Memphis Wrestling 1979 NBC Report
Spectacular footage that I just had to post.
During a feeble attempt to track down some Memphis Power Pro footage on YouTube, I came across this gem.
It’s a 1979 report from NBC’s Prime Time Sunday with Tom Snyder, looking into the world of Memphis wrestling.
To me this footage is simply groundbreaking. The newscast never fully ‘outs’ kayfabe but the message is pretty clear. It’s a work. For 1979 & national TV, I was very surprised to see the piece go in this direction.
The piece itself follows the Memphis circuit during a portion of 1979. Jerry Jarrett, Jerry Lawler, Bill Dundee and a number of fans are interviewed for the piece. Behind the scene footage and actual Coliseeum footage are also shown. For the majority of fans, wrestling was “still real to me, dammit!”.
The image used at the top of the post is from around minute 1:00 in part 2. This mark is calling to the ref that ‘The King’ has just been handed a steal chain.
Part 1
Part 2 (check out these crazy fans, just great stuff!)
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