The excitement fueled by the wars between these two different groups was made even more interesting because the Omni had just been opened for business, and it could hold many more people than the Atlanta City Auditorium where the regular cards had always been held downtown.  Now that the Omni was available for use, both groups ran cards there as often as possible since it could bring them both much more money than anywhere else they presented shows.

One of the Atlanta office's first coup was bringing in Bill Watts, to book shows for them.  He would eventually become the top heel in the area during his stay.  They also managed to convince Tim Woods to return to Atlanta as Mr. Wrestling.  He had been a long time favorite with the local fans, and since he had last worked in Atlanta, he had been unmasked in Graham's Florida territory.  However, no one in Atlanta knew of this, since they had no access to the Florida TV program.  The only problem with using Woods was that he was not consistently able to work the Friday night cards for Atlanta, as he was still a top draw for Graham's Florida group.  Thus, Jones had a difficult time being able to keep up with  Gunkel's cards. 

Then someone developed the idea to create another Mr. Wrestling.  This turned out to be a stroke of genius on the part of the Jones office.  The original Mr. Wrestling, Tim Woods, had captured the imagination and hearts of the local fans over the years, and had become a major draw for Jones over the previous years.  However, because he was a top draw in the Florida group, also, Graham couldn't afford to be overly generous with sharing him on weekends, which were the most crucial nights for a big crowd.

Thus, Mr. Wrestling II entered the picture.  This one was different, though, in that he did wear all white, but his mask featured black around the front, whereas Woods' mask was solid white.  In a matter of a year, the All-South group couldn't keep up with Jones' group because Mr. Wrestling and Mr. Wrestling II became a huge draw as both singles and tag team partners. 

But the big money started pouring in when Jerry Jarrett, who had come in to do some booking for them, decided to split the two into a feud that based itself around II being jealous that Woods was getting all the shots at Jack Brisco for the NWA World Heavyweight championship.  What angered him even more was that the stipulation for Woods to get a shot at the title, was that he would have to remove his mask, which he did, and II wasn't at all pleased about that. 

This even caused the fans to split themselves down the middle as well.  Whenever the two faced each other, the crowd would generally be about half and half as far as which Mr. Wrestling they favored.  Another side note here is that II even suggested that he be called Mr. Wrestling for awhile, as he felt he was the better of the two.

Eventually, though, it was decided that II was a bigger draw by being cheered by all fans, and they did the "bury the hatchet" angle, with II driving an axe into some lumber on the set of "Georgia Championship Wrestling, while Woods and Solie watched.

II also teamed with Bob Orton, Jr. throughout the years they had to be competitive with the All-South group.  They even had a run as Georgia Tag Team Champions, and II also found himself feuding with Buddy Colt toward the end of the race.

1974 was a pivotal period, and by the end of the year, All-South closed its doors, allowing Paul Jones and Jim Barnett, who joined up that year, to become the only major wrestling group in the area, and eventually become one of the most talked about territories in the country.

That year saw many top stars in the sport either spend time or visit the local arenas.  Including the wrestlers already mentioned, fans could see the likes of Jerry Lawler, the Fullers, the Garvins, Bob Armstrong, Bobby Shane, Rufus R. Jones, Roberto Soto, Bobby Duncum, Porkchop Cash, Sputnik Monroe, Gorgeous George, Jr., Stan Vachon. Louie Tillet, Tojo Yamamoto, Ali Vaziri, Jackie Fargo, Mike Graham, the Bounty Hunters, Kevin Sullivan, Don Greene, Eddie Marlin, Tommy Gilbert, Roger Kirby, Jimmy Golden, Rocky Johnson, and Steve Keirn.

Some of the managers that made their way through the territory were Jimmy Garvin, Gary Hart, Bearcat Wright, and Jim Kent.

Toward the end of the year, as All-South was nearing its demise, the Assassins returned, as did Rock Hunter, just to name a few.

And over the next few years, Georgia Championship Wrestling became the first area to be visible to more homes in the world than any other wrestling group.  Ted Turner, a true visionary, managed to get WTCG linked up as the first independent television station to be seen via satellite, and began reaching viewers as far away as Alaska and Canada.  The first day the station could be seen was December 17, 1976, two years after the fall of All-South, and Georgia Championship Wrestling would never be the same.

NEXT MONTH:

I will begin documenting on the careers of people who worked in Georgia over the years between the All-South incident and Black Saturday.  I will attempt to cover as many wrestlers and managers as possible, one each month, so feel free to email me and let me know if there is anyone in particular whom you would like to read about.