Black Saturday (1984)

Black Saturday is the name given by wrestling fans on July 14, 1984, when Vince McMahon and his World Wrestling Federation (WWF) took over the Saturday night time slots on Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) that had been home to Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW).

History

In 1982, Georgia Championship Wrestling began promoting under the name World Championship Wrestling (WCW), a name that most wrestling fans would consider to still be part of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) throughout the 1990s. Jack Brisco and Gerald Brisco had major stakes in the organization while Ole Anderson was head booker and was basically in charge of operations.

GCW also became the first NWA territory to gain access to a cable television deal on Saturday evenings. GCW was famous for providing a more athletic showcase rather than cartoonish characters like the WWF did and therefore had a completely different fanbase.

While still running steadily, both Briscos sold their entire stock in the business (including the TV deal) to Vince McMahon; Jim Barnett immediately followed, as all parties were unhappy with booker Ole Anderson. The WWF show on TBS was a ratings disaster.

Reception

GCW's core audience hated the WWF's soap opera approach, preferring a more athletic style. Bill Watts' Mid South Wrestling (MSW) and Ole Anderson's Championship Wrestling from Georgia were both able to even gain better TBS ratings over this program as well. [cite web |url=http://slam.canoe.ca/SlamWrestlingFeatures/tbs1-can.html |title=End of an era on TBS Solie, Georgia and 'Black Saturday' |accessdate=2007-04-10 |author=John F. Molinaro ] Despite originally promising to produce original programming for the TBS timeslot in Atlanta, McMahon chose instead to provide only a clip show for TBS, featuring highlights from other WWF programming as well as matches from house shows at Madison Square Garden, Boston Garden and other major arenas.

Aftermath

In April 1985, McMahon sold the TBS timeslot and GCW name to Jim Crockett, Jr., under heavy pressure from Ted Turner. That would set up a rivalry between McMahon and Turner that would continue for over a decade.

ee also

*"WCW Saturday Night"

References