Wrestling tv shows before 1974?

[phinney]

What were the tv shows that Mid-Atlantic wrestling had during pre 1974? Like in the 60's. and early 70's?

[cwh47]

1960's
WBTV 3 Charlotte,NC
Host:Bill Ward
Ring announcer:George Harben
Looked to be the largest studio of the shows I could
receive at that time.Taped Wed.nights.

WGHP 8 High Point,NC
Host:Charlie Harville
Ring announcer:Wally Dusek
Small studio.Maybe it held 60-75 fans.They had to use
a smaller ring than the other shows.Tex Mckenzie once
complained it was not large enough for him to do his
bulldog headlock properly.Taped Tues.nights.

WDBJ 7 Roanoke,VA
Host:Hal Grant
Ring announcer/promoter: Pete Apostalu
Rather large studio audience and ring.The ring had
wood posts instead of steel.I remember at least two
occasions one the posts cracked.It was broadcast live
at 5:00 p.m. Saturdays until the late sixties.

WSLS 10 Roanoke,VA
In the late sixties the show with Bob Caudle replaced
the WDBJ show.This was a tape of the previous weeks
Raleigh,NC show.Promoter Joe Murnick was the ring
announcer.Roanoke promoter Pete Apostalu did promos
for the shows he was running during the commercial
breaks.

WRAL 5 Raleigh,NC
I could not receive this show in the sixties but when I
was able to get it in the early 70's Elliot Murnick was the
host.His version of the show was local and he did his
interviews from ringside as the other local shows did.
I could watch the same show the following week with
Bob Caudle on WSLS.Bob did his interviews on the
opposite side of the studio in front of a backdrop.

[cwh47]

I should have mentioned that the High Point and
Charlotte shows titled "Championship Wrestling"
and the Virginia and Raleigh shows "All Star Wrestling".

As we all know the show with Bob Caudle became "Mid-
Atlantic Championship Wrestling". WSLS 10 Roanoke
for quite some time after still used their old "All Star
Wrestling" opening and music.Their opening was the
cartoon wrestlers and and a voiceover that ended with
"brought to you by the Roanoke Sports Club". They
would cut from that and Bob Caudle would welcome us
to "another hour of Mid-Atlantic Championship
Wrestling". I can't say exactly but it seemed like this
channel did this for a long time.

[bobbyryates]

OH MAN!!!!! i remember that. they still used those cartoon characters and stuff as the lead in even into '81 while i watched either of the JCP show, or "NWA Southern Championship Wrestling" shows on WSLS. i hadn't thought of that since then until now.

[Baltimore Jack]

Were these the same cartoon wrestlers that were used by Southeastern Wrestling in Knoxville in the mid-70s and then by Southeastern as well when they moved and were based out of Dothan, AL?

Also, great job on the TV synopsis, CWH! You've just effectively laid the ground work for the new TV section that will debut on the Gateway down the road.

(Related story: The Birth of Mid-Atlantic Wrestling on TV)

[Baltimore Jack]

CWH, reguarding your excellent summary of the studio shows above, we have talked about this before, but let's get it started here, too, and see what further info we can get from others.

Is it your opinion that the syndicated "Wide World Wrestling" with host Ed Capral came about when the varoius studio shows began to cease production? You told me on the way back from the Lenoir show something about the timing of the end of the WGHP show and the Roanoke show, and that being the first time you saw Wide World Wrestling.

Anyone remember a specific time when Wode World started airing in your area?

[cwh47]

Thanks for the kind words Baltimore Jack.During our
conversation Saturday night I told you that I believed
Ed Capral was still with Ann Gunkel when All South
Wrestling folded in November 1974.If that is
incorrect maybe someone on the board has more
specific info.Since we talked last I have been looking
for articles about Charlie Harville.I found one that said
he left WGHP in 1975 but no specific date was given.
Something else you and I have talked about over the
past year is the Feb.20,1975 show in Greensboro.That
was the first time in my memory that the Crockett's took
a video production crew in to tape an entire show for
tv.Up until that time we had only seen 16mm film clips.
This was shown on WGHP over the weeks following
the show.There was at least two episodes maybe three
edited from this.

This was the first time I ever saw Ric Flair vs.Dusty .
Flair's newly won tv title was on the line for the first
15 minutes.They both were counted out of the ring.I
am thinking Wide World Wrestling started after these
shows but I am not absolutely sure.I do remember
George Scott saying this was a first because they
wanted to try something different.Ed Capral may have
hosted this or maybe not.I hope maybe that other
members may remember something else about this.

[cwh47]

Something else about the WGHP show.When Ric Flair
first came to the area he did some tag matches with
Chuck O'Connor (John Studd).Charlie Harville was still
hosting the show when they wrestled on there.I also
remember Charlie Harville interviewing Rip Hawk and
Ric Flair after they won the Mid-Atlantic tag belts from
Paul Jones and Bob Bruggers which would have been
during the summer of 1974.

[justahamandegger]

On the pre-1974 shows, main event matches or matches that the wrestlers were on the same level. Or were they mainly squash matches?

[cwh47]

There were some main event matches once in while
and a few title matches also.If you saw the tv card I
posted on the history thread for Jan.11,1969 it would
be safe to say that the Andersons beat Bob Ramstad
and Billy Spears but I wouldn't really call it a squash
match either because Ramstad and Spears always
looked pretty good in the ring too.

In later years when there were four or five matches
squeezed in to a one hour show the enhancement
talent didn't get as much of a chance to look good
because they had to get through the matches in a
hurry.

[phinney]

Thanks for all the info ;D

[cwh47]

You are welcome phinney.

[justahamandegger]

Do any of the tapes from this time period still exist?

[cwh47]

The only piece of footage from the local shows of this
era I know of is from the WGHP High Point show.That is
the confrontation between Johnny Valentine and Wahoo
McDaniel.I keep hoping that more will turn up in the
future.Maybe some of the clips that were sent to other
areas such as Florida will turn up in their video
archives someday.I believe that is how this piece of
video survived.

[ncjames]

I know for certainty that Ed Caperal was hosting Wide World Wrestling at least during the time Flair was out after the plane crash. Im not at all sure how long he had been hosting it when Flair came back. But I will never forget that promo when Flair came back. He brings out a big bag of the "get well cards" he received while he was injured. He proceeds to maniacally rip them to shreds and Caperal's horrified reaction was priceless!