| Joe Pedicino | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1949-10-04)October 4, 1949 New York City,United States |
| Died | April 12, 2020(2020-04-12) (aged 70) |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | "The Round Mound of Sound" Joe Pedicino |
| Billed from | Atlanta, Georgia |
| Debut | 1986 |
| Retired | 1994 |
Joe Pedicino (October 4, 1949 – April 12, 2020)[1] was an Americanprofessional wrestlingannouncer,commentator,promoter,television andradio producer. He was a well-known on-air personality in regional territories of theSouthern United States during the 1980s, being an announcer and commentator forJim Crockett Promotions andWorld Championship Wrestling, and as host of the nationally syndicatedSuperstars of Wrestling with his wifeBoni Blackstone[2][3][4] andGordon Solie[5][6][7] from 1986 to 1992.[8]
The series, created and produced by Pedicino, aired eight hours of wrestling from around the country and was the first to provide national coverage of theNational Wrestling Alliance as well as fromPuerto Rico andJapan. He and Solie also hosted a popular segment on the show, "Pro Wrestling This Week", which discussed the then current news from the "Big Three" (AWA,NWA and theWWF) and regional promotions. Scott Hudson andSteve Prazak, both former WCW announcers, were fans of the show and given their first big break by Pedicino when he began promoting events in the late 1980s.Bill Apter, editor ofPro Wrestling Illustrated, has also credited Pedicino for considerably raising his profile among wrestling fans due to his weekly segment.[9][10]
He was also thebooker and part owner of theGlobal Wrestling Federation with formerUSWA commentator Max Andrews,[11] as well as part of the announcing team forGWF Wrestling Superstars onESPN,[2][12][13] and had a similar role in the short-livedLadies Professional Wrestling Association.[14] Popularly known as the "round mound of sound", Pedicino has been compared to some of the top commentators of the mid-to late 1980s and is regarded as one of the most recognizable personalities during thefinal years of the "territory era". Brian Westcott, wrestling historian and writer, has called Pedicino one of his all-time favorite play-by-play/color commentators.[15]
Following his retirement from wrestling, Pedicino owned and operated localradio stations based incentral Georgia, as well as general sales manager for WCNN radio Atlanta. Pedicino was also amanagement consultant for several major media companies includingTurner Broadcasting,Susquehanna Broadcasting andClear Channel Broadcasting.[16] He and his wife also began a successful publishing company, Food Fax, which puts out six annual specialty advertising guides. Their company, the first to offer such service, started out sendingfax listings to office workers of lunch menus and daily specials from more than 1,000 local restaurants inCobb County, Georgia.[17]
Joe Pedicino was born inNew York City on October 4, 1949,[1] and moved toAtlanta, Georgia with his family three years later. He began working in radio at age 14,[18] attendedGeorgia State University, and later graduated from the RAB School atUniversity of Pennsylvania'sWharton Business School.[16] In August 1985, Pedicino joined the sales staff at the Atlanta-basedWATL TV 36.[19] In early-1986, Pedicino developed a "new concept" wrestling program for the station. The show,Superstars of Wrestling, would feature over eight hours of professional wrestling fromNational Wrestling Alliance territories throughout the United States[20] as well as fromPuerto Rico andJapan.[5][7] It was also the earliest U.S. television show to regularly broadcast Japanesepuroresu andjoshi wrestling as part of theFuji Television Network's efforts to develop a market in the American television industry.[21]
The show debuted in May 1985, airing on Saturday nights from 8:00 pm to 3:00 am, was a ratings success. Eight different wrestling organizations from as far away asDallas, Texas andBirmingham, Alabama were broadcast during its first year. These would later include theContinental Wrestling Association,Deep South Championship Wrestling,Mid-South Wrestling andWorld Class Championship Wrestling as well as events from around the world.[10] Because the show never disclosed that the wrestling being shown was pre-taped, with Pedicino adding commentary later on, fans watching the show at home would often travel to the studio hoping to attend the show. In November, twenty fans drove in a van all the way fromSnellville, Georgia to thelocked studio indowntown Atlanta only to be turned away by security.[20]
Pedicino served as bothexecutive producer and host throughout its near 7-year run. He was joined by fellow ring announcerRhubarb Jones and 21-year-old Boni Blackstone, who later became his wife. Blackstone had been one of 20 girls, chosen out of a total of 70, to become Pedicino's co-host.[8][20]Gordon Solie, a popular wrestling announcer, also joined the show as a regularcolor commentator. Solie would also host a featured segment with Pedicino, "Pro Wrestling This Week", which discussed wrestling news from around the country. They were sometimes joined byBill Apter, who had his own segment,[10] and co-produced interview segments withPro Wrestling Illustrated featuring many wrestling stars of the 1980s.[22] Apter's appearances, as well as those onTBS, considerably raised his profile among wrestling fans of the era.[9]
The show was watched in over 20 major television markets in its first year. By the summer of 1987, the show broadcast in 40 cities, includingNew York City,Los Angeles andChicago,[19] and eventuallysyndicated throughout the country.[20] Pedicino and Blackstone became seen as local celebrities in Atlanta but Pedicino brushed off the attention regarding themselves as "wrestling fans who got lucky".[18][19] Earlier that year, he and Blackstone hosted the three-day 20th annualMiller High Life World of Wheels car show held at Atlanta'sWorld Congress Center. Sponsored by theNational Automotive Parts Association, the event displayed over 500 of the most expensive custom designed antique vehicles in the world including the18-wheelVolvo "Elvis' Eldorado". French entertainer "Miss World of Wheels" Danielle Chevalier andwrestling valetMiss Sunshine ofThe Fabulous Freebirds were also at the event.[23] In 1988, he became involved with the Southern Championship Training Center, a rival training facility ofJody Hamilton'sAmerican Academy of Professional Wrestling, inCumming, Georgia by helping promote the school.[24]
On July 17, 1988, Pedicino and Blackstone hosted a two-hour wrestling show, "Wrestlethon '88", which was broadcast nationwide viasatellite byFox Broadcasting as part ofThe Late Show. This was the third annual Wrestlethon and had been a successful fundraiser in past years. The first show raised an estimated $10,000 and helped save the life of teenager Deloris Wadsworth who needed aliver transplant. The second show raised between $12,000-$13,000 for wounded police officers J.J. Biello and Richard Williams; the third show raised enough money to purchase 200-300bulletproof vests of the 1,100 needed for theAtlanta Police Department.[25] Four months later, Pedicino appeared with a number of media figures and television celebrities at a benefit show, "Celebrity Cookoff for a Cure", held by theJuvenile Diabetes Foundation atBenihana. Other participants includedAtlanta Magazine editor Lee Walburn,Atlanta Business Chronicle editor Anita Sharpe,Creative Loafing publisher Deborah Eason and localWSB-TV personalities John Pruitt and Bebe Emerman.[26]
Pedicino started his own wrestling promotion, Georgia All-Star Wrestling, in 1989. Having been an announcer forJim Crockett Promotions, Pedicino was able to bring in a number of former stars from around the region. Among these included Jimmy Holiday, Tony Zane, Billy Starr, John Michaels[27] andMr. Wrestling II, then working forJody Hamilton's Deep South Championship Wrestling.[28] Future WCW starMarcus Bagwell also made his debut in the promotion under the name Fabian.[4]
In early-1990, he hired Scott Hudson andSteve Prazak as announcers for the promotion. According to Hudson in a later interview, both men had been fans of his show and they persuaded Pedicino to hire them for free after a poor performance given by the regular announcer at a show inCarrollton, Georgia. As Hudson and Prazak had prior experience in radio and television, they soon became valuable members of the promotion. Pedicino later brought the two with him when he became involved with theGlobal Wrestling Federation.[29] He and Hudson were also given their own segment on Superstars of Wrestling, styled in a comedic "Laurel and Hardy" fashion, called "Point-Counterpoint" which was sometimes aired on ESPN for the GWF.[30] Craig Johnson, then a play-by-play commentator for theUnited States Wrestling Association, was also hired by Pedicino as head announcer over other applicants including Chris Cruise andEric Bischoff.[31]
That same year, he and Blackstone became married.[8] This came as a surprise, both to wrestling fans and the staff, as the two had a well-knownkayfabe adversarial relationship on the show much likeGorilla Monsoon andBobby "The Brain" Heenan onWWF Wrestling Challenge. Pedicino played the "straight man" of the team who teased and played pranks on Blackstone. The two would continue their routines off-camera, keeping even the studio in the dark, by driving home in separate cars and Blackstone addressing her then boyfriend as "Mr. Pedicino" in front of studio employees during the first two years of their relationship.
With the close ofFritz von Erich'sWorld Class Championship Wrestling the previous year, he and former USWA commissioner Max Andrews decided to start a new promotion and moved into the Dallas-area in June 1991. It was claimed that this new promotion, theGlobal Wrestling Federation, was an established wrestling organization that promoted events worldwide and intended to become a competitor ofWorld Championship Wrestling and theWorld Wrestling Federation.[31][32][33]
Pedicino and Andrews were originally backed by a supposedNigerian businessman, Olu Oliami, who had offered to invest $10 million in the promotion. When the deal fell through, Pedicino instead went to the Overton family for assistance. The Overtons later backed out as well and Pedicino took on the bulk of the financial backing himself. By late 1991, he had signed a deal withESPN to air GWF events from theGlobal Dome as well as purchasing theUnited States Wrestling Association's syndicated time slot fromJerry Jarrett providing additional television coverage for the GWF.[32] Joined by Craig Johnson, Scott Hudson and Steve Prazak, Pedicino and his wife became part of the regular GWF broadcast team on ESPN.[31] As well as being a major on-air personality for the promotion, Pedicino was also involved in a major storyline which saw him reveal GWF Commissioner Max Andrews as the unknown leader of the heel stableThe Cartel (Rip Rogers,Cactus Jack,Scotty the Body andMakhan Singh).[34]
In October 1991, Pedicino turned over his booking position toEddie Gilbert.[35] While television ratings improved under Gilbert, house show attendance dwindled due to declining business brought on bya series of scandals in the wrestling industry involving theWorld Wrestling Federation. The cost of maintaining the roster as well as television production costs slowly drained the promotion's finances.[33] The financial situation became so serious that the promotion was forced to release Pedicino and Blackstone, Eddie Gilbert, Craig Johnson and other key GWF members on April 9, 1992.[36] Pedicino sold his share of the promotion and the GWF eventually folded after going through a series of failed owners including Grey Pierson[4] andJim Crockett.[32]
Back in Atlanta, creative differences eventually caused Pedicino and Solie to part ways[5] and Pedicino decided to end Superstars of Wrestling in August 1992.[18] He and Blackstone started their own business, Max Foods, that same year. The business initially began by publishing a two-pagefax listing of 24 restaurants and their daily specials to office workers.[37] The first company of its kind, the listing was sent out five nights a week to over 1,000 businesses in theCobb County area.[17] In 1993, Blackstone was brought to the WWF as an interviewer for several months[8] while Pedicino joinedSgt. Slaughter,Jim Cornette andKen Resnick as commentators inLadies Professional Wrestling Association.[14]
Although he considered bringing back Superstars of Wrestling, Pedicino instead distanced himself from professional wrestling and returned to the radio industry.[2] He was hired asmanagement consultant for several major media companies includingTurner Broadcasting, Blair Broadcasting, Outlet Broadcasting,Susquehanna Broadcasting, andClear Channel Broadcasting. He was also the owner andgeneral manager of several Georgia-basedradio stations, most notablyWMKJ,[38] andWMGP,[39] and producedWTLK TV-14infomercial "Shoppers' Showcase" with his wife[18] prior to joining Legacy Media Holdings asvice president andchief marketing officer in 1996.[16]
In August 2000, Pedicino and his wife Boni began hostingPro Wrestling this Week onFOX Sports Radio,[2] which ran on Sunday nights from 11:00 pm to 1:00 am, and later appeared together at theNWA 52nd Anniversary Show.[40]
In July 2007, Pedicino boughtWEKS, which was given approval by theFederal Communications Commission to increase its broadcasting range two months later. Thecountry music station, originally only available inGriffin, Georgia, could then be heard on92.5 FM inTroup,Meriwether,Coweta,Pike andSpalding counties.[39]