Lance Russell
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Lance Russell (March 18, 1926 – October 3, 2017) was an American
sports broadcaster In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as a sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time live commentary of a game or event, traditionally delivered in the present tense. There are two main types of sports broadcast ...
and
ring announcer A ring announcer is an in-ring (and sometimes on-camera) employee or contractor for a boxing, professional wrestling or mixed martial arts event or promotion, who introduces the competitors to the audience. In boxing and mixed martial arts bouts ...
, primarily serving as a
professional wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...
announcer An announcer is a voice artist who relays information to the audience on a broadcast media programme or live event either on radio or television. Television and other media Some announcers work in television production, radio or filmmaki ...
and commentator in the Memphis region from 1959 to 1997. In NWA Mid-America and its descendant, the
Continental Wrestling Association Continental Wrestling Association (later the Championship Wrestling Association) was a wrestling promotion managed by Jerry Jarrett. The CWA was the name of the "governing body" for the Championship Wrestling, Inc. promotion which was usually ...
Russell's primary announcing partner was Dave Brown. He is included in the
National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and governing body owned by Billy Corgan and operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA be ...
(NWA)'s
Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...
and Hall of Heroes. In addition, he is in the
United States Wrestling Association The United States Wrestling Association (USWA) was a professional wrestling promotion based in Memphis, Tennessee. The company was founded when the Memphis-based Continental Wrestling Association merged with the Dallas-based World Class Champions ...
(USWA)'s Memphis Wrestling Hall of Fame and ''
Wrestling Observer Newsletter The ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON'') is a newsletter that covers professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Founded in print in 1982 by Dave Meltzer, the ''Wrestling Observer'' website merged with Bryan Alvarez's ''Figure Four Wee ...
'''s
Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...
.


Professional wrestling career


Memphis (1959–1988)

Russell's career began at a television station in
Jackson, Tennessee Jackson is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Tennessee, United States. Located east of Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis and 130 Miles Southwest of Nashville, it is a regional center of trade for West Tennessee. Its total population wa ...
. He was asked to work as an announcer for a match promoted by
Nick Gulas Nick Gulas (September 3, 1914 – January 21, 1991) was an American professional wrestling promoter in the Southern United States, partnered with Tennessee promoter Roy Welch for decades. Gulas was also known as "The King of Managers", "King B", ...
and Roy Welch. He had previous experience calling other sports such as basketball, boxing, football, and baseball. In addition to calling matches, Russell worked as a programming director, analyzing demographics to better understand his audience. This led to a revolution in wrestling programming, where at the time, Memphis wrestling aired on Saturday afternoons, but was often preempted by shows such as ''Wide World of Sports.'' Russell decided to air wrestling at 11am, against Gulas’ wishes, and his move paid off with Saturday morning wrestling. He worked as an announcer in Memphis beginning in 1959. He called matches primarily for NWA Mid-America and its descendant promotion, the
Continental Wrestling Association Continental Wrestling Association (later the Championship Wrestling Association) was a wrestling promotion managed by Jerry Jarrett. The CWA was the name of the "governing body" for the Championship Wrestling, Inc. promotion which was usually ...
. His long-term announcing partner was radio disc jockey Dave Brown; their partnership began in 1967. About meeting Brown, Russell stated “I needed a guy to work with me because the guy that I had was dropping out of it. I was looking for an assistant. I got to know Dave around the station and was really impressed. When he said he would do something, he did it. Dave was just a very conscientious guy who was an extremely dependable man of his word. That attracted me to him. He had a great personality and a great sense of humor.” The two formed a remarkable announce team as well as a life-long friendship. Russell also helped Brown become the local weatherman, a career he continued for decades. The duo gave a young
Jerry Lawler Jerry O'Neil Lawler (born November 29, 1949), better known as Jerry "the King" Lawler, is an American retired color commentator and professional wrestler signed to WWE under a Legends contract. Prior to joining the World Wrestling Federati ...
some of his first exposure by showing his wrestling cartoons on their Saturday morning broadcast, which led Lawler to become a wrestler himself. Russell would often be called "banana nose", something Lawler would call Russell during his time as a heel, and the two were close friends behind the scenes. Russell did his best to sell angles, show his disdain for heels’ reprehensible deeds, and wrest good promos from wrestlers with limited skills on the microphone. Russell also announced Monday night matches at the
Mid-South Coliseum Mid-South Coliseum is an indoor arena in Memphis, Tennessee. The facility was opened in 1964, and became known "The Entertainment Capitol of the Mid-South" due its significance in hosting events such as concerts, sports games and professional ...
. In addition, he live-announced taped
house show A house show (also commonly called a live event) is a professional wrestling event produced by a major Professional wrestling promotion, promotion that is not televised, though they can be recorded. Promotions use house shows mainly to cash in o ...
matches from
Tupelo, Mississippi Tupelo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lee County, Mississippi, United States. Founded in 1860, the population was 37,923 at the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census. It is the List of municipalities in Mississippi, 7th-most populous ...
during the late 1970s. He called the "Tupelo Concession Stand Brawl" between The Blonde Bombers ( Wayne Farris and Larry Latham) and Jerry Lawler and
Bill Dundee William Cruickshanks (born 24 October 1943) is an Australian retired professional wrestler and author better known by his ring name Bill Dundee. Cruickshanks is the father of Jamie Dundee and was the father-in-law of wrestler Bobby Eaton. Ca ...
. He also called the 1981 "Empty Arena match" between Lawler and
Terry Funk Terrance Dee Funk (June 30, 1944 – August 23, 2023) was an American professional wrestler and actor. Widely considered one of the most influential and greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Funk was known for the longevity of his car ...
. There were times when Russell was legitimately taken aback by what he saw during most interviews he conducted with others. An infamous interview Russell was involved in saw Jos LeDuc take an ax and legitimately cut into his own flesh as he said he was taking a blood oath to destroy his opponent, as well as to get Jerry Lawler in the Memphis Coliseum. Russell, who also served as an executive for the TV station’s owner was shocked and justifiably concerned about what had just taken place. An episode from 1981 found Russell being physically attacked by the Dream Machine and footage of the angle was included in the 2011 documentary ''Memphis Heat''. He was also involved in angles where
Jimmy Hart James Ray Hart (born January 1, 1944) is an American professional wrestling manager, executive, composer, and musician. He is signed to WWE in a Legends deal. He is best known for his work in WWE when it was still known as the World Wrestling ...
dumped flour on his head and was physically attacked by
The Road Warriors The Road Warriors, also known as the Legion of Doom, were a professional wrestling tag team originally composed of Road Warrior Hawk (Michael Hegstrand) and Road Warrior Animal (Joseph Laurinaitis).. They performed under the name "The Road W ...
. He also called the match where Jerry Lawler won the
AWA World Heavyweight Championship The AWA World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship and the highest ranked championship in the defunct American Wrestling Association (AWA). All AWA trademarks, including the AWA World Heavyweight C ...
from
Curt Hennig Curtis Michael Hennig (March 28, 1958 – February 10, 2003), better known by the ring name Mr. Perfect, was an American professional wrestler. Considered one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time by peers, critics, and fans, he per ...
. Into how big wrestling was in Memphis, Russell stated “we used to sell out 11,000 every single week in the Memphis Mid-South Coliseum and I’d ride all the guys in the East who would talk about Madison Square Garden. Look at that man, they’d say, we had 24,000 people there. And then I’d say, yeah but that was in a city with eight million, and we’re sitting down in here in Memphis with 350,000 people and we had 44,000 people in one month spread over four shows.” Although Russell spent the majority of his career calling matches in Memphis, his remarkable announce style led to national fame during the 1980s. The proliferation of VCRs in the 1980s expanded the practice of tape trading, allowing wrestling fans to watch from all over the country. Lance Russell’s popularity grew as a new fanbase embraced his distinctive style. He also benefited from the national exposure Memphis enjoyed during Jerry Lawler’s feud with entertainer Andy Kaufman thanks to ''I’m From Hollywood,'' a documentary chronicling Kaufman’s foray into Memphis.


Later career (1989–1997)

Russell made his debut in
World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of National W ...
(WCW) on the March 11, 1989 edition of '' NWA World Wide Wrestling'' alongside
Jim Ross James William Ross (born January 3, 1952) is an American professional wrestling commentator, sports announcer, and podcaster, better known by the ring name Jim Ross (often shortened to JR). He is signed with All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he ...
. It was his first national broadcast. In WCW, he also worked with announcers Bob Caudle and
Gordon Solie Gordon Solie (born Francis Jonard Labiak, later Jonard Pierre Sjoblom, January 26, 1929July 27, 2000) was an American professional wrestling play-by-play announcer. He is best known for working for Georgia Championship Wrestling, Championship Wr ...
. He left WCW in 1993, but still occasionally called matches for the company. During the 1990s, he was also the director of programming for RKO General, the owner of
WHBQ-TV WHBQ-TV (channel 13) is a television station in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, affiliated with the Fox network and owned by Imagicomm Communications. The station's studios are located on South Highland Street (near the campus of the Univers ...
. He also worked as an announcer for
Smoky Mountain Wrestling Smoky Mountain Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion that held events in the Appalachian area of the United States from October 1991 to December 1995, when it was run by Jim Cornette. The promotion was based in Knoxville, Tennessee, wit ...
toward the end of their existence. He returned to Memphis Wrestling, paired once again with Brown and/or Corey Maclin, and went into retirement with an announcement on Memphis Wrestling in 1997.


Legacy and style

He has been called "one of the greatest wrestling announcers of all time" by SLAM Wrestling and "integral" to Memphis Wrestling. Steve Bowden, a professional wrestling manager, said of Russell, "In my heart, he's the announcer equivalent of ormer world champ
Lou Thesz Aloysius Martin Thesz (April 24, 1916 – April 28, 2002), known by the ring name Lou Thesz, was an American professional wrestler and wrestling coach. Considered to be one of the last true shooters (legitimate wrestlers) in professional w ...
."
Jim Ross James William Ross (born January 3, 1952) is an American professional wrestling commentator, sports announcer, and podcaster, better known by the ring name Jim Ross (often shortened to JR). He is signed with All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he ...
included Russell in his top 10 list of favorite wrestling announcers and commentators, calling him a "class act" and "southern legend". Mike Mooneyham, a professional wrestling journalist, has called him "the voice of Memphis wrestling". Russell was well-respected in his community, both by his co-workers, his family, and the members of his church. His achievements earned him various industry awards including inductions into the ''Pro Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' Hall of Fame and NWA Hall of Fame. Additionally, he taught Sunday school for years, with at least one of his students going on to become a broadcaster. His style and delivery has been described as earnest and smooth. He was known for his euphemisms such as "Sam Hill" and "Don't start with the smart stuff."


Other media

Russell's work in Memphis Wrestling is shown in the
1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...
documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...
, '' I'm from Hollywood''. He is also interviewed in regards to the film's primary subject,
Andy Kaufman Andrew Geoffrey Kaufman ( ; January 17, 1949 – May 16, 1984) was an American entertainer and performance artist. He has sometimes been called an "anti-humor, anti-comedian". He disdained telling jokes and engaging in comedy as it was tra ...
. Russell appears in the 1999 Kaufman biographical film '' Man on the Moon'' as the Memphis ring announcer. Russell's original commentary of the Lawler/Kaufman match can be found on the
WWE Home Video WWE Home Video was a video distribution and production company that distributed WWE programming. A division of WWE formed on April 16, 1997, as WWF Home Video, it replaced a similar independent company owned by Evart Enterprises, Coliseum Vide ...
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...
release ''Greatest Wrestling Stars of the '80s'', as part of the profile of Lawler.


Personal life

Russell was married for 67 years to his wife Audrey until her death in 2014. They met in high school. They had three children: William, Valerie, and Shane. On October 3, 2017, Russell died in Memphis while visiting his family of complications from a broken hip sustained after a fall, at the age of 91, just days after his daughter Valerie died from
cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...
on September 29.


Awards and accomplishments

*
Cauliflower Alley Club The Cauliflower Alley Club is a non-profit fraternal organization, which includes a newsletter and website, comprising both retired and active professional wrestlers and boxers in North America. Established in 1965 by Mike Mazurki and Art Ab ...
**Announcers Award (2016) * Memphis Wrestling Hall of Fame **Class of 1994 *
National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and governing body owned by Billy Corgan and operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA be ...
** NWA Hall of Fame (2006) ** NWA Wrestling Legends Hall of Heroes (2009) *
United States Wrestling Association The United States Wrestling Association (USWA) was a professional wrestling promotion based in Memphis, Tennessee. The company was founded when the Memphis-based Continental Wrestling Association merged with the Dallas-based World Class Champions ...
** Memphis Wrestling Hall of Fame (Class of 1994) *''
Wrestling Observer Newsletter The ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON'') is a newsletter that covers professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Founded in print in 1982 by Dave Meltzer, the ''Wrestling Observer'' website merged with Bryan Alvarez's ''Figure Four Wee ...
'' ** Best Television Announcer (1984–1987) **
Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame The ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON'') Hall of Fame is a professional wrestling and mixed martial arts (MMA) hall of fame that recognizes people who make significant contributions to their professions. It was founded in 1996 by Dave Mel ...
( Class of 1996)


References


External links


Memphis Wrestling History

Lance Russell on Facebook
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Lance 1926 births 2017 deaths American color commentators People from Jackson, Tennessee People from Memphis, Tennessee Professional wrestling announcers