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
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