Insane Insights Dark Side Of The Ring: Magnum T.A.

In professional wrestling, there are a ton of what-if scenarios that many wonder about. One of the biggest what-ifs involves professional wrestler Magnum T.A. (Terry Allen). Magnum T.A. was one of the top wrestlers in the 1980s. He was expected to be a much bigger star until a car accident that ended his career and left him paralyzed. Dark Side of the Ring did an episode on Magnum T.A. and it taught many fans multiple things about the man and the accident.

10. Magnum T.A. Was Scammed By Buzz Sawyer

Magnum T.A. was getting insight on how to get into the business and the name Buzz Sawyer was brought up. Sawyer is not well-liked in the business. Jim Cornette called Sawyer a "talented wrestler in the ring, but an obnoxious, crooked, surly, malcontent son of a b**** outside of it."

Magnum T.A. met with Buzz Sawyer and wanted to get into the business. Sawyer told him that he needed a wrestling license, and it cost 10,000 dollars. Magnum got the money from his mother and gave the money to Buzz. In doing that Sawyer immediately leaves the Carolina territory and steals the money from Magnum.

At that time, licenses to wrestle still existed, but only in a few states that had an athletic commission. The cost of the license was 10-25 dollars. Magnum should have known something was up from the beginning, but he got suckered by Sawyer. The producers asked Magnum if he ever got the money back from Sawyer and he answered No.

The crazy part is that Buzz Sawyer did this scam tactic with many other young wrestlers. This wasn't mentioned in the documentary, but Sawyer even scammed a young Mark Callaway, aka The Undertaker. Callaway mentioned on Joe Rogan's podcast that he got his brother to co-sign a 2,000-dollar loan to get him lessons for professional wrestling. Sawyer got that money, packed his bags, and left the state. All he left behind was his dogs, which The Undertaker decided to adopt. At least he got something out of it.

This episode doesn't paint Buzz in a good light at all. Then again, from all the stories told about Sawyer, Vice can legit make a Dark Side of the Ring episode on him.

9. How Magnum T.A. Tracked Down Buzz Sawyer

Magnum T.A. never stopped looking for Buzz after the scam. He got a little help from Jimmy "Jam" Garvin of the Fabulous Freebirds who found out what Buzz did and tracked him down. The next day, Magnum shows up on Buzz Sawyer's porch in Portland. Buzz was stunned as he didn't think Magnum would find him. He's lucky Magnum didn't beat the living heck out of him for stealing 10,000 dollars from him.

Realizing how passionate Magnum was, Buzz decided to show him the ropes. He gave Magnum some lessons about the business for 2 hours. Magnum got to wrestle Buzz on TV too which resulted in promoters being impressed. Magnum T.A. got signed in the aftermath of the match.

This wasn't mentioned in the documentary, but it wasn't a great ending for Buzz Sawyer. He retired in 1991 and the next year he would pass away due to a drug overdose at the age of 32. Not many people liked him at all and Jim Cornette in the documentary was quoted saying "...it backfired because Magnum became a bigger star than Buzz ever was." Cornette is right and he should add The Undertaker's name to that quote as well.

8. The Origin of the Magnum T.A Name

The origin story of the name Magnum T.A. is fascinating. The T.A. of the ring name is Terry Allen, the name of the professional wrestler. Where the Magnum came from was through Andre The Giant. This was when Andre and Magnum T.A. both worked together in the 1980s.

Andre noticed that he looked like Tom Selleck, a popular actor in the 80s. This was at a time when he played Thomas Magnum in the Magnum P.I. TV Series. Andre believed that Terry Allen used the Magnum name to help him get over with the crowd. What he wore too helped as with the biker jacket look and riding a Harley Davidson.

7. Females Were Heavily Attracted to Magnum T.A.

The documentary then focuses on Magnum T.A.'s personal life at the time, Introducing Tamara Howell who was the first wife of Terry Allen from 1981-1988. Howell was with Allen from the beginning of his career and supported him while he was living his dream. They discussed having a family but not until he made it big and became World Champion.

While showing old photos together there is one photo of a young boy that was getting baptized. That young boy is the American Nightmare Cody Rhodes. It was so cool seeing a young Cody Rhodes in that moment. A fascinating fact not mentioned in the documentary, is that Cody Rhodes is Magnum T.A. Godson. Magnum is close with the Rhodes family and the Blanchard family as well (Oh We'll get to that).

A big issue was Magnum T.A. was a real heartthrob with female fans. Terry Allen would cheat on his wife many times. Jim Cornette tells a joke that, "They had more sex on the way to the ring than I had in my life.”

The weird revelation too is female fans being infatuated with his blood. Jim Crockett often claimed that women would reach out to Magnum just to try and touch his blood in hardcore matches. These women would go home with Magnum's blood. That's just disgusting.

It doesn't help that while out with his wife, fans would faint in front of her and Magnum. The old saying is "You never want to be that famous". Magnum got that fame and it affected his personal life. Tamara was a stay-at-home wife and was never with him on the road. When he did get home, Tamara would find photos of Terry with multiple women in his clothes. What an absolute gentleman.

6. Magnum T.A.'s Need For Speed

With Magnum T.A. becoming a big star his future was bright. A big push was on the horizon, and he got a new extension in her contract. Jim Crockett Promotions was all in on making him their version of Hulk Hogan.

When Magnum got this money, it was a really bad thing. The next himself even admitted that he had more money than sense. Terry Allen loved cars, the louder and faster they were, the more he liked it. Magnum decided to buy a Porsche 911 Turbo and wanted to get his need for speed.

In fact, in the documentary, his next plan was to expand on his need for speed by becoming a NASCAR driver. Allen wanted to become the world champion at the age of 27 and then when he was 30 years old, retire from pro wrestling. Allen believed that it was ridiculous to be out there wrestling in your mid-30s and mid-30s. Almost every pro wrestler says that, but they keep wrestling in their 40s and maybe 50's depending on the case. Even if Allen was able to continue wrestling, it's doubtful that he would call it a career at 30. Especially as he admitted that he had more money than sense, he probably would have financially needed to wrestle.

5. How The Accident Occurred And The Details Of His Injuries

October 14th, 1986 is the day that Magnum T.A. had the accident. He was driving home from a match, and it was in the middle of a rainstorm. Terry Allen is on a 2 lane road and close to where his home was. His car began to hydroplane and crashed into a telephone pole. That crash was so hard that the pole was cut in half.

Allen compared the crash to getting hit by a freight train and once the crash occurred, he was instantly paralyzed. He was unable to be airlifted due to the weather. The photos of the crash were terrifying. When Tamara saw them, she thought Magnum was dead.

Magnum was paralyzed from the neck down and his condition was so bad that the doctors thought of putting him on a ventilator. He had to blink to communicate, and the pain was so bad every time he blinked, that he needed a shot of morphine. That's scary.

4. The Insane Amount of Support He Got From Fans

It was a living miracle that Magnum T.A. survived the crash. News coverage of was shown and the images of the telephone pole were haunting. It got a ton of coverage by the Charlotte Observer. At the hospital, the staff was swarmed with fans who were calling to see how Magnum was doing. The number was reported to be around 8,000 - 10,000 calls. The hospital also got so many flowers that the entrance looked like a florist. His fans truly loved him.

3. How The Boys In the Lockerroom Supported Him

Kayfabe at this time was important in wrestling. The locker room wanted to go visit Terry in the hospital. One person who snuck in to visit him was the Nature Boy Ric Flair. Flair decided to visit him in the middle of the night to keep Kayfabe and even had to convince the cops to let him in. During his visit, Flair brought Magnum a 10-pound gold belt and put it on him. Flair even told him “I am giving you this one, and I am waiting for you to get back in the ring for the other one.”. While there are plenty of stories that put Ric Flair in a poor light, this was a great story. It's just a shame that Magnum would never wrestle again.

Here is a crazy fact not mentioned in the documentary about the accident. Ric Flair in the mid 80's was a part of the 4 Horseman faction. At the time of the accident, a lot of fans blamed the car accident solely on 4 Horseman. Kayfabe was real at this time, so they had to be very discrete with visiting Magnum at the Hospital.

Now that his career was over and he was paralyzed, he had no income for the present and future. Along with medical bills piling up, Terry was not in a great spot financially. Everyone in the locker room decided to help out by donating a portion of what they made. That's not all, Jim Crockett the promotor decided that he would match the combined donations to Magnum T.A. Now that is the definition of awesome.

2. Where Magnum T.A. Doesn't Come Across Well

Magnum T.A. comes across as a cool and calm person, however, there is one moment where he isn't painted in a good light. With his injury, his wife Tamara decided to stick around and be his caretaker. Terry Allen continued to betray her by cheating on her. There are no words to explain how disappointing that was to hear.

Tamara had enough of his cheating and decided to leave him. Magnum admitted it was a bad deal and he feels bad about it. He did it so many times that it's a miracle she didn't leave him sooner. Tamara even admits that it was hard to leave, but Magnum T.A. was untrustworthy.

It's the wrestling business and a lot of notable wrestlers have cheated on their spouses, but it doesn't matter. Anyone who cheats is a dirtbag.

1. Magnum TA's Life Today

Magnum T.A. is still alive, but he never wrestled another match again. He is classified as a quadriplegic. He did find love again as he married a woman named Courtney. Courtney was married to pro wrestler Tully Blanchard which is crazy as Tully Blanchard was Magnum T.A.'s biggest rival.

The backstory of their relationship is another can of worms. This was not mentioned in the documentary, but both have known each other since 1987. The relationship started in the early 2000's when Courtney divorced him. Courtney and Terry would fall in love with each other immediately and both tied the knot in 2005.

A fascinating fact also not mentioned, is that Magnum T.A. is the stepfather of professional wrestler Tessa Blanchard. It's understandable why Tessa wasn't mentioned, as she's another piece of work. Tessa Blanchard could legit have her own Dark Side of the Ring episode in the future. Especially with her gigantic fall from grace in the pro wrestling world.

As for the ending of the documentary, Courtney explained how it's tough for Terry to live day to day, but he never complains. Magnum T.A. discusses the what-if scenario he gets asked from fans if he never got in that wreck. Well, the What If he wonders about is what he never woke up at all. That's a really great point.

My Thoughts On The Documentary

After watching this documentary, Magnum T.A. is one of the biggest What ifs ever in professional wrestling. He's definitely on my Mount Rushmore. The dude was so popular in his career and the plan was to make Magnum T.A. the face of Jim Crockett Promotions.

So many things would have impacted the business if he never got in that wreck. One thing for sure was, Magnum was going to be world champion in 1986. The plan was to beat Ric Flair in Starrcade 1996. There are 5 more what if questions I always think of with Magnum T.A. if he never had

1. Would Jim Crockett Promotions Be Sold To Ted Turner?

Once the Magnum T.A. accident happened, business was down and Jim Crockett Promotions was losing a ton of money. They could not recover financially when Magnum got injured and it didn't help that Jim Crockett Promotions overspent in their final years. When the company was sold, it eventually got turned into WCW. Maybe it would have been WWE vs Jim Crockett Promotions in the attitude era.

2. How Would a Healthy Magnum T.A. Impact Sting's Career?

Sting got brought into the company in 1987 to try and help fill the missing void of Magnum. In 1988 Sting wrestled at Clash at Champion PPV. It's the first big match that really made Sting a big name. Maybe that doesn't happen or gets pushed many years later if Magnum is healthy. Maybe it's Sting vs Magnum T.A., instead of Ric Flair.

3. Would Magnum T.A. Have Replaced Ric Flair When He Left The Company In 1991?

This was at a time when Flair had beef with Jim Herd who was the Executive Vice President of WCW. Flair quit the company after Herd wanted to turn him into Spartacus. No seriously that's what happened. Maybe in Flair's absence, Magnum would step into his role and become the big heel or face star to help soften the blow of Flair's loss business-wise.

4. Would Magnum T.A. Have Worked in the 90's?

A big reason why Terry Allen got over with the fans was due to the popularity of the Magnum P.I. show. That show was canceled in 1988 and it would have been interesting to see if Magnum would keep that gimmick going. Could he have never gotten to that level of popularity again"? Would Magnum T.A. be on the mid card for the rest of his career?

5. How Would He Have Been Booked In WWF?

If there was a time when Magnum had to leave Jim Crockett or WCW, he absolutely would have been in WWF in the 90's. How would Vince McMahon have booked him at that time? Would he have booked him well or changed everything that made him stand out. If he did it with Kerry Von Erich and changing him to the Texas Tornado, he absolutely would have rebranded him. That can't be ruled out and would he have been a mid-carder or just fed to Hulk Hogan or Bret Hart?

Further Thoughts On The Documentary

Magnum T.A, mostly comes across well, excluding the way he cheated on his wife multiple times, even when he was paralyzed. I think the star of the documentary was his ex wife Tamara. She came across like a sweetheart in this and did her best to stay with Magnum despite him ruining it.

The one person I wish was interviewed was Tully Blanchard as he was the best rival Magnum had in his career. He would have been a great talking head, and their feud was super insane in the 80's. Blanchard would have given great insight into Magnum then and today. After all Magnum is married to his ex-wife and I wonder if they are on good terms or not.

Well done to Vice and the Dark Side of the Ring crew. As for Magnum T.A., his career was brief, and he had so much more to bring to the business. It's just a shame that we are never going to know what his career would have been if he never got in that car wreck.