Re: pro wrestling

[hmglaz@webtv.net (H Glazer)]

Yes, Donna, I'll admit it. I was -- and still am -- a wrestling fan.

In the '60s, I'd watch "Philadelphia Color Wrestling" (that's what they
called it) on Ch. 56. Bill Cardille, who is a TV legend of sorts in
Pittsburgh, was the announcer for the Philly show as well. I recall a
few favorite expressions, "tougher than cooked owl," (said of arious bad
guys) "Light up the lights on Broadway!" (said when Chief Jay Strongbow
went into his war dance) and "How do you do! My name's Verdu!" (said of
Crusher Verdu, a Spanish heel.

On WMUR, through the snow, I'd watch "Big Time Wrestling" from the
National Arena in Washington. The announcer was Ray Morgan, a no-frills
guy who took wrestling way too seriously. The matches were longer and
duller, and the crowd seemed to consist of a lot of grouchy old men, as
opposed to the kids on the Philly show.

In the '70s, a couple of stations tried airing non-WWWF (it wasn't WWF
yet) shows. Ch. 27 ran a show from Detroit with an English announcer,
Lord Athol Layton (an ex-wrestler). He used to express surprise by
exclaiming "What have we here?" I believe Ch. 38 ran Florida wrestling
with Gordon Solie briefly as well. Solie called pro matches as if they
were amateur freestyle bouts: "Switch go-behind into a double underhook
... now a full arm drag and twist!"

Wrestling really took off in the '80s. Ch. 25 even had a studio
wrestling show briefly -- "Bedlam from Boston." I recall nothing of the
announcers.

The A&E special was quite good. They fudged a few facts and gave
second-line rasslers like the Patriot and Dallas Page way too much play,
but it was interesting to see how the business has evolved.


Howard

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