How To Be A Successful Wrestling Journalist
Mike Mooneyham has covered the sport for over 50 years.
We all know that pro wrestlers never truly retire. If Mike Mooneyham is any indication, neither do pro wrestling journalists.
Since 1989, Mooneyham has written the longest-running pro wrestling column in the United States. He is a member of several halls of fame, including the George Tragos/Lou Thesz Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame in Waterloo, Iowa; the South Carolina Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame; the Lowcountry Wrestling Hall of Fame; and the Mid-Atlantic Legends Hall of Heroes. In 2009, he received the Jim Melby Award for excellence in professional journalism.
Mooneyham began covering pro wrestling in the mid-1960s for a number of national wrestling publications. He was a writer, editor and columnist with The Post and Courier in Charleston, South Carolina, for nearly 40 years, retiring in 2016. But he continues to write his popular Sunday wrestling column and has released a new book containing a collection of obituaries and tributes he has penned over the past two decades: “Final Bell: Legends of the Mat Remembered”.
Published by Evening Post Books, the 256-page book (with forewords by Jim Ross and Les Thatcher) is broken into different sections consisting of illustrious champions like Lou Thesz, Bruno Sammartino and Jack Brisco, originals like Johnny Valentine, Chyna and Roddy Piper, underrated performers like Penny Banner (who I now have a crush on) and Buddy Landell and wrestling’s brain trust like Jim Barnett, Bobby Heenan and Gordon Solie.
Mooneyham stopped by Corrigan’s Corner to discuss the book, compares the differences between wrasslin’ and sports-entertainment and share advice for aspiring journalists.
You can order “Final Bell: Legends of the Mat Remembered” here.
You can read my review here.
(The following interview has been edited and condensed.) You can listen to the full interview on Team LeftJab Radio during Raw tonight.
Why did you put this book together?
Mike Mooneyham: “When I retired three and a half years ago, I didn’t know if I was going to continue the wrestling column. Retirement meant retirement and everything was unclear. They asked me to still write the column because it’s one of the most well-read things in the paper and online. I talked to several guys over the years and half-jokingly they would say, ‘when I pass, I hope you write my obit.’ I promised that to Tim Woods, Mr. Wrestling. We were great friends and would call each other when we had heard that one of the boys died.
I had to dig a lot of the columns up. They weren’t anywhere online and a lot of people never read the column to begin with. I started with about 60 names and whittled it down to 37. It’s truly a labor of love. It was hard for me to write a lot of these tributes because I was tinged with a lot of grief and sadness. Most of these were friends of mine. And you know, a lot of these stories had to be done on deadline. Maybe I had a day or two to do them.”
When you pitched your editor about a pro wrestling column back in 1989, was there any push back or trepidation?
Mike Mooneyham: “A lot of people loved it. There might have been a few old guard editors who maybe privately frowned on it, but for the most part, it was a very positive response. I give a lot of credit to a guy named Larry Tarleton. He had only been the executive news editor for a couple of years at that point. He was a very forward-thinking guy and was all for it. Every once in a while, we’d get a guy complaining that there’s a “wrasslin’ column” taking up space in the sports section, but we’d politely tell him it’s one of the most well-read things in the newspaper. That’s what we’re doing – we’re selling newspapers. Once they got a website and could measure the hits these different columns got, they’d come in every week and say ‘Mike, you’re the top of the list again.’ That was pretty funny. Now you have to pay money to read the site, but it still does pretty well.”
How did you establish these contacts and relationships in the business, especially back when it was so guarded?
Mike Mooneyham: “I was a big sports fanatic, but wasn’t introduced to wrestling until 1964. I was hooked. These were unusual, larger-than-life characters. I was a pretty good writer and wrote some stories and submitted some articles to the national wrestling magazines. Before I knew it, I had a press pass and was covering shows all over the Southeast, from Miami to Orlando to Atlanta to Charleston to Greenville to Charlotte. I was deeply involved in the business at a young age. Of course, it was a closely guarded society, but I was in on it a little bit. When promoters and talent knew they could trust me, I was sort of given a free pass into this world that completely amazed me. I started my own fan club, a precursor to newsletters and dirt sheets. I would print these monthly bulletins on a memory graph machine, telling the guys’ real names and revealing who was behind the masks. It was sort of breaking kayfabe, but I didn’t go overboard.”
Did you ever receive complaints from wrestlers or promoters about what you wrote?
Mike Mooneyham: “Oh, I’m sure there were a lot of people nervous. I’d get calls from people, sure. I had certain people who fed me some news from time to time back when it was pretty well guarded. I did an interview with Bill Goldberg early in his WCW run. This was my first interview with him. He was brutally honest with me. I would never betray any confidence or write anything that might be bad P.R. wise for these guys. But I mean, he was telling me stuff that had me thinking he’s going to get in trouble. He was just green and hadn’t done too many interviews. I talked with the head of P.R. afterward and told him I’m not going to do the story. He’s going to be in a whale of trouble and get a lot of heat. But it would have been a great scoop for me, right? They were very grateful that I had been honest with them and I don’t think he repeated any of that stuff anytime soon.
Eric (Bischoff) used to call me once in a while about different things. He’d say, ‘What kind of mark are you for Ric Flair?’ I’d tell him, ‘I’m proudly one – isn’t everybody?’ (laughs)”
Is there anybody you haven’t interviewed that you want to?
Mike Mooneyham: “That’s a good question. Off the top of my head, I don’t know because I’ve really talked to everybody. You’d have to go back to Strangler Lewis.”
Was there anybody that you grew up idolizing that when you finally interviewed them, you felt like you truly made it as a wrestling journalist?
Mike Mooneyham: “I can tell you some of my favorite guys over the years have been strangely enough people like Burrhead Jones. I have a section in the book called ‘True Originals’ and he was one of them. He was such a great, nice guy. He grew up in the cotton fields of Berkeley County, South Carolina. All he ever wanted to be was a pro wrestler. He made it to New York City and he realized his dream. He was never going to be mistaken for a main event superstar, but that guy had so much character. He made me laugh every time I talked to him and I talked to him practically every other day for years. He could have been bitter – he grew up in the segregated South. He told me so many stories. When a car full of guys would stop at a restaurant, they’d have to serve him in the back of the restaurant, if that. But he never had a bad word to say about anybody.”
Has writing all of these obituaries over the years made you jaded about pro wrestling?
Mike Mooneyham: “Well, it made me very sad. It was such a shame that a lot of these guys passed away at such a young age because I felt they had so much more to give. About 90% of the people I’ve written about, I feel like I’ve focused on more of their triumphs than their tragedy. It’s a celebration of their career. I didn’t harp on the negative aspects of their lives because I had probably covered that in other stories I’ve done over the years. In writing the tribute, I figured I should write it about what they really were. They were people who lived by the credo the show must go on. Most of the folks I wrote about lived out of a suitcase. It was a tough life. There were a lot of temptations on the road and a lot of families fell apart. But ultimately, these people lived the lives they’ve always dreamed about.”
Was there any wrestler that had information come out about them after their death that made you wish you could have changed their obituary?
Mike Mooneyham: “Not really. I always thought I was fair and balanced. I didn’t toss around speculation and innuendo like a lot of journalists do these days. I didn’t hide the facts, but I thought I was pretty fair in reporting them.”
Why do you think the column continues to run 30 years later?
Mike Mooneyham: “I’ve gained the respect of fans, readers, wrestlers and people in the industry. I’ve really stood the test of time. Before the internet, I really had to dig for news. Of course, I had a lot of contacts back then, too. Now it’s a different game. Honestly, I don’t watch every wrestling show or every wrestling company. I’m not going to be the one to scoop something 30 minutes later. What I do bring to the table is a lot of experience. I don’t think there are too many guys still around still writing about wrestling who go back as far as I do – over 50 years. I met all of the greats. I was blessed to know Lou Thesz, Harely Race, so many wonderful wrestlers. I don’t call them sports-entertainers – they were wrestlers. I love that era. It’s a different game now, even though I still cover it and write about it. But my passion is people who made their marks on the business a long time ago, who really paved the road for the wrestlers today.”
My favorite section in the book is the Mid-Atlantic territory. What was it like growing up in that era?
Mike Mooneyham: “That’s one thing I wish fans could have been around to appreciate. That was the best time ever in wrestling. I don’t care what I see today – nothing is ever going to top that. I am so glad I grew up in the Carolinas and Mid-Atlantic area. It was so good back then. I got to see the Mid-Atlantic, Georgia and Florida territories. I was exposed to the best of the best. I got to see everybody from Lou Thesz to Gene Kiniski to Dory Funk Jr. to Jack Brisco to Harely Race to Dusty Rhodes and then Ric Flair. The first few years I wrote about wrestling, I saw the greatest tag teams in the world. The Carolinas was known as a hotbed for tag team wrestling – 90% of the main events were tag team matches. Becker and Weaver, Scott Brothers, Rip Hawk and Swede Hanson, the Bolos who would become the Assassins, Skull Murphy and Brute Bernard, Aldo Bogni and Bronko Lubich, Nelson Royal and Paul Jones, the Missouri Mauler and the Great Malenko, the list goes on and on.
There are so many elements from back then that fans don’t have today. Sure, there’s a rock concert aura with music and glitz and glamour, but it’s all very scripted. Back then, a lot of it was improvisational and the interviews were fresh and raw. The biggest element was heat. I don’t think there’s anything today that you can call real, legit heat. I grew up in an era where heat was huge. I grew up in an era of true believers – they went to the arena to see a fight, not necessarily a wrestling match. I understand the coliseums are bigger, the events are bigger. My first show had only two tag team matches and one singles match. But it was exciting. There aren’t too many similarities between wrestling back then and sports-entertainment today. There’s a thread, but not much of one.”
What keeps you watching?
Mike Mooneyham: “I would say the vast percentage of what I write about today mostly deals in some way with the recent past. As far as today’s product, I still follow it. I have an independent group in this area that I really like. I’m always there to give advice and tell some stories about the old days, and they’re very respectful. You can’t have the present without the past and you can’t have the future without some knowledge of history. But let’s face it – this stuff gets in your blood. Even though it’s a lot different, I still like it. These guys are tremendous athletes today. The maneuvers they do, I think they’re kind of crazy. Some of these guys are cutting their careers short. It’s kind of like A through Z; you try to do all your spots, you try to get as much of your stuff in today. There was a lot more psychology back in the day.
It’s even harder to suspend disbelief now. That was a key element back in the day even when fans were like ‘eh, I don’t know.’ Before he retired, Ric Flair still knew how to make fans suspend disbelief. Quite honestly, some of the stuff today is so hokey that you can’t suspend disbelief. I know it’s for a different audience and I respect that fact. But I can’t imagine something like the 24/7 Title being a part of wrestling years ago. Promoters would be rolling in their graves. (laughs)”
I know we’re talking about Final Bell, but I have to mention that your first book “Sex, Lies & Headlocks” is one of my favorites. It’s one of the few I’ve gone back and read several times. Do you look back on that book as one of the highlights of your career?
Mike Mooneyham: “I do. Heck, when my obituary is written, that might make the first paragraph. People still read it. I probably average five or six notes or messages every week from people reading it for the first time or re-reading it. It’s almost timeless. It’s hard to believe it came out 17 years ago. It was a New York Times best seller and was one of the first non-WWE books to get that kind of success. (Co-author) Shaun (Assael) being from New York and me being from South Carolina is kind of an unlikely tag team, but it was a lot of fun. It was about a two or three year process. I need to read it again. (laughs)”
Lastly, do you have any tips for wrestling journalists today?
Mike Mooneyham: “I’m not going to say I was an angel and printed everything that was not scandalous, but you know, I’ve done my share of riveting, news breaking stories. I’ve always tried to make sure the story is correct and that I have two or three sources. I also made sure I was not going to do permanent damage to anybody because I love the business too much. I did what I thought I should do as a professional journalist.”
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