- Black Saturday (1984)
Black Saturday is the name given by wrestling fans on
July 14 , 1984, whenVince McMahon and his World Wrestling Federation (WWF) took over the Saturday night time slots on Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) that had been home toGeorgia 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 theNational Wrestling Alliance (NWA) throughout the 1990s.Jack Brisco andGerald Brisco had major stakes in the organization whileOle 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 aclip show for TBS, featuring highlights from other WWF programming as well as matches fromhouse show s atMadison 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 fromTed Turner . That would set up a rivalry between McMahon and Turner that would continue for over a decade.ee also
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WCW Saturday Night "References
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