Joe Pedicino (October 4, 1949 – April 12, 2020)[1] was an American professional wrestling announcer, commentator, promoter, television and radio producer.
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.
[14] 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".
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.
In November, twenty fans drove in a van all the way from Snellville, Georgia to the locked studio in downtown Atlanta only to be turned away by security.
Sponsored by the National Automotive Parts Association, the event displayed over 500 of the most expensive custom designed antique vehicles in the world including the 18-wheel Volvo "Elvis' Eldorado".
[29] 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.
[30] 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.
With the close of Fritz von Erich's World Class Championship Wrestling the previous year, he and former USWA commissioner Max Andrews decided to start a new promotion and moved into the Dallas-area in June 1991.
[32] Joined by Craig Johnson, Scott Hudson and Steve Prazak, Pedicino and his wife became part of the regular GWF broadcast team on ESPN.
[33] The financial situation became so serious that the promotion was forced to release Pedicino and Blackstone, Eddie Gilbert, Craig Johnson and other key GWF members on April 9, 1992.
[36] Pedicino sold his share of the promotion and the GWF eventually folded after going through a series of failed owners including Grey Pierson[4] and Jim Crockett.
He was also the owner and general manager of several Georgia-based radio stations, most notably WMKJ,[38] and WMGP,[39] and produced WTLK TV-14 infomercial "Shoppers' Showcase" with his wife[18] prior to joining Legacy Media Holdings as vice president and chief marketing officer in 1996.
[16] In August 2000, Pedicino and his wife Boni began hosting Pro Wrestling this Week on FOX Sports Radio,[2] which ran on Sunday nights from 11:00 pm to 1:00 am, and later appeared together at the NWA 52nd Anniversary Show.
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.