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00:34There'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 TA.
00:44There will ever be only one Magnum TA.
00:46It was like being a rock star.
00:48I was giving 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.
00:59And my C5 vertebrae 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.
01:26The story of Magnum TA is the story of what might have been.
01:30Not just for the man himself, but for the entire wrestling world.
01:35He was told he would not walk again.
01:48This is WrestleMania. This 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, 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. Yeah!
02:20As smaller companies across the country fold, Jim Crockett Promotions represents one of the last lines of defense against the
02:28WWF'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,
02:38and glamour.
02:39Soon to appear on Lifestyles of the rich and famous, Mr. Jim Cornette!
02:48I'm Jim Cornette. I'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.
03:10That 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.
03:27My name is David Crockett.
03:29Jim 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's well documented in the official World Wrestling Federation magazine that 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.
04:03Crockett needed somebody for the future.
04:06And if you had a character, kick-ass babyface over here and a legend over here, you always needed the
04:12matinee 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.
04:26And it evoked all these emotions of watching guys that were like real live-action superheroes.
04:32So as a little kid, you start thinking, maybe, 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.
04:45My name is Cherry Allen, better known as Magnum TA.
04:49I 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
05:01state tournament.
05:02Magnum is from Norfolk, Virginia.
05:04And he was working at a bar in Virginia Beach, and that's where tons of the Carolina wrestlers would go.
05:10Because that was kind of a vacation spot when 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, and I was working security in nightclubs and bars.
05:24And the wrestlers would come down to the place where I work.
05:29And, you know, they're, you know, ribbing with me because I'm a big guy.
05:33There was a guy there that saw me, and his name was Buzz Sawyer.
05:39Buzz Sawyer was one of the most talented in-ring performers in the history of wrestling
05:43and was one of the most obnoxious, crooked, surly, and discontented son-of-a-bitches in the world outside of
05:50me.
05:50So Buzz Sawyer sees me be 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.
06:02So 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, you know, 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.
06:20Ten grand.
06:21And my mom and dad are like, phew, ten grand.
06:25Ten grand might as well.
06:26I bet a hundred grand in, you know, 1979.
06:31My mom believed in me and she went to her dad, my granddaddy Smith.
06:38And he gave me the money.
06:41He gave me the money.
06:42He said, I believe in you.
06:46And so we give him the money.
06:49And, 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.
06:56Push.
06:57Mind blown.
07:00Buzz was just trying to bilk an aspiring young man out of some money
07:04and saw where he could get it.
07:05He was an asshole.
07:07Wrestling licenses are still a real thing.
07:10And we're 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,
07:18a manager, an announcer, whatever.
07:20They generally cost between $10 and $25.
07:25So if Buzz Sawyer wasn't going to sell Magnum TA any kind of wrestling license.
07:31Should we 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.
07:56I found out what his apartment number was and knocking on the door.
08:01He 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 backdrop.
08:16It wasn't uncommon in those days if a guy saw some young prospective talent that wanted to train or wanted
08:24to be taught.
08:24Yeah, I'll take this guy. He's an idiot. We'll run him off, whatever.
08:28But in this case, it came back to bite him because Magnum turned out to be a bigger star than
08:33Buzz 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. They think I'm trained.
08:42They think Buzz trained me. Well, he did. He trained me for two hours.
08:45And then I got booked seven nights a week.
08:48I knew Magnum from the get-go. He burst onto the scene, man.
08:51He was a breath of fresh air to watch.
08:53Jake the Snake Roberts!
08:58I am what's left of Jake the Snake Roberts.
09:01He was no sucker, man. He 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.
09:21So 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.
09:39The day I stepped foot in that territory of Florida.
09:42From Virginia Beach, Virginia, weighing 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. I've seen his pictures on the cover of magazines.
09:59Oh, Dusty Rose was one of the greatest wrestlers ever, man.
10:02The best showman ever, without a doubt. He was our Muhammad Ali.
10:07The booker of a major wrestling promotion is like the major motion picture director in Hollywood.
10:14He decides the final say on the actors, who'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.
10:23So the booker was the director, and Dusty Rhodes saw in Magnum TA his next movie star.
10:32Dusty had the potential to see talent and charisma within people that didn't know how to bring it out.
10:39And he became the most influential guy on my career of anybody that I ever came in contact with.
10:51Dusty pushed Magnum TA to the heights of pro wrestling. He believed in him. He teamed with him. They were
10:59personal friends.
11:00Hello, everyone. This is Bill Apter, and I am the most recognizable journalist and independent broadcaster in the world of
11:08pro 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
11:19he said to Magnum,
11:20You look like Tom Selleck, you used to call yourself Magnum TA.
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
11:30detective, and his name was Magnum PI.
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. So he tied it all together and took the Magnum and the Terry
11:44Allen TA and put that name together.
11:48After just over a year in Florida, Magnum TA returns to the road, this time joining the high-octane wrestling
11:55circuit known as Mid-South.
11:58Magnum TA. Action continues now. The popular star, Magnum TA. Here's Buddy Nichols to tell us about it.
12:05Really a very personable young man, one with a lot of wrestling talent.
12:08And as we mentioned last week, one with a lot of desire and an opportunity to go a long way
12:14in this wrestling business.
12:16So I come to Mid-South as Magnum TA.
12:20I don't know what Magnum TA means at this point in time. It's a name.
12:24I 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.
12:34And we do that for a couple weeks and they say, you don't really seem comfortable in that.
12:38So then they say, well, maybe punk rock was kind of a thing they wanted me to wear like some
12:44punk rock clothes.
12:45I'm not comfortable at all in this.
12:47But we go through all these little things they're trying to do.
12:52Nothing's clicking.
12:54So I called Dusty up. I said, I need to do something else. They don't know what to do with
12:58me.
12:58He said, I got it, baby. I got it. It's all good.
13:00He 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 and 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
13:26jacket.
13:27He had the perfect look for professional wrestling.
13:31The perfect size, the physique, the face, the whole nine yards.
13:34This incredible it factor that I had not seen in a lot of pro wrestlers. He had it.
13:43He was going up the ladder, man. He had it all. He burned it up there for a while.
13:48And of course, not very long.
13:59Magnum T.A. is a rising star and a fan favorite in the Mid-South Territory when he receives an
14:06offer 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.
14:13But Jim Crockett on the phone with me and says, look, I will promise you if you come here, I
14:18will give you the greatest opportunity that anybody could ever ask for in the business.
14:24I first met Magnum T.A. when he walked into the office.
14:28You know, here's this tall, what, 6'1", 6'2", very well built, blonde hair coming down, these piercing eyes
14:36and this husky raspy voice.
14:40Looking at the women in the office, they do that. So that is the total package. The camera, who is
14:49the main judge, loved him.
14:51All the fans have been waiting for this man, Magnum T.A., and here he is.
14:56You didn't have to put lights on to make him look good. He just, he glowed.
15:01Magnum T.A. is coming to Mid-Atlantic for one reason, one reason only, coming for the U.S. Heavyweight
15:05Championship.
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.
15:33He got this raincoat jacket. He loved it. It was his Jesse James look.
15:41We 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. It'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,
16:03immediately my career path says, we want to promote you as a sex symbol.
16:08We want you to be our superstar. We want you to be the people everybody would tear their hair out
16:15and want to get hold of.
16:19He was the rock star. The cheers for Magnum were the squeals of the women in the audience. It was
16:27hysteria.
16:29It was just absolute insanity. And it was wild, wild west from the partying standpoint, the girls in every port
16:37and every place.
16:37It was bad. You know, it was like Animal House 24-7. It was more than any red blooded male
16:43could handle.
16:45They were getting the motel key and panty treatment every night. It was insane.
16:50They had more sex on the way to the ring than I've had in my life.
16:55You always play to the audience, whether it's male or female. I mean, the women crying.
17:00They want to get close to him after the match and get the blood off of him.
17:04You know, I'll never wash my hands again.
17:09Well, I definitely could see his popularity. We were in a mall. We were in a boot store.
17:17And this girl just fainted seeing him. 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. I always would unpack his wrestling bag from the night before.
17:42And 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. I don't have that bag.
17:55I thought it was me in the picture, but she had a different handbag than I would have carried.
18:03So I realized that wasn't me and I hadn't been wherever they were.
18:10So...
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.
18:20Was I intimidated by Magnum Thier? I think it was the other way around. I think he was intimidated by
18:28me.
18:28I am Nikita Koloff, better known to the wrestling fans as the Russian Nightmares.
18:41I 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 Thier, American made.
18:58So you had the Russian might against American made.
19:02Magnum Thier, or Mega Thier, 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.
19:11And 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 Thier...
19:27There's gotta be a clear-cut winner for four matches!
19:30And Nikita Koloff, there's never gonna be a day in my life that I had to look up to a
19:35Russian and call you a superior athlete.
19:38Match number one, I have set myself to be this physical specimen, and so to go up one-nothing.
19:45So, the way we just built the story, and how each match was finished, you know, whether it was a
19:51dominating 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 Thierry!
20:09He slips by and wins three-to-two.
20:12Oh my gosh, there's hope.
20:14There's hope for America.
20:17Match number six, and he squeaks out another victory, and now it's three-to-three, and it's gonna come down
20:24to that final match number seven.
20:28The man standing before you right now is the man that's gonna take it all home, bring it home right
20:33here, United States of America.
20:36It couldn't have been set up any better.
20:41And Nikita Koloff gets the one-two-three.
20:46Man, I wanna tell you, the fans were not happy that night, boy.
20:52Talk about heat.
20:53The heat on me elevated to a whole nother level.
20:59And 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.
21:141986 was pretty much the culmination of a long-running rivalry between Dusty Rhodes and Ric Flair for the world
21:21title.
21:22And next in line, whenever that trigger would have been pulled, was Ric Flair and Magnum TA.
21:28Into 87, 88, that would have been the direction they were going.
21:31Who's gonna be the world champion?
21:32Who's gonna be the dominant guy in the NWA, Ric Flair or Magnum TA?
21:35In the 70s, 80s, the National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight title was the most coveted wrestling title you could go
21:44after.
21:44That 10 pounds of gold belt was an amazing thing.
21:48And he was gonna get that, no doubt about it, because the powers that be loved him, you know, and
21:56they trusted him.
21:57The powers that be are the promoters of the National Wrestling Alliance, the governing body of the majority of the
22:03nation'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
22:14out to dinner.
22:15And they told me that the decision had been made, the NWA had blessed it, and that I was gonna
22:21be the next world's heavyweight champion.
22:24The trajectory was to take the next step, move away from Nikita, so I could move back into that chase.
22:32But in the meantime, we've got this new, brash, fresh, smack-talking heel named Jimmy Garvin that comes in, and
22:41we got this great new opportunity.
22:43This is gorgeous Jimmy Garvin!
22:47In this angle with Terry and Patty and I was gonna 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.
23:06It just never happened because that was the night of this incident.
23:16And now, here's your host, senior editor of Pro Wrestling Illustrated, Bill Lafter.
23:23Last week's show with Magnum TA.
23:25Got such a great response, we've asked the U.S. champ Magnum TA to be with us again this week.
23:30Magnum, 1985 was a darn good year for you.
23:33What's 86 have in store for you?
23:35Well, 86 will be a continuation of the quest that I started in 1985,
23:39which was for the World's Heavyweight Championship held by Ric Flair.
23:42He was going right to the top. I could not see any road taking him anywhere else except to the
23:49top.
23:49We had everything sunk into him.
23:53Terry Allen was the future.
23:55As Magnum TA 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.
24:11It'd write 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, 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,
24:29and 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.
24:37On October 14th, 1986, after defeating gorgeous Jimmy Garvin in front of a roaring crowd in South Carolina, Magnum TA
24:47hits the road in his prized Porsche 911.
24:51I'm five minutes from my house.
24:53I'm on a two-lane road and I've driven hundreds of times.
24:56It's like the horse turns the corner and notice the barn's right there and I'm on the track.
25:03It was raining so hard, you know, coming back you could barely see.
25:07The road that I was traveling on that night had a little slight bend curve in it.
25:12Right in the middle of the curve was a little divot in the road where water had gathered probably two,
25:19three inches of water all the way across the road.
25:22When I went around the corner and that dip right in the middle of the car hydroplanes.
25:25When a car hydroplanes it means your tire patch loses contact with that road.
25:31So 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.
25:41The car spun violently the other direction and I broadsided the telephone pole so hard that I cut it in
25:48half.
25:49It happened so fast it was violent and the blow was like I had been hit by a freight train.
26:02I didn't know I was not okay until I couldn't move.
26:05And I was so big in the car that my shoulder was right up against the door and I had
26:11just maybe an inch of headroom.
26:14So the blow took me right into the roof.
26:16The 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
26:29tin can and it stabilized me.
26:32They couldn't airlift me out because it was raining so hard it took me by ambulance.
26:36It changed my life, it changed the people I work for, it changed my family, it changed everybody in a
26:42nanosecond.
26:47The police called me. They were taking him to the hospital. On my way to the hospital, I was behind
26:57the 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.
27:09It 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
27:21into surgery quickly.
27:24My first view of a medical professional that's giving me a diagnosis, you know, he used the words C5 quadriplegic
27:31and neck down paralysis.
27:34Me into one shot of ever attaining any level of mobility beyond sitting in a wheelchair and being taken care
27:41of 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. They said my lungs
27:48were paralyzed.
27:48I mean, they were saying things to me like, well, maybe you might be able to be on an iron
27:52lung instead of a ventilator.
27:54The guy's in intensive care. They've got him all hooked up. They keep him sedated. You just fear it for
28:02the worst.
28:03You know, it was, you know, is he truly going to make it? You know, what was going through his
28:09mind?
28:10They're shooting me up with morphine every time I blink because they can't communicate with me.
28:16If I try to communicate anything, they think I'm hurting. So I'm in such bad shape. They're just zapping me
28:22with the moon and stars.
28:26My brother came in. He just said, he'll never, ever get in the ring again.
28:43According to the police report, Alan was going south here on Sardis Road, away from town, when his car went
28:48off the road on the far side back there, about 200 feet.
28:50He 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.
29:17It was on every news channel. You saw the pictures of that car and it's absolute miracle that anybody was
29:25alive.
29:25It was completely destroyed. It was the front page of the Charlotte Observer.
29:31It's a type of situation where you don't believe it has happened until you actually see him.
29:36And no one has been able to see him. So we're still kind of stunned.
29:38Radio, 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.
29:48Memorial Hospital has fielded some 8,000 to 10,000 phone calls about Magnum TA since the wrestling star was
29:54admitted.
29:55The 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 received.
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!
30:20A lot of people held them close to their heart.
30:25Arian 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.
30:32It has been rough in a lot of cases, but I just don't think I could have gotten through this
30:38time
30:38without all that love and positive energy that I felt flowing around me.
30:42Back in the day, like, 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.
31:00A practice known as keeping Kay Fabe.
31:03So Flair and the Horseman 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
31:15officer,
31:16and he arranged with the hospital to sneak Flair and some of his guys up a back stairway
31:22and into the room in the middle of the night so that nobody would see him so they could go
31:25and 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 and wait 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,
31:47we will donate whatever from our check per week to Magnum and Jim Crockett as the promoter would match the
31:55total of everything that was collected by the wrestlers.
31:58So whether it was $25 a week or $50 a week out of everybody's check, but there were 30 guys
32:03and 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
32:16him 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,
32:31people were able to start relaying things to me that was going on in the outside world that I was
32:36pretty 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.
32:46Immediately 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.
33:02Magnum TA was this shooting star that we attached ourselves to. We were flying high with him. There was nothing
33:12to stop us.
33:13But then that shooting star went dark. And with that, we went dark. We were trying to find our way
33:20just like Magnum was trying to find his way.
33:23I'm on a tour in Japan. My first night back is in the city of brotherly love, Philadelphia.
33:31Dusty and Jim Crockett pulled me into an office. And it took him a few minutes, as I recall, to
33:38really 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
33:45fighting 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
33:56leaves a void.
33:59The last two weeks have been very difficult for Dusty Rhodes, the American dream.
34:03Because Magnum TA and Dusty Rhodes made their own rules.
34:08We love fast cars and fast times. And that's the way we lived on the end of that lightning bolt
34:13that crashes through this vast earth of eyes.
34:18So Dusty and Crockett and everybody else was faced with, well, what do you do when you're still making a
34:22movie, but your star is gone?
34:24You got to find a new star. At that point, there was no major wrestling name that was just floating
34:31around waiting for a phone call.
34:32So Dusty looked within his own roster and said, who can possibly not take Magnum's spot and look like him
34:42and act like him and do the same thing that will be seen as a copy of him.
34:45But who can take that spot and do it in a completely different way?
34:49And I have a new partner.
34:53And that's Nikita Kolov.
34:55I'm like the number one most hated guy in wrestling right now. I mean, the fans love to hate me.
35:00And I'm rushing.
35:02At 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.
35:12Jim Crockett called me and he says, would you be willing to come up to the hospital? Magnum's asking for
35:19you.
35:19He needs to talk to his fans nationally about what's going on. And you guys, magazines are the only way
35:26to do this.
35:27Reporting from Magnum's bedside, Bill Apter helps to engineer Nikita's transformation into a babyface hero.
35:34Bill 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
35:49one of the wrestling magazines,
35:51that there was a tear coming down Nikita's eyes for the cover. And he said, I cry for Magnum TA.
35:58And 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
36:14now 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?
36:25Despite 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
36:37know, be a part of the NWA still.
36:39In April of 1987, Crockett hatches a plan to bring Magnum TA back at one of the biggest events of
36:46the year.
36:47Baltimore Arena, Terry Allen, a.k.a. Magnum TA, is going to make his first appearance back in an arena.
36:56And to see him again in person was just something it's hard to put into words.
37:03Magnum TA!
37:08For me, watching Terry Allen walk down that aisle, that shows me that you can overcome almost anything and never
37:17give up.
37:18I mean, for a guy who is supposed to be lifted out of a bed and fed the rest of
37:23his life and bathed and all of that, to be able to walk under his own power was an absolute
37:29miracle 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.
37:47They saw me come from, you know, death's door to never going to walk again to, my gosh, you walk
37:53to the ring.
37:54Despite 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. You try to find a way to fit back into the industry.
38:10I was an intelligent guy. I was still well-spoken. So I worked as a color commentator for a while.
38:17I'll be working with you, Magnum. I really look forward to that. I know all the fans in Chicago look
38:20forward to seeing you again.
38:21It's going to be great, and I can't wait.
38:23Magnum finding his niche in wrestling after his accident was very hard, because being around it, you always want to
38:34be back in it.
38:35The hard times continue for Magnum behind the scenes.
38:39We settled into a normal life. I thought our marriage was doing well, but...
38:45We stayed together for about a month after I got out of the hospital.
38:52There 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
39:13road, you know, she becomes aware of because I'm forthcoming.
39:17And I feel bad about it. This is a bad deal.
39:21I 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
39:35you let that happen?
39:38As 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
39:50exactly how crucial this was going to be a point in the wrestling business.
39:54All 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
40:04the 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
40:16limit.
40:24Do 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
40:34time in the sun,
40:35and passing it off to the next 20-year-old that thought he could do it better.
40:39He 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,
40:51they 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.
41:08You know, that life can change that quick.
41:12One time, I remember Dustin and I, we were in Columbia at 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 if we worked as hard at it as we
41:26are at this?
41:27And he was right.
41:29I've used the same commitment with the new opportunity as I had done all those years,
41:35and 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.
41:46Here's a man that is classified as a quadriplegic.
41:50He's not going to let it slow him down.
41:53Terry decides to leave the wrestling world behind and sets his sights on a new career far from the squared
41:58circle.
41:59Along the way, he also finds another chance at love.
42:03My name is Courtney Blanchard-Allen, and I am Terry Allen's wife.
42:09I first met Terry Allen in 1997.
42:12Both of us were going through divorces, and we became really, really good friends,
42:17and leaned on each other a lot for support during that time.
42:21And through that friendship, developed an intimacy and a relationship.
42:27He's my best friend.
42:29For me, it's another miracle.
42:31I was given a chance to have a family.
42:35So 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.
42:45And it's been an amazing ride.
42:48It was the end of Magnum TA, but it wasn't the end of Terry Allen.
42:52You can be sad for what could have been, what the wrestling fans could have seen that they would have
42:57enjoyed
42:57and what he could have accomplished, but you can't be sad overall because he came back from the wreck.
43:04He's lived a long life.
43:05He's been successful in other things, and he's had a family and fans that still care about him.
43:16It's a pin. That's it. That's gotta be some kind of a record.
43:20He pinned him. It had to be less than 15 seconds.
43:23Is 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
43:38has 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
43:52to be able to do the things that he can do now.
43:55I lived the dream that most people only dream of and never get to see come to fruition.
44:03The other what if is, you know, what if I hadn't woke up at all?
44:06And I'm so thankful that I did.
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