Legendary Wrestling Announcer Bill Cardille Passes Away Aged 87

Former radio, tv and wrestling broadcast announcer Bill Cardille has passed away aged 87.

Cardille known as "Chilly Billy" from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania hosted Studio Wrestling through most of its run, which ran from 1959 until it's cancellation in the early 70s.

The show featured a number of legendary talent of the era such as Bruno Sammartino, Giant Baba John Valiant and Larry Zbyszko. George Steele (The Animal) was also able to get his start on the east coast appearing on the show.

The shows are considered extremely rare to find on vide as the network at the time taped over the shows as a cost saving measure.

The show was replaced by the WWWF's syndicated program. The WWWF, with the help of Sammartino was able to claim Pittsburgh as part of its own since it was part of the National Wrestling Alliance at the time and Studio Wrestling was independent of the NWA.

Cardille could be heard on radio station WJAS AM 1320 in the mid-day slot until his retirement in 2014. Cardille's family announced that he was battling cancer for the second time earlier this month, sadly he lost his battle today.