Southern Championship Wrestling (SCW) was a professional wrestling promotion that was founded in Marietta, Georgia by Jerry Blackwell and operated from 1988 to 1990, and was continued by his successor, Joe Pedicino, who ran the promotion as Georgia All-Star Wrestling for another year. Though short-lived, the group showcased some of the top talent from the American Wrestling Association and National Wrestling Alliance as well as notable on-air talent including Pedicino, Rick Stewart, Rhubarb Jones, Paul Heyman, and booker Buck Robley. It was one of the top independent organizations in Georgia during the late-1980s, rivaling Jody Hamilton's Deep South Wrestling, and the state's last territory-era promotion prior to the collapse of the NWA territory system. History Southern Championship Wrestling was established in Georgia by Jerry Blackwell in early 1988. Blackwell, then a star in American Wrestling Association, had run shows under the "AWA Georgia" banner the previous year using talent from the AWA. One of its biggest shows was held at the Cobb Civic Center in Marietta and was headlined by Blackwell, Wahoo McDaniel, Sgt. Slaughter, The Iron Sheik, Curt Hennig, Jerry "The King" Lawler, and The Midnight Express (Dennis Condrey and Randy Rose). Condrey and Rose were scheduled to appear in SCW as the AWA World Tag Team Champions, however, the angle was dropped when Condrey was unable to appear. His place was taken by Comrade Busich and introduced by their manager, Paul E. Dangerously, as "Ravishing Randy and Comrade Busich, the substitute Midnight Express." Blackwell eventually began promoting on a full-time basis with involvement from Joe Pedicino and others. The first events and TV tapings were held in January 1988; the second TV taping (January 24) was headlined by Bruiser Brody and drew 630 fans. Matches from these shows were first shown on a weekly syndicated TV program, Southern Championship Wrestling from Georgia, which aired live on certain TV stations. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer called these first tapings "a pretty lively and fun to watch indy show, and has better caliber wrestling than most indies". The first Southern Heavyweight Champion, "Gentleman" Chris Adams, won the championship by defeating Buck Robley in a tournament final on June 25, 1988, in Columbus, Georgia. The first Southern Tag Team Champions were crowned in a tournament final that same year in Macon, when "Wildfire" Tommy Rich and Ted Oates defeated Bob Orton, Jr. and "Dirty" Dick Slater. The show was taped