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Chappell: Tell us about the
great World Wide Wrestling trivia
contest. That was a neat thing!
Landrum: Oh yeah! John and
I came up with that idea. I really
went to him with the idea, and he
thought it was great. I said,
‘Well, you know all the answers,
and they better be right!’
Chappell: I liked the
trivia questions, because it was
sort of a bridge back to the
Hawk-Hanson era that was never
really talked about otherwise. And
I loved it when Johnny would be
part of an answer to his own
trivia question!
It was a great little history
lesson. And they didn’t do
anything like that on the
Mid-Atlantic show.
Landrum: Exactly. And
remember, I started doing my
announcing at the Fairgrounds
during the days with Rip Hawk and
Swede Hanson, Brute Bernard and
Skull Murphy, the Masked Red
Demons Billy and Jimmy Hines,
Bulldog Lee Henning, Johnny
Heidman, all these guys…
Chappell: A lot of good
trivia questions in that batch of
folks!
Landrum: Those were the
ones that I was first accustomed
to being around, and getting to
know to some degree.
Having John as part of the trivia
thing was really good.
Chappell: What did Jimmy
Crockett think of the idea of
doing a trivia contest?
Landrum: (laughs) He said,
‘Oh, it will cost way too much
money…giving away prizes and all
that!’ I said, ‘Whoa, whoa,
whoa…wait a minute---we’ll just
give them a couple of tickets to a
live show in their area. We’re not
giving away a Cadillac every
week!’
Chappell: (laughing)
Landrum: Then he said,
‘Well, okay then, but you all
better know the right answer.’ So,
that’s how it started.
Chappell: (laughs) Having
Weaver around pretty much ensured
you’d always have the right
answer. He was part of the answer
some of the time!
Landrum: Yeah, I’d say,
‘Hey, it’s on [Weaver], he knows
all the answers!’
So, we started it the following
week, and we had to get the
station to make up the video card
or slide that would pop up to show
the people how to enter the
contest. Then, I think, we would
just start telling them on the air
what it was…we would start at the
front of the show and do it at the
end.
Chappell: What kind of
response did you get on the trivia
contest---from the fans?
Landrum: (laughing) That
thing drew mail…oh Lord! We got a
LOT of mail…a lot of mail. It
really got a great response, and
that told us a lot. And I think it
told Crockett a lot…that the ‘B’
show was getting a lot of
exposure.
Chappell: You previously
spoke about the ratings for the
World Wide show, but from what I
always heard, Crockett’s TV shows
in general drew huge ratings on
Saturdays.
I always heard that Channel 6 in
Richmond would never move
wrestling…unless it was for the
NFL or something.
Landrum: That’s
right…absolutely.
Chappell: Was it pretty
much that way in all of Crockett’s
major TV markets?
Landrum: I think it came to
be that way. I think they came to
realize, that short of ACC
basketball, you didn’t touch the
wrestling shows. You left them
alone, because people knew when it
was going to be there.
And apparently, they didn’t have
any problem selling the spots in
the shows. They did very, very
well.
Chappell: We’ve talked
about the trivia contest…
Landrum: And then it
was…get them to write you to ask
you questions!
Chappell: That’s just what
I was going to ask!
I remember you telling the fans,
‘Thank you for all the cards and
letters…I’m doing my best to
answer them as quickly as I can!’
Landrum: (laughs) Yeah…and
we finally came up with a pat
letter, that I would sign. So at
least it would be an original
signature! You know, ‘Thank you
for writing in and asking and
yada, yada, yada, and I’ll try to
answer it on the show.’
Then they changed the response to
a postcard with my picture on it.
So we did it that way for a while.
Chappell: How did your
volume of mail compare to the
wrestlers?
Landrum: (laughs) It was
funny, after we finished doing the
commercial interviews and before
we taped the shows, this was
around 6:00, all the mail that had
come into WRAL for the wrestlers
was then brought out. Well, I’d be
out there sorting it…putting it on
the desk, you know the table out
there.
Here’s one for Superstar, there’s
one for Swede Hanson, blah, blah,
blah. Well, after a while, it got
so…here’s another one for Rich
Landrum---and the stack for me
kept getting taller!
Chappell: (laughs)
Landrum: I remember Roddy
Piper coming through one time, and
he saw my stack and said, ‘Whose
is that?’ I said, ‘Well…that’s
mine.’ Roddy screamed, ‘WHAT IS
THIS…THE ANNOUNCER IS GETTIN’ MORE
MAIL THAN WE’RE GETTIN’!!’
Chappell: (laughs) And your
response to Piper?
Landrum: (laughs) ‘It’s
‘cause I can draw ‘em Roddy…what
can I say, you know?’
Chappell: In addition to
the trivia contest, and soliciting
question from the fans…I remember
you giving the wrestlers’ hobbies,
their astrological signs…
Landrum: That was all
stall…that’s what that was. I
said, ‘Give me SOMETHING!’ I was
just trying to keep things
going…keep things moving.
Chappell: Yep, you were by
yourself when we got into the
astrological signs and such. We
didn’t get that anymore when
Weaver joined you!
Landrum: That show ran
52/55. 52 minutes and 55 seconds,
less the TV commercials. And you
can only say so much!
Chappell: And, Rich, for
the most part you were describing
squash matches. The matches didn’t
usually give you much help!
Landrum: Right…what are you
gonna say? You just did your best,
and tried to make it sound
exciting. And hopefully, I did do
that.
Chappell: I NEVER once
turned you off Rich…even during
the midget matches!
Landrum: (laughing)
But you know, guys would get on me
sometimes for foolin’ around, and
I’d say, ‘Hey, my job is to put
you over and make you sound and
look good…that’s it.’
And if you noticed, generally in
the commercial interviews, not so
much on the TV show…I’d start it
and ask a question, then I’d be
out of the shot. I did that
intentionally. I moved out of the
shot, because it was supposed to
be about THEM…not me.
Chappell: You never came
off as trying to overshadow the
wrestlers…
Landrum: I would tell the
cameraman, ‘Go to the one shot,
don’t stay on the two shot.’
Especially with Andre the
Giant…his breath would kill me!
Chappell: (laughing) You
needed some space from Andre, huh?
Landrum: Oh Lord, his
breath would kill me…I could not
stand it.
Bless his heart, I loved him
dearly though.
Chappell: Well, Andre was
only in the area for a couple of
shots each year!
Landrum: That’s right.
(laughs) And one time, Andre broke
my car seat!
Chappell: I think a good
road story might be coming!
Landrum: We were doing a
spot show, I think it was up in
Spotsylvania [Virginia]…
Chappell: I was always
amazed that Andre did so many of
the spot shows.
Landrum: That was kind of
surprising. After this particular
show Andre said [Editor’s note:
Rich does an excellent Andre the
Giant impression at this
juncture!], ‘Hey boss, can you
give me ride back to hotel?’ I
said, ‘Sure, I’ll give you a
ride.’
I was driving a Buick Riviera
then, and I had the passenger seat
back all the way…at least I
thought I did! Andre kind of folds
himself up and got in, and he
tried to adjust himself with his
legs and get comfortable. He
pushed back, and when he did the
seat went BOING…
Chappell: (laughing)
Landrum: And I looked at
him, and I went, ‘That wasn’t a
reclining seat!’
Chappell: (laughing) So,
you had Andre in the front and the
back seat!
Landrum: He said, ‘I sorry
boss…I pay for it.’
So, when we went back to Richmond
he sat in the back seat with his
legs across the front seat!
Chappell: Did he pay to fix
your car?
Landrum: He did, he ended
up paying, yes he did…bless his
heart.
Chappell: Quite a guy, from
everything I’ve heard.
Landrum: He was. He could
drink…could he ever drink!
Chappell: I definitely have
heard that!
Well, let me ask you a little bit
about the preparation for the
World Wide show. Bob Caudle told
me he had very little advance
information as to what was going
to happen on any given show. Did
you have more latitude on your
show than Bob did?
Landrum: I had a lot more
than Bob had. I mean, there were
some times they would tell me one
thing, but then change it so I’d
be a little different.
Not so much in the first part of
my tenure of doing it, but in the
second and third year and so
forth…generally I knew what was
coming up. I mean, sometimes they
didn’t have to tell me…
Chappell: Even as fans, we
could sort of sense how some
things would go down.
Landrum: If it was
something that might end up
involving coming out on the floor
towards me…yeah, I knew about it.
Either because I needed to be in
the right place at the right time,
or just get the hell out of the
way, you know?
Chappell: Tell us about
your interaction with the fans in
the TV studio.
Landrum: We had a lot of
fun. We did dark interviews with
the wrestlers, that never got on
the air. They were really time
killers for the fans in the
studio. A lot of times they were
interviews with the enhancement
talent…
Chappell: I had no idea you
all did that for the studio
audience…that’s great!
Landrum: It helped to keep
the fans into the program.
Chappell: When you look
back on your days hosting World
Wide Wrestling, what was the most
memorable angle for the promotion
that originated on your show?
Landrum: (pauses) When they
brought Buddy Rogers in…that was
done on my show.
Chappell: That is
definitely my most memorable World
Wide Wrestling memory! Not only
did you introduce the legendary
Buddy Rogers to the Jim Crockett
Promotions audience, but you were
right in the middle of the
confrontation between Buddy and
Ric Flair…which in my mind did the
unthinkable---it pretty much
turned Ric Flair babyface! This
angle occurred in the middle of
1979, and Ric had been a heel ever
since he first entered the area in
1974.
Landrum: I was right slam
in the middle of it!
Buddy Rogers…a real neat guy. I
wish I had known him in his prime.
Chappell: I tell you, Rich,
for his age I thought he looked
great in 1979. And we have talked
about the trivia contest; I
remember Rogers was brought out on
that memorable show, because he
was the answer to one of your
trivia questions!
Landrum: That’s right,
matter of fact George Scott said,
‘Hey, here’s your trivia
question.’ And we were building
towards it, and that’s exactly
what we did.
Before that, George nor anybody
else ever interfered with our
trivia questions. It was something
Johnny and I came up with. But on
that occasion, George said,
‘Here’s your trivia question, and
here’s what I want to do and
here’s where we’re gonna go with
it.’ And I said, ‘Okay.’
Chappell: So, this was all
laid out and you knew where it was
going?
Landrum: Oh, yeah,
absolutely.
Chappell: Because as a fan,
you looked completely blown away
when Rogers attacked Flair!
Landrum: (laughs)
Chappell: I guess to set
this angle up for our readers who
may not be that familiar with it,
Rogers came out of nowhere on the
World Wide set as the correct
answer to your trivia question.
Rogers at first was in
ultra-babyface mode, saying, Rich,
great to see you, this and that.’
Landrum: Yeah. ‘Ladies and
Gentleman, here is the wrestling
legend who was the answer to our
trivia question!’
Chappell: And Ric Flair
comes out, and interrupts Rogers
because Ric said Buddy showed
favoritism when he refereed a U.S
Title match between Ric and Dusty
Rhodes in Greensboro.
Rich
Landrum with Ric Flair (Rich
Landrum Collection)
Now, at this time, Ric was still a
heel…but was in a feud with fellow
heel Paul Jones. In retrospect, we
now know that Ric’s slow babyface
turn had started, but wasn’t in
full bloom when he confronted
Rogers on your set.
Landrum: If you remember,
when Flair interrupted Buddy, Ric
was pretty respectful of him at
first. As I recall, Rogers didn’t
say too much derogatorily to Ric
at that point…that started during
Flair’s match with Dusty, where
Rogers was off camera with me at
the set, and [Rogers] is pointing
out all the flaws that Flair had…
Chappell: (laughs)
Landrum: Buddy was saying,
‘Look, he didn’t put the figure
four on right…he’s not even using
the right leg!’
Chappell: Then Ric takes
exception, and says he would show
Buddy how he perfected the figure
four, Rogers’ signature hold. So,
Ric brings Len Denton out to the
set, and on the studio floor, puts
Denton in the figure four to show
Rogers how it’s properly done.
Unfortunately for Ric, Buddy
attacks him when Flair’s tied up
in the leg hold. And I never saw
anybody as surprised as you when
Rogers attacked Ric! That moment,
more than any other, is what
turned Flair babyface after all
those years as a heel.
Landrum: (laughs) Yeah, I
said, ‘WHAAAAAT’ when Buddy did
that! I don’t think anybody saw
that coming.
Ric was the ultimate heel. He had
all of the charisma of a babyface,
but was a heel. But to make the
turn…really unusual. And to be
honest, it was not something he
really wanted to do.
Chappell: That’s
interesting.
Landrum: They used to say,
‘Fans pay to see babyfaces chase
the heels, they don’t pay to see
heels chase babyfaces.’
Of course, we knew he wasn’t going
to stay a babyface forever.
Chappell: By then, it was
pretty clear Ric was going to go
on to great things, whether he was
a heel or a babyface. But that
whole angle on World Wide
Wrestling was an example of how
turns were so meticulously done
back in those days.
The turns really meant something.
I guess it took about three months
for Flair’s babyface turn to be
complete. A couple of weeks after
the incident on World Wide
Wrestling, you remember when Flair
and Steamboat teamed for the first
time at the (Richmond)
Coliseum…thousands were turned
away at the door. Of course,
that’s when Ric TRULY became a
babyface! How could Ric possibly
be a heel, when he’s teaming with
Ricky Steamboat?!
Landrum: Everybody was
saying, ‘He’s gonna turn on
Steamboat; he’s gonna turn on
Steamboat!’
Chappell: (laughs) I think
most of us thought that’s exactly
what was gonna happen!
But if you remember in that match,
Flair puts up $10,000 and says
it’s Steamboat’s if he turns on
him. And we know how Flair loves
his money!
Landrum: (laughs)
David, I think what possibly
happened with the babyface change
for Ric, which involved pairing
him with Paul Jones initially, was
that it didn’t go quite as well as
they thought. I really think that
played a role.
George Scott always knew how to
program, no question. George was a
fantastic booker, one of THE best
for that era that could ever have
come along. But, sometimes things
don’t go exactly as planned. So,
you have to have a ‘Plan B.’
And I guess Buddy Rogers ended up
being the ‘Plan B.’ If I had to
analyze it now, at this point in
time, arm chair quarterbacking it,
I think that’s really what
happened.
Chappell: I can see your
point now, Rich. Jones and Flair
had gone round and round for a
long time before this, even though
the heel vs. babyface roles were
reversed. The fans had seen a lot
of those two against each other.
Maybe George brought Buddy in to
add some ‘oomph’ to Ric’s turn.
Makes sense!
Landrum: I tell you what,
George knew how to do it. It wore
him out, though…I could see it.
You ask any of the guys…he was a
taskmaster.
Chappell: Yep, I’ve heard
that quite a few times before!
Landrum: The key to his
success was…he was not in the
ring. You take a guy who is still
wrestling and make him a booker…it
ain’t gonna work.
Chappell: That’s been
proven out many times!
Well, tell us a little more about
Buddy Rogers. I wish Buddy had
stayed in the territory longer.
Landrum: Rogers was fun!
Fun to work with, and fun off
camera…at the hotels or whatever.
Just a very interesting person,
and he was fun to talk to. He was
like Johnny…he had a wealth of
knowledge.
Chappell: He certainly came
off as being highly intelligent.
Landrum: Oh, he was. And
the angle with the ear…
Chappell: That was good…to
keep the fans from yelling at him!
Landrum: (laughs)
Chappell: And late in 1979,
when Ric kept hitting him on the
ear, that’s what they used to ease
Buddy out of the area.
Did Buddy really have any kind of
issues with his ear? If not, he
certainly sold it well!
Landrum: Nah, no problem
with the ear that I know of! But
who knows, he may have…
Chappell: Well, he was
getting up in age by that time. At
the very least, he may have been
hard of hearing! (laughs)
Landrum: Yeah, I was
thinking about that. He had to be
in his mid to late 50s by that
point. But he was still in GREAT
shape.
Chappell: Oh yeah, and he
had the great tan also.
Landrum: Yeah, he was
buffed! Though that was not the
term used back then.
Chappell: And he got in the
ring with Ric a few times…he could
still go.
Another great George Scott
coup…setting up the battle of the
Nature Boys!
Landrum: George was top
notch, and he did well in the WWF
as well.
Chappell: That’s right.
Landrum: Yeah, he brought
me up there.
Chappell: (pauses) The WWF?
Oh really?
Landrum: (laughing hard)
Yeah, you didn’t know that, did
you?
Chappell: (laughs) You got
me, Rich! I’m busted!
I gotta hear about this…Rich
Landrum in the WWF!
Please continue!
PART SIX
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