So I was watching old wrestling on YouTube, as one does, and I stumbled upon a channel called The Vintage Wrestling Channel. Hey, that’s exactly what I love: vintage wrestling.
This channel has been around for about 5 months and it features all sorts of rare old matches from the 1970’s and 80’s (I love that Old Timey stuff!), including this violent Texas Bullrope Match between Tom Prichard (in the green trunks) and a hunky Heel named Roy Lee Welch in white. Cocky Roy Lee calls himself the “King of Wrestling” and enters the ring in a crown and robe. Is he the first Heel to work this “King” gimmick?
This is just the kind of rasslin that has always excited me: violent, sleazy as fuck, kinky, and wild. It represents the brutal, no nonsense brutality from the Dirty South, where the promoters and wrestlers understood that cruel tactics were a turn-on.
For example, here we see Welch slug Prichard in the noggin, then crush his throat with a length of rope. That’s totally legal (and totally hot) in a Texas Bullrope match.
I don’t recognize this Roy Lee Welch — I don’t believe I’ve seen any of his matches or blogged about him before.
But I sure like what I see — he’s manly and stout and clearly very smooth and dominating in the ring. He’s a second generation wrestler — son of Lester Welch — who grew up in the ring. And his snug white trunks are a pleasure to gawk at. He really fills them out nicely with his powerful lower body and thick thighs.
By the way, some of my younger readers may be bitching about the blurry, low-def video quality in this recording. Well I actually kind of enjoy it, because back in my younger, hornier days, all we had was blurry, low-def video quality. We watched our rasslin on fuzzy old tube TVs without fancy cable or satellite connections.
We used aerial antennas to try to pick up low-budget rasslin broadcasts from distant cities, and we were ecstatic when we were able to tune it in. We got boned up right away when we caught the signal, even if we had to squint to see what was happening to our beloved Baby-Faces!
So I actually get off on this blurry, low-def video quality because it reminds me of many hours in the basement, spinning the old aerial antenna in circles trying to catch some rare Big Time Wrestling or Superstars of Wrestling or All-Star Wrestling show being broadcast in some far-away land.
Roy Lee beats the shit out of poor Prichard for most of the match, even tossing his ass out of the ring, then yanking him back by the rope like a doggie on a leash. Here is how he brings Prichard back between the ropes — with a beautiful Suplex.
The commentator for this match is the silver-tongued Gordon Solie, perhaps the greatest verbal fluffer of all time. He calls this move a “Vertical Soo-play” — perhaps that is the French name for this move. Whatever you call it, Roy Lee does it well.
The original “King of Wrestling” then punches Prichard in the face until he begins to bleed. At about 5:38 into the match, Solie describes Prichard’s injury as “claret flowing from the head.”
I don’t know why, but when Gordon Solie disburses little nuggets like that, in his calm, professional tone, it just makes me horny. I could use audio recordings of Solie’s colorful commentary as porn.
The in-ring brutality rises another notch when Welch weaponizes the metal cowbell hanging from their bullrope. That’s what it’s there for, right?
At the start of the video, Solie described it very precisely (and very ominously) as “8 feet of Bullrope, with a 3-pound cowbell suspended in the center.” Oh yeah, talk dirty to me Gordo.
Baby-Face Prichard would go on to win (by dragging his opponent around the ring and tapping all 4 corners.)
But Welch is not satisfied with this outcome, so he wraps the rope around Prichard’s neck and hangs him over the top rope, “using that Bullrope as a Hangman’s Knot” as Solie describes it. This scene is so dramatic and cruel and unnecessary — it was the climax for me.
God I love Vintage Wrestling, and I’m so glad to find another YouTube channel dedicated to it! You may be seeing more classic content from this channel as I continue to work my way through the 5 months worth of vintage wrestling action.
The first time I heard Gordon Solie on a wrestling match, I said to myself, “Well, he’s kind of different than what I’m used to hearing.”. He seemed rather sophisticated in his call of a match. No wrestler ever got punched in the gut or the belly. With Solie, it was either the midsection or the solar plexis! As for the match you’ve highlighted here, how often did it seem the bloodiest combatant in these affairs emerged as the winner? I keep thinking of the old Steve Miller song, “Jet Airliner” with the line of…’you’ve got to go through hell before you get to heaven!’. Or, in this case, “Yes, the winner went through hell and looks worse for the wear, but in the end, good triumphed over evil!”.
I love this post. Gordon Solie was terrific. Tom Prichard was a great heel and a great wrestler in general. And what a solid body. I also am really thrilled with the Vintage Wrestling Channel. The match you’ve highlighted is so hot; strangling over the rope always gets me excited. This is the kind of match that got me into wrestling. Many thanks.
You’ve got great taste in wrestling. You get why I found this match to be a big turn-on, for all the same reasons you mentioned. Thanks for speaking up so I know I’m not the only one who is into this style and this era.