Knoxville workers tape themselves exposing the biz in 1979

[Deleted]

dead man switch

[warriorthug4edge]

This tells a good portion of it. Long and short: Roop, Garvin, Orton, and Wright felt they were being cheated on payoffs, so they did the nuclear option. Dick Slater ratted them out (well, except Wright, who came along later), and Roop basically lied and made sure nobody else was implicated. Fuller put the belt on Garvin...who then left with the others and broadcast himself holding the belt on TV. Also where Randy Savage got his first real break when his Dad decided to run ICW in Knoxville.

prowrestlingstories.com/pro-wrestling-stories/ron-garvin-stealing-wrestling-title/

[OVO 40 hunched over like he 80]

Feb 13, 2019 8:38:00 GMT -5 warriorthug4edge said:

This tells a good portion of it. Long and short: Roop, Garvin, Orton, and Wright felt they were being cheated on payoffs, so they did the nuclear option. Dick Slater ratted them out (well, except Wright, who came along later), and Roop basically lied and made sure nobody else was implicated. Fuller put the belt on Garvin...who then left with the others and broadcast himself holding the belt on TV. Also where Randy Savage got his first real break when his Dad decided to run ICW in Knoxville.

prowrestlingstories.com/pro-wrestling-stories/ron-garvin-stealing-wrestling-title/

I hope there’s footage of Randy exposing the business.

“This isn’t my real voice”

[Milkman Norm]

Did this pretty much kill the town until the SMW days?

[corndog]

Feb 12, 2019 23:59:16 GMT -5 slickrickstyles said:

Holy crap just finished this...This would have been huge if it was released back then...Were the other segments Roop planned for shot as well?

I definitely want to see them. Today we know it's a work, but good god, Roop was going to expose other things we don't know about like the entire mafioso underbelly of the NWA, sex favors and wrestlers being prostituted out, which are things that have been touched on in shoots, but never fully exposed or explained.

[OVO 40 hunched over like he 80]

Feb 13, 2019 10:00:25 GMT -5 Milkman Norm said:

Did this pretty much kill the town until the SMW days?

I don’t know much about that territory but I think what killed it was the Fuller’s mismanagement.

[OVO 40 hunched over like he 80]

Feb 13, 2019 12:24:47 GMT -5 corndog said:

Feb 12, 2019 23:59:16 GMT -5 slickrickstyles said:

Holy crap just finished this...This would have been huge if it was released back then...Were the other segments Roop planned for shot as well?

I definitely want to see them. Today we know it's a work, but good god, Roop was going to expose other things we don't know about like the entire mafioso underbelly of the NWA, sex favors and wrestlers being prostituted out, which are things that have been touched on in shoots, but never fully exposed or explained.

I haven’t read it but there’s a book, “The Thin Thirty” about Jim Barnett pimping out the University of Kentucky’s football team, I’m not aware if Barnett prostituted wrestlers.

[The 1Watcher Experience]

People have been sending the link to Jim Cornette. I hope he sees this and talks about it on his podcast. I’d like to hear if he knew anything about it. I’m also interested to hear his opinion of these old school guys planning to expose the business since he’s had a lot of respect for the guys involved and has no respect for people that come right out and say that wrestling is fake. Should make for an interesting podcast.

[MrElijah]

Wow. This was beyond a nuclear option, this was, to quote Gary Hart, ARMAGEDDON brotha! This dude was going to the f***ing Feds! The NWA would probably put a hit on him.

Also, damn does Boris look like Dean.

[OVO 40 hunched over like he 80]

Feb 13, 2019 13:11:31 GMT -5 The 1Watcher Experience said:

People have been sending the link to Jim Cornette. I hope he sees this and talks about it on his podcast. I’d like to hear if he knew anything about it. I’m also interested to hear his opinion of these old school guys planning to expose the business since he’s had a lot of respect for the guys involved and has no respect for people that come right out and say that wrestling is fake. Should make for an interesting podcast.

He’s gonna be devastated lol. One of his heroes growing up was Ron Wright.

[OVO 40 hunched over like he 80]

Something I noticed, if you’re a good father, you smart up your kids and tell them it’s all fake and that your opponent is not hurting you. Orton Sr, Piper, and Mick did this.

Now if you’re a piece of shit like Grizzly Smith, you kayfabe your kid and wear a neck brace home.

[The 1Watcher Experience]

Feb 13, 2019 14:41:06 GMT -5 OVO 40 hunched over like he 80 said:

Feb 13, 2019 13:11:31 GMT -5 The 1Watcher Experience said:

People have been sending the link to Jim Cornette. I hope he sees this and talks about it on his podcast. I’d like to hear if he knew anything about it. I’m also interested to hear his opinion of these old school guys planning to expose the business since he’s had a lot of respect for the guys involved and has no respect for people that come right out and say that wrestling is fake. Should make for an interesting podcast.

He’s gonna be devastated lol. One of his heroes growing up was Ron Wright.

I’m aware. He’s also said some nice things about Boris Malenko too. I half expect him to be kind of dismissive of it since it was never actually released. It’s been 40 years. Then again whether they truly intended to expose the business or not shouldn’t really matter. Just by recording this it could’ve possibly gotten out so Cornette might still lose it. I just want to hear his thoughts. While Cornette can be outrageous at times he usually has a solid reason for his opinions so I appreciate hearing them. 

[CMPunkyBrewster]

Alright. Fine. I'll be that guy.

Why the f*** can't Ron Wright say "years"?

[111111]

What baffles me is that people genuinely actuly believed wrestling was real in the 70s.

I'd hazard a guess that far more people were aware it was fake in those days than we give them credit for.

[The 1Watcher Experience]

Feb 13, 2019 18:16:41 GMT -5 111111 said:

What baffles me is that people genuinely actuly believed wrestling was real in the 70s.

I'd hazard a guess that far more people were aware it was fake in those days than we give them credit for.

I’m sure a lot of people knew or at least suspected. I knew when I was five years old when I watched for the first time but I wanted to suspend my disbelief and enjoy the show. I’m sure a lot of people did the same. That’s why we love stuff that feels or seems real. Like Becky Lynch’s bloody nose or someone rumored to be going off script. It’s a big reason shoot angles became so popular. We know pro wrestling is a work but we can appreciate it anyway. We still want it to feel real.

I remember finding out the wrestling terminology or the carny language, reading newsletters and watching shoot interviews seeing the inner workings revealed right before my eyes. I knew wrestling was a work but it was still a trip to learn the secrets. There was nothing like those things around back in the 70s. That video getting out in 1979 would’ve been damaging to the wrestling business and shocking to its fans even if they suspected that their pro wrestling wasn’t on the level.

[Mozenrath]

Feb 13, 2019 13:11:31 GMT -5 The 1Watcher Experience said:

People have been sending the link to Jim Cornette. I hope he sees this and talks about it on his podcast. I’d like to hear if he knew anything about it. I’m also interested to hear his opinion of these old school guys planning to expose the business since he’s had a lot of respect for the guys involved and has no respect for people that come right out and say that wrestling is fake. Should make for an interesting podcast.

It probably will help matters that these are stars, not nobodies, and that they'd be doing it because the promoter would be f***ing them over and leaving them with little recourse.

And not a shock about Slater ratting them out, he's a piece of shit like that.

[cjh]

Feb 13, 2019 18:16:41 GMT -5 111111 said:

What baffles me is that people genuinely actuly believed wrestling was real in the 70s.

I'd hazard a guess that far more people were aware it was fake in those days than we give them credit for.

Some fans would attempt to attack heels well into the 1980s.  I remember Maria Kanellis saying Johnny Jeter had that kind of heat in OVW where people in the crowd seemed to get legitimately angry at his heel work.

[Gawk Rivers]

Lemme introduce you to a man I respect greatly, Bob Orton Jr. Take it away, Bob.

When I was a young boy my father took me in to the city to see eye stabby meeeen

[BlackoutCreature]

Ron Wright looks like the kinda guy who would be hosting a home improvement show on PBS.

It's weird to see Ronnie Garvin without his signature spiky blonde hair.

I also love that fact that they're completely exposing the business here, but they all still insist on calling him "Professor Malenko".

[OVO 40 hunched over like he 80]

It’s hilarious how David Schultz slapped a reporter for calling it fake when bigger stars than him admitted they were just actors.