Dark Side of the Ring S04E02 Shattered: The Magnum T.A. Story

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Transcript

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.

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