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00:00At the dawn of the 1980s, Magnum T.A. burst onto the wrestling scene.
00:11With his athleticism, charisma, and movie star good looks, he quickly became a top star
00:16for Jim Crockett Promotions and a valuable weapon in the company's war against Vince
00:21McMahon.
00:22All the big guns come here when they want to get it done, and that's why Magnum T.A.'s
00:26here.
00:27At that point in time, Jim Crockett Promotions was the only other wrestling promotion in
00:31the country that had the ability to compete with Vince McMahon.
00:35There's only one Hulk Hogan, daddy.
00:37I believe that Magnum could have been for Crockett what Hulk Hogan was for WWF.
00:42There's only one Magnum T.A.
00:44There will ever be only one Magnum T.A.
00:46It was like being a rock star.
00:48I was given the keys to the city.
00:50The sky is the limit.
00:53Magnum's meteoric rise to fame and fortune would end in an instant.
00:57Blow took me right into the roof, and my C5 verbra exploded.
01:02Throwing his life and career into tragedy and chaos.
01:05He is in the intensive care unit at Charlotte Memorial Hospital.
01:09Terry Allen was the future.
01:11You put all your cards in that basket, and the basket was turned over.
01:17This, you know, devastating thing changed everyone's reality.
01:21Healthy, wealthy, wise.
01:24All of a sudden, boom, gone.
01:27The story of Magnum T.A. is the story of what might have been.
01:31Not just for the man himself, but for the entire wrestling world.
01:35He was told he would not walk again.
01:48This is Wrestling Mania.
01:50This is the thing of today.
01:51Hulkamania is running wild.
01:52In the early 1980s, professional wrestling explodes in popularity.
01:57Dominated by Vince McMahon, his star Hulk Hogan,
02:00and his powerhouse promotion, the WWF.
02:03Vince McMahon is a genius.
02:05But down south, a rival wrestling company
02:08stands in defiance of the growing McMahon empire.
02:11There you go.
02:13The gym brackets.
02:15The Wrestling Network is the best thing going.
02:18That's why they're here.
02:20As smaller companies across the country fold,
02:23Jim Crockett Promotions represents one of the last lines of defense
02:27against the WWF's nationwide takeover.
02:31But where the WWF showcases kid-friendly cartoon personas,
02:34Crockett's brand of pro wrestling is a world of blood, grit, and glamour.
02:39Soon to appear on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous,
02:43Mr. Jim Cornette.
02:48I'm Jim Cornette.
02:49I've been involved in wrestling for over 40 years.
02:51But in the 1980s, I was one of the managers
02:54that led many of Magnum TA's opponents to the ring.
02:58Crockett in the Carolinas had a tremendously strong base of fans.
03:02And also, that roster from Ric Flair and Dusty Rhodes,
03:07the Road Warriors, the Rock and Roll Express, it went on and on.
03:11That was the gathering place now for all the top wrestlers that
03:15were going to oppose Vince McMahon.
03:19Crockett Promotions, around 1985, we are on the rise.
03:24We're clicking on all four cylinders.
03:27My name is David Crockett.
03:30Jim Crockett is my father.
03:31And I'm Tony Schiavone, joined by Mr. Jim Crockett,
03:34president of Jim Crockett Promotions.
03:36You had Vince McMahon, WWF, that was wanting to take over the country.
03:42It's well-documented in the official World Wrestling Federation magazine
03:45that Mr. Hogan's popularity is indeed worldwide.
03:49And we liked what we were doing.
03:52So we said, nah, that's not going to happen.
03:55We had a great stable of wrestlers.
03:57Nobody can beat the American dream!
04:00But we needed that special something.
04:04Crockett needed somebody for the future.
04:06And if you had a character, kick-ass baby face over here,
04:10and a legend over here, you always needed the matinee idol, the movie
04:13star, right there, in the middle of everything.
04:16Who would be the good guy?
04:21Earliest memories of television, like six, seven years old,
04:24were watching professional wrestling with my dad.
04:27And it evoked all these emotions of watching
04:29guys that were like real live-action superheroes.
04:33So as a little kid, you start thinking, maybe this is something I could do.
04:39And I was the most unlikely guy to be doing this,
04:43because I had no athletic background.
04:46My name is Cherry Allen, better known as Magnum TA.
04:50I started out wrestling in the ninth grade.
04:52And I applied myself to it like nothing I'd ever done.
04:56So as I worked my way up the ranks, by the time I'm a senior,
05:00I end up winning the state tournament.
05:02Magnum is from Norfolk, Virginia.
05:04And he was working at a bar in Virginia Beach.
05:07And that's where tons of the Carolina wrestlers
05:10would go, because that was kind of a vacation spot.
05:14When you were up in that part of Virginia for the weekend,
05:16the guys would go party in Virginia Beach.
05:19In the 70s, I was in college.
05:21I was working security in nightclubs and bars.
05:25And the wrestlers would come down to the place where I work.
05:29And they're ribbing with me, because I'm a big guy.
05:34There was a guy there that saw me.
05:36His name was Buzz Sawyer.
05:39Buzz Sawyer was one of the most talented in-ring performers
05:43in the history of wrestling, and was
05:44one of the most obnoxious, crooked, surly,
05:46and discontented son-of-a-bitches
05:49in the world outside of me.
05:50So Buzz Sawyer sees me.
05:53He's like, oh, buddy, buddy.
05:55He said, look, it's really hard to get into this business.
05:58But I can help you.
06:00I feel like this guy is really going to help me.
06:03So now I see this as a potential career path.
06:06So he comes even to my parents' home and talks with all of us.
06:10Tells us how tough the business is to get in.
06:14But he has these inroads, and he can help me.
06:16And he tells me a wrestling license costs $10,000.
06:2110 grand.
06:22And my mom and dad are like, phew, 10 grand.
06:2510 grand might as well have been 100 grand in 1979.
06:31My mom believed in me.
06:33And she went to her dad, my granddaddy Smith.
06:36And he gave me the money.
06:41Gave me the money.
06:42He said, I believe in you.
06:45And so we give him the money.
06:49And so I'm going to get in.
06:51He's going to get me in the door.
06:53And next thing I know, Buzz has left the Carolinas.
06:56Push, mind blown.
07:00Buzz was just trying to bilk an aspiring young man out
07:03of some money and saw where he could get it.
07:06He was an asshole.
07:07Wrestling licenses are still a real thing,
07:10and were a real thing at that point,
07:12in states that have athletic commissions.
07:15If they have an athletic commission,
07:16you have to be licensed to be a wrestler, a manager,
07:19an announcer, whatever.
07:20They generally cost between $10 and $25.
07:25So if Buzz Sawyer wasn't going to sell Magnum TA
07:29or any kind of wrestling license.
07:31Did you ever get that money back from Buzz Sawyer?
07:33No.
07:35So one night, I tell Jimmy Garvin my Buzz Sawyer story.
07:40Jimmy knew Buzz.
07:41He knew all too well what was going on.
07:44Garvin does not lose his cool as quickly as Sawyer.
07:47I encouraged him to go find Buzz and ask Buzz to hook him up.
07:52And I literally believe he left the next day and drove to Oregon.
07:57I found out what his apartment number was,
07:59and knocking on the door.
08:02Opens the door, kind of surprised to see me.
08:05So he takes me down to the ring the next day,
08:08and I work out for two solid hours.
08:10I learn how to tie up, hit the ropes, do some spots,
08:14take a back prop.
08:17It wasn't uncommon in those days if a guy
08:20saw some young prospective talent that wanted to train
08:23or wanted to be taught, yeah, I'll take this guy.
08:26He's an idiot.
08:27We'll run him off, whatever.
08:29But in this case, it came back to bite him
08:31because Magnum turned out to be a bigger
08:32star than Buzz ever was.
08:34And the next night, I wrestled Buzz on television.
08:37They all think, hey, you did a pretty good job.
08:40They think I've been in the business.
08:41They think I'm trained.
08:42They think Buzz trained me.
08:43Well, he did.
08:44He trained me for two hours.
08:45And then I got booked seven nights a week.
08:48I knew Magnum from the get-go.
08:50He burst onto the scene, man.
08:51He was a breath of fresh air to watch.
08:54Jake the Snake Roberts!
08:59I am what's left of Jake the Snake Roberts.
09:02He was no sucker, man.
09:03He was just so hungry and wanted it so bad.
09:06Terry's unrelenting drive and raw talent
09:09earn him admiration from promoters, fans,
09:12and fellow wrestlers.
09:13His hard work pays off when a single phone call propels
09:16his career to new heights.
09:18Betty Graham then owns Florida Championship Wrestling.
09:21So he, boom, picks up the phone, gives me
09:24a call, he said, I got a spot for you.
09:26And so again, I pack up all my belongings
09:29and off I go back across the country and head south.
09:33That's where the true education of the wrestling business
09:37really started, the day I stepped foot
09:40in the territory of Florida.
09:42From Virginia Beach, Virginia, weighing in at 240 pounds,
09:46Terry Allen!
09:47So when I first came to the territory in Florida,
09:50the booker, the creative development guy,
09:53American Dream Dusty Rose.
09:55Never met him.
09:56I've seen his pictures on the cover of magazines.
09:59Dusty Rose was one of the greatest wrestlers ever, man.
10:03The best showman ever, without a doubt.
10:05He was our Muhammad Ali.
10:08The booker of a major wrestling promotion
10:11is like the major motion picture director in Hollywood.
10:15He decides the final say on the actors,
10:18who's going to play the parts, how they're going to do it,
10:20what their demeanor is, the way that the thing is shot.
10:24So the booker was the director,
10:25and Dusty Rose saw in Magnum T.A. his next movie star.
10:32Dusty had the potential to see talent
10:36and charisma within people
10:38that didn't know how to bring it out.
10:40Right here is the global tag team champion, Terry Allen!
10:46And he became the most influential guy
10:49on my career of anybody that I ever came in contact with.
10:52He pushed Magnum T.A. to the heights of pro wrestling.
10:57He believed in him, he teamed with him,
10:59they were personal friends.
11:01Hello everyone, this is Bill Apter,
11:03and I am the most recognizable journalist
11:07and independent broadcaster in the world of pro wrestling
11:11for the past 51 years.
11:13People used to say that he looked like Tom Selleck,
11:16and Andre Vigayan thought so much about that
11:19that he said to Magnum,
11:20you look like Tom Selleck,
11:21you should call yourself Magnum T.A.
11:24And that's how it happened.
11:25Back in the 80s, there was a TV show
11:28with a star named Tom Selleck,
11:30and it was about a detective,
11:31and his name was Magnum P.I.
11:33So Andre looks over at me and he says,
11:35boss, he said, you're ready.
11:36And I said, what do you mean I'm ready?
11:37He said, you're ready for something.
11:39He said, but you need a handle.
11:41So he tied it all together and took the Magnum
11:43and the Terry Allen T.A. and put that name together.
11:48After just over a year in Florida,
11:50Magnum T.A. returns to the road,
11:53this time joining the high-octane wrestling circuit
11:56known as Mid-South.
11:57Magnum T.A.
11:59Action continues now.
12:00The popular star, Magnum T.A.
12:03Here's Buddy Nichols to tell us about it.
12:05Really a very personable young man,
12:06one with a lot of wrestling talent.
12:08And as we mentioned last week,
12:10one with a lot of desire and an opportunity
12:13to go a long way in this wrestling business.
12:16So I come to Mid-South as Magnum T.A.
12:20I don't know what Magnum T.A. means at this point in time.
12:23It's a name.
12:24I don't know how this translates into me
12:27and nor do the people that have brought me in.
12:31So one week they're telling me to wear suits and ties.
12:34And we do that for a couple of weeks and they say,
12:36you don't really seem comfortable in that.
12:38Oh, then they say, well, maybe, you know,
12:41punk rock was kind of a thing.
12:42They want me to wear like some punk rock clothes.
12:45I'm not comfortable at all in this,
12:47but we go through all these little things
12:50they try to do.
12:52Nothing's clicking.
12:54So I called Dusty up.
12:55I said, I need to do something else.
12:57They don't know what to do with me.
12:58He said, I got it, baby.
12:59I got it.
13:00It's all good.
13:01He said, well, I'll tell you what you do.
13:02He said, you go down and buy your brand new Harley Davidson.
13:07So I bought a motorcycle jacket when I bought the new bike
13:10and I ride that bike into town with that jacket on
13:13and everybody looks and it changed the whole perception
13:18immediately of who I was.
13:21Clint Eastwood and Charles Bronson and Bruce Lee
13:24and John Wayne all wrapped up in one package
13:26in a leather jacket.
13:27He had the perfect look for professional wrestling,
13:31the perfect size, the physique, the face,
13:33the whole nine yards.
13:35This incredible it factor that I had not seen
13:39in a lot of pro wrestlers.
13:41He had it.
13:43He was going up the ladder, man.
13:44He had it all.
13:46He burned it up there for a while.
13:48And of course, not very long.
13:59Magnum TA is a rising star and a fan favorite
14:03in the Mid-South Territory when he receives an offer
14:06that will change the course of his career.
14:09I get the phone call and Dusty says,
14:11I want to introduce you to Jim Crockett.
14:13Puts Jim Crockett on the phone with me and says,
14:15look, I will promise you if you come here,
14:18I will give you the greatest opportunity
14:21that anybody could ever ask for in the business.
14:24I first met Magnum TA when he walked into the office.
14:28You know, here's this tall, what, 6'1", 6'2",
14:32very well built, blonde hair coming down,
14:35these piercing eyes and this husky raspy voice
14:40and looking at the women in the office,
14:42they all, you know, they do that.
14:44So that is the total package.
14:47The camera, who is the main judge, loved him.
14:51All the fans have been waiting for this man,
14:53Magnum TA, and here he is.
14:56You didn't have to put lights on to make him look good.
14:59He just, he glowed.
15:01Magnum TA's coming to Mid-Atlantic for one reason,
15:03one reason only, coming for the US Heavyweight Championship.
15:06Almost immediately, Crockett goes and barters a deal
15:09to go on TBS, on the Superstation.
15:12The moment we went on the Superstation, everything changed.
15:15The territory started popping immediately
15:18and we blew the roof off the place.
15:22My name is Tamara Howell and I was married to Terry Allen.
15:27We were together from 1981 until 1988.
15:34He got this raincoat jacket.
15:37He loved it.
15:38It was his Jesse James look.
15:41We did talk about having a family,
15:44but we were waiting until he became
15:46the World Championship title holder.
15:50Here we were at the baptism of Dusty and Michelle's son,
15:55Cody, it's pretty special.
15:57The minute I make the emotional decision
16:00that I'm gonna settle down and I'm gonna get married,
16:03immediately my career path says,
16:06we wanna promote you as a sex symbol.
16:09We want you to be our superstar.
16:10We want you to be the people,
16:13everybody would tear their hair out and wanna get hold of.
16:20He was the rock star.
16:21The cheers for Magnum were the squeals
16:24of the women in the audience.
16:26It was hysteria.
16:29It was just absolute insanity
16:32and it was Wild Wild West from the partying standpoint,
16:35the girls in every port and every place.
16:38It was bad.
16:39It was like Animal House 24-7.
16:42It was more than any red-blooded male could handle.
16:45They were getting the motel key and panty treatment.
16:48Every night, it was insane.
16:50They had more sex on the way to the ring
16:51than I've had in my life.
16:55You always play to the audience,
16:57whether it's male or female.
16:58I mean, the women crying,
17:00they wanted to get close to him after the match
17:02and get blood off of him.
17:04Oh, I'll never wash my hands again.
17:08I definitely could see his popularity.
17:11We were in a mall, we were in a boot store
17:14and this girl just fainted seeing him.
17:18She got all flustered and turned red and fainted.
17:22So I think if everyone thinks
17:25you're the best thing since sliced bread,
17:28you might start believing that.
17:32I didn't work outside of the home.
17:35I didn't work outside of the home.
17:37I always would unpack his wrestling bag
17:40from the night before.
17:42And when I was doing that, he had pictures in there.
17:46I had taken out the pictures
17:49and I just was flipping through them.
17:51And then I stopped and I was like,
17:53wait a minute, I don't have that bag.
17:56I thought it was me in the picture,
17:59but she had a different handbag
18:01than I would have carried.
18:03And I realized that wasn't me
18:07and I hadn't been wherever they were.
18:11As Terry's rising fame pushes his marriage to the brink,
18:14a powerful opponent emerges, a Soviet era strongman
18:18bringing the Cold War to the wrestling ring.
18:21Was I intimidated by Magnum T.A.?
18:24I think it was the other way around.
18:26I think he was intimidated by me.
18:29I am Nikita Kolov, better known to the wrestling fans
18:33as The Russian Nightmare, Shatoy Tyler.
18:35You think you're going to win?
18:38Take a look at Nikita now.
18:4022 inches now.
18:42I hail from the great state of Minnesota,
18:45not from Russia like I portrayed back in the wrestling days.
18:49Well, in the 80s,
18:51the United States and Russian political situation,
18:54here you have Magnum T.A., American made.
18:58So you had the Russian might against American made.
19:02Magnum T.A. or Maga T.A. as I used to call him.
19:06He had that whole look of that all American.
19:08I'm like, man, this is, you might say,
19:10a match made in heaven.
19:12And they had this incredible series,
19:15the best of seven series.
19:17It was one of the greatest feuds in pro wrestling history.
19:21Between the number one challenger, who is Nikita Kolov,
19:25and the former champion, Magnum T.A.
19:27There's got to be a clear cut winner for four matches.
19:31And Nikita Kolov, there's never going to be a day in my life
19:34that I had to look up to a Russian
19:35and call you a superior athlete.
19:39Match number one,
19:40I have set myself to be this physical specimen.
19:43And so to go up one, nothing.
19:46So the way we just built the story
19:48and how each match was finished,
19:50whether it was a dominating victory on my part,
19:53going up two to nothing,
19:55and then to go up three to nothing.
19:58And then he catches me by surprise
20:01and he wins that first round.
20:02Three to one.
20:03And the winner of match number four, Magnum T.A.
20:10He slips by and wins three to two.
20:12Oh my gosh.
20:13There's hope.
20:14There's hope for America.
20:17Match number six,
20:18and he squeaks out another victory.
20:21And now it's three to three,
20:24and it's going to come down to that final match, number seven.
20:28The man standing before you right now
20:31is a man that's going to take it all home,
20:33bring it home right here in the United States of America.
20:36It couldn't have been set up any better.
20:41And Nikita Kolov gets the one, two, three.
20:46Man, I want to tell you,
20:47the fans were not happy that night, boy.
20:52Talk about heat.
20:54The heat on me elevated to a whole nother level.
21:00And so of course, Magnum,
21:01now he's got to chase and get back that US title
21:04that by the way,
21:05set you up as number one contender
21:07for the world heavyweight title back in those days.
21:10Now the chase is on.
21:131986 was pretty much the culmination
21:17of a long running rivalry between Dusty Rhodes
21:20and Ric Flair for the world title.
21:22And next in line,
21:24whenever that trigger would have been pulled,
21:26was Ric Flair and Magnum T.A.
21:28Into 87, 88,
21:29that would have been the direction they were going.
21:31Who's going to be the world champion?
21:32Who's going to be the dominant guy in the NWA?
21:34Ric Flair or Magnum T.A.
21:36In the 70s, 80s,
21:38the National Wrestling Alliance world's heavyweight title
21:41was the most coveted wrestling title you could go after.
21:44That 10 pounds of gold belt was an amazing thing.
21:48And he was going to get that, no doubt about it.
21:51Because the powers that be loved him,
21:56and they trusted him.
21:57The powers that be are the promoters
21:59of the National Wrestling Alliance,
22:01the governing body of the majority
22:03of the nation's regional territories,
22:05including Jim Crockett Promotions.
22:07There was a meeting that Dusty and I and Jim Crockett had
22:12where we flew up to New York, went out to dinner,
22:15and they told me that the decision had been made,
22:18the NWA had blessed it,
22:20and that I was going to be
22:21the next world's heavyweight champion.
22:25The trajectory was to take the next step,
22:29move away from Nikita,
22:30so I could move back into that chase.
22:33But in the meantime, we've got this new, brash,
22:36fresh, smack-talking heel named Jimmy Garvin
22:40that comes in, and we got this great new opportunity.
22:43This is gorgeous Jimmy Garvin.
22:48In this angle with Terry and Patty
22:50and I was going to be huge.
22:52And I have confidence because I know
22:54that I'm the greatest athlete in the world
22:56and nobody could beat me.
22:58But, you know, I had that match with him
23:00in Greenville, South Carolina that night.
23:03A heck of a match, and we were getting ready
23:04to blow the territory wide open.
23:07It just never happened,
23:08because that was the night of this incident.
23:11And now, here's your host,
23:13senior editor of Pro Wrestling Illustrated,
23:15Bill Lafter.
23:18Last week's show with Magnum TA,
23:20got such a great response.
23:21We've asked the US champ, Magnum TA,
23:23to be with us again this week.
23:24Magnum, 1985 was a darn good year for you.
23:28What's 86 have in store for you?
23:30Well, 86 would be a continuation of the quest
23:33that I started in 1985,
23:34which was for the world's heavyweight champion,
23:36Bill Lafter.
23:37And I think that's what I'm going to do this year.
23:39I'm going to do what I started in 1985,
23:41which was for the world's heavyweight championship
23:43held by Ric Flair.
23:44He was going right to the top.
23:46I could not see any road taking him anywhere else,
23:50except to the top.
23:52We had everything sunk into him.
23:55Terry Allen was the future.
23:58As Magnum TA closes in on the heavyweight title,
24:01he begins living the life of a world champion.
24:04At that time, I had more money than I had sense.
24:06I'd walked into the Porsche dealership
24:08sitting all on the floor.
24:09And that was the Mac Daddy.
24:11Write me up, I'm taking it.
24:12It was quick and it was cool.
24:15I had the need for speed, like Top Gun.
24:19You know, if it had a combustion engine in it
24:21and it was loud and it was fast, I liked it.
24:25My plan was to have a run with the belt in 27,
24:27by the time I'm 30, out of it,
24:29and then go drive Nascos.
24:31I didn't want to be running around in my underwear
24:33in front of people at 37 years old.
24:35I thought that was ridiculous.
24:38On October 14th, 1986,
24:41after defeating gorgeous Jimmy Garvin
24:43in front of a roaring crowd in South Carolina,
24:46Magnum TA hits the road in his prized Porsche 911.
24:51Five minutes from my house, I'm on a two lane road
24:55and I've driven hundreds of times.
24:56It's like the horse turns the corner
24:58and there's the barns right there,
24:59and I'm on the track.
25:03It was raining so hard, you know,
25:05coming back, you could barely see.
25:07The road that I was traveling on that night
25:09had a little slight bend curve in it.
25:12Right in the middle of the curve
25:14was a little divot in the road
25:17where water had gathered,
25:18probably two, three inches of water,
25:20all the way across the road.
25:22When I went around the corner,
25:23and that dip right in the middle of the car hydroplanes,
25:26when a car hydroplanes,
25:27it means your tire patch loses contact with that road.
25:31So my tires were actually floating on top of that water.
25:35So I did what I had done before to counteract something,
25:38and I made the situation worse.
25:41The car spun violently the other direction,
25:44and I broadsided a telephone pole
25:47so hard that it cut it in half.
25:50It happened so fast, it was violent.
25:53And the blow was like I had been hit by a freight train.
25:58I didn't know I was not okay until I couldn't move.
26:01And I was so big in the car
26:04that my shoulder was right up against the door.
26:06And I had just maybe an inch of headroom.
26:09So the blow took me right into the roof.
26:11The emergency crew came,
26:13and one of them grabbed me by my jacket
26:15to try to pull me up.
26:17And the other guy stopped him, said,
26:18no, no, I can't move.
26:21So they used the jaws of life,
26:22cut me in half, and they pulled me up.
26:25So they used the jaws of life,
26:27cut the whole top of the car off,
26:29peeled it back like a tin can,
26:30and it stabilized me.
26:32They couldn't airlift me out
26:33because it was raining so hard.
26:34Took me by ambulance.
26:36It changed my life.
26:38It changed the people I worked for.
26:39It changed my family.
26:41It changed everybody in a nanosecond.
26:47The police called me.
26:49They were taking him to the hospital.
26:52On my way to the hospital,
26:55I was behind the tow truck
26:58that had his Porsche on it.
27:00And to see the Porsche the way it was
27:03was very frightening.
27:06The roof was off.
27:08It was a mess.
27:09It looked like he probably was dead.
27:13Well, they took me aside,
27:15and they told me that he had fractured his vertebrae.
27:20They needed to get him into surgery quickly.
27:24My first view of a medical professional
27:26that's giving me a diagnosis,
27:28you know, he used the words C5 quadriplegic
27:32and neck down paralysis.
27:34Me into one shot of ever attaining any level of mobility
27:38beyond sitting in a wheelchair
27:41and being taken care of by someone
27:42for the rest of your life.
27:45Matter of fact, they were just trying to figure out
27:46how I was gonna breathe.
27:47They said my lungs were paralyzed.
27:49I mean, they were saying things to me like,
27:50well, maybe you might be able to be on an iron lung
27:53instead of a ventilator.
27:55The guy's in intensive care.
27:57They've got him all hooked up.
27:58They keep him sedated.
28:01You just fear for the worst.
28:03You know, it was, you know, is he truly gonna make it?
28:08You know, what was going through his mind?
28:10They're shooting me up with morphine every time I blink
28:14because they can't communicate with me.
28:16If I try to communicate anything, they think I'm hurting.
28:19So I'm in such bad shape,
28:21they're just zapping me with the moon and stars.
28:26My brother came in and he just said,
28:30he'll never, ever get in the ring again.
28:43According to the police report,
28:44Alan was going south here on Sardis Road away from town
28:47when his car went off the road on the far side back there,
28:50about 200 feet.
28:51He apparently tried to correct
28:53and bring it back onto the road, but it was slippery.
28:55And he ended up on this side,
28:57slamming into this telephone pole
28:59with enough force to break it in half.
29:04Memorial spokesperson, Cecily Newton,
29:06explained that Magnum has a spinal cord injury
29:08that is localized to the fifth cervical vertebrae.
29:12And it exploded.
29:13It sent those bone fragments back
29:15and created compression on the spinal cord.
29:18It was on every news channel.
29:20You saw the pictures of that car
29:22and it's absolute miracle that anybody was alive.
29:26It was completely destroyed.
29:28It was the front page of the Charlotte Observer.
29:31It's a type of situation where you don't believe
29:34that it's happened until you actually see him
29:36and no one has been able to see him.
29:37So we're still kind of stunned.
29:39Radio, newspaper, we really didn't have internet.
29:42So it was all word of mouth.
29:45I'm sorry, ma'am.
29:46That's the only thing I'm permitted to release at this time.
29:48Memorial Hospital has fielded some eight to 10,000
29:51phone calls about Magnum TA
29:53since the wrestling star was admitted.
29:55The hospital lobby looks like a florist convention.
29:58I think he received the most letters of anyone
30:01there at their hospital.
30:03I do have the newspaper clippings
30:05and bags and bags of mail we received.
30:09The hospital got so many calls,
30:12they had to shut the switchboard down.
30:14There were candlelight vigils of fans outside the hospital.
30:18We love you, Magnum!
30:21A lot of people held him close to their heart.
30:25Ariane Allen has been with her son since the accident.
30:28This afternoon, she wanted to thank all of the people
30:30who have sent prayers and cards.
30:33It has been rough in a lot of cases,
30:35but I just don't think I could have gotten through this time
30:38without all that love and positive energy
30:40that I felt flowing around me.
30:43Back in the day, like, we didn't go to the hospital
30:45because K-Fabe, you know, was a heel.
30:48He was a babyface, so we didn't go to the hospital.
30:52We just didn't do it.
30:53In the 1980s, wrestlers and promoters
30:56still go to great lengths to maintain the illusion
30:59that wrestling is real,
31:00a practice known as keeping K-Fabe.
31:03So Flair and the Horsemen or any of the heels
31:06couldn't go to the hospital and see Magnum.
31:10So what they did was,
31:12one of our people that worked at the office
31:13was also a Charlotte City police officer,
31:16and he arranged with the hospital to sneak Flair
31:19and some of his guys up a back stairway
31:22and into the room in the middle of the night
31:23so that nobody would see them
31:24so they could go and see Magnum.
31:28Flair came in my room with the 10 pounds of gold,
31:31laid it on my chest, said,
31:32I'm giving you this one.
31:34I'm waiting for you to come back in the ring
31:35and get the other one.
31:37When Magnum had his accident,
31:39he was obviously automatically without income.
31:42And in this case, all of the guys on the roster
31:46got together and said we will donate
31:49whatever from our check per week to Magnum
31:53and Jim Crockett as the promoter
31:55would match the total of everything
31:56that was collected by the wrestlers.
31:58So whether it was $25 a week or $50 a week
32:01out of everybody's check,
32:02but there were 30 guys,
32:05and then he'd match it.
32:07What's your role in his recovery?
32:09I was there every day.
32:11I went to the hospital every day
32:13and I helped feed him, bathe him,
32:16helped him with everything that he needed.
32:21So I don't really get to have real soul searching moments
32:25about all of this for about 30 days.
32:28When things cleared a little bit,
32:29I got out of the ICU, got in a room,
32:32people were able to start relaying things to me
32:34that was going on in the outside world
32:37that I was pretty oblivious to.
32:38I love Magnum more than I love everyone else.
32:41It's sad something like that happened to a man
32:43so talented and in good shape.
32:44I don't want it to end his career or nothing.
32:46Immediately I felt horrible,
32:49not for me, but for my friends,
32:52for Dusty, for Jimmy,
32:53because I knew everything they had built around me,
32:56their whole future and plans
32:58and everything is built around me.
33:00There was no plan B.
33:02Magnum TA was this shooting star
33:06that we attached ourselves to.
33:08We were flying high with him.
33:11There was nothing to stop us,
33:13but then that shooting star went dark
33:16and with that, we went dark.
33:19We were trying to find our way
33:21just like Magnum was trying to find his way.
33:24I'm on a tour in Japan.
33:26My first night back is in the city
33:28of brotherly love of Philadelphia.
33:31Dusty and Jim Crockett pulled me into an office
33:36and it took him a few minutes, as I recall,
33:38to really convince me like,
33:40no, we're not kidding.
33:42Like, this is for real.
33:43He's lying in a hospital in Charlotte, North Carolina
33:46right now fighting for his life.
33:49He's Dusty's guy.
33:51He's his bread and butter.
33:52He's groomed to be the next World Heavyweight Champion.
33:56So obviously this leaves a void.
34:00The last two weeks have been very difficult
34:02for Dusty Rhodes, the American Dream,
34:04but the WTA and Dusty Rhodes made their own rules.
34:08We love fast cars and fast times
34:11and that's the way we lived
34:12on the end of that lightning bolt
34:13that crashes through this vast earth of ours.
34:18So Dusty and Crockett and everybody else
34:20was faced with, well, what do you do
34:21when you're still making a movie,
34:23but your star is gone?
34:24You gotta find a new star.
34:26At that point, there was no major wrestling name
34:30that was just floating around waiting for a phone call.
34:33So Dusty looked within his own roster
34:36and said, who can possibly not take Magnum's spot
34:41and look like him and act like him
34:43and do the same thing that will be seen as a copy of him,
34:46but who can take that spot
34:47and do it in a completely different way?
34:49And I have a new partner.
34:53And that's Nikita Kolov.
34:56I'm like the number one most hated guy
34:57in wrestling right now.
34:58I mean, the fans love to hate me and I'm Russian.
35:02At this juncture, I'm only two and a half years
35:04into my career.
35:07With the new plan in place,
35:09the challenge becomes selling the story to the fans.
35:12Jim Crockett called me and he says,
35:14would you be willing to come up to the hospital?
35:17Magnum's asking for you.
35:19He needs to talk to his fans nationally
35:22about what's going on and you guys,
35:24magazines are the only way to do this.
35:27Reporting from Magnum's bedside,
35:29Bill Apter helps to engineer Nikita's transformation
35:32into a baby face hero.
35:34Bill Apter was the only from the magazine side
35:39that I had built a bond with and I trusted.
35:42The story that was worked on was so heartwarming
35:47because Nikita Kolov,
35:48and we had a picture of this
35:49on one of the wrestling magazines,
35:51that there was a tear coming down Nikita's eyes
35:54for the cover and he said, I cry for Magnum TA.
35:58And for the fans, for the very first time,
36:02oh my gosh, Nikita really does have a heart.
36:05There was literally millions of people
36:09like watching from the sidelines now
36:12that they were looking at this man
36:14that's now fighting this real life battle
36:15and they're all pulling for me.
36:17How's he gonna handle it?
36:18What's he gonna do?
36:25Despite being partially paralyzed
36:28and confined to a hospital for months,
36:30Terry Allen refuses to give up.
36:33We all love him and we hope he gets better
36:35so he can wrestle, if not wrestle,
36:37at least be a part of the NWA still.
36:40In April of 1987, Crockett hatches a plan
36:43to bring Magnum TA back
36:45at one of the biggest events of the year.
36:47Baltimore Arena, Terry Allen, aka Magnum TA,
36:51is gonna make his first appearance back in an arena.
36:56And to see him again in person
36:58was just something it's hard to put into words.
37:02Magnum TA!
37:09For me, watching Terry Allen walk down that aisle,
37:13that shows me that you can overcome almost anything
37:17and never give up.
37:19I mean, for a guy who is supposed to be lifted out of a bed
37:23and fed the rest of his life and bathed and all of that,
37:27to be able to walk under his own power
37:28was an absolute miracle in and of itself.
37:32I mean, I got choked up, like for real,
37:34because it was a surreal moment.
37:37I can remember the moment, the emotion and the feel
37:41and the fans, and just like it was yesterday,
37:44it was one of the most emotional moments
37:46I've ever experienced.
37:47They saw me come from death's door
37:51to never gonna walk again
37:52to my gosh, he walked to the ring.
37:55With his enduring popularity,
37:56it's clear that Magnum's wrestling days
37:58have come to a permanent end,
38:00leaving his future uncertain.
38:02It makes you have to adjust your thinking.
38:05You try to find a way to fit back into the industry.
38:10I was an intelligent guy.
38:12I was still well-spoken.
38:14So I worked as a color commentator for a while.
38:18I'll be working with you, Magnum.
38:19I really look forward to that,
38:19and all the fans in Chicago
38:21look forward to seeing you again.
38:22It's gonna be great, and I can't wait.
38:25For Magnum, finding his niche in wrestling
38:28after his accident was very hard
38:31because being around it,
38:33you always want to be back in it.
38:37The hard times continue for Magnum behind the scenes.
38:40We settled into a normal life.
38:43I thought our marriage was doing well, but...
38:47We stayed together for about a month
38:51after I got out of the hospital.
38:53I had no possibility past the accident.
38:58I felt like I had given pretty much everything I had.
39:03I just couldn't do that anymore.
39:08And it was so overwhelming for her
39:11because the realities of all the things
39:13that had taken place on the road,
39:15she becomes aware of because I'm forthcoming.
39:18And I feel bad about it.
39:20This is a bad deal.
39:21I loved him very much.
39:23It was hard for me to leave him.
39:25But I think at some point, you're just like,
39:29once something is done again,
39:32how many times can you let that happen?
39:38As Terry's relationship ends,
39:40the once mighty Crockett Promotions implodes.
39:43At this point, nobody on either side of the wrestling war
39:48or any of the fans or the observers
39:49realized exactly how crucial this was gonna be a point
39:53in the wrestling business.
39:54All of a sudden, they had to start from scratch.
39:56In 1988, Crockett makes a deal
39:59with media mogul Ted Turner,
40:01leading to the birth of World Championship Wrestling
40:04and the end of an era for wrestling fans.
40:06If Terry Allen had never been in the accident,
40:11the future of the NWA, Jim Crockett Promotions,
40:16the sky's the limit.
40:20Do you ever wonder what if about your wrestling career?
40:23I do.
40:24I totally would have been satisfied
40:26being recognized as the world's heavyweight champion,
40:29having my run, having my time in the sun,
40:31and passing it off to the next 20 year old
40:33that thought he could do it better.
40:35If he never had the accident, movies, commercials,
40:40lifestyle, the World Heavyweight Championship.
40:43When they see Magnum T.A. come out there
40:45and say, hey, I'm the world heavyweight champion,
40:47they know that I'm the man that they can stand behind
40:49because I'm always out there 100%.
40:51You know, he was right at the brink
40:54of becoming the world champion, no doubt.
40:57For it to be gone in the blink of an eye, man,
41:01it should be a lesson for everybody,
41:03that life can change that quick.
41:08One time, I remember Dustin and I,
41:09we were in Columbia at the Township Auditorium
41:12and we were talking about the World Heavyweight Championship
41:15and Dustin and I were in Columbia
41:16at the Township Auditorium.
41:17We're sitting on the back steps and he said,
41:19can you imagine how successful we could be at something else
41:24if we worked as hard at it as we are at this?
41:28And he was right.
41:29I've used the same commitment with the new opportunity
41:33as I had done all those years
41:35and attacked it with the same ferocity
41:39that I had when I was chasing the world title.
41:42He is an individual that will not give up.
41:46Here's a man that is classified as a quadriplegic.
41:50He's not gonna let it slow him down.
41:53Terry decides to leave the wrestling world behind
41:55and sets his sights on a new career
41:57far from the squared circle.
41:59Along the way, he also finds another chance at love.
42:04My name is Courtney Blanchard-Allen
42:07and I am Terry Allen's wife.
42:09First met Terry Allen, approximately in 1997.
42:12Both of us were going through divorces
42:14and we became really, really good friends
42:18and leaned on each other a lot for support during that time.
42:21And through that friendship developed an intimacy
42:25and a relationship.
42:27He's my best friend.
42:29For me, it's another miracle.
42:32I was given a chance to have a family.
42:35So I've done my best to be steady,
42:38make a secure home and loving home for all the kids,
42:42make sure they were all provided
42:43and well taken care of and loved.
42:45And it's been an amazing ride.
42:48It was the end of Magnum TA,
42:49but it wasn't the end of Terry Allen.
42:52You can be sad for what could have been,
42:54what the wrestling fans could have seen
42:56that they would have enjoyed
42:57and what he could have accomplished.
42:59But you can't be sad overall
43:01because he came back from the wreck.
43:04He's lived a long life.
43:05He's been successful in other things
43:08and he's had a family and fans that still care about him.
43:10And Magnum TA!
43:16That's a 10.
43:17That's it.
43:18That's gotta be some kind of a record.
43:20He pinned him.
43:20It had to be less than 15 seconds.
43:23Is it tough for him day to day?
43:25Oh, you know it's gotta be.
43:27Yeah.
43:28Yeah.
43:29He'll never tell you that.
43:31He had just a small percentage chance of survival
43:34and his ability to overcome absolutely anything
43:39has proven true every day since that accident.
43:41If he wasn't at peace with how it ended,
43:44it wouldn't be so inspirational.
43:47There are so many people out there
43:49that want to know more about his story
43:53to be able to do the things that he can do now.
43:56I live the dream that most people only dream of
44:00and never get to see come to fruition.
44:03The other what if is, you know,
44:05what if I hadn't woke up at all?
44:07And I'm so thankful that I did.