From The Musty Yellowed Pages—NWA Wrestling Magazine Vol. 1 No. 1

After nearly fifteen years of maintaining this blog, at times I forget everything that I have, or haven’t, covered. I felt for certain that we’d taken a voyage through the debut, and only, issue of the NWA Wrestling Magazine. Aside from some mentions here and there, as well as plenty on its sister publications, I don’t think that it’s been done. Wait no longer, NWA fans, the time to revisit an era when the territories were king, Terry Funk was champion and Jesse Ventura was “The Great” instead of “The Body” has finally arrived.

Yes, this publication had just the one issue. Could you think of a better cover for just one issue of the NWA Wrestling publication? I can’t. If it reminds you of the WWWF Wrestling Action and Mid-Atlantic Wrestling magazines it probably should. It was done by the same artist, Cal Byers, and wrestling renaissance man Les Thatcher was at the helm of all of them. Wrestling, broadcasting, training, promoting and publishing. He did it all and has the stories to tell about it. I’ve had input from him while covering the aforementioned publications here on the blog and I still remember how surprised he was to see a copy of this one when he signed it awhile back.

More familiar names come about when looking at the list of contributors from then-NWA President Eddie Graham to Gordon Solie, Freddie Miller, Paul Boesch, Larry Matysik, Jeff Walton and Gene Gordon. The magazine covered all of the NWA wrestling hotbeds of the era and seemed to want to devote adequate press to all of the big territories. Even NWA members in other countries were not to be excluded. After all, this was the only publication to be “sanctioned” by the National Wrestling Alliance!

Though he was still relatively new to the game that he would eventually become the dirtiest player of, it’s telling that Ric Flair is the topic of one of the first features of the issue. The Crockett’s knew what they had and that’s why he was proudly displayed as the Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Champion. You’ll note the famed Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling logo adorns the article here. As noted with all of the Thatcher publications, the art direction was second-to-none. There are logos for most, if not all, of the NWA territories featured within. In the late ‘70s this isn’t something that I would expect in a wrestling magazine at all, but here it is.

More familiar names pop up with looks at Georgia Championship Wrestling and Gulas Wrestling Enterprises Inc, the latter of which being the fabled Memphis wrestling territory. We have great color photos of Dick Slater, Mr. Wrestling II and Jerry “The King” Lawler. We also get a printing of one of my favorite Memphis photos displaying Jackie Fargo, Jerry Jarrett, Tojo Yamamoto and…George Gulas. Ok, so three out of four isn’t bad as far as levels of greatness. Still, I’ve always liked that photo ever since I saw it grace the cover of an “NWA East” edition of “The Wrestling News,” probably around the same time.

A very different Terry Funk than the version many are familiar with today graces the centerfold of the first and only NWA issue. This isn’t the “middle aged and crazy” Funker that’s so beloved today, but rather a tad more serious NWA World Champion who was continuing on the family’s championship legacy. I often talk about how much I admire wrestlers who are able to successfully reinvent themselves during the course of their careers. Terry Funk may own everyone else when it comes to that. I could picture the later Funker taking a flaming branding iron to the attire he’s wearing here. From champion to legend, that’s for sure.

One of my favorite pages in the issue has always been the feature on Chavo Guerrero. Talking about his famous exploits in the rings of California, it gives you an idea that Chavo may be one of the more underrated stars of the decade. I feel that his popularity was of the type that you really had to be around for to experience. I also think that, through no fault of his own, the popularity of brother Eddy may have overshadowed Chavo’s legacy. Still, ask most any wrestler who was around at that point and they’ll tell you what a huge star Chavo was in the business. A family photo here really tickles me as we get to see young Chavito, who we all got to know better many years later. Pepe was not invited to participate in the photo.

“The Great Ventura?” What? Yes, before he was “The Body,” Jesse was just “The Great.” I think we can all agree that “The Body” fit and rolled off the tongue much better. He has a short blurb in the magazine right alongside the likes of Dusty Rhodes and Jimmy Snuka. It’s amazing to think how many bonafide all-time greats came from wrestling in the ‘70s. I truly believe that the territorial system helped in that regard and would’ve been beneficial to many wrestlers in the past twenty years who seemed destined for greatness. In the old system you could try different things, work plenty of different opponents and move along when things got stale. Sadly, many of the newer generation stars had virtually “one and done” shots thus robbing us of quite a few talents who could’ve made it to superstardom.

Speaking of “one and done,” those are just some highlights of this, the only issue of NWA Wrestling Magazine. There are more photos and articles to peruse and you can see several of them on our Instagram account right here! Despite their age and rarity, copies of this magazine do show up available but almost always at a price. You never know, some shrewd searching may yield one for your collection. It’s certainly worthy as a collection centerpiece for any fan of the NWA, Terry Funk or just the last great wild west era of wrestling – the ‘70s!

2017: A Year of Loss

As is tradition, one of the last blog entries of the year celebrates the many names who have left us over the past twelve months. Although some received their own individual tribute on this blog, it's always good, and somewhat sobering, to look at the losses in the sport as a whole over a year span.

Those in wrestling who passed in 2017 included (but were not limited to) Ivan Koloff, "Pretty Boy" Larry Sharpe, "Z-Man" Tom Zenk, Rex King, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, Diane Von Hoffman, "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka, Bucky Palermo, Gran Apache, Bob Sweetan, Rosey, Chavo Guerrero Sr., Tugboat Taylor, Ron Bass, Johnny K-9, Otto Wanz, Mr. Pogo, George "The Animal" Steele, Stan Kowalski, Nicole Bass, Smith Hart, Lance Russell, and Dennis Stamp.

With men like Stamp and Sharpe, the famed journeymen of wrestling took a major hit. These men enjoyed some success but will be best remembered for their ability to make others look good in the squared circle. Stamp and Sharpe, in particular, will be remembered for their lives in wrestling after the matches were all but over. Stamp continues to be celebrated from his appearance in the famous "Beyond The Mat" film while Sharpe will always be associated with The Monster Factory wrestling school that has turned out many names in pro wrestling.

You could not find two more different entries in the world of wrestling than Ron and Nicole Bass, despite both using the same last name. Ron Bass was a rough and tumble outlaw who came up through the wild 1970's wrestling scene. Although he was managed for a time by Maw Bass, one of the first female managers, he was never associated with Nicole Bass. This female named Bass instead gained a measure of fame through her associated with The Howard Stern Show as well as stints in ECW and the WWF.

Two familiar names to fans of the great Pittsburgh territory also passed this year. Bucky Palermo, in addition to being a famed cobbler in the Steel City, was one of the last living referees from the classic Studio Wrestling program. George "The Animal" Steele, while a huge name nationally, credited much of his career to his time in Pittsburgh. His ring used surname of "Steele" was even derived from the Steel City. Steele is also remembered for being a top opponent of Bruno Sammartino, who calls Pittsburgh his home.

While it never gets easier and the lists seem to get longer, one small comfort can be found in that many of the wrestlers who passed in 2017 did so at an advanced age. While it cannot be said for all, the number that did live into their seventh decade or older is much higher than just a few years ago. Regardless of how many years the individual spent in this life, as fans we choose to remember the impact that they made on our lives through their work in the ring.