The History Of Pro Wrestling In Augusta, Ga- By Joe “JoCo” Cowart

Hulkamania Is Born:

When first given the assignment to write an article on the History of Professional Wrestling in Augusta, Ga., I was faced immediately with the question; where in the world do I begin? Do I begin with early days of the National Wrestling Alliance and their weekly shows at the Bell Auditorium back in the 1970s? Do I attempt to go back even further? Well, after a bit of thought, the answer was obvious… The Immortal Hulk Hogan…

Why Hulk Hogan? Well, besides having been born here in Augusta (August 11th, 1953) at St. Joseph Hospital, the first wrestling event I ever attended was “Hulkamania”, held at the Augusta Civic Center on November 11th, 1989. The event was hyped as Hogan’s “Homecoming” and he would square off against the evil Bad News Brown in the Main Event that evening. Also, featured on the card that night was Dusty Rhodes, Hillbilly Jim, The Killer Bs, The Iron Sheik and Nikolia Volkoff, Randy “Macho Man” Savage, Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake, and many of the WWF stars of the day. The event was truly going to be a most auspicious occasion…

(ticket stub from the night of Hulkamania)

I can still recall the excitement, at the age of 12, of hearing Rick Derringer’s “Real American” blasting over the Civic Center PA as Hogan made his way to the ring, and the arena burst into a deafening sea of cheers. When Howard Finkel (famed WWF ring announcer) announced “and now… hailing from Augusta Ga…” the cheers were off the chart on the decibel meter. This was due largely in part to the fact that on television in those days, Hogan was always introduced as hailing from Venice Beach, California… and who wouldn’t be proud to be from the same town as the local bass player formerly known as Terry Gene Bolea? Hogan of course made his way to the ring, ripped his tank top off and did his famous series of poses and flexes. Hogan of course won that night with his famous “boot” to the face and leg-drop. I went to this show with my dad and younger brother… this would be only the first of many shows we would attend in Augusta, Ga. And to think… the most famous wrestler of all time (who now can be seen on VH1’s reality series “Hogan Knows Best” ensuring his daughter remains a virgin until she is 30) was born right here in Augusta, Ga.

(Hogan pacing the ring before his encounter w. Bad News Brown)

Back In The Day:

Before professional wrestling blew up in the 1980s and became a staple of cable television, professional wrestling was mainly a “live” attraction, with its focus not on television, but live events throughout the United States. And since wrestling did not have national television access during the 1970s and early 1980s, wrestling was divided into territories. For example, the NWA (National Wrestling Alliance) had territories in the Midwest, Southwest, Deep South, Mid-South, and Florida. If you are wondering about the Northern part of the United States, that area was dominated by a promotion known as the World Wide Wrestling Federation… owned by the late Vincent K. McMahon, Sr (note: the WWWF would later shorten it’s name to WWF). There was also a promotion based in Minnesota called the AWA (American Wrestling Alliance), which was owned and operated by Verne Gagne, which is now defunct, but had a great run in the 70s and 80s.

In the 1970s, NWA superstars such as Ric Flair were wrestling in the Midwest territories, while stars such as the Von Erichs were making their name in Dallas. Others, such as Jerry “The King” Lawler were paying their dues in Memphis. It was during this time that Atlanta and Augusta were becoming hotbeds for the Southern territories of the National Wrestling Alliance, which would eventually would go national (uniting all territories), and become headquartered in Atlanta until its demise in 2001 (note: the NWA would later become known as the WCW).

In the 1970s, it was wrestlers such as Tommy “Wildfire” Rich, Dusty Rhodes, Mae Young, Tony Atlas, Strangler Lewis, Dick Slater, and Bob Orton, Jr. who were making names for themselves in Augusta, Ga., week in and week out, at the historic Bell Auditorium on Telfair St. Below is the text of an e-mail I received from Tommy “Wildfire” Rich, a former NWA wrestling champion who would go on to become a legend in the NWA, WCW, and later even the ECW….

"Probably my fondest memory of Augusta was also the least expected. It was late April 1981 and I was supposed to wrestle Harley Race for the NWA World belt in several cities for about a week or so. In Augusta I wasn't told until damn near time to wrestle that I would be pinning Race for the title that night. It's true that me and the ref both fell over when he was handing me the belt. It was a short title run with Race winning it back a week later in Gainesville…... I would say this was my first major belt win and of course to do it over Mr. Race made it even more special. I'd been wrestling for a while then but I like to think of that match as putting me up to the next level. Man I think we used to visit Augusta just about as much as we spent time in Atlanta".

"Good Damn Times."

For more information on Tommy “Wildfire” Rich, you can visit him at: Tommy Rich at Myspace.com

(Tommy “Wildfire” Rich and Harley Race)

The Old Woman:

We may never know the dear old soul’s name, but her legacy will live on forever. Back in the 1970s at the Bell Auditorium, there was an older lady who used to attend all of the weekly matches. Now, even back in the 70s, it was pretty well known that wrestling was staged, but apparently the old woman never picked up the memo. My dad used to tell me about how she would get up in wrestler’s faces, shoot birds, curse at the wrestlers, and generally make a spectacle of herself, as most ladies of her age were home knitting scarves and sewing buttons on blouses, not getting emotionally entrenched in professional wrestling matches. And somehow, this woman always managed to get front row seats….

At 1989’s Hulkamania, there was an old lady at ringside with a walker. My father told me before the matches even began that she was the lady who used to attend the matches back in the 70s at the Bell. The lady, with a few extra years on her, apparently had not lost her step, or gotten the memo yet that wrestling wasn’t “real”. WWF villain Skinner was a participant in one of the bouts that evening. Skinner was a pretty forgettable wrestler, as he only wrestled for a short period of time and never made much of a name for himself. However, he did gave a trademark that I will always remember due to the story I am about to tell….

Skinner’s trademark, or “gimmick”, was that he would come to the ring with a wad of chewing tobacco in his mouth, and spit it on his opponents and on the ring (I am sure the cleanup crew was happy when Skinner got his pink slip, eventually). As Skinner made his way to the ring, the old lady immediately got up in Skinner’s face, throwing bird fingers in his face, and cursing him up and down for everything he was worth (which wasn’t much in my estimation, but to each their own). The scene was quite surreal even at that point, but it was at point that Skinner did the unthinkable….. Skinner hocked up a wad of tobacco juice and spit in right in the old lady’s face. The woman became very irate and had to be sat down by security. I have not seen the old lady since….

(the infamous Skinner)

The Days Of The Early WCW:

By the early 90s, World Championship Wrestling had bought out the National Wrestling Alliance and was running a tight race with Vince McMahon’s WWF to be the “top dog” in the sport. While WCW headquarters was based in Atlanta, and would remain based there until its demise in 2001, Augusta was a hotspot for what fans call “house shows”. A house show is a wrestling term for a non-televised wrestling show. It was at these house shows that anything could, would, and did happen. Some of my favorite house show memories from the early 90s include;

• The Fabulous Freebirds (Michael P.S. Hayes and Jimmy “Jam” Garvin) vs. The Rock N’ Roll Express (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson). These were two of the biggest tag teams of the day, and I can remember this match going nearly an hour, with the fan support leaning toward The Freebirds, who were billed as the “heels” or bad guys…. If memory serves me correct, the Freebirds took the fall that evening, but they definitely had the support of Augusta this particular night, for at least an hour. As a side note: I last saw Ricky Morton last at the 1999 Columbia Country Fair wrestling on a rickety old ring…… over by the corndog stand.

(Robert Gibson and Ricky Morton)(Michael PS Hayes and Jimmy “Jam" Garvin)

• One moment that particularly stands out in my mind was the introduction of El Gigante. Sometime around the middle of a house show (circa 1991), the ring announcer brought out a man by the name of El Gigante (a former basketball player from Argentina who was at one point drafted by the Atlanta Hawks). El Gigante stood at 7’7’’ and weighed in at 435 lbs. I had never in my life seen a human being that large… and apparently no one else in the Civic Center that night had either. El Gigante stood in the ring for a few moments, without saying a word, and left. The house stood silent as this towering man just stood in the ring staring down the crowd. El Gigante would make his television debut in the months to come, but his wrestling career would be short-lived.. for the simple fact.. he really couldn’t wrestle.

(left- 7’7’’ El Gigante aka Giant Gonzales in his WWF days in the mid 90s)

• Back during a 1994 house show at the Civic Center some friends and I had seats on the end of the arena, right under the scoreboard. This meant that we could actually look down behind the curtain and see part of the backstage area. We saw a wrestler sitting on a folding chair lacing his boots up. We could only see him from behind so we weren’t sure who it was. All we could see was flowing blonde hair… so, we put 2 and 2 together and figured it must be Hulk Hogan making a surprise appearance back in his hometown (although Hogan was not scheduled to be on the bill). We began shouting, “Hulk!!!..... HULKSTER!!! TURN AROUND!!!”. So did the man turn around to greet his legion of 3 fans? Sure, the man turned around, but it wasn’t Hulk Hogan. The man snarled and barked out, “shut your f*ckin mouths”. This angered man was a virtual nobody in WCW… his name was Stunning Steve Austin… but Stunning Steve would embark on a trip to the WWF in the coming years and become one of the most popular wrestlers of all time… Stone Cold Steve Austin……

(Steve Austin… then and now)

The Revolution:

During the mid/late 90s, wrestling really hit the mainstream with WWF programs such as RAW and Smackdown and WCW programs such as Nitro and Thunder. The WWF was being led by the likes of younger Superstars such as The Rock and former WCW “nobody”, Stone Cold Steve Austin. The WCW revolution was charged by many of the older WWF stars such as Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, and Randy “Macho Man” Savage (who had all jumped ship from WWF to WCW). And while the WCW and WWF would occasionally pop into Augusta, these shows were too few to mention. The WWF and WCW were packing arenas across America week in and week out in towns like Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, and Philadelphia. The old days were definitely over….

Wrestling Returns To The Bell Auditorium:
Although the WCW and WWF has all but abandoned Augusta, a new brand of wrestling based in Philadelphia called ECW (Extreme Championship Wrestling) was going national in the late 90s and early 00s before they went bankrupt and were sold to the WWF/WWE in 2001. ECW since the mid 90s had been a regional promotion, similar to the NWA back in the 1970s, holding most of its matches in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. ECW wrestling was a bit different from those in the WCW and WWF, which were becoming quite boring and repetitive by this time. ECW wrestling was very unorthodox… and featured its wrestlers in very high risk, dangerous matches involving barbed wire baseball bats, burning tables, kendo sticks, and extremely high-risk aerial stunts. ECW wrestlers were young and hungry much like the wrestlers in the old NWA. These men wanted to make it to the big time and were willing to risk life and limb to get there. So it was fitting that the ECW brings its brand of wrestling to Augusta during its expansion period to the Bell Auditorium… where it all began many years ago…..

It was December 4th, 1999, and the Bell was packed to the rafters for this ECW house show. There was something very different about at the Bell as opposed to the Civic Center when it came to live wrestling. Maybe it was the intimacy of the venue? The history? Or maybe it was purely the fact that I was about to see the bloodiest, most violent, hardcore wrestling I had ever seen in my life. That night, many young, virtually unknown superstars would put on a show like I had never witnessed before. Bodies flying over the top rope into the crowd… men being slammed through stacked tables… backflips off the top tope onto the arena floor. It was that night that many in Augusta were first introduced to the likes of Rob Van Damm, Lance Storm, Mike Awesome, Spike Dudley, Raven, and Tommy Dreamer. Each of these men would go onto success in WCW and WWF/WWE in the coming years, but ECW was where it all began for these up and comers of the mid/late 90s.

(former ECW champion Tommy Dreamer)

Misc. Tidbits:

• At the Hulkamania show in 1989, Randy “Macho Man” Savage was assaulted by an Evans High School football player as he made his way to the ring that evening with manager Miss Elizabeth. The student, after landing the Macho Man with a hook to the face was grabbed by security and arrested

• At a WCW show in the mid/late 90s, 2 Evans High School students (what’s with these Evans kids?) were hanging out in the Civic Center parking lot and happened to run into Hawk and Animal of the Road Warriors (Legion of Doom). Upon asking “was wrestling real”, Hawk responded, quite aggressively, “you wanna find out?”. Word has it these 2 clowns followed Hawk and Animal on I-20 all the way to the Thomson exit trying to get them to pull over. What became of Hawk and Animal? Animal is still actively wrestling in the WWE. Hawk passed away several years ago due to heart problems. The 2 Evans kids? Well… one is missing in action. The other lost his first row of teeth in a roofing accident.

• Toward the end of WCW’s reign in early 00, it’s Monday Night flagship show “Nitro” was brought into town for a live TNT television taping. That evening, before the matches, Nature Boy Ric Flair was said to have popped into Greene Streets Karaoke bar for a “few” rounds of light beer. No word on whether or not he sang….

**This last tidbit comes from Will Wheeler, a friend of mine from the old school who attended many of the old WCW shows with me in the early 90s;

"One memory that comes to mind with Augusta wrestling is the tenacity of the fans and what they will do to meet a wrestler or shake his hand when they come to the ring. The fans would do anything to meet a wrestler up close. My overly determined moment came at a WCW Saturday Night taping in 1999. There was a little kid who kept trying to touch the wrestlers hands. Of course the wrestlers hardly ever came to his side. At the end of the night Rey Mysterio was in the main event. So Rey came down to the ring and finally came to that kids side but he didn't shake his hand!! This kid kept crying the whole match but still had his hand up the entire match!! So after the match the kid still held out his hand and Rey Mysterio came to shake it!! That showed the true determination of a fan but also for the wrestlers to remember the fans!!"

(Rey Mysterio, Jr.)

Epilogue:

For those in the know… there is no longer an ECW.(ECW is said to bereturning as part of the WWE stable) There is no longer a WCW. WWE (formely WWF) stands alone as the kingpin of sports entertainment as they call “wrestling” these days. The NWA has branched off again into independent organizations such as Deep South Wrestling, Wildside, and TNA (which has gotten some national attention as of late). WWE sells out arenas each week with its over the top production and high tech production.

But national television and huge arenas were never what wrestling was really supposed to be about anyway. When I speak of the “Golden Era Of Augusta Wrestling”, there were no national television tapings. There were no multi-million dollar merchandise earnings to be made. There were no monthly Pay Per Views. There were no clever catchphrases and MTV reality shows (i.e. Tough Enough). It was just plain ol’ “wrasslin”

Who says the Golden Age is over? As long as there is an audience and a legion of believers in the true spirit of old school, professional wrestling, it can never die.

In bars, high school gyms, and fairgrounds across America……

…true “wrasslin” lives on…

(to be continued)-

JOCO