Man From UNCLE
now on DVD!
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Man From UNCLE now on DVD! |
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1980s TV Wrestling : Part One: Ric Flair Part Two: Dusty Rhodes & Tully Blanchard Part Three: Jim Cornette & Baby Doll Part Fou: Ric Flair vs Dusty Rhodes Part Five: Betrayal! 1980's TV Wrestling Greats TV Wrestling DVDs You
need this: NEW!
Everything you're looking for is here: 1980's
TV Wrestling Greats
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Professional (read: theatrical) wrestling was the first sport to become popular on the tube because it was inexpensive to stage and relatively easy to shoot. With those old heavy-duty TV cameras tied to inch-thick cables, broadcasters needed a tightly confined spectacle. Wrestling and boxing were naturals.
In the '80s wrestling went mainstream with national superstars like Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant raking in millions from pay-per-view matches, books, movies, videos, and dolls.
Flair trained in the AWA in Minneapolis, moving to Charlotte in 1974. He survived a horrendous plane crash on October 4, 1975, a tragedy that ended the career of the legendary Johnny Valentine. Six months later, Ric Flair made his comeback and did it with a vengeance; he is considered to be the greatest wrestler of all time. STORY CONTINUES AFTER THIS AD
A rivalry had been building between Ricky Morton and World Heavyweight Champion Flair for some time - ever since Morton crushed Flair's sunglasses on national television (in an apparent sign of disrespect), bitchslapped him, then kicked his ass in an impromptu match. A short time later, in an elimination match, Morton easily pinned 'Nature Boy' within seconds, leaving a stunned Ric Flair looking confused and foolish in the ring.
But an ill wind was blowing for Ric Flair - a hurricane of hatred they called Dusty!
These mice and rats and such small deer had been Nature Boy's food for ten long years. During one brutal, fenced-in match in 1985, the Russian Nikita Koloff had Flair on the ropes and badly injured when Dusty surprised everyone by bravely entering the ring to stop the slaughter.
Ingratitude, thou marble-hearted fiend!
Dusty was carried out on a stretcher that night, the bones in his leg shattered.
1980's
TV Wrestling Greats |
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In
the mid-1940s, when television was brand-new technology, producers began
exploring ways to attract an audience with exciting visual content. Radio
was still the dominant medium for home entertainment; television was just
beginning to define its identity and needed to create programming that
radio couldn't replicate.
By
the '50s, local stations filled several hours each week with matches featuring
famous old-school wrestlers like the Baron and Gorgeous George battling
alongside popular local bruisers. 
Pro-wrestling
is more than just sport, it's blue collar ballet, a soap opera for guys.
To set up a good match, you have to weave a compelling story with characters
people care about. No one did that better than the syndicated NWA Mid-Atlantic
Championship Wrestling programs from the '70s and '80s, produced by Crockett
Promotions out of Charlotte, North Carolina. 
As
I write this, one of Crockett's biggest stars, "Nature Boy" Ric Flair,
is at the top of his game, just as he was back in 1985 during NWA's golden
age.
Losing
didn't sit well with Ric Flair that evening (it never did). He and the
rest of the Four Horsemen 
Some
of Flair's toughest televised battles were against foes like Ivan and
Nikita Koloff, Wahoo McDaniel, and Magnum TA. He and Dusty "The American
Dream" Rhodes in particular were long-time rivals, carrying on one of
the most famous feuds in Mid-Atlantic history. 
He
quickly vanquished the Russians, giving Ric Flair time to recuperate.
In a shocking display of Reagan-era gratitude, Flair's teamates rushed
the ring, blindsiding Dusty just as Nature Boy padlocked the cage door
and gleefully joined in the ruthless beating. 
For
the next few minutes, the Four Horsemen did as much damage as they could
to the nearly unconscious Rhodes. Dusty's buddies looked on helplessly,
unable to breech the cage as he was pummelled mercilessly by four opponents
at once. 
