Thursday, April 18, 2024

Ted Whitten with Harley Race in Australia


In the 1970s, the territory in Australia was one of the hottest promotions in the NWA. Great home grown talent mixed with imported talent from all over the world made Australia a hotbed.

Their promotion and television show was called World Championship Wrestling, years before that brand was established by Georgia Championship Wrestling, Jim Crockett Promotions, and Turner Broadcasting in the United States. The promoter was Jim Barnett.

The program was hosted in the 1970s by Ted Whitten, a famous Austrian Rules Football player who, after football,  entered the wrestling business as an announcer. World Championship Wrestling aired on the Nine Network at noon on Saturdays and Sundays. It was taped at GTV9 studios in Richmond, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, in Australia. The Nine Network was the most popular network in Australia during the time wrestling was so hot there.

Want to learn more about wrestling history in Australia. Check out Libnan Ayoub's excellent resource 100 Years of Australian Professional Wrestling.  

NWA World Champion Harley Race is challenged by Austra-Asian Champion Ron Miller on the set of World Championship Wrestling. Host Ted Whitten is caught between the two. 

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