Not very good quality or anything, but thought some of the history buffs here might appreciate it. I was searching an old friend's name in Newspapers.com to see what I could find. She wasn't here, but I did run across this fun article about mud wrestling from Florida in 1976.
That looks like the mudwrestling clip from "This is America" sometimes known as "Jabberwalk". Wamtec used to have a shorter but very clear version of the mud wrestling but I was able to find a longer yet still edited cut on PH years ago. The PH copy I had was about 10 min long but the brightness and color saturation was so off you could barely see what was happening. I've tried to edit it myself but with no luck. Add a full version or at lest a version of that video you can actually see to that "holy grail" list on that other thread.
Yep, that's from Jabberwalk all right. There was a separate video available from either the cameraman or the producer, I can't remember which, and it is about 11 minutes long. There is currently a good quality version of it available elsewhere however, it doesn't come up on a Google search for "Jabberwalk mud wrestling" unless you put in the two letter website name that is a no no to mention here.
I've always been facinated by mud wrestling events. The golden years when it became almost mainstream.. and how it is now non existing.. it probably goes down to the amount of work involve vs the slim profit in the end. Allwam had the greatest mud wrestling online operation for a long time. More recently mostwam took a great shot at it with their mud wrestling serie. I'm not sure the revenu is sufficient to make other producer jump in.. theres one revenu model that would probably work and make it more motivating for the producers.. Make it a monthly event where ppl would buy tickets to come see the show. Sell beer, snacks and t-shirts and high quality filming of the event for their online sales. This open to lots of creativity has the show could have a story line that lives on from month to month. The idea here is to secure longevity and to maybe attract new ppl to the community . Revenu could also come from publicity from other wam producers around the ring ..
Hi Quarryman, I'm not so sure, but what makes you certain this mud match was the one featured in This Is America / Jabberwalk?... I remember reading some paperwork on it, many moons ago ago, and it said those mud wrestling matches were filmed in 1975. They could be wrong, of course. Interested to know your thoughts, thanks...Such a pity so many other mud wrestling events, like this, from the 1970s, weren't filmed...
I know for a fact that the video I referred to was the master copy from which the brief Jabberwalk section was extracted as I either corresponded with or talked to the person who was selling the video. I think he was selling it through the old AMFEM magazine and my best remembrance was that he was the camerman. I contacted him to find out if there was additional footage beyond that 11 minutes and there was some but he said it was technically flawed and didn't show much action, just washup and stuff. He said he was not going to pursue distributing any of it.
Hi Quarryman, thanks for your reply, most interesting. Do you know of other ways where can we access that master copy now? Amazing to know additional footage of that Jabberwalk/ America exists. Despite its flaws, as you say, it'd still be great to see, as I'm sure we'll agree...is there a chance your contact could be persuaded to release it, in some download way?...wonder if he still has the original films?...
My contact with that guy was over 40 years ago and I did not retain any of it as there was no reason to do so, no more video was going to be forthcoming. And, it should be noted that he mentioned he had not made any significant money off the VHS he was distributing, all he mostly got were complaints that the video was only 11 minutes long!
I doubt the true master copy exists any more, film deteriorates over time. So, the master copy now would be the original VHS tapes. So, if you've got a analog to digital converter, you can make a new copy. However, there is no reason to do that, as mentioned previously, there is a good quality digital copy already available that is actually better than the original VHS tape.
Hi Quarryman, thanks a lot for clarifying that....I wasn't aware you contacted him four decades ago...yes, found the 11-min version, let's hope more 1970s mud wrestling action turns up...
Cheers too to jKoshOne for another great clipping from that night... Aces to you both...C...
Love you, too
