Of course, I realize that Smokey Mountain Wrestling wasn't a studio show, but its time was roughly at the tail end of the studio era, and let's face it: Smoky Mountain Wrestling was the closest thing we had left to the feel of studio wrestling then. And that is meant as a huge compliment.
There were a number of broadcasting legends that hosted that show for promoter Jim Cornette, including Les Thatcher, Jim Ross, and of course the great Bob Caudle. My favorite broadcasting team for the promotion was Caudle with Dutch Mantell, with Caudle playing the straight man as always, calling it like a sports broadcaster would, and Dutch adding his controversial - -and often times hilarious - - commentary.
Dutch once spoke of his affection for Bob on his podcast, "Story Time with Dutch Mantell", remembering that Bob was the first wrestling announcer he remembers growing up in western North Carolina and watching Crockett Promotions wrestling out of Greenville, SC, and Asheville, NC. I'm imagining it was a thrill to be able to work with the "voice of his childhood."
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See also: Dutch Mantell Remembers Working with Bob Caudle (with audio clip)
