This sure takes me back. Every Saturday night my two older brothers and I were glued to the TV watching these guys. I was 9 years old in '81, Tommy Rich was my favorite and you couldn't tell me this stuff wasn't real, lol!
He would say "Showing no Sorceese" I have yet to find that word. He would name the parts of the body like. "He hammered the lower lumbar of the back that's gotta be painful."
You see wrestling today, and it's as if this time period never existed! People like Rich, Wrestling II, Piper, Flair, Ordorff, Hayes etc, made GCW Saturdays fantastic to watch!
This was my favorite time in wrestling. I grew up in the northeast watching WWF. Getting cable and finally seeing all these wrestlers I read about in the magazines was a dream come true as a wrestling fan. GCW was amazing and required viewing every Saturday night
@@richardtaylor5461 for someone who apparently is such a big fan of Hogan and the 80's WWF circus act, you sure are spending a lot of time in the comment section here for this old crappy hillbilly NWA video. I mean you must know that there are plenty of other videos out there on to suite your great taste in pro wrestling.
The greatest wrestling Champion of alllll time. It was once said he could wrestle a potato, and make you believe that the potato was one of the best in the business!! There will never be another wrestler with the stick skills of Flair!! The kiss stealing, WOOOOOO! Wheeling, dealing, limousine riding, jet flying, having fun, son of a gun!! He kissed allllll the girls... WOOOOOO! And made 'em allllll cry!
He was my grandmother's favorite wrestler and no one else was close (maybe Magnum TA because she loved him too) by a long shot. He was also President Carter's favorite wrestler and the story is that Carter invited Mr Wrestling #2 to the White House but Secret Service wouldn't let him in because he wouldn't take off his mask. President Carter came to the door himself and let him in, preserving and respect kayfabe.
Rick Flair, Wrestling #2, Tommy WildFire Rich, Michael Hayes, Dusty Rose man those were some good wrestlers in their youth and in their day. Wrestling sucks now , it just isnt the same.
My parents divorced in 1974. I spent my School months in Athens and then Atlanta, Ga and spent my Summers in Charlotte, NC. Living in Georgia and North Carolina I got to see many of these LEGENDS in person.
According to Ronnie Garvin, Ric was one of the only guys who actually wanted the absurd work and travel schedule required of the NWA Champ back then and was good enough in the ring and on the mic to be a believable champion.
that's right. Flair wanted it and the NWA was smart enough to recognize that and allow Flair to promote the brand and his fellow wrestlers at a high level.
No one took more bumps than Flair. Remarkable that he stayed practically injury free for so many years. Most of his matches, it’s him taking the punishment to make other guys look good.
Wow, a boatload of talent in that short video. I miss Tommy.. A true son of the South. Gordon Solie, by far the greatest wringside announcer that ever called matches move for move and hold for hold. Listening to Gordon call a match you learned more about wrestling/wrestlers and the wrestling moves and holds in one match than you could from anyone else for years or decades. RIP Gordon
I love how the whole hokey aww shucks lovefest trophy presentation was a perfect setup for Nature Boy to come out and be a heel. Funny thing, I was thinking the same thing he said about the cheap plaque and trophy being worth a cup of coffee. I'll bet Tommy Rich still has that plaque and trophy hanging in his man cave
Damn I REMEMBER this! I grew up in the North Georgia area and the NWA was a staple of my TV watching as a kid! I remember this contest because the voting went on for several weeks. I voted for Mr. Wrestling II (the million dollar knee-lift was his signature move) as he was my favorite at the time, but Tommy "Wildfire" Rich was an extremely popular wrestler in that region at the time. It's cool seeing Ric Flair in such an early promo as well. He had just won the belt. I also loved hearing him mention The Super Star (Mr Wrestling II's nemesis). Damn were these the days! LOL I didnt realize how short Mr. Wrestling II was until I saw this clip!
Nice to see the wrestlers here not completely breaking Kayfabe, but showing some genuine respect and appreciation for the great Tommy Rich. He was known among the wrestling community as a hard worker and a genuinely good guy.
The territories had such a rich pantheon of characters, from all regions of North America, with so many television programs and things going on, and look at the tiny little popcorn shitshow you have now
even with all the $ and lights, music, camera work there's not a wrestler today that can do what Flair and maybe Roddy Piper did in 80's. I was glued to the every sat morn.
Nobody can ever compare to Ric. But in 1981-82, no one was more over & popular than "Wildfire" Tommy Rich. I know because I lived through it. Used to see Tommy nearly every Monday Night. He was awesome. But this is the early beginnings of the Flair we all love today.
Wow, brings back memories of my childhood in the mid '70's when Ric Flair was just really getting into his groove, Ric along with Johnny Valentine(b4 the plane crash where both had their backs broken) & Ole & Gene Anderson were with Mid-Atlantic Champ. Wrestling. Ric, Natureboy, Flair has the perfect monicker for he was truly a Natural at promo's. He was the one we all loved to hate, yet did'nt wanna watch Saturday TV Wrestling without him, if people could hear his classic Wooooh from then they'd be amazed. From little places like the Spindale House & Nat'l Guard Armory in Rutherford County to the old Charlotte Coliseum, what he talked he walked for he would arrive in Limo's for matches. Thanks for the upload KabookiX. PeaceB2All
What’s crazy amazing is that ric flair and all these old school guys literally wrote their on material up right there on the spot. They would just start running off at the mouth. Today all these new guys couldn’t do this if their life depended on it. lol 😂
I love Tommy Rich to death. I grew up watching the dude down near ga tech and the omni. My aunt knew him personally as a fan can be. He is local icon and always will be. They try to make him into a national star, but it just could not work. Which is cool. He is one of the NWA cornerstones to me.. " somebody say something about getting fired up"!
I just watched an interview with Tommy Rich on Bill Apter's channel and he said that winning the NWA World Championship was too much for him. Kind of sad he could have been greater than he already was.
Well, maybe this'll get you fired up to. I just brought Rich back to my NWA wrestling game & I also brought back his feud with Buzz Sawyer to. They just had a steel cage/barbed wire match that was bloody to say the least. I even have my own website where I post all the action at. Tonight we were in Cincinnati & tomorrow we'll be in N.Y. at Madison Square Garden. 30 years later, & the magic continues..........
This clip clearly demonstrates why RIC FLAIR is a legend and Tommy "Wildfire" Rich was just a flash in the pan. That line about the trophy not being able to buy a cup of coffee was a hoot!
A flash in the pan? I'm not a big tommy rich fan but you have to give him his due. He was nwa champ and was hugely popular for about 4 years. He headlined cards without a title in georgia. Till this day, probably had the longest running feud ever with buzz sawyer (lasting one year) because it drew so well. He is also still alive and healthy which is more than i can say for alot of other wrestlers. Don't hate on rich and flair is in his own class along with hogan.
oldschoolfan420 Who's Buzz Sawyer? Just joking. With all due respect, "he (Rich) was hugely popular for about 4 YEARS?" That's just a pittance compared to KERRY VON ERICH in Texas but I get your point about surviving the excesses that have claimed the lives of so many others, so he deserves a lot of respect on that deal. But like you said, Flair is in a class all by himself. As for Hogan, he has numerous fans but I'm not one of 'em. The only time he got a rise out of me was when he became "Hollywood" Hogan and took his impersonation of "Superstar" Billy Graham beyond the superficial!.
The Greatest Wrestler of All Time and the Greatest announcer of all time. This is truly classic video. The Illusion Destroyers first promo after winning the big one. The real Great One. No one compares to Ric Flair. Gotta like that Wrestling II though. Wish i would've seen him in his prime. Whooooooooooooooooooo!
It was very disrespectful to keep Ric Flair waiting! Nobody gave a shit about Tommy Rich and his Mickey Mouse trophy! Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
Flair foreshadows his illustrious career in this interview. Wrestling 2 was always envious of young talent against him. Check out the mid south area 2 years after this interview with Magnum TA.
Ric Flairs hair must be a trait of some race in the world that don't exist anymore. Who ever they are, the hair is truly golden. And it looks fabulous on Ric.
@@M-E-G-A Game of Thrones. The Targaryens are a 300 year monarchy, who conquered Westeros by sheer force of will with their fire breathing dragons, they are known for their platinum blonde hair, lavender eyes, and alabaster complexion, the Nature Boy could pass for a Targaryen easy, he also has the exact same attitude and disposition of this powerful family dynasty from Old Valyria.
Man oh man, Slick Ric was even schooling them back in 1981 - If A.J. Styles really wants to get over just tell him to watch this vintage Flair stuff - copy it, these promos never go out of style.
+L.J. Garcia WOOOOOOOOOOO....that was typical Flair on the Fly....always loved his "promo's" back in Those Glorious WOOOOOOOO Days.....Miss The Territories!!
Ruck was a great actor and actually looking at these old videos he's actually was a comedic genius 👏 as well... incredibly entertaining watching these timeless videos!
When Tommy Rich first walked on the screen, I thought he was "Nature Boy" Buddy Landel. Surprise winner! All the other wrestlers were good, but it goes without saying that Ric "The Illusion Destoyer" Flair took it to another level here. Like he does every time he picks up a mic.
Georgia Championship Wrestling was so good in the early days of cable. 2 hours of wrestling starting at 6pm in the east, making it perfect for dinner entertainment. I used to make a run to get Chinese food every Saturday, then at 8 an hour of COPS, then head out for a night on the town with friends. When it started in with WCW Saturday Night, it was still ok for a while, then started going downhill when they turned it over to their wrestling school guys, saving the big guys for Nitro. I knew it was the beginning of the end one Saturday when thry spent an hour and 50 minutes hyping a match of Sting defending his World TV Title, and his opponent turned out to be.....The Gambler, not even a mid-carder. It was time to pull the plug on that dog, which they eventually did. But it had its glory days in the early 80s
Who didn't think that Mr. wrestling 2 would clobber Tommy Rich with that trophy? When he said it would look good on his mantle piece, I thought a heel turn was coming !
