Man Behind the Mic: Ray Morgan (Washington, DC - WWWF)

(from Wrestling News Magazine, 1966) 

One of the most widely known of the TV wrestling announcers and a dean among all sportscasters is genial Ray Morgan who is the man behind the mike at the weekly shows from the Nation's Capital, Washington, D.C.

Ray, who has been doing wrestling on a regular basis since 1957, has been in the broadcasting business for over thirty years, starting out in 1933 on radio station WETL in Philadelphia.

Born in Trenton, N.J, and raised in the small town of Libertown, Md., Ray was headed for a law career at Notre Dame following his graduation from Atlantic City, N.J. high school. However, as this was during the height of the depression he had to give up his dream of college to go to work. After holding down a few selling jobs he decided to take a crack at the broadcasting business.

Ray Morgan with Bruno Sammartino

Morgan applied to station WCAU in Philadelphia, but was told to get some experience. He worked without pay for the next six months for WETL, a small station in Philadelphia, but never got to WCAU. Instead he moved on to WPG in Atlantic City. Morgan remained there for seven years, becoming chief announcer and sports director. When the station went off the air on New Year's Eve in 1940 Ray swiched to WWDC in Washington where he took over the post of chief announcer.

Morgan failed in an attempt to enlist in the service but put in four years working for Uncle Sam as a public relations officer at the Miami Air Force Base. After the war he returned to WWDC as sports director and head of the special events department. He moved into TV a few years later and in 1952 joined WTOP. Later he became sports director of WTTG-TV where he began his career as a wrestling announcer. Ray's warm and friendly manner made him an instant hit with the fans. The mailmen groan under the heavy load of fan mail that reaches his office every day.

Some years ago Ray was seen twice weekly with shows coming from Bridgeport, Conn. as well as Washington, D.C. but now he has only one show out of Washington which is seen in many cities throughout the United States. Tapes of these shows appear in Europe and Africa thus making him a world-wide personality.

Morgan has made thousands of personal appearances in recent years but no matter what the gathering or what subject he is scheduled to talk about, it always ends up being wrestling. Ray loves the wrestling fans. "They are the most loyal and rabid of any sports fans, but they get out of hand sometimes, "he chuckled.

Morgan has watched just about all the greats of matdom in action and has seen fads and fantastic followings come and go for the wrestlers, but he remarked, "I have never seen a wrestler with the loyal following that Bruno Sammartino has. Bruno is a true gentleman and this is the reason I feel he has become such an idol. It is not only his great ability that has made him the star that he is."

Man Behind the Mike: Danny Williams (Oklahoma)

Man Behind the Mike: Meet Danny Williams
Wrestling Revue August 1966

Unquenchable energy and creativity are the elements that go to make up the dynamic personality of Danny Williams. Known to Oklahoma oldsters and youngsters alike, Danny has been on the WKY-TV staff for sixteen years. Currently in the position of program manager for WKY Radio, Danny also conducts an early morning radio program called Time and Tune Parade" which enjoys the largest audience by far of any radio program in the Oklahoma City area.

At one time Danny led youngsters into outer space on his Monday-through-Friday "3-D Danny" show and for the past six years has played a number of character parts on the "Foreman Scotty Show," the top-ranked children's program in Oklahoma City.

In addition to all of these duties, Danny has for years been the ringside announcer for WKY-TV's Saturday Night Wrestling Show originating in the studios of WKY-TV.

Danny announced his first wrestling show in 1950 in which were featured LeRoy McGurk and Danny McShane. The Saturday night show, telecast in color, always plays to a packed house in the studios and Danny has become as famous as a wrestling announcer as have the wrestlers who have appeared in the ring.

During World War II, Danny served a hitch as a Fireman First Class in the Navy. Out of the Navy in 1946, he enrolled at the University of Texas where he acquired (I) a wife, and (2) a degree in fine arts. His first radio job was with KTSA in San Antonio.

Danny's hobbies include fishing, golf, water skiing and skeet shooting. Danny is a top-flight golfer and has won many tournaments in Oklahoma. He is a member of the famed Hole-In-One Club, a member of the Masonic Lodge, the Commandery and the Shriners.

Danny and his wife Marilyn have four girls, with twins making up half of the family.

Man Behind the Mike: Jim Carlisle (Georgia)

SALUTE TO THE ANNOUNCER
Jim Carlisle, WRBL-TV, Columbus GA
Wrestling Revue Magazine, August 1972
(Includes rare audio clip below.)

Born, June 19, 1939, announcer Jim Carlisle of WRBL-TV, Channel 3, Columbus, Georgia, graduated from Jordan Vocational High School in Columbus in 1957. He's married to the former Miss Betty Ann Stokes of Columbus. They have one son — Derek Scott — born December 28, 1968.

Jim has been in the radio and television industry since December 2, 1955, having started while still in high school. He has worked at stations in Chattanooga, Tenn., Montgomery, Ala., Mobile, Ala., LaGrange, Georgia, and, of course, Columbus. Has now been with WRBL-TV, Channel 3, since September of 1965. Jim is very versatile on TV, having done just about every type of program that there is.

Jim Carlisle interviews Dick Steinborn

During the late 1960's, he did a very popular show for the younger set, called "Blast-Off with V-Man," a space-man type show. After V-Man appeared in a downtown Christmas parade one year, the Columbus newspapers came out with an article saying that V-Man drew more applause from the children, and seemed to be more popular with the children, than even Santa Claus himself.

Jim calls the action on TV Wrestling every Saturday afternoon at 4:00 on WRBL-TV.

He is also the ring announcer at the wrestling matches at the Columbus Auditorium every Wednesday night.

He also writes a column, "At Ringside With Jim Carlisle," for the official wrestling program which is sold every Wednesday night at the auditorium. He gives background information on the various wrestlers who see action in the Columbus ring.

All his wrestling activities are in association with promoter Fred Ward of Columbus.

Jim Carlisle in the ring
at the Columbus Municipal Auditorium

Jim's favorite past time and hobby is fishing. He goes just about every chance he gets. A member of the Loyal Order of Moose, Jim is a Past Governor of the Columbus, Georgia, Moose Lodge No. 1166. He is also a member of the Legion of the Moose.

Jim says that he enjoys his association with wrestling, and is glad the opportunity came his way a couple of years ago. His Saturday afternoon wrestling telecasts have proven to be extremely popular with the area fans.

Several of the wrestlers have told Jim that he is one of the best that they had ever heard at calling the action on TV. And, considering the fact that they had heard wrestling announcers all across the country, Jim considers this to be a great compliment.

Thanks to Carroll Hall for forwarding this article to us at the Mid-Atlantic Gateway.

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Editors's note: Jim Carlisle was also the host of "Macon Championship Wrestling" that aired on channel 9 in Macon, GA in the 1970s.

Here is an audio clip of a promo for a card in Macon in 1977 featuring the voice of Jim Carlisle.

The music bed underneath is the opening live instrumental fanfare on Neil Diamond's iconic live LP "Hot August Night."

Man behind the Mike: Gordon Solie

From Wrestling Revue
February 1966

At the age of twelve, when most boys dream of becoming firemen, policemen or aviators, Gordon Solie was entertaining thoughts of becoming a radio announcer. He followed the idea through high school, taking all available courses in broadcasting and dramatics. Today, at thirty-six, Solie is one of the foremost announcers in the nation. This distinction is due largely to a syndicated television program entitled, "Championship Wrestling From Florida."

After finishing high school, Solie joined the United States Air Force and was sent to Okinawa. Upon returning to the United States, Solie was assigned to the Seventh Geodetic Squadron at Barksdale Air Force Base. Here, he became a member of WRCN, the base radio station.

While announcing for Uncle Sam, Gordon got acquainted with Vinn Marshall of KWKH radio. Marshall, an "old pro," gave Solie many valuable "pointers" whenever Gordon visited the commercial station following his own sign-off trick at WRCN. Through it all, Solie managed to eke out three or four hours sleep each night, as he was also working a regular daytime shift with the Air Force. It was sometimes pretty hard to keep going," Gordon recalls, "but the valuable experience I got was worth it." Upon leaving the Air Force, Gordon Solie journeyed to Tampa, Florida, to try his luck as a professional announcer. His first job was at a small independent radio station known as WEBK. The station (now WSOL) had no sports programming whatsoever, and Solie was quick to recognize the opportunity. It wasn't long before he had his own fifteen-minute sports show each evening.

As WEBK's first sports announcer, Gordon interviewed many of the day's top wrestlers, such as the late Gorgeous George, Primo Carnera, Baron Leone and Wild Red Berry.

After one year at WEBK, Solie was contacted by WFLA, then the area's top radio station, and asked to join the staff. He readily accepted. At WFLA, Gordon soon became good friends with Milt Spencer, that station's sports director, and it wasn't long before the two of them came up with a late night show which rapidly became the most popular in the entire area.

Not long thereafter, Solie announced a live automobile race at Speedway Park, just outside of Tampa. He did so well he was offered a full time job at it. After three years with Art Swenson and the Auto Thrillcade, Solie was named as the outstanding outdoor announcer in the country. When he returned to Tampa, weary of the road and looking forward to settling down to a more normal existence, "Cowboy" Luttrall, Tampa's wrestling promoter, offered Solie a job as publicity man. Solie accepted, and it was natural for him to become the wrestling commentator on the now highly popular weekly TV program.

The next big development in Solie's career came when Frank Dery Jr. interested him in building a race track for stock cars in Tampa. The resultant Golden Gate Speedway has become the finest short track stock car race-way in the entire United States. Solie handles the mike for the races at Golden Gate every Friday and Saturday night.

A many-faceted person, Gordon is also half owner of a new motor oil distributorship in Florida, is secretary of the Southeastern Promoters Auto Association and chairman of the Babe Zaharias Cancer Fund Drive in Tampa. Known as "Scrambler" according to a recent story in the Tampa Tribune, Solie continues to look for new fields to conquer.

"My first love is wrestling," he told us. "I feel that wrestling and stock car racing are the two outstanding action sports in the United States. The men I have met in both professions lead me to believe that you will go a long way to find nicer, more sincere people anywhere. Lou Thesz, Don Curtis, Eddie Graham, Haystack Calhoun, Fireball Roberts, Ned Jarrett, Art Malone and Don Garlits are some of my favorite people and I feel that I am privileged to know them."

Married to the former Eileen Thibaut of Lorain, Ohio, Solie has three children, Denise, sixteen, is an athletic young lady with an interest in acrobatics. Greg, a fourteen-year-old wrestles as an amateur. Eric, the eleven-year-old, in interested in be-coming a race driver.

With such a talented family Gordon Solie could even produce his own shows.



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Thanks to Carroll Hall at All Star Championship Wrestling who provided this article to the Mid-Atlantic Gateway.

Pittsburgh's Bill Cardille (1969)

This is one of the better and more lengthy profiles of a TV wrestling host that appeared as part of a series called  "The Man Behind the Mike" in "Wrestling Revue" magazine back in the 1960s and early 1970s. 

The show featured in the April 1969 issue was called "Studio Wrestling" (you know we love that title) and was hosted by Bill Cardille on WIIC-11 TV in Pittsburgh.

Cardille was quite the character himself as you will learn in this great feature.

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PITTSBURGH BROADCASTER LEADS AN INTERESTING LIFE
Chilly Billy - Nimblest Man on Camera!
Wrestling Revue - April 1969

Bruno Sammartino and Bill Cardille

Several hundred thousand calloused fans of Pittsburgh's Studio Wrestling relaxed in front of their television sets with sharp appetites, and maybe a fresh beer, for the debut of still another Masked Marvel.

If they realized that it was April First, the Marvel soon made them forget it. He brought them upright in their easy chairs the instant he strutted - arrogantly into the ring.

The Marvel was tormenting lovable Izzy Moidel, the big, easy-going referee. Izzy cowered under a slap and a kick. Then the reckless Marvel interrupted the pre-match instructions by roughing up his opponent, Ace Freeman.

Freeman is a respected veteran of countless matches and a number of Masked Marvels, and he wasn't about to take much guff from this one. After a brief flurry, he rushed the Marvel into a corner, locked him against the ropes, and yanked off his mask.

The camera darted in expectantly for a close-up. And the words "April Fool!" flashed under the famous face that exploded on thousands of TV screens.

And you could almost hear the collective, delighted groan—"Oh, no! Not that nut again!" For there, unabashed and happy with his deceit and grinning foolishly, crouched "Chilly Billy" Cardille, the commentator-host of WIIC-TV's Studio Wrestling.

Moments later, Cardille was back at his ringside microphone in a tasteful suit, a quiet tie, again darkly handsome and unruffled as a baby's brow. It was business as usual in his quiet corner of the madhouse. If he gave any hint of the recent zaniness, it was in a restrained smile.

Stunts like that one, along with his bright, knowledgeable commentary throughout the matches, have made Bill Cardille (pronounced "Car-dill") a great favorite on the Pittsburgh wrestling scene. He's helped make Studio Wrestling the top-rated local show on WIIC, Pittsburgh's NBC outlet. The show (Saturdays, 6 to 7:30 p.m.) goes into some 200,000 homes, said a recent Nielsen rating. It also plays before a packed house of some 300 at the studio, and they're not the same 300 each night. They're scramblers. There's a six-week wait for the free tickets.

Cardille and TV wrestling grew up, and down, together.

Man Behind the Mike: Scott Clark (1970)

Here is another great entry into our series of "Man Behind the Mike" features from Wrestling Revue magazine in the 1960s and 1970s. This one appears to reference a TV show and host that very little is known about. WKTR was the call sign for a station in Dayton, Ohio from 1967-1971. It was broadcast on UHF channel 16 and was a part-time affiliate for the ABC TV network.

For at least some of that time, wrestling was taped and/or broadcast from there at the local studios. It's not clear if this local Dayton, OH, show was affiliated with one of the major pro-wrestling offices at that time. A quick Google search led to no further information about the show or Scott Clark. So we're glad this little piece of wrestling history survives.

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MEET SCOTT CLARK - MAN BEHIND THE MIKE
Wrestling Revue - August 1970

Scott Clark, the man who comes up with all the exciting commentary on the Live TV wrestling over station WKTR-TV in Dayton, Ohio, is just as avid a wrestling fan as are the thousands of viewers who watch his show each week. This is one reason that he has become such a favorite with the listeners. He is more one of them than he is a broadcaster.

"I love wrestling," Scott is proud to say, and this comes across in his commentary on the matches. Not only does he love wrestling but he knows it, as he was an outstanding amateur and collegiate wrestler.

Scott Clark conducts an interview on WKTR in Dayton, OH

Born some 34 years ago in Long Beach, Calif., Scott grew up in Medford, Oklahoma, and went on to Oklahoma State, a hotbed of college wrestling where this 6 ft.-1 200-pounder was a member of the wrestling team. He later transferred to the University of Southern California, and upon his graduation returned to Stillwater, Oklahoma, where he became a radio announcer at KSPI.

Clark moved on to Dallas, Texas, and Los Angeles as an announcer and then served two years with the U.S. Army from 1959 to 1961. Upon his discharge Lt. Clark switched over to television with station KRLD in Dallas, and moved on as a producer to KPHO-TV in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1962.

In 1963 Clark became program director for a number of local stations that hooked up to form their own network in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.

Scott left there in 1965 to join station KARD-TV in Wichita, Kansas, as a producer-director of talent and in January, 1968 he became production manager of WKTR in Dayton. A few months ago, when live wrestling came to WKTR, it didn't take Scott long to find a perfect man to handle the job behind the mike — who else but wrestling "nut" Scott Clark.

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Thanks to Carroll Hall at the All-Star Championship Wrestling website for providing these great articles about the wrestling broadcasters to us.

Earlier "Man Behind the Mike" features:
Bob Caudle - Mid-Atlantic Wrestling (1965)
George Abel - St. Louis Wrestling (1965)

TV Station reference.

Bob Caudle & WRAL Wrestling Profile (1965)

The following short article is from a "Man Behind the Mike" feature in Wrestling Revue magazine in August of 1965. It spotlights the great career of Bob Caudle who was for the better part of three decades the voice of All-Star Wrestling, Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, and NWA Pro Wrestling for Jim Crockett Promotions.

There are many posts on this blog about Bob, who was without question the voice most associated with Jim Crockett Promotions of all the on-air talent that worked for the company. See the "Crockett On-Air Talent" list on the right side of this page and click on Bob's name to filter posts just about him.

Although this article was originally published in 1965 (my goodness, 50 years ago this year!), it is one of the better features ever written about him in a wrestling publication.

[ WRESTLING REVUE ARTICLE ]

Bob Caudle interviews Sandy and George Scott on the set of "All Star Wrestling" at WRAL in 1965

Over the crowd's frenzied roar booms the confident voice of Bob Caudle who narrates the wild wrestling activity which is taped every Wednesday night at WRAL-TV, Raleigh, North Carolina. Wrestling is very big in Caudle's domain, which includes Richmond and Norfolk in Virginia, and Greenville, Charleston and Columbia in South Carolina.

Bob's show is called "All-Star Wrestling" and it is one of the most unique shows in the world since there is no charge for admission and it is not held in an arena. The scene of these year-round weekly battles is a studio at WRAL-TV. Seating is limited to 300 persons and tickets are issued free, just as they are for many other TV studio shows.

Wrestlers come from all over the world to take part in these shows despite the fact that there are no gate receipts and only a handful of spectators. Of course the TV audience is far greater than the combined fans of many arenas, and so far no one has heard the wrestlers complain about the pay.

Two video tapes are made at the same time. One is MC'd by Nick Pond for Raleigh viewers. The other is MC'd by Bob Caudle and shipped out to the cities already mentioned above.

Bob Caudle has been announcing "All-Star Wrestling" for two and a half years. Contributing greatly to he success of this show is Bob's personal interviews with the wrestlers. Through these, the TV audience gets to know the wrestlers more intimately which makes for more intense likes and dislikes. Especially popular (or unpopular) are the tag-teams that appear regularly on his show. Invariably the most hated villains draw the most viewers.

Sometimes Michael Caudle, 13, and Bobby Caudle, 9, accompany Dad to the show. So far they have shown no desire to get into the ring, but the addition of a couple of hundred pounds apiece may change that. Who knows, one day father Caudle may be announcing a new tag team the Killer Caudle Brothers.

Bob Caudle started in Radio in 1948 and added TV to his announcing talents in 1956. His radio play-by-play experience includes most sports and especially wrestling, baseball, football and basketball. He had his first live TV wrestling show from 1958 to 1959 in Savannah, Georgia.

In addition to handling sports, Bob is also an active member of the Channel Five news staff. He does the Atlantic Weather Show which is a regular part of the 6:00 to 7:00 P.M. news block called "Dateline." He also reports news of North Carolina and Raleigh, with "doings of the legislature" on "Late Dateline", which is aired every weekday evening from 11:00 to 11:30 P.M.

However, Bob Caudle's first love is "All-Star Wrestling" for this show is packed full of violent, unpredictable action and keeps him on his toes from start to finish.

[ END OF ARTICLE ]

Thanks to Pete Jarvis, via Carroll Hall,  for providing the scanned image of the article. The article was from "Wrestling Revue" from August 1965.

Republished in July of 2022 on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway.

Broadcaster George Abel & Wrestling at the Chase (1965)

The following short article is from a "Man Behind the Mike" feature in Wrestling Revue magazine in October of 1965. It spotlights the great career of George Abel who was for many years the voice of Sam Muchnick's Wrestling at the Chase in St. Louis. The program aired on KPLR and at the time of this article originated from the Chase Hotel in St. Louis.

Great names from wrestling's past also mentioned in the article include Sam Muchnick, Jack Brickhouse, Lou Thesz, Wild Bill Longson, and Joe Garagiola. (Video is also included in this feature following the article.)

[ WRESTLING REVUE ARTICLE ]

From Wrestling Revue Magazine, October 1965

GEORGE ABEL is one of the most knowledgeable and popular wrestling commentators, whose "Wrestling at the Chase" programs, are television highlights of the mid-West. When you hear the clear, corn-posed, calm and articulate Abel announcing the mat shows, you'd never suspect it, but George claims that he was once one of the world's worst stutterers.

Abel finds it hard to explain, but presumes that his desire to become an announcer must have been stronger than the reason for the speech defect. The impediment disappeared just as his broadcasting career was begun.

Since November 1963 Abel has been reigning over the KPLR microphone, broadcasting the wrestling matches from St. Louis, Mo. He had some misgivings when he took over the program. "I was attempting to fill a large pair of shoes, since one of my predecessors was the inimitable Joe Garagiola, who replaced Mel Allen in the broadcasting of the N.Y. Yankees' ballgames," he confessed. "However, I'm proud to say our ratings are now bigger and better than ever."

Wrestling has never been presented in more plush surroundings than for this show. "Wrestling at the Chase" is staged in the ornate Khorassan Room of St. Louis' finest hotel, the Chase-Park Plaza. Weekly 1,500 patrons attend by invitation only and during the telecasts, the fans enjoy the matches with food and beverages.

Abel is a veteran of broadcasting and the stage. He began his radio and television careers in 1941, working as an announcer on many sports shows. While a station staff announcer, he used to watch the telecasts of Jack Brickhouse's wrestling shows from the Marigold Gardens, in Chicago. George was fascinated and impress-ed, admits he actually learned wrestling terminology from Brickhouse.

Several years ago Abel was able to put his wrestling knowledge to use, doing the hold-by-hold commentary for Sam Muchnick, a top-notch promoter who is also the president of the National Wrestling Alliance.

Muchnick's Saturday night wrestling shows were televised over a Missouri-Illinois network.
When it was decided to originate a TV wrestling show from St. Louis, Abel won the audition from among a number of candidates. He received considerable help from such wrestling greats as NWA champion Lou Thesz and former champ, Wild Bill Longson.

Abel is married and the father of two boys, nine and eleven years old.

His score of years before the mike includes many local radio and TV shows. He has been starred as an actor on a kiddie TV program, "The Wranglers," in the role of Drygulch. Abel had a fling for a year on the stage with the famed Barter Theatre, in Virginia, and appeared opposite Dolores Grey as "Sitting Bull" in the St. Louis Municipal Opera production of "Annie Get Your Gun," plus many appearances with the local Community Playhouse.

Abel is most articulate and capable at the mike. We can hardly believe that he ever stuttered, but he says he did!

[ END OF ARTICLE ]

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Here is some rare video from "Wrestling at the Chase" featuring the play-by-play voice of George Abel. By this point in time, the television tapings had moved from the Khorassan ballroom to a smaller TV studio.

George Abel is a member of the St. Louis Media Hall of Fame and is featured on the St. Louis Media History website. More information about George and the Wrestling at The Chase program can be found on Tim Hornbaker's excellent "Legacy of Wrestling" website.

The "Championship Wrestling" art that would appear bumping in and out of commercial
breaks on KPLR in the 1960s

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Thanks as always to Carroll Hall for providing the scanned image of the article for us. The article was from "Wrestling Revue" Volume 6, Issue 6 from October 1965. Subscription rates in 1965 were $3.00....per year!