Saturday, July 25, 2015

Ed Capral Profile

by Les Thatcher
from Mid-Atlantic Wrestling Magazine (Vol. 2 No. 3, 1976)


"Welcome ladies and gentlemen to Wide World Wrestling."

Ed Capral
The words are spoken and yet another program is being recorded in the studios of WRAL-TV in Raleigh. The tape machines are humming; the camera men are awaiting their cues; the director and engineers are giving instructions to the floor crews.

In front of the camera, however, away for all of this hustle and bustle stands a quite composed gentleman from Atlanta, Mr. Ed Capral. In a manner now familiar to wrestling fans throughout the southeast, Ed tells viewers what they are about to see. Then "Right after this word from our sponsor," cameras break away for a commercial and Ed makes his way to his desk where he will describe the action in a way that only he can.

All of this explanation sets the stage to answer the question "Who is Ed Capral?

Ed is one of the most experienced voices of wrestling beginning as a guest commentator 30 years ago. Ed was given the guest shot by Atlanta promotor Paul Jones and from that time has never looked back.

After attending the University of Georgia and serving a tour of duty in Korea, Ed returned to television where he would become the voice of Georgia Championship Wrestling for the next 20 years. Many wrestlers were to come and go but Ed remained vigile at his post.

In 1975 Ed joined Wide World Wrestling as the voice of this new program. Now the program is gaining popularity in the Mid-Atlantic area by leaps and bounds.

Ed may not go down in the annals of sports broadcasting history but his face and voice bring the same reaction from wrestling fans as Howard Cosell, Curt Gowdy, and Pat Summerall get from football fans.

"This is Ed Capral saying so long until next week." 

He wipes his face; shakes a few hands; packs his bag; and leaves for the airport for his trip back to Atlanta.