The Fred Ward Memorial Show was an annual professional wrestling memorial event produced by the Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW) promotion, which was held from 2004 to 2009. The show was held in honor of Fred Ward, a pioneering wrestling promoter who controlled the central Georgia wrestling territory for over 30 years, who died on May 7, 1992. It was originally held in Columbus, Georgia by GCW until Jerry Oates' retirement in 2006, whereupon the new owners Bill and Diane Hewes relocated the promotion, renamed Great Championship Wrestling, to Phenix City, Alabama. Its third annual memorial show, the last show held at the GCW Arena, "drew the biggest crowd [at the venue] in over a year".
Many of the featured wrestlers were former stars in World Championship Wrestling or were then competing in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as well as local stars such as Jason Cross, Damian Steele, Vordell Walker, and David Young. Older regional stars from the Georgia territory, many of whom had worked for Fred Ward, also made guest appearances. The first Ward tribute show in 2004 saw masked wrestler The Wrestler defeat GCW United States Junior Heavyweight Champion Vordell Walker and an 8-man single-elimination tournament in which the winner, Jason Cross, received an award from Mr. Wrestling II. Ole Anderson, Bill Dromo, Thunderbolt Patterson, Les Thatcher, Masked Superstar, The Oates Brothers (Jerry and Ted Oates), and Brad and "Bullet" Bob Armstrong were seen in later shows.
Show results
First Annual Fred Ward Tribute Show (2004) August 10, 2004 in Columbus, Georgia (GCW Arena) #ResultsStipulationsTimes1Elix Skipper and Sonny Siaki wrestled to a time-limit draw. First Round Tournament matchna2Johnny Swinger defeated John Bogeyna3Jason Cross defeated Damian Steelen/a4A.J. Steele defeated Erik Wattsn/a5Jason Cross defeated A.J. SteeleSemi-Final Tournament matchn/a6The Wrestler defeated Vordell Walker (c) Singles match for the GCW United States Junior Heavyweight Championshipn/a7Jason Cross defeated Johnny Swinger Finals Tournament match6:38
Tournament brackets This was a one-night tournament which took place on August 10, 2004. The tournament brackets were:
Second Annual Fred Ward Memorial Show (2005) August 6, 2005 in Columbus, Georgia (GCW Arena) #ResultsStipulationsTimes1A.J. Steele defeated Greg BrownSingles matchn/a2Brad Armstrong and Bob Armstrong defeated Lee Thomas and John BogieTag Team matchn/a3Masked Superstar and The Wrestler defeated The Oates Brothers (Jerry and Ted Oates)Tag Team matchn/a3Elix Skipper defeated Damian SteeleSingles matchn/a4Disco Inferno (c) defeated Jason CrossSingles match for the GCW Television Championshipn/a5David Young and Chris Stevens defeated Erik Watts and Sonny SiakiTag Team matchn/a
Third Annual Fred Ward Memorial Show (2006) September 23, 2006 in Columbus, Georgia (GCW Arena) #ResultsStipulationsTimes1John Bogie defeated DeathRow Steel Cage barbed wire baseball bat match16:112Suicide defeated Nooie LiSingles match7:053Amy Young defeated 4 other participants by last eliminating Gina Marie.The other participants included were: Trenesha, Sapphire, and Devin Diamo.Five-woman battle royal for the GCW Women’s Championship; As per the pre-match stipulation, Young became the first champion.10:074Michaels Inc. (Scott Fantastic, Shaun Banks and Quentin Michaels) defeated Team Beach (Scotty Beach, Heath Miller and John Rodriguez) Six-Man Elimination match14:505Bobby Sanford (c) defeated Legion "Freakin" Cage (with Gina Marie)Ladder match for the GCW Columbus Heavyweight Championship16:286Chris Stevens (c) defeated Elix Skipper and Johnny SwingerNo-DQ Three-Way Dance match for the GCW Heavyweight Championship15:11
Fourth Annual Fred Ward Memorial Show (2007) September 29, 2007 in Phenix City, Alabama (GR8 SK8 Plex) #Results"Great Championship Wrestling [runs] their final buildup to the Fred Ward Memorial." DOIwrestling.com. Ed. Sean McCaffrey. N.p., Sept. 2008. Web. 15 Apr. 2011. <www.declarationofindependents.net/doi/pages/gcw922.html>StipulationsTimes1John Bogie defeated Chuck The Ring Inspector by TKOBouncing Boxing matchn/a2Frankie Valentine defeated Randall JohnsonHair vs. Hair matchn/a3David Young and Chris Stevens wrestled Sonny Siaki and Damien Steele to a time limit draw Best 2/3 Falls Tag Team match for the vacant GCW Tag Team Championship; Prior to the match, GCW Commissioner Bo Oates had stripped The Naturals of the titles for failing to appear at the event.n/a4A.J. Steele defeated DeathRowElectric Chair matchn/a5Cru Jones and Scrappy McGowan defeated John Bogie and Bo Oates Retirement match; As per the pre-match stipulations, Oates surrendered his position as GCW Commissioner to McGowan and forced to retire.n/a6Scotty Beach defeated Shaun Banks (with Quentin Michaels)Weasel Suit vs. Dress Match; As per the pre-match stipulations, Quentin Michaels had to put on a weasel suit.n/a7Bull Buchanan defeated Johnny Swinger (c) (with Quentin Michaels) Six-Sides-of-Steel match for the GCW Heavyweight Championshipn/a
Fifth Annual Fred Ward Memorial Show (2008) September 4, 2008 in Phenix City, Alabama (GR8 SK8 Plex) #ResultsStipulationsTimes 1John Bogie and Kareem Abdul Jamar defeated Merchants of Death (Orion Bishop & Murder One) (with Wicked Nemesis) (c)Hardcore match for the GCW Tag Team Championship13:122Scotty Beach defeated Mike Stratus (with Princeton Gainey III) Singles match; As per the pre-match stipulation, Beach received five minutes in the ring with Gainey.10:173Princeton Gainey III defeated Scotty Beach Singles match:474Sonny Siaki defeated Tilo Singles match:295J-Rod defeated Shaun BanksFirst Blood match for the GCW Interstate Championship11:565Cru Jones (c) defeated Bull BuchananBullrope match for the GCW Heavyweight Championship18:506Micah Taylor and Diane Hewes defeated Johnny Swinger and Quentin MichaelsAll or Nothing match; As per the pre-match stipulations, Diane Hewes won 100% ownership of GCW.16:00
Sixth Annual Fred Ward Memorial Show (2009) September 17, 2009 in Phenix City, Alabama (GR8 SK8 Plex) #ResultsStipulationsTimes1Dany Only and Ron Stalker defeated Kyle Matthews and Bobby Moore (c) and J-Rod and Frankie Valentine 3-Way Steel Cage Tag Team match for the GCW Tag Team Championshipn/a2 Tex Monroe (c) defeated Mike Kross and Rubén 3-Way Dance for the GCW Interstate Heavyweight Championshipn/a3 Michael Stevens and Leon McMichael defeated Cru Jones and Chris StevensTag Team matchn/a4Johnny Swinger defeated Shaun Banks I Quit matchn/a5 Jimmy Rave (c) defeated Murder One Singles match for the GCW Heavyweight Championshipn/a
References