![Chase Park Plaza](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/Chase_Park_Plaza.jpg)
''Wrestling at the Chase'' is a
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 ...
television series
A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...
of local and national historical importance in the field of television wrestling. The show was recorded in
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...
, for
KPLR-TV, Channel 11, and aired from May 23, 1959, to September 10, 1983. It was promoted by the
St. Louis Wrestling Club
The St. Louis Wrestling Club was a professional wrestling promotion based in St. Louis, Missouri. It was owned and operated by Sam Muchnick. The promotion was a flagship member of the National Wrestling Alliance, and promoted primarily in the St. ...
, which was a member of the
National Wrestling Alliance
The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and former professional wrestling governing body operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc.
Founded in 1948, the NWA ...
.
Origin
The show was the brainchild of
Sam Muchnick
Samuel Muchnick (born Jeshua Muchnick, August 22, 1905 – December 30, 1998) was an American professional wrestling promoter from St. Louis, Missouri. He is often regarded as wrestling's equivalent of Pete Rozelle (the forward-thinking commission ...
, president of the St. Louis Wrestling Club, and
Harold Koplar
Harold Koplar (February 27, 1915 – May 3, 1985) was a Russian-American hotelier and businessman in St. Louis, Missouri.
Biography Early life and education
Harold Koplar was born February 27, 1915. His father, Sam Koplar, built the Park Plaz ...
, who owned KPLR and the
Chase Park Plaza Hotel. The two were together on an airplane in 1958 and wondered how they could put wrestling into St. Louis-area homes. A few episodes under that name were filmed elsewhere locally. The WWF also filmed some episodes at the Chase.
The program
The original series began on May 23, 1959 and ran until September 10, 1983.
KPLR-TV, Channel 11 produced and televised the matches, which were held at the
Chase Park Plaza Hotel in St. Louis'
Central West End
The Central West End is a neighborhood in St. Louis, Missouri, stretching from Midtown's western edge to Union Boulevard and bordering on Forest Park with its outstanding array of free cultural institutions. It includes the Cathedral Basilica of ...
and televised at 10:00 A.M.;
[ conveniently, the KPLR studios were in an adjacent, connecting building.
Initially, the matches were broadcast live on Saturday nights and repeated on Sunday mornings. This production method was later replaced by a live-to-tape system, meaning that while the performances were recorded for later broadcast, they were shot entirely in one take as if airing live, so that no allowances were made for unforeseen or unscripted developments or events.
The show produced approximately 1,100 episodes over its 24 years. On a few occasions, for matches that would attract larger crowds, the show would be recorded in the ]Kiel Auditorium
Kiel Auditorium was an indoor arena located in St. Louis, Missouri. It was the home of the St. Louis University basketball team and hosted the NBA's St. Louis Hawks, from 1955 to 1968.
The site was home to Charles H. Turpin's Booker T. Wash ...
or the St. Louis Arena
St. Louis Arena (known as the Checkerdome from 1977 to 1983) was an indoor arena in St. Louis, Missouri. The country's second-largest indoor entertainment venue when it opened in 1929, it was home to the St. Louis Blues and other sports franchis ...
.
Although the St. Louis Wrestling Club began by recording one show at a time, in the early 1970s they began recording three shows at a time on Sunday mornings.[ Admission to the recordings was free, and the room in which the matches took place seated 900 fans.]
Personnel
Joe Garagiola
Joseph Henry Garagiola Sr. (February 12, 1926 – March 23, 2016) was an American professional baseball catcher, later an announcer and television host, popular for his colorful personality.
Garagiola played nine seasons in Major League Basebal ...
was the initial play-by-play commentator. When he left in 1963, Don Cunningham (wrestling) took his place. The following year, Cunningham died, and was replaced with George Abel. He was joined in 1972 by Larry Matysik, who at the time, was also a part-time police officer in Belleville, Illinois
Belleville is a city and the county seat of St. Clair County, Illinois, coterminous with the now defunct Belleville Township. It is also the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Belleville and the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows. The p ...
. Ring announcers included John Curley, Eddie Gromacki and Joe Garagiola's brother Mickey Garagiola.
The show featured many of the most famous wrestlers in the NWA. Participants included Ric Flair
Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949), known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American professional wrestler. Regarded by multiple peers and journalists as the greatest professional wrestler of all time, Flair has had a career spanni ...
, Harley Race
Harley Leland Race (April 11, 1943 – August 1, 2019) was an American professional wrestler, promoter, and trainer.
Race wrestled in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), the American Wrestling Association (AWA), the World Wrestling Federatio ...
, "Cowboy" Bob Orton, Dick the Bruiser
William Fritz Afflis (June 27, 1929 – November 10, 1991) was an American professional wrestler, promoter, and former NFL player, better known by his ring name, Dick the Bruiser. During his NFL days he played four seasons with the Green Bay Pac ...
, Bruiser Brody
Frank Donald Goodish (June 18, 1946 – July 17, 1988) was an American professional wrestler who earned his greatest fame under the ring name Bruiser Brody. He also worked as King Kong Brody, The Masked Marauder, and Red River Jack. Over the yea ...
, Gene Kiniski
Eugene Nicholas Kiniski (November 23, 1928 – April 14, 2010) was a Canadian athlete who played football for the Edmonton Eskimos and then became a three-time professional wrestling world heavyweight champion. "Canada's Greatest Athlete", as he b ...
, Lou Thesz
Aloysius Martin "Lou" Thesz (April 24, 1916 – April 28, 2002) was an American professional wrestler. He was a three-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion and held the title for a combined total of 10 years, three months and nine days (3,749 ...
, Dory Funk, Jr.
Dorrance Earnest Funk (born February 3, 1941), known professionally as Dory Funk Jr., is an American retired professional wrestler and wrestling trainer. The son of Dory Funk (Dorrance Wilhelm Funk) and brother of Terry Funk, he was the promote ...
and Ted DiBiase
Theodore Marvin DiBiase Sr. (born January 18, 1954) is an American retired professional wrestler, manager, ordained minister and color commentator. He is currently signed to WWE working in their Legends program. DiBiase achieved championship ...
.
WWF tapings held at the Chase
KPLR ended its relationship with the St. Louis Wrestling Club in September 1983 and ended that version of ''Wrestling at the Chase''. The station made a deal by which 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 ...
(WWF) would produce its wrestling-related programming. On December 27, 1983 and January 16, 1984, the WWF held TV tapings at the Chase Park Plaza that were turned into several episodes of ''Wrestling at the Chase'', which began airing in 1984. The first of these shows featured the first WWF appearance of Gene Okerlund
Eugene Arthur Okerlund (December 19, 1942 – January 2, 2019), better known by his ring name "Mean Gene" Okerlund, was an American professional wrestling interviewer, announcer and television host. He was best known for his work in the World Wres ...
and Hulk Hogan
Terry Eugene Bollea (; born August 11, 1953), better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is widely regarded as the most recognized wrestling star worldwide and the most popular wrestler of the 19 ...
's first WWF match in his second stint with the promotion, after his departure from 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 ...
.
In February 1984, tapings for ''Wrestling at the Chase'' shifted to Kiel Auditorium. The WWF returned to the Chase Park Plaza for a final taping at 11am on Saturday, September 29, 1984. This taping followed a Friday night live event at St. Louis' Kiel Auditorium. The last airing of the program with original local content was on October 21, 1984. After a shift to syndicated WWF material, the program was canceled in 1985.
Legacy
''Wrestling at the Chase'' was consistently one of the highest rated television shows in St. Louis. Among St. Louis-based shows, it was third behind the local news and St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals hav ...
baseball games. The show often had over 100,000 viewers per episode.[ It is considered one of the pro wrestling industry's most historic programs.
As of 2009, 12 volumes of the program have been released for sale. In 2005, Larry Matysik's book, ''Wrestling at the Chase: The Inside Story of Sam Muchnick and the Legends of Professional Wrestling,'' was published by ]ECW Press
ECW Press is a Canadian book publisher located in Toronto, Ontario. It was founded by Jack David and Robert Lecker in 1974 as a Canadian literary magazine named ''Essays on Canadian Writing''. They started publishing trade and scholarly book ...
.
Content from ''Wrestling at the Chase'' became available on the Global Wrestling Network
Global Wrestling Network (GWN) was a digital streaming service and mobile app owned by Anthem Wrestling Exhibitions, a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment and parent company of Impact Wrestling. It primarily featured content from the Impa ...
on October 10, 2017.
Revival
In July 2021 National Wrestling Alliance
The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and former professional wrestling governing body operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc.
Founded in 1948, the NWA ...
President Billy Corgan
William Patrick Corgan Jr. (born March 17, 1967) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and professional wrestling promoter. He is best known as the lead singer, primary songwriter, guitarist, and only permanent member of the rock band the ...
announced that the NWA would return to The Chase Park Plaza for a four-night series of events at the end of August 2021. The events included an all-female Pay Per View event entitled 'NWA EmPowerrr
NWA EmPowerrr was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and held on August 28, 2021, as the first of two PPV events to take place from the Khorassan Ballroom of the Chase Park Plaza in St. L ...
', produced by Mickie James
Mickie Laree James (born August 31, 1979) Additional January 6, 2017. is an American professional wrestler and country singer. She is currently signed to Impact Wrestling. She has also had tenures in WWE and the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA ...
, following her departure from WWE
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 well as the NWA 73rd Anniversary Show
The NWA 73rd Anniversary Show (also simply known as NWA 73) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) that was held on August 29, 2021, as the second of two PPV events to take place from th ...
, to be headlined by an NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship
The NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship is a world heavyweight professional wrestling championship owned and promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), an American professional wrestling promotion. The current champion is Tyrus, who is in ...
match between champion Nick Aldis
Nicholas Aldis (born 6 November 1986) is an English professional wrestler best known for his time in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). He is also known for his time in Impact Wrestling under the ring name Magnus.
Aldis made his debut on t ...
and Trevor Murdoch
William Theodore Mueller (born September 10, 1980) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Trevor Murdoch. He is currently signed to the National Wrestling Alliance where he is a former two-time NWA Worlds Heavyweight ...
, as well as two nights of TV tapings.
References
{{Professional wrestling in the United States
American professional wrestling television series
1959 American television series debuts
1959 establishments in Missouri
1950s American television series
1960s American television series
1970s American television series
1980s American television series
1983 American television series endings
1983 disestablishments in Missouri
Local sports television programming in the United States
Sports in St. Louis
Television in St. Louis