A picture of "The Original NightMare"
Ted Allen
at the Great Championship Wrestling show
in Phenix City,AL
on Thursday,August 5th,2010
Ted Allen story courtesy:
GREG OLIVER
Producer,
SLAM! Wrestling
"Nightmare" Ted Allen dead at 54
1955-2010
Chances are that even if you never saw Ted Allen wrestle,
you were affected by him in some way.
Allen,who died yesterday (Thursday,August 19th) at the age of 54,
worked under a mask for most of his career
-- The Nightmare was his best-known role --
but he also built wrestling rings and trained the likes of
Arn Anderson,Big Bossman,Scotty Riggs
and Ranger Ross to be professional wrestlers.
Allen was young and curious enough to be a part of the social media scene,
and already his Facebook and MySpace pages are overflowing
with messages and memories.
"You taught me so much"
is a frequent refrain.
Born November 17th,1955 in Cartersville,Georgia,
Allen went to Cass High School,
where he played basketball,baseball,ran cross country,
edited the school newspaper,and wrestled;
he also did play-by-play for radio broadcasts
of sports at the school.
When he was nine years old,he discovered pro wrestling.
When he was 14,he talked his way into doing the ring announcing
at the weekly matches
at the Sports Palace in Cartersville.
In a February 1999 interview
with Scott Teal's Whatever Happened To ... newsletter,
Allen said he was never smartened up.
"Oh, they pretty well kayfabed me,"
he said.
"I would go back in the dressing room to get their weight and stuff,
but didn't have too much to say to me.
I was just a kid."
Teal and Allen had been corresponding,
exchanging match results since 1974.
"Ted was a great friend who I never heard say a bad thing about anyone.
He loved the business,"
said Teal.
After a brief stint at Shorter College in Rome,Georgia,
Allen left to get married,and soon made his wrestling debut as well,
in the summer of 1975,
wrestling as Ted Atlas.
By 1977, he'd started wrestling for the larger outfit in Nashville,
run by Nick Gulas.
An old connection from his ring announcing days,
referee Charlie Smith,
recognized him and hooked him up with the Atlanta outfit,
where he was Ted Allen.
Through his early years,
Allen continued to have "real" employment,
working for a finance company or selling insurance.
Ted Allen un-masked.
Photo by:
SCOTT TEAL.
"I quit a bunch of regular jobs for wrestling,"
he told Teal.
"If there was a booking that I really wanted to go to,
I'd go whether they let me go or not ...
I quit several pretty fair jobs when they wouldn't go along with letting me off.."
Come 1980,
Allen started wrestling full-time,
and the following year,
he donned a mask for the first -- but certainly not the last -- time,
as a Nightmare with Danny Davis.
That pairing lasted three months,
and Allen returned home to deal with some family issues;
Davis would bring in Ken Wayne for a longer run as the Nightmares.
In Calgary,Allen as MX1 Missile.
"At the time,that was the big thing in the news,"
explained Allen,
who was in Stampede Wrestling for about three months.
For the 210-pound Allen,
wearing a mask made a huge difference.
"I liked it, because along with putting the hood on was getting my hand in the air,"
he said.
"I knew all the basics and could work pretty good,
but there's just a lot of added confidence when they're putting you over.
Plus,when you're working for a big crowd,
compared to what I was used to.
Oh,it just made a world of difference."
Some of his other masked personas came and went pretty quickly.
Allen was Mr. Wrestling (one of many over the years!),
the Black Tiger for one show,
he was The Power Ranger in Jim Cornette's Smoky Mountain Wrestling
for a dozen or so shows.
Nightmare Ted Allen
at the 2008 NWA Legends Fan Fest
in Charlotte,NC.
PHOTO BY:
STEVEN JOHNSON
But mostly,
once wrestling changed to a national outfit,
he worked as Nightmare Ted Allen,
under a mask,
but not concealing his identity either.
The training of other wrestlers came out of nowhere for Allen.
Marty Lunde -- the future Arn Anderson -- and two others,
Tony Zane and Heartbreaker David Jones,
approached him in his car after a show in Rome,Georgia.
"I had never trained anyone and I told them that.
I didn't know what to charge them,either,
but I told them [what] they needed to buy,"
Allen said.
He worked with them about 10 times
before heading to Memphis for some bookings.
They dutifully kept up their training in his absence
and,upon his return,
were basically ready for beginner bouts.
Others he would train over the years
included Ray Traylor (Big Bossman, Big Bubba Rogers, etc.),
Scotty Riggs,
Bull Buchanan (who was also Recon from the Truth Commission),
the late referee Randy "Pee Wee" Anderson,
and Ranger Ross
(Robert Lee Ross, Jr.).
Over the years,
Allen promoted wrestling shows as well,
running Peach State Wrestling weekly even from 1989 to 1991 in Rome.
He also ran a furniture moving business.
All the experience in various businesses
helped Allen with his ring building efforts.
Fan Peggy Lathan and Ted Allen at the 2010 NWA Legends Fan Fest.
PHOTO BY:
PEGGY LATHAN
He described his operation to Teal.
"I build to whatever specifications a person wants ...
different heights off the ground,or whatever.
I sell mats and ring aprons.
I keep my ears and eyes open.
Anybody around this area that has anything for sale usually calls me.
They know I'm always turning 'em over.
I can also broker a deal between two parties
for a ring and then deliver it."
Besides conceding that wrestling played a part in his divorce,
Allen was always positive about his experiences in the squared circle.
He was a regular at the Gulf Coast reunions,
a member of the Cauliflower Alley Club,
and recently attended the NWA Legends Fan Fest in Charlotte,NC.
"I was really fortunate to break in when I did.
I got to work with so many guys that were just great,"
Allen told Teal.
Allen was the father of two,
and grandfather of three.
The cause of death from Thursday,August 19th has been ruled
due to an apparent,unexpected heart attack.
Ted's Myspace Page:
http://www.myspace.com/ted_allen_1
Ted's Facebook Page:
http://www.facebook.com/people/Ted-Allen/100001361992155
____________________________________________________________________________
On a personal,final note,
I have been truly blessed and privileged
to have met Ted Allen,
to have seen and to have covered Ted Allen in action
along several,countless independent wrestling shows
for the past several years
along the Gulf Coast area
as I have had in my reports here at Wrestling News Center
and to have also worked with Ted Allen
along numerous,independent wrestling shows
for the past 5-6 years or so
along the Gulf Coast area.
I will always remember and cherish
the many,wonderful times
when Ted and I had seen each other,greeted each other
and having warm,friendly conversations
through the years
at independent wrestling shows along the Gulf Coast area,
especially the last and final time
when I had seen and had spoken with him
at a Great Championship Wrestling show
in Phenix City,AL
just a couple of weeks ago.
In loving,honest candidness,
I can say that Ted Allen
was such a great,consumate,competitive,double tough wrestler
and not to mention,
he was also such a wonderful human being
with a warm,friendly,kind hearted soul
and I will miss him dearly.
R.I.P.
TED ALLEN......
my friend
1955-2010
:(
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