Ah, weekend professional wrestling. Fun stuff. When I was growing up, it aired at 11:00 a.m. or 12 noon on WRGB, most often on Saturday or Sunday. I started watching pro wrestling in the early 1970’s, when the brand of wrestling provided in upstate New York was the World Wide Wrestling Federation (what we know today as WWE), the champion was Bruno Sammartino, the popular “baby faces” included 600-pound Haystacks Calhoun, Italian born (but Native American as far as I knew back then) Chief Jay Strongbow, and the “Polish Power,” Ivan Putski. And we booed and hissed the evil Grand Wizard of Wrestling as he brought Stan “The Man” Stasiak to the ring, he of the dreaded “heart punch” finishing move. We booed Olympian strongman Ken Patera, who once broke Billy White Wolf’s neck by applying a rotating “swinging” full nelson submission hold.
It was fun, you knew who was going to win (it sure wasn’t Tiger Chung Lee, Steve King or “The Unpredictable” Johnny Rodz), and those wrestling holds actually looked like they could legitimately injure someone. How much did I actually believe as a kid that pro wrestling was real? True story – there was a pro wrestling card at the Armory in around 1980 or so. I know this because later that evening, when I had to go to the local Handy Andy to pick up some last-minute groceries for my folks, up at the register – in street clothes, purchasing some beers and snacks – were Pat Patterson, Tony Garea and the Iron Sheik. And as God is my witness, the first thing I did was look at the Iron Sheik’s feet – his wrestling boots had curled-up points on them, and I always thought that was because of some deformity in his feet. In the Handy Andy store, he wore regular black shoes like anybody else.
Anyways, I tell this story because I had a reminiscence about one of the most memorable characters in 1970’s professional wrestling – a character who may never have won a match. I don’t think he ever lost one, either. He got in the ring, did his job, and got out without anyone touching or bothering him.
May I introduce you to Joe McHugh.
Not “Joe Mc-who?”
Joe McHugh was the wrestling announcer on nearly every television taping for the World Wide Wrestling Federation. Back in those days, the WWWF taped their television shows at the Agricultural Hall in Allentown, Pa., and Joe McHugh was the house announcer (he also was the ring announcer for boxing matches held in the area). He had what can be charitably described as one of the most enunciated dictations and accents I have ever heard on a professional wrestling announcer – it was almost as if you needed to hear every single syllable lest the acoustics in the building swallow up the ambient sound.
Let me see if I can do a Joe McHugh ring announcement in blogspeak. Bear with me on this. It’s tougher than it looks.
“Laydeez and-uh genn-tull-menn, diss is championship wressling, as soo-pur-vised by the State Ath-uh-let-ic Commission … the time-keeper at thuh bell … the reff-furr-rees for this hour of wressling, Dick Wuhr-lee, Wee Willie Webb-bber, the doc-torr in at-tenn-dunce at ring-syde, Doctor George Zoh-har-ree-in, and-uh my name is Joo-o-o-o-o-o-oh McHugh. (bell rings) Theee open-ning contess, it izz scheduled for one fall, with a tenn-minnit-time-limit, introdoo-sing in the ring at the present time, from Mon-tree-all, Canada, weighing in at twoo-hunndret eighty-too pounds, here izz Butt-chhuh Paul Vachon! And hizz op-pohh-nent, from the Fee-jee Islands, weighing in at two-hundret fiftee pounds, here izz Jimmy Super-Fly Sanuka!!”
You think I’m making this up. You think I’m doing the dialect from the Crocodiles of Zeeba Zeeba Eata from Pearls Before Swine.
Here’s a YouTube clip that proves I’m not.
McHugh passed away in 1993. Can only imagine how he’s calling the action up in the big wrestling ring in the sky. Probably takes him 5 minutes just to announce the next match, Owen Hart versus Kerry Von Erich. Maybe someday the WWE will consider inducting McHugh into their WWE Hall of Fame.
If anyone even remembers Joe McHugh. Cause once you hear him, you’ll never forget him.
Chuck The Writer 
I had forgotten all about Joe McHugh. Thanks for reminding me.
I loved those old WWWF shows, with the callow and youthful Vince McMahon as boobish straight man. My buddies and I used to put on shades and craft makeshift turbans out of gym shorts and pretend we were the Grand Wizard – “Let me tell you, McMahon!”
Many years later, when I was a reporter in Dutchess County, I got to know Captain Lou Albano, who did a lot of charity work. A friend of mine also got to know the Iron Sheik, whose wardrobe was pilfered out of his car in Poughkeepsie; the sheik was intent on dispensing his own kind of in-the-ring justice, but the perp was never caught to my knowledge.
Good times, good times. I extend a flying drop kick of gratitude.
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Unbelievable! Why would arch-enemies be at Handy Andy together?
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I remember when Iron Sheik and Hacksaw Jim Duggan got busted for smoking weed in their car in NYC, right at the height of their feud
miss you Joe!!!
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Thanks for the post. I wondered who this gentleman was, as I don’t go back farther than the Fink. Let’s hope guys like him and Dick Woerhle get recognized in the HOF.
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March 7, 2010
I always wondered if Joe McHugh was still alive. Every Saturday when he made his introductory announcement and concluded with ‘and my name is J-oooe McHugh’, he actually got an ovation from the fans in attendance. He was, by far, the best announcer in WWF/WWE history. Brings back great memories of 1980’s WWF Wrestling. RIP Joe McHugh.
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I write a blog about growing up watching WWF wresling in Boston in the 1980s, and I found myself thinking about Jooooe McHugh around the same time you did: http://bostongardenbalcony.wordpress.com/2010/02/18/and-a-my-name-is-joooooooe-mchugh/
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I remember Joe McHugh. I would listen week after week to try to figure out what his name was he would say jooooeeee mchugh so unclear when the rest of his announcing was very clear.
Eventually George Steele (at that time a heal) ran into the ring during the announcement and McHugh ran out and Vince McMahon said “Ring announcer Joe McHugh headed for higher ground and I don’t blame him.” After that another thing happened and McMahon said “Lets go to ringside and get the official word from our ring announcer Joe McHugh.” I’m sure McHough didn’t say it any clearer but I could understand it from then on.
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I listened to Joe growing up and was lucky enough to marry his niece. I spent countless hours listening to his stories he worked independent shows past his 88th birtday. I look forward to seeing as often as possible on wwe 24/7
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All of these stories bring back great memories of those Saturday mornings watching the WWF. I especially liked Don Muraco strutting into the ring, usually with Captain Lou Albano in tow, with the Inter-Continental belt slung over his shoulder, without a care in the world that anybody could possibly take it away. His wins over the likes of Charley Brown and Rudy Diamond and the other array of “house losers” are classic.
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Agreed about Muraco’s squash matches in the 1980s. Anyone remember when he came to the ring with a sub and drink and took bites in between beating on the prelim wrestler? I argued in one of my recent blog posts that Muraco was the top bad buy of the 1980s in the WWF — here’s more if you’re interested:
http://bostongardenbalcony.wordpress.com/2010/06/26/magnificent-muraco-best-wwf-heel-of-the-1980s/
Thanks…
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one of my first memories of the old wwwf is watching championship wrestling with my father every saturday afternoon with joe mchugh and gary michael capetta announcing the wrestlers. i wish they would put together a dvd set of those old shows, those days were classic.
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I remember Joe McHugh very well. I first saw him as a teenager when I used to watch WWWF Championship Wrestling on tv every week. I always got a kick out of “And my name is Jooooooooo McHugh. I miss those days of pro wrestling. He was really the only ring announcer that I ever liked.
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Another observation. Remember how the “voice over” commentator would always say at the start of a match, “Pausing for this commercial time out,” and then hawk an upcoming match or event in our locality? Funniest thing though was on Christmas Eve one year. All of the networks and independent stations aired the Midnight Mass or an array of Christmas related programming. Not WOR. The familiar opening to Championship Wrestling ushered in Christmas Day at 12:01 AM!!!! And this good Catholic enjoyed every minute of it!!!!!
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I remember Joe McHugh very clearly. I watched WWWF when I was a kid all the time. Me and my younger brother used to have mock wrestling matches and we’d take turns trying to sound like Joe. LOL
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I remember Joe McHugh very well, I also remember the “Voice overs” (pausing for this commercial time out, or The Following is brought to you by Capital Wrestling Corporation….) was none other than Howard Finkel. Watching on WWOR channel 9 at midnight, he use to mention 3 or 4 venues per match Monthly WWF shows in places like Wagner College (SI NY), Our Lady of Guadalupe & St. Finbar (Both in Brooklyn), Ritz Theatre Elizabrth, NJ… He would only mention an array of wrestlers not the actual matches. The Interviews on WWOR were mostly for MSG, Meadowlands Arena, Nassau Coliseum, New Haven Coliseum. & the voiceovers were for the smaller venues. Im glad I saved many of these on Betamax = )
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Frank, thanks for the info. I never knew that guy’s name!!!! Remember the McMahon-Backlund interviews when Bob would talk about working out with kids at local venues? This, of course, was years before they made him into psycho-Backlund.
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Chuck, you are talking bout the HANDY ANDY that was on Delaware/2nd Ave….we used to go there everytime the wrestlers were in town..not sure why they always went there but they always did…also in that group I believe was a man named Renee’ Goulet, but P. Patterson had those huge knuckles and wore that huge ring…..they were pretty friendly to us teens back then….
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Joe McHugh was a huge part of my early memories of watching wrestling. If I ever meet Howard Finkel, I will say, “Howard, as great as you are, you’re no Jooooooe McHugh!”
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George, Yes I remember all the Backlund Interviews. Where I lived, I was able to watch Championship Wrestling on WWOR Channel 9 each Saturday @ Midnight, & All-Star Wrestling would be on Monday nights on a TV Station in Waterbury, CT & Saturday afternoon @ 1pm from a station in Springfield, MA. The matches were repetative but I would watch for ine interviews & voice overs.
Do you remember a general interview that Mcmahon conducted with Andre the Giant, It aired on all the WWF TV stations and it also aired (that same year (’82 I believe)) on Georgia Championship Wrestling, Championship wrestling from Florida, & Southwest Championship Wrestling. I cannot see that happening now-a-days where a WWF interview would air on the other promotions. Those were the days
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Why isn’t this man in the WWE hall of fame? Shame on you Vince McMahon!
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I remember watching at the end of 1982 or the beginning of 1983 all star and championship wrestling on channel 29 and then channel 17 in Philadelphia! The first time i went to the Philadelphia Spectrum was thanksgiving night 1983!
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oh i almost forgot that the night i went to the spectrum for the first time in the parking lot i walked toward the building at the same time that Paul butcher Vachon was walking in
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Frank, I don’t think that WWOR (actually WOR at the time) carried any of the cross-over interviews from other wrestling alliances/associations, but I could be wrong. You are right though. Those were the days. It was less over-the-top and the production values were more modest, but it was a heck of alot more fun in the old days. Do you remember the WWF Victory Magazine!!?? I think that they published only one or two issues, but I distinctly remember the first one featured Sgt. Slaughter on the cover commanding a tank.
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Imagine the impact!
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Good stuff — went look looking for Joe McHugh because I coudn’t remeber his name, and stumbled across this blog. The written impersenation was really good, if you have his voice in your head you know how good it was (SA-NUKA)
Has anyone else come across the youtube vidoe coutdown down a few years ago by a “chilipalmer14” –the best coutdown ever down. Music, actual footage voiceover with really good information. Unfortunatly it seems it was taken down by youtube–likely for copy right..its to bad vecause it was awsome & could have been made into a dvd worth buying. If anyone knows that what Irefering to please let me know if you can still find the countdown or any other related information.
Thanks
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HERE HE COMES NOW, JUST COMING DOWN THE AISLE, MAKING HIS WAY TOWARD THE RING, he is being led to the ring by his manager, the GRAND WIZARD OF WRESTLING, WEIGHING IN AT 247 POUNDS, HE IS THE WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION, HAILING FROM MIAMI FLORIDA, AND PARTS BEYOND, HE IS THE SUPERSTAR, BILLLLY GRAAAAAHAM!!!
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Or………”From Sunset Beach, Hawaii, weighing in at 238 pounds, the Inter-Continental Heavyweight Champion, the Magnificent Muuuuurrrrraco!!!” (Quick piledriver—–match over!!!!!!!)
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When we were @ my grand parents house for the weekend , when “rastling” came on it was like the world changed! my grandparents went int o sports mode and ya sat yer ass down shut up and watched ” rastlin” there was no arguement just shut up and watch…. well my brother and i never did test them on this because we were into it too…… but rules were to be followed on sat nite and we had snacks and such….. and we would watch “rastlin” …….. so the memries go…. we all need a dvd of those classic matches…… so where is it…..??? Kevin d. varmette south glens falls ny.
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aahhhhh ladies and gentlemen….
I remember once he got in the head with a cup someone threw at him as he was announcing.
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Loved it when the referee would lose control of the match and all heck would break loose. Then all of the other “no-name” wrestlers would tear out of the dressing room to “help out.” Meanwhile, the bell man is frantically ringing the bell, like this in itself was going to restore order. Long live the WWF, yes, the WWF!!!!
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This article brings back childhood memories!
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Being a DOWNSTATER Chuck, I watched pro wrestling on a UHF Spanish speaking station WNJU Linden-Newark,New Jersey. The Commercials were in Spanish but the wrestling was broadcasted in English. There were other notible ring announcers, Buddy Wagner, Dave Zinkhoff and Gary Michael Capetta. But non of the forementioned could shine Joe Mchugh’s Penny Loafers.Other notibles were J.P.Mina and Mr. Sam Skiverski plus time the time keeper to his right SY COCO and the other doctor in attendence Dr. Fred Heinbach.
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I remember watching on channel 9 wwor at midnight if i didn’t fall asleep. It was hard to stay up too because usually it was ‘racing from yonkers’ that was on prior. Harness racing for a 2nd grader just isn’t that exciting. For the longest time i didn’t know Joe Mchugh’s name. The way he would say it almost sounded like jerilicue. Think about it. AND-A MY NAME IS-A JERRRRRILICUE. Ok i was 8 so I didn’t know. I wish there was something that had the old theme song when it came on television. I remember Killer Kahn breaking Andre’s leg. And when they did the interviews with andre the giant he would stand on a little stool to appear even taller.
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I remember Joe McHugh well! He really drew out a lot of words, like “twoooooooooo-hunnnnnndreddddd sixtyyyyyyyyyyyyyy figh pounds!!!” LOL. I know when your a kid time seems to go by a lot slower but man it seemed like he was WWWF/WWF’s ring announcer forever! Seemed like the first ten minutes of every show was taken up by his opening announcements. That was back when you never saw the Champ on TV and all the matches consisted of a veteran wrestler versus a jobber (like Bobby Shaefer or Frankie Williams). Me and my brother called them “stinky wrestlers” LOL. On the very few occasions when the world champ or tag team champs wrestled it was always a non-title match. SD “Special Delivery” Jones used to make me angry. He would always get the upper hand mid match and then screw it up by hesitating LOL.
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I don’t think I ever witnessed a match that S. D. Jones had won. Or, Tony Garea for that matter. In Tony’s case, he would always use the “small package” offense that would work for a nanosecond before Vince would yell, “One, two, NO!!” His opponent would kick out and usually administer a tremendous beating and present Tony with yet another loss.
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I have been searching fo his name for years..not continuously of course but now that my kids are old enough to watch wrestling I stumbled on this blog while showing them some classics. I thought his name was Jim Q for the last 30 years. Joe must go to the hall!
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I’m the “ChiliPalmer14” that one user was asking about. If you need to contact me, I’m on YouTube as MrChiliPalmer14. But no longer posting wrestling vids after WWE shut me down.
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how do we get joe into the wwe hall of fame?
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