The Lost Art of Great Ring Announcing

Legendary Joe McHugh introduces "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers

I have a fondness for many of the old-school ring announcers. They all had a a certain flair for the dramatic, and made the introduction of any match seem special.  The art of classic ring announcing went the way of the old smoke filled rooms that were the classic old venues in pro-wrestling.

One of my favorites might surprise you; the great Joe McHugh of the old W.W.W.F.

McHugh was a wrestling and boxing announcer going back to the 1950s, most famously with wrestling fans at the W.W.W.F. television tapings at Allentown, Pennsylvania's Agricultural Hall. When I first saw WWF "Championship Wrestling" on WOR-9 out of Secaucus, NJ in around 1981, I thought to myself, "Now THAT is a ring announcer."

This is an audio clip of McHugh introducing "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers at the Philadelphia Spectrum in the mid-1980s. I loved the way McHugh included the historical mention of Rogers being the only man (at that time) to have held both the NWA and WWF world titles. Those details mattered, and meant something to fans in that era.

The audio of that introduction is included here:

I always thought Joe McHugh and Raleigh's Joe Murnick (my favorite ring announcer of them all) were kindred spirits, at least in their ring announcing style, and both with accents of speech that clearly demonstrated from where in the country they hailed. They are both at the very top of my list.

(Edited from a post originally published January 2018 on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway.)

NWA Champion "Handsome" Harley Race vs. Terry Gibbs in the Kansas City TV Studio

Relatively rare footage from the Kansas City promotion's studio TV show, hosted by Bill Kersten. We are told that this studio production was taped at KBMA TV 41, later KSHB 41. (Additional information always welcome.)

Thanks to Mike over at the Mid-Atlantic Championship Podcast (@midatlanticpod) for tipping us off to this video (always love seeing Harley Race with the Ten Pounds of Gold in the studio) and Tyrone Mendez for info on the location. 

More information on this Studio Wrestling website on Bill Kersten here.

Mike LeBelle and Gene Kiniski (NWA Hollywood Wrestling 1968)

Mike Lebelle was the Los Angeles area promoter from 1966 through 1982. Previously under promoter Cal Eaton, the promotion recognized a WWA World Championship going back to the late 1950s when Eaton left the NWA. The promotion rejoined the NWA in 1968 and once again recognized the NWA World Champion. 

The promotion was called NWA Hollywood Wrestling, and under LeBelle, was an innovator in closed-circuit broadcasts for wrestling. 

In this photograph, Lebelle, who also hosted the TV program, interviews NWA World Heavyweight Champion Gene Kiniski on the set of the Los Angeles TV wrestling program, circa 1968.

According to Dave Meltzer at the Wrestling Observer, Mike LeBelle was the brother of Gene LeBell, and  the two spelled there last names differently, despite the legitimate relationship.

Thanks to William Murdock for sending this photo.

Championship Wrestling from Amarillo (1971)

Host Steve Stack with Dory Funk, Sr. on the set of Championship Wrestling from Amarillo, TX in 1971. 

The Funks taped their television show Saturday afternoon in the studios of KVII channel 7 in Amarillo (later moving the tapings to KDFA channel 10 in the mid-1970s).  Wrestling had been taped at KVII going back to the early 1960s when Funk Sr. was in partnership with legendary Amarillo promoter Doc Sarpolis.

The ring announcer at those tapings was Shelton Key and Stanley Blackburn was their commissioner.

We miss those simple days of territory wrestling from the small, intimate TV studios.


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 - The screen capture above within our old-school TV set is from the Vault section of the WWE Network, under Hidden Gems for 1971.
- Thanks to Tim Hornbaker and Larry Statser for additional info.

Edited with additional info August 29, 2020.

The Famed Tampa Sportatorium Today

While Tampa's famed Sportatorium at 106 North Albany wasn't a TV studio in the purest sense, it certainly served as one for several decades through the 1960s-1980s. This was the home of weekly television tapings of "Championship Wrestling from Florida" hosted by Gordon Solie and promoted most famously by Eddie Graham, the legendary wrestler, promoter, and at one time president of the National Wrestling Alliance.

 

It was also the home office of Deep South Sports, Inc., the company run by Graham that presented live wrestling events throughout the Sunshine State.

This article below, by Thad Moore (then at the Tampa Bay Times, now at the Charleston Post & Courier), talks about the recent auction of the property (2016) and the ghosts that still haunt 106 North Albany. (2024 Update: The building may be demolished. See down below.)

* * * * *

The Fate of the Tampa Sportatorium (Feb. 2016)

TAMPA — They sat in folding chairs and stood in the back of a worn-out warehouse, all eyes trained on the center of the room, looking for a few minutes of spectacle.

"Let's get ready to rumble!" Vincent Gess shouted into a microphone.

In a sense, the crowd offered a return to form for the building just off W Kennedy Boulevard. The nondescript stucco structure at 106 N Albany Ave. was the site of Tampa's Sportatorium, where throngs of fans would show up for weekday wrestling matches, among the first to be televised around the country.

But instead of seeing one last fight, the weekend crowd came to watch the building — and a slice of Tampa's history — be auctioned off.

After a few minutes of bidding, the former site of the Sportatorium was sold for $695,000.

The auction didn't come down to the building's history, to the fact that the fights held there for more than two decades were sent on videotapes to be broadcast on TV stations up the East Coast, or that big-name wrestlers like Terry "Hulk Hogan" Bollea, Andre the Giant and "Nature Boy" Ric Flair paid visits. Bidders didn't think much about Championship Wrestling from Florida, as the show was known, even though it helped spawn a billion-dollar industry.

As bidders appraised the building, they said it just seemed like a good piece of real estate.

It's a block off busy W Kennedy Boulevard in bustling South Tampa, and it has 7,500 square feet, including enough space for two storefronts, an apartment or offices upstairs, and a warehouse in the back.

The winning bidder, Judith Cataldo, liked that the venue has high ceilings and a historic feel.

But its role as the "beautiful Sportatorium," as announcer Gordon Solie described it to viewers around the South and Northeast? Cataldo said that history wasn't much of a factor.

She plans to renovate the building to make room for a piano performance space and a few studios. In a few years, she hopes to move her business, the Musical Arts Piano Conservatory, from its location next door. In the meantime, she'll probably lease it out.

"It's going to be a performance of a sort," Cataldo said. "We're going to wrestle with the keys."

Still, Cataldo does think she'd like to bring back one aspect of the Sportatorium.

The warehouse still has the poles that held up the turnbuckles and ropes for its elevated ring. Maybe, she suggested, that would be a good place to build a recital stage.

Maybe it would be a good place to put on a show. 

Original article on Tampa Bay Times website:
http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/realestate/tampas-sportatorium-sells-for-695000-to-become-piano-conservatory/2267163

 

2024 Update:

The former home to Championship wrestling in Florida, the 'Tampa Sportatorium,' could be facing demolition
Sportatorium Tampa
TAMPA, Fla. — The former home of Championship Wrestling in Florida could soon be history.

The 'Tampa Sportatorium,' located at 106 North Albany Avenue, looks to be facing demolition.

Subtext Living, a Missouri-based company, plans to construct an eight-story building with both housing and commercial space, according to a post on the company website. They hope to break ground at 2117 West Kennedy Boulevard in 2025.

One of the blocks adjacent to the proposed development is the former television home of Championship Wrestling in Florida. Subtext purchased it in March of 2023 and paid $1.7 million.

From 1965 through 1987, the small building at 106 North Albany was home to Championship Wrestling from Florida with Gordon Solie. Professional wrestling legends The Great Malenko, Dusty Rhodes, Jack and Jerry Brisco, Mike and Eddie Graham, Steve Keirn, and Austin Idol – among others – cut their teeth in that building.

“If it happens, that is very sad. I have a lot of great memories from that place,” said former professional wrestler/Hillsborough County Commissioner Brian Blair said when he heard the news. “I first stepped foot there in 1975, and for the next three years, I was ‘stretched hard’ – trained by some of the best in the business.”

‘Stretched’ is a term applied to those trying to break into professional wrestling. Anytime a ‘wanna-be,’ would come around, the promoters would put them through a gauntlet of training exercise to try to get them to quit.

According to Blair, some of the hopefuls would run out a side door, leaving their belongings behind.

“It was torture; I came away with new bumps and bruises every single day,” Blair recalled. “It was very, very difficult part of the process. They [the promoters] needed to see if you had what it takes to be a professional wrestler – it was not easy to break in back then.”

During his in-ring career, Blair performed at WrestleMania and was one-half of the World Wrestling Federation tag-team champions with Jim Brunzell—known as the Killer Bs. Once he became established in the business, he became a trainer for CWF.

“We would have guys that watched it on TV and show up to the building saying they could be the next Dusty Rhodes or Jack Brisco,” he said. “It was my job to convince them otherwise.”

Another well-known Tampa-based venue for CWF back then was the Fort Homer Hesterly Armory, which sits less than a mile from 106 North Albany. In October 2013, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Three years later, it underwent a $30 million renovation and was converted into the Bryan Glazer Family Jewish Community Center.

In August 2018, a wall comprised of historic pictures of professional wrestlers went up at the facility, paying homage to the grapplers of yesteryear – it is called ‘Wrestling at the Armory.’

ABC Action News reached out to Subtext Living to confirm plans for the development but has not heard back.

 Original Article 

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Ring The Damn Bell
The Sportatorium: So Long from the Sunshine State

Sam Muchnick Renews KPLR Contract (1966)

Wrestling Revue Magazine 1966

NWA President Sam Muchnick (left) and Harold Koplar (right) flank announcer George Abel as Muchnick signs a contract to continue to present "Wrestling at the Chase" on KPLR TV in St. Louis.

Koplar was the founder of KPLR-TV channel 11, one of the most successful independent stations in broadcast television history. Part of the success was the legendary and historic "Wrestling at the Chase" TV show which promoted the regular wrestling events at Kiel Auditorium and later the Checkrdome and the St. Louis Arena.

"Wrestling at the Chase" was produced by the St. Louis Wrestling Club through the production facilities of KPLR. The St' Louis Wrestling Club was Muchnick's wrestling promotion in the Gateway City, and the epicenter for the territorial wrestling organization known as the National Wrestling Alliance.

The show was originally taped in the Khorassan Ballroom at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel, also owned by Koplar. It later moved to a smaller venue in the adjoining KPLR TV studios.

Studio Wrestling in Nashville (1977)

This image is of a ticket printed in an event program for Nick Gulas's Studio Wrestling show out of the studios of WNGE-TV in Nashville, TN. The program was for the show at the Nashville Fairgrounds on December 14, 1977. The ticket is good for the TV taping on Saturday December 18.

WNGE (which stood for Nashville General Electric) was originally WSIX-TV channel 8, and is now WKRN-TV channel 2.

From the Nashville Broadcasting History website:

Live studio wrestling was a popular early program on WSIX-TV. Sponsored by Harold L. Shyer Jewelers ("If you don't know diamonds, know your jeweler...and if Harold says it's so, it's so"), early performers included the Fargo brothers, the Greene brothers, the Germans and their manager, "Gentleman" Saul Weingeroff, Tojo Yamamoto and others.

Promoted by the popular Nick Gulas, many Nashvillians remember the night things got out of control in the WSIX-TV studio and a female fan got so angry with the villainous Jackie Fargo that she took off her high-heeled shoe and when he jumped out of the ring, she hit him over the head with it. (Pictured above: The "Fabulous One"Jackie Fargo with sposor Harold L. Shyer.)

All-Star Wrestling with Bill Kersten

Bill Kersten was the long-time voice of "All Star Wrestling" in Kansas City for many years in the 1960s and 1970s. We are told that this studio production was taped at KBMA TV 41 in Kansas City, later KSHB 41. (Thanks to reader Tyrone Mendez.) Later as they moved into the 1980s, the tapings moved to Memorial Hall in Kansas City.

Here is a little audio sample of Bill Kersten on "All Star Wrestling" circa 1977 introducing NWA World Champion (and Kansas City hometown boy) "Handsome" Harley Race, as well as his call of the pinfall and heading to commercial.




 

See also NWA Champion "Handsome" Harley Race vs. Terry Gibbs in the Kansas City TV Studio 

 Some info on this territory written by Chris Owens on the WrestlingClassics.com message board in 2000:

WRESTLING OBSERVER

The Central States area probably had its highest talent level in the late 60s and early 70s, when the promotion featured such names as Bob Geigel, Bulldog Bob Brown, Rufus R. Jones, Danny Littlebear, Omar Atlas, Black Angus Campbell (managed by Percival A. Friend), Nature Boy Roger Kirby, Lord Alfred Hayes, Mike George and "Mad Dog" Harley Race.

In the late 70s, Col. Buck Robley and his Army came into the area as the major heels for several years. At various times, the Army included Buzz "Avalanche" Tyler, Bruiser Bob Sweetan, Bobby Jaggers, the Blue Yankee and others. Bulldog Bob Brown, usually a heel, did a face turn to battle against the army. Ted Dibiase, Harley Race, Rufus Jones, Ken Lucas and Kevin Sullivan were all guys who I recall taking part in the long struggle against Robley and the Army.

The early 80s saw a decline in the promotion (at least in my eyes), as many of the familiar names disappeared from the territory and were replaced by guys like Mr. Pogo and Gypsy Joe. Strapped for cash because of the failure of the St. Louis promotion that Geigel, Pat O'Connor, Race and Verne Gagne had purchased from Sam Muchnick, the talent level dropped again in the mid-80s.

Jesse Ventura, Dusty Rhodes, Dick Murdoch, Ox Baker, Thunderbolt Patterson and many other stars began their careers in the Central States area.

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.

Southeastern Championship Wrestling (Dothan)

Charlie Platt and Les Thatcher

A shot from early 1981, Charlie Platt and Les Thatcher hosting the show in the southern end of the Southeastern Championship Wrestling territory, taped at the studios of WTVY-4 in Dothan, Alabama. Thatcher also hosted the show in the northern end of the territory at that time out of Knoxville, Tennessee.

Later that same year, Ron Fuller sold the Knoxville territory to Blackjack Mulligan and Ric Flair, and concentrated his efforts out of the territory formerly known as Gulf Coast Wrestling which consisted of major towns such as Pensacola in the panhandle of Florida and cities in Alabama such as Mobile, Montgomery, and Birmingham.

Gulf Coast Wrestling

Charlie Platt with Bob Armstrong on the set of "Gulf Coast Wrestling"

by Dick Bourne

Mid-Atlantic Gateway

As I've done several times in the past on this blog, I have strayed outside the confines of Mid-Atlantic Wrestling to explore the look and feel of other studio locations for pro-wrestling from the territory days, as well as the sound and style of the broadcasters that brought us that wrestling.

When I moved to work and live in Alabama in early 1982, the local wrestling program I discovered on TV out of Montgomery and Birmingham, AL was "Southeastern Championship Wrestling" hosted by Charlie Platt and Ric Stewart. The funny thing about this program was that it had the same name and opening theme music and video sequence as the "Southeastern Championship Wrestling" show I grew up watching out of Knoxville, TN. That show was promoted by Ron Fuller and hosted by Les Thatcher, someone very familiar to me from the Mid-Atlantic area.

What I didn't know then was that in the late 1970s, Fuller had bought the territory based out of Mobile, AL promoted by Lee Fields known as "Gulf Coast Wrestling" and for several years the Knoxville show aired in the Alabama territory, too. Around 1980, Ron Fuller sold his interests in the Knoxville territory and moved his television tapings out of Knoxville down to WTVY-TV channel 4 in Dothan, AL which had been the home of Gulf Coast TV for many years.

The TV show was taped each Saturday morning and then sent out to TV markets throughout the territory which spanned from the panhandle of Florida up through roughly 2/3 the state of Alabama, just past Birmingham.

The studio setup in Dothan was much like the studio setup in Knoxville with a couple of bleachers on two sides of the ring, and a desk where the hosts sat and introduced the show and also did interviews with the wrestlers. The back-drop behind the desk of the Southeast show was the same as it had been in the 1970s in the Knoxville studio. But I had never known what the back-drop looked like for the Gulf Coast show.

But recently I came across a video on YouTube of wrestling from Georgia in 1980 where a taped interview with Bob Armstrong had been sent in as he prepared to return for a special match or two in the the territory. It was a great surprise to see the friendly face and hear the familiar voice of Charlie Platt introducing "Bullet" Bob against a back-drop I had never seen before. A closer look and I could make out the bottom half of the words "Gulf Coast" above the word "Wrestling" behind Armstrong and Platt.

I thought it was a very cool looking studio back-drop and it made me wish that during my time in Alabama that the show had still been called "Gulf Coast Wrestling." 

So this is our small glimpse across Charlie Platt's broadcast desk back in the Gulf Coast days of the Alabama/Pensacola territory. 

For a closer look at that territory in the Gulf Coast days, see Mike Norris's excellent series of articles on Kayfabe Memories or check out some of the relevant podcasts produced by Karl Stern on the premium side of the Wrestling Observer website.

Mike Duncan (Nick Gulas Promotion)

Robert M. “Mike” Duncan, a well-known wrestling announcer in the 1970’s, passed away in Nashville, Tennessee on June 23, 2011 at the age of 64.

Mike was known as a colorful character, and fitted well into the vibrant mid-south ring scene of the time. A cousin of Jerry Jarrett, he capably commentated the TV matches in Birmingham and Nashville during Nick Gulas’s promotional reign. He later handled ring announcing duties in Louisville when his aunt, Christine Jarrett, promoted the city. Mike’s voice was also familiar on voiceovers for arena footage taped on the circuit around Memphis and used on the city’s TV wrestling shows.

If you ever wondered where Jim Cornette got his early fashion sense, here’s the answer: Mike Duncan also worked in a men’s wear store in Nashville, and cleverly put together the very first “mama’s boy suit” for the budding ring manager who would shortly become so notorious.

Mike is survived by his wife Julie, three daughters, and four grandchildren.

Photo and information from the Cauliflower Wrestling Club, "Finishes," 2013
http://www.caulifloweralleyclub.org/2013-finishes-rip/2011finishes/
(Website may no longer be available.)

Georgia Championship Wrestling

Gordon Solie interviews Tommy Rich and Mr. Wrestling II

The WTBS-17 studios in Atlanta were home to "Georgia Championship Wrestling" going back to the early 1970s and was later home to "World Championship Wrestling" for Jim Crockett Promotions in the mid-to-late 1980s.

An upcoming documentary called "6:05 on the SuperStation" will take a look back at the studio, station, wrestlers, and announcers who helped make wrestling on WTBS an institution on Saturday evenings. 

Jim Ross has joined up with the producers of "Mid-Atlantic Memories" documentary, and together  hope to present a similar feel-good film about a 20-year period in time when folks down south were glued to their TV sets at 6:05 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.

"6:05 On The SuperStation!" will be the first film produced by Ross, who said on his "Ross Report" podcast "We're gonna make a hell of a movie!"

The film will be fan-funded. More details can be found on the NWALegends.com website. The film also has a Twitter page where you can keep up with how things are progressing on the film.

(See also: Jim Ross Reveals First Film Project "6:05 on the SuperStation" )

Houston Wrestling

Continuing with our recent peeks at the old territory TV shows, here is a nice shot from Paul Boesch's "Houston Wrestling" TV show. I love the studio look with the curtains in the background with a modified NWA logo hanging in front of the curtains. This was a standard look for lots of wrestling TV shows in the 1970s.

Promoter and TV host/commentator Paul Boesch interviews Chief Wahoo McDaniel before showing footage of a match where Wahoo challenged Ric Flair for the NWA world championship at the Sam Houston Coliseum in 1985. Wahoo was reigning United States champion in the Mid-Atlantic area and wore the title belt in the ring in Houston before the match with Flair.

Footage of this interview and the Flair/Wahoo title match can be seen on the NWA Classics 24/7 video on-demand service, which contains the entire Paul Boesch Houston video library. Check them out. Full details at NWACLassics.com.

All-Star Wrestling with Ric Stewart (Kansas City)

Although technically not a "studio" shot, I love the old-school TV backdrops for the territory TV shows back in the 1970s and early 1980s. This backdrop was set up in Memorial Hall in Kansas City, KS for a TV taping of "All Star Wrestling" in the Central States area in the mid-1980s. The backdrop features an artist's rendition of a wrestling ring and the classic NWA logo with the title of the show "All Star Wrestling" across the top.

Seen here are former NWA champion Harley Race with Bruiser Brody and "All-Star Wrestling" co-host Ric Stewart. Brody fought NWA world champion Ric Flair on this particular show, and Race had gotten involved. (In fact, you will see some photos of the aftermath where Race handed Brody the NWA title belt in our ongoing "Great Pretenders" feature on the Ten Pounds of Gold website.)

Ric Stewart hosted "All Star Wrestling" in the Central States area with Kevin Wall, and they were one of the top broadcast teams of that era. Stewart later briefly worked for Jim Crockett Promotions after they acquired the Central States and St. Louis booking offices, and even appeared as a commentator for Starrcade '86. 

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."

Memphis voice "Big Jack Eaton" Signs Off

"Big" Jack Eaton
(KentuckyFriedWrestling.com)

I always appreciate learning about other great voices from other territories, those that either hosted wrestling form the "studio days" or lent a hand to the wrestling business in those days through offering wrestling results on the local evening news.

Scott Bowden writes of the passing of veteran Memphis TV personality Jack Eaton in a recent column on his excellent site Kentucky Fried Rasslin'. ("A wrestling perspective that's both original AND extra crispy.")

Eaton, who Bowden explains was likely better known as the voice of the Memphis State Tigers football and basketball teams, was also well known by wrestling fans for lending his voice to wrestling highlights on the WMC-5 news broadcasts.

When Jerry “the King” Lawler defeated Eddie Gilbert in a loser-leaves-town bout to send the hated leader of the First Family packing, Eaton cracked, “If Jimmy Hart owes you money, you’d better find him fast.”

The article contains an embedded video link to rare footage of Jack Eaton showing highlights from a jam packed Mid-South Coliseum bout between AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkle and Southern champ Jerry Lawler.

A nice article, check it out as you have  chance.

Channel 5’s Big Jack Eaton Signs Off
by Scott Bowden, Kentucky Fried Rasslin

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.

Studio Wrestling in Augusta, GA

Live Wrestling premiered on channel 12 WRDW in Augusta, Georgia on March 26, 1956. The first commentator was Don McIntyre. He was assisted by Lou Stratton.

(Information from Carroll Hall's "Vintage TV & Wrestling Nostalgia" website.)

Ed Capral in Atlanta (1972)

From the January 1972 issue of Wrestling Revue magazine. Ed Capral is at the broadcast desk with Bob Armstrong at the studios of WQXI-11 (now WXIA) in Atlanta. The photo was taken by Gene Gordon.

Capral came to Jim Crockett Promotions in 1975 to host the new program "Wide World Wrestling", and stayed there until 1978.

Thanks to Carroll Hall at All-Star Championship Wrestling for sending us these photos from his Wrestling Revue collection.