About Me:
Hi, I’m Tony Richards — pro wrestling historian, storyteller, author, daily writer, and keeper of the Time Tunnel.
I live and work on the Richards Ranch in Lola, Kentucky, where the quiet mornings and open fields give me the space to dig deep into wrestling’s rich territorial past. What started as a personal passion project and daily brain dump has grown into The Daily Chronicle and the Pro Wrestling Time Tunnel Territory History Show. I’m also an Executive Coach to CEOs and their leadership teams, which I also facilitate via the internet here at the ranch. I also study the markets and have a company that invests primarily in real estate and the market. These elements and knowledge of being an executive leader, coach and investor make their way into my posts and analysis of pro wrestling’s past here on Substack.
My Wrestling Journey:
I’ve been fascinated by the territories since I was a kid — the independent promoters, the hard-hitting matches, the larger-than-life personalities who built the business long before cable television and national expansions changed everything. Over the years I’ve collected programs, interviewed wrestlers, referees, and promoters, and spent countless hours researching the 1930s through the 1990s era.
That research turned into action in 2025 when I launched the podcast and Substack. My goal has always been simple: preserve and share the real stories of the NWA territories with accuracy, respect, and the kind of detail that fans who lived through it — and those discovering it now — can appreciate.
My Approach:
I am a historian and a storyteller.
As a historian, my first duty is to be factual and accurate. I dig into the records, the letters, the ledgers, the artifacts—whatever survives—so that the people and events I write about rest on the firmest possible ground. When the evidence is thin or contradictory, I say so. I have no fear of writing “I don’t know.” Uncertainty is part of the record, and honesty demands I leave it in plain view.
As a storyteller, I step back from the footnotes and try to do something more intimate. I pick a world—sometimes a single village in a single decade, sometimes an empire on the brink—and I look through the window into that world. My job is not to criticize it or judge it or drag it into the present so I can scold it. My job is to depict it as clearly and vividly as I can: the choices people faced, the pressures that shaped them, the things they valued, the things they feared. I want you to smell the woodsmoke, hear the arguments in the council chamber, feel the weight of the decisions they made. I want you to feel you are there.
That is the tension I live in, and the one I hope makes this Substack worth your time. I aim to entertain you with living, breathing narratives. I aim to be as accurate as the surviving sources allow, and to flag openly where they fall short. I aim to be honest—about what we know, what we guess, and what remains lost. Above all, I aim to respect the world I’m visiting: to educate you about it on its own terms, to enlighten rather than lecture, and to leave you with both answers and lingering questions.
You will not find sermons here about who was right or wrong by today’s standards. You will find situations and the human beings who faced them. You will find decisions made under constraints we can barely imagine. And you will, I hope, leave each piece a little more curious about how people—flawed, brilliant, ordinary, extraordinary—actually lived.
Welcome. I’m glad you’re here. Let’s look through the window together.
My Daily Routine:
I write every day using a simple process: morning brain dumps, capturing ideas throughout the day, and crafting honest stories. I’m not here for hot takes or clickbait — I’m here to honor the wrestlers, bookers, and promoters who built the business one town at a time. My podcast maintains a perfect 5.0-star rating because listeners know the research is solid and the love for the era is real.
When I’m not writing or recording, you’ll find me on the ranch, going through old boxes of memorabilia, or watching classic territory footage while the Kentucky sun sets (sometimes when it rises).
Whether you grew up in the territories, watched on the old TV stations, or you’re new to this rich history, I’m glad you’re here. This publication is built for people who believe the real golden age of wrestling deserves to be remembered properly.
I read every comment and every review. Drop me a note anytime — tell me which wrestler, territory, or era you want to explore next. Your questions and memories fuel the show and the Chronicle. I just recently opened the Chat section to all subscribers to enhance our conversations.
Thanks for joining me on this journey.
Let’s keep the history alive.
— Tony Richards
Richards Ranch, Lola, Kentucky
@tonyrichards4 on X
Why subscribe?
The Daily Chronicle: My free daily chronicle about the territory era of wrestling. Published, posted and emailed out to free subs every morning at 5am central time. Short, daily notes on territory history, birthdays, anniversaries, and forgotten angles and in depth bios on the people of the territory era as well as my attempt to document the history of the territory era with my framework, 7 Stages of the Territory Era which covers the years of 1925-1995.
Podcast Episodes: The Pro Wrestling Time Tunnel History Show. Long-form deep dives, tributes (like the recent Dennis Condrey episode), 1985 territory reviews, 1976 territory reviews, mailbags, and interviews with people who were there or associated with the business.
Premium Exclusive Content (for paid subscribers): Rare program scans from my collection, early access to episodes and transcripts, book excerpts, private mailbags, The Evolution of Pro Wrestling Series and the Family Tradition Series about the bloodlines of the families that influenced the business.
My upcoming book, The Life & Times of Dory Funk, Sr., is also being written and shared in pieces here.
From time to time, I go LIVE on the Substack app for instant connection and communication with my community.
Pro Wrestling Time Tunnel is a wrestling history enthusiast-supported entity. Please support my work by taking out a paid subscription (just $5 per month—or even less if you sign up for a year).
What You Can Expect
The Daily Chronicle arriving daily, if you are both a free and Premium sub, you can expect on some weeks to get up to 10 pieces of content on Territory Wrestling History.
Access to archived free posts, paid subscribers have access to all posts
Exclusive content posts for paid subscribers once or twice a week
Participation in comments and conversation. I really endeavor to reply to every comment I receive.
I am also a big cheerleader for writers on Substack (especially wrestling writers). I feel like we are a cutting edge group of people covering and writing about things we love and I try to never miss an opportunity to help one of my cohort.
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Join the crew
Be part of a community of people who share your interest in Pro Wrestling Territory History.
To find out more about the company that provides the tech for this newsletter, visit Substack.com.
