WNS Fans View: Looking At The History Of Wrestling

Hello one and all! My name is Marlin Mealer. I'm 25 years old and have been a wrestling fan for over half of my born life now. I work for my friends at The PWA Show as well as mine (halfpintspoint.com). I'm born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee where I currently reside. When the world looks at Tennessee, I'm sure visions of Davy Crockett, Jack Daniels, and Country Music pop into your heads. What you don't see coming out of our state is a fantastic history of Professional Wrestling. You'd be surprised what the "Volunteer State" has given to us wrestling fans. It has more than just rednecks, trailer parks, and Jerry Lawler.  

Jackie Fargo: I'm sure some of you have never heard of the Late "Fabulous" Jackie Fargo. That's fine. He was a mainstay in Tennessee for over 40 years rarely venturing out of the South because of loyalty to promoter Nick Gulas. He wasn't a technical wrestler by any means. He was a brawler credited with bringing in tables and chairs into the Tennessee area. Bear in mind that he did this in the 1950s WAY before the term "hardcore" could have even been thought of. Before he started his matches he would do his patented "Fargo Strut". You've seen it many times though. It’s the same strut that Ric Flair has used his whole career. This was the man who mentored Jerry Lawler, Jeff Jarrett, and so many other Tennessee Legends. 

Nick Gulas: Nick Gulas ran the Nashville Fairgrounds Arena that now bears his name. He was the promoter of NWA Mid-America for almost thirty years making Nashville a prime Location in the South. The NWA Mid America World Title was held by some of the greats such as Harley Race, Dutch Mantel (known now as Zeb Coulter), and even Randy Savage (his first major world title I might add). As talented as he was, his relentless pushing of his own son as a main event talent despite not having that talent caused a split in the territory. Tennessee was then taken over by Jerry Jarrett and Jerry "The King" Lawler. The rest as they say is history. In essence, thanks to Nick Gulas, we have to listen to Jerry Lawler on Monday Night Raw. You're so very welcome.

Nashville Fairgrounds: Sure the Fairgrounds have seen better days. In fact it has been threatened to have met the same fate as the Dallas Sportatorium for a few years now. Despite all of that, it’s still there though and with it has carried so much wrestling history. So many people have gotten their start there. Harley Race, Mick Foley, Steve Austin, Randy Savage, Jeff Jarrett, The Rock (who mentioned it last time Raw was in Nashville), The Rock and Roll Express, and that's just off the top of my head. It’s always an honour for me to go there, even for an indy show. If you're a wrestling fan in Nashville you should stop by sometime!

In essence, I know it’s not on anyone's list of top 5 wrestling cities, but it’s certainly a place where wrestling will always have a wonderful legacy. I have the bonus of calling it home.