All language subtitles for Dark.Side.Of.The.Ring.S04E02.Shattered.The.Magnum.T.A.Story.1080p.WEB.h264-WRESTLiNGHDD[eztv.re]

At the dawn of the 1980s, Magnum T .A.
burst onto the wrestling scene. With his

athleticism, charisma, and movie star
good looks, he quickly became a top star

for Jim Crockett promotions and a
valuable weapon in the company's war

Vince McMahon.

All the big guns come here when they
want to get it done, and that's why

T .A. is here.

At that point in time, Jim Crockett
Promotions was the only other wrestling

promotion in the country that had the
ability to compete with Vince McMahon.

There's only one Hulk Hogan, daddy.

I believe that Magnum could have been
for Crockett what Hulk Hogan was for

There's only one Magnum TA. There will
ever be only one Magnum TA.

It was like being a rock star. I was
given the keys to the city. The sky is

limit.

But Magnum's meteoric rise to fame and
fortune would end in an ending.

Blow took me right into the roof, and my
C5 vertebrae exploded.

Throwing his life and career into
tragedy and chaos.

He is in the intensive care unit at
Charlotte Memorial Hospital.

Terry Allen was the future. You put all
your cards in that basket, and the

basket was turned over.

This devastating thing changed
everyone's reality.

Healthy, wealthy, wise.

All of a sudden, boom, gone.

The story of Magnum T .A. is the story
of what might have been, not just for

man himself, but for the entire
wrestling world.

He was told he would not walk again.

This is Wrestling Mania.

This is the thing of today.

Hulkamania is running wild.

In the early 1980s, professional
wrestling explodes in popularity.

Dominated by Vince McMahon, his star
Hulk Hogan, and his powerhouse

the WWF. Vince McMahon is a genius. But
down south, a rival wrestling company

stands in defiance of the growing
McMahon empire.

They know that Jim Dworkin, the
wrestling network, is the best thing

That's why they're here.

As smaller companies across the country
fold, Jim Crockett Promotions represents

one of the last lines of defense against
the WWF's nationwide takeover. But

where the WWF showcases kid -friendly
cartoon personas, Crockett's brand of

wrestling is a world of blood, grit, and
glamour. Soon to appear on Lifestyles

of the rich and famous Mr.

Jim Crockett!

I'm Jim Cornette. I've been involved in
wrestling for over 40 years. But in the

1980s, I was one of the managers that
led many of Magnum T .A.'s opponents to

the ring.

Crockett in the Carolinas had a
tremendously strong base of fans.

And also that roster from Ric Flair and
Dusty Rhodes, the Road Warriors, the

Rock and Roll Express.

It went on and on.

That was the gathering place now for all
the top wrestlers that were going to

oppose Vince McMahon.

Crockett Promotions, around 1985.

We are on the rise. We're clicking on
all four cylinders.

My name is David Crockett.

Jim Crockett is my father. I'm Tony
Schiavone, joined by Mr. Jim Crockett,

president of Jim Crockett Promotions.

You had Vince McMahon, WWF, that was
wanting to take over the country.

It's well documented in the official
World Wrestling Federation magazine that

Mr. Hogan's popularity is indeed...

Worldwide. And we liked what we were
doing.

So we said, nah, that's not going to
happen.

We had a great stable of wrestlers.

Nobody can beat the American Dream!

But we needed that special something.

Crockett needed somebody for the future.

And if you had a character, kick -ass
baby face over here and a legend over

here, you always needed the matinee
idol, the movie star, right there in the

middle of everything.

Who would be the good guy?

Earliest memories of television, like
six, seven years old, were watching

professional wrestling with my dad.

And it evoked all these emotions of
watching guys that were like real live

-action superheroes.

So as a little kid, you start thinking,
maybe this is something I could do.

And I was the most unlikely guy to be
doing this because I had no athletic

background.

My name is Terry Allen, better known as
Magnum T .A.

I started out wrestling in the ninth
grade, and I applied myself to it like

nothing I'd ever done. So as I worked my
way up the ranks, by the time I was a

senior, I ended up winning the state
tournament.

Magnum is from Norfolk, Virginia, and he
was working at a bar in Virginia Beach,

and that's where tons of the Carolina
wrestlers would go, because that was

of a...

A vacation spot when you were up in that
part of Virginia for the weekend, the

guys would go party in Virginia Beach.

In the 70s, I was in college, and I was
working security in nightclubs and bars,

and the wrestlers would come down to the
place where I worked.

And, you know, they're, you know,
ribbing with me because I'm a big guy.

There was a guy there that saw me, and
his name was Buzz Sawyer.

Buzz Sawyer was one of the most talented
in -ring performers in the history of

wrestling and was one of the most
obnoxious, crooked, surly, and

son -of -a -bitches in the world outside
of him.

So Buzz Sawyer sees me be like all buddy
-buddies. So look, you know, it's

really hard to get into this business,
but I can help you.

I feel like this guy is really going to
help me. So now I see this as a

potential career path.

So he comes even to my parents' home and
talks with all of us.

Tells us, you know, how tough the
business is to get in. But he has these

inroads and he can help me. And he tells
me a wrestling license costs $10 ,000.

Ten grand.

And my mom and dad are like, phew, ten
grand. Ten grand might as well have been

a hundred grand in 1979.

My mom believed in me. And she went to
her dad, my granddaddy Smith.

And he gave me the money.

He gave me the money. He said, I believe
in you.

And so we give him the money. And, you
know, so I'm going to get in. He's going

to get me in the door.

And next thing I know, Buzz has left the
Carolinas.

Whoosh.

Mind blown.

Buzz was just trying to bilk an aspiring
young man out of some money and saw

where he could get it.

He was an asshole.

Wrestling licenses are still a real
thing, and were a real thing at that

in states that have athletic
commissions.

If they have an athletic commission, you
have to be licensed to be a wrestler, a

manager, an announcer, whatever.

They generally cost between $10 and $25.

So, Buzz Sawyer wasn't going to sell
Magnum TA any kind of wrestling license.

Should we get that money back from Buzz
Sawyer?

No.

So one night, I tell Jimmy Garvin my
Buzz Sawyer story.

Jimmy knew Buzz. He knew all too well
what was going on. Garvin does not lose

his cool as quickly as Sawyer. I
encouraged him to go find Buzz and ask

hook him up. And I literally believe he
left the next day and drove to Oregon.

I found out what his apartment number
was and knocking on the door. He opens

door, kind of surprised to see me.

So he takes me down to the ring the next
day, and I work out for two solid

hours. I learn how to tie up, hit the
ropes, do some spots, take a backdrop.

It wasn't uncommon in those days if a
guy saw some young prospective talent

wanted to train or wanted to be taught,
yeah, I'll take this guy. He's an idiot.

We'll run him off, whatever.

But in this case, it came back to bite
him because Magnum turned out to be a

bigger star than Buzz ever was.

And the next night, I ruffled Buzz on
television.

They all think, hey, you did a pretty
good job.

They think I've been in the business.
They think I'm trained. They think Buzz

trained me. Well, he did. He trained me
for two hours.

And then I got booked seven nights a
week.

I knew Magnum from the get -go. He burst
onto the scene, man, and he was a

breath of fresh air to watch.

Jake the Snake Robert!

I am what's left of Jake the Snake
Robert.

He was a little sucker, man. He was just
so hungry and wanted it so bad.

Terry's unrelenting drive and raw talent
earned him admiration from promoters,

fans, and fellow wrestlers. His hard
work pays off when a single phone call

propels his career to new heights.

Betty Graham that owns Florida
Championship Wrestling. So he, boom,

phone, gives me a call. He said, I got a
spot for you. And so, again, I pack up

all my belongings and off I go back
across the country.

and head south, that's where the true
education of the wrestling business

started the day I stepped foot in that
territory of Florida.

From Virginia Beach, Virginia, weighing
in at 240 pounds, Terry Allen.

So when I first came to the territory in
Florida, the booker, the creative

development guy, American Dream Dusty
Rose, never met him.

I've seen his pictures on the cover of
magazines.

Dusty Rosen was one of the greatest
wrestlers ever, man. The best showman

without a doubt.

He was our Muhammad Ali.

The booker of a major wrestling
promotion is like the major motion

director in Hollywood.

He decides the final say on the actors,
who's going to play the part, how

they're going to do it, what their
demeanor is, the way that the thing is

So the booker was the director, and
Dusty Rhodes saw in Magnum T .A. his

movie star.

Dusty had the potential to see talent
and charisma within people that didn't

know how to bring it out.

And he became the most influential

guy on my career of anybody that I ever
came in contact with.

Magnum TA, to the heights of pro
wrestling.

He believed in him. He teamed with him.
They were personal friends.

Hello, 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.

People used to say that he looked like
Tom Selleck. And Andre the Giant thought

so much about that that he said to
Magnum, You look like Tom Selleck. You

call yourself Magnum T .A. And that's
how it happened.

Back in the 80s, there was a TV show
with a star named Tom Selleck. And it

about a detective. His name was Magnum P
.I. So Andre looks over at me and he

says, Boss, you're ready.

And I said, What do you mean I'm ready?
He said, You're ready for something.

He said, But you need a handle.

So he tied it all together and took the
Magnum and the Terry Allen TA and put

that name together.

After just over a year in Florida,
Magnum TA returned to the road.

this time joining the high -octane
wrestling circuit known as Mid -South.

Magnum T .A. Action continues now. The
popular star, Magnum T .A. Here's Buddy

Nichols to tell us about it. Really a
very personable young man, one with a

of wrestling talent, and as we mentioned
last week, one with a lot of desire and

an opportunity to go a long way in this
wrestling business.

So I come to Mid -South as Magnum T .A.

I don't know what Magnum T .A. means.

At this point in time. It's a name. I
don't know how this translates into me.

And nor do the people that have brought
me in.

So one week they're telling me to wear
suits and ties.

And we do that for a couple weeks. And
they say, you don't really seem

comfortable in that.

So then they say, well, maybe punk rock
was kind of a thing. They wanted me to

wear some punk rock clothes.

I'm not comfortable at all in this.

But we go through all these little
things.

trying to do.

Nothing is clicking.

So I called Dusty up. I said, I need to
do something else. They don't know what

to do with me.

He said, I got it, baby. I got it. It's
all good.

He said, well, I'll tell you what you
do.

He said, you go down and buy you a brand
new Harley Davidson.

So I bought a motorcycle jacket when I
bought the new bike and I ride that bike

into town with that jacket on and
everybody looks and it changed the whole

perception immediately of who I was.

Clint Eastwood and Charles Bronson and
Bruce Lee and John Wayne all wrapped up

in one package and a leather jacket.

He had the perfect look for professional
wrestling. The perfect size, the

physique, the face, the whole nine
yards.

Just incredible it factor that I had not
seen in a lot of pro wrestlers. He

had it.

He was going up the ladder, man. He had
it all. He burned it up there for a

while.

Not very long.

Magnum T .A. 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.

I get the phone call and Dusty says, I
want to introduce you to Jim Crockett.

puts Jim Crockett on the phone with me
and says, look, I will promise you if

come here, I will give you the greatest
opportunity that anybody could ever ask

for in the business.

I first met Magnum TA when he walked
into the office.

You 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.

Looking at the women in the office, they
all, you know, they do that.

So that is the total package.

The camera, who is the main judge, loved
him. All the fans have been waiting for

this man, Magnum T .A., and here he is!

You didn't have to put lights on to make
him look good. He just, he glowed.

Magnum T .A. is coming to Mid -Atlanta
for one reason, one reason only, coming

for the U .S. Heavyweight Championship.

Almost immediately, Crockett goes and
barters a deal to go on TBS, on the

superintendent. The moment we went on
the superstation, everything changed.

territory started popping immediately,
and we blew the roof off the place.

My name is Tamara Howell, and I was
married to Terry Allen. We were together

from 1981 until 1988.

He got this raincoat jacket.

He loved it. It was his Jesse James
look.

We did talk about having a family, but
we were waiting until he became the

championship title holder.

Here we were at the baptism of Dusty and
Michelle's son, Cody.

It was pretty special.

The minute I make the emotional decision
that I'm going to settle down and I'm

going to get married, immediately my
career path says, we want to promote you

a sex symbol.

We want you to be our superstar.

We want you to be the people everybody
would tear their hair out and want to

hold of.

He was the rock star.

The cheers for Magnum were the squeals
of the women in the audience. It was

hysteria.

It was just absolute insanity. And it
was the wild, wild west from the

standpoint, the girls in every port and
every place.

It was bad.

It was like Animal House 24 -7.

It was more than any red -blooded male
could handle.

They were getting the motel key and
panty treatment every night. It was

They had more sex on the way to the ring
than I've had in my life.

You always play to the audience, whether
it's male or female.

I mean, the women crying, they want to
get close to him after the match and get

blood off of him.

Oh, I'll never wash my hands again.

Well, I definitely could see his
popularity.

We were in a mall. We were in a boot
store, and this girl just fainted seeing

him. She got all flustered and turned
red and fainted. So I think if

everyone thinks you're the best thing
since sliced bread, you might start

believing that.

I didn't work outside of the home. I
always would unpack his dressing bag

the night before. And when I was doing
that, he had pictures in there.

I had taken out the pictures and I just
was flipping through them. And then I

stopped and I was like, wait a minute, I
don't have that bag.

I thought it was me in the picture, but
she had a different handbag than I would

have carried, so... And I realized that
wasn't me, and I hadn't been wherever

they were, so... As Terry's rising fame
pushes his marriage to the brink, a

powerful opponent emerges.

A Soviet -era strongman, bringing the
Cold War to the wrestling ring.

Was I intimidated by Magnum T .A.?

I think it was the other way around.

I think he was intimidated by me.

I am Nikita Koloff, better known to the
wrestling fans as the Russian Nightmare.

Hail from the great

state of Minnesota, not from Russia like
I portrayed back in the wrestling days.

Well, in the 80s, the United States and
Russia...

Political situation.

Here you have Magnum T .A., American
made.

So you had the Russian might against
American made.

Magnum T .A., or Mega T .A., as I used
to call him, he had that whole look of

that all -American.

I'm like, man, this is, you might say, a
match made in heaven.

And they had this incredible series, the
best of seven series. It was one of the

greatest feuds in pro wrestling history.

Between the number one challenger, who
is Nikita Kolov, and the former

Magnum T .A.

There's got to be a clear -cut winner
for four matches. And Nikita Kolov,

there's never going to be a day in my
life that I'll have to look up to a

wrestler and call you a superior
athlete.

Match number one, I have set myself to
be this physical specimen, and so to go

up 1 -0.

So the way we just built the story and
how each match was finished, whether it

was a dominating victory on my part,
going up 2 -0, and then to go up 3 -0,

and then he catches me by surprise and
he wins that first.

3 -1.

And the winner of match number four,
Adam T.

A.

He slips by and wins 3 -2.

Oh my gosh, there's hope.

There's hope for America.

Match number six, and he squeaks out
another victory, and now it's three to

three, and it's going to come down to
that final match, number seven.

The man standing before you right now is
the man that's going to take it all

home, bring it home right here, United
States of America.

It couldn't have been set up any better.

And Nikita Koloff gets the one, two,
three.

Man, I want to tell you, the fans were
not happy that night, boy.

Talk about heat.

The heat on me elevated to a whole
nother level.

And so, of course, Magnum, now he's got
to chase and get back that U .S. title.

That, by the way, set you up as number
one contender for the world heavyweight

title back in those days.

Now the chase is on.

1986 was pretty much the culmination of
a long -running rivalry between Dusty

Rhodes and Ric Flair for the world
title.

And next in line, whenever that trigger
would have been pulled, was Ric Flair

and Magnum T .A.

Into 87, 88, that would have been the
direction they were going. Who's going

be the world champion? Who's going to be
the dominant guy in the NWA?

Ric Flair or Magnum T .A.?

In the 70s, 80s, the National Wrestling
Alliance World's Heavyweight title was

the most coveted wrestling title you
could go after. That 10 pounds of gold

was an amazing thing.

And he was going to get that, no doubt
about it, because the powers that be

loved him, you know, and they trusted
him. The powers that be are the

of the National Wrestling Alliance.

the governing body of the majority of
the nation's regional territories,

including Jim Crockett promotions.

There 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,

the NWA had blessed it, and that I was
going to be the next World's Heavyweight

Champion.

The trajectory was to take the next
step.

move away from Nikita so I can move back
into that chase.

But 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.

This is gorgeous Jimmy Garvin!

And this angle with Terry and Patty and
I was going to be huge.

And I have confidence because I know
that I'm the greatest athlete in the

and nobody could beat me.

But, you know, I had that match with him
in Greenville, South Carolina that

night. A heck of a match, and we were
getting ready to blow the territory wide

open. It just never happened, because
that was the night of the incident.

And now, here's your host, senior editor
of Pro Wrestling Illustrated, Bill

Lafter.

Last week's show with Magnum T .A.

That's such a great response.

We've asked the U .S. champ, Magnum T
.A., to be with us again this week.

Magnum, 1985 was a darn good year for
you.

What's 86 have in store for you? Well,
86 will be a continuation of the quest

that I started in 1985, which was for
the World Heavyweight Championship held

Ric Flair.

He was going right to the top. I could
not see any road taking him anywhere

except to the top.

We had everything sunk into him.

Terry Allen.

was the future.

As Magnum TA closes in on the
heavyweight title, he begins living the

world champion.

At that time, I had more money than I
had since.

I'd walked into the Porsche dealership,
and they had a brand new 911 Turbo

sitting all on the floor.

And that was the Mac Daddy.

It'd write me up. I'm taking it. It was
quick, and it was cool.

I had the need for speed like Top Gun.

It had a combustion engine in it, and it
was loud, and it was fast.

I liked it.

My plan was to have a run with the belt
in 27, by the time I'm 30, out of it,

and then go drive NASCAR.

I didn't want to be running around in my
underwear in front of people at 37

years old. I thought that was
ridiculous.

On October 14, 1986, after defeating
gorgeous Jimmy Garvin in front of a

crowd in South Carolina, Magnum CA hits
the road in his prized Porsche 911.

I'm five minutes from my house.

I'm on a two -lane road that I've driven
hundreds of times. It's like the horse

turns the corner and there's the barns
right there, and I'm on the track.

It was raining so hard, you know, coming
back, you could barely see. The road

that I was traveling on that night had a
little slight bend curve in it.

Right 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.

When I went around the corner, and that
dipped right in the middle of the car

hydroplane. When a car hydroplanes, it
means your tire patch loses contact with

that road. So my tires were actually
floating on top of that water.

So I did what I had done before to
counteract something, and I made the

situation worse.

The car spun violently the other
direction, and I broadsided a telephone

So hard to cut it in half.

It happened so fast.

It was violent.

And the blow was like I had been hit by
a freight train.

I 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.

I had just maybe an inch of headroom. So
the blow took me right into the roof.

The emergency crew came, and one of them
grabbed me by my jacket to try to pull

me up.

And the other guy stopped and said, no,
no, I can't move. So they used the jaws

of life, cut the whole top of the car
off, peeled it back like a tin can, and

stabilized me. They couldn't airlift me
out because it was raining so hard. Took

me by ambulance.

It changed my life. It changed the
people I worked for. It changed my

changed everybody in a nanosecond.

The 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. And 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.

Well, they took me aside and they told
me that he had fractured his

vertebrae. They needed to get him into
surgery quickly.

My first view of a medical professional
that's giving me a diagnosis, you know,

he'd use the words C5 quadriplegic and
neck down paralysis.

Me 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.

Matter of fact, they were just trying to
figure out how I was going to breathe.

They said my lungs were paralyzed.

I mean, they were saying things to me
like, well, maybe you might be able to

on an iron lung instead of a ventilator.

The guys in intensive care, they've got
him all hooked up. They keep him

sedated.

You just feared for the worst.

You know, it was...

You know, is he truly going to make it?
You know, what was going through his

mind? They're shooting me up with
morphine every time I blink because they

communicate with me. If I try to
communicate anything, they think I'm

So I'm in such bad shape, they're just
zapping me with the moon and stars.

My brother came in, he just said, he'll
never, ever

get in the ring again.

According to the police report, Alan was
going south here on Sardis Road, away

from town, when his car went off the
road on the far side back there, about

feet. He apparently tried to correct and
bring it back onto the road, but it was

slippery. And he ended up on this side,
slamming into this telephone pole, with

enough force to break it in half.

Memorial spokesperson Cecily Newton
explained that Magnum has a spinal cord

injury that is localized to the fifth
cervical vertebrae. And it exploded. It

sent those bone fragments back and
created compression on the spinal cord.

It was on every news channel. You saw
the pictures of that car, and it's an

absolute miracle that anybody was alive.
It was completely destroyed.

It was the front page of the Charlotte
Observer.

It's the type of situation where you
don't believe it has happened until you

actually see him, and no one has been
able to see him, so we're still kind of

stunned.

Radio, newspaper, we really didn't have
Internet, so it was all word of mouth.

I'm sorry, ma 'am, that's the only thing
I'm permitted to release at this time.

Memorial Hospital has fielded some 8
,000 to 10 ,000 phone calls about Magnum

.A. since the wrestling star was
admitted.

The hospital lobby looks like a florist
convention.

I think he received the most letters of
anyone there at their hospital.

I do have the newspaper clippings and
bags and bags of mail we received.

The hospital got so many calls, they had
to shut the switchboard down.

There were candlelight vigils of fans
outside the hospital.

A lot of people held him close to their
heart.

Arianne Allen has been with her son
since the accident.

This afternoon, she wanted to thank all
of the people who have sent prayers and

cards. It has been rough in a lot of
cases, but I just don't think I could

gotten through this time without all
that love and positive energy that I

flowing around me.

Back in the day, like, we didn't go to
the hospital because K -Fabe, you know,

was the heel. He was the baby face.

Didn't go to the hospital, and we just
didn't do it.

In the 1980s, wrestlers and promoters
still go to great lengths to maintain

illusion that wrestling is real, a
practice known as keeping kayfabe.

So Flair and the Horseman or any of the
Heels couldn't go to the hospital and

see Magnum. So what they did was one of
our people who worked at the office was

also a Charlotte City police officer,
and he arranged with the hospital to

sneak.

Flair and some of his guys up a back
stairway and into the room in the middle

the night so that nobody would see them
so they could go and see Magnum.

Flair came in my room with the 10 pounds
of gold, laid it on my chest, said, I'm

giving you this one. I'm waiting for you
to come back in the ring and get the

other one.

When Magnum had his accident, he was
obviously automatically without income.

And in this case, all of the guys on the
roster got together and said, we 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. 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.

What's your rule in his recovery?

I was there every day. I went to the
hospital every day. And I helped feed

bathe him.

helped him with everything that he
needed.

So I don't really get to have real soul
-searching moments about all of this for

about 30 days. When things cleared a
little bit, I got out of the ICU, got in

room, people were able to start relaying
things to me that was going on in the

outside world that I was pretty
oblivious to. I love Magna more than I

everyone else.

Sad something might have happened to a
man so talented and in good shape.

I don't want to end this career or
nothing.

Immediately, I felt horrible.

Not for me, but for my friends, for
Dusty, for Jimmy, because I knew

they had built around me. Their whole
future and plans and everything is built

around me. There was no plan B.

Magnum TA was this shooting star that we
attached ourselves to. We were flying

high with him. There was nothing to stop
us.

But 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.

I'm on a tour in Japan.

My first night back is in the city of
brotherly love, Philadelphia.

Dusty and Jim Crockett pull me into an
office.

And it took them a few minutes, as I
recall, to really convince me, like, no,

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.

He'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.

The last two weeks have been very
difficult for Dusty Rhodes, the American

dream.

Because 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

lightning bolt that crashes through this
vast earth of ours.

So 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've got to find a new star.

At that point, there was no major
wrestling name that was just floating

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?

And I have a new partner.

And that's Nikita Koloff.

I'm like the number one most hated guy
in wrestling right now. I mean, the fans

love to hate me. And I'm Russian.

At this juncture, I'm only two and a
half years into my career.

With the new plan in place, the
challenge becomes telling the story to

Jim 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, the
magazines, are the only way to do this.

Reporting from Magnum's bedside, Bill
Apter helps to engineer Nikita's

transformation into a baby -faced hero.

Bill Apter was the only, from the
magazine side, that I had built a bond

and I trusted.

The story that was worked on was so
heartwarming, because Nikita Koloff...

we had a picture of this on one of the
wrestling magazines. There was a tear

coming down Nikita's eyes for the cover,
and he said, I cry for Magnum TA.

And for the fans, for the very first
time, oh my gosh, Nikita really does

heart.

There was literally millions of people
watching from the sidelines now that

they were looking at this man that's now
fighting this real -life battle, and

they're all pulling for me.

How's he going to handle it? What's he
going to do?

Despite being partially paralyzed and
confined to a hospital for months, Terry

Allen refuses to give up. We 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.

In April of 1987, Crockett hatches a
plan to bring Magnum T .A. back at one

the biggest events of the year.

Baltimore Arena, Terry Allen, a .k .a.
Magnum T .A., is going to make his first

appearance back in an arena. And to see
him again in person was just something

it's hard to put into words.

Magnum!

For me, watching Terry Allen walk down
that aisle, that shows me that you can

overcome almost anything and never give
up.

I 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, to
be able to walk under his own power was

an absolute miracle in and of itself.

I mean, I got choked up, like, for real,
because it was a surreal moment.

I can remember the moment, the emotion,
and the feel, and the fans, and just

like it was yesterday, it was one of the
most emotional moments I've ever

experienced. They saw me come from, you
know, death's door to never going to

walk again to, my gosh, you walk to the
ring.

Despite his enduring popularity, it's
clear that Magnum's wrestling days have

come to a permanent end, leaving his
future uncertain.

It makes you have to adjust your
thinking. You try to find a way to fit

into the industry.

I was an intelligent guy.

I was still well -spoken.

So I worked as a color commentator for a
while.

I'll be working with you, Magnum. I
really look forward to that. And to all

fans in Chicago, I look forward to
seeing you again. It's going to be

I can't wait.

Magnum finding his niche in wrestling
after his accident was very hard

because...

Being around it, you always want to be
back in it.

The hard times continue for Magnum
behind the scenes.

We settled into a normal life.

I thought our marriage was doing well,
but... We stayed together for about

a month after I got out of the hospital.

There was some infidelity past the
accident.

I felt like I had given pretty much
everything I had.

I just couldn't do that anymore.

And it was so overwhelming for her
because the realities of all the things

had taken place on the road, you know,
she becomes aware of because I'm

forthcoming. And I feel bad about it.
This is a bad deal.

I loved him very much. It was hard for
me to leave him. But I think at some

point you're just like...

Once something is done again, you know,
how many times can you let

that happen?

As Terry's relationship ends, the once
mighty Crockett promotions implode. At

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. All of a sudden,
they had to start from scratch.

In 1988, Crockett makes a deal with
media mogul Ted Turner, leading to the

of World Championship Wrestling and the
end of an era for wrestling fans.

If Terry Allen had never been in the
accident, the future of the

NWA, Jim Crockett Promotions, the sky's
the limit.

Do you ever wonder what happened about
your wrestling career? I do. I totally

would have been satisfied being
recognized as the world's heavyweight

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.

He never had the accident, movie,
commercial, lifestyle, the world

championship.

When they see Magnum T .A. 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%. You
know, he was right at the brink of

becoming the world champion, no doubt.

For 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.

One time, I remember Dusty and I, we
were in Columbia.

at the Township Auditorium, we're
sitting on the back steps, and he said,

you imagine how successful we could be
at something else if we worked as hard

it as we are at this?

And he was right.

I'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

world title.

He is an individual.

that will not give up.

Here's a man that is classified as a
quadriplegic. He's not going to let it

him down.

Terry decides to leave the wrestling
world behind and sets his sights on a

career far from the squared circle.

Along the way, he also finds another
chance at love.

My name is Courtney Blanchett Allen, and
I am Terry Allen's wife.

First met Terry Allen, possibly in 1997.

Both 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. And

that friendship developed an intimacy
and a relationship.

He's my best friend.

For me, it's another miracle.

I was given a chance to have a family,

home and a loving home for all the kids,
make sure they're all provided and well

taken care of and loved.

And it's been an amazing ride.

It was the end of Magnum T .A., but it
wasn't the end of Terry Allen.

You 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, but 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. And he's had

family and fans that still care about
him.

Is it

tough for him day to day?

Oh, no, it's got to be.

Yeah. Yeah.

He'll never tell you that.

He had just a small percentage chance of
survival, and his ability to overcome

absolutely anything has proven true
every day since that accident. If he

at peace with how it ended, it wouldn't
be so inspirational. There 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.

I lived the dream that most people only
dream of.

and never get the seed come to fruition.

The other what if is, you know, what if
I hadn't woke up at all? And I'm so

thankful that I did.