Boni Blackstone
Encyclopedia
Bonnie "Boni" Blackstone (born 1965) is a retired American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 professional wrestling
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...

 announcer, commentator
Sports commentator
In sports broadcasting, a commentator gives a running commentary of a game or event in real time, usually during a live broadcast. The comments are normally a voiceover, with the sounds of the action and spectators also heard in the background. In the case of television commentary, the commentator...

, model
Model (person)
A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....

, television
Television producer
The primary role of a television Producer is to allow all aspects of video production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...

 and radio producer
Radio producer
A radio producer oversees the making of a radio show. There are two main types of producer. An audio or creative producer and a content producer. Audio producers create sounds and audio specifically, content producers oversee and orchestrate a radio show or feature...

. She was a popular on-air personality in regional territories of the Southern United States
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...

 during the 1980s, as part of the announcing team in the Global Wrestling Federation
Global Wrestling Federation
Global Wrestling Federation was a professional wrestling promotion based in Dallas, Texas. It started in June 1991 and folded in September 1994. At one time its shows were presented on the ESPN television network. On many weeks, the promotion provided programming five days a week airing at 4 p.m...

 and briefly the World Wrestling Federation, as well as the longtime co-host of "Superstars of Wrestling" with husband Joe Pedicino
Joe Pedicino
Joe Pedicino is a retired American professional wrestling announcer, commentator, promoter, television and radio producer...

 and Gordon Solie
Gordon Solie
Jonard Frank Labiak , better known as Gordon Solie, was a Florida-based professional wrestling play-by-play announcer working for World Championship Wrestling...

 from 1986 to 1992. She was one of the earliest, if not the first, female announcers in professional wrestling and has been praised by fellow women in the industry, such as Missy Hyatt
Missy Hyatt
Melissa Ann Hiatt is an American professional wrestling valet, better known by her ring name, Missy Hyatt. She gained the majority of her fame while working for World Championship Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling....

, for portraying a more serious and intelligent personality in contrast to the typical wrestling valet.

She and her husband retired from wrestling in 1994, and followed Pedicino into the radio industry. They produced and co-hosted WTLK TV-14 infomercial
Infomercial
Infomercials are direct response television commercials which generally include a phone number or website. There are long-form infomercials, which are typically between 15 and 30 minutes in length, and short-form infomercials, which are typically 30 seconds to 120 seconds in length. Infomercials...

 "Shoppers' Showcase" and, in 2000, began hosting Pro Wrestling this Week on FOX Sports Radio
Fox Sports Radio
Fox Sports Radio, abbreviated FSR, is an international radio network consisting of sports talk programming. The network is a service of Premiere Networks...

. Blackstone and Pedicino are also the owners of a successful publishing company, Food Fax, which puts out six specialty advertising guides a year. The company originally sent out fax listings
Fax
Fax , sometimes called telecopying, is the telephonic transmission of scanned printed material , normally to a telephone number connected to a printer or other output device...

 to office workers listing lunch menus and daily specials from over 1,000 local restaurants in Cobb County, Georgia
Cobb County, Georgia
Cobb County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. Its county seat and largest city is Marietta, which is located in the center of the county. The county was named for Thomas Willis Cobb, who in the early 19th century was a United States representative and senator from Georgia...

. It was the first of its kind to offer such service.

Early career and Superstars of Wrestling

One of two daughters born to Buster and Annette Blackstone in 1965, Boni Blackstone grew up in Riverdale, Georgia
Riverdale, Georgia
Riverdale is a city in Clayton County, Georgia, United States. The population was 12,478 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Riverdale is located at .-Demographics:...

 and graduated from North Clayton High School
North Clayton High School
North Clayton High School is a four-year public high school located in College Park, Georgia, United States, as part of the Clayton County Public Schools....

 in 1984. She entered modeling, becoming "Miss Motorcraft 500" at Atlanta Motor Speedway
Atlanta Motor Speedway
Atlanta Motor Speedway is a track just outside Hampton, Georgia, twenty miles south of Atlanta. It is a quad-oval track with a seating capacity of over 125,000. It opened in 1960 as a standard oval. In 1994, 46 condominiums were built over the northeastern side of the track...

, and was working as professional photographer with a studio in Fayetteville
Fayetteville, Georgia
Fayetteville is a town in Fayette County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 15,945. The city is the county seat of Fayette County. Fayetteville is located approximately 22 miles from the city of Atlanta....

 when Joe Pedicino
Joe Pedicino
Joe Pedicino is a retired American professional wrestling announcer, commentator, promoter, television and radio producer...

, host of "Superstars of Wrestling", began holding auditions to be his co-host. Out of 70 young women, Pedicino read 20-30 of the best letters on the show and selected Blackstone as the winner. As a lifelong wrestling fan, she impressed Pedicino with her knowledge of wrestling and natural camera presence. He later told The Atlanta Journal Constitution in a 1986 interview, "I feel like we saved ourselves six weeks in training by selecting her. Her professionalism and ease in front of the camera are outstanding. We're extremely happy with her".

Unlike most women in professional wrestling, Blackstone was portrayed as a serious, intelligent commentator who often displayed her wrestling knowledge both calling matches with Pedicino and in interviews during her own segments. She became an instant hit with fans and, in November 1986, a group of twenty people drove in a van from Snellville, Georgia
Snellville, Georgia
Snellville is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States, east of Atlanta. The population was 15,351 at the 2000 census. The city's mayor, Jerry Oberholtzer, was elected to a 4-year term in 2007. The city's commercial and residential development has grown enormously in recent years...

 to the locked studio
Closed set
In geometry, topology, and related branches of mathematics, a closed set is a set whose complement is an open set. In a topological space, a closed set can be defined as a set which contains all its limit points...

 in downtown Atlanta
Downtown Atlanta
Downtown Atlanta is the first and largest of the three financial districts in the city of Atlanta. Downtown Atlanta is the location of many corporate or regional headquarters, city, county, state and federal government facilities, sporting facilities, and is the central tourist attraction of the city...

 to see Blackstone and attend what they believed to be a live wrestling event. This became a common occurrence during the show's early years, as neither Pedicino or Blackstone disclosed whether the show was live or taped, and fans would often be turned away by security.

With the show's success, Pedicino and Blackstone became local celebrities although they often referred to themselves as "wrestling fans who got lucky". They often visited hospitals, were involved with charitable organizations and hosted major public events such as the 20th annual Miller High Life World of Wheels, a three-day international antique car show, held by the National Automotive Parts Association
National Automotive Parts Association
The National Automotive Parts Association was founded in 1925 to meet America's growing need for an auto parts distribution system. It is a retailers' cooperative that distributes parts to both corporately and independently owned auto parts stores.NAPA's parent company is Genuine Parts Company , ...

 at Atlanta's World Congress Center from February 20–23, 1988. On July 17, she and Pedicino hosted a two hour wrestling show, "Wrestlethon '88", which was broadcast nationwide via satellite
Satellite
In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....

 by Fox Broadcasting as part of The Late Show
The Late Show
The Late Show may refer to:* The Late Show , the Australian comedy television show of 1992–1993* The Late Show , a late-night American talk show broadcast by the Fox Network from 1986–1988...

.

She and Pedicino enjoyed a comedic yet adversarial relationship, such as Gorilla Monsoon
Gorilla Monsoon
Robert James "Gino" Marella , better known by his ring name of Gorilla Monsoon, was an American professional wrestler, play-by-play announcer, and booker...

 and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan
Bobby Heenan
Raymond Louis "Ray" Heenan , better known as Bobby "The Brain" Heenan , is a former American professional wrestling manager and color commentator, best known for his time with the American Wrestling Association , World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation...

 on WWF Wrestling Challenge
WWF Wrestling Challenge
WWF Challenge is a professional wrestling television program produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It was syndicated weekly and aired from 1986 to 1996. The show premiered as WWF Wrestling Challenge and became simply known as WWF Challenge in 1995. The show featured matches, pre-match...

, as Pedicino often teased and played pranks on Blackstone during skits. The two began dating during this time and they eventually married in 1990. This came as surprising news, to the studio as well as fans, as Blackstone and Pedicino had kept the relationship secret for two years before telling the staff. They continued to maintain kayfabe
Kayfabe
In professional wrestling, kayfabe is the portrayal of events within the industry as "real" or "true". Specifically, the portrayal of professional wrestling, in particular the competition and rivalries between participants, as being genuine or not of a worked nature...

 even off-camera by driving in separate cars after work and, as Blackstone recalled, addressing her then boyfriend as "Mr. Pedicino" in front of studio employees.

Global Wrestling Federation

In 1991, she joined Pedicino in Dallas, Texas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...

 where he and partner Max Andrews started the Global Wrestling Federation
Global Wrestling Federation
Global Wrestling Federation was a professional wrestling promotion based in Dallas, Texas. It started in June 1991 and folded in September 1994. At one time its shows were presented on the ESPN television network. On many weeks, the promotion provided programming five days a week airing at 4 p.m...

. Their new promotion was followed by much fanfare and, when Pedicino successfully negotiated with ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....

 for a weekly television show later that year, Blackstone joined her husband as part of the announcing team with Scott Hudson
Scott Hudson
Raymond Scott Hudson is a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Washington State University. Hudson was educated at Caltech, where he received his bachelor's degree in engineering and applied science in 1985, his master's degree in electrical engineering in 1986, and his PhD...

, Steve Prazak and Craig Johnson. She remained the only female member, and primary interviewer, during her time with the promotion. On April 9, 1992, she and Pedicino were released from the promotion as a cost-cutting measure along with other core members of the GWF including booker
Booker
- Places :*Booker, Buckinghamshire, a hamlet in England*Booker, Texas, a town in the United States*RAF Booker, a Royal Air Force airfield from 1941 to 1963- People :Given name*Booker T , the name of several people...

 Eddie Gilbert and head announcer Craig Johnson. and other key GWF members on April 9, 1992.

Retirement and recent years

When Superstars of Wrestling finally ended in August 1992, she and her husband started their own business Max Foods. The business initially began by distributing a two-page fax listing
Fax
Fax , sometimes called telecopying, is the telephonic transmission of scanned printed material , normally to a telephone number connected to a printer or other output device...

 of 24 restaurants and their daily specials to office workers. The first company of its kind, the listing was sent out five nights a week to over 1,000 businesses in the Cobb County area
Cobb County, Georgia
Cobb County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. Its county seat and largest city is Marietta, which is located in the center of the county. The county was named for Thomas Willis Cobb, who in the early 19th century was a United States representative and senator from Georgia...

.

Earlier that year, she appeared as a celebrity guest on Bill Cosby
Bill Cosby
William Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr. is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer, educator, musician and activist. A veteran stand-up performer, he got his start at various clubs, then landed a starring role in the 1960s action show, I Spy. He later starred in his own series, the...

's You Bet Your Life
You Bet Your Life
You Bet Your Life is an American quiz show that aired on both radio and television. The original and best-known version was hosted by Groucho Marx of the Marx Brothers, with announcer and assistant George Fenneman. The show debuted on ABC Radio in October 1947, then moved to CBS Radio in September...

. She was partnered with a parapsychologist to answer three questions about science and surprised the host and audience by correctly answering the first question, "What is sucrose
Sucrose
Sucrose is the organic compound commonly known as table sugar and sometimes called saccharose. A white, odorless, crystalline powder with a sweet taste, it is best known for its role in human nutrition. The molecule is a disaccharide composed of glucose and fructose with the molecular formula...

?", and continued on to win $1,000 and a free trip to Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

 where the show was taped. The episode aired on television that October. Later that month, she also received $100 prize and an honorable mention as the winner of a halloween costume contest held by the National Inquirer. The contestants were required to create costumes using only thread, glue, paste and pages from the tabloid. Blackstone's costume, which she called the "Enquira", was parody of late night movie host Elvira, Mistress of the Dark
Cassandra Peterson
Cassandra Peterson is an American actress best known for her on-screen horror hostess character Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. She gained fame on Los Angeles television station KHJ wearing a black, gothic, cleavage-enhancing gown as host of Movie Macabre, a weekly horror movie presentation...

.

After taking a short break from wrestling, Blackstone did a makeover by losing some weight and changing her hair style. She initially sent an audition tape to World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...

, and when nothing came of it, she tried her luck with the World Wrestling Federation. In March 1993, she was flown in for an audition and later met with Vince McMahon
Vince McMahon
Vincent Kennedy "Vince" McMahon is an American professional wrestling promoter, announcer, commentator, film producer, actor and former occasional professional wrestler. McMahon is the current Chairman, CEO and Chairman of the Executive Committee of professional wrestling promotion WWE...

. Soon after, she was brought to the WWF as an interviewer and began appearing on WWF Superstars
WWF Superstars
WWF Superstars is an arcade game manufactured by Technos and released in 1989. It is the first WWF arcade game to be released. A series of unrelated games with the same title were released by LJN for the original Game Boy...

, WWF All-American Wrestling and the WWF Wrestling Challenge
WWF Wrestling Challenge
WWF Challenge is a professional wrestling television program produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It was syndicated weekly and aired from 1986 to 1996. The show premiered as WWF Wrestling Challenge and became simply known as WWF Challenge in 1995. The show featured matches, pre-match...

for several months. Between July and August, she appeared as a regular on-camera personality on WWF Mania
WWF Mania
WWF Mania is a professional wrestling television program produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It aired on Saturday mornings on the USA Network between 1993 and 1996 and summarized the weekly events in WWF programming. In its earlier years, Mania usually featured a show exclusive wrestling...

interviewing a number of wrestlers including Money Inc.
Money Inc.
Money Inc. was a heel professional wrestling tag team in the World Wrestling Federation from February 1992 to August 1993. The team consisted of "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase and Irwin R. Schyster . They held the WWF Tag Team Championship three times, defeating the Legion of Doom, The Natural...

 (Ted DiBiase
Ted DiBiase
Theodore Marvin "Ted" DiBiase, Sr. is a retired professional wrestler, manager, ordained minister and color commentator. DiBiase achieved championship success in a number of wrestling promotions, holding thirty titles during his professional wrestling career...

 & IRS), Adam Bomb
Bryan Clark
Bryan Emmeth Clark, Jr. is a American former professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling.-Early career:...

 and Johnny Polo
Scott Levy
Scott Anthony Levy , better known by his ring name Raven, is an American professional wrestler, wrestling producer, wrestling writer, and occasional author and actor currently working for Juggalo Championship Wrestling , where he is co-holder of the JCW Tag Team Championship, as well as other...

, Bret "The Hitman" Hart
Bret Hart
Bret Hart is a Canadian on-screen personality, writer, actor and Semi-retired professional wrestler. Like others in the Hart wrestling family, Hart has an amateur wrestling background, including wrestling at Ernest Manning High School and Mount Royal College...

 and then WWF World Heavyweight Champion Yokozuna
Rodney Anoa'i
Rodney Agatupu Anoa'i was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his time with the World Wrestling Federation where he wrestled under the ring name Yokozuna. The term yokozuna refers to the highest rank in professional sumo wrestling in Japan...

 with Jim Cornette
Jim Cornette
James Mark "Jim" Cornette is an American professional wrestling manager, commentator, promoter, and booker. As a manager, he has worked for Jim Crockett Promotions, World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Federation and from 1991 to 1995, was the owner of Smoky Mountain Wrestling...

 and Mr. Fuji
Mr. Fuji
Harry Fujiwara is an American former professional wrestler and manager, best known by his ring name Mr. Fuji. He was infamous for often throwing salt in the eyes of face wrestlers...

. She later joined Ladies Professional Wrestling Association
Ladies Professional Wrestling Association
The Ladies Professional Wrestling Association was an all-female wrestling promotion which operated in the early 1990s . It was considered a successor to such women's promotions as Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling , but it differed in that, while GLOW slanted more toward WWF-style sports entertainment...

 where was part of the announcing team with Sgt. Slaughter
Sgt. Slaughter
Robert Remus , better known by his ring name Sgt. Slaughter, is an American former WWE personality and semi-retired professional wrestler. From the late 1970s to the early 1990s, Slaughter had success in the National Wrestling Alliance, American Wrestling Association, and World Wrestling...

, Jim Cornette
Jim Cornette
James Mark "Jim" Cornette is an American professional wrestling manager, commentator, promoter, and booker. As a manager, he has worked for Jim Crockett Promotions, World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Federation and from 1991 to 1995, was the owner of Smoky Mountain Wrestling...

 and Ken Resnick.

In 1994, Blackstone and Pedicino both retired from professional wrestling. She joined her husband when he reentered the radio industry and together produced and co-hosted WTLK TV-14 infomercial
Infomercial
Infomercials are direct response television commercials which generally include a phone number or website. There are long-form infomercials, which are typically between 15 and 30 minutes in length, and short-form infomercials, which are typically 30 seconds to 120 seconds in length. Infomercials...

 "Shoppers' Showcase". In August 2000, they hosted Pro Wrestling this Week on FOX Sports Radio
Fox Sports Radio
Fox Sports Radio, abbreviated FSR, is an international radio network consisting of sports talk programming. The network is a service of Premiere Networks...

, which ran on Sunday nights from 11:00 pm to 1:00 am, and later appeared at the NWA 52nd Anniversary Show.

External links

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