Chappell: Richmond must
have presented some interesting
issues with ‘In Your Area’ promos
because of its Friday shows. On
Wednesday in Raleigh, you’d be
doing the promo for the NEXT
week’s card…nine days off! In
between, you had the scheduled
Friday night card in two days,
then that week’s TV show the next
day on Saturday! A lot could
happen in those nine days!
Landrum: Right, because of
that you had some iffy things. You
had to watch yourself! You had to
be very careful with what you did,
because if you said too much...you
gave it up before it happened!
One or two times I’m reading it,
and I’m going, ‘Oh crap!’
Chappell: (laughing)
Landrum: What I had to try
and keep in mind in the situation
we had in Richmond, was that we
were always a week ahead of what
was actually happening.
Chappell: It’s amazing that
there weren’t some big-time slip
ups, but there really weren’t. Or
maybe I wasn’t smart enough to
catch them!
Landrum: There were one or
two times when I kinda questioned
what I was reading on the cue
cards, because I’d see the same
card on the same day. But they’d
be at different times, in two
different cities.
It didn’t have to take more than
twice, and I figured out what was
going on. I finally said something
the first time to Danny Miller,
because he was running it then,
then later to Gene Anderson. Gene
said, ‘Well, you know how it goes,
just do whatcha gotta do.’
Chappell: (laughs)
Landrum: So, I went,
‘Okay!’
Chappell: So many thought
so much of Gene Anderson.
Landrum: You know, he was a
guy that I miss a whole lot. Gene
and I were very close friends, and
we traveled a LOT together.
Chappell: Tell us a little
about Gene if you would, Rich.
Apparently, he was nothing like we
perceived him as fans…on TV he
looked like about as mean and as
ornery a guy as you’d ever see!
Landrum: Ah…yeah, he could
be. But, no, he was a nice guy.
Gene was just genuinely an open
person with people he knew. Not
with the fans, though…somebody
came up to him for an autograph,
he wouldn’t sign it. We’d tell
him, ‘Gene, sign the damn
autograph.’ He said, ‘Nah, not
doin’ it.’
I said, ‘Look, they’re paying us,
REMEMBER?’
Chappell: (laughs)
Landrum: I got off on him
one night. Ricky Steamboat
reminded him, ‘Hey, they’re
paying…you’ve got to sign the
autograph.’
Chappell: That’s something
that I always remember about Rip
Hawk. Even though he was always
the bad guy, he was always
pleasant to the fans and signed
autographs.
I don’t think that made him any
less of a heel when he went into
the ring…and wrestled someone like
a Johnny Weaver!
I’m sure Gene acted like that to
fans because he felt like he had
to…to protect the business. Not
because he was a bad guy.
Landrum: That was it
exactly. Gene was just a real good
guy. He’s the one I would want
backing me up in a fight
somewhere…that’s for sure.
Chappell: Gene was a
legitimate tough guy?
Landrum: Generally a tough
guy, but only when he had to be…
Chappell: Were you the
subject of any of Gene’s infamous
pranks?
Landrum: Oh God…yeah!
Chappell: (laughing)
Landrum: But we’d get back
at him!
Chappell: How so?
Landrum: After he started
managing, and went with the cane
and the sunglasses when he was
doing (Jimmy) Snuka and the Iron
Sheik…you know he carried that
cane everywhere with him?
Chappell: Yep, absolutely.
Landrum: (laughs) Well,
George Scott was a practical
joker, too. Every Wednesday at TV,
Gene would leave the cane back in
the client’s room…the client’s
office if you will. Back there
where they were monitoring
everything we’d do…sofas and all.
We’d take the cane, and give it to
one of the crew, and they’d go
over to the carpentry shop and saw
off a quarter of an inch…and put
the cap back on! (laughing)
Chappell: (laughing)
Landrum: (laughing) Well,
after about four or five weeks
this cane is gettin’ on down
there! Gene’s saying, ‘I don’t
know what, but something’s goin’
on.’
Chappell: (laughing hard)
Landrum: (laughing) You
know, it got to a point where…if
he leaned on it, he would have
been almost horizontal!
Chappell: (laughing) That’s
a classic story, Rich!
Landrum: We did a lot of
things like that. Gene and George
Scott had a bet on quitting
smoking---it was a hundred dollar
bet.
I don’t know if George was
cheating or not…but I know Gene
was!
Chappell: (laughs)
Landrum: We’d be doing the
commercial interviews, and Gene
would go over behind the curtain
and motion me over there where he
was and say, ‘Hey, get over here
and give me a cigarette!’ And he’d
stand over behind the curtain and
smoke it!
But, yeah, Gene was fun…he really
was. He’d love to just grab your
arm, or grab you in the elbow, and
just crush you! And if he liked
you, he called you ‘kid.’
Chappell: ‘Kid’ was the
tip-off that you were okay in
Gene’s eyes?
Landrum: That was the
tip-off, yeah. ‘Come on kid, let’s
go.’ You knew you were okay with
Gene when you heard that.
Chappell: You were accepted
then!
Well, Rich, let me get you to
comment on your getting into
actually announcing for the
Crockett television shows. I first
remember seeing you doing the ‘In
Your Area’ commercial promos for
Mid-Atlantic Championship
Wrestling in early 1978. I
remember thinking, ‘There’s our
ring announcer!!’
Then, of course, you started being
the announcer on the World Wide
Wrestling TV show…but we didn’t
start getting that show in
Richmond until March of 1979.
Landrum: Hey, that’s right
David, I’d forgotten all about
that! Yeah, I asked (Jimmy)
Crockett, ‘Why aren’t you running
my show in Richmond?’
Chappell: I always wondered
if you had something to do with
getting World Wide Wrestling to
Richmond!
Landrum: Crockett said, ‘Ah
well, they won’t run two shows.’ I
asked him who told him that…I
said, ‘I’ll get it on.’
I knew the station manager, John
Shand, from WTVR (Channel 6). I
had worked for Channel 6, the
radio part of it for a while. So I
went to John and I said, ‘How
about a second show?’ He said,
‘When would we run it?’ I said, ‘I
don’t care when you run it…just
run it!’
Chappell: (laughs)
Landrum: (laughs) It’s my
show…just run it!
I told him I’d like to have it in
prime time, but I didn’t see that
happening. And they ran it like at
11:30 at night, or 1:00 am, or
whatever.
Chappell: Yep, I remember
it starting at 11:30 right after
the Channel 6 late news. As time
went on, it did come on a little
later.
Landrum: So, I came back
and told them, ‘I need a show to
start next week.’ They said,
‘How?’ I said, ‘Trust me…I need
the show to go---I just went to
them and they told me they could
do the B show.’
It was either that, or I was going
to go to another station. In
deference to Channel 6, since they
had always aired wrestling, I went
to them first. But I told them,
‘If you don’t take it, I’ll take
it to Channel 8.’
Chappell: You remember when
Channel 8 ran the IWA in 1975? It
was weird seeing wrestling on a
station other than Channel 6!
Landrum: That’s right…they
did. They did their shows at the
Fairgrounds, if you remember.
Chappell: They sure
did…that was weird, too! Crockett
wouldn’t let them in the Arena or
the Coliseum.
Landrum: I’m sure he
wouldn’t. On an off night, I went
over there…just to see what they
were doing. And it was okay.
Chappell: The IWA had a
load of talent…
Landrum: They did, and they
had a TV truck…at that point in
time Crockett didn’t even have a
TV truck.
Chappell: How was the IWA
perceived by Crockett?
Landrum: At first, they
came out as being a threat, and
then it kinda went, ‘Nah, they
ain’t a threat!’ You know…just
leave it alone.
Chappell: I guess the IWA
was the first significant attempt
at national expansion.
Landrum: I think so, and of
course Vince McMahon later did do
it…pulled it off. But Crockett had
nobody to blame other than himself
and Dusty, for getting into what
they got into.
Chappell: A sad tale to be
sure!
How did you make the jump from the
ring announcer at the Richmond
Coliseum to a TV announcer in the
hottest promotion in the land?
Landrum: (laughing)
Chappell: Of course, you
had an extensive broadcasting
background that we’ve been talking
about!
Landrum: Well, either
George Scott or Crockett was up
here one week and said, ‘Look,
we’d like you to audition to do
the commercial interviews on
Wednesdays.’ So, I ended up going
down to Raleigh to the TV studio
the next Wednesday.
Danny Miller was kind of doing
that part of it then in studio, as
far as getting everybody in the
right place, having the right cue
cards up, and so forth.
Chappell: Gene Anderson
wasn’t doing that?
Landrum: Gene wasn’t doing
it then, at that time.
So, I did the audition…God it
seemed like it took forever!
Chappell: (laughs)
Landrum: I finally thought,
‘When am I gonna get to take a
break, and eat some lunch?’ And
they eventually told me, ‘You
don’t.’
Chappell: Doing those
commercial interviews, that was
pretty much an all day deal,
wasn’t it?
Landrum: It started like at
11:00 in the morning, and went
‘til we finished! Which was
hopefully 3:00-4:00 in the
afternoon. Keeping in mind we were
doing them almost constantly, one
right after the other. It might be
a minute or two break while we
were loading a tape, but we were
just bang, bang, bang turning them
out.
You know, you try to make each one
of them sound exciting, but after
a while…
Chappell: That had to be
tough, Rich. For the fans that
were watching, they were in tune
to how you and the wrestlers came
off on THEIR interview. They
didn’t know these things were mass
produced, so to speak!
Bottom line, you had to make EACH
commercial interview seem unique
and special.
Landrum: You did. And
towards the end, you’re running
out of steam after a while and you
haven’t eaten! One of the guys
would usually say, ‘I’ll get you
something to eat.’ Usually fried
chicken or hamburgers. But, you
get run down, and you begin to
wonder in your own mind, ‘Am I
really making it sound as exciting
as it should be.’
Chappell: You didn’t want
the fans thinking, ‘Gee, Rich
doesn’t seem very enthusiastic
about this card.’
Landrum: That’s right! It
amazed me that they could keep
track of all of them, where we
were going to be and what we were
going to be doing.
Chappell: Now, you
continued to do the commercial
interviews even after you became
the announcer on World Wide
Wrestling.
Landrum: Yeah, [the
commercial interviews] were only
supposed to air on the
Mid-Atlantic show…but once in
awhile they would sneak in and get
on my show.
I think David (Crockett) was doing
the ones that would show up on my
show…
Chappell: That’s true, but
that was still some serious double
duty for you!
Landrum: It was. You know,
you’d finish up the interviews at
4:00, and then two hours later
you’re back and do the show. And
generally, 98 percent of the time,
mine was done last. So, I wouldn’t
leave the TV station until
10:00-11:00…and then hit the road
back to Richmond or stay over.
Chappell: I was going to
ask you if you ‘commuted’ to
Raleigh, and if you ever moved
from Richmond?
Landrum: Oh no, I never
moved. Because it was close. It
might take me two hours and twenty
minutes to go down to Raleigh, but
I could come back at 10:00-11:00
in an hour and a half!
Chappell: (laughs)
Landrum: At times, it got
to be strenuous. But, I really
enjoyed it.
Chappell: You just
mentioned that the World Wide
Wrestling show was taped last. Why
was that?
Landrum: Well, that kind of
came about with me doing it. The
guy that was doing it before me,
when they called it Wide World
Wrestling…
Chappell: Before it slips
my mind, why was the name changed
from Wide World Wrestling to World
Wide Wrestling?
Landrum: ABC told them they
had to change the name. It’s too
close to ‘Wide World of Sports.’
Chappell: Oh, that was the
reason for the change! I always
thought it was probably because of
the McMahon’s and the Wide World
Wrestling Federation.
Landrum: No. Well, the
story I got was that ABC had told
them it was too close to their
show. And if it didn’t change, ABC
was going to tell their affiliates
that were carrying our show, to
stop carrying our show…so they
changed it to World Wide
Wrestling.
Chappell: Was the name
change before or after you arrived
as an announcer?
Landrum: Ah…it was just
before I started announcing. I was
doing the commercial interviews
then.
They told me about that time they
kind of wanted to make a change…
Chappell: You mean making
you the announcer on the TV show?
Landrum: Yeah, it wasn’t
that the guy that was there before
me wasn’t good, but he was
physically so big, that he was
making some of the wrestlers look
small! Like Greg Valentine…Greg
was husky but he wasn’t real tall.
We used to kid him, and call him
the Paul Williams of wrestling!
Chappell: (laughing) You
MUST have had a good relationship
with Greg to get away with that!
Landrum: (laughs) Anyway,
that’s how the change was going to
come about for me to start the
announcing. I said, ‘Well, you’re
going to tell him this, right…and
give him some notice?’ They said,
‘Oh yeah, oh yeah.’ Well…that
didn’t happen!
Chappell: Geez…
Landrum: And here the guy
is, buddying up with me…and I’m
getting ready to take over his
show! I kept thinking, he’s gonna
figure out that I’m not usually
here, and all of a sudden I’m here
now, you know?
It really bothered me, because I
didn’t want to hurt anybody’s
feelings.
Chappell: (laughing) Pretty
awkward for you, I’d imagine!
Landrum: I never said
anything…I didn’t know what to do.
I stayed over two Wednesday nights
to watch them do the show…tape it.
They wanted me to see how it was
being done.
I think they wanted a younger
look, too, you know? But anyway,
the third Wednesday night, it was
my show!
Chappell: I remember once
in a while before we got the show
in Richmond, I could pick up the
Wide World show on Channel 29 in
Charlottesville…
Landrum: WVIR.
Chappell: Yes! All I had
was rabbit ears on my TV, so I’d
grab the antenna with my hand,
using my body as an antenna
booster!
Landrum: (laughs) Or use
aluminum foil…
Chappell: I never used
that! A lot of times I couldn’t
get a watchable picture, so I
would just listen to the sound. I
remember Ed Capral was the
announcer on those shows.
Landrum: When they made the
change with me, they put out the
money for the expensive set and
the $700 tuxedo I wore…
Chappell: Yeah, we had
talked about the tuxedo before…
Landrum: (laughs)
Chappell: You had told me
that the tux was part of the
mindset of Crockett, to give the
World Wide show a different look
from the Mid-Atlantic show…
Landrum: That’s right. You
know, David, I had that tuxedo
until about two years ago…
Chappell: For real? Good
thing George South didn’t know
about that…he’d have been up here
hounding you for it for his
museum!
Landrum: (laughs) I wish I
hadn’t gotten rid of it! At the
time, we were cleaning closets and
my wife said, ‘You’re never gonna
wear this again.’ I said, ‘Well, I
don’t know if I want to get rid of
it.’
Those lapels were so wide, you
could park your car on them!
Chappell: (laughing)
Landrum: That stuff in the
70s and 80s…good Lord! So, I think
I gave it to Goodwill.
In retrospect, now, she says she
wishes I hadn’t given it away. I
said, ‘Me too!’
PART FOUR |