Post by Kash Flagg on Jan 3, 2011 20:28:10 GMT -5
ok, this will show how old I am:
Mid-1960's-Memphis, TN. Studio wrestling is televised every Saturday morning, with live shows every Monday night-first at the old Ellis Auditorium, then at the Mid-South Coliseum. Sputnik Monroe, the local champ in the early '60's, passes the torch to the Fabulous Jackie Fargo toward the end of the decade. I start watching as a kid sometime around then.
My dad goes to work for the promotion(then run by the Gulas family) in 1971, primarily as a heel jobber. I watch more closely and basically smarten myself up to the business. New talent, including Jerry Jarrett, Tojo Yamamoto, Bill Dundee, and Jerry(eventually to be known as "The King") Lawler, come into the territory. 1978-Jarrett and Lawler leave the company to create their own local rival organization-something near unheard of in that era of the territories. Gulas, notorious for his miserable payouts and poor business practices in general, appeals to but gets no sympathy or support from other NWA promoters, inc. Sam Muchnick, Bob Geigel, Paul Boesch, and the Funks. The talent(inc. my dad) flees Gulas for the Jarrett/Lawler promotion, which(amazingly) has negotiated a TV deal with a local rival station, almost overnight takes over the dominant spot in town.
The promotion explodes in popularity and financial success from about 1979-1984. Almost every big name star spends time in Memphis, inc. Terry Bollea(pre hulk hogan) Randy Savage, Jesse Ventura, Andre the Giant, Terry Funk, and in his first NWA world heavyweight title run, a cocky young Ric Flair. Andy Kaufman garners some of the first mainstream recognition for wrestling, by feuding with Jerry Lawler. Their appearance on the David Letterman show stuns the traditional wrestling community. My dad retires from the business in 1979, due to illness. He died of cancer later that year.
Heady stuff for a pre-teen thru college age kid. I've been fascinated by the business ever since. The boom of Hulkamania caught me by surprise, and I was fiercely on the side of the NWA. I despised Vince McMahon and his product for some time, but gradually realized that a national takeover of the business was inevitable.
My interest waned in the early 90's, but was revived by the WCW/WWF rivalry. It waned again after the demise of WCW, but perked up with the rise of TNA.
Now, I continue to observe the business with fascination. I wonder if the audience will ever be as large as it was at the height of the territory era, when there a good 750-1000 guys in the U.S. making a reasonable living from wrestling.
Excellent post.