Boyd Pearce
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Boyd Pearce (1925-1999) was a longtime announcer, primarily for professional wrestling events, across Texas and other parts of the South.
A native of Fort Worth, Texas, Pearce operated bookstores and served on a banking board in the Fort Worth area. He became involved in radio as an announcer for music shows from the Dallas Sportatorium, as well as the Louisiana Hayride in Shreveport, La. In one taped archival program, he is heard introducing a young "goldentone performer" named Elvis Presley. Pearce became involved in professional wrestling as an announcer along with Dan Coates and Joe Rinelli on the NWA-sanctioned "Big-Time Wrestling", the pre-cursor for World Class Championship Wrestling. He also served as ring announcer for shows at the Dallas Sportatorium, Fort Worth Coliseum and for the Paul Bosech-promoted shows at the Sam Houston Coliseum. Pearce became the primary announcer for Leroy McGuirk's Tri-State Wrestling Show in 1974 and called the moves on the Mid-South Wrestling programs when Bill Watts bought the promotion. Pearce was known for his flashy colored suits, folksy charm and verbal clashes with heels. He was the primary host from 1979-84 (usually with Bill Watts as guest commentator), and then alternated as announcer and ring announcer with Jim Ross for the next two years.
He was not as eloquent as Gordon Solie, Lance Russell and other contemporaries, but he was still a favorite among wrestling fans for his likeable personality. The show top the Nielsen ratings in regional markets, and briefly held the No.1 spot in all of cable television during its brief run on WTBS in 1985. The show was also one of the top-rated programs in syndication during 1985. He was named "Announcer of the Year" by Wrestling Fans International the same year. Pearce retired from active announcing duties when the tapings of the show moved from Shreveport, La., to Tulsa, Okla. He made occasional appearances the following year (when Mid-South was rebranded the Universal Wrestling Federation as part of an ill-fated national expansion attempt) usually as a ring announcer on the sister program, Power-Pro Wrestling, which was taped at Cowtown Coliseum in Fort Worth. Following his retirement, Pearce remained a familiar face in pro wrestling as a guest at fan forums, wrestling nostalgia shows and conventions. Pearce was in poor health for much of the 1990s, and died May 24 of that year. His passing was overshadowed by another wrestling-related obituary -- the accidental death of Owen Hart. As longtime fans have collected DVD and video tapes of the old Mid-South Wrestling programs, and with young fans who have discovered the show, Pearce has become a name synonymous with "old school" wrestling.
