January 5th, 1956-1970 (Syndicated)
June 21, 1956 - October 8, 1964
(WNEW Ch. 5 New York City Thursday nights 9:00pm - 11:00pm)
The actual title for this multi-year series of telecasts was
HEAVYWEIGHT WRESTLING FROM WASHINGTON D.C.
Heavyweight Wrestling from Washington was the first weekly televised wrestling program that was produced by the WWE, which at the time was a regional professional wrestling promotion called Capitol Wrestling Corporation, a member of the National Wrestling Alliance.
It was a weekly wrestling show produced by the Capitol Wrestling Corporation owned by Vincent McMahon Sr. Bill Malone was the original host but was replaced by Morris Siegal (1956-1959). In 1959, Ray Morgan became the host and remained until the Summer of 1970 when McMahon moved the operation to Hamburg, Pennsylvania. Vincent K. McMahon Jr. (McMahon's son) then became the program host in 1972.
ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND HISTORY TIME-LINE:
In professional wrestling history, only a handful of wrestling promoters can be called
brilliant when it comes to the usage of television as a key promotional avenue.
Across a multi-state territory, Vincent McMahon "Sr." proved to be absolutely brilliant when it came to using television to promote his arena wrestling shows.
Promoter: Vincent McMahon Sr.
Host: Bill Malone - First ringside announcer.
Host: Morris Siegel- Second ringside announcer.
Host: Ray Morgan - Third ringside announcer.
Network: First televised on Dumont
Sponsor: Gunther Brewery (Gunther Vice President: Walter Driskill)
On Thursday, January 5, 1956, Vincent McMahon's Wrestling at Capitol Arena debut on
WTTG (channel 5) at 10:00 and the original host was Bill Malone.
Beginning on June 21, 1956, McMahon's program was shown in New York City on WABD,
replacing the Dumont TV Studio show from the Tele center.
In early October 1956, Morris Siegel replaced Bill Malone as the commentator for the WTTG Thursday night wrestling show.
By Thursday, December 17, 1959, Ray Morgan was the host for Wrestling at Capitol Arena (WTTG) (channel 5) (9:00-11:00pm). Morgan remained the commentator until the show's
cancellation during the summer of 1970.
RAY MORGAN WRESTLING RING ANNOUNCER HISTORY:
In 1958, Morgan became sports director of WTTG in Washington D.C. Soon thereafter he became the announcer for Capitol Wrestling Corporation's (forerunner to the WWE) Heavyweight Wrestling From Washington. In 1966, Morgan left WTTG when the wrestling program moved from WTTG to WDCA. In 1971, CWC promoter Vincent J. McMahon moved his television broadcasts from D.C. to Hamburg, Pennsylvania. In 1971/1972, Morgan requested a pay raise to compensate for having to travel to Pennsylvania. McMahon instead chose to replace Morgan with his son, Vince K. McMahon Jr.
Host Ray Morgan interviews wrestlers Skull Murphy, Brute Bernard, "Wild" Red Berry, and the Fabulous Kangaroos (Al Costello and Roy Heffernan) from the Capitol Arena in Washington, DC. Each state how they are the kings of wrestling and look forward to meeting each other and annihilating each other in their upcoming fight at Madison Square Garden.
NOTE:
ARCHIVAL TELEVISION AUDIO, INC. has in its archive 32 "lost" TV Audio Air Checks containing over one hundred 1962/1963 HEAVYWEIGHT WRESTLING FROM WASINTON D.C. intermission interviews conducted by Ray Morgan related to that evening's matches and upcoming events.
These archived interviews usually lasted for approximately 10 to 12 minutes in length before continuing hour number two (Thursday nights 9:00-11:00pm) with additional contests.
Interestingly, these over 60-YEAR-OLD interviews conducted by Ray Morgan were very low key, biographical, and substantive, and not the histrionic circus like atmosphere content soon to be the signature of such half time interviews in the decades to follow.
NOTE: Most of these television audio air checks, not known to be archived elsewhere in the world, have not been monitored related to exact time lengths. They mostly consist of interviews Ray Morgan conducted with wrestlers who fought that day in front of a live audience during a half-time segment. Most of these interviews would last approximately ten to twelve minutes. Most are complete. Some incomplete. Some contain brief moments of a match ending. Some may be longer than a half hour and would not be known until monitoring them.