Lance Russell
Encyclopedia
Lance Russell is a former professional wrestling
announcer
in the Memphis
region from 1959 to 1997, particularly in NWA Mid-America and its descendant as the dominant promotion in Memphis, the Continental Wrestling Association
. As a wrestling announcer, he is best known for a relaxed announcing style, which relied upon sharply or dramatically worded statements during heated moments as opposed to the screaming and shouting preferred by other wrestling announcers; and for his two-decade-plus on-air association with Dave Brown
, a college student and disc jockey when the two first teamed in 1967, and later a top weather forecaster on Memphis television for decades. In addition, Russell enjoyed a long career in the television industry in western Tennessee, at stations WDXI
(Jackson
), WHBQ
and WMC
(Memphis), mostly as a programming executive.
Russell was in a very real sense the central figure of Championship Wrestling for several decades. However, while Russell definitely became a star of sorts due to the job, he never found himself in the position of being a bigger star than the wrestlers he worked with, unlike other wrestling announcers who were based in mid-sized and smaller markets such as Danny Williams and Ed Whalen
. This is in no small part due to the strong talent pool he worked with over the years, such as Lou Thesz
, Jackie Fargo
, Jerry Lawler
and Jimmy Hart
.
Russell's banter with Lawler, Bill Dundee
and Dutch Mantel
extended many years, and covered these individual's frequent turns between heel
and babyface
. Russell would get up from his chair to conduct interviews, walking around to the front of the desk, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the wrestlers, and using exaggerated facial expressions during the conversation. These interviews were often the highlight of the Saturday morning television broadcast/taping. Russell also literally rang a bell to begin matches, in addition to pounding it loudly in futile attempts to halt out-of-control melees in the ring.
Russell was nicknamed Banana Nose by many of Memphis' heel wrestlers over the years, starting with Lawler. Like with Ric Flair
in the Mid-Atlantic territory during the late 1970s and early 1980s, the size and shape of his nose became a frequent conversation point for heels during promos. Russell was able to enjoy a strong run from the late 1970s to the mid 1980s working with Hart, who was in the unique position of being the promotion's top heel in spite of not actually being a wrestler. Hart recorded the song "Lance Russell's Nose" in 1983.
Russell also used the mike to chastise and exhort wrestlers as matches occurred. Particularly brutal attacks elicited dismay and disgust from Russell; he often encouraged other wrestlers to run in from the locker room and offer assistance. An episode from 1981 found Russell being attacked by the Dream Machine
after airing a less than flattering music video of him. Another angle from 1988, where Curt Hennig
attacked a Memphis businessman who had shown his support for Lawler (who at the time had just won the AWA World Championship from Hennig), saw Russell physically inserted into the action, mainly in attempting to separate the two. Other physical attacks and angry verbal confrontations remain either well viewed or remembered.
Russell has also, even to this day, been humorously identified with "Baxter suits." This originally stemmed from a ca. 1977 promo with the heel Lawler, which became more widely known when it was included in a 1980s VHS compilation of classic Memphis wrestling, and later disseminated more widely from there via the Internet. In the promo, Lawler explained to Brown that Russell's absence from the program that day was due to a death in the family - his Baxter suit passed away. "It shined itself to death, did you know that?"
In addition, he has been known for various one-liners such as "Don't start with that smart stuff!", "What in the Sam Hill
is that?" and "Will you guys just stop and get out of here?", usually delivered in the course of trying to restore order in the TV studio following an angle or melee.
Russell and Brown switched together from WHBQ to WMC in 1977 at Lawler's urging, shortly after Jerry Jarrett
split with Nick Gulas and the Mid-America promotion and began producing a wrestling program on WMC. After Russell left Memphis for World Championship Wrestling
in 1989, Brown continued as the host of the wrestling program, frequently teamed with Corey Maclin and demonstrating a style similar to Russell.
Russell was also the ring announcer and play-by-play announcer for Monday night matches at the Mid-South Coliseum
. The 90 minute live program in Memphis was edited for syndication to the rest of the territory, such as Nashville
, Louisville
, Lexington
and Evansville
. Russell would also tour the circuit occasionally over the years and cut promos at house shows for those markets. However, Jackson
and Tupelo
are within the viewing area of Memphis television stations, so an hour-long program of arena matches was produced to air in those markets, in order to maintain kayfabe
and still promote house shows in those areas.
Russell also live-announced taped house show matches from Tupelo during the late 1970s, during an era when taping house shows outside of the home arena was unheard of in many wrestling promotions. This had the historic consequence of allowing the original Tupelo concession stand brawl in 1978 to be preserved on tape, as well as other unique moments such as a tug-of-war between Jos LeDuc
and numerous members of the audience. The videos offer strong evidence of Russell's work with live play-by-play, as well as his versatility in various announcing roles and situations. The tape of the concession stand brawl shows Russell signing off from the broadcast as the wrestlers move away from the ring, followed by the sound of Russell's voice on a dark screen, as he hurriedly instructs the cameraman to turn his camera back on and turn it around in the "Crow's Nest" position they were taping from, located directly above the concession stand.
Outside of numerous clips found on YouTube
and similar places, examples of Russell's work in Memphis wrestling are shown in the 1989
documentary
, I'm from Hollywood
. He is also interviewed in regards to the film's primary subject, Andy Kaufman
. Russell appears in the 1999 Kaufman biographical film Man on the Moon as the Memphis ring announcer. The play-by-play announcer role was given to Jim Ross
, the longtime Mid-South/UWF, WCW and WWF
announcer. Russell's original commentary of the Lawler/Kaufman match can be found on the WWE Home Video DVD
release Greatest Wrestling Stars of the 80's, as part of the profile of Lawler.
Russell made his debut in World Championship Wrestling on the March 11, 1989 edition of NWA World Wide Wrestling
alongside Ross. He left WCW in 1992 and returned to Memphis Wrestling, paired once again with Brown and/or Maclin. He also worked as an announcer for Smoky Mountain Wrestling
toward the end of their existence. He went into semi-retirement in 1997. He has been living in retirement in Florida and makes appearances at wrestling conventions.
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
Announcer
An announcer is a presenter who makes "announcements" in an audio medium or a physical location.-Television and other media:Some announcers work in television production , radio or filmmaking, usually providing narrations, news updates, station identification, or an introduction of a product in...
in the Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
region from 1959 to 1997, particularly in NWA Mid-America and its descendant as the dominant promotion in Memphis, the Continental Wrestling Association
Continental Wrestling Association
The Continental 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 referred to as Mid-Southern Wrestling...
. As a wrestling announcer, he is best known for a relaxed announcing style, which relied upon sharply or dramatically worded statements during heated moments as opposed to the screaming and shouting preferred by other wrestling announcers; and for his two-decade-plus on-air association with Dave Brown
Dave Brown (meteorologist)
Dave Brown has been chief meteorologist since 1977 for WMC-TV, the NBC affiliate in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. Brown is an American Meteorological Society Certified Broadcast Meteorologist and holds the Seal Of Approval of the National Weather Association.Brown grew up in Trenton, Tennessee...
, a college student and disc jockey when the two first teamed in 1967, and later a top weather forecaster on Memphis television for decades. In addition, Russell enjoyed a long career in the television industry in western Tennessee, at stations WDXI
WBBJ-TV
WBBJ-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for Western Tennessee licensed to Jackson. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 43 from a transmitter on Potts Chapel Road in unincorporated Eastern Madison County. The station can also be seen on Charter channel 7 and...
(Jackson
Jackson, Tennessee
Jackson is a city in Madison County, Tennessee, United States. The total population was 65,211 at the 2010 census. Jackson is the primary city of the Jackson, Tennessee metropolitan area, which is included in the Jackson-Humboldt, Tennessee Combined Statistical Area...
), WHBQ
WHBQ-TV
WHBQ-TV, channel 13, is an owned-and-operated television station of the News Corporation-owned Fox Broadcasting Company, located in Memphis, Tennessee. Its studios and transmitter are located in Memphis.-Under RKO General:...
and WMC
WMC-TV
WMC-TV is the NBC affiliate television station for the Memphis, Tennessee metropolitan area. The station serves roughly the western third of Tennessee, northwestern Mississippi, northeastern Arkansas and the southeastern corner of Missouri over the air on satellite and on various cable systems. Its...
(Memphis), mostly as a programming executive.
Russell was in a very real sense the central figure of Championship Wrestling for several decades. However, while Russell definitely became a star of sorts due to the job, he never found himself in the position of being a bigger star than the wrestlers he worked with, unlike other wrestling announcers who were based in mid-sized and smaller markets such as Danny Williams and Ed Whalen
Ed Whalen
Ed Whalen was a Canadian television personality and journalist best known worldwide for hosting the popular professional wrestling TV series Stampede Wrestling...
. This is in no small part due to the strong talent pool he worked with over the years, such as Lou Thesz
Lou Thesz
Aloysius Martin "Lou" Thesz was a United States professional wrestler and 18-time world heavyweight champion, most notably holding the NWA World Heavyweight Championship three times. Combined, he held the NWA Championship for 10 years, three months and nine days , longer than anyone else in history...
, Jackie Fargo
Jackie Fargo
Henry Faggart, known by his ringname Jackie Fargo, is a retired American professional wrestler who competed in Southeastern regional promotions and the National Wrestling Alliance during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s...
, Jerry Lawler
Jerry Lawler
Jerry O'Neil Lawler is an American professional wrestler, wrestling commentator, musician, businessman, commercial artist and film actor, known throughout the wrestling world as Jerry "The King" Lawler. He is currently signed to WWE, working on its Raw brand as the color commentator and occasional...
and Jimmy Hart
Jimmy Hart
James "Jimmy" Ray Hart is a professional wrestling manager, executive, composer, and musician currently signed with WWE. He is best known for his work in the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling under his nickname "The Mouth of the South." He has managed many professional...
.
Russell's banter with Lawler, Bill Dundee
Bill Dundee
William "Bill" Cruickshanks is a Scottish born-Australian professional wrestler better known by his stage name Bill Dundee. Cruickshanks is the father of Jamie Dundee and the father-in-law of wrestler Bobby Eaton....
and Dutch Mantel
Dutch Mantel
Wayne Keown is an American professional wrestler, and author better known by his ring name, Dutch Mantel or Dutch Mantell. He currently is semi-retired but still makes occasional wrestling appearances. He was previously with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as a writer behind the scenes...
extended many years, and covered these individual's frequent turns between heel
Heel (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a heel is a villain character. In non-wrestling jargon, heels are the "bad guys" in professional wrestling; the term heel coming from the term take to you heels, which means to run away which heel champions tend to do to avoid losing their titles.storylines...
and babyface
Face (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a babyface or face or in simple words, a fan favorite is a character who is portrayed as a heroic relative to the heel wrestlers, who are analogous to villains...
. Russell would get up from his chair to conduct interviews, walking around to the front of the desk, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the wrestlers, and using exaggerated facial expressions during the conversation. These interviews were often the highlight of the Saturday morning television broadcast/taping. Russell also literally rang a bell to begin matches, in addition to pounding it loudly in futile attempts to halt out-of-control melees in the ring.
Russell was nicknamed Banana Nose by many of Memphis' heel wrestlers over the years, starting with Lawler. Like with Ric Flair
Ric Flair
Richard Morgan Fliehr is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Ric Flair. Also known as "The Nature Boy", Flair is one of the most well-known professional wrestlers in the world....
in the Mid-Atlantic territory during the late 1970s and early 1980s, the size and shape of his nose became a frequent conversation point for heels during promos. Russell was able to enjoy a strong run from the late 1970s to the mid 1980s working with Hart, who was in the unique position of being the promotion's top heel in spite of not actually being a wrestler. Hart recorded the song "Lance Russell's Nose" in 1983.
Russell also used the mike to chastise and exhort wrestlers as matches occurred. Particularly brutal attacks elicited dismay and disgust from Russell; he often encouraged other wrestlers to run in from the locker room and offer assistance. An episode from 1981 found Russell being attacked by the Dream Machine
Troy Graham
Troy Rolland Thompson , was an American professional wrestler known as Dream Machine and Troy Graham.-Career:...
after airing a less than flattering music video of him. Another angle from 1988, where Curt Hennig
Curt Hennig
Curtis Michael "Curt" Hennig , also known by the ring name Mr. Perfect, was an American professional wrestler, manager and color commentator who worked for, among other promotions, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , the American Wrestling Association , World Championship Wrestling and the World...
attacked a Memphis businessman who had shown his support for Lawler (who at the time had just won the AWA World Championship from Hennig), saw Russell physically inserted into the action, mainly in attempting to separate the two. Other physical attacks and angry verbal confrontations remain either well viewed or remembered.
Russell has also, even to this day, been humorously identified with "Baxter suits." This originally stemmed from a ca. 1977 promo with the heel Lawler, which became more widely known when it was included in a 1980s VHS compilation of classic Memphis wrestling, and later disseminated more widely from there via the Internet. In the promo, Lawler explained to Brown that Russell's absence from the program that day was due to a death in the family - his Baxter suit passed away. "It shined itself to death, did you know that?"
In addition, he has been known for various one-liners such as "Don't start with that smart stuff!", "What in the Sam Hill
Sam Hill (euphemism)
Sam Hill is an American English slang phrase, a euphemism or minced oath for "the devil" or "hell" personified...
is that?" and "Will you guys just stop and get out of here?", usually delivered in the course of trying to restore order in the TV studio following an angle or melee.
Russell and Brown switched together from WHBQ to WMC in 1977 at Lawler's urging, shortly after Jerry Jarrett
Jerry Jarrett
Jerry W. Jarrett is an American promoter and former professional wrestler, and the father of wrestler Jeff Jarrett. He is the co-founder and former part-owner of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling...
split with Nick Gulas and the Mid-America promotion and began producing a wrestling program on WMC. After Russell left Memphis for 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...
in 1989, Brown continued as the host of the wrestling program, frequently teamed with Corey Maclin and demonstrating a style similar to Russell.
Russell was also the ring announcer and play-by-play announcer for Monday night matches at the Mid-South Coliseum
Mid-South Coliseum
The Mid-South Coliseum, also known as "The Entertainment Capital of the Mid-South", was a multi-purpose arena, that seated 10,085 people, in Memphis, Tennessee...
. The 90 minute live program in Memphis was edited for syndication to the rest of the territory, such as Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
, Louisville
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
, Lexington
Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...
and Evansville
Evansville, Indiana
Evansville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Indiana and the largest city in Southern Indiana. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 117,429. It is the county seat of Vanderburgh County and the regional hub for both Southwestern Indiana and the...
. Russell would also tour the circuit occasionally over the years and cut promos at house shows for those markets. However, Jackson
Jackson, Tennessee
Jackson is a city in Madison County, Tennessee, United States. The total population was 65,211 at the 2010 census. Jackson is the primary city of the Jackson, Tennessee metropolitan area, which is included in the Jackson-Humboldt, Tennessee Combined Statistical Area...
and Tupelo
Tupelo, Mississippi
Tupelo is the largest city in and the county seat of Lee County, Mississippi, United States. It is the seventh largest city in the state of Mississippi, smaller than Meridian, and larger than Greenville. As of the 2000 United States Census, the city's population was 34,211...
are within the viewing area of Memphis television stations, so an hour-long program of arena matches was produced to air in those markets, in order 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...
and still promote house shows in those areas.
Russell also live-announced taped house show matches from Tupelo during the late 1970s, during an era when taping house shows outside of the home arena was unheard of in many wrestling promotions. This had the historic consequence of allowing the original Tupelo concession stand brawl in 1978 to be preserved on tape, as well as other unique moments such as a tug-of-war between Jos LeDuc
Jos LeDuc
Michel Pigeon was a Canadian professional wrestler better known by his ring name, Jos LeDuc. Wrestling with a lumberjack gimmick, he debuted in Stampede Wrestling with his kayfabe brother, Paul LeDuc...
and numerous members of the audience. The videos offer strong evidence of Russell's work with live play-by-play, as well as his versatility in various announcing roles and situations. The tape of the concession stand brawl shows Russell signing off from the broadcast as the wrestlers move away from the ring, followed by the sound of Russell's voice on a dark screen, as he hurriedly instructs the cameraman to turn his camera back on and turn it around in the "Crow's Nest" position they were taping from, located directly above the concession stand.
Outside of numerous clips found on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
and similar places, examples of Russell's work in Memphis wrestling are shown in the 1989
1989 in film
-Events:* Batman is released on June 23, and goes on to gross over $410 million worldwide.* Actress Kim Basinger and her brother Mick purchase Braselton, Georgia, for $20 million...
documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
, I'm from Hollywood
I'm from Hollywood
I'm from Hollywood is a 1989 documentary film about the adventures of late performance artist Andy Kaufman in the world of professional wrestling. The film includes interviews with Taxi co-stars Marilu Henner and Tony Danza and interviews with comedian Robin Williams, wrestler Jerry Lawler,...
. He is also interviewed in regards to the film's primary subject, Andy Kaufman
Andy Kaufman
Andrew Geoffrey "Andy" Kaufman was an American entertainer, actor and performance artist. While often referred to as a comedian, Kaufman did not consider himself one...
. Russell appears in the 1999 Kaufman biographical film Man on the Moon as the Memphis ring announcer. The play-by-play announcer role was given to Jim Ross
Jim Ross
James William "Jim" Ross is a professional wrestling commentator, former professional wrestling referee, restaurateur, occasional wrestler, and former company executive of WWE, where he currently works as a commentator on the WWE Raw brand...
, the longtime Mid-South/UWF, WCW and WWF
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
announcer. Russell's original commentary of the Lawler/Kaufman match can be found on the WWE Home Video DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
release Greatest Wrestling Stars of the 80's, as part of the profile of Lawler.
Russell made his debut in World Championship Wrestling on the March 11, 1989 edition of NWA World Wide Wrestling
WCW WorldWide
WCW WorldWide was a syndicated TV show produced by World Championship Wrestling.-Wide World Wrestling:The show began in 1975 , a syndicated one-hour program produced by Charlotte, North Carolina-based Jim Crockett Promotions...
alongside Ross. He left WCW in 1992 and returned to Memphis Wrestling, paired once again with Brown and/or Maclin. He also worked as an announcer for Smoky Mountain Wrestling
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...
toward the end of their existence. He went into semi-retirement in 1997. He has been living in retirement in Florida and makes appearances at wrestling conventions.
Championships and accomplishments
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter
- Best Television Announcer (1984–1987)
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of FameWrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of FameThe Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame is a professional wrestling hall of fame that recognizes people who make significant contributions to the sport. It was founded in 1996 by Dave Meltzer, editor of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame is not...
(Class of 1996)