers involved.  Growing up in Georgia during the heyday of GCW and later working with some of the talent involved I hope to share with you some knowledge and insight into a great territory.    

The sheer number of workers that came through the area in the late 60s through the mid 80s is a who’s who of professional wrestling.  The preceding writers’ coverage of the Freebirds, Mr. Wrestling #1&2, The Assassins, Gordon Solie and other stories were an excellent account but just the tip of the mountain.     

My first live match was at the Macon Coliseum in Macon Ga. It was the summer of 1972 and Georgia was full of great talent.    During this time Fred Ward was promoting the town every Tuesday night.  He had a Macon heavyweight champion and Macon tag team champion. My father took me to see the matches and man was I excited.  The main event was Bob Armstrong and Argentina Apollo vs. The Assassins for the Macon Tag team title.  Now at this time Bob Armstrong and Argentina Apollo were my two favorite wrestlers.  

Bob Armstrong is an ex-Marine, turned firefighter, turned pro wrestler. His arms were huge and he was as fast as a hiccup. Bob, a main stay with GCW, was known as the “wrestling fire fighter from Marietta Ga.”.  He feuded with all the top heels in the area and held the Georgia title, tag team title, and local titles.  Bob never turned heel or wrestled as The Bullet, his masked persona, during his stay in Georgia like he did in other areas.  One of the biggest feuds he was involved in was with Ted DiBiase.   Ted took the state by storm and was a hated heel using a loaded black glove to “break” Bob’s face and put him out of action.   Actually Bob was hurt in weight lifting accident and did have major surgical work done to repair his face and jaw.

During this time a young rookie wrestler stepped up to defend the Armstrong name.  Brad Armstrong came into the national spotlight during this time, but that’s a different story for another time. After months of rehabilitation Bob came back and gave Ted a “good old southern butt whippin”. Bob still wrestles every now and then these days but age has caught up with him.