Lee Marshall (born Marshall Aaron Mayer; November 28, 1949 – April 26, 2014) was an American

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

announcer formerly of the

American Wrestling Association The American Wrestling Association (AWA) was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 until 1991. It was owned and founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo. The territory was originally part o ...

(AWA), World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and

Women of Wrestling WOW – Women of Wrestling, is an American women's professional wrestling promotion founded in 2000 by David McLane (who also founded Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling (GLOW)). WOW is based in Los Angeles, California, and is owned by McLane and L ...

(WOW!).

Professional wrestling announcing

World Wrestling Federation

Marshall was briefly with 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 ...

as a ring announcer. He was the ring announcer the Los Angeles portion of

WrestleMania 2 WrestleMania 2 was the second annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). The event took place on April 7, 1986 (a Monday), making it the only WrestleMania that was not ...

American Wrestling Association

Marshall joined the broadcast team when the ''

AWA Championship Wrestling ''AWA Championship Wrestling'' is a professional wrestling television series that aired on cable sports network ESPN from 1985 to 1990. It was a continuation of the earlier ESPN program ''Pro Wrestling USA'', the co-operative venture between the A ...

'' show was on

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

World Championship Wrestling

He later joined

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Nation ...

(WCW), where he was known as "Stagger Lee". Marshall was the co-host of ''

WCW Thunder ''WCW Thunder'', or simply ''Thunder'', is an American professional wrestling show that was produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) which aired on TBS from January 8, 1998 to March 21, 2001. The popularity of WCW in 1996 and 1997 allo ...

'' alongside

Bobby Heenan Raymond Louis Heenan (November 1, 1944 – September 17, 2017) was an American professional wrestling manager, color commentator, wrestler, and comedian. He performed with the American Wrestling Association (AWA), the World Wrestling Federation ...

and

Tony Schiavone Noah Anthony Schiavone (, ; born November 7, 1957) is an American sports announcer, professional wrestling commentator and podcaster currently signed with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a play-by-play commentator and senior producer. He has pr ...

. He interviewed and announced alongside

Mike Tenay Michael William Tenay (born March 1, 1955) is an American podcast presenter and retired professional wrestling play-by-play announcer known for his time as an announcer for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TN ...

and Scott Hudson on ''

WCW Saturday Night ''WCW Saturday Night'' is an American weekly Saturday night television show on TBS that was produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW). Launched in 1971 initially by Georgia Championship Wrestling, the program existed through various incarn ...

'' as well. A staple of ''

WCW Monday Nitro ''WCW Monday Nitro'', also known as ''WCW Nitro'' or simply ''Nitro'', is an American professional wrestling television program that was produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and broadcast weekly every Monday night on TNT in the Unite ...

'' was his regular cracking of "Weasel" jokes directed at Heenan, which would conclude his road reports. Marshall was also one of the announcers at the 1996 World War 3

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guid ...

at the

Norfolk Scope Norfolk Scope is a multi-function complex in Norfolk, Virginia, comprising an 11,000-person arena, a 2,500-person theater known as Chrysler Hall, a exhibition hall and a 600-car parking garage. The arena was designed by Italian architect/engin ...

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

, covering the third ring with

Larry Zbyzsko Lawrence Whistler (born December 5, 1951), better known by the ring name Larry Zbyszko, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is perhaps best known for his feud with his mentor, Bruno Sammartino, during the early 1980s as well as his ...

. During the early stages of the three-ring, 60-man Battle Royal, the

Four Horsemen The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are figures in the Christian scriptures, first appearing in the Book of Revelation, a piece of apocalypse literature written by John of Patmos. Revelation 6 tells of a book or scroll in God's right hand tha ...

and the

Dungeon of Doom The Dungeon of Doom was the name of a heel professional wrestling stable in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) that existed from 1995 to 1997. History The Dungeon of Doom was created as a stable of wrestlers born from WCW lead producer Kevin Su ...

battled outside the ring and in the ensuing fight, Marshall was knocked down and repeatedly kicked legitimately to the head and chest by the Faces of Fear (

Meng Meng may refer to: * Meng (surname) (孟), a Chinese surname * Master of Engineering (MEng or M.Eng.), an academic or professional master's degree in the field of engineering * , "M with hook", letter used in the International Phonetic Alphabet * ...

and The Barbarian) while on the floor. After the fight moved back toward the locker room, Marshall managed to get himself up and, after some difficulty (and questioning why Zbyzsko didn't come to his aid), finished commentating the match from his designated announcing position.

Los Angeles

In 1986, Marshall was the ring announcer for the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

portion of ''

''. He was also involved in the

Great Western Forum Kia Forum (formerly The Forum) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Inglewood, California, United States, adjacent to Los Angeles. Located between West Manchester Boulevard, across Pincay Drive and Kareem Court, it is north of SoFi Stadium and ...

-based

promotion and served as its play-by-play announcer. He was partnered with company owner

David McLane David B. McLane is an American businessman, known primarily as a wrestling promoter and television producer. He was the creator of the GLOW- Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling and WOW-Women Of Wrestling (recognized as WOW! and WOW), both nationally ...

, who served as the color commentator on the syndicated TV show, and worked with

Bobby "The Brain" Heenan Raymond Louis Heenan (November 1, 1944 – September 17, 2017) was an American professional wrestling manager, color commentator, wrestler, and comedian. He performed with the American Wrestling Association (AWA), the World Wrestling Federation ...

, the color commentator on the WOW

on February 4, 2001.

Radio and commercials

Marshall was also a longtime radio announcer, working at such stations as KABC and KGFJ (now

KYPA KYPA (1230 AM ''AM 1230 JBC'') is a Korean-language radio station in Los Angeles, California. It is owned by Woori Media Group, LLC. KYPA is one of four radio stations in the greater Los Angeles area that broadcast entirely in Korean; the othe ...

) and

KBLA KBLA (1580 AM) is a broadcast radio station in the United States. Licensed to Santa Monica, California, KBLA serves the Greater Los Angeles area. The station is owned by Multicultural Broadcasting, through licensee Multicultural Radio Broadcas ...

and KHJ in

KRIZ Kriz may refer to : ;Places and jurisdictions: * an oasis in Tunisia, the site of the Ancient city ad modern titular see of Tigias (now Henchir-Taus), which was in the Roman province of Africa Bizacena * Qrız, village in Azerbaija ;Persons * ...

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

and

CKLW CKLW (800 AM) is a commercial radio station in Windsor, Ontario, serving Southwestern Ontario and Metro Detroit. CKLW has a news/talk format. It features local hosts in morning and afternoon drive times, with syndicated Canadian hosts in midd ...

Windsor, Ontario Windsor is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Essex County, it is the souther ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

(Detroit). At CKLW, he was one of the anchors for the station's "20/20 News" updates, and at KDAY, he was "King News", bringing attention to the issue of gang violence. Marshall made an appearance in rap video "We're All in the Same Gang" as King News telling the gangbangers "they just don't get it."

Other works

Marshall also did various voices on '' Larryboy: The Cartoon Adventures'', including the narrator. His bass voice is notable within announcing circles, holding the premiere position in that field, the voice of

Tony the Tiger Tony the Tiger is the advertising cartoon mascot for Kellogg's Frosted Flakes (also known as Frosties) breakfast cereal, appearing on its packaging and advertising. Tony has also been the mascot for related cereals such as Tony's Cinnamon K ...

(succeeding

Thurl Ravenscroft Thurl Arthur Ravenscroft (; February 6, 1914May 22, 2005) was an American actor and bass singer. He was known as one of the booming voices behind Kellogg's Frosted Flakes animated spokesman Tony the Tiger for more than five decades. He was al ...

), a position for which Marshall was contracted until 2014.

Death

Marshall died in Santa Monica on April 26, 2014 of

esophageal cancer Esophageal cancer is cancer arising from the esophagus—the food pipe that runs between the throat and the stomach. Symptoms often include difficulty in swallowing and weight loss. Other symptoms may include pain when swallowing, a hoarse voice ...

. He was 64 years old.

Awards and accomplishments

Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards This is a list of both active and inactive ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' awards created by professional wrestling and mixed martial arts (MMA) journalist Dave Meltzer. The first fourteen awards were created in 1980 as an informal poll between ...

** Worst Television Announcer (1998)

References

External links

*
Online World of Wrestling profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marshall, Lee 1949 births 2014 deaths American color commentators American male voice actors American radio personalities American Wrestling Association Deaths from cancer in California People from Los Angeles Professional wrestling announcers