Jack Reynolds (1937 – October 16, 2008), born Joseph James Rizzo, was an American broadcaster from

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, who was better known outside of his hometown as a professional wrestling announcer.

Broadcasting career

Cleveland area native Rizzo (who used the Jack Reynolds name on-air due to a feeling back then that his real name would sound "too ethnic") had a career in radio and television in Cleveland over several decades. He was a DJ/talk show host for the old WGAR AM 1220 and the old WWWE AM 1100. He was the booth announcer for then-independent TV station

WUAB WUAB (channel 43) is a television station licensed to Lorain, Ohio, United States, serving the Cleveland area as an affiliate of The CW. It is owned by Gray Television alongside Low-power broadcasting#Television, low-power Telemundo affiliate WT ...

channel 43 (now Cleveland's affiliate for

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

), where he was the original host (and later frequent substitute host) of the long running afternoon ''Prize Movie''. He was also an on-air spokesman (on both radio and TV) for several local businesses. Reynolds landed a brief speaking part in ''

The Godfather ''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling 1969 novel of the same title. The film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, ...

'' as an Army captain in the wedding scene. His line "I haven't had this much fun since the blitzkrieg" was cut from the finished film.

Professional wrestling

Nationally, Reynolds was known for being a professional wrestling play by play voice. His first stint announcing wrestling came with the short-lived

IWA IWA may refer to: Organizations International * International Water Association * International Webmasters Association * International Woodworkers of America, United States and Canada * International Workers Association, an anarcho-syndicalist fed ...

promotion in 1975, which had attempted to establish a national wrestling promotion years before

Vince McMahon Vincent Kennedy McMahon (; born August 24, 1945) is an American media proprietor and retired professional wrestling promoter, executive, and performer. From 1982 to 2022, he served as the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of WWE, the w ...

had done so. He also worked alongside Pedro Martinez's son Ron announcing for the Buffalo, NY-based National Wrestling Federation. This experience had apparently served him well, as Reynolds joined the

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

's broadcast team in September 1984. He replaced Vince McMahon as the

play-by-play In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...

announcer for the WWF's syndicated program ''

All-Star Wrestling All Star Wrestling (ASW) is a British professional wrestling promotion operated by Brian Dixon and based in Birkenhead, England. Founded as Wrestling Enterprises of Birkenhead in October 1970, it has also been known over the years as All Star P ...

'', which was being taped at various venues in southern Ontario and repackaged and aired in Canada as ''

Maple Leaf Wrestling Maple Leaf Wrestling was the unofficial name in the 1970s and 1980s of the professional wrestling promotion run by Frank Tunney in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. History Queensbury Athletic Club The promotion, initially known as the Queensbury Athle ...

''. At the broadcast table, he was initially paired with

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

legend turned professional wrestler Angelo "King Kong" Mosca, but, in January 1985,

Jesse "The Body" Ventura Jesse Ventura (born James George Janos; July 15, 1951) is an American politician, actor, and retired professional wrestler. After achieving fame in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), he served as the 38th governor of Minnesota from 1999 to 2 ...

, making his broadcasting debut, replaced Mosca as

color commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and t ...

when Mosca left his broadcasting job to concentrate on

managing Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

his son, Angelo Mosca, Jr., who had just entered the WWF. Reynolds and Ventura were also the original hosts of ''

WWF Prime Time Wrestling ''WWF Prime Time Wrestling'' is a professional wrestling television program that was produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It aired on the USA Network from January 1, 1985, to January 4, 1993. A precursor to ''Monday Night Raw'', ''Pr ...

'' when it debuted in January 1985 on the

USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...

. In addition, during his time with the WWF, Reynolds was the regular play-by-play announcer, paired with

Billy Red Lyons Willem Snip (17 May 1932 – 22 June 2009) was a Canadian professional wrestler, who wrestled under the ring name Billy Red Lyons. He was an active wrestler between 1956 and 1985, and won numerous championships throughout his career. He worked for ...

as color commentator, for matches taped at

Maple Leaf Gardens Maple Leaf Gardens is a historic building located at the northwest corner of Carlton Street and Church Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The building was initially constructed in 1931 as an arena to host ice hockey games, though it has sinc ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

that aired on ''Prime Time Wrestling'' or other WWF programming. In July 1985,

Gorilla Monsoon Robert James Marella (June 4, 1937 – October 6, 1999), better known by his ring name of Gorilla Monsoon, was an American professional wrestler, play-by-play commentator, and booker. Monsoon is famous for his run as a villainous super-heavyw ...

replaced Reynolds as the play-by-play announcer for ''All-Star Wrestling''. Monsoon had also replaced Reynolds as host of ''Prime Time Wrestling''. Reynolds stuck around as a fill-in announcer before calling one last show in Detroit for the WWF in April 1986. Post WWF (now WWE) Reynolds continued to work in wrestling, traveling around the world on tours with former WWF stars such as

Greg "The Hammer" Valentine Jonathan Anthony Wisniski (born September 20, 1951) is a retired American professional wrestler, better known as Greg "The Hammer" Valentine. He is the son of wrestler Johnny Valentine. Over five decades, Valentine held more than 40 championships ...

King Kong Bundy Christopher Alan Pallies (November 7, 1955 – March 5, 2019) was an American professional wrestler, actor and stand-up comedian, better known by his wrestling gimmick and ring name, King Kong Bundy. Under this gimmick, he portrayed a pugnacious, ...

Kamala Kamala refers to: People * Kamala (name), given name and surname, includes list of people and characters with the name ** Kamala Harris, the 49th and current Vice President of the United States * Kamala (wrestler) (1950–2020), American profess ...

Brutus Beefcake Edward Harrison Leslie (born April 21, 1957) is an American retired professional wrestler, best known for his work in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) under the ring name Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake. He later worked for World Championship ...

, and others all throughout the '90s and into the 2000s.

Death

Reynolds died at age 71 on Thursday, October 16, 2008 at the

Cleveland Clinic Cleveland Clinic is a nonprofit American academic medical center based in Cleveland, Ohio. Owned and operated by the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, an Ohio nonprofit corporation established in 1921, it runs a 170-acre (69 ha) campus in Cleveland, ...

in Cleveland, Ohio after complications from a recent surgery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reynolds, Jack 1937 births 2008 deaths American people of Italian descent Professional wrestling announcers Radio personalities from Cleveland WWE