When Giants Walked Here - An Interview with Chris Lea & Cliff Bumgardner

Big Dame interviews the 2 co-producers of the new PBS wrestling documentary “When Giants Walked Here”, WRAL Sports reporter and former pro wrestler Chris Lea and Emmy award winning filmmaker Cliff Bumgardner, who also serves as the Director of the film. The documentary centers on the history of Pro Wrestling at the J.S. Dorton Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina, it was one of the central arenas of Jim Crockett Promotions, the highly influential promotion that eventually became WCW. From incredible highs in the 60s-80s to devastating lows in the 90s, the Dorton has always been an historical hotbed for wrestling in Raleigh. Many wrestling legends and Hall of Famers have walked through the hallowed halls of the Dorton Arena and the story is told by those who lived it such as former JCP announcer and executive David Crockett, wrestlers Jimmy Valliant, George South, Bobby Fulton, Shane Helms and CW Anderson as well as legendary referee Earl Hebner, those inspired to preserve its legacy like preservationist George Smart and lecturer Burak Erdim, and those who experienced it from the sidelines like independent wrestling announcer Brad Strutts, John Hitchcock, who attended many events in the Greensboro Coliseum, former PWTorch columnist Bruce Mitchell and former sports writer for the Charlotte Observer, Tom Sorenson. Chris and Cliff gives us an inside look on how this documentary came to be, what names they were NOT able to get for the project and if modern wrestling can restore some of the magic and feeling of this bygone and beloved era of territorial/regional Pro Wrestling.

“When Giants Walked Here” is available to stream NOW on the PBS App or here:

https://video.pbsnc.org/video/when-gi...

For more information,
https://www.pbsnc.org/watch/when-gian...

All clips and images from the documentary are courtesy of Slugline Media.
https://sluglinemedia.com


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Intro/outro music: Temptation (aka Triumphant Return) by Anthony DiLorenzo

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