Fans in the Roanoke, VA, area will remember this simple graphic that preceded each episode of "All Star Wrestling" and later "Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling" on WSLS-10.
The graphic itself (without our old-school TV set treatment) was posted on Facebook by Jim McDowell and forwarded to our attention by our friend Thom Brewer. McDowell's mother Julie McDowell, then a graphic designer for the station, is said to have created the graphic for the station all those many years ago.
From around 1960-1967, WDBJ-7 taped and aired its own wrestling program called "All Star Wrestling." The show was taped in the small confines of the WDBJ studios, and hosted by local personality Hal Grant.
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| George Becker, George Scott, Sandy Scott and host Hal Grant in the television studio at WDBJ-7 in Roanoke VA, circa mid 1960s. (from the personal collection of Sandy Scott) |
The show was cancelled in 1967 after an ugly on-air incident and WSLS-10 became the new broadcast home of "All Star Wrestling." Rather than taping their own show, they aired the show taped in Raleigh hosted by Bob Caudle at WRAL-5. That show later changed its name to "Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling" in 1973.
I've always thought the wrestler standing in that graphic looked like he could be the younger brother of Simon Bar Sinister, the villain in the 1960s Saturday morning "Underdog" cartoon.
Click here for more information on wrestling taped at WDBJ-7.
