Angley was your stereotypical television evangelist with about every stereotype that one would write for a film script involving that industry.
Angley was involved in scandals like many from the televised evangelical world, but the Reverend stands out to me from childhood more than the others from the business- for one reason.
The business of televised religion comes down to one thing- attracting enough donated dollars to buy televised time on smaller independent stations and occasionally an early Sunday morning slot on a larger station.
When you have those dollars, it enables you to stay on the air, do your routine, and keep an often lavish lifestyle running, but getting those dollars often takes some less than scrupulous dealings, and the Rev. Angley's "Healing" didn't exactly ring the "OK" bell with legitimacy.
SO why did Ernest Angley stand out from the bushel of television evangelists from that era?
Pro Wrestling.
You see, in the era of pro wrestling being a one-hour infomercial for a promotion's live house shows, there was only one hour a week for me in my infancy as a fan and it was Saturday at 11:00 AM on WDCA-TV from Washington.
At that time, UHF stations usually programmed local sports (WDCA had the Bullets, Capitals, and ACC Basketball), reruns of old television shows like Star Trek, and the remainder was left for old movies and time buy programs- such as wrestling and various religious programming.
A time buy was basically someone literally purchased an hour of air time and WDCA placed the program on their network at the agreed time.
The station liked those because they didn't have to try to sell advertising and the buyer didn't have to sell their product to the station, pleasing both parties.
I've shared stories about that time and the WWF show in the past but assuming that my dad wasn't getting his laughs by asking for a chore to be done with ten minutes before the show and I had the time to turn the channel (Literally) to the UHF station, the program before pro wrestling was the Rev. Ernest Angley show, so I'd see the last ten minutes of Angley's hour (which like WWF was paid for by the company) and that was quite a trip, dear readers.
The end of Angley's program would feature the good Reverend and his "faith healing" and this would feature people that took better bumps on the platform than Steve King and Victor Mercado would in the next hour.
Angley wobbled out, usually in a white suit, looking like a bizarre mashup of North Carolina basketball coach Dean Smith (I spent many a North Carolina game in the 80s, yelling at Dean Smith and calling him "Ernest Angley") and Eddie Munster, and would ask "followers" what their various malady was that ailed them.
Angley would then give a standard pablum and then call the Lord, strike the person, and drive them backward in a Nestea Plunge-type fall where two fellows in suits would catch them in mid-flight.
Angley then would "test" the newly-healed follower and in a miracle, the problem was solved!
I try not to be too hard on these things because they are more carnival sideshow than real religion, but it was hard not to laugh as a kid and it's hard not to be sad today as you just wonder how many poor people have been conned out of their dollars by stunts like these.
When you are exposed to this every week, suffice it to say that many wrestling fans in junior high school were well-schooled in the Ernest Angley impersonation!
But there is one more wrestling connection to the late Reverend- my childhood hero -The Magnificent Muraco loved adding Ernest Angley touches to his promos for the upcoming card at your local area, in my case, the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland.
Muraco has admitted in recent interviews that he did this and it wasn't hard to see when the Magnificent One was going into "Angley" mode as he would chant "Can you say Baby" (Angley used that phrase often when he had "healed" someone from deafness and would ask them to repeat the word) and would add some "YEA-HH"'s in the tone of a traveling preacher.
The Reverend has always been thought of as a charlatan by me even forty years ago and despite his passing, I haven't seen anything to cause a re-evaluation of him in my mind.
Still, there are a few phrases to this day, that when I hear them I'll flashback to being twelve years old with the excitement of watching wrestling for that week and the odd little man and his routine before the action began.
We start something different for the next few days and with the Covid-19 pandemic, there certainly is plenty of time available to do something different.
I reached out to my family and friends and asked them to come up with something from each of them that they would like me to write about for Friends and Family week.
I haven't heard back from all of them, but I do have a few requests returned and I'm looking forward to working on these this week.
We'll start Friends and Family week with Fred Landucci.
Fred's been a great friend and fan of both the blog and the defunct podcast, so it was an easy choice for Fred to participate in this week.
Fred decided to ask five questions of me to answer and hopefully you'll find my answers as interesting in his questions!
Fred: What is your favorite sitcom since 1980?
TRS; This is difficult as I'm sure there will be a few shows that when Cherie reads this that she'll say "I can't believe you forgot X, you love that show'!
And we delete a bunch of shows that I love from the 60s that I grew up watching in reruns and some 70s shows that I grew up with but are outside Fred's timeline
But when I looked at the lists by decade, I was surprised to see that I didn't like a lot of these shows!
I'm also not a huge fan of what many consider classic sitcoms from the period.
I like Cheers, especially the Shelley Long years, but Seinfeld has always been a meh show and I cannot stand either of two Nielsen giants in Friends and Everybody Loves Raymond.
Before I go with my choice, which narrowly nipped their toughest opponent, here are a few that make me laugh.
ALF is just one of those silly 60s style sitcoms that just makes me howl, Coach is very funny with the Craig T.Nelson-Jerry Van Dyke pairing and they have longtime TRS favorite, Shelley Fabares, as well, I love King of the Hill via animation and two shows that didn't have a long run and are seldom remembered that I really like are Buffalo Bill and Unhappily Ever After.
Wings and Newsradio were terrific shows that should have been bigger hits than they were, but the winner is The Office in a photo finish over Parks and Recreation.
The Office put together seven great years, a lousy eighth, and finished well in the ninth and final year.
Parks is very close, but despite my love for the show, I'm not a huge Amy Poehler fan.
That makes the difference.
Fred: Who do you consider the best pound for pound fighter in boxing history?
TRS: This is a lot easier- it's the welterweight Sugar Ray Robinson.
If Robinson had never moved to middleweight, where he won the championship several times and was an all-time middleweight but not the greatest ever, and spent his entire career at welterweight, I think he would have rolled up a record that would be talked about to this day.
The welterweight Robinson had explosive power and dazzling speed that as a complete fighter cannot be matched.
As a boxer, Robinson couldn't be surpassed even by greats like Ray Leonard or Floyd Mayweather and while as a pure puncher he wouldn't be ranked at the top of punchers at 147 such as Thomas Hearns, Pipino Cuevas, or Felix Trinidad, he would fit comfortably in the group of well above average bangers such as Sugar Ray Leonard.
In many sports, you watch old films and ask questions like would Willie Mays be as great against the stars of today, would Jerry West be an all-time great guarding the athletes in today's NBA and would Jim Brown be the best running back ever? (Answers: Leaning towards yes, would be very good, but maybe not all-time great, and definitely)
Some of the great boxers of all-time would suffer under the same glass- Rocky Marciano would have little chance against Tyson Fury or Anthony Joshua, but there are a few that clearly would have been great against anyone of any time.
Sugar Ray Robinson is that fighter.
Fred: Do you believe the "cheaters" belong in the baseball Hall of Fame?
This includes the game-fixers, gamblers, and the steroid players, both accused and confirmed.
TRS: This subject comes up a lot and I really don't have a firm opinion, but I suppose I'm OK with Joe Jackson and Pete Rose being voted in- as long as the HOF makes sure that the scandals involved with the two are mentioned on their plaque and as part of anything involving the two in the facility.
I give Jackson a break because if he took money in the Black Sox scandal, it didn't seem to affect his play and for Rose, his gambling as a manager shouldn't outweigh his play as a player.
The steroid players are a different matter as some of those players wouldn't have posted the statistics
needed to get to Cooperstown without them, so my stance on this is as follows- Take the line of when the use was suspected and/or confirmed.
Was the player in question a Hall of Fame level player before that timeline?
If so, I'm Ok with induction-if the steroid links are notated as with the foibles of Jackson and Rose above.
Under this rule- Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens would receive my vote while Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, and Rafael Palmeiro would not.
Fred: What is your favorite book?
TRS: Almost all of my reading is non-fiction and most of the reading is either sports, history, or political history, but the winner is clear- Jim Bouton's 1970 Ball Four.
From childhood to the present day. I've read that book well into three digits.
I have my original battered copy somewhere, I have the book in its final edition with updates on Bouton's life, have the ebook, the book on CD, and I have it on Audible with Jim Bouton reading it.
One of the most fun things that I do with Ryan is swap lines from the book and we each know just where it is in the book and who said various quotes.
I'm not sure you can be a true baseball fan and reader without reading Ball Four as a snapshot of the game just before the free agency period's arrival, but as players were beginning to challenge authority.
Honorable mention to Terry Pluto's "Loose Balls" a hilarious oral history of the ABA and outside the world of sports, I'm a big fan of the Robert Caro written series on the life of Lyndon Johnson.
Fred: Who is the best "heel" in the history of Pro Wrestling?
TRS: I'm not quite sure how to answer this one.
The best heel could be who consistently put on the best matches, who drew the most money to see them wrestle or it could be just who my favorite heel could be.
I'm going to answer it as my favorite heel and there are a few that I'm a huge fan of.
Very few could anger a crowd like Roddy Piper, but as time passed too many fans started liking Piper and the promotion felt that they were forced to turn him "babyface".
Piper wasn't nearly as effective or likable in that role but remained a huge star.
I always was a fan of Ken Patera as an arrogant heel that due to his world-class strength looked down on the inferior fans in a role that didn't seem to take very much acting!
Tully Blanchard was a tremendous heel that not only was excellent in the ring but his ability to express disdain as the 'Chicken' heel that kept the Four Horsemen as a hated group despite fans wanting to cheer Ric Flair and to a lesser extent, Arn Anderson.
However, there is one that ranks as my favorite above all, the Magnificent Muraco.
I've written before about Muraco as a major influence growing up and when Muraco was motivated as he was in his two WWF runs with the Inter-Continental title- he ranked with the top wrestlers in the world as an all-around performer both in the ring and verbally.
Muraco's promo work could be tremendous and his work in the first half of the 1980s made him the best wrestler in the WWF and arguably (especially in 82-84) the best in the country.
I hope these answers for Fred were interesting enough and I'll be back next time with the next installment of Friends and Family Week.
The passing of Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka brought to mind plenty of childhood memories...
I've written many times about my childhood following pro wrestling, and the WWF was an area that usually featured some of the biggest stars of the game, but in a much slower style.
My brother, Shane, and I devoured the wrestling (and boxing) magazines of the day, spending much of our money following things in the pre-cable era.
Jimmy Snuka was a name in the magazines and was a star, but not an elite star.
The first time that I ever saw Snuka was on Georgia Championship Wrestling as a team with Terry Gordy, after a Fabulous Freebirds split.
Snuka had a juiced-up body and won this cowboy hat around with a feather that didn't exactly scream Fuji Islands, but that's pro wrestling for you!
It just happened to be on a weekend that we were visiting Ohio.
Those trips were always looked forward to by Shane and me for visiting family once a year, but it was the one day a year that we could watch Georgia Wrestling on WTBS.
We would often beg the "lucky" relative we were visiting at 6;05 for us to watch the GCW show.
I'm sure it embarrassed my dad on one hand, but he likely didn't mind so much as we watched the show quietly and transfixed in front of the set, not having to worry about bad behavior for a change!
Here is a Snuka/Gordy clip minus the cowboy hat...
When Snuka's run in Georgia was finished, he was headed north to the WWF, and he was an athlete that this territory hadn't seen in years, if at all.
As a heel managed by Lou Albano, who was portrayed as a savage that didn't speak (Which anyone with cable knew was not the case from the Georgia stint), Snuka immediately stood out with his look, but more importantly, the "Superfly" dive off the top rope in a company not known for spectacular moves.
Snuka was instantly a star and far more than the usual bad guy foil of the month for then-champion Bob Backlund.
In Madison Square Garden, where the usual run against Backlund was two matches, Snuka would get three title matches with the final standoff inside a steel cage.
Surprisingly, the crowd was likely at least a third, if not more, in favor of the thought to be hated Snuka and his manager Albano, which would change the mind of the promotion about how to use Snuka in the future.
However, they still had to have Backlund defeat Snuka, and Snuka would make it arguably the most memorable losing effort in WWF/E history (only Steve Austin's loss to Bret Hart would give it a run) as Snuka climbed to the top of the cage to attempt to land the Superfly on a prone Backlund.
Again, this being wrestling, it made no sense as had Snuka leaped OUTSIDE the cage to the floor, he would have won the match and the title-But that is pro wrestling logic.
Instead, Snuka leaped inside the cage, Backlund moved out of the way, and crawled out of the cage to retain the title.
The series against Backlund almost forced the WWF's hand as they felt that he must be a fan favorite, so he was being "cheated" out of his money by Albano and then piledriven on the floor by Ray "the Crippler" Stevens, and the hottest feud in the territory since Sammartino-Zbyszko ensued.
Snuka and Stevens were even supposed to bring their battle to Hagerstown, but the blizzard of 1983 hit on the night of their match and resulted in a cancellation.
By the time of the rescheduled contest, Stevens had left the territory, and Snuka would face veteran Ivan Koloff in a good match that wasn't quite as meaningful.
The best was yet to come for Snuka, who had two more huge drawing cards on tap and could have been the star that Vince McMahon built around as he went nationally.
However, out of the ring issues (including the recently returned to the news death of Snuka's girlfriend) made McMahon go with Hulk Hogan despite Snuka's popularity being red hot and likely just as capable of being the top star as Hogan in wrestling, although Hogan would have had more appeal to the non-wrestling fan who would soon test the product out to the national expansion.
That didn't mean Snuka was done, as he engaged in a torrid feud with the Inter-Continental champion (and my childhood role model ), the Magnificent Muraco, with the two battling it out in brutal matches.
Muraco and Snuka finally met for the ending match to their series in the Garden, but there was a problem: Muraco needed to keep the title, but in a way that helped and not hurt Snuka.
The solution? Inside a steel cage, Snuka would batter Muraco throughout the match, but after a headbutt sent a dazed Muraco out the cage door and to the floor for the fluke victory,an enraged Snuka dragged Muraco back into the ring and then delivered what he missed against Backlund with the iconic splash off the cage.
Muraco took the impact, and then Snuka threw the belt on Muraco and spit on him, giving him the final word...
The Superfly wasn't finished as he had one last run, as he was the person chosen to feud with Roddy Piper and establish Piper as the promotion's top heel with the infamous coconut to the head from Piper during a Piper's Pit.
That segment and resulting feud established Piper, but as hot as the feud was and for all the money that was made, there could have been more, but Snuka left the company (Under the guise of being injured by Piper) and was replaced by Tonga Kid.
When Snuka came back, the heat was gone as Piper had been programmed in another direction for the most part, and despite the magic anytime the two were around each other, the two were never in a full-scale program again.
Snuka was never the same after leaving the WWF, as he traveled between stints in the AWA, Japan, the beginnings of ECW, and Japan, along with an occasional mid-card return in the WWF and wrestling for independent promotions where the name still brought people to the shows.
I spent one of those evenings in a small town hanging out with Snuka, believe it or not.
Long ago, my brother would wrestle, and on a long trip, I'd go along to keep him company on the ride.
On this night, Snuka was in the main event, and afterwards, while Shane worked on the ring, etc., Snuka pulled up a chair and sat next to me, watching the evening wind down.
He was pretty reserved and very nice, and for the best part of an hour, we talked a little about wrestling, but more small talk than anything.
I decided not to write much about what Snuka was in the news for recently, the reopened 1983 death of his girlfriend, mainly because he never stood trial, and I have no idea about the proof of the case.
I'm not ducking the issue, but I decided to stick to what I knew-his ring work and the memories of watching him as a kid.
The Superfly was an icon in the Northeast to a certain age group of people that the champions of the age, Bob Backlund and even Hulk Hogan, could ever match,
It's hard to explain how Jimmy Snuka caught that lightning in a bottle for that two-to-three-year period.
I guess you had to be there.....
As a child that grew up in a very rural environment, television and sports were a large portion of my childhood.
I often tell my children that I was a part of the last generation of the broadcast networks, PBS, and maybe a UHF channel and it is pretty true.
Cable did not come to my area until 1983 (making me just short of 15 when it arrived), so I heavily relied on those few channels for entertainment, along with scratchy AM radio signals from far away places to follow a game that would never appear on my scrawny black and white set.
As a sports fanatic (nothing has changed), I was different from my other sports fans in one regard-I was a huge fan of Pro Wrestling.
Wrestling was looked down upon before the Vince McMahon revolution in 1985 as low-brow entertainment, but I fell in love with it.
Mind you, the "territory" that I lived in was McMahon territory and as far as action in the ring along with their out of the ring storylines were slow compared to the more exciting products in the Carolinas, Georgia (which was on WTBS and I cursed every day that we did not have cable to see the only nationally available wrestling show), Louisiana, etc.
Of course, it was many years later that I realized that the territories were so different and I devoured the two weekly WWF shows on Saturdays from Washington and Baltimore to the point of moving our puny TV to my Aunts room to pick up the WBFF signal from Baltimore as only one room in the house could receive the signal.
I have never been able to figure out just why that was, but it was so.
I never had any interest in wrestling until entering a new school in Junior High and having another kid ask about trading for a hockey book of mine.
He had a magazine that looked really interesting and I knew little about wrestling.
My dad thought little of it and except for wrestlers that were known from other sports-Ken Patera, Ernie Ladd, Wahoo McDaniel, etc, I knew none of the stars.
I made the deal for a few magazines and the ball started rolling and I hooked my brother on it as well.
I often think of how my brother's life might have been different if I had traded for baseball magazines instead.
But I was different from anyone that I knew among even grappling supporters.
I rooted for the "bad guys".I was known around school as the "guy who roots for the bad guys" and my persona was just that.
You see, my parents were not around much during my youth and I have come to grips with that over time, but without a role model that was around a lot, I looked for one, and in 1981 and at 13 years old-
I found him.
His name was Don "the Magnificent" Muraco and he was my favorite from his first appearance on TV.
Muraco had come to the Northeast (Maryland was the most southern part of the WWF territory) from the Florida office and instantly showed that he was different from the usual challenges that rotated through the office by winning the Inter-Continental title from Pedro Morales in his first try.
The I-C belt was the secondary singles title and the one that "rulebreakers" would win on occasion as the World belt would rarely leave the side of the fan favorites, so Muraco winning it so quickly showed he was not one of the short term crowd.
The Magnificent One was easily the best wrestler in the company as he was able to have good matches with any opponent and did not need a certain type of style to create an excellent match.
From his stubble growth on his face to the cocky self-assured attitude to the arrogant walk, Muraco was easily the most hated wrestler around and the more he was hated-the the more I loved him.
Muraco had the gift of gab and he was easily the coolest talker that I had ever seen.
I began to adopt the Muraco persona around school and my home and it felt pretty natural.
As you could guess, it did little for my popularity at school!
One thing that I did that was Muraco inspired was my 11th-grade school picture where I insisted on wearing sunglasses (as Muraco often did) and as a result, became the talk of the school when the school yearbooks came out the following year!
I still look back on that and smile as on the rare (VERY rare) occasions when that book comes out, the way your eyes go right to that picture because it is so different.
As time moved on, I realize that I liked the bad guys because they were what I would eventually become- the guys that told it how they saw it and were not afraid to get what they wanted and if that meant not being liked-so be it.
The attitude that I picked up from Don Muraco was far from popular with my peers, but in many ways, it helped get me through childhood and adolescence with a "not going to get me down" way of thinking.
Kind of funny to think that a pro wrestler that I have never met had that much influence on a teenager, isn't it?
