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.

"Hello everybody, this is Billy Powell..."

Billy Powell

"Hello everybody, this is Billy Powell, and I want to invite you to join us this Monday night at the Greenville Memorial Auditorium..."

This was the greeting from the familiar voice of Billy Powell we heard every Saturday during a local break on Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling when it aired on WFBC-TV channel 4 from Greenville, SC.

Billy Powell was a well known radio voice in Greenville, perhaps most well known as the voice of the Bi-Lo supermarket promotional spots that aired on WFBC radio for years.

But wrestling fans knew him best as the ring announcer for nearly three decades (1962-1985) at the GMA wrestling shows every monday night promoted by Jim Crockett Promotions out of Charlotte. In addition he did two 1-minute promotional spots for those same shows that aired during Mid-Atlantic Wrestling where he would promote the upcoming event. As a result, wrestling fans across the upstate of South Carolina, western North Carolina, and east Tennessee all knew Billy's voice, even if they never attended a show in Greenville.

* * * * *
For more information on Billy Powell and his association with professional wrestling in Greenville, visit the following pages:

Studio Wrestling: WFBC-4 Greenville
The Billy Powell Page on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway

Wrestling & Basketball Memories

When recently scouring the web for mentions of broadcaster Charlie Harville as he related to pro-wrestling, I came across this post on the WRAL.com website that mentioned Harville in reference to his days as an ACC college basketball announcer. I loved reading this because it also makes reference to my favorite college basketball announce team of all time: Jim Thacker, Billy Packer, and Bones McKinney.

Article excerpt:

I was raised on ACC basketball with Jim Thacker and Billy Packer. I remember the black and white days of CD Chesley and Charlie Harville. I remember shooting baskets with my Burke County buddies during halftime and between games dreaming of the day when we might star for the Wolfpack, Tar Heels, Deacons or Devils.

From "A View to Hugh" Website - see link below.

Thacker, Packer, and McKinney were magic together on the C.D. Chesley syndicated sports network in the 1970s. And I have great memories of those basketball games coming on after Mid-Atlantic Wrestling, especially the wars between Norm Sloan's N.C. State Wolfpack and Lefty Driesell's Maryland Terrapins.

And little did I know that it was Charlie Harville who may have been responsible for Bones McKinney getting his big break in broadcasting, as it was Harville who recommended McKinney for the role to Mr. Chesley. From : "Player, Preacher, Coach, Commentator" on the website A View to Hugh:

... soon after the ’65-’66 basketball season started, (McKinney) got a call from ACC TV producer Castleman D. Chesley.  It seems that Bones’ good friend Charlie Harville had recommended him as a possible broadcaster with the ACC network.

Another Harville reference here: ACC Hoops Tonight (GreensboroSports.com):

N.C. State never, and I mean NEVER loses when Jim Thacker, Billy Packer and Bones McKinney are mentioned in the same paragraph. We will be watching on our local WFMY TV 2 station and thinking back to the days of Thacker, Packer, McKinney, Woody Durham, Charlie Harville and Lonesome Lee Kinard...

Another nice post regarding televised ACC basketball memories, this from the Shelby Star:
Along Route 74: Growing Up in ACC Country Was a Big Deal

(Updated On 2/13/2015)

Studio Wrestling from Birmingham, AL

The following information is from a post on the website BHAM Wiki.


Live Studio Wrestling was a locally-produced wrestling program televised on Saturday nights at 10:30 PM between the late 1950s and 1962 on WAPI-TV, Channel 13.

Seating was very limited and tickets were free. The promoters were Nick Gulas and Roy Welch in association with local businessman Joe Denaburg. Sterling Brewer was the announcer. The purpose of televised wrestling was to promote Monday Night wrestling at Municipal Auditorium. When Gulas, Welch, and Denaburg ceased promoting Monday night wrestling cards, there was no need for televised wrestling on Saturday nights.

In the fall of 1962, Channel 13 aired Route 66 in the time slot that was formerly occupied by wrestling. It is a possibility that Channel 13 chose to air Route 66 and wrestling was pushed off the schedule.

In 1965, wrestling returned to Boutwell (Municipal) Auditorium TV on Monday Nights and WBMG-Channel 42 began airing Live Studio Wrestling on Saturday Nights at 10 PM. The promoters were again Gulas, Welch, and Denaberg. Sterling Brewer returned as the announcer.

Bob Caudle at the Associated Press Wire Station at WRAL

Bob Caudle reviews information on the AP (Associated Press) wire station at WRAL TV Studios in Raleigh.
Photo from the CBC History website. (LINK)

Bob Caudle's "day job" (before stepping into a phone booth and changing into superman Mid-Atlantic wrestling announcer) was as a newscaster and weatherman for WRAL-TV 5 in Raleigh NC. Bob is seen in this archival CBC photo reviewing information from the AP wire.

Bob hosted wrestling for Jim Crockett Promotions for the better part of three decades, first at WRAL TV-5 studio-A beginning in the early 1960s. His show was called All-Star Wrestling and was syndicated to several TV markets all across the "Charlotte territory" which included cities in the states of South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia.

Ironically, Bob wasn't actually seen in the Raleigh market hosting wrestling until around 1973. Prior to that, the Raleigh version of the show, which was a shared-simulcast with the syndicated show, was hosted by Nick Pond and then briefly by Elliot Murnick, a son of Raleigh area promoter Joe Murnick. When the Charlotte (WBTV) and High Point (WGHP) TV tapings were consolidated into the Raleigh taping in 1973, WRAL began taping two separate hours of wrestling, both titled Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling at that point in time. One was hosted by Les Thatcher, the other by Caudle. It wasn't until then that Bob's wrestling broadcast (the "A" show) was seen as the main show in the Raleigh market. The "B" show hosted by Thatcher then became the secondary show that aired in some of the larger territory TV markets alongside the "A" show.

In 1981, Jim Crockett Promotions moved their TV tapings to the studios of WPCQ-36 in Charlotte, and in that same year Bob Caudle left WRAL to work full time in the constituency office of U.S. Senator Jesse Helms of North Carolina. But he continued as Jim Crockett's lead play-by-play announcer for Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling until the company was sold to Turner Broadcasting in 1988. He transitioned to Turner Broadcasting and continued to host NWA Pro Wrestling for the company until leaving in 1992. He was co-host of several Turner/WCW pay-per-view events and Clash of Champions specials on WTBS.

For more posts about Bob Caudle at WRAL, click his link in the "Crockett On-Air Talent" section on the upper-right side of this webpage.

And so long for now!

WRAL Wrestling in 1959!

I came across 43 minutes of vintage wrestling matches on the Capitol Broadcasting Company's history website. These matches were filmed at WRAL studios in Raleigh, NC.

When I first saw this footage, I guessed these matches were from the early 1960s. But our friend Carroll Hall did several hours of research and was able to determine that these matches were filmed in 1959, the very first year that WRAL broadcast wrestling matches.

"This footage has got to be from 1959. After 1959 Mike Clancy did not return to wrestle in JCP until 1964," Carroll wrote to me. He researched the wrestlers and the periods of time they were all in the territory together.  "I am confident that all  these matches were filmed during the first year the WRAL show was on the air."

Sadly, there is no commentary for these matches. This is apparently the raw film footage of matches and perhaps commentary was added later. (The wrestling play-by-play announcer for WRAL at that time was legendary hall-of-fame sports announcer Ray Reeve.)

Here is a link to the video on the CBC history website and a detailed list of the matches, referees, and ring announcer, courtesy of Carroll Hall.

WRAL Wrestling (1959)

http://history.capitolbroadcasting.com/media-assets/wrestling/?from=293

Ring announcer: Leo Voss
Match # 1: Jerry Christy vs. Johnny Heidman, referee Walter Buckner
Match # 2: Mike Clancy vs. Hans Schnable, referee Walter Buckner
Match # 3: Jerry Christy vs Danny McShane, referee Sam "Lucky" Roberts
Match # 4: Rita Cortez vs. Judy Grable referee, Walter Buckner

WRAL first broadcast wrestling on January 31, 1959. It is possible that these were some of the first matches that took place in that studio.

Bob Caudle and Bob DeBardelaben Archive Photo

Bob Caudle and Bob DeBardelaben. Photo from the CBC History website. (Link)

From the CBC History website:
WRAL-TV weather anchors Bob Caudle and Bob DeBardelaben during a lull in a promo shoot. This photo was taken in 1976 when DeBardelaben was taking over the weather anchor duties from Caudle. The humorous promo campaign was titled “As the Weather Turns.”


We edited clips from some of the "As The Weather Turns" skits and posted them on YouTube.

Did you notice several other wrestling personalities in this video? Click here to learn more about the 5 people with connections to Mid-Atlantic Wrestling seen in this video.

For more posts about Bob Caudle at WRAL, click his link in the "Broadcasters" section on the upper-right side of this webpage.

Thanks to Brian Rogers.

Bob Caudle Profile on CBC's History Website

Bob Caudle's profile from the Capitol Broadcasting Company history website (as of 12/17/14):

Bob Caudle was a longtime newscaster and weatherman at WRAL-TV, but he is best known as the television announcer for Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling during a broadcast career that spanned more than three decades. 

Bob’s TV career began in 1954 at WMFD-TV (later WECT-TV) in Wilmington, NC, where he played a lead role in “Bob and Hester,” a children’s program featuring a dog puppet that talked and sang songs. After three years in Wilmington, Caudle moved to TV job in Savannah, and three years later headed to Raleigh and WRAL-TV. 

At WRAL, Caudle anchored late-night news and appeared as “The Atlantic Weatherman” who would deliver the forecast each evening dressed in a gas station attendant’s uniform. In 1961 he took on additional duties as the announcer for Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, which was recorded every Wednesday night at WRAL. From that point on—Bob Caudle became a household name in the world of television wrestling. 

Caudle announced and recorded hundreds of wrestling matches in WRAL’s famous Studio A, teaming up with partners such as David Crockett, Roddy Piper, Les Thatcher and Johnny Weaver. Soon he began going on the road for Crockett Promotions to tape wrestling shows throughout the eastern half of the country.
Bob’s signature sign-off line at the end of every show was “That’s it for this week, and until next week fans, so long for now!” 

Caudle left WRAL-TV in early 1981 to become a legislative assistant for U.S. Senator Jesse Helms, with whom he had worked during his early days at WRAL. Caudle held that position until he retired in 1996. During his time as Senator Helms’ assistant, he continued his ring announcing—working for Jim Crockett Promotions and Turner Broadcasting until the early 90s 

Bob Caudle is a native of Charlotte. He and his wife have three children and seven grandchildren. They live in Raleigh.

Link: http://history.capitolbroadcasting.com/people/past-communicators/bob-caudle/

Thanks to Rob Newton and William Rouse.