Rare Houston Footage spotlights familiar faces from the Mid-Atlantic Area

Bob Caudle, David Crockett, and Joe Murnick join Paul Boesch in signing Harley Race vs. Andre the Giant in a rare video clip from WRAL in Raleigh

by Dick Bourne
originally published 10/3/17 on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway

Another rare piece of Crockett-related footage has surfaced from Houston TV on YouTube. Houston promoter Paul Boesch flew from Texas to Raleigh, NC, in the fall of 1978 to film a contract signing segment with Andre the Giant.

The video is actually two separate segments that would have aired separately on the Houston television show, and are likely presented here in reverse order.

In the segments, Boesch signs Andre the Giant to challenge NWA World Heavyweight Champion Harley Race at the Summit Arena in Houston on 10/13/1978. Paul Boesch is introduced by "Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling" host Bob Caudle. Representing the NWA for the contract signing are David Crockett and Joe Murnick of Jim Crockett Promotions in Charlotte.

The segments were taped at the studios of WRAL TV in Raleigh, NC, home of Jim Crockett's weekly television tapings.

Both David Crockett and Joe Murnich got a few words in. I especially liked Murnich's well-wishes to fellow promoter Boesch and the fans of Houston:

"I think the fans of Houston are very, very fortunate because I know this bout could be held anywhere in the world and your fans are most fortunate in having it. Good luck to you." 

David Crockett noted that the bout would be held on Friday the 13th, and suggested it might be unlucky for some (Harley Race perhaps?) but hopefully not for Andre.

The real rarity here is seeing and hearing Joe Murnick. What a special treat. Murnick was the local promoter for Jim Crockett based in Raleigh, NC, and he promoted the Raleigh area, as well as most of eastern North Carolina and eastern Virginia, including Richmond and Norfolk. Murnick was co-host of a Raleigh-only version of "Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling" in the 1960s and early 1970s, and when that Raleigh-only version was discontinued and all of the area's TV tapes were consolidated to WRAL in Raleigh, Murnick was still seen as the ring announcer on Crockett shows until his sons Elliot and Carl took over those duties toward the end of 1977 or early 1978. Joe Murnick had a deep, classically-southern voice that was just so perfect for the times and one of my favorite ring announcers ever. 

Very cool to be able to go back in time this far and see Murnick, Caudle, and Crockett in the old WRAL studio. Crockett Promotions didn't start keeping and archiving their old tapes until the early 1980s, so seeing this is very rare. The backdrop used in this tape was one frequently used in the early 1970s for local promotional spots for the various towns, but by 1978 wasn't used that frequently anymore. Nice to see it here.

These videos are bound to be pulled down soon, so we should enjoy them while we have them.

Sound Bytes: Joe Murnick Introduces Johnny Valentine vs. Bob Bruggers

Joe Murnick was the local promoter for Jim Crockett in Raleigh NC, Norfolk VA, and other towns in the 1960s and 1970s. But he was probably more famous during that time as the ring announcer for Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling. 

Joe's voice and vocal style were unique and reminiscent of the classic old-school ring announcers going back decades. His ring introductions were one of my favorite parts of Mid-Atlantic Wrestling each week.

From time to time we'll post some of Joe's ring introductions as we come across them on audio tape archives. We hope they bring back good memories to those of you old enough to remember Mr. Murnick's smooth delivery. And for those of you too young to remember him, we are happy to expose you to one of the classic television voices in the history of Jim Crockett Promotions. 

JOE'S CALL - July 20, 1974

Johnny Valentine vs. Bob Bruggers for 1000 Silver Dollars

Joe Murnick

This audio is part of a feature on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway looking back at how Johnny Valentine's infamous 1000 Silver Dollars became 2000 Silver Dollars in 1974.

Sound Bytes: Joe Murnick Introduces Wahoo McDaniel

Joe Murnick was the local promoter for Jim Crockett in Raleigh NC, Norfolk VA, and other towns in the 1960s and 1970s. But he was probably more famous during that time as the ring announcer for Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling. 

Joe's voice and vocal style were unique and reminiscent of the classic old-school ring announcers going back decades. 

From time to time we'll post some of Joe's ring introductions as we come across them on audio tape archives. We hope they bring back good memories to those of you old enough to remember Mr. Murnick's smooth delivery. And for those of you too young to remember him, we are happy to expose you to one of the classic television voices in the history of Jim Crockett Promotions. 

JOE'S CALL - April 1976 - Wahoo McDaniel vs. Jim Lancaster

(This post mirrors a post on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway.)

Television Wrestling History: WRAL-5 Raleigh, NC

WRAL TV in Raleigh is the studio location most closely associated with Jim Crockett Promotions and Mid-Atlantic Wrestling. Studio A at WRAL was the site of weekly TV tapings for over three decades. By 1974, all of the remaining regional taping locations (WFBC, WGHP, WBTV) had ceased, and all Crockett TV taping was consolidated into this location.

At that point, two versions of Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling were taped, one hosted by long time Raleigh announcer Bob Caudle, the other hosted briefly by Sam Menacker and then regularly by Les Thatcher. The Thatcher-hosted "B" show replaced WGHP's Championship Wrestling in markets where it was also syndicated at the time. (Example: Asheville's WLOS-TV).  On October 8, 1975, a new program called Wide World Wrestling, hosted by long time Atlanta wrestling announcer Ed Capral, replaced the Thatcher version of Mid-Atlantic Wrestling. Thatcher would continue to do the local promo spots to be inserted in the local broadcast of each show. (Thatcher also produced and hosted the Southeastern Championship Wrestling program for Ron Fuller in Knoxville, TN. during this period.) Capral left the promotion in late 1977 and was replaced by Tom Miller and George Scott. On the weekend of October 7, 1978, Rich Landrum became the permanent host of the show, which was renamed World Wide Wrestling.

Bob Caudle's main co-host was David Crockett through the WRAL period. Tom Miller filled in during the summer of 1976 when David Crockett was tending to another family business with sister Frances Crockett, the Charlotte O's minor league baseball franchise. Big Bill Ward, who hosted Championship Wrestling for Crockett Promotions in Charlotte on WBTV from the late 1950s through early 1970s, briefly co-hosted with Bob Caudle on the 2nd Mid-Atlantic show after TV tapings had been consolidated to Raleigh. Lord Alfred Hayes had a brief stint as co-host in 1980.  Landrum's regular co-host on World Wide Wrestling would eventually be Johnny Weaver.

Prior to this consolidation, in the 1960s and early 1970s, WRAL was actually the site of one show only, a one-hour taping with simultaneous "dual" audio tracks being recorded. As they taped the matches, they had two broadcasters calling the action separately. Nick Pond, a WRAL sportscaster, hosted the show that would be seen in the Raleigh market (with co-host Joe Murnick much of that time, who was also the local Raleigh promoter), while at the same time one desk over, Bob Caudle called the action for a tape that was sent out to other markets in the Mid-Atlantic area that didn't have their own local TV tapings. Both Pond and Caudle also did sports and weather for WRAL television. Elliot Murnick replaced Pond on the Raleigh broadcast around 1972-1973. For most of this time, the Raleigh show was called Championship Wrestling and the syndicated show was called All-Star Wrestling. When all of the other studio locations ceased taping by 1974, Caudle became the sole host of what was now titled Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling which was now sent to all of Crockett's TV  markets including the home base of Raleigh.

Wrestling first debuted on WRAL on January 31, 1959 at 5:00 PM. The show at the time was titled Championship Wrestling. In the earliest days of wrestling on WRAL, the legendary broadcaster Ray Reeve called the wrestling action before turning over the duties to Pond, who was Reeve's assistant early in his career at WRAL. Reeve was the long time radio voice of the North Carolina State Wolfpack and was the first broadcaster inducted to the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame. (On a side note, Charlie Harville, the long time host of wrestling taped at WGHP in High Point NC in the 60s and 70s, was the 2nd broadcaster inducted into NC Sports Hall of Fame.) 

But the voice most associated with WRAL wrestling will forever be the one and only Bob Caudle, a long time employee and on-air personality at WRAL, who continued to do TV for the Crocketts when they moved production to WPCQ in Charlotte and then took the production out to the arenas. Caudle is still loved by wrestling fans today, recently receiving a standing ovation at a wrestling legends show in Spartanburg SC. He was an inaugural inductee into the Mid-Atlantic Wrestling Hall of Heroes in August of 2007. Fans still call for his trademark show closer, "We'll see you next week fans, and until then, so long for now."

  - Dick Bourne

BASIC INFORMATION
Call Letters:	WRAL
Channel Number:	5
Network Affiliate:	ABC  (Originally NBC, now CBS)
Began Taping Wrestling:	Late 1950s Earliest known broadcast: January 31, 1959
Ceased Taping Wrestling:	July 29, 1981 (Final Taping)
Play-by-play Hosts:	MID-ATLANTIC WRESTLING: Raleigh telecast (1960s - approximately 1972): Ray Reeve, Nick Pond, Elliot Murnick Syndicated telecast: Bob Caudle, Les Thatcher, Sam Menacker (briefly) WIDE WORLD / WORLD WIDE WRESTLING: Ed Capral, Tom Miller, George Scott, Russ Debuq, Rich Landrum
Color Commentators:	MID-ATLANTIC WRESTLING: David Crockett, Tom Miller, Joe Murnick (Raleigh version only) Short term: Lord Alfred Hayes, Big Bill Ward. (There were brief runs by several others including Sandy Scott, Roddy Piper, and Sir Oliver Humperdink) WIDE WORLD / WORLD WIDE WRESTLING:: Johnny Weaver, George Scott, Tom Miller (There were brief appearances by several others.)
Ring Announcers:	Joe Murnick, Carl Murnick, Elliott Murnick, David Crockett, Jim Crockett
Local Promos:	Bob Caudle, David Crockett, Rich Landrum, Ed Capral, Les Thatcher, Bill Connell, a couple others yet identified. The famous commercial bump "Let's take time for this commercial message about the Mid-Atlantic Wrestling events coming up in your area..." was voiced by WRAL weatherman Bob Debardelaben.
Taping night:	Wednesday nights
Show titles:	Championship Wrestling, All Star Wrestling, Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, Wide World Wrestling, World Wide Wrestling

The Wonderful Voice of Joe Murnick

We will be adding a lot of sound clips to this blog (and over at the Mid-Atlantic Gateway), but we wanted to remind you we had a page over at SoundCloud with lots of great audio content there as well.

If I had to pick one ring announcer that was my favorite of all time (TV and arena), it would be Joe Murnick. Murnick was the local promoter in Raleigh and Norfolk and other towns for Jim Crockett. He was a pioneer event promoter in the Raleigh area. His two sons, Carl and Elliot, were also integral  parts of that business.

But he was so well suited to his on-air role as ring announcer on the WRAL broadcasts. Talk about old-school. And just the smoothest southern delivery of a ring intro you'll ever hear. The best!

Keeping those memories alive....

Mid-Atlantic Wrestling Luminaries Attend UNC/NCSU Wrestling Meet (1979)

An article from 1979 from a Chapel Hill, NC newspaper on a collegiate wrestling meet between the University of North Carolina and North Carolina State. In attendance: Bob Caudle, Joe Murnick, and Gene Anderson.

Can You Tell Who’s on Top?   Then You Can Understand Wrestling

Wrestling rules are not complicated.  Each match consists of three 3-minute periods. Points are scored for a takedown (2), reversal (2), escape (1) near fall (2) and a near fall for five seconds (3).

The moves are almost self-explanatory, and the fans are helped by an announcer who gives the calls when the officials signal a point.  A scoreboard keeps a count of individual and team scores.

When a wrestler wins a decision by less than an eight-point margin, his team receives three points.

A win by eight to 11 points nets four team points. A decision of a 12 point margin or more results in five team points. A fall or pin results in six team points, while a match ending in a tie awards two points to each team.

Among the fans watching Carolina’s 20-19 win over State were three men associated with professional wrestling. Joe Murnick, a promoter, Bob Caudle, a television announcer, and Gene Anderson, a pro wrestler since 1963, are on hand. Why would three men who make their living around the canvas rings of the professional wrestling world be on hand for a Carolina match?

Wrestling in Raleigh with Joe Murnick (1975)

Pro Grappling: Punches, Pulls and Holds Attract Snarling Zealots

The Daily Tar Heel – January 29, 1975

By: Marty Lagod

The inviting smell of popcorn and pepperoni pizza fills the air in Dorton Arena. Concession operators busily hawk their wares as fans file into the arena. Married couples have brought their children; bespeckled grandmothers, their grandchildren; and college students, their dates. Blacks, whites, young, old, blue collar and businessmen have all paid their $3.50 to see the same thing – Championship Wrestling.

Some of the best will be there – Paul Jones, Tiger Conway and the Super Destroyer. Big time wrestling. The same stuff that draws capacity crowds once a month to Madison Square Garden and holds attendance records at large arenas all over the country.

Tonight’s crowd of 2,000 will be treated to three single bouts and a special main event – a “Texas Tornado” tag team match.

Ric Flair and the Super Destroyer, two of the bad guys in the Tornado match, stalk about nervously while the crowd warms up watching Kevin Sullivan and Tim “The Outlaw” Dillinger battle in the ring. Sullivan, the crowd favorite, is being beaten to the apparent brink of death. He groans loudly every time The Outlaw resorts to illegal hair pulling and leaping from the top of the ring ropes.

“We’ve got names for guys like you,” yells a rotten-toothed spectator in a monogrammed service station shirt, “but we can’t say ‘em cause there’s a lady present.” With this encouragement, Sullivan recovers from his scrape with death to make a lightning comeback and win the match with the feared “Japanese Sleeper Hold.”

Meanwhile, a young girl approaches the 270 pound Flair and asks for his autograph.  “I don’t sign nothing for nobody,” the Super Destroyer growls.

Back in the ring, the crowd is cheering madly as Mike Paducis, a former University of Tennessee football player, makes a brilliant comeback to defeat his opponent with the lethal “Boston Crab” submission hold.

The stage is set for the main event.

A fan jeers, “Ric Flair, you’re nothing but a long-haired hippie. Look at them flowered pants! Paul Jones is going to clean this place up – all these sissies.” Flair glares at the fan. His partners are greeted with similar niceties.

On the other side of the ring, Tiger Conway and Sonny King are welcome as conquering heroes, but the standing ovation is reserved for Paul Jones, 1974s most popular wrestler.

Jones bounces into the ring looking like Captain America, complete with a red, white and blue jacket boasting stars on the sleeves.

The fans look worried as the wrestling begins and the Super Destroyer beats all three of the good guys to the mat. He pokes Conway in the eyes and is about to stomp on Jones head when the Tiger stages a comeback by smashing the Destroyer and his two partners with his rock-hard head.

The crowd is now on its feet screaming, snarling, cursing and moving closer to the ring. The frenzied are about to rush the mat when Conway finally rescues the subdued Jones from the Super Destroyer who is choking him with the cord of a ring-side microphone and pounding his head with the mike itself. Renewed, Jones fiercely throws the Russian to the mat and holds him for the three count.

Justice, good, America and apple pie have prevailed as the three seemingly groggy losers are escorted away in disgrace by the police. The fans, limp and emotionally drained, file out quietly.

The man behind all this wrestling extravaganza is Joe Murnick, the “M” of C&M Promotions. Murnick has been promoting professional wrestling for the past 17 years in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. He has promoted everything from stock racing to rock concerts.

Murnick also produces the syndicated television wrestling program for the same three state area.  The television program is one of the most successful locally produced programs, despite the fact that it is shown at 11:30 on Saturday nights.

“We have to be constantly aware of the demands of the fans,” Murnick says. “The fans are the key to this business.  If we don’t get the fans, we don’t make any money, and that’s what it’s all about – making money.”

“We have good, regular fans. Some have been sitting in the same seats for years.  You would play hell trying to move them somewhere else.  There’s the story of the guy with two broken legs that was brought here every Tuesday night by an ambulance while he had his casts on. He still claimed his regular front row seat.”

“People want to see plenty of action and lots of excitement. A good class A wrestler (one who wrestles in main events) can make $70,000 to $80,000 a year, depending on how often he wrestles and whether or not he gets hurt.  Guys in the preliminary matches make $15,000-$20,000 a year if they wrestle often enough.”

“Ken Patera and Chris Taylor were both Olympic performers before they started wrestling. To make money, these guys must wrestle as often as possible. If you think that this stuff is fake, just sign the waiver of liability and get into the ring.  Any wrestler would be very happy to show you just how fake it really is. We’ve had to carry many a wrestler to the hospital for treatment after a tough match.  We’ve had some wild matches. One policeman told me he didn’t consider it to be really wild until people start throwing chairs, but that only happens once or twice a year.”

* * * * * * * * * *

Thanks to Carroll Hall for providing this article and to Peggy Lathan for transcribing this article for us.

Wrestling Section on WRAL History Website

One of the most popular and long-lasting programs in WRAL-TV history was Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling. The matches were recorded every Wednesday night in WRAL’s Studio A and were televised on Channel 5 on Saturdays.

WRAL-TV was the main studio home for the wrestling productions that were syndicated throughout the region by Jim Crockett Promotions. Raleigh promoter Joe Murnick coordinated the Raleigh events and is also remembered as the ring announcer for many of the WRAL matches in the 1970s.

The weekly influx of wrestlers and their entourages made for interesting times at WRAL-TV. Colorful personalities like Wahoo McDaniel, Black Jack Mulligan and Ric Flair made WRAL home every Wednesday afternoon–recording promos, playing cards, wandering the halls and occasionally getting into shouting matches that brought a carnival atmosphere to the station. By and large the wrestlers were a genial group, but when the matches got underway in front of hundreds of screaming fans in Studio A – it was all business.

WRAL on-air personalities became some of the most popular play-by-play hosts for the matches. North Carolina Hall-of-Fame sportscaster Ray Reeve was first to call the matches, followed by Nick Pond and the legendary Bob Caudle—who gained his greatest fame as the voice of Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling. Weatherman Bob DeBardelaben even got in on the action, putting his voice on the famous announcement that always preceded commercial breaks: “Let’s take time for this commercial message about the Mid-Atlantic Wrestling events coming up in your area.”

The first known wrestling program at WRAL-TV was recorded on January 31, 1959. The matches ran continuously for more than two decades before coming to an end July 29, 1981.

http://history.capitolbroadcasting.com/programs/sports-shows/wrestling/


* * * * *

The WRAL / CBC history website made significant use of the Mid-Atlantic Gateway's Studio Wrestling section as a reference for this article, and included many historical artifacts collected by the Gateway on their website as well.

Raleigh TV Listings, March 14, 1969 

In March of 1969, Raleigh promoter Joe Murnick was a guest on the Alan Burke Show, along with "Mr. Wrestling" Tim Woods and Sam Steamboat.

Thanks to Carroll Hall for providing this little bit of history.

Sign The Waiver

"The Daily Tar Heel"  - Wednesday, January 29, 1975

A little teaser for an upcoming 1975 newspaper article we'll post here soon regarding promoter Joe Murnick, the live events in Raleigh's Dorton Arena, and the Mid-Atlantic Wrestling television tapings at WRAL TV-5 studios.

I just love Joe's quote to the poor soul on the other end of the telephone. Look for that article coming soon.

(Edit: The article is located here.)

Thanks to Carroll Hall for providing the article.

1976 Weather Promo has 5 Wrestling Connections

WRAL produced a series of satirical promotional spots in early 1976 to announce Bob DeBardelaben as the primary weather host on WRAL newscasts, replacing Bob Caudle who was moving into other responsibilities at WRAL working for Jesse Helms (and continuing his hosting duties of Mid-Atlantic Wrestling, of course.)

Brian Rogers recently discovered a compilation of those promotional clips on You Tube. I pulled them off YouTube and edited them down to one single storyline clip and re-posted them.

The immediate interest was of course that Bob Caudle was featured, and there was also a cameo by Blackjack Mulligan in the wrestling ring at WRAL. It was cool that the video featured these two direct wrestling connections, and also a third, since it was the voice of Bob Debardelaben you heard at each of the two breaks for the local wrestling promotional spots during "Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling" and "Wide World Wrestling":

"Let's take time for this commercial message about the Mid-Atlantic Wrestling events coming up in your area."

A day or so after posting the video clip, Carroll Hall (who publishes the excellent "All Star Championship Wrestling" blog) pointed out to me that there was a fourth wrestling connection in the video I had failed to notice: sportscaster Nick Pond. Pond was host of the Raleigh-only wrestling broadcast "Championship Wrestling" on WRAL throughout the 1960s and early 1970s. 

After writing up that information and watching the video yet again, I suddenly noticed what I thought was the familiar face of Raleigh area promoter Joe Murnick in one short scene where the president of the station is seen at his desk. Mr. Murnick is seen sitting on the couch behind him. I asked Elliot Murnick and he confirmed it was indeed his father. (Elliot also confirmed that the "president" in the video is indeed longtime President and CEO of Capitol broadcasting Jim Goodmon.)

That makes a total of five people in this short video that had direct connections to Mid-Atlantic Wrestling at WRAL-TV:

Bob Caudle

Bob hosted the syndicated "All Star Wrestling" in the 1960s that later became "Mid-Atlantic Wrestling" in the 1970s and 1980s. He did weather, sports, and news at various times throughout his WRAL career, and worked for Jesse Helms at the station as well. He is seen here receiving the keys to the "executive washroom" after being promoted at WRAL.

Bob DeBardelaben
"The Biggest Name in Weather", DeBardelaben succeeded Bob Caudle as the primary weather host (known then as 'weathermen') in 1976. The promotional spots featured here served to announce and promote that. DeBardelaben is the main star of the vignettes.

Nick Pond
Nick Pond hosted the Raleigh-only broadcast of "Championship Wrestling" (taped simultaneously alongside Caudle's "All Star Wrestling") throughout the 1960s and early 1970s. He was the main sports anchor for WRAL at the time of these promotional spots, and is seen in the video joining others in welcoming DeBardelaben to the team.

Joe Murnick
Murnick was the local promoter for Jim Crockett Promotions in Raleigh (as well as other towns in eastern NC and Virginia.) He ran his own events promotion company as well, staging concerts and other events in addition to wrestling almost every Tuesday night at the Dorton Arena or the Raleigh Civic Center. He is seen here in one scene (at the :59 second mark) sitting on a couch behind the president of the station, Jim Goodmon.

Blackjack Mulligan
One of the main event wrestlers for Jim Crockett and Joe Murnick during this time period, Mulligan was chasing the United States wrestling championship held by Paul Jones. (He would win the title for the first time on March 13 in Greensboro.) He has a cameo role here answering the question "Will Bob (DeBardelaben) quit?" Mully leans through the ropes of the wrestling ring in the TV studio and says "He better not!"

Learn more about Studio Wrestling at WRAL-5 in Raleigh on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway.

- Dick Bourne
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

Thanks to Brian Rogers, Carroll Hall, and Elliot Murnick.

Link to original unedited WRAL promos: WRAL-TV: "As The Weather Turns" Promos (1976)