PART SIX



PART ONE

PART TWO

PART THREE

PART FOUR

PART FIVE

PART SIX

PART SEVEN

PART EIGHT

PART NINE

PART TEN


 RETURN TO THE GATEWAY LOBBY

 

RETURN TO THE INTERVIEW INDEX

 


Landrum: (laughs) Yeah, George called me. I’d been out of Crockett about six months. He said, ‘You wanna get back in the business?’ I said, ‘Sure, but why are you asking?’

 

He said they needed another announcer up there, and if I was interested to come on up. I said, ‘Sure George, I’d love to…what are we talking about here?’ He said, ‘Well, you gotta audition.’ I said, ‘WHAT…I have to audition? He said, ‘Hey, it’s not me!’

 

Chappell: Company policy…

 

Landrum: That’s right. I asked him if they auditioned the wrestlers too. He said, ‘Yeah!’ I said, ‘Yeah…right!’

 

Chappell: (laughs)

 

Landrum: So, he set it up. They were taping some stuff in Baltimore at the time, so I flew to Baltimore and just asked for one of the boys to meet me. I think Rocky Johnson was up there at that time.

 

I get to the airport, and am walking through there wondering who is going to pick me up. And I see this chauffer holding a card that says ‘Titan Sports,’ which was the WWF’s corporate name. So I go, ‘Who are you waiting on?’ He said, ‘Mr. Landrum.’

 

So, he takes me out and puts me in this black stretch…with an oriental rug in the rear. And I’m going, ‘Whoa, hey man, Crockett never did this!’

 

Chappell: A little different than you and Gene Anderson traveling!

 

Landrum: (laughs) Yeah, just a little bit!

 

So, we went over to the TV station, and did a couple of interviews with the guys. One was with Jesse Ventura. Jesse stands out in my mind, because with Jesse you just started and he took off. I thought, ‘This is an interview that I’m auditioning for, this just doesn’t make any sense.’

 

Chappell: But, you got the job?

 

Landrum: A couple of weeks later, George called me and said, ‘Yeah, you got the job.’ He told me they’d be paying me $80,000 a year to start, and I said, ‘Really??’

 

I started doing their house shows, and they did it differently than we did. They’d run the Main Event right after the intermission!

 

Chappell: Why?

 

Landrum: I’m going, ‘What in the hell are you all doing?’ They said, ‘These fans are so dumb, if we don’t give them the Main Event now, they’ll forget what happened.’ I’m going, ‘Wait a minute, this isn’t up North…this is the hotbed of professional wrestling. Crockett’s still alive, believe it or not.’

 

This is when Scarpa, (Chief Jay) Strongbow, was running the shows. I said, ‘You got this thing ass backwards.’ He said, ‘Well, that’s the way we do it.’ I say, ‘Okay…you the boss.’

 

David Hebner was working for them then. So was his brother (Earl). We were all kind of back together then, because David started at the Fairgrounds the same time I did. Not as a referee…he was setting the ring up. They got rid of Billy Wilson, and David took it over, and he got into refereeing.

 

Chappell: How long were you with the WWF?

 

Landrum: I was with them almost a year.

 

Chappell: So this was at their house shows?

 

Landrum: I’d announce house shows, then I did a television show that never aired down in this area.

 

Then I got sick, and I was out of the business. I was in and out of the hospital for six months.

 

There was actually an interim period, because I left [the WWF]…the travel was just too much. I got a call from David Hebner, and he wanted to know if I wanted to work for an Independent outfit that taped just once a month. I said, ‘Hell yeah…I’ll do that!’

 

So, I went to work for Joe Savoldi…they were doing it out of Boston. That lasted about six months---I knew they were going to fold. Blackjack Mulligan was up there with them for a while. I worked with Bruno Sammartino…

 

Chappell: I bet it was great working with Bruno.

 

Landrum: God, that was great David. I had always heard great things about Bruno, and he is EVERYTHING anyone has ever written about him and said about him. He’s exactly like that.

 

Chappell: He always came off to me as a real straight shooter.

 

Landrum: Bruno was doing a show with me, and he made the comment, ‘I want to tell you something…you’re the best wresting announcer I’ve ever worked with.’

 

Chappell: I bet you felt about ten feet tall after hearing that!

 

Landrum: I went, ‘Whoa…this better be a shoot!’

 

Chappell: (laughs)

 

Landrum: It just blew me away. I later said something about that to Ivan Koloff, because Bruno and Ivan are real close friends. Ivan said, ‘Bruno wouldn’t have said that if he didn’t mean it.’

 

Chappell: Well, I have to admit that it’s really unbelievable to hear you talking about working in the WWF!

 

Landrum: This was before [the WWF] pushed the envelope. This was still when George Scott was there.

 

Chappell: You remember in the first part of 1984, when the WWF started running cards at the Richmond Arena against Crockett? I’m assuming that Crockett blocked Vince from using the Coliseum then.

 

Landrum: Yeah, I did that first show…I remember that one because (Ivan) Putski was on the card.

 

Chappell: That’s right, I’m pretty sure Putski was working against Jesse (Ventura).

 

Landrum: Jesse was there…and I tell you what, Putski’s mouth got so foul in the ring, it was embarrassing me. It was ‘M F’ this, SOB that, and I mean he wasn’t just whispering it.

 

Chappell: And this is from the babyface!

 

Landrum: Yeah! So I went in the back and got Russell Brown, we called him Buster Brown, he was the Deputy Athletic Commissioner. I said, ‘Buster, come out here and sit at ringside for a few minutes.’ I told him this guy is embarrassing me, and I’m looking at the kids in the audience. And I’m going, ‘No, no, we do it different down here. And you guys have got to figure it out that we do it different.’

 

Buster sat there probably thirty seconds, and up on his feet he went to the ring…Buster was about six foot three and weighted over 300 pounds. And he told the referee, ‘Stop the match.’ Putski yelled back at him, and Buster told him, ‘That’s exactly why I’m stopping it. You either shut up and wrestle, or I’ll stop the match right now.’ Putski said, ‘You can’t do that!’ Buster said, ‘Try me…I will stop it RIGHT NOW.’

 

Chappell: Did Putski relent?

 

Landrum: Putski finally shut up, but he was pissed. But see, he was used to doing it that way.

 

Chappell: So, how did it feel doing the ring announcing at the Richmond Arena for the competition of Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling?

 

Landrum: Yeah, I was there right when they first came into Richmond. It was interesting to say the least. The memories of being there for years before, then all of a sudden I’m back in it with the competition.

 

At that point in time, there had been some guys that went over to the other side…

 

Chappell: No question about that…you certainly weren’t the first or the only.

 

But I tell you Rich, thinking back to that time, it was hard to imagine that group at the Richmond Arena.

 

Landrum: Well, David, it was hard for me to do it…because I wasn’t used to it.

 

Chappell: How did the WWF draw when they first started running in Richmond?

 

Landrum: (pauses) Fair…they didn’t do real well, because people didn’t know who a lot of these people were. And they had minimal TV…for a while they didn’t have any TV down here. Matter of fact, I got that for them!

 

Chappell: Weren’t they on Channel 35…a UHF station?

 

Landrum: Yes, WRLH. I went to them, and took some tapes with me. They’re sitting down watching the tapes and going, ‘We don’t know who any of these guys are.’ I said, ‘Yeah, but if you give it three weeks, everybody will know who they are.’ So, WRLH took the show.

 

Chappell: I remember Channel 35 had SUCH a weak signal…I lived 20 miles outside of Richmond and could barely pick it up!

 

Landrum: I still have some of those tapes…I didn’t know I had them for the longest time. They’re three quarter inch---I can’t play them! (laughs)

 

Chappell: Well, at least you don’t have to see Putski!

 

Landrum: (laughs)

 

Chappell: Speaking of TV stations, but going back to Jim Crockett Promotions, why did some markets get your show or Bob’s show and some got both. What was the process in lining up the two shows with the various markets?

 

Landrum: Those things weren’t really shared with me. When they made those decisions, they didn’t tell me. Unless it was a new station they were going to add, and they wanted me to say something on the air like, ‘We’d like to welcome WVIR-TV, our great folks up in Charlottesville, Virginia…we’d love to hear from you, yada, yada, yada.’

 

Chappell: Speaking of Charlottesville, I always liked when you dropped the Virginia references on the World Wide show. Particularly in 1980 and 1981 when the University of Virginia with Ralph Sampson was really strong in basketball.

 

I remember you saying, ‘Steve Muslin from Charlottesville, Virginia…home of the # 1 ranked Virginia Cavaliers!’

 

(laughs) I bet that really irked (University of North Carolina fan) Bob Caudle!

 

Landrum: (laughs) Oh yeah, but you had to do what you had to do!

 

But that show wasn’t airing up there, so it had no effect there. But, of course, in other areas that it aired in Virginia and I’m saying that, it probably played a role with the people and they’re going, ‘Oh man, he’s a Virginia fan!’

 

Chappell: Well, Rich, those little Virginia references didn’t go unnoticed!

 

Landrum: That’s good…I’m glad to hear that.

 

Chappell: You mentioned earlier about the deal with the tapes going to the wrong stations…

 

Landrum: (laughs)

 

Chappell: Any other World Wide Wrestling ‘bloopers’ you’d like to share with us?

 

Landrum: Yeah, once in a while you’d get your words screwed up and have to start over again…let’s try it again type of thing!

 

We did practical joke things too. One incident that stands out, this wasn’t a practical joke, was when there was a cage match interview. The piece of the fence was on a frame on wheels and they rolled it in front of us.

 

When they came in to do the interview, I knew we were doing the cage match angle…but Steamboat was carrying a metal folding chair. I figured he was going to hit the fence with it. Big deal you know?

 

Chappell: Pretty typical stuff for a fence match promo with Ricky Steamboat.

 

Landrum: Generally, I always stood stage right to where I was interviewing…depending on which side they were coming in from.

 

So, I figured he was going to take the chair overhead and hit the screen…the fence. Well, he has the chair in his right hand, which means he has it right next to me. And I’m interviewing standing there, and I’m still in the shot, and Steamboat said, ‘I’m gonna take your head like this chair…’

 

I figured he was gonna do it overhead and hit the fence with the chair, but instead he comes down first to the side to bring the chair up, and when he does…one of the chair legs hits me right where it shouldn’t have it!

 

Chappell: (laughing) Oh boy…

 

Landrum: I go, ‘Owwwwwwwww,’ and I’m holding onto his shoulder trying to stay upright, you know? And I’m slowly going down…my knees are giving out!

 

(laughs) And he finally figures out that something’s gone wrong, and he goes, ‘What’s the matter?’ I said, ‘You hit me with the chair!’ I said it in a much higher voice than usual!

 

Chappell: (laughs)

 

Landrum: He said, ‘Aw man.’ So, they roll the tape back…now it’s a joke! Everybody’s coming out of the office saying, ‘What happened?’

 

(photo from mid-Atlantic Magazine)

 

So they roll the tape back, and sure enough you see the chair go up, and comes down and I cringe…and I got his shoulder tryin’ to keep from falling down.

 

Chappell: That’s one instant replay you could have been okay with not seeing over again!

 

I remember when the Iron Sheik did that contest with those Persian Clubs. Did you get hit with them, too? (laughs)

 

Landrum: Nah, I didn’t get hit with them! That’s when he was with Snuka.

 

Yeah, he invited anybody out of the studio audience that thought he could swing the clubs…

 

Chappell: And the Sheik said he could do twice as many as the audience contestant.

 

Landrum: This big hefty kid comes up, and he was struggling with it after the Sheik shows him how to do it. He puts them down, and the kid can’t do it. And all of Anderson’s Army are belittling the kid, and I said, ‘I want to see Snuka do it.’

 

Chappell: Uh, Rich…you said WHAT?

 

Landrum: Yeah, George Scott told me afterwards, ‘What in the hell possessed you to do that?’

 

Chappell: (laughing)

 

Landrum: And to this day, I don’t know why I did it!

 

And Gene’s kind of like, ‘What did you say?’ I said, ‘Can Snuka do it?’

 

Chappell: Geez…it gets worse!

 

Landrum: I don’t know why I’m doing this…I really don’t!

 

Chappell: I mean, this is actually on the show?

 

Landrum: Yeah…this is on the tape!

 

Chappell: Man oh man….

 

Landrum: And I keep pressing it…

 

Chappell: You’re a braver man than me!

 

Landrum: Well, about that time, the Sheik turns around and grabs me by the throat! And I’m going, ‘Oh crap!’ And he’s shooting here too!

 

Chappell: Whoa…

 

Landrum: My eyeballs are buggin’ out and I’m looking at Gene going, ‘You better get him off of me!!’ And he did…thankfully.

 

We just let it go at that…I can’t remember how we got out of it.

 

Chappell: If anyone out there has the video of this, please contact the Gateway immediately!!

 

Landrum: (laughing) Personally, David, I didn’t think those clubs were that great a deal.

 

Chappell: Gene said each of those clubs weighed 75 pounds. I figured they were hollowed out! (laughs)

 

Landrum: No, they were heavy. But I thought he could have done something else that would have been even more impressive.

 

Chappell: Me too.

 

Landrum: But the other thing…we did do some pretty good practical jokes during the commercial interviews.

 

Chappell: I guess you had too…to break up the monotony of doing so many back to back.

 

Landrum: Yeah, that’s right.

 

We did a good one with the Iron Sheik. His real name was Hossein Khosroco Vaziri. We called him ‘Kos.’ Little did people know, he was a former bodyguard to the Shah of Iran.

 

Chappell: I heard that…many years later!

 

Landrum: He had also been a coach for the Olympic wrestling team. So, we had set this up…George had tipped me off to do some stuff with him. Because we always liked to play with him.

 

Chappell: (laughs) And this is the guy that almost choked you out!

 

Landrum: But in this case, it was planned out!

 

So, we’re getting ready ostensibly to do his interview, you know? Really, it was nothing…we just made it look like it was. You know, the camera man was going, ‘Stand by…and three, two, one.’

 

Chappell: So, you all were making this look like a regular interview, and the Sheik went for it?

 

Landrum: Absolutely! And I was reading down the card and said, ‘In the Main Event, the former bodyguard to the Shah of Iran, The Iron Sheik!!’

 

Chappell: (laughing hard) And this is right around the time of the Iranian hostage crisis!

 

Landrum: I know! And Kos only heard part of it apparently, or was slow on the uptake, because by this time he’s in the shot with me and starts to do his thing, and he goes, ‘What the fu#k you say…you tryin’ to get me killed???’

 

Chappell: (still laughing hard)

 

Landrum: (laughing) We’re all cracking up! But I’m trying to keep it going, to make him think we’re really doing it.

 

And he just walked off the set, and trips over the camera cable and goes, ‘Oh, excuse me,’ and he keeps on going!

 

By this time, everybody is just roaring in the studio…the camera crew is falling down! George Scott comes in, falling over laughing! And George is saying, ‘Kos, Kos, Kos…it’s all right! We never taped it…it’s a dummy interview.’

 

But, that’s the kind of things we used to do.

 

Chappell: That was hilarious! Whew!

 

Landrum: One of many!

 

Chappell: You were talking about the Sheik going for your throat that one time. Was there ever any thought of having you attacked as part of an angle?

 

Around that same time, Ray Stevens and Greg Valentine attacked David Crockett as part of an angle, where David got his ‘revenge’ by becoming a referee and costing Valentine and Stevens the World Tag Team Titles.

 

Landrum: Generally, no. It was more so at a house show, if we were going to do something like that…usually a spot show somewhere. Just to get the people excited.

 

I can’t think of anything on TV that we specifically did in that area.

 

Chappell: The announcers were pretty much untouchable back then.

 

Landrum: Oh yeah…and after that incident with Kos I told him, ‘Don’t you ever touch me like that again.’

 

But on TV…we were supposed to be middle of the road, you know.

 

Chappell: David Crockett wasn’t that middle of the road though…so maybe that helped that thing with Valentine and Stevens get over more.

 

Landrum: I remember that thing with Stevens and Valentine. Didn’t they cut up a reel of tape that Steamboat and Youngblood came out to show the audience?

 

Chappell: Exactly.

 

Landrum: But you see, they could do it with David…

 

Chappell: A good number of people probably enjoyed seeing David Crockett get attacked!

 

Landrum: (laughs) I remember when he wrestled, as David Finley. He wrestled a couple of times at the Fairgrounds.

 

Chappell: He wasn’t exactly the second coming of Lou Thesz! Probably it’s fair to say David was better suited for announcing and helping run the company!

 

Landrum: (laughs)


PART SEVEN