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Columbus, Georgia, a city rich in wrestling history is once again without pro wrestling.
Earlier this week, NWA Prime Time Pro Wrestling owner Billy Roper announced the company was going on hiatus due to the loss of their venue at 5000 Burnham Boulevard.
PTPW had been running the venue weekly since August based on a verbal agreement Roper worked out with the owner of the property, The Gill Companies. Roper would pay a fixed amount for each date he ran a show. Figuring 4-5 shows per month, Roper was paying considerably less than the full monthly lease price that Gill wanted for the property. However, Gill would continue its efforts to lease the building for the full going rate. Roper said Gill honored the terms of their agreement, which called for 30 days notice to vacate. Roper could have continued to operate through February 9, but opted to shut down and seek another venue.
Sources unsympathetic to Roper’s cause suggest that he was not keeping up on his payments to Gill, a rumor Roper categorically denied.
The building served as the home of Georgia/Great Championship Wrestling from its inception in April 2004 through late 2006. For indie wrestling, it was a state-of-the art facility. Wrestlers made their entrances by descending a spot lit ramp from high above the arena floor. The lighting and sound were both first rate. GCW’s decision to leave Columbus was related to issues with the owner of the property.
The Gill Companies LLC, which has significant real estate holdings in and around Columbus, is owned by John A. Gill, Jr.
Gill obtained a level of notoriety as a major player in the payday loan industry. He ran afoul of regulators in eleven different states through the use of a variety of schemes, including Internet “rebates†to disguise illegal lending practices. In October 2006, Gill was sent to prison after a Florida jury convicted him of violating Florida’s racketeering statute. He was also ordered to pay up to $3 million in criminal restitution. In June 2007, the Texas attorney secured a judgment against Gill’s Advance Internet, prohibiting the company from continuing its predatory lending practices. The company tricked consumers into schemes with interest rates as high as 782 percent for short-term cash advance loans.
Gill’s conviction in Florida was the premise for GCW’s decision to move their operation to Phenix City at the end of 2006. The company feared expensive equipment would be lost in a seizure of Gill’s assets.
Finding another venue in Columbus would have been problematic for GCW, as it is for Roper now, due to zoning restrictions that require an entertainment zoning for enterprises like pro wrestling shows. The Burnham Boulevard building had been grandfathered in when new zoning ordinances were enacted.
The way things played out, Gill served his prison time and the building was never seized.
Wrestling returned to Columbus in April 2008 when Dwayne Bell started using the Burnham Boulevard space as the base of operations for Independent Wrestling Network. It was literally a stripped down version of the GCW Arena. GCW took all the things that made it special with them. IWN’s run was short lived and ended with Bell being kicked out of the facility due to his inability to meet his financial obligations.
Initially, Roper was working with IWN, but ended up parting ways with Bell. He and Eddie Philips started running shows in Manchester as Prime Time Pro, and then worked out the agreement with Gill after Bell folded.
At present, Gill Companies is negotiating a lease on the property with an unidentified party that plans to use the building for a business other than pro wrestling.
For stories on Mr. Gill’s unsavory activities in the payday loan industry click here and here. Even the most carny of wrestling promoters can’t hold a candle to this guy.
