Memphis 'Rasslin'

Kevin was a big fan of pro wrestling in the mid to late 1980's. Saturday was always the highlight of the week with almost non-stop wrestling shows on cable and the VCR was always rolling.

After the regular slate of Saturday morning cartoons, it was time for Championship Wrestling on Channel 5 live from WMC TV's studio in Memphis, Tennessee. It lasted an hour and a half from 11:00-12:30. Then it was World Championship Wrestling on Superstation WTBS at 5:00 (referred to as "Atlanta wrestling") for an hour or two. Saturday night was typically turning channels between the World Wrestling Federation's "Saturday Night Main Event" (or "New York wrestling") on Channel 5 and an extended version of Championship Wrestling (Memphis) on WBBJ Channel 7, which featured arena matches in their entirety.

In many ways, it was an age of innocence. We knew in the backs of our minds it was fake, but it was suspension of disbelief. We enjoyed the personalities, the feuds, and the matches. No sex, no bizarre or perverted story angles, no practically naked women wrestling each other. (In fact, the ladies wore one-piece bathing suits for goodness sakes.) If "Big" Jack Eaton was giving the Monday night results from the Mid-South Coliseum on the 10 o'clock sports news in Memphis, wasn't it real enough?

There was the "Big Three" national promotions (NWA, AWA and WWF) and a slew of regional promotions like Memphis, Continental, World Class, St. Louis, and many others. We even had G.L.O.W. (Gorgeous Ladies Of Wrestling)! Ah, the 80's were the good ol' days when it came to 'rasslin!

Below are a few pixel creations by Kevin that he sent to the Kayfabe Memories site several years ago. Most of them are of his favorite Memphis wrestlers along with ones of Rowdy Red Roberts, a heel (or villian) from the '40s and '50s, and Buford Pusser when he was a pro wrestler.