Born raised in Tennessee, and when I was a kid, Jerry Lawler was the baddest man walking, you couldn’t tell anyone in my family he wasn’t or someone could beat him. You knew, when the King dropped that strap, it was about to be over👊🏻 this is my favorite show so far. Thanks for this great look back.
I love the intimacy of studio wrestling. It's like seeing a band in a small club opposed to a large concert arena. It's in your face and you hear every slap and grunt.
Me, too. It's what contributes to my love of the lo-fi Fight Club aesthetic that rasslin' used to have. Can't stand the fake Gladiator shit that Vince forced on the succeeding generations of fans. It shows exactly what he thinks of the people who made his company billions.
Florida studio wrasslin' in Tampa ruled. Kevin Sullivan jacked Kendall Windham in the face with a broken lightbulb at 9:30 on a Sunday morning. It was great
Some of the funniest segments occurred with the Midnight Express and the Fantastics. When they slammed Jim's head into a birthday cake and Stan went slipping and sliding. Another when Cornette got stuck in the desk, podium thing and you were struggling to get out, classic. I grew up on Saturday night 6:05. Sat afternoon at 2pm. World Wide Wrestling.
They did that same angle a few years before in Mid-South with the Rock and Roll Express - was just as funny, if not funnier, with the Fantasticks on TBS.
Just listened to this for the first time. So cryptic to hear him say that and then back out of full screen to check the upload date and see it say “8 months ago”
Weird part is AEW handled this so much better. Put the development guys in the crowd or something, or crew or people who are there to visit. Honestly AEW was much easier to watch than WWE was during the pandemic.
@@errorr.e.d4918 I liked the way AEW did it more frankly. AEW had the wrestlers in the crowd and since the matches were so high paced and usually had multiple people it came across to me way better than what WWE was doing. The Thunderdome just looked silly to me and they still had to pipe in crowd noise. The early days with no crowd at all was insane. I couldn't believe they didn't do something a lot sooner.
My brother and I lived for the studio wrestling! We'd get home from school and turn on wrestling. Forget cartoons, Rick Flair and the Horsemen were doing a promo monologue! Even though Flair did the same routine over and over in the ring ad nauseum, no one could beat him at the promos. There was something more intense about promos in the studio setting that just didn't seem to come across when done in the ring in front of a crowd of thousands. Man, the NWA was it for us. Then one of the channels started airing the AWA in our area and that was mostly studio wrestling. For my brother and I more wrestling on TV was great stuff.
This has been the best episode, so far, that I have listened to.....brings back so many memories from my teens and young adulthood.....oh and thanks for the education on how the studio shows worked and all the little tidbits you threw in.....64 and still learning......just wish there was some wrestling worth watching......thank god for youtube....heh.......Thanks again!
In the 1960s, the broad Pittsburgh area had a show called Studio Wrestling. It was the tv show for the Tri-State (PA< OH, and WV) that was owned by Bruno Sammartino. The name was so ingrained that for the next 20 years, people in the area referred to all professional wrestling as "Studio wrestling." .
The studio they used for Pittsburgh Studio Wrestling was used for one taping day of WWWF Championship Wrestling in spring of 1973. They knew in advance that Vince Jr. would not be available for his usual commentary spot (he was negotiating with Evel Knievel for WWWF to do cross-promotion on WWWF TV of Knievel's Snake River Canyon "rocket cycle" jump, and Vince also got to handle the national promotion for the event.) So rather than pay for Bill Cardille to come into Philly for the day, they did the taping at, I believe, the Channel 13 studios in Pittsburgh so they wouldn't have to pay him extra money for travel. So they taped three episodes of Championship Wrestling that day. All the matches were squashes except for one feature match with Chief Jay Strongbow vs Moon Dog Mayne. Cardille was the commentator on all three episodes. But they still took a bath on the deal because the Snake River thing lost money due to people being legitimately concerned that Knievel was going to be killed in the attempt. The three Championship Wrestling episodes have never surfaced anywhere, to my knowledge. Maybe WWE has them in their "vault"?
I watched studio wrestling in Memphis throughout my whole childhood. In my 20s I moved there for a job and would go whenever I could. I remember how TINY the studio was the first time I went, but it was surreal. Of all the wrestling shows that are gone, I miss that one the most, by far.
I was lucky as a kid in the mid to late 70's in Upstate NY. We got cable early because of foul weather testing. We got wrestling from Atlanta, Dallas, Montreal, and Detroit. A few other places at random times.
Ag hall in Allentown is still there lot of history in that little building. Zybysko heel turn on Bruno. Sgt Slaughter face turn. Piper, Snuka and a coconut Bunch of tag title changes. Great memories went every three weeks.
Same here. Attended Muhlenberg College & never missed a show until it was moved out of Allentown. Saw the Atlas/Johnson title change over Adonis/Murdoch.
I used to to go to channel 48 studios in Philadelphia to see the matches..I got Haystacks Calhoun autograph.. in between tapings.. they did 3 hours of taping. The announcer was Bill Cordell
Yelow everybody this is Lance Russell and Dave Brown right along ringside do for another action packed day or championship! If you were alive at the time and you were in the Memphis area you know you heard that whether you were a wrestling fan or not.
WV here. My dad used refer to all pro wrestling as "Big Time" rasslin. It wasnt til I was grown that I realized hed probably been used to watching Detroit wrestling at some point.
Eddie Gilbert vs Jerry Lawler feud in Memphis early 1988 was awesome with Eddie fireballing Jerry Jarrett and Randy Hales in the studio and then the Gilbert vs Lawler studio brawl that spilled into the parking lot where Eddie slammed Jerry into Dave Brown's car windshield... classic moment
Wow I didn't know they were still drawing big money in the late 80s! I knew they out survived every other territory unless you count ECW which hunt on another 4-5 years and could've hung on longer honestly had they not tried to expand so quickly. Paul-E threw away a ton of money he did not have investing in TV production but honestly he needed someone with deep deep pockets which he couldn't get because companies were scared of the product. Had they had the full support of a angel investor or hedge fund to keep them going until they could get TV Stations to come around. Anyways I was under the impression that in the late 80s like 88-90 was making a small profit but by the time 92 through their end in 1997 they were losing money and consistently drawing houses of less than 50 people, essentially paying people gas money to wrestler, ouch.
I LOVED AWA All-Star Wrestling! Jim is right, the matches were shit and Verne was still running 2 out of 3 falls tag matches in a 1-hour show. When the High Flyers were on, it was time for a bathroom/snack break and we used to cook a 3-course meal, wash the car and re-shingle the roof and when we got back, Jim Brunzell STILL had the jobber in that same fucking arm lock and telling the ref "Ask him!" But the promos were the best, Marty O'Neill and later Mean Gene interviewing the stars of the day. That's what made it a great show.
Studio wrestling blows away anything today. Weekly squash matches and promos with guys like Roger Kents constant color banter. 🗣🎶its not the kill...its the thrill of the chase.
Greatest moment in studio wrestling - TBS 5:05 show - Horseman attack on Magnum TA after Magnum's injury. I saw it live and it was amazing. I found it on YT long ago but it seems to have disappeared.
@@IamPondo (Going on memory here - saw that live) Cornette answers phone and yells into phone: Yeah, you are a goof and those 2 are idiots...... slams down phone. Next segment the new Midnight Express and Paul come out of nowhere to attack James E Cornette and the original Midnight Express and an epic Pier 6 brawl ensues. Oh, and the announcers screaming "They don't even work here!!!!" - lol. An incredible debut and a huge pop from the studio crowd. Now I am going to search for that segment on YT.
@@IamPondo I found that segment - I have a few details wrong but I did have the general idea correct. That is an awesome segment. Here are a couple more to watch - the "James Gang v Midnight Express" (the James Gang was Magnum and Dusty); Fantastics and Midnight Express Pier 6 brawl.
i was the timekeeper during a few shows i used to make a few bucks betting on the match results with the drunks .. they did not know i had a sheet of paper with the results on it
The spinning wrestling statue was how the Toronto show "Ringside!" opened and closed in the late 60s and early 70s prior to Tunney calling the show "Maple Leaf Wrestling" in (I think), 1975. So at least since 1968. So I gotta wonder if Jarrett got the idea not from SECW, but from Tunney. And if I recall correctly, Jarrett also used Herb Albert & The Tijuana Brass' "La Banda" as the theme.... Small world, eh? And yea, there are some studio shows stories from Toronto and Vancouver and Montreal from that period that are kinda wild, too....
Ridder 357, Sorry Florida Championship Wrestling was shot on a Wednesday @ the sporatrum 106 Albany Ave, after the card on Tuesday night @ the fort homer hestley armony
NWA 86-87 when the Midnight would be squashing in the Techwood studio, and Cornette would walk back and forth non-stop talking trash on the mic with Tony to talking trash in the face of the Midnight’s opponent. JJ would do the same with the Horsemen. That was some of the best studio wresting
Studio wrestling made sense. There were interviews. The way wrestling is presented now makes no sense. Why are there cameras back stage? Why do wrestlers come into the ring to talk about things?
Very glad NWA is bringing back studio tapings. Always boggled my mind why wrestling feds think you need an arena sized crowd to get angles over. Save the big arena shows for the big live shows. The reason why stuff like WWE does poor Raw attendance is why would you pay $200 to watch angles play out instead of the culmination?
Time was that a house show would be this week or fortnight second part, people didn't go to house shows to see TV being filmed. They went to see more then the TV show for a low price, week in an week out.
Living in Pennsylvania, I grew up on WWWF on Channel 17 in Philly. But in 1977/ early '78(?), one of the Philly channels showed Championship Wrestling from Florida, and it was my intro to studio wrestling, and I thought it sucked. But, yet, I was watching Dory Funk Jr and Terry, the Briscos, and some young guy named Bob Backlund. And in '81, they had Georgia Championship Wrestling, during the feud between Gordy/Snuka and Hayes/Kevin von Erich. Both had Gordon Solie, who I didn't like in '77, but really started to like in '81, when I realized he better than Vince.
To those complaining about Jim's story on Frankenstein's monster being on a studio wrestling show, keep in mind modern wrestling had several bizarre crossovers. WCW had Robocop and Chucky the killer doll while WWE had Scooby-Doo and John Shaft. Compared to that weirdness, Frankenstein's monster is rather quaint.
@@iBmEVanquisher But Memphis also had a character named The Christmas Creature who was a wrestling Christmas tree. He was played by Glenn Jacobs, before he was Unabomb or Isaac Yankem or Kane.
Much of Southeasterns production quality can be credited to guy named Bill Kincaid. He was camera man who was young producer trainee- musicain who had creativity and talent. Most ideas were his and lucky for them they had enough brains to listen to him. Set design and such pretty much all Bill. Ron and Whitey matches legendary. Tennessee chain matches bloodiest matches probably ever. They were brother in law's.
I remember they would always talk about what had happened in the big house shows on the tv episodes. I was just a kid then and wished like hell I could get to see this shows haha. By the time I was old enough to go I had moved on from wrestling. For a lot of casual fans like me those old studio shows take me back to a very specific moment in my childhood. I would come back to wrestling on and off over the subsequent years. It’s just so interesting to hear how the business worked
Memphis wrestling at Channel 5 studio had a pretty long waiting list to get tickets for Saturday morning TV. I got to go once. It kinda ruined it for me though. Seeing it in person revealed everything.
We were lucky in Pittsburgh to have Bruno living in town. He got all the big heels at the time to come to a rinky dink studio at WIIC Pittsburgh. I was just a kid, this was in the '60's and I watched with my Grandma on Saturday nights.She was a hoot, used to cuss out the heels, She would have been great live in studio.
I loved studio wrestling with Bruno Sammartino, Johnny DeFazio, The Battman(Tony Marino) and others. My grandma would give us the business of we interrupted it.
A weird thing happened in 1961 or 1962 at that Studio Wrestling show out of Pittsburgh. A wrestler named Ali Pasha died in the ring of a heart attack after wrestling a match. I don't think they ever aired that match, but it's part of TV wrestling folklore.
I think the difference is in the "No they weren't trying to say it was a man raided from the dead it was 'who is this motherfucker in the Frankenstein costume?'"
@@timf7413 That's my problem with a lot of Jim's modern criticism: He hates hardcore wrestling, but when they (basically invented it) in Memphis, that was "different". He thinks wrestlers should be "grown men who look like they can fight", but he loves Lawler and Dundee, who are smaller than I am and I'm an out of shape nerd. And he doesn't like hokey, silly shit, but he's OK with Frankensteins and Mummy dudes...when companies he liked were booking them. Tons of double-standards.
Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling in the TV studio was the best! Lots of it here especially 81-84 although the original music has been substituted for
I remember Florida Championship Wrestling every Saturday at 1 PM, the 1960s - to the mid-'80s. The show was taped on a Tuesday. I remember Dusty doing a run-in with soap suds draped on his body and his hair soaking wet. Well, the building did not have any showers. The Grahams had low overhead. Gordon Solie was the best. Gordon was very scientific, explaining the physiological (Vasal Vagal Nerve & the Carotid Artery) effects of a sleeper hold.
Memphis... Where wrestling was taken serious. Andy Kaufman coming there was THEE BEST THING to happen to Memphis. Man what I'd given to been around at that time. I remember everyone talking about Smokey Mountain when I was growing up. I think I remember seeing an episode when I was really little. It was one of the Armstrong boys lifting weights at a gym somewhere shooting a promo on a guy. My dad was involved with wrestling then and ran a wrestling show on his local television show so it could have been HIS company but man. There was a time when ppl ALL OVER TOWN would show up to a wrestling show of there was a name on the card.
I remember being little and went to a show my dad commentated it I kept hearing ppl say Tracey Smothers allot and I grabbed an adult and said "Who is Tracey Smothers?" He said "The Wild Eyed Southern Boy" a theme song hit and Tracey Smothers came out and ran to the ring and everyone went crazy and the guy said "THAT is Tracey Smothers" I was so taken in by the whole thing....... Wrestling is a HUGE part of my childhood.
Hey Jim, What can you tell me about karate wrestling? Just found a match with it on WWE Network. Wanted to know if you might have any more history on the subject besides just that one match.
1 angle a year sounds freaking appealing compared to today's product. It was simpler also in 1982 to 87, but as it morphed into entertainment it has become a bombardment of silly story lines with clearly rehearsed and written for content. SO fucking lame.
I had the pleasure of meeting Mario Galento in the 80s I was friends with his son. He was a bad bad man. Nicest guy you would ever meet until he wasn't. He taught us everything from wrestling shoot holds to knife throwing. One of the baddest people I have ever met.
The co host is my age. Im 40. I think we even grew up in same area (philly/south jersey) and i def remember wcw studio wrestling on tv. I remember always having to channel surf to find it i was so young i guess i never thought to memorize the station.
Cornette, who was never a fan of the WWWF, wasn’t in the northeast to witness the biggest studio wrestling events there. Probably the biggest is when Larry Zbyszko turned on Bruno Sammartino. This chair bashing kicked off a feud that spanned the biggest arenas in the territory, New York’s Madison Square Garden, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Washington, and Hartford. This culminated in a box office bonanza in a steel cage at baseball’s, Shea Stadium. There were others with Jimmy Valiant turning on Chief Jay Strongbow. There were other heel turns involving Spiros Arion, there was Lou Albano clobbering his Wild Samoans with a chair in a TV title change. It was a rare affair when the locker room emptied out to separate grapplers in the ring back in the 70’s. I’d put the old WWWF studio shows against any of the other territories.
Wow people are really realizing how brutal wrestling is without a audience!!! I grew up in Florida watching Florida Championship Wrestling and their studio show was awesome when I grew up it’s not as great now because there was a lot of squash matches putting the faces over but I would rather go back and watch that than the wwe nowadays!!!
Will you please do an awa tell all Jim... I love those stories about the AWA cuz I live in Minnesota and I watched it when I was a kid religiously. Jim brunzell Greg gagne.. you said Baron von rashke I haven't heard that name in years...the claw that's all the people need to know haha
I would purchase a signed print of one of Travis Heckel's thumbnail drawings. Or make donation to Cauliflower Alley or similar. What's your price then Corny?
Hey Jim how about this, talk about studio wrestling and locations. Member when here in Richmond Virginia they used to wrestle at the arena did they move to the Colosseum
The WWF was supposed to do Studio Wrestling on TBS in 84 but they did taped arena matches and Billionaire Ted wasn't happy. Luckily Vince gave Crockett the TV spot and it worked out for both WWF and NWA
The Knoxville show with Lawler was taped at chan 26. Had 3 network affiliated stations and Indy 26. It's studio was on sharps ridge. You about needed a mule to get up ridge in good weather. Seated about 35 40 people and hundred or more showed every sat. First come first served. People stood in line for hours to get in rain or shine. Funny but first time I ever saw it on tv Ron Wright was pounding a guy dressed as Frankenstein over the head with a metal trashcan. It was so over the top I couldn't look away. Totally ludicrous. They had me at trash can! Two weeks later was in studio eating it up. Started attending matches at Chilhowee Park and been fan since.This was late 60s early 70s. Saw shows your talking about Lawler and White. Ron fighting with Devoit Brunson the ref! No wrestlers hardly showed but the fans made it! Parked down Broadway walked up hill to studio. As kids we would sneek in back cause studio full. Couldn't get in studio but would hang around inside to argue with wrestlers. Ron Wright would chase us like he was gonna kill us. Probably still be laughing if still alive. Talked to him at different times about it and he'd laugh his ass off like it was yesterday. His arguing with anouncer Big Jim Hess some of best interview stuff ever. God I wish tapes around. Today's idiot workers could learn more watching couple hours of that then they'll ever be thought by today's moronic teachers. Interview so stale and boring hard to watch. Ron would spend more time arguing with fans on way to ring then most matches last now
I love that you guys don’t pound us with ads on these.
Cough conrad cough prichard cough
Don't give anyone any ideas lol
shhhh
I would watch bruce pritchard podcast in the past, but the ads were so ridiculous that I can't take it
This comment is brought to you by SAVEWITHCONRADDOTCOM 💵
“It’s brutal if you have a wrestling match with no people.” Jim Cornette predicting the future..
Born raised in Tennessee, and when I was a kid, Jerry Lawler was the baddest man walking, you couldn’t tell anyone in my family he wasn’t or someone could beat him. You knew, when the King dropped that strap, it was about to be over👊🏻 this is my favorite show so far. Thanks for this great look back.
Nknknk
I love the intimacy of studio wrestling. It's like seeing a band in a small club opposed to a large concert arena. It's in your face and you hear every slap and grunt.
and the wrestlers themselves have to be far more crafty and snug or the audience can see right through it
@@Flow-J.Simpson to be fair you can see through it in a gym or arena.
Me, too. It's what contributes to my love of the lo-fi Fight Club aesthetic that rasslin' used to have. Can't stand the fake Gladiator shit that Vince forced on the succeeding generations of fans. It shows exactly what he thinks of the people who made his company billions.
At one time AWA's all star wrestling had higher ratings than 60 minutes in the Twin Cities, Chicago& Milwaukee
Florida studio wrasslin' in Tampa ruled. Kevin Sullivan jacked Kendall Windham in the face with a broken lightbulb at 9:30 on a Sunday morning. It was great
Wish I saw that.. the human q - tip
I loved the whole Sullivan army of darkness angle I loved the studio squash matches
"Just another day in paradise"
That wasn't in the studio
Dude I bet that show was awesome.
The Terry Funk impression was dead on 😂
Some of the funniest segments occurred with the Midnight Express and the Fantastics. When they slammed Jim's head into a birthday cake and Stan went slipping and sliding. Another when Cornette got stuck in the desk, podium thing and you were struggling to get out, classic. I grew up on Saturday night 6:05. Sat afternoon at 2pm. World Wide Wrestling.
They did that same angle a few years before in Mid-South with the Rock and Roll Express - was just as funny, if not funnier, with the Fantasticks on TBS.
"It's brutal if you have a wrestling match with no people..."
6 months later: Empty arena Wrestlemania.
Just listened to this for the first time. So cryptic to hear him say that and then back out of full screen to check the upload date and see it say “8 months ago”
@@sabu1378 How do you mean 'cryptic'?
Weird part is AEW handled this so much better. Put the development guys in the crowd or something, or crew or people who are there to visit. Honestly AEW was much easier to watch than WWE was during the pandemic.
@@geneanthony3421 They really didn't tho. WWE had the thunderdome which was much better than whatever the fuck aew did.
@@errorr.e.d4918 I liked the way AEW did it more frankly. AEW had the wrestlers in the crowd and since the matches were so high paced and usually had multiple people it came across to me way better than what WWE was doing. The Thunderdome just looked silly to me and they still had to pipe in crowd noise. The early days with no crowd at all was insane. I couldn't believe they didn't do something a lot sooner.
My brother and I lived for the studio wrestling! We'd get home from school and turn on wrestling. Forget cartoons, Rick Flair and the Horsemen were doing a promo monologue! Even though Flair did the same routine over and over in the ring ad nauseum, no one could beat him at the promos. There was something more intense about promos in the studio setting that just didn't seem to come across when done in the ring in front of a crowd of thousands.
Man, the NWA was it for us. Then one of the channels started airing the AWA in our area and that was mostly studio wrestling. For my brother and I more wrestling on TV was great stuff.
This has been the best episode, so far, that I have listened to.....brings back so many memories from my teens and young adulthood.....oh and thanks for the education on how the studio shows worked and all the little tidbits you threw in.....64 and still learning......just wish there was some wrestling worth watching......thank god for youtube....heh.......Thanks again!
In the 1960s, the broad Pittsburgh area had a show called Studio Wrestling. It was the tv show for the Tri-State (PA< OH, and WV) that was owned by Bruno Sammartino. The name was so ingrained that for the next 20 years, people in the area referred to all professional wrestling as "Studio wrestling." .
The studio they used for Pittsburgh Studio Wrestling was used for one taping day of WWWF Championship Wrestling in spring of 1973. They knew in advance that Vince Jr. would not be available for his usual commentary spot (he was negotiating with Evel Knievel for WWWF to do cross-promotion on WWWF TV of Knievel's Snake River Canyon "rocket cycle" jump, and Vince also got to handle the national promotion for the event.) So rather than pay for Bill Cardille to come into Philly for the day, they did the taping at, I believe, the Channel 13 studios in Pittsburgh so they wouldn't have to pay him extra money for travel. So they taped three episodes of Championship Wrestling that day. All the matches were squashes except for one feature match with Chief Jay Strongbow vs Moon Dog Mayne. Cardille was the commentator on all three episodes. But they still took a bath on the deal because the Snake River thing lost money due to people being legitimately concerned that Knievel was going to be killed in the attempt. The three Championship Wrestling episodes have never surfaced anywhere, to my knowledge. Maybe WWE has them in their "vault"?
@@elc1960 I'd love to hear Chilly Biilly Cardille call a WWWF match.
Every time I think of studio wrestling, I think of David Crockett saying "we're out of time Tony" and then fade to black.
God I hated that
...as the Horsemen hit the ring.
Couldn't wait until next Saturday at 6:05 to see what happened. Lol
“He’s got him by the honker!”
2 minutes until the end of the show and the Road Warriors would run out and just squash some other team.
I watched studio wrestling in Memphis throughout my whole childhood. In my 20s I moved there for a job and would go whenever I could. I remember how TINY the studio was the first time I went, but it was surreal. Of all the wrestling shows that are gone, I miss that one the most, by far.
I love the vibe that Portland wrestling gave off!
@@origintrackz5235Same here!
I was lucky as a kid in the mid to late 70's in Upstate NY. We got cable early because of foul weather testing. We got wrestling from Atlanta, Dallas, Montreal, and Detroit. A few other places at random times.
I need your help,I'ma boxer now and I got the urge to do old school promos,but I don't have the classic history
@@shuckeyduckeythefunkyhomos6166 what the fuck r you talking about
@@SM-4359 RUclips has tons of it...search Memphis Wrestling 1982 for a look at their greatest year...
Ag hall in Allentown is still there lot of history in that little building.
Zybysko heel turn on Bruno.
Sgt Slaughter face turn.
Piper, Snuka and a coconut
Bunch of tag title changes.
Great memories went every three weeks.
Same here. Attended Muhlenberg College & never missed a show until it was moved out of Allentown. Saw the Atlas/Johnson title change over Adonis/Murdoch.
I used to to go to channel 48 studios in Philadelphia to see the matches..I got Haystacks Calhoun autograph.. in between tapings.. they did 3 hours of taping. The announcer was Bill Cordell
@@bobwatson1162 Why.. do.. you.. type.. like.. this.. you.. absolute.. psycho?
Yelow everybody this is Lance Russell and Dave Brown right along ringside do for another action packed day or championship! If you were alive at the time and you were in the Memphis area you know you heard that whether you were a wrestling fan or not.
WV here. My dad used refer to all pro wrestling as "Big Time" rasslin. It wasnt til I was grown that I realized hed probably been used to watching Detroit wrestling at some point.
First episode of Detroit I saw was the Funk/Lewin eps with the cage around the announcers. Fkn classic.
Getting a blade in the stands at a wrestling event would be the ultimate souvenir.
Eddie Gilbert vs Jerry Lawler feud in Memphis early 1988 was awesome with Eddie fireballing Jerry Jarrett and Randy Hales in the studio and then the Gilbert vs Lawler studio brawl that spilled into the parking lot where Eddie slammed Jerry into Dave Brown's car windshield... classic moment
Wow I didn't know they were still drawing big money in the late 80s! I knew they out survived every other territory unless you count ECW which hunt on another 4-5 years and could've hung on longer honestly had they not tried to expand so quickly. Paul-E threw away a ton of money he did not have investing in TV production but honestly he needed someone with deep deep pockets which he couldn't get because companies were scared of the product. Had they had the full support of a angel investor or hedge fund to keep them going until they could get TV Stations to come around. Anyways I was under the impression that in the late 80s like 88-90 was making a small profit but by the time 92 through their end in 1997 they were losing money and consistently drawing houses of less than 50 people, essentially paying people gas money to wrestler, ouch.
I LOVED AWA All-Star Wrestling! Jim is right, the matches were shit and Verne was still running 2 out of 3 falls tag matches in a 1-hour show. When the High Flyers were on, it was time for a bathroom/snack break and we used to cook a 3-course meal, wash the car and re-shingle the roof and when we got back, Jim Brunzell STILL had the jobber in that same fucking arm lock and telling the ref "Ask him!" But the promos were the best, Marty O'Neill and later Mean Gene interviewing the stars of the day. That's what made it a great show.
Cornette isnt lying when he says, Mario Galento looks like a pirate.
Studio wrestling blows away anything today. Weekly squash matches and promos with guys like Roger Kents constant color banter. 🗣🎶its not the kill...its the thrill of the chase.
Nice Deep Purple reference...
roman reigns is better
@@HypervoxelRBXnobody asked you. Oh BTW, your channel sucks.
It’s difference just different without the Kayfabe
Greatest moment in studio wrestling - TBS 5:05 show - Horseman attack on Magnum TA after Magnum's injury. I saw it live and it was amazing. I found it on YT long ago but it seems to have disappeared.
Have to disagree. Original Midnight Express jumping Cornette and the New Midnite best studio segment ever.
@@IamPondo (Going on memory here - saw that live) Cornette answers phone and yells into phone: Yeah, you are a goof and those 2 are idiots...... slams down phone. Next segment the new Midnight Express and Paul come out of nowhere to attack James E Cornette and the original Midnight Express and an epic Pier 6 brawl ensues. Oh, and the announcers screaming "They don't even work here!!!!" - lol. An incredible debut and a huge pop from the studio crowd. Now I am going to search for that segment on YT.
@@IamPondo I found that segment - I have a few details wrong but I did have the general idea correct. That is an awesome segment. Here are a couple more to watch - the "James Gang v Midnight Express" (the James Gang was Magnum and Dusty); Fantastics and Midnight Express Pier 6 brawl.
@@michaelinhouston9086 absolutely anything with the midnight is watchable
@@christopherr3676 👍
A kid in the 1990’s I watched a lot of: USWA, SMW & LPWA on WADL TV38 Mount Clemens / Detroit Saturday’s.
I loved watching all star wrestling in Vancouver in studio. Had many pre wwe wrestlers
i was the timekeeper during a few shows i used to make a few bucks betting on the match results with the drunks .. they did not know i had a sheet of paper with the results on it
Bunch of Marks😂
pretty much so !!
Hell yeah
😄 I was in my mid/late teens when I started thinking "Hey, I think this stuff is rigged."
IT'S STILL REAL TO THEM, DAMMIT
The wwwf used to do Studio wrestling at a television station in Philadelphia Channel 48 in South Philadelphia on Penrose ave..
Now I know..And knowing is half the Battle
"wrestling matches with no people"..... Here we are. 😄😂
Fun fact: it’s come back today as NWA Powerrr thanks to Corgan, to top it all off, Cornette is on commentary himself, it’s pretty interesting
We didn't realize how good we had it, until it was gone. Big Time Wrestling in The SF Bay Area, very under rated and under appreciated.
I miss the days of watching wresting and kung-fu on TBS as a kid
Samurai Sundays in Chicago. It set the mood for day drinking and maybe some D&D later. No better way to waste the weekend.
The spinning wrestling statue was how the Toronto show "Ringside!" opened and closed in the late 60s and early 70s prior to Tunney calling the show "Maple Leaf Wrestling" in (I think), 1975. So at least since 1968. So I gotta wonder if Jarrett got the idea not from SECW, but from Tunney.
And if I recall correctly, Jarrett also used Herb Albert & The Tijuana Brass' "La Banda" as the theme....
Small world, eh?
And yea, there are some studio shows stories from Toronto and Vancouver and Montreal from that period that are kinda wild, too....
The only studio wrestling moment that sticks in my mind is seeing the "pain master"'s (undertaker) debut promo. Hideous it was haha
Master of Pain, if you're talking about Memphis.
Ridder 357, Sorry Florida Championship Wrestling was shot on a Wednesday @ the sporatrum 106 Albany Ave, after the card on Tuesday night @ the fort homer hestley armony
The way he describes studio wrestling sounds a lot like TNA's Impact Zone set-up
Only difference is TNA didn't draw anyone when they ran shows outside the Impact Zone.
Roger Kent and his constant LOOKOUT
"It's brutal if you have a wrestling match with no people." Wow, if he only knew...
Corny-Damn-Us
& I still watch WADL TV38 - Classic All Star Wrestling starring - Adam Parsons.
NWA 86-87 when the Midnight would be squashing in the Techwood studio, and Cornette would walk back and forth non-stop talking trash on the mic with Tony to talking trash in the face of the Midnight’s opponent. JJ would do the same with the Horsemen. That was some of the best studio wresting
Studio wrestling allowed the wrestlers to talk in the heat of the moment when things made sense.
Studio Wrestling sold the tickets on road people don't know Old School wrestling
I love this show. History lesson of the good old dayz each episode
Studio wrestling made sense. There were interviews. The way wrestling is presented now makes no sense. Why are there cameras back stage? Why do wrestlers come into the ring to talk about things?
Amen brother!
Awesome Shoot Today Jim!!😎🐐🐐
Very glad NWA is bringing back studio tapings. Always boggled my mind why wrestling feds think you need an arena sized crowd to get angles over. Save the big arena shows for the big live shows. The reason why stuff like WWE does poor Raw attendance is why would you pay $200 to watch angles play out instead of the culmination?
Wow never thought of that
Time was that a house show would be this week or fortnight second part, people didn't go to house shows to see TV being filmed.
They went to see more then the TV show for a low price, week in an week out.
Jim and brian, keep up the great work!!!👍
I loved and miss studio wrestling. Those were my favorites.
He is a walking encyclopedia of Wrestling.
Wasn't it Rock Hunter who had put the "ether rag" over Tony's face?
We went from Frankenstein to the Yeti, or as Tony Shivone says, The Yetayyy!
Finishing move the dry hump
Living in Pennsylvania, I grew up on WWWF on Channel 17 in Philly. But in 1977/ early '78(?), one of the Philly channels showed Championship Wrestling from Florida, and it was my intro to studio wrestling, and I thought it sucked. But, yet, I was watching Dory Funk Jr and Terry, the Briscos, and some young guy named Bob Backlund. And in '81, they had Georgia Championship Wrestling, during the feud between Gordy/Snuka and Hayes/Kevin von Erich. Both had Gordon Solie, who I didn't like in '77, but really started to like in '81, when I realized he better than Vince.
To those complaining about Jim's story on Frankenstein's monster being on a studio wrestling show, keep in mind modern wrestling had several bizarre crossovers. WCW had Robocop and Chucky the killer doll while WWE had Scooby-Doo and John Shaft.
Compared to that weirdness, Frankenstein's monster is rather quaint.
Wasn't Nash some kind of wizard once?
@@hotrodriguez549 he was called Oz I think
Jay Leno won a match once.
@@iBmEVanquisher But Memphis also had a character named The Christmas Creature who was a wrestling Christmas tree. He was played by Glenn Jacobs, before he was Unabomb or Isaac Yankem or Kane.
@@elc1960 so his gimmick style could be described as...wooden?
Hamburg was a Wednesday evening, it was exciting to see yourself on tv on friday night at 11pm.
I love these thumbnails
Much of Southeasterns production quality can be credited to guy named Bill Kincaid. He was camera man who was young producer trainee- musicain who had creativity and talent. Most ideas were his and lucky for them they had enough brains to listen to him. Set design and such pretty much all Bill. Ron and Whitey matches legendary. Tennessee chain matches bloodiest matches probably ever. They were brother in law's.
I remember they would always talk about what had happened in the big house shows on the tv episodes. I was just a kid then and wished like hell I could get to see this shows haha. By the time I was old enough to go I had moved on from wrestling. For a lot of casual fans like me those old studio shows take me back to a very specific moment in my childhood. I would come back to wrestling on and off over the subsequent years. It’s just so interesting to hear how the business worked
Memphis wrestling at Channel 5 studio had a pretty long waiting list to get tickets for Saturday morning TV. I got to go once. It kinda ruined it for me though. Seeing it in person revealed everything.
I got on 4 episodes
We were lucky in Pittsburgh to have Bruno living in town. He got all the big heels at the time to come to a rinky dink studio at WIIC Pittsburgh. I was just a kid, this was in the '60's and I watched with my Grandma on Saturday nights.She was a hoot, used to cuss out the heels, She would have been great live in studio.
I loved studio wrestling with Bruno Sammartino, Johnny DeFazio, The Battman(Tony Marino) and others. My grandma would give us the business of we interrupted it.
Never interrupt Grandma during the soap operas or rasslin….lol
A weird thing happened in 1961 or 1962 at that Studio Wrestling show out of Pittsburgh. A wrestler named Ali Pasha died in the ring of a heart attack after wrestling a match. I don't think they ever aired that match, but it's part of TV wrestling folklore.
The things I do for wrestling the sken Sillinget story.
Love Jim, but Frankenstein in pro wrestling, sounds an awful lot like Cosplay -Mudshow fuel XD
I love Jim too but I agree
I think the difference is in the "No they weren't trying to say it was a man raided from the dead it was 'who is this motherfucker in the Frankenstein costume?'"
Yeah, but Memphis did it in the 70's so it doesn't count.
@@timf7413 That's my problem with a lot of Jim's modern criticism: He hates hardcore wrestling, but when they (basically invented it) in Memphis, that was "different". He thinks wrestlers should be "grown men who look like they can fight", but he loves Lawler and Dundee, who are smaller than I am and I'm an out of shape nerd. And he doesn't like hokey, silly shit, but he's OK with Frankensteins and Mummy dudes...when companies he liked were booking them. Tons of double-standards.
@@milhousevanhoutan9235 This.
I’m interested in checking out some old studio matches for some context, does anyone have any good suggestions?
Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling in the TV studio was the best! Lots of it here especially 81-84 although the original music has been substituted for
I remember Florida Championship Wrestling every Saturday at 1 PM, the 1960s - to the mid-'80s. The show was taped on a Tuesday. I remember Dusty doing a run-in with soap suds draped on his body and his hair soaking wet. Well, the building did not have any showers. The Grahams had low overhead. Gordon Solie was the best. Gordon was very scientific, explaining the physiological (Vasal Vagal Nerve & the Carotid Artery) effects of a sleeper hold.
Great segment
studio brawls were the best Memphis Georgia championship wrestling
A regular memphis wrestling show got almost the same ratings as the world series.
He meant, in Memphis. 136,000 households in Memphis watched the world series.
Memphis... Where wrestling was taken serious. Andy Kaufman coming there was THEE BEST THING to happen to Memphis. Man what I'd given to been around at that time. I remember everyone talking about Smokey Mountain when I was growing up. I think I remember seeing an episode when I was really little. It was one of the Armstrong boys lifting weights at a gym somewhere shooting a promo on a guy. My dad was involved with wrestling then and ran a wrestling show on his local television show so it could have been HIS company but man. There was a time when ppl ALL OVER TOWN would show up to a wrestling show of there was a name on the card.
I remember being little and went to a show my dad commentated it I kept hearing ppl say Tracey Smothers allot and I grabbed an adult and said "Who is Tracey Smothers?" He said "The Wild Eyed Southern Boy" a theme song hit and Tracey Smothers came out and ran to the ring and everyone went crazy and the guy said "THAT is Tracey Smothers" I was so taken in by the whole thing....... Wrestling is a HUGE part of my childhood.
A.W.A. Promos were cool and I still watch 💪
Hey Jim, What can you tell me about karate wrestling? Just found a match with it on WWE Network. Wanted to know if you might have any more history on the subject besides just that one match.
bleacherreport.com/articles/955920-abandoned-the-history-of-the-wwf-matrial-arts-heavyweight-championship
1 angle a year sounds freaking appealing compared to today's product. It was simpler also in 1982 to 87, but as it morphed into entertainment it has become a bombardment of silly story lines with clearly rehearsed and written for content. SO fucking lame.
Studio wrestling NWA was the greatest.
Jim did u ever get to do the studio in Columbus GA when Fred ward n wrbll had it down on the river walk area
I'm trying to find tapes or dvds of old Georgia championship programming with Gordon Sollie..
RUclips
@@chadk890 for sale..to add to my collection
I wonder if the tapes still exist of the NZ TV Show On The Mat from the 1970s.
I had the pleasure of meeting Mario Galento in the 80s I was friends with his son. He was a bad bad man. Nicest guy you would ever meet until he wasn't.
He taught us everything from wrestling shoot holds to knife throwing. One of the baddest people I have ever met.
We had Pittsburg studio wrestling hosted by Bill Cardille back in my day. Bruno San Martino would show up every once in a while.
Chilly Billy. He was the first zombie you see in the original Night of the Living Dead.
Bruno owned the promotion. And Bill “Chilly Billy” Cardille was the newscaster in Night of the Living Dead
@@edwardgarea7650 You are correct. I got my actors mixed up.
The co host is my age. Im 40. I think we even grew up in same area (philly/south jersey) and i def remember wcw studio wrestling on tv. I remember always having to channel surf to find it i was so young i guess i never thought to memorize the station.
50 people in the audience is better than the modern audience of no people 😆
In the artwork, Jim looks like he's experiencing one hell of a meth high instead of being afraid of Frankenstein...
Lol ! F'n great !!
He's tweakin!
Cornette, who was never a fan of the WWWF, wasn’t in the northeast to witness the biggest studio wrestling events there. Probably the biggest is when Larry Zbyszko turned on Bruno Sammartino. This chair bashing kicked off a feud that spanned the biggest arenas in the territory, New York’s Madison Square Garden, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Washington, and Hartford. This culminated in a box office bonanza in a steel cage at baseball’s, Shea Stadium. There were others with Jimmy Valiant turning on Chief Jay Strongbow. There were other heel turns involving Spiros Arion, there was Lou Albano clobbering his Wild Samoans with a chair in a TV title change. It was a rare affair when the locker room emptied out to separate grapplers in the ring back in the 70’s. I’d put the old WWWF studio shows against any of the other territories.
Jim was CORRECT on how big Vern G. ALL STAR WRESTLING was in MPLS & ST. P = A Very good Market...
I love Corny's impression of Terry Funk.
Wow people are really realizing how brutal wrestling is without a audience!!! I grew up in Florida watching Florida Championship Wrestling and their studio show was awesome when I grew up it’s not as great now because there was a lot of squash matches putting the faces over but I would rather go back and watch that than the wwe nowadays!!!
Imagine if Nikita had clotheslined David crocket in the tbs studio instead of at a house show
Didn't we all come out of a box?
I'm happy with studio or stadium wrestling, as long as I get to see wrestling, I'm happy!
Will you please do an awa tell all Jim... I love those stories about the AWA cuz I live in Minnesota and I watched it when I was a kid religiously.
Jim brunzell Greg gagne.. you said Baron von rashke I haven't heard that name in years...the claw that's all the people need to know haha
Check out VICE's Tales From The Territories on the AWA. Turns out, Jumpin' Jim had a doctor bag...
I thought it was Jimmy Valiant that pointed the pistol at Galento.
I would purchase a signed print of one of Travis Heckel's thumbnail drawings. Or make donation to Cauliflower Alley or similar. What's your price then Corny?
Same. I want a copy of you are the father. Or corny as a news paper boy in the past. Poster, picture or shirt
Hey Jim how about this, talk about studio wrestling and locations. Member when here in Richmond Virginia they used to wrestle at the arena did they move to the Colosseum
I grew up on Big Time Wrestling, living in Toledo
The James Boys vs The Midnight Express,Ray Charles can see that's Dusty and Magnum
Dur
The WWF was supposed to do Studio Wrestling on TBS in 84 but they did taped arena matches and Billionaire Ted wasn't happy. Luckily Vince gave Crockett the TV spot and it worked out for both WWF and NWA
He didn't give shit
It's awkward to know that we were able to see wrestling performed with no people
I use to love the old WCW studio wrestling
The Knoxville show with Lawler was taped at chan 26. Had 3 network affiliated stations and Indy 26. It's studio was on sharps ridge. You about needed a mule to get up ridge in good weather. Seated about 35 40 people and hundred or more showed every sat. First come first served. People stood in line for hours to get in rain or shine. Funny but first time I ever saw it on tv Ron Wright was pounding a guy dressed as Frankenstein over the head with a metal trashcan. It was so over the top I couldn't look away. Totally ludicrous. They had me at trash can! Two weeks later was in studio eating it up. Started attending matches at Chilhowee Park and been fan since.This was late 60s early 70s. Saw shows your talking about Lawler and White. Ron fighting with Devoit Brunson the ref! No wrestlers hardly showed but the fans made it! Parked down Broadway walked up hill to studio. As kids we would sneek in back cause studio full. Couldn't get in studio but would hang around inside to argue with wrestlers. Ron Wright would chase us like he was gonna kill us. Probably still be laughing if still alive. Talked to him at different times about it and he'd laugh his ass off like it was yesterday. His arguing with anouncer Big Jim Hess some of best interview stuff ever. God I wish tapes around. Today's idiot workers could learn more watching couple hours of that then they'll ever be thought by today's moronic teachers. Interview so stale and boring hard to watch. Ron would spend more time arguing with fans on way to ring then most matches last now
The problem with studio wrestling was they relied on VHS and betamax
once you can fake sincerity you got it made
I think there was a THQ/N64 wrestling game that had a Dr.Frank wrestler