PART NINE



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: Thinking back, another angle that really drew a lot for a while was Malenko and the cigar in the Mighty Igor’s eye. That went for quite awhile.

 

Chappell: It really did…for nearly a year.

 

Landrum: It sure did. Igor was a strange character! Even in real life!

 

Chappell: (laughing) He surely came off as that way!

 

Landrum: But he played the role well.

 

Chappell: When I talked to Bill Eadie, he said Igor was pretty unique. A real intelligent guy, which didn’t track with his wrestling persona!

 

Landrum: That’s very true.

 

Chappell: After we got into 1982, we didn’t see Rich Landrum on World Wide Wrestling anymore. After four years of coming into our living rooms every Saturday, you were gone. What happened?

 

You said earlier that leaving wasn’t your idea.

 

Landrum: It was as much of a shock to me as it was to the fans.

 

(pauses) I’m not exactly sure what prompted it. I’ve had my own thoughts, but to this day I’m not exactly sure what prompted it.

 

The excuse I got was not the greatest one I’ve ever heard.

 

Chappell: Tell us what happened, if you will.

 

Landrum: Some other things played into it, with who was booking at the time. And I think I challenged that a little too much one time.

 

But, I just finished doing the show one night…the TV show in Charlotte at PCQ. Part of my deal with the Crocketts, and with any promoter, you pay me that night when I finish…and you pay me in cash.

 

 

Promoters, generally, have their hand in your pocket all the time. So, you always want to make sure you’re getting what you’re supposed to.

 

Chappell: For sure…

 

Landrum: So, David Crockett came up to pay me, and he said, ‘Oh, by the way, this is your last show.’ And I went, ‘Excuse me??’

 

We’re in the hallway of the TV station on the second floor, and he’s got his back to the men’s room. When he tells me that, he starts backing up. And I’m thinking, does he think I’m gonna kill him or something?

 

Chappell: (laughs)

 

Landrum: I said, ‘David, what did you just say?’ He said, ‘Well, you’re too expensive…we can’t afford you anymore.’

 

And I told him, ‘Well, that’s real strange, because if I had wanted to quit, you would have wanted me to give you two months notice.’

 

I said, ‘Thanks David, you know my mother died last week…I really need this on top of that.’ He mumbled something like, ‘I didn’t know that.’

 

So, I went downstairs and Steamboat, Jay and Jimmy Valiant were there. I said, ‘Guess what just happened?’ And I told them what happened. They couldn’t believe it.

 

Chappell: So, Rich, you never saw the end coming?

 

Landrum: Never saw it coming. Valiant, bless his heart whether he meant it or not, said, ‘We ought to boycott ‘em, they’re getting rid of the best announcer they got!’

 

Chappell: At the end of your run, I seem to remember Ray Stevens doing some announcing with you?

 

Landrum: They were coming in and out with people then…it wasn’t a constant. It was kind of in and out.

 

Whether or not they were truly cutting their expenses, I don’t know. After I left, they brought in some red headed guy…and for the life of me I don’t even remember who he was. He didn’t last very long. And then eventually, came (Tony) Schiavone.

 

I tell you, David, it was as much a shock to me as anything could possibly be. And you know, it didn’t set in until I flew back into Richmond. And my wife picked me up, and I was real quiet so she asked what was going on. And I told her…through tears I told her.

 

Chappell: Hearing you tell this Rich, there’s no question how much being a part of Jim Crockett Promotions meant to you.

 

Landrum: And my wife knew how much that business meant to me. She told me to pull off the side of the road, since we were on the Interstate. She said don’t worry about it. I said, ‘RIGHT, how long have I been doing this…my whole professional life.’ She calmed me down, and told me some of the things I had always talked about doing…I could now do.

 

Chappell: When they let you go, did you envision being an announcer for Jim Crockett Promotions for the foreseeable future?

 

Landrum: I didn’t see it coming to an end the way it did. Just out of sheer courtesy, I would have at least expected some notice. Here was a guy that went out and did everything that was asked of him over a number of years…not that I was the greatest. But, hey, if you wanted to make some changes at least give me some notice.

 

But, you know, I got to thinking about it…they did the same thing to the guy I replaced in 1978!

 

Chappell: That’s right…they were consistent!

 

Landrum: (laughs) You know, I really think David Crockett thought I was gonna whip his ass that night!

 

Chappell: (laughs) Couldn’t blame you if that thought crossed your mind!

 

Landrum: He wasn’t worth it.

 

Chappell: Who did you hear from after they let you go? That is the time when you find out who your friends really are.

 

Landrum: I heard from some, and they said they would go to the office and talk to them.

 

And Crockett did call me back with a counter offer…

 

Chappell: They did? Really?

 

Landrum: Yeah, and I almost took it. But it was so much less, and I had to pay my own transportation. By the time I did that, with what they were paying me, I wouldn’t have made any money!

 

Chappell: You mentioned Tony Schiavone coming along later. And then Jim Ross came around even later. Did these later guys measure up, in your opinion?

 

Landrum: Well, it became a different show…which went way into the WCW days.

 

Chappell: And, of course, the World Wide show was taped in the arenas not too long after you departed.

 

Landrum: Boy, if they had done that back earlier…whew!

 

Chappell: As you mentioned earlier, they did a few test runs with that when you were around.

 

Landrum: We did some of that in Charlotte…

 

Chappell: At the time, did you think that might be the wave of the future?

 

Landrum: I think Crockett saw it coming, and that they needed to do it…because it added big credibility to the show.

 

They knew Vince (McMahon) was doing it, and that it was coming. They just didn’t know how to pull it together at that point.

 

Chappell: While you were there, were you privy to any plans Crockett may have been making headed in that direction?

 

Landrum: I do recall them talking about negotiating with WBTV about using their mobile facilities, and this sort of thing.

 

We did a couple of the remote broadcasts, but they wouldn’t keep doing it because it was too expensive to do. See, TV was still a liability then…and they just didn’t want to put the money into doing it.

 

On-site production can really be expensive. Even when we do it now with a TV truck, it’s $2,000-$3,000.

 

Chappell: Do you regret not coming back to Crockett later, because the next year after you left there was Starrcade 1983 and the national Pay Per View era was not far behind?

 

Landrum: Well, George Scott had left by the time I left, and Ole (Anderson) was booking. Ole didn’t conceive of Starrcade…I think that was Dusty (Rhodes).

 

But sure, David, being a national wrestling announcer would have been great…hey, I have an ego! It would have been nice; it would have been fun to do…it really would have.

 

But I enjoyed the business the whole time I was in it…other than a few minor things.

 

Chappell: No disrespect intended to the announcers that were around when Crockett started to go national, but to me you seemed to have all the attributes to do well in that new environment.

 

Landrum: Well, thank you. I kind of felt that way myself. And I was disappointed I didn’t get that opportunity.

 

Despite what my wife says, I’m not a perfectionist…but I strive for excellence in what I do. And that’s the way I was then. There were times I was so sick and didn’t feel like doing the show, but you mustered up and did it…that was just part of it.

 

Chappell: And if you’re not at 100 percent, for whatever reason, that camera is unforgiving!

 

Landrum: It is…but I wore a lot of makeup! (laughing)

 

Chappell: (laughing) So THAT’S how you pulled it off!

 

But, in your position as an announcer, it’s a little harder to hide it if you’re really not feeling well. That camera doesn’t lie!

 

Landrum: Joe Murnick got on me one time, when I really should have been at the hospital rather than doing the show. Joe said, ‘Don’t ever do that again. First you call me, then you go to the hospital. If you get sick like that again, don’t do this!’

 

Joe was a very caring person. He looked after all the boys, much better than Jimmy did. I know when Bill Eadie got stabbed and we had to call him and tell him, Joe said to send all the bills to him.

 

Chappell: I’m glad you’ve told us a little about Joe Murnick, the person. A lot of fans only knew him as the TV ring announcer with the great voice!

 

Landrum: Right, and as we’ve said he was the local promoter up here in this area for Crockett. It was C & M Promotions up here in Virginia.

 

But, he really was just a prince of a fellow.

 

Chappell: Do you think the territorial system was going to collapse about when it ultimately did, regardless of Vince McMahon’s activities?

 

Landrum: I think Crockett was trying to grow into bigger things, to be competition to Vince. When Vince worked out that deal with Dick Ebersole for ‘Saturday Night’s Main Event,’ once a month or so…that was huge. And that was a George Scott deal, too.

 

It was gonna happen, it was just a matter of time. It was get in the game and play, or step aside because they’re gonna run right over top of you.

 

Chappell: Did you follow the breakup of Jim Crockett Promotions after you had left the promotion…much later in the 80s?

 

Landrum: Couldn’t help but do that.

 

Chappell: Looking back, could you see it coming?

 

Landrum: Looking back, with darkening the towns that had been big towns for him---that was the biggest mistake they could have ever made.

 

Going to the mid-west and the west coast…hey, they were the new kids on the block---you better keep the [towns] you got that are moneymakers.

 

Chappell: Yeah, I think Ric has said that once they tried to go west of the Mississippi, they just got swallowed up.

 

Landrum: Sure they did.

 

Chappell: Just a couple of general questions as we start to wind down.

 

What to you constituted a good show from an announcer’s perspective?

 

Landrum: (pauses) If an interview went bad, that made me feel bad. Either I didn’t lead him in right, or I could have done something better to get him going.

 

Generally, if I felt good coming into the show…then I felt good about what I was doing through the show until it was over.

 

Chappell: I’ve heard sports officials/referees say that their best games are the ones that nobody really realized they were out there. Did you think the same way as an announcer?

 

Landrum: Yeah…if I didn’t have to say a whole lot, that was for the better. I tried not to talk through matches much…just hit the high spots, or focus on something that was about to happen.

 

They can see it on their TV screens…I don’t have to tell them everything!

 

Chappell: (laughs) That’s exactly what drove me nuts sometimes with David Crockett! ‘LOOK AT THAT…DID YOU SEE THAT!’

 

Yeah, David, I’m watching my TV set….that’s how I’m able to hear you!

 

Landrum: (laughs) David Crockett also had a tendency to forget, that he had to do the stuff off the monitor. Not what he saw himself in the ring…

 

Chappell: Ain’t that the truth!

 

Landrum: Johnny and I both had a monitor, and we were doing it off the monitor. But there were times we looked up, of course we did.

 

Chappell: That had to be an adjustment for someone who hadn’t really come up as an announcer, like Johnny.

 

Landrum: Oh, Johnny fell right into it. After the first couple of shows it was like, ‘Hey, we’re a team.’

 

And that’s how we generally got introduced in places…as partners. ‘My TV partner, Johnny Weaver.’

 

(laughs) Got time for a quick blooper involving my TV partner?

 

Chappell: Absolutely! But remember Rich, we’re still trying to get Johnny to do an interview, so don’t be too hard on him! (laughing)

 

Landrum: (laughing) One night, I never will forget this…Bill White was working under a mask as the Scorpion---I believe it was the Scorpion. Bill was a real tough guy. And he’s hammering away on some guy, and Johnny got excited and said, ‘There’s White with a terrific punch!!!’

 

Chappell: (laughing)

 

Landrum: I froze, and I’m looking at Johnny…I’m speechless at this point!

 

Well, we had a box that our headsets were plugged into that had a kill switch on it…so we could cough or whatever. I hit both switches and I looked at him and said, ‘WHAT DID YOU SAY?’ He goes, ‘Huh…what?’ 

 

Chappell: (laughing)

 

Landrum: I said, ‘You called him BILL WHITE!’

 

Johnny’s face just went ashen! We finished the show, and we went back in it and I told George we needed to edit it. George said, ‘Why?’ I told him Johnny called the masked man Bill White. George said, ‘Ohhhhh.’

 

So we went back real quick into the post-production, and they just kind of blipped it out!

 

Chappell: Oh, even back in those days, they could fix it before we saw it?

 

Landrum: Yep, just blipped it out. So, that was it.

 

Chappell: Johnny was bailed out, and Bill White wasn’t exposed!

 

Landrum: (laughing)

 

Chappell: Bringing this full circle, after you left Crockett, you indicated that you spent about a year in the WWF. How were you treated there?

 

Landrum: It was fun, and Vince paid well. He looked after everybody.

 

I just kinda wondered what they were doing sometimes, because I wasn’t used to the way they did things.

 

Chappell: It was different?

 

Landrum: It was. But I was treated very well.

 

Chappell: You said earlier that your health is what really drove you out of the business about this time…in the mid 1980s. Tell us what was going on with you health-wise.

 

Landrum: I ended up with a ruptured colon. I was home when this happened. I thought I was getting the flu one night; I really wasn’t feeling well.

 

It was an off week anyway, and I went to bed that night thinking I had the flu. I got up in the middle of the night, and about passed out and hit the floor. I told my wife I tripped over the dog.

 

I felt better the next morning, and went to work at the rescue squad. I got there, but I only lasted about two hours. I thought I was going to die…one of the women on duty said, ‘What in the world is wrong with you…you look green.’

 

Chappell: Unless you are from Mars, that’s not good!

 

Landrum: Yeah! So they took me to the hospital. At first, they treated me for appendicitis with antibiotics, but I didn’t get any better. So, the surgeon came in and told me they were going to open me up and see what was wrong.

 

(laughs) I remember the last thing I said to him was, ‘Whatever it is, I don’t want a colostomy.’ I don’t know why I said that, but I did. And I woke up…and I had a colostomy! They had taken out about 18 inches of my colon, and fortunately, it was only temporary.

 

It was not easy to deal with, but I went ahead with it…they had a lot of good support systems built in with the hospital I was dealing with to help you through it. So I went home, and knew it was only going to be temporary, and I’d come back in six or eight weeks and have everything fixed. I did that…and God, it was worse than the first time!

 

Chappell: That’s rough stuff, to say the least.

 

Landrum: I got a staph infection while I was there, and I was SO ill. I went from 210 pounds to 145 pounds in three weeks…

 

Chappell: Unbelievable.

 

Landrum: Initially, they wouldn’t treat me for the infection, so I told them I wanted to go home…I told them I could be that sick at home. Soon after I went home, I ended up right back at the Emergency Room.

 

Another doctor from the same surgical group looks at me and says he’s going to readmit me. I told him, ‘No you’re not.’ And I argued and I argued with him. My wife got the doctor aside and talked to him out of earshot. He comes back and says, ‘I’m gonna make you a deal. We’ll load you up with stuff, but if you’re not any better by Monday morning you’re coming back.’ I said, ‘Trust me, I’ll be better Monday.’

 

Chappell: Did you find out what your wife told the doctor?

 

Landrum: I asked her, believe me! She said, ‘I just explained to him how you are, and what kind of life you’ve led…and that you’re used to controlling your life. And that you couldn’t control things now, and that it was killing you.’

 

And she was right. I got over all that eventually…with the help of my family doctor. But come November, I get a kidney stone…and they did surgery for that, too!

 

But, anyway, all those health problems made me get out of the business.

 

Chappell: Sounds like you were looking pretty rough, particularly considering you made your living in front of a camera.

 

Landrum: I couldn’t work; I couldn’t even go out. I didn’t want anybody to see me. I didn’t look ANYTHING like what I had looked like. First time I looked in the bathroom mirror after I got out of the hospital bed…I couldn’t believe what I looked like.

 

(laughs) And I lost my curly hair, too!

 

Chappell: (laughs) Yes, you mentioned that earlier.

 

Landrum: But all that is what got me out of the business, and I never got back in.

 

Chappell: Did you ever try?

 

Landrum: Well, the business never soured me. I’ve always loved wrestling. Despite the way Crockett treated me at the end, it didn’t sour me on the business. I’m not bitter towards it.

 

The WWF did call me later about coming back…

 

Chappell: For real?

 

Landrum: Yeah, it was about seven or eight years ago. They said, ‘How’d you like to get back in the business?’ I said, ‘Hmmm, what are you offering?’ They said ‘$100,000 a year guarantee, but you’d be on the road 21 days a month.’ I said, ‘Hmmm…sounds like the old days.’

 

Chappell: (laughs)

 

Landrum: I said, ‘Let me think about it.’ I was very tempted…very tempted. And I talked to my wife Pam about it, and she said, ‘You really want to do it, don’t you?’ I said, ‘I could do it for two years and we’ll take the money and run…I’ll quit after two years.’ She said, ‘Yeah, but what are we gonna do while you’re gone.’ She said my step kids were going to have to get to know me all over again, every time I came home. I said, ‘No, I’ll be just as mean as I am all the time!’

 

Chappell: (laughs)

 

Landrum: We talked about it some more, and I decided not to do it.

 

Chappell: Had you talked to Dave (Hebner) about it?

 

Landrum: Yeah, I was talking to David and Earl about it…

 

Chappell: Do you think the Hebner’s had something to do with you getting that offer?

 

Landrum: I think David played a big role in it. He said it was a lot better than it was back when.

 

Chappell: So, you were real close to announcing with the WWF pretty recently…that would have been something!

 

Landrum: I was close…I was ready to go. But then I got to thinking, ‘I can fall back into some old habits that maybe I don’t need to fall back into!’

 

But I almost took it.

 

Yeah, but I like doing it now like I did with the show in Colonial Heights. And I’m working on another one, hopefully in October in Richmond.

 

Chappell: Yes, I definitely want to talk about that upcoming show shortly.


PART TEN