Did anyone here ever go to the TV studio wrestling?

[Mad Dog]

It's something I've never seen discussed much here. It was long gone by the time I became a fan and I'm a little sad I never got to experience it.

But did anyone here ever get to go or were you even a regular? What are your memories and what was it like?

[JNLister]

Way past the territory days,  but I did a couple of visits to the Channel 5 studios in 1997, which I cover in my book Slamthology:

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With local buses not running in Memphis on Saturdays, and the distance being uncertain (don't ever trust an American map), we hailed a cab and found yet another eccentric talkative driver.

            "Where to, boys?"

            "Channel 5 studios please."

            "You boys going to the rassling show?"

            "Yes! Do you watch the USWA TV?"

            "Every week when I'm not working. Everyone watches. I tell you boys, that J.C. Ice, he ain't welcome in the Dundee home yet. I got eight boys of my own back home, and if they acted like that PG-13 I'd have them over my knee..."

            The conversation continued with a discussion of the previous evening's show, the relative ages of Lawler and Dundee, and the ring style of Brian Christopher. "He'll rassle clean, but if the other guy starts rassling dirty, he'll get dirty as well." For once a driver truly earned his tip.

            Even at a little after nine in the morning, there were about thirty or so already milling in the Channel 5 parking lot. Some people find religion at Lourdes, others are awestruck by Bethlehem, but we were almost shivering with the knowledge that we were standing on wrestling's most famous section of concrete, site of countless legendary brawls, and the greatest hit and run incident of all time.

            Among the crowd were several small children, quite naturally playing wrestling. You may remember this from your own school. “I’m Jake the Snake,” you’d inform your mates. “You’re the Million Dollar Man.”

            One of these children, perhaps five years old, was vigorously arguing that, “I’m Sir Mo. It’s my turn to be Sir Mo”...

            As we stood reminiscing, a USWA official began asking the crowd for their tickets. Gulp. Panic. No problem though as, the moment we explained where we had travelled from, he revealed he was Olivia Newton-John's brother in law (not quite sure what that had to do with anything) and said we could come in as his guests and... they might even use us in the show!

            With about twenty-five minutes before the show went on air, the crowd were allowed to file into the studio, but not before the aforementioned gentleman checked for signs and demanded that nobody be wearing WCW merchandise. Quite right too.

            After passing through a storeroom (which you can see on the various brawls if you dig out your Memphis tapes), and pretending we hadn't just walked past Steve Lombardi, we were escorted into the studio. This was a pretty basic set-up, with Matt and myself sat on the middle corner of the two sets of benches (two rows in each) around the back and right of the studio. The ring was just a couple of feet away in the centre of the floor (well, duh!), with a stationery camera on the far-side and two handheld operators walking around.

            The wrestlers would enter from the same entrance to ourselves (on the left as we sat), and from a door behind the stationary camera. Yup, even in a tiny television studio, the faces and heels came out of different doors. Finally, over in the far right sat an announcer's desk and a dubious looking throne.

            Ms. Newton-John's relative took care of the warm-up as well as directing the action, and ran through the card before introducing Bundy the Gorilla, the USWA's mascot, who sat a couple of seats down from us. Also mentioned was the floor manager, in charge of the TV production, who was celebrating his 2000th show at the station. Sadly our immediate cake-related thoughts didn't come to fruition.

            After checking Matt and myself were in focus, and checking our names and hometowns (by amazing coincidence, a cameraman originally came from one of the many other Prestons across England), the producer introduced Lance Russell who got the standing ovation a legend deserves. Luckily he didn't start telling the Brian Pillman story.

            The producer then made a final countdown and we went live to air. A monitor at the back of the room showed the feed from the studio, while a second screen was tuned to Channel 5 itself, which meant Lance and company could keep track of the adverts.

            After tape of new USWA champion Elijah showing off his scars from the title win against Brian Christopher in Memphis the past week (keeping track of the title?), and the opening credits, Lance ran down the card. Then, as the director cut to a close-up of our fine selves, the man who has introduced every great name from Jackie Fargo to Tatanka (ahem) said that the opening match was so important, "we've got a couple of special guests who've come all the way from England. John Lister from Preston (ha, take that Stevenage, I've turned my back on you) and Michael (doh!) Brannigan from Manchester. Let's give them a warm welcome!"

            So, let's recap here. Lance Russell, that's LANCE RUSSELL has just introduced us by name on Memphis television, and 100 fans are giving us a standing ovation. Forget Fin's editing in PowerSlam, I don't care if this does make me sound unprofessional: this was truly the greatest moment in my entire life.

            First up was an interview with Reggie B. Fine, now the NOD's King Reginald. (In the weeks before our trip, Reg caught on to the remarkable success of Jerry Lawler, and was thus copying the King gimmick, dropped strap and all, in a hilarious failed attempt to become invincible!) Lawler quickly interrupted, had a go at Reggie's valet "Queenie", and introduced a special co-host for the day.

            Sunny.

            Hello.

            There's us, sitting there, and ten yards away there's Lance Russell and Sunny. Life is good.

           

            1) Jerry Lawler & Bill Dundee vs USWA Tag champions PG-13

           

            Despite the distraction, this proved a pretty entertaining bout. The taxi-driver's fantasies came true as Dundee whipped his son, PG-13 took loads of hilarious bumps, Lawler dropped his strap, we marked out big time, King Reginald ran in with a chain, the heels won and Lance told them off. Great stuff.

           

            2) Steven Dunn & Super Hysteria vs Truth Commission

           

            Perhaps in your weirdest dreams you might have seen four Colonel DeBeers lookalikes. Well, that's what we were faced with here. Fortunately the joys of masks meant we were spared the knowledge that we were watching the man formerly known as Mantaur. The leader of this motley crew gave the predictably politically incorrect speech in an accent so utterly atrocious it turned out to be genuine. (2005 note: Another member of the squad went on to 'fame' as Bull Buchanan.)

            Super `teaming with the guy I faced yesterday' Hysteria was smashed to the floor, so naturally Bill Dundee got to replace him mid-match, and the Commission were counted out while continuing the destruction of Mr. Hysteria. They complained, and Lance told them off. Great stuff.

           

            They then announced the next Memphis Big One line-up, namely:

            Dunn vs Truth Commission Tank

            Dundee vs Truth Commission Recon

            Mike Samples vs Bobby Bolton

            Tag Champs PG-13 vs Flannagan & Travis

            Unified Champ Lawler vs King Reginald

            USWA Champ Christopher vs Elijah

           

            Sounded fun, and it would have been interesting to see Christopher headlining above his father, but alas the show was for the following weekend. Instead we were treated to a great King Reginald interview where he denied the earlier run-in, while Sunny sarcastically yawned. It all turned a bit nasty with Sunny and Queenie nearly coming to blows (with the encouragement of the entire male section of the audience) and Queenie making a disgraceful allegation about Sunny's chest. Lance told her off. Lawler then came and encouraged the fight, with all of the crowd behind him until he suggested Reggie "go back to the project." Cue hilarious black man behind us telling Reggie that "you don't have to take that, boy."

            Up next was a Flash Flannagan and Billy Travis promo which, to be honest, didn't sound like a barrel of laughs. Fortunately they cut to a pre-recorded PG-13 interview with plenty of dubious drug allegations. Boy, was Lance upset!

           

           

           

            3) Flash Flannagan & Billy Travis vs Ken Wayne & Mike Samples

           

            Nothing great, nothing awful, but a good laugh when Bundy the Gorilla decided to spray Samples with silly-string. Bet he wishes Championship Wrestling from Indiana had lasted a bit longer now, eh? Sunny rambled on about the Nightmares (like she's old enough to remember), and PG-13 ran in with the hubcap for the DQ. A superb four-on-two kick-in ensued before Lawler and Dundee made the save.

           

            Lance then ran down the USWA's spot show schedule for the following month, including Jonesboro, Arkansas and Humboldt, Tennessee. Don't you just love independent wrestling?

            Mike Samples came out next for an interview, telling Sunny she was "not too bad looking" and he could pull a few strings in Hollywood for her. It should be pointed out that Samples' gimmick is not a million miles away from a certain nWo figurehead. The rest of the Bobby Bolton targeted interview saw Sunny ripping the piss behind his back, ending with a sarcastic bow. And when Sunny bends over, people notice. Heh heh heh.

            The ensuing Bobby Bolton interview was memorable only for the fact that Lance was distracted on his headset by a "backstage incident." Angle alert!

           

            4) Bobby Bolton vs King Reginald

           

            Basically a parody of a Lawler match, this was progressing nicely until Bundy the Gorilla, who'd spent the whole show cheerleading and throwing out some very tasty sweets, walked over to Bolton, patted him on the back... and DDTed him on the floor! After Reginald got the pin, Bundy unmasked as Mike Samples. The fiend! OK, OK, I admit it - we marked out for this one.

           

            After the next commercial break (during which the director offered a Sunny T-shirt to whichever fan made the most noise, causing one poor lad behind us to have what appeared to be an epileptic fit, demanding that Sunny hug him before he leave), they cut to a backstage shot of the Truth Commission beating Steven Dunn to a bloody pulp. Well, you gotta laugh.

            Brian Christopher then came out for the pop of the day, giving a dirty look to two fans who'd foolishly come along in their home-made NOD T-shirts. He went on to explain that, though he'd lost the USWA title to Elijah (ahem), he'd got revenge by cutting open his arm and head. Cut to close-up of Elijah's wounds. Lovely.

           

            5) Brian Christopher vs Brooklyn Brawler

           

            Steve Lombardi in main event shocker. Actually this wasn't bad at all, with Christopher's teasing of the superkick the main story. Eventually he hit it and, shock, horror, just as he went for the pin PG-13 ran in for the DQ. Elijah joined the action before a mysterious fellow made the save. A couple of minutes later it suddenly dawned on us. Doug Gilbert was back in Memphis. Cool.

           

            As Lance wrapped up, Gilbert grabbed the NOD fans' T-shirt and tore it up on camera while Christopher cackled and the fans went crazy. Cue closing credits.

           

            Walking back out to the world’s most dangerous car park, I think I spoke for both of us in saying that the USWA’s TV show was one of the highlights of our wrestling lives. To sit in that studio watching Lance Russell host the proceedings. To literally follow in the footsteps of all those parking lot brawls. To be perhaps two feet from the gorilla angle, an angle that follows a tradition of over twenty years of angles in the same place. To be an actual part of the same show where perhaps hundreds of young wrestlers have made their live television debut.

            Where a young photographer named Jim Cornette announced his plans to enter management. Where Eddie Gilbert gave that interview on the 900th show. Where the Moondogs massacred that jobber. Where Terry Funk issued the challenge for the empty arena match.

            All of these memories were part of the experience that, with the demise of the territories and the traditional house show circuits, probably has to rank as the most historic thing a wrestling fan can do today.

            This isn’t to say the USWA’s TV show is out of touch or dated. The talent on display was, with only a few exceptions, fresh and youthful, and the wrestling was far from dull. With ninety minutes of constant action, angles, interviews and hype it was soon obvious where the inspiration for RAW and Nitro comes from. In just an hour and a half we had become totally familiar with every ongoing angle and the history of every storyline that would be part of the imminent house shows, while being entertained throughout.

            In Hulk Who Goes Extreme? I recounted the tale of how, to pass the time, we took great amusement in playing the roles of marks at Croydon to the full, getting right into cheering the faces and booing the heels. In the USWA we didn’t even have to make the effort; it just came naturally. The director and cameramen, obviously through great practice, managed to fine-tune the crowd’s reactions with gestures and bribery, yet it never came across as patronising or artificial.

            I can’t say enough about that fascinating, exhilarating Saturday morning in the Channel 5 studio, except that anyone who cares about the history of this business should make it their life’s ambition to become part of decades of history.

            Anyway, time was pressing and, with blazing sunshine the climate problem this time, the so-called "two mile" stroll back to the station ended in a sprint to catch the bus. We fortunately arrived just in time to catch the driver coming out of the gents to board the bus and off we went.

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Thanks to the shenanigans back in Dallas, it was almost 9:30 when we pulled into a Memphis and I literally walked off the bus and straight into a taxi to the Channel 5 studios, where a large crowd had already gathered for the first ever USWA TV tapings. Among them was Uptown Bruno, who remembered me from February and was busy moaning about the end of the live broadcasts.

            As the taping was set for almost two hours, we were all sent to the toilet where another bloke and I had to wait ages for the cubicle to become free. My new companion passed the time with the "You're from England/Princess Diana/Did you know her?" routine, before asking me to explain UB40's name and enquiring whether I'd ever heard of Flock of Seagulls. Well, only when Stevie Richards wore their shirt...

            On a trivia note, it turned out that the man with the urological problem was ring announcer Tony Friedman.

            Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to make any notes and, now the USWA's gone down the pan, I've been totally unable to find any record of the matches. Among the highlights I can remember were that PG-13 had a couple of great bouts, Brian Christopher overcame old WCW loser Hardbody Harrison before the 'banned' Billy Travis ran in from the car park only to be hauled off by the cops, and Steven Dunn hit a victory roll on Doomsday to capture the USWA title. Yes, the monster Kane went down to a Well Dunn member.

            Outside the ring, Jerry Lawler promised to give us all a WWF figure until a little kid called him "Dairy Queen", while I gladly marked out to a taped interview with that evil heel Tommy Dreamer. The main theme of the taping, though, was utter confusion. After the first hour had been recorded, we were treated to a parade of workers coming to the ring and then, for no reason, walking off again. Officials made everyone change seats in a frankly ludicrous attempt to make it look like the two shows had different crowds. And then Bruno Lauer (who'd kicked things off with an arena brawl against Tony Friedman) came out in a Steve Austin shirt and worked the crowd for 20 minutes.

            (2005 note: Looking back, I see the shows also featured the Memphis debut of a young hopeful named Steve Corino.)

            Come high noon, with one lad still standing at ringside demanding an Austin shirt, and doing the most believable Veruca Salt impression I've seen in many a year, the producers decided to call it a day.