That's why they had Andre travel from territory to territory back in the day. Andre was so big and impressive, nobody would believe that he could lose if he won a championship. His championship bouts always ended in DQ's, countouts, or time expired. To my knowledge, he never won a championship even though he was undefeated pior to Hogan pinning him near the end of his career at Wrestlemania 3.
The real rarity here is seeing and hearing Joe Murnick. What a special treat. Murnick was the local promoter for Jim Crockett based in Raleigh, NC, and he promoted the Raleigh area, as well as most of eastern North Carolina and eastern Virginia, including Richmond and Norfolk. Murnick was co-host of a Raleigh-only version of "Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling" in the 1960s and early 1970s, and when that Raleigh-only version was discontinued and all of the area's TV tapes were consolidated to WRAL in Raleigh, Murnick was still seen as the ring announcer on Crockett shows until his sons Elliot and Carl took over those duties toward the end of 1977 or early 1978. Joe Murnick had a deep, classically-southern voice that was just so perfect for the times and one of my favorite ring announcers ever.
@@johnhawk1969 Crockett Sr. died in 1973. There was a transition period of some months or a year before Jimmy took over, so the Murnicks were associated with both. Bob Caudle was the weatherman on the newscasts of WRAL, which was owned by Jesse Helms. After Helms was elected to the U.S. Senate, Caudle became director of his Raleigh field office. Sounds like he did that and the wrestling at the same time but exact information is sketchy.
So what was the point of having Joe Murnick as part of the contract signing? Crockett was the promoter, not Murnick. Guess nobody bothered to check the footage before it aired. Several have commented the yellow legal pad was BLANK. And what difference does it make which language Andre signs in? He signs his name - which certainly isn’t language-specific... The issues with this segment notwithstanding, still miss the old territory days...when wrestling was wrestling...
@@pls2028 The point would likely be that the segment was taped in Raleigh, the Murnicks were the promoters in Raleigh and the fans in the region all knew that. The Crocketts were in Charlotte, so they may not have been available to be physically present for the taping. The territorial system was largely based on certain local promoters who were central to the territory because they also operated booking offices, with separate local promoters in other communities who didn't book talent and instead relied on the booking office to fill their local cards. Boesch and Sam Muchnick were exceptions in that they managed to remain strictly local promoters, due to a large population base providing a sizable audience. The other exception was the McMahons, who by this point had managed to either sever ties with their local promoters or keep them on as employees of the company (e.g. Phil Zacko). The distinctions inherent in this system appear to be lost on 21st-century fans because the business hasn't worked that way in so very long.
As of Jan. 2018 the Boesch family still owns the library while Billy Corgan via his purchase of the NWA owns the rights to licensing of the library. Meaning he can use the footage from the library whenever he chooses such as for the NWA youtube channel.
id remember watching Andre the giant on Tv when id was a kid long time ago and Id was very surprised that God created a very unique man thAT was also a gentle giant who had a good heart :)
Saw him live here for the first time here in Houston, along with my classmates,he was all we talked about.Such an unbelievable sight,he truly was the 8th wonder of the world,like seeing a comic book character come to life.
These straight men SOLD wrestling as REAL for decades until Vince McMahon RUINED it with his ridiculous characters and then just outright admitting it wasn’t real so he didn’t have to pay taxes in NJ. DIK.
@MrAitraining lol wouldn't be bad for the wingman, being Andre. But def might be bad for the one inviting him. As Andre drinks that person under the table within a few hours. Andre seems like the type that was a chick magnet too. 🧲
In his early days, he could work well. It was when Vince McMahon Sr. took over his booking is when he really started to his repertoire in the ring (although when he worked Japan, he did some decent chain wrestling). Vince Jr. did the same thing with Hulk (limiting him to just a few moves), but when Hulk worked Japan, he would break out some nice moves and rarely use the legdrop finisher (preferring his classic Axe Bomber finish)
Having Andre come to your town was just as big as having the NWA champion show up. The only thing that is comparable these days is wrestling the Undertaker at Wrestlemania.
@@Evilkingus Ya, it was stupid. But, because of the geographical area of Andre's place of birth, he would have had the opportunity to learn a few languages that were common to the locals. I had read that he knew how to speak some other languages.
I believe this is the infamous match that Gary Hart talked about in his book. Paul, Gary and Bronco Lubich were trying to come up with a finish that Harley Race could win without making Andre look weak. Paul suggested Andre slip on a pencil outside the ring. Gary and Bronco looked at each other in disbelief. When Paul tried to present the finish to Andre, he said “Hey boss. I cant lose to a pencil”. On another note, Paul Boesch is a underrated commentator. He wasn’t the technical expert on moves like Gordon Solie or Joey Styles but he was great at getting the characters and personalities across and the motivations for why the performers were feuding.
Paul also liked to bring in the AWA and the WWF champions to Houston as well. That didn’t go well with the NWA. So they held back Harley from going to certain cards in Houston. Thus, Paul decided to quit the NWA Texas booking office in 1981, and went Joe Blanchard in San Antonio, Bill Watts in 1983, and Vince in 1987.
Except for Kamala, because Kamala backed Andre in the corner and punched him in a shoot fight. The next time they met, Kamala pulled a gun on Andre. Then Andre apologized to Kamala.
I really don't know about that. A hard slap from Andre's huge right hand would have incapacitated anyone, including Race. Many wrestlers who battled with Andre have confirmed that. Not to mention the fact that Andre stood at least a foot taller and weighed at least 200 lbs heavier than Harley Race.
If Andre had become champion it might have been a pay cut for him. And if they wanted him to wear a belt, then it would have had to been specially made for his girth.
andrea Santarelli I lost my beta copy in Hurricane Katrina, as I had most of 1979-80 mid south, but I've seen a tiny bit of the start of that angle on UA-cam.
I lost my beta copy in Hurricane Katrina, as I had most of 79-80 mid south, with local (New Orleans) promo's, but I've seen a tiny bit of the start of that angle on UA-cam.
Brian Sheetz A title would have humanized him in a way, he just didn't need it to be special and a top attraction. Also back then the NWA champ had to defend his title every night in various territories, and André had too much going on with Japan and appearances and bookings to defend the title as much as the NWA would have asked him to.
Yes as the other replier stated Andre traveled to all the territories, also Andre's main career was in Japan as were many of the top NWA and AWA stars. Andre's feud with Stan " The Lariat" Hansen in Japan is legendary. Andre was mostly a heel in Japan.
This has nothing to do with nowadays wrestling anymore. Completely different world, completely different people. If you liked wrestling back then, you can easily hate it today
Bob first worked in Georgia, and hosted a small wrestling show there in the late 50's. He then worked for Jim Crockett sr in Mid-Atlantic, in the early 70's. He wasn't a Houston wrestling employee per say, I think here he was simply brought by David Crockett to help with the presentation of the angle.
before there was Vince........it was Paul. I had the honor of seeing Andre win the 22 Man Royal Battle in the Sam Houston Colesium in Houston back in 1977 as a 10th bday present from my uncle. He took me. Of course Andre won.
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
I'm 50 yrs old and to this day Andre's still my hero. RIP 🙏 🏆
Andre made wrestling so exciting. Watching him just walk to the ring in the Forum was worth the ticket
Always great to see legendary Bob Caudle
Born in Houston, Texas...And watched, and attended, many cards at the Coliseum, on Friday nights!
So hard to believe how many of the Legends... Wrestling greats are no longer with us.
video is 40+ yrs old, what's the issue?
Dude its just a comment acknowledging that our wrestler greats are gone. Dont be a WOKE idiot.
Cool seeing Bosch, Crockett and Caudill all on at the same time. Really cool footage.
It's funny that the best they could come up with was a blank yellow legal pad. Crockett seemed like he wanted to be anywhere else but there.
Love how they signed on a blank lined pad!
That's an official document! Lol!
@@richardmorris7063 😄
@@justafanofnerdculture7602 I miss Bobby Heenan, dude was LOL
@@richardmorris7063 I agree wholeheartedly! The best manager of all time.
@@justafanofnerdculture7602 he actually lived about 15 miles from me. I'm in Tampa,kind of a hotbead of wrestling.
Love the 70s, so serious here, like signing up to go golfing !!
That's why they had Andre travel from territory to territory back in the day. Andre was so big and impressive, nobody would believe that he could lose if he won a championship. His championship bouts always ended in DQ's, countouts, or time expired. To my knowledge, he never won a championship even though he was undefeated pior to Hogan pinning him near the end of his career at Wrestlemania 3.
The real rarity here is seeing and hearing Joe Murnick. What a special treat. Murnick was the local promoter for Jim Crockett based in Raleigh, NC, and he promoted the Raleigh area, as well as most of eastern North Carolina and eastern Virginia, including Richmond and Norfolk. Murnick was co-host of a Raleigh-only version of "Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling" in the 1960s and early 1970s, and when that Raleigh-only version was discontinued and all of the area's TV tapes were consolidated to WRAL in Raleigh, Murnick was still seen as the ring announcer on Crockett shows until his sons Elliot and Carl took over those duties toward the end of 1977 or early 1978. Joe Murnick had a deep, classically-southern voice that was just so perfect for the times and one of my favorite ring announcers ever.
Munich was for Jim Jr or Jim Sr?
@@johnhawk1969 Crockett Sr. died in 1973. There was a transition period of some months or a year before Jimmy took over, so the Murnicks were associated with both. Bob Caudle was the weatherman on the newscasts of WRAL, which was owned by Jesse Helms. After Helms was elected to the U.S. Senate, Caudle became director of his Raleigh field office. Sounds like he did that and the wrestling at the same time but exact information is sketchy.
So what was the point of having Joe Murnick as part of the contract signing? Crockett was the promoter, not Murnick. Guess nobody bothered to check the footage before it aired. Several have commented the yellow legal pad was BLANK. And what difference does it make which language Andre signs in? He signs his name - which certainly isn’t language-specific... The issues with this segment notwithstanding, still miss the old territory days...when wrestling was wrestling...
@@pls2028 The point would likely be that the segment was taped in Raleigh, the Murnicks were the promoters in Raleigh and the fans in the region all knew that. The Crocketts were in Charlotte, so they may not have been available to be physically present for the taping. The territorial system was largely based on certain local promoters who were central to the territory because they also operated booking offices, with separate local promoters in other communities who didn't book talent and instead relied on the booking office to fill their local cards. Boesch and Sam Muchnick were exceptions in that they managed to remain strictly local promoters, due to a large population base providing a sizable audience. The other exception was the McMahons, who by this point had managed to either sever ties with their local promoters or keep them on as employees of the company (e.g. Phil Zacko). The distinctions inherent in this system appear to be lost on 21st-century fans because the business hasn't worked that way in so very long.
Excellent promo and video quality. I am surprised WWE does not own the Houston Wrestling video library.
Think they are trying, OR in the process now.
I heard Corregan owns it but it still may be Bruce Thorpe
As of Jan. 2018 the Boesch family still owns the library while Billy Corgan via his purchase of the NWA owns the rights to licensing of the library. Meaning he can use the footage from the library whenever he chooses such as for the NWA youtube channel.
philaman1972 Let’s hope that remains that way. I’m tired of paying Vince money lol!
The Houston Wrestling video library is a gold mine, so glad the NWA owns it and not WWE!
id remember watching Andre the giant on Tv when id was a kid long time ago and Id was very surprised that God created a very unique man thAT was also a gentle giant who had a good heart :)
Saw him live here for the first time here in Houston, along with my classmates,he was all we talked about.Such an unbelievable sight,he truly was the 8th wonder of the world,like seeing a comic book character come to life.
classic footage,look forward to more
It's amazing how the reporter made it all sound legit and talked so serious about it as if there was no script involved.
That's the owner and promoter, brah.
And There Was No Script
These straight men SOLD wrestling as REAL for decades until Vince McMahon RUINED it with his ridiculous characters and then just outright admitting it wasn’t real so he didn’t have to pay taxes in NJ. DIK.
And so official w/ that steno pad w/ lines on it. What a hoot,I like to see that paper w/ scribbles on it!
Yup, McMahon ruined wrestling. Killed kayfabe, ridiculous characters etc....@@joeyravage4798
That's the real Andre he was still in great shape that back injury took his career.
Andre had the best duds on!
Andre didn't need a world championship! he was just as big as any world championship !!
Imagine taking THIS giant out to happy hour as your wingman. 💪🏽😏
That would be bad for the wingman by the end of the night 😵💫🤮
@MrAitraining lol wouldn't be bad for the wingman, being Andre. But def might be bad for the one inviting him. As Andre drinks that person under the table within a few hours.
Andre seems like the type that was a chick magnet too. 🧲
Greatest to never hold a world title
Rip andre the giant
Amen
That pen was like writing with a Q Tip in Andre's hands.
Andre looks lean and mean here. Wow!
Andre was a class act back then unlike the the trash of today...he gave the sport a good name and made it respectable
Andre the Giant vs Big John Studd was another great match he had. Rest In Peace Harley Race and Andre the Giant
And Big John Studd.
@@marka.graffakasnakebitenat3736 Agreed
Joe Murnick was a great man. His son Elliott passed away two months ago. The Murnick family was the local Raleigh promoters.
Travis Tarrant how
Classic. Real Classic.
Didn't think much of Andre till I'd seen some of his (Very) early vids, that man had (Real) wrestling skills...
In his early days, he could work well. It was when Vince McMahon Sr. took over his booking is when he really started to his repertoire in the ring (although when he worked Japan, he did some decent chain wrestling). Vince Jr. did the same thing with Hulk (limiting him to just a few moves), but when Hulk worked Japan, he would break out some nice moves and rarely use the legdrop finisher (preferring his classic Axe Bomber finish)
Check out his early matches in Japan.
Having Andre come to your town was just as big as having the NWA champion show up. The only thing that is comparable these days is wrestling the Undertaker at Wrestlemania.
"He can sign in about five different languages" (He's signing his name (:
Haha, yeah that was about the most stupid thing anyone has ever said!!
He also could sign with ten knuckle sandwiches across someone's lips.
Paul Boesch was not a genius.
@@Evilkingus Ya, it was stupid. But, because of the geographical area of Andre's place of birth, he would have had the opportunity to learn a few languages that were common to the locals. I had read that he knew how to speak some other languages.
@@m.jporte6514 He knew fluent Polish, French, English, etc
I believe this is the infamous match that Gary Hart talked about in his book. Paul, Gary and Bronco Lubich were trying to come up with a finish that Harley Race could win without making Andre look weak. Paul suggested Andre slip on a pencil outside the ring. Gary and Bronco looked at each other in disbelief. When Paul tried to present the finish to Andre, he said “Hey boss. I cant lose to a pencil”.
On another note, Paul Boesch is a underrated commentator. He wasn’t the technical expert on moves like Gordon Solie or Joey Styles but he was great at getting the characters and personalities across and the motivations for why the performers were feuding.
I'm sure Vince Sr. got a laugh out of that suggestion
You're right and Gary Hart and Bronco were right to call him on it
Paul also liked to bring in the AWA and the WWF champions to Houston as well. That didn’t go well with the NWA. So they held back Harley from going to certain cards in Houston. Thus, Paul decided to quit the NWA Texas booking office in 1981, and went Joe Blanchard in San Antonio, Bill Watts in 1983, and Vince in 1987.
I know it, the yellow legal pad was just lazy.
LOL This "contract" looks very similar to a yellow notepad! LOL
Its the 70s most contracts were verbal agreements anyways
Andre had underrated interview skills
He did? Underrated?
Off the Booze
5 minutes of my life I'll never get back ! LOL
Harley Race feared Freddy Lewis!!! xoxo The Clarences
Lewis had more foreign objects than Abdullah The Butcher.
@@rockinyouallnight AB-SO-LUTE-LY!!! xoxo The Clarences
I miss Paul boesch and Houston wrestling
He drank 110 beers 🍻.....9 gallons.
i like this video & would love to see more
Andre always sounded like Lou Ferrigno.
U mean lou sounded like Andre
Other way around
A few of the best bull shitters of all time at the end of the video you can see there's nothing on the paper
Can't believe 1978 looked that far off!!! The only one looking modern was Andre!
In real life, no one could beat Andre.
In real life their was only two people andre wanted no peice of and harley was one 1 of them.
Except for Kamala, because Kamala backed Andre in the corner and punched him in a shoot fight. The next time they met, Kamala pulled a gun on Andre. Then Andre apologized to Kamala.
This is the match that had the famous photograph of Harley Race bodyslamming Andre.
Bob Cottal was like, “Huh? Why did you take the mic? You want me to go away?”
Paul Boesch was the best host!
Just like my legal note pad from High School, blank except for some pencil doodles.
Andre was like taker in that he didn't need a belt because he was over just being who he was..
Race was one of the few guys Andre wouldn't mess with
ANDRE THE GIANT VS HARLEY RACE
I really don't know about that. A hard slap from Andre's huge right hand would have incapacitated anyone, including Race. Many wrestlers who battled with Andre have confirmed that.
Not to mention the fact that Andre stood at least a foot taller and weighed at least 200 lbs heavier than Harley Race.
Says who?
I seriously doubt that. I do believe Andre had much respect for Race.
@@joeyrincones9308 lol, it's when people read some internet article and think they know everything about backstage wrestling.
Grande Andrè the Giant ❤
He have Sportsmanship and Gentleman ,Unlike Today s wrestler, Andre Is Nice Person
The crew is there discussing this situation
The officialness of this was cool.
2022 Rules forever in old wrestling I'm Andre the giant forever. In new wrestling I'm Kane forever. Kane Andre the giant Jr forever.👍.
That pen was like a tooth pick in Andre’s hand.
So much fire, macho man and ric flairs pro mos got nothing on this!
Wow, theres Bob Caudle..
If Andre had become champion it might have been a pay cut for him. And if they wanted him to wear a belt, then it would have had to been specially made for his girth.
Autocaptioning just told me that Andre never lost a mattress.
He traveled with his custom-made 7 ft mattress. And, he never lost it. 😊
Wonder why David & Bob were there Houston is a long way from Raleigh
Hi Rob can you posted Please , the angle Killer Kahn ,Ted Dibiase e Micheal Hayes in mid South 1980?
andrea Santarelli I lost my beta copy in Hurricane Katrina, as I had most of 1979-80 mid south, but I've seen a tiny bit of the start of that angle on UA-cam.
Sorry Rob thanks anyway . happy new year :-)
I lost my beta copy in Hurricane Katrina, as I had most of 79-80 mid south, with local (New Orleans) promo's, but I've seen a tiny bit of the start of that angle on UA-cam.
Ok
ANDRE THE GIANT
2022 Rules forever Steve Fikes Harley race and Roman reigns forever
Big André !
Andre rules
They should have put the belt on Andre.
NICE SEEING THESE INCREDIBLE UPLOADS OVER THE LAST MONTH TEXAS AND FLORIDA CIRCUT TO!!!
Andre never wanted a belt. He was a spectacle bigger then any belt.
Brian Sheetz A title would have humanized him in a way, he just didn't need it to be special and a top attraction. Also back then the NWA champ had to defend his title every night in various territories, and André had too much going on with Japan and appearances and bookings to defend the title as much as the NWA would have asked him to.
For how long? Who would he eventually drop the belt to? In truth a person only won if Andre let him win.
NWA had a 300 lb. weight limit to hold Worlds Heavyweight Championship at the time, so Andrea could not have won the title.
2:01 World's Heavyweight Champion HArLeY GrAcE
Much money was spent on many hours of top Lawyer's fees on that contract...
Anybody notice that was just a yellow legal pad?
Andre is looking healthy and handsome here, before his acromegaly kicked into full gear.
where are you getting this great houston at ? i love to get it on dvd or vhs for my collection
enjoy it bud, people dont like to give up their stuff, believe me, i've tried
Try the new streaming service
I speak and write in Puerto Rican, Cuban, Mexican, Peruvian, Colombian and Spanish. 🤣
4:08 Andre isn’t superstitious, but he is a little stitious.
they're happy cause they know Andre will sell out. That's how Vince used to return favors, by lending Andre to promotions and they would sell out
Andre wrestled at Lakewood Church.. LOL!
nice guy
There was NO WAY they were gonna put the NWA belt on Andre.
The ‘contract’ is on a legal pad lol
Unsure if this was the match where Harley slammed Andre. Saying Harley was tough is an understatement.
NWA??? I always thought he was in wwf...?
Andre travelled to all the different territories in the 70s and early 80s, until he was signed exclusively to the WWF in 1983.
Yes as the other replier stated Andre traveled to all the territories, also Andre's main career was in Japan as were many of the top NWA and AWA stars. Andre's feud with Stan " The Lariat" Hansen in Japan is legendary. Andre was mostly a heel in Japan.
Rip Andre
This has nothing to do with nowadays wrestling anymore. Completely different world, completely different people. If you liked wrestling back then, you can easily hate it today
Wow ..never knew Bob Caudle was Houston commentator I just assumed Crockett hired him off the street or from another sport.
Bob first worked in Georgia, and hosted a small wrestling show there in the late 50's. He then worked for Jim Crockett sr in Mid-Atlantic, in the early 70's. He wasn't a Houston wrestling employee per say, I think here he was simply brought by David Crockett to help with the presentation of the angle.
Harley Race reeked of cigarettes.
Harley Grace? Come on Bob!
I remember Joe Murnick.
Wow, and he was scared of Harley Race in real life.
Contract? They all signed a yellow legal tablet. Funny. Need to work on the props.
very low key. very soft spoken crew
did I hear boesch say andre was 6-8
No
Don Leo Jonathan beat the Booze Giant In Montreal ..
Andre's forehead looks caved in.
I think that had something to do with the "giant" affliction/disease he was born with.
Poor harley
before there was Vince........it was Paul. I had the honor of seeing Andre win the 22 Man Royal Battle in the Sam Houston Colesium in Houston back in 1977 as a 10th bday present from my uncle. He took me. Of course Andre won.
If ANDRE DIDN'T HAVE THIS SIZE HE COULDN'T OF BEEN A WRESTLER? NEVER HEARD ONE GOOD PROMO EVER.
Paul was right around 6'2", look how much taller andre was
He's not 6'2" He's listed as 6'1".5 =1.86m
Maybe they under listed him
However at his peak he was probably 6'2"-3/4
Pencil 1- Andre 0
Very Cringy but better then anything AEW has ever done :)
Harley actually slammed Andre. Not halfway either. Got him up and over the shoulder. So, take that Hogan.
Aha! 6’8”…475 pounds…7’4” myth via WWF busted!
How
@@Kent933 Eyewitness accounts of Andre standing on boxes…inserting lifts into his boots.
@@royeastham5277 he's definitely 6'8"+
@@Kent933 He was…but…in actuality…John Studd truly was gigantic at an authentic 6’10”!
@@Kent933 Not much more than that…he wore lifts against Big John Studd…embarrassing!