Joe Pedicino

Joe Pedicino (October 4, 1949 – April 12, 2020) was an American professional wrestling announcer, commentator, promoter, television and radio producer. He was a well-known on-air personality in regional territories of the Southern United States during the 1980s, being an announcer and commentator for Jim Crockett Promotions and World Championship Wrestling, and as host of the nationally syndicated Superstars of Wrestling with his wife Boni Blackstone and Gordon Solie from 1986 to 1992.

The series, created and produced by Pedicino, aired eight hours of wrestling from around the country and was the first to provide national coverage of the National Wrestling Alliance as well as from Puerto Rico and Japan. He and Solie also hosted a popular segment on the show, "Pro Wrestling This Week", which discussed the then current news from the "Big Three" (AWA, NWA and the WWF) and regional promotions. Scott Hudson and Steve Prazak, both former WCW announcers, were fans of the show and given their first big break by Pedicino when he began promoting events in the late 1980s. Bill Apter, editor of Pro Wrestling Illustrated, has also credited Pedicino for considerably raising his profile among wrestling fans due to his weekly segment.

He was also the booker and part owner of the Global Wrestling Federation with former USWA commentator Max Andrews, as well as part of the announcing team for GWF Wrestling Superstars on ESPN, and had a similar role in the short-lived Ladies Professional Wrestling Association. Popularly known as the "round mound of sound", Pedicino has been compared to some of the top commentators of the mid-to late 1980s and is regarded as one of the most recognizable personalities during the final years of the "territory era". Brian Westcott, wrestling historian and writer, has called Pedicino one of his all-time favorite play-by-play/color commentators.

Following his retirement from wrestling, Pedicino owned and operated local radio stations based in central Georgia, as well as general sales manager for WCNN radio Atlanta. Pedicino was also a management consultant for several major media companies including Turner Broadcasting, Susquehanna Broadcasting and Clear Channel Broadcasting. He and his wife also began a successful publishing company, Food Fax, which puts out six annual specialty advertising guides. Their company, the first to offer such service, started out sending fax listings to office workers of lunch menus and daily specials from more than 1,000 local restaurants in Cobb County, Georgia.

Biography

Early career Joe Pedicino was born in New York City on October 4, 1949, attended Georgia State University, and later graduated from the RAB School at University of Pennsylvania's Wharton Business School. In early-1986, Pedicino developed a "new concept" wrestling program for the station. The show, Superstars of Wrestling, would feature over eight hours of professional wrestling from National Wrestling Alliance territories throughout the United States as well as from Puerto Rico and Japan.

Superstars of Wrestling

The show debuted in May 1985, airing on Saturday nights from 8:00 pm to 3:00 am, was a ratings success. Eight different wrestling organizations from as far away as Dallas, Texas and Birmingham, Alabama were broadcast during its first year. These would later include the Continental Wrestling Association, Deep South Championship Wrestling, Mid-South Wrestling and World Class Championship Wrestling as well as events from around the world. Apter's appearances, as well as those on TBS, considerably raised his profile among wrestling fans of the era. In 1988, he became involved with the Southern Championship Training Center, a rival training facility of Jody Hamilton's American Academy of Professional Wrestling, in Cumming, Georgia by helping promote the school.

On July 17, 1988, Pedicino and Blackstone hosted a two-hour wrestling show, "Wrestlethon '88", which was broadcast nationwide via satellite by Fox Broadcasting as part of The Late Show. This was the third annual Wrestlethon and had been a successful fundraiser in past years. The first show raised an estimated $10,000 and helped save the life of teenager Deloris Wadsworth who needed a liver transplant. The second show raised between $12,000-$13,000 for wounded police officers J.J. Biello and Richard Williams; the third show raised enough money to purchase 200-300 bulletproof vests of the 1,100 needed for the Atlanta Police Department. Four months later, Pedicino appeared with a number of media figures and television celebrities at a benefit show, "Celebrity Cookoff for a Cure", held by the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation at Benihana. Other participants included Atlanta Magazine editor Lee Walburn, Atlanta Business Chronicle editor Anita Sharpe, Creative Loafing publisher Deborah Eason and local WSB-TV personalities John Pruitt and Bebe Emerman.

Georgia All-Star Wrestling and marriage to Boni Blackstone Pedicino started his own wrestling promotion, Georgia All-Star Wrestling, in 1989. Having been an announcer for Jim Crockett Promotions, Pedicino was able to bring in a number of former stars from around the region. Among these included Jimmy Holiday, Tony Zane, Billy Starr, John Michaels and Mr. Wrestling II, then working for Jody Hamilton's Deep South Championship Wrestling. Future WCW star Marcus Bagwell also made his debut in the promotion under the name Fabian. He and Hudson were also given their own segment on Superstars of Wrestling, styled in a comedic "Laurel and Hardy" fashion, called "Point-Counterpoint" which was sometimes aired on ESPN for the GWF. Craig Johnson, then a play-by-play commentator for the United States Wrestling Association, was also hired by Pedicino as head announcer over other applicants including Chris Cruise and Eric Bischoff.

That same year, he and Blackstone became married.

Pedicino and Andrews were originally backed by a supposed Nigerian businessman, Olu Oliami, who had offered to invest $10 million in the promotion. When the deal fell through, Pedicino instead went to the Overton family for assistance. The Overtons later backed out as well and Pedicino took on the bulk of the financial backing himself. By late 1991, he had signed a deal with ESPN to air GWF events from the Global Dome as well as purchasing the United States Wrestling Association's syndicated time slot from Jerry Jarrett providing additional television coverage for the GWF.

In October 1991, Pedicino turned over his booking position to Eddie Gilbert. While television ratings improved under Gilbert, house show attendance dwindled due to declining business brought on by a series of scandals in the wrestling industry involving the World Wrestling Federation. The cost of maintaining the roster as well as television production costs slowly drained the promotion's finances. Pedicino sold his share of the promotion and the GWF eventually folded after going through a series of failed owners including Grey Pierson The first company of its kind, the listing was sent out five nights a week to over 1,000 businesses in the Cobb County area. and WMGP, and produced WTLK TV-14 infomercial "Shoppers' Showcase" with his wife

In July 2007, Pedicino bought WEKS, which was given approval by the Federal Communications Commission to increase its broadcasting range two months later. The country music station, originally only available in Griffin, Georgia, could then be heard on 92.5 FM in Troup, Meriwether, Coweta, Pike and Spalding counties.