Studio Wrestling
Encyclopedia
Studio Wrestling was a live professional wrestling
show broadcast from WIIC-TV Channel 11 in Pittsburgh
every Saturday evening. In 1959
, WIIC began broadcasting professional wrestling from their studio located in Fineview
. The show was hosted by Bill Cardille
through most of its run, although he was not the original host. The primary directors were Chuck Moyer and Jack Bleriot.
. Even though the show started on Saturdays at 6 p.m., the lines started to form around the TV station at noon. The show was so popular that it revived the dying Pittsburgh wrestling market. No wrestling promotion can survive without a strong television presence because pro wrestling is not routinely covered by mainstream media.
Promoter Joseph "Toots" Mondt
went from promoting shows at a tiny North Side venue called "The Islam Grotto" to packing in tens of thousands of fans to outdoor shows at Forbes Field
. In 1961, Mondt began using the newly built Pittsburgh Civic Arena
to run indoor shows on a monthly basis. Even the referees such as Paddy Grimes, Izzy Moidel (who claimed to have once beat Rocky Marciano
in an amateur boxing match), and Andy DePaul
became local celebrities because of the show's huge audience. An elderly lady named Anna Buckalew, popularly known as Ringside Rosie, who always sat in the front row every Saturday, became well known. Pittsburgh Pirates
Hall of Famer Pie Traynor
later became part of the show as a commercial spokesman for the American Heating Company. His tag line was, "Who can? Ameri-CAN!!!"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Jk8HO4FNhk
. WIIC-TV's new GM David Chase did not think pro wrestling helped the station's image as a news source. He decided to cancel the show, which had once been the station's top rated show. The ratings had declined because wrestling had lost popularity in Pittsburgh, with some Civic Arena shows drawing fewer than 3,000 fans. The fact that Bruno Sammartino was no longer champion and was wrestling on a more limited schedule had a lot to do with this decline. A time change to a 4:30 start also caused some audience erosion. Around this time the Pittsburgh promotional office, sold by Newton Tattrie (Geeto Mongol) to a Buffalo-based promotion, struggled to remain an independent promotion. Studio Wrestling switched to WPGH-TV
channel 53 with the shows being taped in Erie, Pennsylvania
. In 1974
, the show went off the air and was replaced by the WWWF's
syndicated program. The WWWF (today the WWE) was able to claim Pittsburgh as part of its own since it was part of the National Wrestling Alliance
at the time and Studio Wrestling was independent of the NWA.
Because of budget and storage concerns, weekly "reference" tapes from the live show were not saved. WIIC-TV re-used all tapes containing its original programming such as Studio Wrestling and Chiller Theatre
. Videos of these programs are now very rare.
The Studio Wrestling theme song was "El Capitan" by John Philip Sousa
.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9coEY6PLFGs
was undoubtedly the most popular and was able to help the WWWF to claim Pittsburgh as part of its territory as far as the NWA was concerned. Giant Baba wrestled on the show. George Steele
(The Animal) got his start on the east coast by appearing on the show. Previously, Steele (real name: William James Meyers) had wrestled in his native Detroit in a mask as "The Student".
Killer Joe Abbey, real name Joseph Abbenante (who also wrestled as the masked Red Demon)
Billy Darnell
Jumping Johnny De Fazio
Dominic DeNucci
Frank "Slip Mahoney" Durso
Ace Freeman (real name: Zoltan Friedman)
Fred "The Tiger" Geiger
Frank "Carnegie Cop" Holtz
Bobby "Hurricane" Hunt
Zivko Kovacic
Tony "The Battman" Marino (wore a full Batman outfit taking off his cape when he wrestled)
Chuck Martoni (later became Mayor of a Pittsburgh suburb-Swissvale)
Ron Mattucci
Carlo Milano
"Polish" Pat Atlas
Bepo Mongol (real name: Josip Perusovic) (Nikolai Volkoff
)
Geeto Mongol
Ron Romano
Bruno Sammartino (WWWF champ. In Pittsburgh, was announced as simply "World Champ".)
John Valiant
(John L. Sullivan) (real name: Thomas Sullivan)
Chet Wallick
Chief White Owl, real name George Dahmer
Larry Zbyszko
, real name Larry Whisler
Baron Mikel Scicluna
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
show broadcast from WIIC-TV Channel 11 in Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
every Saturday evening. In 1959
1959 in television
The year 1959 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1959:For the American TV schedule, see: 1959-60 American network television schedule.-Events:...
, WIIC began broadcasting professional wrestling from their studio located in Fineview
Fineview
Fineview is a neighborhood on Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's North Side. It has zip codes of both 15212 and 15214, and has representation on Pittsburgh City Council by the council member for District 6 and District 1 . Fineview was known to older generations as Nunnery Hill...
. The show was hosted by Bill Cardille
Bill Cardille
William Robert "Bill" Cardille , is a broadcast personality from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.-Early career:...
through most of its run, although he was not the original host. The primary directors were Chuck Moyer and Jack Bleriot.
Popularity
At one time, this show was considered one of the top wrestling shows in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Even though the show started on Saturdays at 6 p.m., the lines started to form around the TV station at noon. The show was so popular that it revived the dying Pittsburgh wrestling market. No wrestling promotion can survive without a strong television presence because pro wrestling is not routinely covered by mainstream media.
Promoter Joseph "Toots" Mondt
Toots Mondt
Joseph Raymond "Toots" Mondt was a former wrestling promoter who revolutionized the wrestling industry in the early to mid 1920s and co-promoted the World Wide Wrestling Federation...
went from promoting shows at a tiny North Side venue called "The Islam Grotto" to packing in tens of thousands of fans to outdoor shows at Forbes Field
Forbes Field
Forbes Field was a baseball park in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1909 to 1971. It was the third home of the Pittsburgh Pirates Major League Baseball team, and the first home of the Pittsburgh Steelers, the city's National Football League franchise...
. In 1961, Mondt began using the newly built Pittsburgh Civic Arena
Civic Arena
Civic Arena refers to several areas including:* Civic Arena known as Mellon Arena 1999-2010* John F. Kennedy Civic Arena* Midland Civic Arena* Nanaimo Civic Arena* St. Joseph Civic Arena...
to run indoor shows on a monthly basis. Even the referees such as Paddy Grimes, Izzy Moidel (who claimed to have once beat Rocky Marciano
Rocky Marciano
Rocky Marciano , born Rocco Francis Marchegiano, was an American boxer and the heavyweight champion of the world from September 23, 1952, to April 27, 1956. Marciano is the only champion to hold the heavyweight title and go undefeated throughout his career. Marciano defended his title six times...
in an amateur boxing match), and Andy DePaul
Andy DePaul
Andy "Kid" DePaul is a noted amateur and professional boxer and referee. He has been the...
became local celebrities because of the show's huge audience. An elderly lady named Anna Buckalew, popularly known as Ringside Rosie, who always sat in the front row every Saturday, became well known. Pittsburgh Pirates
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...
Hall of Famer Pie Traynor
Pie Traynor
Harold Joseph "Pie" Traynor was an American professional baseball player, manager, scout and radio broadcaster. He played his entire Major League Baseball career as a third baseman with the Pittsburgh Pirates . He batted and threw right-handed...
later became part of the show as a commercial spokesman for the American Heating Company. His tag line was, "Who can? Ameri-CAN!!!"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Jk8HO4FNhk
Cancellation
The show lasted until 19721973 in television
The year 1973 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1973.-Events:*January 4 – The record breaking, long-running comedy series in the UK and the world "Last of the Summer Wine" starts as a 30-minute pilot on BBC1's Comedy Playhouse show....
. WIIC-TV's new GM David Chase did not think pro wrestling helped the station's image as a news source. He decided to cancel the show, which had once been the station's top rated show. The ratings had declined because wrestling had lost popularity in Pittsburgh, with some Civic Arena shows drawing fewer than 3,000 fans. The fact that Bruno Sammartino was no longer champion and was wrestling on a more limited schedule had a lot to do with this decline. A time change to a 4:30 start also caused some audience erosion. Around this time the Pittsburgh promotional office, sold by Newton Tattrie (Geeto Mongol) to a Buffalo-based promotion, struggled to remain an independent promotion. Studio Wrestling switched to WPGH-TV
WPGH-TV
WPGH-TV is the Fox-affiliated television station for Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 43 from a transmitter at its studios on Ivory Avenue in the city's Summer Hill section. The station can also be seen on Verizon FiOS and Comcast channel 7...
channel 53 with the shows being taped in Erie, Pennsylvania
Erie, Pennsylvania
Erie is a city located in northwestern Pennsylvania in the United States. Named for the lake and the Native American tribe that resided along its southern shore, Erie is the state's fourth-largest city , with a population of 102,000...
. In 1974
1974 in television
The year 1974 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1974.For the American TV schedule, see: 1974-75 American network television schedule.-Events:...
, the show went off the air and was replaced by the WWWF's
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
syndicated program. The WWWF (today the WWE) was able to claim Pittsburgh as part of its own since it was part of the National Wrestling Alliance
National Wrestling Alliance
The National Wrestling Alliance is a wrestling promotion company and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...
at the time and Studio Wrestling was independent of the NWA.
Because of budget and storage concerns, weekly "reference" tapes from the live show were not saved. WIIC-TV re-used all tapes containing its original programming such as Studio Wrestling and Chiller Theatre
Chiller Theatre
Chiller Theatre may refer to:*Chiller Theatre *Chiller Theatre *Chiller Theatre *The title, title track and inspiration for 2001 album of musician John Babcock....
. Videos of these programs are now very rare.
The Studio Wrestling theme song was "El Capitan" by John Philip Sousa
John Philip Sousa
John Philip Sousa was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era, known particularly for American military and patriotic marches. Because of his mastery of march composition, he is known as "The March King" or the "American March King" due to his British counterpart Kenneth J....
.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9coEY6PLFGs
Local wrestlers (appearing on Studio Wrestling)
The list of wrestlers who appeared on the show reads like a who's who of American Pro Wrestling. Bruno SammartinoBruno Sammartino
Bruno Leopoldo Francesco Sammartino is an Italian-American former professional wrestler, best known for being the longest-running champion of the World Wide Wrestling Federation , holding the title across two reigns for over 11 years in total, as well as the longest single WWE Championship reign...
was undoubtedly the most popular and was able to help the WWWF to claim Pittsburgh as part of its territory as far as the NWA was concerned. Giant Baba wrestled on the show. George Steele
George Steele
William James Myers , better known by his ring name George "The Animal" Steele is a former American professional wrestler and actor...
(The Animal) got his start on the east coast by appearing on the show. Previously, Steele (real name: William James Meyers) had wrestled in his native Detroit in a mask as "The Student".
Killer Joe Abbey, real name Joseph Abbenante (who also wrestled as the masked Red Demon)
Billy Darnell
Jumping Johnny De Fazio
Johnny De Fazio
Johnny De Fazio, known to fans as Jumping Johnny De Fazio, is a former professional wrestler from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was a fan favorite and was popular in the 1960s and 1970s. He wrestled for the old Studio Wrestling program on WIIC-TV in Pittsburgh, hosted by Bill Cardille...
Dominic DeNucci
Dominic DeNucci
Dominic DeNucci is an Italian-American professional wrestler. He is also an accomplished trainer, counting former World Heavyweight champions Mick Foley and Shane Douglas, as well as referee Brian Hildebrand, among his students.-Early career:...
Frank "Slip Mahoney" Durso
Ace Freeman (real name: Zoltan Friedman)
Fred "The Tiger" Geiger
Frank "Carnegie Cop" Holtz
Bobby "Hurricane" Hunt
Zivko Kovacic
Tony "The Battman" Marino (wore a full Batman outfit taking off his cape when he wrestled)
Chuck Martoni (later became Mayor of a Pittsburgh suburb-Swissvale)
Ron Mattucci
Carlo Milano
"Polish" Pat Atlas
Bepo Mongol (real name: Josip Perusovic) (Nikolai Volkoff
Nikolai Volkoff
Josip Nikolai Peruzović , better known by his ring name of Nikolai Volkoff, is a professional wrestler who is best known for his performances for the World Wrestling Federation...
)
Geeto Mongol
Newton Tattrie
Newton Tattrie is a retired professional wrestler who started his career in the 1960s working for Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling promotion out of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. During his career, Tattrie wrestled all over the globe, wrestling for promotions across the US and Canada, Africa, Japan,...
Ron Romano
Bruno Sammartino (WWWF champ. In Pittsburgh, was announced as simply "World Champ".)
John Valiant
John L. Sullivan (wrestler)
John L. Sullivan is a retired professional wrestler better known as Johnny Valiant. He competed in the World Wide Wrestling Federation , which became the World Wrestling Federation during his time with the promotion. He won the World Tag Team Championship two times...
(John L. Sullivan) (real name: Thomas Sullivan)
Chet Wallick
Chief White Owl, real name George Dahmer
Larry Zbyszko
Larry Zbyszko
Lawrence "Larry" Whistler is a professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Larry Zbyszko. Zbyszko is perhaps best known for his feud with his mentor, wrestling legend Bruno Sammartino during the early 1980s....
, real name Larry Whisler
Baron Mikel Scicluna