The week in review is a compilation of the research, writing, audio and video output of Tony Richards and the team at the Pro Wrestling Time Tunnel
This Past Week’s Issues of Our Daily Wrestling History Newsletter, The Daily Chronicle:
One Territory Era chapter every day: personalities, territories, towns & buildings that built pro wrestling.
Sunday, August 23rd, 2026:
Monday, August 24th, 2026:
Issue 496: 7 Stages of the Territory Era: Stage 6 Fragmentation August 1976
Tuesday, August 25th, 2026:
Wednesday, August 26th, 2026:
Thursday, August 27th, 2026:
Issue 499: The Life and Career of Don Greene, ONE Thing I Learned About Sgt Slaughter
Friday, August 28th, 2026:
Issue 500: The Life and Career of Bob Armstrong, ONE Thing I Learned About Cowboy Lang
Saturday, August 29th, 2026:
Issue 501: The Life and Career of Mars Bennett, ONE Thing I Learned About Stan Hansen
Special Premium Content for Our Paid Subscribers
I got a little behind on putting out some Premium Features when I was putting the tributes to Dory Funk, Jr. together, but I did release three big Tracking The World Champions pieces this past week for Terry Funk, Nick Bockwinkel and Whipper Billy Watson.
August 1976 was one of the most revealing months of Nick Bockwinkel’s first AWA World Heavyweight Championship reign. Bockwinkel was no longer simply the new champion who had dethroned Verne Gagne nine months earlier. By this point he had become the central figure around which the American Wrestling Association’s main-event business was being organized.
Tuesday, August 25th, 2026:
Tracking The World Champions: Nick Bockwinkel AWA World Heavyweight Title - August 1976
August 1956 offers one of the clearest windows into what the NWA World Heavyweight Championship meant during the Territory Era. Whipper Billy Watson had been champion for less than five months, but by August he was no longer simply the man who had taken the championship from Lou Thesz. He was carrying the most important championship in the territorial wrestling system across North America, appearing in the major markets of Canada and the United States and allowing local promoters to borrow the credibility of a recognized world champion while continuing to build their own stars.
Wednesday, August 27th, 2026:
Tracking The World Champions: Whipper Billy Watson, NWA World Heavyweight Title, August 1956
August 1976 offers one of the clearest snapshots of the National Wrestling Alliance operating at the height of the territorial era while simultaneously entering its second year of fragmentation. In the terminology of the seven-stage model, this was Year Two, Month Eight of Stage 6: Fragmentation (1975–1985). The wrestling business was becoming increasingly divided into powerful regional promotions, each with its own stars, television programs, audiences and promotional identities. Yet the NWA World Heavyweight Championship still possessed the extraordinary ability to connect those territories.
Friday, August 28th, 2026:
Tracking The World Champions: Terry Funk, NWA World Heavyweight Champion, August 1976
The Pro Wrestling Time Tunnel History Show
Episode 77 of The Pro Wrestling Time Tunnel History Show is another history-packed episode with three great guests and deep conversations.
Segment 1:
Steve Gennerelli joins me as we go deep into the 7 Stages of the Territory Era framework. Steve and I discuss how the framework was created, its roots, and the original thoughts and ideas behind it. We talk about how it continues to evolve as new information comes to light. Then we focus specifically on Stage 7: Disintegration (1985–1995) — the critical ten-year period when the territory system collapsed, offices closed, and promotions disappeared. We examine the impact of cable television technology and the forces that drove national expansion.
Segment 2:
Historian Greg Klein stops by the Ranch. We discuss his new book, The Texas Rasslin Wars of the 1950s, his recent guest appearance on Episode 9 of Stories with Brisco and Bradshaw’s The History of Texas Wrestling, and more.
Segment 3:
Sean Dulaney visits to talk about his new book, The History of Wrestling in Evansville, Indiana 1972–1973, and the special exhibit at the Evansville Museum celebrating 100 Years of Pro Wrestling in Evansville.
Three strong segments. One loaded episode of territory history.
📌 Episode 77 is available now on Castos, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and all your usual platforms.
Hit play, leave a review, and keep riding with us through the Time Tunnel!
Wednesday, August 26th, 2026:
Tony’s Media Appearances This Past Week:
As The Official Historian for the Brisco and Bradshaw Show, I am continuing The History of Texas Wrestling in with Episode 11, where Gerry, JBL and I discuss the end of the 1950s and the beginning years of the 1960s in Houston Wrestling.
We profile the lives of four distinct personalities as we answer the question, “What made Texas Wrestling….Texas Wrestling!”. We look at the rise of Paul Boesch as the television commentator for the television show and his grooming as Morris Sigel’s right hand man. Then three wrestlers, Danny McShain, Bull Curry and Johnny Valentine, each with contributed to the aura of Houston and Texas Wrestling.
Catch the latest episode of another full expansive series on Stories with Brisco and Bradshaw!
Thursday, August 27th, 2026:
Thank You for Watching and Listening
I’m Tony Richards, Pro Wrestling Historian, Author and Storyteller. I share pro wrestling historical items in each issue of the Time Tunnel Pro Wrestling History Newsletter and each episode of our podcast show. Thanks for your support! If you enjoy my information on select events, matches and insights, please share with folks you think might like to be a subscriber!
Remember, Premium subscribers get access to exclusive and special content such as some special issues including a multi-part deep dives on wrestling territories, wrestler bios and championship title histories, special audio and video interviews on territory pro wrestling and more available in the Pro Wrestling Time Tunnel for Premium Subscribers. Being a Premium Subscriber also means you support me in my efforts to document Pro Wrestling History through my research, writing, books, vidoes and podcasts. And…I have something very special planned for our Premium Subscribers on the Podcast side of things in 2026! Details soon here in the Pro Wrestling Time Tunnel.