Was wrestling televised from the Sportatorium before the WCCW era?
You bet. In fact, both KRLD-Channel 4 (now KDFW) and KBTV-Channel 8 (which became WFAA in 1950) did simultaneous live telecasts from the Sportatorium on Tuesday nights for several years when TV was in its infancy! KRLD’s original wrestling announcer in the early ’50s was Ves Box, who was also at the mic for Ed McLemore’s syndicated Texas Rasslin’ series during the same period. Bill Mercer began doing wrestling from the “new” Sportatorium when it opened in the fall of 1953 (calling the action on KRLD radio and television at different times). WFAA’s commentator in the early ’50s was Jack Sherman, who was replaced in 1954 by mat legend and later Houston promoter Paul Boesch. In 1958, KRLD discontinued its Sportatorium broadcasts and began airing Studio Wrestling, which was hosted by Bill Mercer until sometime in 1960, when Mercer became the original radio voice of the Dallas Cowboys. The show was taken over by one Eddie Hallack (who may have only been a temporary substitute, however, as M
