This prompted Jones to follow the lead of many other promoters around the country, who despite also being dues-paying members of the NWA, began to revert to recognizing other champions to attempt to spike attendance.  Although the champion maintained a heavy touring schedule defending the crown, it was rare that he would be booked in some of the areas more than once or twice a year, if that often.

In 1957, Jones decided to recognize the version claimed by Edouard Carpentier, and the following year, he created his own version, held by famous strongman turned wrestler, Paul Anderson.  Still, his most used singles title throughout the 1950’s was the aforementioned Southern title.

The 1950’s also saw some of the local regulars continue to stay near the top of cards, but also a lot of new faces.  Some of the most utilized personnel would be the likes of Don McIntyre and his brother Bill (better known as “Red”), Freddie Blassie, Art Nelson, Ray Gunkel, Jerry Graham, Nick Carter, Mike Paidousis, Jack Steele, Babe Zaharias, Tarzan White, Eddie Gossett / Graham, Chief Big Heart, Jack Dillon, Al Massey, Tex Riley, Bob Shipp, Kurt Von Brawner, Tokyo Joe, Jackie Nichols, Rocky Columbo, Tom Mahoney and El Toro (Bibber McCoy).

The fact that television had become a mainstay in American homes brought in a new style of wrestling, and it filtered to Atlanta as well.  It would be 1954 before local wrestling made it’s way to the airwaves, but names national television stars such as “Gorgeous” George Wagner, Argentina Rocca, Billy Red Lyons, Wild Red Berry, Johnny Valentine and Verne Gagne were booked here to help keep the fans coming to the arenas.

In 1955, Atlanta ring announcer Ed Capral took the job as the broadcaster of the televised matches on Live Atlanta Wrestling when Ray McCay stepped down.  McCay had been doing the local cards on radio before they moved to the tube.  He handled the television chores for about a year when he relinquished the position.  Capral would go on to hold the job for the next seventeen years, eventually being succeeded by Gordon Solie after a brief interim replacement of Sterling Brewer from Birmingham.

Don McIntyre became one of Jones’ business partners in the office sometime in the early part of the decade, and when Ray Gunkel came in permanently in 1958, Jones gave him part of the ownership as well.  The trio would run wrestling and make it more successful than ever going into the 1960’s.

Gunkel went on to become the top babyface of the 1960’s, and with Gunkel and McIntyre handling more of the office duties, Jones began to take a back seat, although his name would still be at the forefront in terms of management and public relations.  By March 1962, Jones decided to remove himself altogether, except for maintaining ownership.  During his retirement, McIntyre and Gunkel kept things moving right along, and the business never dropped below a respectable level in terms of attendance.

However, when McIntyre realized he, too, was ready for retirement, he sold his share to Buddy Fuller, which was not a move that made Gunkel happy.  When Fuller came in, he and Gunkel formed a tag team that lasted for many years on and off, and were quite popular together, but Gunkel is reported to have always been watching Fuller out of the corner of his eye when it came to the business decisions.  As a matter of fact, word is that by the time Ray died, he and Fuller were not even on speaking terms, despite the appearance of being best of friends as partners when in public.

After McIntyre sold to Fuller in May 1964, Jones decided to return a couple of months later.  Les Wolfe promoted the shows until his return in July.  He would once again be the top man in the promotion, even as if only a figurehead, until the 1984 buyout by Vincent Kennedy McMahon’s World Wrestling Federation.

The 1960’s saw Gunkel and Fuller top most of the cards, but they were joined by Chief Little Eagle, Bill Dromo, Mario Galento, Louie Tillet, the Torres Brothers (Alberto, Enrique and Ramon), El Mongol, Joe Scarpa, the Assassins, Dick Steinborn, the Vachon Brothers (Mad Dog, Butcher and Stan), Greg Peterson, the Professional, Tim Geohagen, Freddie Blassie, Tarzan Tyler, Lenny Montana, Paul DeMarco, Sputnik Monroe, Mr. Wrestling, Silento Rodriguez, Johnny Walker, Oki Shikina, Bob Armstrong, Derrell Cochran, Dale Lewis, Eddie Graham, the Mysterious Medics, the Infernos, the Von Brauners, and the team of Lars and Gene Anderson.

Chief Little Eagle booked during the earlier part of the decade with Gunkel, followed by Fuller and Gunkel in the middle.  By the end of the decade, Leo Garibaldi took over the booking chores, and would be succeeded by Tom Renesto leading into the 1970’s.

During the 1960’s, a new singles title was born, and it would last about eighteen years.  It would be known as the Georgia Heavyweight Title, and its first champion was Sputnik Monroe.  Others of note to wear the belt during the remainder of the decade were Mario Galento, Buddy Fuller, El Mongol, Mr. Wrestling, Johnny Valentine, the Professional and Joe Scarpa.

The NWA World Heavyweight Title also made a return in 1963, after being absent since 1957.  As mentioned earlier, Jones brought in various titles to fill the void in the late 1950’s, and continued to do so in the early 1960’s.  He allowed Dick the Bruiser to bring in his title, as well as Freddie Blassie’s WWA title.  In 1963, NWA Champion Lou Thesz came in for matches to unify the belt that Blassie had lost to Tarzan Tyler, and that was the end of not seeing the NWA champion come in with regularity.

The 1970’s brought huge changes in Georgia, with Jones still figuring into the mix, but taking more of a backseat role.  His name was still the one thrown around in public as the top man, but he had pretty much given all the responsibility to others that owned shares of the Atlanta office.

The television program changed names in August 1971 to Georgia Championship Wrestling.  After having been on Channel 11 since 1955, Ray Gunkel made the decision to change stations in an overnight move in December.  Fans who had been accustomed to tuning into the old station found out on Christmas Day that it had moved to a fledgling independent station known as WTCG, which was owned by an equally fledgling young businessman by the name of Ted Turner.

Jones had grown tired of his wrestling program being shifted around to different time slots with very little notice to advise local fans.  Since the show was still aired live, fans never knew exactly when to show up to fill the studio, much less what time they could watch from home.  Jones and Gunkel decided to shop around, and when Turner approached them, Gunkel made a deal.  Turner promised Gunkel a permanent slot every Saturday evening at 6:00 on his station, which is where Atlanta fans would find wrestling for nearly thirty years from that point.

Turner made Georgia Championship Wrestling the anchor of his station, which ultimately became the most watched television program on cable.  During the 1970’s Turner, of course, took his visionary attitude to a level that no one else thought logical, yet he became known as a media mogul, rather than someone who banked off his father’s advertising company.

Jones’ wrestling office seemed to be on the verge of building it’s audience back after a couple years of low figures at the gate, when suddenly Gunkel died following a match in Savannah in August 1972.  Garibaldi had booked some incredible wrestling for a few years, but the hard-to-find televised program made it difficult to maintain fans that could follow the storylines.  Renesto had done a good job of building it back up, partly because he was equally as good as Garibaldi with the book, but also because of the new regular time slot on WTCG.

When Gunkel died, the office went through a shift in power.  Gunkel owned a large percentage of the office, but Fuller also had a firm grasp.  Jones still maintained his shares, too, but Ray’s share fell to his widow, Ann.  With the management in disarray for a few weeks, Ann got wind that the Fullers, Eddie Graham and Jerry Jarrett were looking to take over Atlanta.  They wanted to buy out her share.

However, Ann being the strong businesswoman she was, she made her own moves toward the future without their knowledge.  She made calls to old friends, made some connections with new ones, and ultimately made the announcement to the wrestlers in the Atlanta office that she was starting her own company.  It would be called the All-South Wrestling Alliance, and all but two wrestlers who were working regularly for Jones went to work with her in November 1972.

This left Jones and Fuller scrambling to piece together a promotion that had been on a comeback.  They replaced the departed TV announcer Ed Capral with Sterling Brewer, who had been working the telecasts in Birmingham.  Brewer lasted only a few weeks when Eddie Graham helped convince Gordon Solie begin doing the chores in Atlanta that he had been doing for years with Graham’s Tampa office.  Solie would be the on-air personality for Jones until July 1984.

It took most of 1973 to get Jones’ office back on track, but by the end of the year he had managed to build back a regular roster of talent and mend the fences inside the office.  Jones had brought in Jerry Jarrett to book, and was recruiting talent from all over the southeast to fill his shows and find new people to build around – the most popular and longest lasting new homegrown talent being Mr. Wrestling #2.  In 1974, Jim Barnett came in to manage the office and the office settled into a groove and a comeback.  Many of the older fans had begun attending shows run by Ann Gunkel’s ASWA because they were comfortable with the talent she had.  Many of the people Jones was bringing in to work his cards were unfamiliar, but it didn’t take long for fans to return.

The Georgia Heavyweight Title remained the top achievement of any wrestler working for the Atlanta office in the 1970’s.  Some who wore the belt during the decade were Nick Bockwinkel, Paul DeMarco, Buddy Colt, El Mongol, Mr. Wrestling #2, the Spoiler, Dick Slater, Stan Hansen, the Masked Superstar, Wahoo McDaniel, Tommy Rich, Abdullah the Butcher, Rocky Johnson, Dusty Rhodes, Ron Fuller, Bill Watts, Harley Race and Ray Gunkel.

Other names who made their way to Georgia rings for Paul during the decade were Bill Dromo, Bob Armstrong, Derrell Cochran, the Funk Brothers (Dory and Terry), the Brisco Brothers (Jack and Jerry), Andre the Giant, Luke Graham, Ole and Gene Anderson, Robert Fuller, Mr. Wrestling #1, Ox Baker, Billy Spears, Ernie Ladd, the Assassins, Bob Orton, Jr., Bobby Duncum, the Oates Brothers (Ted and Jerry), Pak Song, Ray Candy, Bob Backlund, Steve Keirn, the Executioner (Bob Remus), the Masked Superstar, Thunderbolt Patterson, Ivan Koloff, Austin Idol, Bobby Shane, the Professional, Kevin Sullivan, Tony Garea, Rick Steamboat, Tony Atlas, Jay Strongbow, the Crusher, Bob Roop, Ron Garvin, Rick Martel and Toru Tanaka.

By the end of 1974, All-South had shut its doors, and Jones’ group once again ruled the roost in Georgia.  Ted Turner’s station became known as WTBS, launched it’s programming to satellites, and eventually became one of the first cable superstations, making Georgia Championship Wrestling one of the most popular wrestling programs around the country.

By bringing in Jim Barnett to run the business, and eventually Ole Anderson to help and eventually assume the role in the next decade, Jones’ promotion had made great strides in capturing a huge audience locally, and with Turner’s impact on it’s programming, that audience was now outside the borders.

The next decade would be a time of change in the business across the board, and Georgia became part of it.  In 1980, Georgia Championship Wrestling began branching beyond its usual boundaries into Tennessee and Alabama, and ultimately began running cards in Ohio.  The following year added shows to Michigan and West Virginia, as well as parts of Pennsylvania.  Many look back at this and say Jones and Barnett were encroaching on Ed Farhat’s territory, but by the time the first Ohio show happened in Columbus, Farhat was one month away from closing his doors on the Detroit office.  In addition, Farhat helped promote the first shows there, so that should squelch the rumors in regard to Ohio and Michigan.  This growth led to the renaming of the television program in 1982 to World Championship Wrestling, although the office still was doing business as GCW.

The Georgia Heavyweight Title was put aside for the more aptly named crown of National Heavyweight Championship in 1980.  Some of the people to claim the title in the 1980’s were Jack Brisco, the Masked Superstar, Tommy Rich, Paul Orndorff, Larry Zbyszko, the Spoiler, Ted DiBiase, Buzz and Brett Sawyer, Ron Bass and Steve Olsonoski.

Others who worked for GCW in the final years were Ole Anderson, Dick Slater, Ric Flair, Stan Hansen, Les Thornton, the Freebirds, Bob and Brad Armstrong, Ken Patera, Dusty Rhodes, Harley Race, Mr. Wrestling #2, Ivan Koloff, Johnny Rich, the Super Destroyer, the Mongolian Stomper, Tommy Rogers, Ernie Ladd, Kevin Sullivan, Austin Idol, Jack and Jerry Brisco, Tony Atlas, Bruiser Brody, Pez Whatley, Paul Ellering, Ray Stevens, the Road Warriors, the Great Kabuki, Nikolai Volkoff, the Samoans, Steve Keirn, Blackjack Mulligan, Tully Blanchard, Killer Brooks, the Iron Sheik, Jake Roberts, Roddy Piper, Tito Santana, Terry Taylor and Don Muraco.

Because the group was now running regular shows in other parts of the country, Georgia fans had very little wrestling to look forward to, aside from the lower tier talent.  So in the summer of 1983, Ole Anderson and Jerry Jarrett started up a co-promotion based in Chattanooga to mix the two offices in an effort to hit eastern Tennessee and Georgia with higher level talent.  This short lived promotion, called GCW Superstars, was an attempt to build up local crowds again who had been left feeling unimportant to those running Georgia Championship Wrestling.  It didn’t work as well as planned, so the plug was pulled after about three months.

Prior to the start of GCW Superstars, Jim Barnett sold his shares to Ole Anderson and left the company.  Barnett wanted out because there had been a dispute between himself and the Brisco brothers, Jack and Jerry, who also owned stock in Georgia Championship Wrestling.  Jack and Jerry had been trying to convince the other owners to take their northern expansion a step further by spreading out and trying to run in all the major cities around the country.  Barnett was hesitant to do so because he was loyal to the gentlemen’s agreement within the NWA not to step into areas already run by another NWA promoter.

By 1984, local audiences had virtually stopped coming to the few local shows promoted, since they rarely got to see the same talent that received the pushes on television.  To an extent, they felt cheated out of something they helped build.  Between that and a chance telephone call to the WWF offices, Georgia Championship Wrestling’s days were significantly coming to an end.

Jack Brisco called to ask how their friend Roddy Piper was doing after he suffered an injury in a WWF match.  Vince McMahon told Brisco he wanted to meet with them to discuss their shares in the Atlanta office.  After a meeting in a New York airport, the Brisco brothers came back to Atlanta and convinced a few other small percentage owners to sell their shares.  This left Ole Anderson and Paul Jones on the minority end of ownership, as McMahon now owned 51% of the stock.  On July 7, 1984, McMahon, along with Gorilla Monsoon, showed up at the WTBS studios and informed everyone prior to taping that Atlanta was now a WWF town.  One week later, there was no more Georgia Championship Wrestling, and Paul Jones’ involvement in pro wrestling in Atlanta came to a bitter end.

Jones had always managed to work through adversity, and always seemed to have good people working for him.  This time was no different, but times were, and although the management knew how to run a wrestling promotion, few had the foresight to go to the next level that McMahon had already begun to put in place.  In July 1984, Jones’ tenure as promoter in Atlanta came to a shocking end, but his time at the helm of the business in Georgia cannot be ignored.

He recently was named as the first inductee to the Georgia Wrestling History Hall of Fame, an honor befitting of the man.  Wrestling had been inconsistent prior to his term.  He brought stability, and gave the fans what they wanted to see for parts of five decades.  

NEXT MONTH: 

My next column will take a look at many unsung legends who made Georgia wrestling so successful.  If you haven’t been paying attention to Georgia Wrestling History, some of these names may surprise you...