Savanah 1983

[shawnhudson]

I am a big fan of the radio shows and listening to Bobby and Jerry has got me wondering about some things.

I grew up in Wilmington NC and I remember that even back to the mid 1970's,there were states on the championship belt in Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling, Georgia being one of them. Then in 1983 I was stationed at Ft Stewart just outside of Savannah and started going to the matches at the civic center. They were promoted by Crockett which kind of diappointed me because I was looking forward to seeing the stars of GCW that I got to see on WTBS.

I guess my question is when did GCW stop running in Savannah and when did Crockett start? Was it after the buyout or did it happen before. Also were there towns in Georgia that Crockett ran in Goergia at the same time as GCW?
Thanks
Shawn

[Bobby Simmons]

The Atlanta Office sold Savannah to JC Promotions.
The trip from Charlotte was easier than the trip from Atlanta and
with all the things going on with us Savannah was a casualty of
a town that did not draw well. In its day it was a good club, but into the 70's it did not do well. We ran it on Sunday afternoon for a while and it just did not draw. While hot angles were doing well everywhere else, Savannah would not pop. The building was a huge civic center and the aura was not there.
Also with the advent of satellite TV and cable expanding people in Savannah could see Crockett's Charleston tape, his Columbia tape and it just seemed a natural fit for them to run Savannah.

Hope this gives you some insight into why it was done.

Bobby

[Rich Tate]

The change was in 1976. Although I'm not certain as to when GCW ran it last, JCP ran their first show there in November of that year.

[rhodesfan]

Did JCP draw when they took over? Do we know what each regular city averaged in GA in the late 70's? Bell Auditorium in Augusta held around 3000 and was close to full everytime I went.

[shawnhudson]

The JCP shows I saw there were in 83/84 and the civic center was probably 3/4 full. Since they started running in 1976 I dont think that they would still be running in 84 unless they were making money. Savannah would have been on the short list of the chopping block (I suspect) since it was the longest trip on the circuit

[rhodesfan]

What kind of numbers was 3/4 full,estimate that is?