Wrestling MarketWatch: Goin’ South!

We’re goin’ south! A little trip back to the southern wrestling territories and promotions, that is. It’s truly fascinating how something like professional wrestling could have different flavors wherever you went in the country or even the world. The presentation, the in-ring style and even the fans themselves could be as different as night and day from region to region. Even more interesting, and perhaps worthy of some sort of study, is how many wrestlers were able to adapt going from area to area. Even still, why did some flounder upon moving? Regardless, in this latest edition of MarketWatch we’re going to look at a few items from the southern wrestling territories. Grab your Diet Cheerwine and a drumstick from Bojangles, we’re headed for Dixie!

*While traces of the territorial system still exist and certainly independent promotions in some areas will differ from others, the wrestling landscape is largely a different animal nowadays. The last true territory in the eyes of many people was Jim Cornette’s Smoky Mountain Wrestling. From 1991 to 1995 the promotion used a mix of established stars and up-and-comers to reflect Cornette’s vision of what wrestling should be. To this day the shows and matches from SMW thrill fans, but there just wasn’t enough support at the time to keep it afloat. Not only does Corny need to make a return to public appearances, but why not give SMW another shot? I think we need another dose of quality southern wrestling. The very first SMW Ringside Report recently sold for $38.

*Another man who had his hand in not only the on-air portion of the product but also the behind-the-scenes aspect of southern wrestling was “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes. You know that Dusty is one of the G.O.A.T.’s around this blog, so I won’t go into all of his accomplishments yet again. You also know of the beloved Mello Yello ad-campaign that Dusty helmed in a deal with Jim Crockett Promotions thanks to several blog entries and the great commercials on YouTube. The Mello Yello cans featuring the mugs of various NWA stars are highly collected to this day and not always the easiest to find. The aluminum masterpiece featuring The Dream himself recently sold for $60. I really miss Mello Yello Zero. Just sayin’.

*It’s sort of a trend that we’re featuring stars who were as prominent behind the scenes as they were on camera. Ole Anderson is another that fits the bill. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it a million times more: for as much as it’s written that Ole is grumpy this and opinionated that, he was always great to me. Always willing to sign autographs, take photos and, especially, talk. The word is that his health has plummeted in recent years and I wish nothing but the best for him. Talk about real promos and a real wrestling style. Ole wrote the book on both. He also had the book for Georgia Championship Wrestling. The July 1980 Georgia Ringsider program, featuring a shot of an irate Ole being interviewed by Gordon Solie, recently sold for $27.

*If you’re talking the south, southern wrestling and southern boys you have to be talking Michael P.S. Hayes. Wrestling’s original bad boy and the leader of The Fabulous Freebirds. (What’s your excuse?) He was wrestling’s equivalent to a southern rocker, lived the life and even lived to tell about it. He also cut a record that has been prominently featured here on the blog many times over the years. When I see a photo that appeared here in the blog show up elsewhere, it’s usually because no one else has ever written much about a particular item. Well, my original shot of the “Off The Streets” album has appeared everywhere around the globe. Accompanying this paragraph is a new one, now complete with signatures, just ready to be shared and shared and shared. A sealed copy of this infamous album recently sold for $450.

*No discussion that includes southern wrestling and music is complete without “The Mouth of the South” Jimmy Hart. The former member of The Gentry’s broke into wrestling largely because of his musical fame and found a way to bring all of his talents together. It’s hard to believe that in just a few months we’ll be celebrating the 80^th birthday of The Mouth! Even more amazing is that he’s still the hardest working man in wrestling. If you’re a fan of meeting wrestling legends and you still haven’t met Jimmy Hart, you just aren’t trying. This time we’re not looking at any of his records but rather a classic Memphis “Action Ringside” program featuring The Mouth looking very much in pain…in his Superman attire. A copy of this program recently sold for $40.

As always with our MarketWatch blog entries the prices shown are for unsigned examples despite the photos displaying otherwise. The old southern territories had a certain energy that lives on through great memorabilia like this. Like many of you in just a few days I plan on going south for the love of classic professional wrestling. It’s simply a different world and I love every second. A great southern wrestling fan, the late Peggy Lathan, once said to me, “Josh, you’re southern at heart.” I treasure those words even more than the items that you see here.

Life Without The Dream...One Year On

I was preparing to attend my first live NXT show. It was the debut of the "developmental" brand here in Pittsburgh. From another room, a friend of mine yelled, "Dusty Rhodes died!" My first thought? Nah. Can't be. It didn't even shake me. Another sick death hoax. They happen more than we realize. Why even remember them? As soon as they're debunked, we forget that they ever happened. Dusty wasn't dead. He was just at WrestleMania a couple of months ago. He looked thin, but he's been dropping weight for awhile now. I even read a Tweet where he had mentioned taking walks for exercise. "The American Dream" is fine and probably at his job at the WWE Performance Center.

It was not a hoax.

We've now had a year to accept the death of one of the most colorful and brightest stars in wrestling history. In that time we lost other wrestling icons such as Rowdy Roddy Piper and Nick Bockwinkel, not to mention many other huge names in entertainment, sports, and pop culture. The death of Dusty still hits me, personally, just a tad more. I never imagined a time when Big Dust wouldn't be part of the wrestling business. Appearing at a convention, coaching young talent, or breaking out that legendary combination of lisp and drawl for one more cameo on WWE television.

Speaking of his coaching, it may be that aspect of his career that he was most connected with at the end of his life. As the promo/interview coach at the WWE Performance Center, so many of the stars who have come through NXT and are now debuting in the WWE's "New Era" spent time under the learning tree of The Dream. That NXT show which I attended the night of his death turned out to be the first true public memorial for Dusty. Many of the young stars who he had likely coached just days earlier were on the card. Their love for him was evident only by their emotions and personal showings of respect. Their abilities to perform were in no way hindered, exactly as The Dream would have wanted it.

Since his passing, the respect for Dusty Rhodes has not waned. As I said even one year ago, I believe that the attention and remembrances following Dusty's death would have even shocked the man himself. Whether it was as an outlaw, a son of a plumber, a cowboy, or a common man, everyone had some memory of The American Dream to share. Whether you saw him wrestle live, met him, or just saw him for years and years on television, Dusty reached out to you, his hand touching your hand, just as the promo said.

The wrestling business itself continues to feel the Rhodes "bootprint." NXT has the "Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic" tournament. Wrestlers ranging from Cody Rhodes to Tommy Dreamer to Bailey to Kevin Owens have integrated tributes to the dream into their respective attires. In his last major WWE moment, Stardust paid several tributes to the original Stardust (an early moniker of Rhodes) at WrestleMania 32. A statue of The Dream was also unveiled by WWE that same weekend.

Recently departing WWE, son Cody has set his sights on tearing up the independent wrestling scene as soon as possible. Thanks to his natural in-ring gifts, this new phase in Cody's career will likely remind many of his father's time as a traveling attraction similar to Andre the Giant. Dusty's other son, Goldust, is coming up on the thirtieth anniversary of his own storied wrestling career, with no signs of slowing down. And as far as Dusty's aforementioned wrestling "kids" such as the current and former stars of NXT? I think we've been seeing his impact in many of them already.

I still miss Dusty. Along with Piper, I constantly find it hard to believe that I'll never see them pop up at a wrestling convention again. They were always around. They should still be. Unfortunately, it's the way that this life runs. That doesn't mean that we have to totally succumb to such sobering thoughts. Instead, just as I noted a year ago, we should celebrate their lives. A lifetime of memories were left. Let's put on a polka dot shirt, crack open a cold one, or maybe even a Mello Yello, and watch the greatest hits of that "Bionic Elbow."

Now that's what I call "livin' on the end of a lightnin' bolt..."

Jim Crockett's All-American Legacy

November 27, 1975. Greensboro, North Carolina. A night of wrestling presented by Jim Crockett Promotions. Terry Funk. Paul Jones. All the ingredients needed for what we would now look upon as a classic night of professional wrestling. Traditional wrestling. Wrestling the way that many still remember as the greatest era in the history of the sport. The one element that I failed to mention? The Funker and Number One were battling over the United States Championship. Funk had just won a tournament for the vacant title while Jones, an icon of Carolina wrestling, was the other wrestler who had made it to the finals. Who won the epic Thanksgiving night rematch? You could go look it up and simply see the result, but I have a better idea. How about learning each nuance of the match. Why it happened, what happened during, and what the ramifications were. This is where a brand new book comes into the picture.

Dick Bourne's newest in a line of books is titled "Jim Crockett Promotions' United States Championship." You may already have read some of Bourne's other titles including "Big Gold," "Ten Pounds Of Gold," and "Minnesota Wrecking Crew." Bourne is also one of the creative forces behind The Mid-Atlantic Gateway website. The Gateway is a site that I'm sometimes too scared to surf over to. The reason is that I know I'm about to lose an hour or two getting absorbed into the great content covering anything and everything that you ever would want to know about Jim Crockett Promotions and the rich Carolina wrestling history. Everything from wrestlers to venues to food (yes, food!) is covered there. The writing and photography pulls you in and actually almost transports you back to the era that's being described.

That same style of publication carries over into the new "United States Championship" book. As any fan of wrestling's past will tell you, history isn't always easy to follow. The promoters of the day probably never imagined that nearly a half century later, their moves and tactics would be studied. This was a business designed to draw fans into a building to buy tickets, Cokes, and popcorn. It wasn't rocket science...to them. To a lot of us, it's a form of sports and entertainment that is as worthy to chronicle as is cinema or pro football. That's the kind of history that is presented at the Gateway and the same level of dedication went into this book.

Bourne traces the Crockett version of the United States title all the way back to it's origins and brings it to present day. You'll see why this version of the championship (there were several around the country) is in fact the predecessor to today's WWE United States Championship. With so much focus on that particular title over the past year, a book like this could not have come at a better time.

Detailed descriptions and stories are given with each title change. Rare photos, newspaper clippings, and even newly created art and charts break down the fantastic title lineage. Can you believe that some wrestlers who held the title were never even photographed with it? And there wasn't just one physical belt. As the cover illustrates, there were actually five different versions of the belt while it was under the Jim Crockett Promotions banner. Before this book, I could have described three of them. I never before realized that two others existed, both of which look very much like other title designs. You'll see them all, as well as impressive replicas of some that are now missing in action.

Perhaps the most striking takeaway from the book is just how many of wrestling's biggest legends held this belt. Ric Flair, Harley Race, Jimmy Snuka, Dusty Rhodes, Roddy Piper, Blackjack Mulligan, Ricky Steamboat, Sgt. Slaughter, and Wahoo McDaniel just to name a few. Sure, we hear Michael Cole rattle off a few of the names every so often during a WWE U.S. Title match, but the complete list is absolutely mind-boggling. A line on the cover describes the book as "A Close Look at Mid-Atlantic Wrestling's Greatest Championship." With a list of title holders like that, it's hard to disagree with that description of the title.

If you're familiar with Bourne's books on the most recognizable versions of the NWA Championship, you remember the great "belt photography" that went into those. This volume is no different, with photos so clear and close that you might think Reggie Parks etched the belts right into the book. There are also plenty of shots of the various title holders wearing the championship, some of which have never before been published, as well as replicas and memorabilia.

If there's a classic wrestling fan on your list this holiday season, look no further. The legacy of Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling and one of its best draws is all right here. For more information and to order, check out the Mid-Atlantic Gateway. While you're there, stick around and check out some of the great content. Just grab a drink, make a sandwich, and reserve an hour or two. You'll be hanging out awhile!

Endorse This!

Looking for an attention-grabbing celebrity endorsement? Who better than a professional wrestler? Larger-than-life personas and appearances that usually stick out like a sore thumb when up against regular folk. Wrestlers are used to pumping out rhetoric that will make you want to spend your money on what they're promoting, and they often don't need more than one take to get their message out. It's no wonder that wrestlers have been chosen to go outside the squared circle to promote toys, food products, clothing, and more in the past couple of decades. Often, those appearances have created some fun promotional items in their own right.

It's interesting that the biggest promotional crossover of the 1980's involving wrestling took place without the endorsement of the WWF, just as the company was branching out into similar avenues. Indeed, Sgt. Slaughter becoming the face of Hasbro's G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toy line is the stuff that Madison Avenue dreams are made of. Although other real life names such as William "The Refrigerator" Perry and Rowdy Roddy Piper have become G.I. Joe figures since, Sgt. Slaughter is still the icon of the line. Many stories have gone around as to why Slaughter left the WWF as the deal was being done, but the one regarding a conflict of interest does make sense. Hasbro owned G.I. Joe while LJN produced the WWF figure line. Some LJN WWF figures made it into an ad for the mail-away 8 inch Sgt. Slaughter figure, but that was the extent of any crossover.

For not having as much merchandise as the WWF, the NWA held its own as far as promotional deals. My own personal favorite is the Mello Yello tie-in starring "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes. Although several can collections were produced featuring a variety of stars, Dusty was front and center in the advertising campaign at both the store and television level. When the charismatic star urged you to "Make The Mello Yello Move!," you listened! Dusty was no stranger to endorsements, plugging Stanback Headache Powders earlier in the decade. Life-sized cardboard Dusty's made their way to stores, and it's hard to forget "The Dream" and his "million-dollar smile" in the tv commercial for the promotion.

NWA endorsements didn't end when "The Dream" departed the organization and Ted Turner took over. You may remember Jim Ross endlessly mentioning Roos Shoes on NWA programming, and the company name even appearing on ring posts. Although the shoes may be long out of style, some of the promotional materials are still very cool. Roos obviously took the endorsement of the NWA stars very seriously and got their moneys worth by plastering the likenesses of Ric Flair, Sting, Lex Luger, and The Road Warriors in shoe stores nationwide. A variety of posters and cardboard standees came out of the promotion, featuring a WWF-level of stardom for the NWA wrestling stars.

Of course, no wrestler endorsement discussion is complete without mention of the legendary line, "Snap Into A Slim Jim, Ooooh Yeah!" Made famous by "Macho Man" Randy Savage, the initial commercials actually featured The Ultimate Warrior. Other WWF Superstars such as Bam Bam Bigelow and Diesel would assume the role when Savage left the company, but none could compare. The "Macho Man" eventually carried the endorsement deal over to WCW with him, where his then-girlfriend Stephanie "Gorgeous George" Bellars also got into the action. Tins, coolers, and more plastered with "Mach" and the Slim Jim logo are available from the long running promotion.

With John Cena and Fruity Pebbles and WWE's new partnership with TapouT, these deals continue to fill advertisers pockets, store shelves, and our consciousness today and far into the future. Did you save that very first Cena cereal box? I did. It's a great reminder that the stars and faces of our favorite pastime can continue to place right up there with celebrities of other genres. Who knows what a wrestler will endorse next? In the meantime...wash those Pebbles down with some Mello Yello, slip on your old Roos, snap into a Slim Jim, and tune into an old G.I. Joe cartoon. Maybe Andre the Giant singing about Honey Comb will come on during a commercial break. Then all would be right in the (wrestling) world.