The week in review is a compilation of the research, writing, audio and video content 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, October 18th, 2026:
Monday, October 19th, 2026:
Issue 552: 7 Stages of the Territory Era, Stage 6: Fragmentation October 1976
Tuesday, October 20th, 2026:
Wednesday, October 21st, 2026:
Thursday, October 22nd, 2026:
Issue 555: My Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame Ballot
Friday, October 23rd, 2026:
Issue 556: The Life and Career of Porkchop Cash, ONE Thing I Learned About Bill Apter
Saturday, October 24th, 2026:
Issue 557: The Life and Career of Miss Linda, ONE Thing I Learned About The Haiti Kid
Special Premium Content for Paid Subscribers
Bruno Sammartino entered October 1976 as the reigning World Wide Wrestling Federation Heavyweight Champion and the central attraction of the promotion’s major arenas. More than a decade after first winning the championship, Sammartino remained one of professional wrestling’s most dependable box-office attractions. His strength, stamina, toughness, and connection with the audience made him the standard against which every challenger was measured.
Monday, October 18th, 2026:
Tracking The World Champions: Bruno Sammartino, WWWF Heavyweight Champion, October 1976
This week for my $5 a month level Premium Subscribers, I started my annual l”Year In Review” Series. Over the remaining months of the year, ,I will release my “Year In Review” Features for years ending in a “6”. Inside each “Year In Review”, I will poi0nt out the “Keys To Evolution”: things that happened during the year that affected the territory era system.
In my 7 Stages of the Territory Era framework, Stage One: Conception runs from 1925 to 1935. This is the decade in which professional wrestling began its transformation from scattered carnival attractions and athletic contests into something resembling an organized industry. Promoters across the United States started establishing regional strongholds, developing business models, and building rosters of talent that could draw consistent crowds in specific cities and towns. The full territorial structure had not yet emerged, but the seeds of regional control and the idea of wrestling as a viable, repeatable entertainment product were firmly planted.
Friday, October 23rd, 2026:
The Evolution of Wrestling: The Year of 1926
The Pro Wrestling Time Tunnel History Show
Wednesday, October 14th, 2026:
This week on The Pro Wrestling Time Tunnel History Show:
Episode 85 of The Pro Wrestling Time Tunnel History Show is all about the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame 2026 ballot.
Pro Wrestling Time Tunnel History Show: Episode 85: 2nd Annual Observer HOF Show, Steve Gennerelli, Greg Klein, Brian Solomon, Allan Blackstock and Matt Farmer
We go down the ballot with plenty of expertise, advocates for their favorites, and deep historical and career reviews to help voters make their decisions this year.
Segment 1:
Our Hall of Fame panel looks at the Historical and Non-Wrestler categories. Steve Gennerelli, Greg Klein, and Brian R. Solomon join me for this discussion.
Segment 2:
Allan Blackstock makes his first appearance on the show from Great Britain to discuss the Rest of the World category. Allan shares his research and deep knowledge with our listeners and viewers.
Segment 3:
Also joining us for the first time is Matt Farmer. Using his year of researching Mexico, Matt helps educate our audience on the candidates in the Mexico category.
It’s a full look at the ballot — history, advocacy, and the names that deserve a closer look before the votes are cast.
📌 Episode 85 – The Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame 2026 Show is available now on Castos, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and all your usual platforms.
Hit play, leave a review, and join us as we go down the ballot in the Time Tunnel!
SHOW CLIP: In this short clip of this week’s show, our Hall of Fame Panel discuss the case for the Junkyard Dog:
Tony’s Media Appearances This Past Week:
As The Official Historian for the Brisco and Bradshaw Show, I am continuing the greatest docuseries ever produced on The History of Texas Wrestling in with Episode 19!
Episode 19 of The History of Texas Wrestling is here on Stories with Brisco and Bradshaw!
This week, I am back with Gerry Brisco, and JBLas we move into the end of the territory era in the late 1980s and the beginning of independent wrestling in Texas in the 1990s.
From the early days of the Global Wrestling Federation, to Jim Crockett Jr.’s attempted comeback, to Texas All-Star Wrestling in Houston, promoters tried one by one to rebuild something in Texas. Not every attempt lasted, but it wasn’t the end of pro wrestling in the Lone Star State.
Tony, Gerry, and JBL cover the promotions, the struggles, and the new independent scene that rose after the territories closed.
📌 Episode 19 of The History of Texas Wrestling drops this Thursday morning on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.
Subscribe, download, and join Tony, Gerry, and JBL as the Texas story continues!
We will be wrapping of the History of Texas Wrestling Series this week with Episode 20, so if there are questions you want to submit to us or stories you think we missed that you want to hear about Texas Wrestling, you can email those to me tonyrcihards4@gmail.com.
Thursday, October 22nd, 2026:
SHOW CLIP: Here’s a clip of the show where the boys discuss the Rise of the Global Wrestling Federation!
WATCH HERE:
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.