Crockett TV Broadcast Map 1960

 

This information flyer was apparently given to local event promoters throughout the Carolinas and Virginia in hopes of JCP to expand their "spot shows" in the region. It touted the burgeoning television presence of Jim Crockett Promotions professional wrestling television shows that would help these promoters build their gates. The local promoters would book their talent from Jim Crockett out of Charlotte.

At the point in time this graphic was published (late 1959 or very early 1960), Crockett had live TV already being taped and aired in Charlotte, Raleigh, and Roanoke, with High Point NC and Greenville SC soon to follow. What isn't clear is if Crockett hoped to have additional live or live-to-tape locations at the other stations listed on this flyer, or if they were to simply carry a tape from one of the other live shows.  

Some notes on the television stations featured here:

WBTV Charlotte NC
Jim Crockett began airing live wrestling on Channel 3 in Charlotte in January of 1958. The program, called simply "Championship Wrestling" was live at first and later would be taped and aired on a slight delay.

WFBC Greenville SC
Channel 4 in Greenville actually began airing live wrestling from its studio in 1956, nearly a year and a half before WBTV did in Charlotte. That first foray lasted only 3 months. It appears it was the very first television for Jim Crockett Promotions wrestling.  WFBC's second attempt at live wrestling came in March of 1960, just a month later than this graphic indicates the start date would be for TV wrestling in Greenville. That second stint of live studio wrestling ended in December 1961. At that point, WFBC began carrying the tape from Raleigh.  

WRAL Raleigh NC
Channel 4 in Raleigh began airing its own live studio wrestling in January of 1959, one year after the WBTV tapings began. Most other TV stations in the growing JCP network carried the tape from Raleigh, titled "All Star Wrestling." Fourteen years later, WRAL would be the site where all JCP televison production would be consolidated. 

WDBJ Roanoke VA
Channel 7 in Roanoke began airing live wrestling from its studio in 1960, where it lasted for local promoter Pete Aposolou for seven years, when they began carrying the Raleigh tape.

WFMY Greensboro NC
While live wrestling may have been planned for WFMY channel 2 in Greensboro in June of 1960, it appears it never came to fruition. In fact, it appears WFMY never carried a Crockett tape at any point. (We welcome new information.) Another TV station in that same DMA market, WGHP channel 8 out of High Point, began airing its own live-to-tape studio wrestling for Jim Crockett in February of 1964. That lasted until the great consolidation to Raleigh in 1974.

Richmond VA
At the time of this information flyer, it seems clear JCP wanted to have a live TV presence in Richmond, similar to WBTV or WRAL, to support the work of long time Richmond promoter Bill Lewis, now working with Jim Crockett in Charlotte. No doubt Lewis was working to secure an arrangement with a station there, but it never happened. Lewis died in 1961. WTVR channel 6 eventually became the station that would carry the wrestling tape from Raleigh NC on its airwaves for decades. By that point, both Raleigh and Richmond were promoted by Raleigh promoter Joe Murnick, working for Jim Crockett.

WNCT Greenville NC
WECT Wilmington NC
Apparently both of these stations were to begin carrying a tape from JCP in 1960, with the tentative date being that June. By the 1970s though neither station would be carrying a Crockett tape. The Wilmington station would eventually be carrying the Championship Wrestling from Florida show. More information is needed on these two stations listed here.

We are also looking for information on Jack Partlow and Hal Van Horn listed as contacts in Charlotte on this information flyer.  

Thanks to Scott Teal for originally sending this image to us.  

 

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Visit the DESKTOP VERSION of the website for lots of FILTER OPTIONS to find info on your favorite announcer or studio location.  Filter options are located on the right side of the web/desktop version of the website. 

Studio Wrestling and The Great Bolo

To A Sixth Grade Wrestling Fan, No one Could Top the Great Bolo
by Vince Staten
Kingsport Times News (Kingsport, TN)  April 8, 2007


There comes a time in every young man's life when he falls in love.

With wrestling.

My love affair with professional wrestling came in late grade school when I was too old to play cowboys and not old enough to be interested in girls.

I was reminded of this boyhood fascination when I drove past the Civic Auditorium this week and saw "Championship Wrestling" posted on the signboard. I went home and dug around till I found my old wrestling sheet.

Not only did I live and die with each week's matches that sixth-grade year, I came up with my own highly scientific rating system based strictly on whether I liked a wrestler or not.

The Great Bolo (Publicity Photo)

I had rank ordered 40 wrestlers from Argentina Rocca, Billy "Tarzan" Darnell and Buddy Rogers to my favorite, The Great Bolo. (He was seventh; I was fair and balanced.)

We've had professional wrestling in Kingsport as long as we've been a town. 


I've seen ads for wrestling matches in old newspapers from the 1920s. In the 1950 and 1960s Ron Wright and Whitey Caldwell ruled the ring at the Civic Auditorium.

I wasn't allowed to go - too dangerous, my mother said - so I fell in love with that other form of professional wrestling, studio wrestling.

The "studio" of studio wrestling was the television studio. And because the Kingsport cable system in the 1950s imported stations from Knoxville and Charlotte and Asheville, we had our choice of Saturday afternoon studio wrestling.


There was a filmed show called "Texas Rasslin' " that featured Gorgeous George, a bleach blond who preened as much as he wrestled. (It was my grandmother's favorite wrestling show.) I preferred "Championship Wrestling" from WBTV in Charlotte because it featured the greatest variety of wrestlers, from "scientific" types like George Scott to out and-out thugs like Buddy "Nature Boy" Rogers who had a standing offer of $1,000 for any fan who could break his Figure Grapevine Hold.

And no one ever did.

It was a different era for wrestling. Today wrestling prides itself on being "entertainment," but in those days it called itself a sport, and questioning whether wrestling was fake - a popular question, incidentally - was asking for a poke in the nose.

In my neighborhood, we always made sure our Saturday baseball games were over by 5 p.m. so we could all gather around Mr. Brickey's Philco to watch studio wrestling from Charlotte.


The announcers were just as famous as the wrestlers. Calling the action was Big Bill Ward, a debonair fellow with a mustache in a time when almost only debonair men had mustaches, and the commentator, who was also the promoter, Jim Crockett. He was the one who should have had "Big" in front of his name. 

Each Saturday show had two matches, an individual match and a tag team contest. It was always good versus evil, which is blood-sport for a sixth-grade boy. Evil P.Y. Chung, he of the famous "Claw" hold, might take on good guy Sandy Scott, of the wavy blond hair.

I, of course, always rooted for Good. Except for one, The Great Bolo.

It started with the name. How could you not love a wrestler named Bolo?

And then there was the costume. The Great Bolo was the first masked wrestler I had ever seen. He wore a skin-tight mask that laced up the back. It had dark shading around the eyes and mouth that would have made it almost clown-like if Bolo hadn't been so ferocious.

He could be wrestling along, working his Sleeper Hold on an opponent, when he would hear a disparaging remark from Big Bill Ward, and he would leap the top rope, race over and challenge the announcer. Blows were never exchanged, but it was exciting anyway.


Even that wasn't the greatest appeal of The Great Bolo. No, what we all watched for and hoped for was a Bolo defeat. Anyone who defeated The Great Bolo would get to unmask him. Right in the ring.

And that's what we all really wanted to know: Who was The Great Bolo? Was he secretly a good guy like George Becker who flirted with the dark side? Was it Nature Boy Rogers moonlighting for extra cash? Hmm, you never saw them together.

There were weeks when The Great Bolo's opponent might get his mask halfway off. I seem to recall Mike Paidousis had it up over his chin once. But Mike was too concerned with the mask, and Bolo managed to grab him and do the Pile Driver.

The Great Bolo was never unmasked on "Championship Wrestling.”

I later heard that he had been defeated in Toronto or someplace like that and his real identity was revealed. Some kid had read about it in "Boxing News/ Wrestling Illustrated."


By then I didn't care. I had discovered girls.

Vince Staten's blog can be found at vincestaten.blogspot.com.

 

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Studio Wrestling is part of the Mid-Atlantic Gateway.

Wrestling Gets A Better Time Period on WBTV (1964)

The following is a transcript of an article in the Bessemer City Record (NC) from February of 1964, provided by Charlotte wrestling historian Carroll Hall.  

 *************

GRUNT AND GROAN on Saturdays
Championship Wrestling Switches Time Period 

Championship Wrestling, a sacred subject to many sports-minded people in the Charlotte area, is switching times on WBTV. The popular grunt and groan attraction will be seen from 6-7 p.m. each Saturday beginning in February, instead of from 5:30-6:30 as in the past. 

Jim Crockett, who has many times filled the Charlotte Coliseum with his grapple games, promises that the top names in the sport will continue to grace the Channel Three Tube. And that includes such name grapplers as George Becker, Two Ton Harris, Ike Eakins, Haystack Calhoun, Buddy Rogers, Pat O'Connor, the Bolos, and many others. Midget wrestlers, lady wrestlers, tag matches, managers' matches, and maybe even a few bouts between the wrestlers and the refs, will also be staged for viewers. (It's happened before, hasn't it refs?) 

WBTV Sports Director Big Bill Ward will continue to describe the holds and fast-paced action. 

"Championship Wrestling" will be followed each Saturday night at 7 p.m. by "Mister Ed", the talking horse.

 *************

Big Bill Ward
Sports Director and
wrestling host at WBTV

Promoter Jim Crockett's "Championship Wrestling" premiered on WBTV channel-3 in January of 1958 in its original 5:30 time slot.  Hosted by WBTV Sports Director Bill Ward, the popularity of the show earned it a bump up to the early evening 7 PM slot described in this article. 

For more wrestling nostalgia related to WBTV in Charlotte, visit the WBTV Channel 3 page.

Special thanks to one of my best friends, Carroll Hall, for providing this rare newspaper clipping to the Studio Wrestling website, part of the Mid-Atlantic Gateway.  - Dick Bourne

 
 

Worlds Collide: Championship Wrestling and ACC Basketball

"Gypsy Joe, nay, not even Jim Austeri, was ever the villian that Bob Lakata was when he hit a free throw for Duke to send the game into its first overtime." - Ronald Green, Charlotte News

By Dick Bourne
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

If you grew up watching wrestling on TV on Saturday afternoons in the 1960s through the early 1980s, you knew full well the havoc traditional sports programming could cause with the schedule when they ran long, with basketball games going to overtime and baseball games going to extra innings.

On January 11 during the bleak midwinter of 1958, Jim Crockett was to debut his brand new live pro-wrestling show on WBTV channel 3 in Charlotte. It was a major development for promoter Jim Crockett to be able  to promote his local cards through the relatively new medium of television. Wrestling from Chicago, Los Angeles, and Texas had been a successful staple of national television in the 1950s, but this would be the local Crockett crew for Charlotte. 

Charlotte News sports writer Ronald Green wrote about that big news in the local paper in the week before. You can read that article in our earlier post here: "Championship Wrestling" debuts in Charlotte (1958)

The show, hosted by WBTV personality "Big" Bill Ward, did indeed debut on Saturday, January 11, but not at 3:45 that afternoon as originally scheduled. ACC Basketball got in the way. And then there were Spanky and those poor Little Rascals that got in the way, too.

In another Ronald Jordon column recently uncovered, the Charlotte News told the story. Read that entire article below for all the details.

The afternoon ACC basketball game between Duke and NC State ran long when Duke center Bob Lakata and forward Jim Newcome sent the game into two overtimes respectively. WBTV producer Gene Burke watched as the double-overtime contest threw his Saturday afternoon programming schedule into chaos, delaying the debut of "Championship Wrestling" and then, with wrestling running over, bumping the popular kids show "Little Rascals." 

It may not seem like much now, but one can imagine the stress producer Gene Burke and wrestling promoter Jim Crockett were under that afternoon with the debut of local pro wrestling on television. It was nice to read Ronald Green's positive nod to the production at the conclusion of the article.

As always, thanks to Mark Eastridge.

* * * * * * * * * *

ACC Basketball Note: Duke went on to win the ACC league championship that year finishing 11-3, a game ahead of second place NC State. Forward Jim Newcome, mentioned in the article above, went on to play in the NBA.

Studio Wrestling Interview: Mark De Castrique (WBTV Director)

2012 Mid-Atlantic Gateway Interview with
MARK DE CASTRIQUE
Early 1970s Director of Championship Wrestling at WBTV-3 

Image: markdecastrique.com

In 2012, I had the good fortune to have an email exchange with Mark de Castrique, an author and Emmy winning documentary producer who many years ago directed "Championship Wrestling" at WBTV-3 in Charlotte, NC. In this brief interview, Mark reflects on those Wednesday nights at the television studio with Jim Crockett and his crew, including sharing some good memories of host "Big" Bill Ward as well. 

- Dick Bourne, Mid-Atlantic Gateway

* * * * *

Mid-Atlantic Gateway: Thanks for taking the time to share with us, Mark. While at WBTV, what was your role there as it pertained to the Championship Wrestling show?

Mark de Castrique: I was one of the staff directors who regularly directed the Wednesday night tapings from June 1970 to December 1972. It was a lot of fun. "High drama."

Gateway: Do you remember in which specific studio you taped wrestling?

Mark: Championship Wrestling was taped in the large studio #2. The ring was set up by Crockett's people on Wednesday afternoon supervised by an old retired wrestler named Wally [Dusek] and we taped in the evening.

Gateway: Realizing this was 40 years ago, do the names of any of the wrestlers from those years stick out in your mind? Any particular memories about any of the wrestlers or things that happened during the tapings?

Mark: Some of the wrestlers on the shows I directed were also ones I had watched on Channel 3 as a kid. Rip (The Profile) Hawk & Swede Hanson, Johnny Weaver, The Great Bolo, Jerry Brisco, The Kentuckians, Haystack Calhoun, Homer O'Dell and his tag-team. Abe Jacobs and his patented Kiwi roll. You remember most wrestlers had their signature hold that guaranteed victory if they could just apply it.

Gateway: Did Jim Crockett attend any of the pre-show production meetings? Do you have any particular memories of dealing with him?

Mark: Big Jim attended all pre-production meetings. We would go over the format, I'd make sure I had I.D. slides for all wrestler introductions. We played it straight. I never knew who was going to win or what dramatic events would unfold. After our meeting, Big Jim would meet with the wrestlers in the dressing room. Big Jim was nice but all business when it came to the show.

Gateway: What are your memories of "Big" Bill Ward? Did you work with him on any other shows?

Mark: I only worked with Big Bill Ward on wrestling. He was easy to get along with and I remember his stock "action" phrases. "They're fighting like gladiators of old." "It's a Pier Sixer" (whatever that meant). "He's lower than the belly of a snake at the bottom of the Mariana Trench" (or bottom of the ocean). Usually used in reference to the evil manager Homer O'Dell. And, of course, Big Bill's signature sign off - "Hello to all the shut-ins" and "Be good sports wherever you go!"

Gateway: Gene Birke, who shared some nice memories about directing wrestling at WBTV on the website "BT Memories", has written that some at WBTV didn't like the association with wrestling and resented the high ratings it got. Would you consider yourself part of that group?

Mark: I think any resentment toward the program came from two fronts. WBTV Sports didn't report on the matches because they didn't consider it a sport. Big Bill Ward referred to them as Exhibition Matches to handle station concerns regarding their being represented as a competitive sporting event. The second negative view came from national advertisers. The program got great ratings, but ad buyers from New York and other areas outside the region looked down on it. This was before wrestling mania swept the country through pay-for-view distribution. Unfortunately, Big Jim didn't live to see the development of the huge national audience. I considered the production entertainment and enjoyed watching the antics of the crowd as much as what was happening in the ring.

Gateway: What other local shows did you direct besides Championship Wrestling?

Mark: Newscasts, Betty Feezor, Pat Lee Show, Country Style Roundup with future congressman Bill Hefner, Tommy Faile Show, Fred Kirby Show, and various special projects.

Gateway: You are a successful author now. How long after you left WBTV did you stay in the TV production business, and at what other stations? Were you ever involved with directing or producing wrestling at another station?

Mark: I am still in the TV production business. I left WBTV at the end of 1972 and worked for over four years as a director at the ABC affiliate in Washington, D.C. We didn't have wrestling. We had Congress and Watergate. I'd prefer wrestling where the good guys and bad guys were easier to spot. I returned to WBTV as manager of their creative department and then program director. I left in 1984 as a partner in a production company. In addition to writing my mystery/thriller novels, I do documentary and corporate video production. I feel fortunate to have been a part of local television when the stations did a variety of programs and were a reflection of all aspects of their communities.

Gateway: Mark, thanks so much for your time and walking down memory lane with us. This will be of great interest to folks who visit the Mid-Atlantic Gateway. 

See also: WBTV-3 Studio Wrestling History

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Mark de Castrique is the author of several novels including his latest mystery/thriller "The 13th Target." He is a veteran of the broadcast and film production business and has received an Emmy Award for his documentary film work. He also has a pretty good memory when it comes to early 1970s pro-wrestling, and I appreciate him sharing some of those memories with us.

 

Visit Mark's website at http://www.markdecastrique.com/.

---

Updates:

8/26/12 - Mark posted a link to this interview on his Facebook page, and there was some discussion there with his friends, including a question about any memories of audience regulars at the wrestling tapings, which elicited this funny response: "Tickets were in high demand and no one came week to week. Mostly church groups. I always thought it odd churches came to watch guys pulverize each other."

8/27/12 - Mark mentioned on Facebook that a secret of his past had been revealed with the Gateway interview. But we didn't out him; Mark had earlier mentioned his connection with pro wrestling in a 2010 interview with the Salisbury (NC) Post. From the article: Now based in Charlotte, de Castrique moved here in the 1970s and had a broadcast career with local TV stations. "This was before the days of cable. Local stations did everything. ... I once directed professional wrestling, did an entertainment show ..." From "Writer Goes from Broadcast to Book" - SalisburyPress.com. 

---

Originally published August 23, 2012 on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway.

 

"Championship Wrestling" debuts in Charlotte on WBTV Channel 3 (1958)

  

by Dick Bourne
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

There was history in the making in this January 1958 Charlotte News article. Promoter Jim Crockett had finally arranged for televised wrestling in his home base of Charlotte, NC on the heels of successful national wrestling programs during the decade of the 1950s in such places as Chicago, Los Angeles, and in Texas.

The program would air live from the studios of WBTV channel 3 on Saturday afternoons and would be hosted by the station's sportscaster Bill Ward. The announcement was made by WBTV production manager Bob Rierson.

Crockett's first foray into televised wrestling was actually nineteen months earlier, on WFBC channel 4 in Greenville, SC, but for only about three short months. Perhaps this was a pilot program. Once wrestling made it's debut in Charlotte in January of 1958, it wasn't long before several other TV stations in Crockett's territory also began airing wrestling in partnership with the Charlotte promoter, including WRAL-5 in Raleigh, NC,  a return to WFBC in Greenville and the debut on WDBJ-7 in Roanoke, VA, both in 1960, and WGHP-8 in High Point (Greensboro market) in 1964. 

Crockett's wrestling debut on channel 3 was not without its challenges, however, having nothing to do with wrestling, but rather with ACC basketball. The results gave WBTV producer Gene Burke fits that January Saturday afternoon. We'll review that neat bit of history as well in a future post.

Republished in October 2022 on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway.

Missing "Big" Bill Ward

Charlotte News, April 23, 1974

In 1974, Jim Crockett Promotions consolidated all of its TV production to one central studio taping. In early 1974, wrestling was still being taped in three different locations each week - - WBTV-3 in Charlotte, WGHP-8 in High Point (Greensboro market), and WRAL-5 in Raleigh. The decision was made to consolidate everything to Raleigh.

Fans in the Charlotte and Greensboro areas were understandably upset to lose the show and the announcers they were familiar with. "Big" Bill Ward in Charlotte and Charlie Harville in the Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point/Lexington market were institutions there. And while Bob Caudle in Raleigh was quickly becoming the most beloved announcer in the area's history, it took fans some time to get used to those changes.

Mid-Atlantic Gateway Bookstore

Championship Wrestling on WBTV

Clipping courtesy of Carroll Hall's All Star Championship Wrestling website.
Original post: September 7, 1968 in Charlotte, NC

Big Bill Ward (1958)

Host of "Championship Wrestling from 1958-1974 on WBTV-3 Charlotte
Publicity photo from 1958 Wrestling Photo Album

Hart and Ringley on a "Championship Wrestling" Special

"Playboy" Gary Hart and JCP's John Ringley (1972)

In 1972, John Ringley hosted a special episode of "Championship Wrestling" that aired on WBTV-3 in Charlotte that focused on Rip "The Profile" Hawk. Ringley and Hawk's manager, "Playboy" Gary Hart were situated on a set in the WBTV studio. They reviewed 16mm film footage shot at the Charlotte Coliseum and Greensboro Coliseum featuring Hawk against various opponents including Jack Brisco in a battle over the Eastern Heavyweight Championship.

Matches included:

• Rip Hawk and Swede Hansen vs. Johnny Weaver and Argentina Apollo
• Rip Hawk and Swede Hansen vs. Johnny Weaver and Art Nelson (Greensboro)
• Rip Hawk vs. Jack Brisco (Hawk wins Eastern title) (Charlotte)
• Rip Hawk vs. Art Nelson (taped fists match) (Greensboro)

We recently had a conversation with Mr. Ringley about booking changes back during this very time period. That article can be found on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway by clicking this link.

A Close Look at George Harben (WBTV-3)

I'm happy to find some information on George Harben, who was ring announcer on WBTV's "Championship Wrestling in the 1960s and 1970s. His voice was an important part in the fabric of studio wrestling for Jim Crockett Promotions in the 1960s and early 1970s, and I'm glad to have him better represented here on the Studio Wrestling website and the Mid-Atantic Gateway.


REMEMBER GEORGE HARBEN?
by Mike Cline
Mid-Atlantic Grapplin' Greats

Remember George Harben? I certainly do.

I remember George Harben as the ring announcer on WBTV's CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING TV program, which was video taped every Wednesday night in Charlotte and broadcast that following Saturday afternoon.

And for a number of those years, the same program was broadcast over WBTV's 'sister station' in Florence, South Carolina.

However, Mr. Harben's career in the wrestling business went back quite a bit further than announcing on television and at house shows at PARK CENTER and the CHARLOTTE COLISEUM.

Harben was born in Stone Mountain, Georgia, a famous historical spot that is still visited by tourists the year round. He broke into the business as a wrestler in 1933 and had an active career until retiring in 1956.

In 1935, George helped train one of the all-time greats of modern wrestling, none other than LOU THESZ, who went on to become WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION six times. THESZ was a young boy of eighteen when he worked with Harben.

In 1940, during the years of World War 2, George Harben made a trip to Australia by boat to wrestle and was on board when the vessel was struck by a mine off the coast of New Zealand.

He also wrestled in Cuba before Fidel Castro took control of that country.

George Harben wrestled with his brother Charlie over most of the United States as a tag team. The two were in the main event that drew the largest crowd to ever witness a wrestling card at the old CHARLOTTE ARMORY. It was in early 1953, and the Harbens' opponents were GEORGE and BOBBY BECKER.

Besides his ring announcing duties for JIM CROCKETT PROMOTIONS, Harben also assisted in advertising the company's wrestling shows in several other towns besides Charlotte and for a while promoted house shows in Hickory, North Carolina.

George Harben passed away some years ago, but I can still his voice---
"Good evening Ladies and Gentleman and welcome to another exciting evening of Championship Wrestling on Channel 3."

* * * * * *

Thanks to Mike Cline at "Mid-Atlantic Grapplin' Greats" for allowing us to post his story on George Harbin here on the Studio Wrestling blog, part of the Mid-Atlantic Gateway.

Visit Mike Cline's "Mid-Atlantic Grapplin' Greats" website.

Wrestling 101 (Excerpts)

by Wayne Brower
Excerpts from "Wrestling 101",  an article published on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway

My desire to watch wrestling was limited only by our television’s ability to receive the distant signals. In the early 1960s there was neither cable nor satellite TV available. Most reception was either through “rabbit ears” – with or without tin foil – or from a roof mounted antenna.

Growing up in Trinity, North Carolina did not allow for reception of numerous stations. The area programming of that time was from WFMY Channel 2 in Greensboro and WSJS Channel 12 in Winston-Salem. Neither broadcast wrestling. The best we could occasionally receive with ideal atmospheric conditions was WDBJ Channel 7 of Roanoke and Charlotte’s WBTV Channel 3.

Two events would occur that had a significant impact on my viewing habits. In October 1963 WGHP Channel 8 in High Point signed on the air. Shortly thereafter wrestling was held in their studio on Tuesday nights for broadcast the following Saturday afternoon. Next, my dad purchased an antenna rotator connected by wire to a control box that sat on top of our television. With a turn of the dial pointing to the preferred direction we now had clear signal access to the aforementioned stations, plus another wrestling provider, WRAL Channel 5 in Raleigh. Talk about sensory overload. And it was so much more interesting than anything I was being taught in school at the time.

. . . . . . . . .

In almost every conflict the heels would consistently create mischief and mayhem, all in cowardly ways or while holding an unfair advantage. The hosts of the TV shows would passionately describe the action, and often disagree with the cheater’s denials during their interviews. Nick Pond warned many bad guys that scores would be settled at Dorton Arena next Tuesday night. Big Bill Ward argued with manager Homer O’Dell, and told him that he and his team should be very concerned about facing the Scott brothers at Charlotte Park Center. Charlie Harville provided detailed results of matches in Greensboro where more often than not the good guys ultimately defeated the heels and from there would go on to the next challenge. Virtue and honor had been satisfied.


[ Read Wayne's entire article Wrestling 101 on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway. ]

For more information, history, and memorabilia related to the broadcasters mentioned in this story visit the Studio Wrestling website, part of the Mid-Atlantic Gateway.

For an in-depth look at the career of Charlie Harville, see Wayne Brower's excellent look at the NC Broadcast Hall of Famer: Charlie Harville: Remembering His Remarkable Journey

One Saturday in 1969

Take a look at these wrestling TV listings for Saturday, November 1, 1969. They are from the "Carolina-Tennessee Edition" of TV Guide magazine.

Of particular note is the odd circumstance of a one-hour wrestling show airing on WLOS-13 out of Asheville being split into two 30-minute segments over this Saturday afternoon.

In 1969, Asheville aired the wrestling program that was taped at WGHP TV studios in High Point, North Carolina. It was one of the three locations at that time doing weekly TV tapings for Jim Crockett Promotions out of Charlotte. The show aired live in the High Point/Greensboro market, and then on a one week delay in Asheville.

On this particular week, because of a college football game airing that afternoon, the one-hour tape was spilt into two 30-minutes segments, the first at 1:30 in the afternoon, the second one later that day at 7:00 PM.

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 1, 1969

TV Guide, Carolina-Tennessee Edition

WBTV Ch. 3 Charlotte (CBS)

5:00 PM      Wrestling (from the studio: Sailor Art Thomas and Abe Jacobs vs. Ole and    Gene Anderson; Johnny Weaver vs. El Lobo; Oni Wiki Wiki vs. Tom Bradley)

WFBC Ch. 4 Greenville, SC (NBC)

1:00 PM      Wrestling (from Raleigh)

WLOS Ch. 13 Asheville, NC (ABC)

1:30 PM     Wrestling (from High Point, NC)

2:00 PM     College Football Pre-Game Show

7:00 PM     Wrestling continues

7:30 PM     Dating Game

WCTU (WCNC) Ch. 36 Charlotte (Ind.)

8:30 PM     Championship Wrestling From Florida

Some other notes:

• The show airing on WBTV-3 was called Championship Wrestling and was the weekly show taped at WBTV studios in Charlotte. TV guide often listed the scheduled matches for the Charlotte show, this week featuring my all-time favorite tag team, the Anderson Brothers.
• The show airing on WFBC-4 was called All-Star Wrestling and was the show taped at WRAL studios in Raleigh, NC that would late become Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling in 1973.
• WCTU-36 in Charlotte aired Championship Wrestling from Florida. The Florida show aired on several stations in the Mid-Atlantic area at that time, and the two territories would occasionally share talent. The Mid-Atlantic show also aired in select markets in Florida.

Original TV Guide information posted on the Radio Insight board.

Big Bill Ward

The voice of Charlotte wrestling from 1958-1973, Big Bill Ward.

TV Touchdown Club

October 25, 1957

An ad in the October 19-25, 1957 edition of "TV Guide" magazine that features Big Bill Ward as one of six regional sportscasters that were part of the "TV Touchdown Club" show that preceded the ACC college football game of the week.

Ward was host of "Championship Wrestling" on WBTV-3 in Charlotte. NC from 1958-1974.