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REVIEW: “I Never Quit”, the Magnum TA story DVD

Posted: Nov 1st 2016 By: Alan Wojick

“This is a great documentary on a wonderful talent cut down in his prime.”

October 14th 1986 changed the life of Terry Allen forever. Before that day began his wrestling character MAGNUM TA was booked to face NWA World Heavyweight champion “Nature Boy” Ric Flair at Jim Crockett Promotions signature PPV event Starrcade. That night after a show his high performance sports car wiped out and went into a telephone pole at 50 mph. But we are getting ahead of ourselves; let’s talk about Ellbow Productions newest feature documentary entitled “I NEVER QUIT: THE MAGNUM TA STORY.” This is the same company that created well done films on Jim Crockett Promotions, the Rock-N-Roll Express, “the Patriot” Del Wilkes & Ivan Koloff.

The following people were interviewed for the feature: Magnum’s mother, George South, Jimmy Valiant, Dusty Rhodes (archival footage), Dave Meltzer, Bruce Mitchell, Dr. Tom Pritchard, Bobby Fulton, Jim Ross, Bill Apter, Ricky Morton, Jim Crockett Jr., Nikita Koloff (minus his accent), Tully
Blanchard & more.

Magnum grew up a fan of JCP so he was possibly destined to be part of the promotion. His journey to the wrestling ring began in the Portland territory through the late “Mad Dog” Buzz Sawyer. Through working the old territory system he worked in San Antonio (run by Joe Blanchard) & Florida (run
by Eddie Graham) before joining Bill Watts Mid-South promotion booked by “Big Cat” Earnie Ladd. Thanks to knowing the legendary Andre the Giant the name Magnum T. A. was born. The real fun begins when Magnum arrived in the old Louisiana outfit that covered several states. With some help from Dusty Rhodes’ creative mind, the character and gimmick of Magnum TA was given birth. He reached the national scene when Dusty was in charge of creative with JCP/NWA in 1984-1985 & the promotion got on Superstation WTBS. The story on how that came to be is amazing.

1985 was a great year for Magnum TA as he faced off with Wahoo McDaniel for the US Heavyweight title in the opening months. That was followed by his legendary feud with Tully Blanchard & his manager “the Perfect 10” Baby Doll that would lead to an epic violent “I Quit” cage match at
Starrcade which was held in Charlotte & Atlanta. In between were matches with Flair & others to build the JCP promotion into a true rival to WWF. 1986 was famous for his best of seven series with Nikita Koloff for the US Heavyweight title that is still talked about to this day. The hardest part to watch are the final minutes going through the details of the car accident. You might be crying by the time it is over. This is a great documentary on a wonderful talent cut down in his prime.

You can purchase the DVD through www.highspots.com for $14.99 or $19.99 for a signed copy by Magnum. You can also see it On Demand through www.highspotswrestlingnetwork.com For
information on Alan Wojcik’s wrestling coverage, check out
www.Facebook.com/KayfabeWrestlingRadio & www.Twitter.com/MyNameIsWojcik