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00:30...the only other wrestling promotion in the 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.
00:43There's only one Magnum TA.
00:44There will ever be only one Magnum TA.
00:47It was like being a rock star. I was given the keys to the city. The sky is the limit.
00:52But Magnum's meteoric rise to fame and fortune would end in an instant.
00:57Blow took me right into the roof and my C5 vertebrae exploded.
01:02Throwing his life and career into tragedy and chaos.
01:06He is in the intensive care unit at Charlotte Memorial Hospital.
01:09Terry Allen was the future.
01:12You put all your cards in that basket and the basket was turned over.
01:18This devastating thing changed everyone's reality.
01:21Healthy, wealthy, wise.
01:24All of a sudden, boom, gone.
01:27The story of Magnum TA 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.
01:38This is Wrestlemania.
01:50This is the thing of today.
01:51Hulkamania is running wild.
01:53In the early 1980s, professional wrestling explodes in popularity.
01:57Dominated by Vince McMahon, his star Hulk Hogan, and his powerhouse promotion, the WWF.
02:03Vince McMahon is a genius.
02:05But down south, a rival wrestling company stands in defiance of the growing McMahon empire.
02:11They know that Jim Crockett, the wrestling network, is the best they're going.
02:18That's why they're here.
02:19Yeah.
02:20As smaller companies across the country fold,
02:23Jim Crockett Promotions represents one of the last lines of defense against the WWF's nationwide takeover.
02:30But where the WWF showcases kid-friendly cartoon personas, Crockett's brand of pro wrestling is a world of blood, grit, and glamour.
02:39Soon to appear on Lifestyles of the rich and famous, Mr. Jim Cornett.
02:46I'm Jim Cornett.
02:49I've been involved in wrestling for over 40 years.
02:51But in the 1980s, I was one of the managers that 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, the Road Warriors, the Rock and Roll Express.
03:09It went on and on.
03:11That was the gathering place now for all the top wrestlers that were going to oppose Vince McMahon.
03:19Crockett Promotions around 1985.
03:22We are on the rise.
03:24We're clicking on all four cylinders.
03:26My name is David Crockett.
03:30Jim Crockett is my father.
03:31And I'm Tony Schiavone, joined by Mr. Jim Crockett, president of Jim Crockett Promotions.
03:36You had Vince McMahon, WWF, that was wanting to take over the country.
03:42It is well documented in the official World Wrestling Federation magazine that Mr. Hogan's popularity is indeed worldwide.
03:47And 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 and a legend over here,
04:11you always needed the matinee idol, the movie star, right there in the middle of everything.
04:16Who would be the good guy?
04:20Earliest memories of television, like six, seven years old, were watching professional wrestling with my dad.
04:27And it evoked all these emotions of watching guys 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 because I had no athletic background.
04:46My name is Terry Allen, better known as Magnum TA.
04:50I started out wrestling in the ninth grade, and 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, I ended up winning the state tournament.
05:02Magnum is from Norfolk, Virginia, and he was working at a bar in Virginia Beach,
05:07and that's where tons of the Carolina wrestlers would go because that was kind of a vacation spot.
05:14When you were up in that part of Virginia for the weekend, the guys would go party in Virginia Beach.
05:18In the 70s, I was in college, and I was working security in nightclubs and bars.
05:25And the wrestlers would come down to the place where I worked.
05:29And, you know, they're, you know, ribbing with me because I'm a big guy.
05:34There was a guy there that saw me, and his name was Buzz Sawyer.
05:38Buzz Sawyer was one of the most talented in-ring performers in the history of wrestling
05:44and was one of the most obnoxious, crooked, surly, and discontented son-of-a-bitches in the world outside of him.
05:51So Buzz Sawyer sees me, he, like, all buddy-buddy.
05:55He said, look, you know, it's really hard to get into this business, but I can help you.
06:00But I 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.
06:11Tells us, you know, how tough the business is to get in, but he has these inroads, and he can help me.
06:16And he tells me a wrestling license costs $10,000.
06:20Ten grand.
06:22And my mom and dad are like, phew, ten grand.
06:25Ten grand might as well have been a hundred grand in, you know, 1979.
06:31My mom believed in me, and she went to her dad, my granddaddy Smith.
06:36And he gave me the money.
06:41He gave me the money.
06:42He said, I believe in you.
06:45And so we give him the money, and, you know, 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.
06:57Pooosh.
06:58Mind blown.
06:58Buzz was just trying to bilk an aspiring young man out of some money and saw where he could get it.
07:06He was an asshole.
07:07Wrestling licenses are still a real thing, and were a real thing at that point in states that have athletic commissions.
07:14If they have an athletic commission, you have to be licensed to be a wrestler, a manager, an announcer, or whatever.
07:20They generally cost between $10 and $25.
07:22So, if Buzz Sawyer wasn't going to sell Magnum T.A. any kind of wrestling license.
07:31Should we get that money back for Buzz Sawyer?
07:33No.
07:33So, 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.
07:56And I found out what his apartment number was and knocking on the door.
08:02He opens 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, take a back drop.
08:16It wasn't uncommon in those days if a guy saw some young prospective talent that wanted to train or wanted to be taught.
08:24Yeah, 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 because Magnum turned out to be a bigger star 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.
08:49He 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 earn him admiration from promoters, fans, and fellow wrestlers.
09:13His hard work pays off when a single phone call propels his career to new heights.
09:18Betty Graham, that owns Florida Championship Wrestling, so he, boom, picks up the phone, gives me a call.
09:24He said, I got a spot for you.
09:26And so, again, I pack up all my belongings and off I go back across the country and head south.
09:33That's where the true education of the wrestling business really started, the day I stepped foot in that territory of Florida.
09:42From Virginia Beach, Virginia, weighing in at 240 pounds, Terry Allen!
09:47So, when I first came to the territory in Florida, the booker, the creative development guy, American Dream, Dusty Rose.
09:55Never met him.
09:56I've seen his pictures on the cover of magazines.
09:59Oh, Dusty Rose was one of the greatest wrestlers ever, man.
10:03The best showman ever, without a doubt.
10:05He was our Muhammad Ali.
10:07The booker of a major wrestling promotion is like the major motion picture director in Hollywood.
10:15He decides the final say on the actors, who's going to play the parts, how they're going to do it, what their demeanor is, the way that the thing is shot.
10:23So, the booker was the director, and Dusty Rhodes saw in Magnum T.A. his next movie star.
10:29Dusty had the potential to see talent and charisma within people that didn't know how to bring it out.
10:40Right here is the global JT Dixon, Terry Allen!
10:45And he became the most influential guy on my career of anybody that I ever came in contact with.
10:51Dusty pushed Magnum T.A. to the heights of pro wrestling.
10:56He believed in him. He teamed with him. They were personal friends.
11:01Hello, everyone. This is Bill Apter, and I am the most recognizable journalist and independent broadcaster in the world of pro wrestling for the past 51 years.
11:13People used to say that he looked like Tom Selleck, and Andre the Giant thought so much about that that he said to Magnum,
11:20You look like Tom Selleck. You used to call yourself Magnum T.A.
11:24And that's how it happened.
11:25Back in the 80s, there was a TV show with a star named Tom Selleck, and it was about a detective.
11:31His name was Magnum P.I.
11:33So, Andre looks over at me and he says, Boss, he said, You're ready.
11:36And I said, What do you mean I'm ready? He said, You're ready for something.
11:39He said, But you need a handle.
11:40So, he tied it all together and took the Magnum and the Terry Allen T.A. and put that name together.
11:48After just over a year in Florida, Magnum T.A. returns to the road.
11:53This time, joining the high-octane wrestling circuit known as Mid-South.
11:58Magnum T.A.
11:59Action continues now.
12:01The popular star, Magnum T.A.
12:03Here's Buddy Nichols to tell us about it.
12:05Really a very personable young man, one with a lot of wrestling talent.
12:09And as we mentioned last week, one with a lot of desire and an opportunity to go a long way in this wrestling business.
12:15So, I come to Mid-South as Magnum T.A.
12:20I don't know what Magnum T.A. means at this point in time.
12:24It's a name.
12:25I don't know how this translates into me.
12:28And nor do the people that have brought me in.
12:31So, one week, they're telling me to wear suits and ties.
12:35And we do that for a couple weeks.
12:36And they say, You don't really seem comfortable in that.
12:39So, then they say, Well, maybe punk rock was kind of a thing.
12:43They wanted me to wear some punk rock clothes.
12:45I'm not comfortable at all in this.
12:48But we go through all these little things they're trying 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 you a 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.
13:15And it changed the whole perception immediately of who I was.
13:21Clint Eastwood and Charles Bronson and Bruce Lee and John Wayne all wrapped up in one package in a leather jacket.
13:27He had the perfect look for professional wrestling.
13:31The perfect size, the physique, the face, the whole nine yards.
13:35This incredible it factor that I had not seen in a lot of pro wrestlers.
13:41He had it.
13:43He was going up the ladder, man.
13:45He had it all.
13:46He burned it up there for a while.
13:48And, of course, not very long.
13:51Magnum TA is a rising star and a fan favorite in the Mid-South Territory when he receives an offer that will change the course of his career.
14:08I get the phone call and Dusty says, I want to introduce you to Jim Crockett.
14:13He puts Jim Crockett on the phone with me and says, Look, I will promise you, if you come here, I will give you the greatest opportunity that anybody could ever ask for in the business.
14:24I first met Magnum TA when he walked into the office.
14:29You know, here's this tall, what, 6'1", 6'2", very well built, blonde hair coming down, these piercing eyes and this husky, raspy voice.
14:40Looking at the women in the office, they 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, Magnum 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 is coming to Mid-Atlantic for one reason, one reason only, coming for the U.S. Heavyweight Championship.
15:06Almost immediately, Crockett goes and barters a deal to go on TBS, on the Superstation.
15:12The moment we went on the Superstation, everything changed.
15:15The territory started popping immediately, and we blew the roof off the place.
15:21My 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.
15:40We did talk about having a family, but we were waiting until he became the World Championship title holder.
15:50Here, we were at the baptism of Dusty and Michelle's son, Cody.
15:56It's pretty special.
15:57The minute I make the emotional decision that I'm going to settle down and I'm going to get married,
16:02immediately, my career path says, we want to promote you as a sex symbol.
16:08We want you to be our superstar.
16:11We want you to be the people everybody would tear their hair out and want to get hold of.
16:20He was the rock star.
16:21The cheers for Magnum were the squeals of the women in the audience.
16:26It was hysteria.
16:29It was just absolute insanity.
16:32And it was the wild, wild west from the partying standpoint, the girls in every port and every place.
16:38It was bad.
16:39You know, it 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 every night.
16:49It was insane.
16:50They had more sex on the way to the ring than I've had in my life.
16:52You always play to the audience, whether it's male or female.
16:58I mean, the women crying, they want to get close to him after the match and get blood off of him.
17:04You know, I'll never wash my hands again.
17:09Well, I definitely could see his popularity.
17:14We were in a mall.
17:15We were in a boot store.
17:17And this girl just fainted seeing him.
17:20And she got all flustered and turned red and fainted.
17:25So I think if everyone thinks you're the best thing since sliced bread, you might start believing that.
17:34I didn't work outside of the home.
17:37I always would unpack his wrestling bag from the night before.
17:41And when I was doing that, he had pictures in there.
17:46I had taken out the pictures and I just was flipping through them.
17:51And then I stopped and I was like, wait a minute.
17:54I don't have that bag.
17:56I thought it was me in the picture.
17:59But she had a different handbag than I would have carried.
18:02So, and I realized that wasn't me.
18:07And I hadn't been wherever they were.
18:09So.
18:11As Terry's rising fame pushes his marriage to the brink, a powerful opponent emerges.
18:16A Soviet-era strongman bringing the Cold War to the wrestling ring.
18:21Was I intimidated by Magnum T.A.?
18:23I think it was the other way around.
18:25I think he was intimidated by me.
18:29I am Nikita Koloff, better known to the wrestling fans as the Russian Nightmares.
18:35You think he's going to run?
18:38Take a look at Nikita now.
18:4022, Adrian now.
18:42I hail from the great state of Minnesota, not from Russia like I portrayed back in the wrestling days.
18:49Well, in the 80s, the 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, a match made in heaven.
19:12And they had this incredible series, the 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 Koloff, and the former champion, Magnum T.A.
19:27There's got to be a clear-cut winner for four matches.
19:31And Nikita Koloff, there's never going to be a day in my life that I had to look up to a Russian and call you a superior athlete.
19:37Match number one, I 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 and how each match was finished, you know, whether it was a dominating victory on my part, going up two-to-nothing.
19:55And then to go up three-to-nothing.
19:58And then he catches me by surprise and he wins that first.
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.
20:23And it's going to come down to that final match, number seven.
20:27And the man standing before you right now is the man that's going to take it all home, bring it home right here, 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, the 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, now he's got to chase and get back that U.S. title.
21:04That, by the way, set you up as number one contender for the world heavyweight title back in those days.
21:10Now the chase is on.
21:121986 was pretty much the culmination of a long-running rivalry between Dusty Rhodes and Ric Flair for the world title.
21:22And next in line, whenever that trigger would have been pulled, was Ric Flair and Magnum T.A.
21:28Into 87, 88, that 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 N.W.A.?
21:34Ric Flair or Magnum T.A.?
21:36In the 70s, 80s, the National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight title was 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, because the powers that be loved him, you know, and they trusted him.
21:56The powers that be are the promoters of the National Wrestling Alliance, the governing body of the majority of the nation's regional territories, including Jim Crockett Promotions.
22:07There was a meeting that Dusty and I and Jim Crockett had where we flew up to New York, went out to dinner, and they told me that the decision had been made,
22:18the N.W.A. had blessed it, and that I was going to be the next world's heavyweight champion.
22:22The trajectory was to take the next step, move away from Nikita so I could move back into that chase.
22:33But in the meantime, we've got this new, brash, fresh, smack-talking heel named Jimmy Garvin that comes in, and we've got this great new opportunity.
22:43This is gorgeous Jimmy Garvin!
22:48In this angle with Terry and Patty and I was going to be huge.
22:51And I have confidence because I know that I'm the greatest athlete in the world, and nobody could beat me.
22:58But, you know, I had that match with him in Greenville, South Carolina that night.
23:02A heck of a match, and we were getting ready to blow the territory wide open.
23:07It just never happened because that was the night of this incident.
23:09And now, here's your host, senior editor of Pro Wrestling Illustrated, Bill Lafter.
23:23Last week's show with Magnum T.A. got such a great response, we've asked the U.S. champ, Magnum T.A., to be with us again this week.
23:30Magnum, 1985 was a darn good year for you.
23:33What's 86 having in store for you?
23:35Well, 86 would be a continuation of the quest that I started in 1985, which was for the World's Heavyweight Championship held by Ric Flair.
23:42He was going right to the top.
23:44I could not see any road taking him anywhere else except to the top.
23:50We had everything sunk into him.
23:53Terry Allen was the future.
23:55As Magnum T.A. closes in on the heavyweight title, he begins living the life of a world champion.
24:02At that time, I had more money than I had since.
24:04I'd walked into the Porsche dealership, and they had a brand-new 911 Turbo sitting on the floor.
24:09And that was the Mac Daddy.
24:11Write me up.
24:11I'm taking it.
24:12It was quick, and it was cool, and I had the need for speed, like Top Gun.
24:18You know, it had a combustion engine in it, and it was loud, and it was fast.
24:23I liked it.
24:24My plan was to have a run with the belt in 27, by the time I'm 30, out of it, and then go drive NASCARs.
24:31I didn't want to be running around in my underwear in front of people at 37 years old.
24:35I thought that was ridiculous.
24:38On October 14, 1986, after defeating gorgeous Jimmy Garvin in front of a roaring crowd in South Carolina,
24:45Magnum T.A. hits the road in his prized Porsche 911.
24:50I'm five minutes from my house.
24:52I'm on a two-lane road, and I've driven hundreds of times, and it's like the horse turns the corner,
24:57and he knows the barn's right there, and I'm on the track.
24:59It was raining so hard, you know, coming back, you could barely see.
25:06The road that I was traveling on that night had a little slight bend curve in it.
25:11Right in the middle of the curve was a little divot in the road where water had gathered probably two, three inches of water all the way across the road.
25:21When I went around the corner, and that dipped right in the middle of the car hydroplanes.
25:25When a car hydroplanes, it means your tire patch loses contact with that road.
25:30So my tires were actually floating on top of that water.
25:34So I did what I had done before to counteract something, and I made the situation worse.
25:40The car spun violently the other direction, and I broadsided the telephone pole so hard that I cut it in half.
25:48It happened so fast, it was violent, and the blow was like I had been hit by a freight train.
26:01I didn't know I was not okay until I couldn't move, and I was so big in the car that my shoulder was right up against the door,
26:09and I had just maybe an inch of headroom, so the blow took me right into the roof.
26:15The emergency crew came, and one of them grabbed me by my jacket to try to pull me up.
26:21And the other guy stopped and said, no, no, I can't move.
26:25So they used the jaws of life, cut the whole top of the car off, peeled it back like a tin can, and stabilized me.
26:31They couldn't airlift me out because it was raining so hard it took me by ambulance.
26:35It changed my life, it changed the people I worked for, it changed my family, it changed everybody in a nanosecond.
26:43The police called me. They were taking him to the hospital. On my way to the hospital, I was behind the tow truck that had his Porsche on it.
27:00And to see the Porsche the way it was, was very frightening. The roof was off. It was a mess. It looked like he probably was dead.
27:12Well, they took me aside and they told me that he had fractured his vertebrae. They needed to get him into surgery quickly.
27:24My first view of a medical professional that's giving me a diagnosis, you know, he used the words C5 quadriplegic and neck down paralysis.
27:34Me into one shot of ever attaining any level of mobility beyond sitting in a wheelchair and being taken care of by someone for the rest of your life.
27:44Matter of fact, they were just trying to figure out how I was going to breathe.
27:47They said my lungs were paralyzed. I mean, they were saying things to me like,
27:50well, maybe you might be able to be on an iron lung instead of a ventilator.
27:54The guy's in intensive care. They've got him all hooked up. They keep him sedated.
28:00You just fear it for the worst. You know, it was, you know, is he truly going to make it?
28:07You know, what was going through his mind?
28:10They're shooting me up with morphine every time I blink because they can't communicate with me.
28:15If I try to communicate anything, they think I'm hurting.
28:19So I'm in such bad shape. They're just zapping me with the moon and stars.
28:26My brother came in. He just said, he'll never ever get in the ring again.
28:34According to the police report, Alan was going south here on Sardis Road, away from town,
28:47when his car went off the road on the far side back there, about 200 feet.
28:51He apparently tried to correct and bring it back onto the road, but it was slippery.
28:55And he ended up on this side, slamming into this telephone pole with enough force to break it in half.
29:04Memorial spokesperson Cecily Newton explained that Magnum has a spinal cord injury that is localized to the fifth cervical vertebrae.
29:11And it exploded. It sent those bone fragments back and created compression on the spinal cord.
29:18It was on every news channel. You saw the pictures of that car, and it's an absolute miracle that anybody was alive.
29:25It was completely destroyed. It was the front page of the Charlotte Observer.
29:30It's a type of situation where you don't believe it has happened until you actually see him.
29:35And no one has been able to see him, so we're still kind of stunned.
29:39Radio, newspaper, we really didn't have internet, so it was all word of mouth.
29:45I'm sorry, ma'am. That's the only thing I'm permitted to release at this time.
29:49Memorial Hospital has fielded some eight to ten thousand phone calls about Magnum T.A.
29:53since the wrestling star was admitted. The hospital lobby looks like a florist convention.
29:58I think he received the most letters of anyone there at their hospital.
30:03I do have the newspaper clippings and bags and bags of mail we receive.
30:09The hospital got so many calls, they had to shut the switchboard down.
30:14There were candlelight vigils of fans outside the hospital.
30:18We love you, my mom!
30:21A lot of people held them close to their heart.
30:24Arian Allen has been with her son since the accident.
30:28This afternoon, she wanted to thank all of the people who have sent prayers and cards.
30:33It has been rough in a lot of cases, but I just don't think I could have gotten through this time
30:38without all that love and positive energy that I felt flowing around me.
30:41Back in the day, we didn't go to the hospital because Kay Fabe.
30:46You know, I was a heel. He was a babyface.
30:49Didn't go to the hospital. We just didn't do it.
30:53In the 1980s, wrestlers and promoters still go to great lengths to maintain the illusion that wrestling is real.
30:59A practice known as keeping Kay Fabe.
31:03So Flair and the horsemen or any of the heels couldn't go to the hospital and see Magnum.
31:10So what they did was, one of our people who worked at the office was also a Charlotte City police officer.
31:15And he arranged with the hospital to sneak Flair and some of his guys up a back stairway and into the room in the middle of the night
31:22so that nobody would see him so they could go and see Magnum.
31:28Flair came in my room with the 10 pounds of gold, laid it on my chest, said,
31:32I'm giving you this one. I'm waiting for you to come back in the ring and get the other one.
31:37When Magnum had his accident, he was obviously automatically without income.
31:42And in this case, all of the guys on the roster got together and said,
31:46we will donate whatever from our check per week to Magnum and Jim Crockett as the promoter would match the total of everything that was collected by the wrestlers.
31:57So whether it was $25 a week or $50 a week out of everybody's check, but there were 30 guys and then he'd match it.
32:07What's your rule in his recovery?
32:09I was there every day. I went to the hospital every day and I helped feed him, bathe him, helped him with everything that he needed.
32:21So I don't really get to have real soul searching moments about all of this for about 30 days.
32:28When things cleared a little bit, I got out of the ICU, got in a room,
32:32people were able to start relaying things to me that was going on in the outside world that 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 so talented and in good shape.
32:44I don't want it to end his career or nothing.
32:47Immediately I felt horrible.
32:49Not for me, but for my friends, for Dusty, for Jimmy, because I knew everything they had built around me.
32:56Their whole future and plans and everything is built around me. There was no plan B.
33:01Magnum TA was this shooting star that we attached ourselves to. We were flying high with him. There was nothing to stop us.
33:13But then that shooting star went dark and with that we went dark. We were trying to find our way just like Magnum was trying to find his way.
33:22I'm on a tour in Japan. My first night back is in the city of brotherly love of Philadelphia.
33:31Dusty and Jim Crockett pulled me into an office and it took him a few minutes as I recall to really convince me like,
33:39No, we're not kidding. Like this is for real. He's lying in a hospital in Charlotte, North Carolina right now fighting for his life.
33:48He's Dusty's guy. He's his bread and butter. He's groomed to be the next world heavyweight champion. So obviously this leaves a void.
33:59The last two weeks have been very difficult for Dusty Rhodes, the American dream.
34:02Because Magnum TA and Dusty Rhodes made their own rules. We love fast cars and fast times and that's the way we lived on the end of that lightning bolt that crashes through this vast earth of ours.
34:17So Dusty and Crockett and everybody else was faced with, well, what do you do when you're still making a movie but your star is gone? You gotta find a new star.
34:25At that point, there was no major wrestling name that was just floating around waiting for a phone call. So Dusty looked within his own roster and said who can possibly not take Magnum's spot and look like him and act like him and do the same thing that will be seen as a copy of him, but who can take that spot and do it in a completely different way?
34:48And I have a new partner. And that's Nikita Kolov. I'm like the number one most hated guy in wrestling right now. I mean, the fans love to hate me and I'm rushing. At this juncture, I'm only two and a half years into my career.
35:06With the new plan in place, the challenge becomes selling the story to the fans.
35:11Jim Crockett called me and he says, would you be willing to come up to the hospital? Magnum's asking for you. He needs to talk to his fans nationally about what's going on and you guys' magazines are the only way to do this.
35:27Reporting from Magnum's bedside, Bill Apter helps to engineer Nikita's transformation into a babyface hero.
35:33Bill Apter was the only from the magazine side that I had built a bond with and I trusted.
35:42The story that was worked on was so heartwarming because Nikita Kolov, and we had a picture of this on one of the wrestling magazines, that there was a tear coming down Nikita's eyes for the cover.
35:55And he said, I cry for Magnum TA.
35:57And for the fans, for the very first time, oh my gosh, Nikita really does have a heart.
36:05There was literally millions of people like watching from the sidelines now, that they were looking at this man that's now fighting this real life battle.
36:15And they're all pulling for me. How's he going to handle it? What's he going to do?
36:18Despite being partially paralyzed and confined to a hospital for months, Terry Allen refuses to give up.
36:33We all love him and we hope he gets better so he can wrestle. If not wrestle, at least, you know, be a part of the NWA still.
36:38In April of 1987, Crockett hatches a plan to bring Magnum TA back at one of the biggest events of the year.
36:47Baltimore Arena, Terry Allen, a.k.a. Magnum TA, is going to make his first appearance back in an arena.
36:55And to see him again in person was just something it's hard to put into words.
37:02Magnum TA!
37:09For me, watching Terry Allen walk down that aisle, that shows me that you can overcome almost anything and never give up.
37:18I mean, for a guy who is supposed to be lifted out of a bed and fed the rest of his life and bathed and all of that,
37:25to be able to walk under his own power was an absolute miracle in and of itself.
37:31I mean, I got choked up, like for real, because it was a surreal moment.
37:36I can remember the moment and the emotion and the feel and the fans and just like it was yesterday.
37:43It was one of the most emotional moments I've ever experienced.
37:46They saw me come from, you know, death's door to never going to walk again to, my gosh, you walk to the ring.
37:53Despite his enduring popularity, it's clear that Magnum's wrestling days have come to a permanent end, leaving 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.
38:09I was an intelligent guy. I was still well-spoken, so I worked as a color commentator for a while.
38:16I'll be working with you, Magnum. I really look forward to that.
38:19I know all the fans in Chicago look forward to seeing you again.
38:21It's going to be great, and I can't wait.
38:24Magnum finding his niche in wrestling after his accident was very hard, because being around it, you always want to be back in it.
38:34The hard times continue for Magnum behind the scenes.
38:39We settled into a normal life. I thought our marriage was doing well, but...
38:46We stayed together for about a month after I got out of the hospital.
38:51There was some infidelity past the accident.
38:56I felt like I had given pretty much everything I had.
39:01I just couldn't do that anymore.
39:06And it was so overwhelming for her, because the realities of all the things that had taken place on the road,
39:13you know, she becomes aware of, because I'm forthcoming.
39:16And I feel bad about it. This is a bad deal.
39:20I loved him very much. It was hard for me to leave him.
39:25But I think at some point, you're just like, once something is done again, you know, how many times can you let that happen?
39:36As Terry's relationship ends, the once mighty Crockett Promotions implodes.
39:43At this point, nobody on either side of the wrestling war or any of the fans or the observers realized exactly how crucial this was going to be a point in the wrestling business.
39:53All of a sudden, they had to start from scratch.
39:56In 1988, Crockett makes a deal with media mogul Ted Turner, leading to the birth of World Championship Wrestling and the end of an era for wrestling fans.
40:06If Terry Allen had never been in the accident, the future of the NWA, Jim Crockett Promotions, the sky's the limit.
40:25Do you ever wonder what if about your wrestling career?
40:27I do. I totally would have been satisfied being recognized as the world's heavyweight champion, having my run, having my time in the sun, and passing it off to the next 20-year-old that thought he could do it better.
40:39If he never had the accident, movies, commercials, lifestyle, the World Heavyweight Championship.
40:47When they see Magnum TA come out there to defend the United States Heavyweight Championship, they know that I'm the man that they can stand behind because I'm always out there 100%.
40:56You know, he was right at the brink of becoming the world champion, no doubt.
41:02For it to be gone in the blink of an eye, man, it should be a lesson for everybody, you know, that life can change that quick.
41:12One time, I remember Dusty and I, we were in Columbia at the Township Auditorium.
41:17We're sitting on the back steps, and he said, can you imagine how successful we could be at something else
41:23if we worked as hard at it as we are at this? And he was right.
41:29I've used the same commitment with the new opportunity as I had done all those years, and attacked it with the same ferocity that I had when I was chasing the world title.
41:41He is an individual that will not give up. Here's a man that is classified as a quadriplegic. He's not gonna let it slow him down.
41:52Terry decides to leave the wrestling world behind and sets his sights on a new career far from the squared circle. Along the way, he also finds another chance at love.
42:03My name is Courtney Blanchard-Allen, and I am Terry Allen's wife. I first met Terry Allen in 1997.
42:12Both of us were going through divorces, and we became really, really good friends and leaned on each other a lot for support during that time.
42:20And through that friendship, developed an intimacy and a relationship. He's my best friend.
42:28For me, it's another miracle. I was given a chance to have a family. So I've done my best to be steady and make a secure home and loving home for all the kids.
42:41Make sure they were all provided and well taken care of and loved. And it's been an amazing ride.
42:46It was the end of Magnum TA, but it wasn't the end of Terry Allen.
42:50You can be sad for what could have been, what the wrestling fans could have seen, that they would have enjoyed, and what he could have accomplished.
42:58But you can't be sad overall because he came back from the wreck. He's lived a long life. He's been successful in other things.
43:07And he's had a family and fans that still care about him.
43:10That's a pin. That's it. That's gotta be some kind of a record.
43:19He pinned him. It had to be less than 15 seconds.
43:22Is it tough for him day to day?
43:24Oh, you know it's gotta be. Yeah. Yeah. He'll never tell you that.
43:30He had just a small percentage chance of survival. And his ability to overcome absolutely anything has proven true every day since that accident.
43:41If he wasn't at peace with how it ended, it wouldn't be so inspirational.
43:46There are so many people out there that want to know more about his story to be able to do the things that he can do now.
43:55I live the dream that most people only dream of and never get to see come to fruition.
44:02The other what if is, you know, what if I hadn't woke up at all? And I'm so thankful that I did.
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