The following is a transcript of an article in the Bessemer City Record (NC) from February of 1964, provided by Charlotte wrestling historian Carroll Hall.
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GRUNT AND GROAN on Saturdays
Championship Wrestling Switches Time PeriodChampionship Wrestling, a sacred subject to many sports-minded people in the Charlotte area, is switching times on WBTV. The popular grunt and groan attraction will be seen from 6-7 p.m. each Saturday beginning in February, instead of from 5:30-6:30 as in the past.
Jim Crockett, who has many times filled the Charlotte Coliseum with his grapple games, promises that the top names in the sport will continue to grace the Channel Three Tube. And that includes such name grapplers as George Becker, Two Ton Harris, Ike Eakins, Haystack Calhoun, Buddy Rogers, Pat O'Connor, the Bolos, and many others. Midget wrestlers, lady wrestlers, tag matches, managers' matches, and maybe even a few bouts between the wrestlers and the refs, will also be staged for viewers. (It's happened before, hasn't it refs?)
WBTV Sports Director Big Bill Ward will continue to describe the holds and fast-paced action.
"Championship Wrestling" will be followed each Saturday night at 7 p.m. by "Mister Ed", the talking horse.
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| Big Bill Ward Sports Director and wrestling host at WBTV |
Promoter Jim Crockett's "Championship Wrestling" premiered on WBTV channel-3 in January of 1958 in its original 5:30 time slot. Hosted by WBTV Sports Director Bill Ward, the popularity of the show earned it a bump up to the early evening 7 PM slot described in this article.
For more wrestling nostalgia related to WBTV in Charlotte, visit the WBTV Channel 3 page.
Special thanks to one of my best friends, Carroll Hall, for providing this rare newspaper clipping to the Studio Wrestling website, part of the Mid-Atlantic Gateway. - Dick Bourne