Scott Bowden presents Kentucky Fried Rasslin

In the mid-’80s, a lot of traditional wrestling fans were outraged when Vince McMahon took the business into an unprecedented campy direction, with outrageous comedy skits, music videos with babyfaces and heels singing together, and his tongue-in-cheek commentary not only on his wrestling TV programs but also as the host of his “Tuesday Night Titans” (TNT) talk show, in which he attempted to be Johnny Carson to Lord Alfred Hayes’ Ed McMahon.

To Memphis wrestling fans, though this hokey stuff was nothing new. Case in point: Christmas morning 1976 fell on a Saturday, so the live weekly show from the WHBQ TV Channel 13 Studio (before Jerry Jarrett moved the program to WMC-TV 5 the following year) could not take place. Instead, the promotion decided to tape a Christmas-themed episode, providing a glimpse into the approach the McMahon machine would take eight years later.

Not only do we receive holiday greetings from Memphis legends Jackie Fargo and Tojo Yamamoto, but we also see that Christmas wishes do in fact come true, courtesy of Jerry Lawler and Bill Dundee.  (During the Rocky Johnson segment, keep an eye out for a cameo by the little boy would become the Most Electrifying Superstar in Sports Entertainment History. If you smelllllllalala what I’m cookin’.)

A camp classic that only Memphis could pull off in the ’70s-funny stuff.