Pruitt went from Leavittsburg to voice of the wrestling world
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Neal Pruitt didn't grow up watching professional wrestling.
"Mom and dad never really let me watch it," he said. "I wasn't really a fan."
That didn't stop the Leavittsburg native from becoming a part of professional wrestling history.
Wrestling watchers wouldn't recognize Pruitt to see him. He doesn't have the "24-inch pythons" of Hulk Hogan or the perfectly coiffed platinum blond hair of Ric Flair. But his voice can stop them in their tracks.
Pruitt, 60, was the voice of World Championship Wrestling's New World Order, initially made up of Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. The three were former World Wrestling Federation (now WWE) stars who switched allegiance to the WCW and established the younger organization as a legitimate rival to the WWE in ratings and popularity. As a feature producer, Pruitt also shaped the nWo's renegade image.
It was both a career he never imagined and one that fulfilled his childhood dreams.
Pruitt's grandfather worked at Republic Steel, but he also had a television repair business on the side. Watching his grandfather work made Pruitt interested in what those tubes and wires made possible.
"I wanted to work in television all along," he said. "I was fascinated. I liked speech class and thought everyone had a good story to tell. I came from a family of storytellers."
After graduating from LaBrae High School in 1980, Pruitt studied radio, TV and film at Bowling Green State University, where he graduated in 1984.
Watching the 1986 Goodwill Games, created by Turner Broadcasting founder Ted Turner, convinced Pruitt to relocate to Atlanta, where Turner Broadcasting was based. It helped that Pruitt and his older brother, Tim, had a friend in Atlanta they could stay with until they found work.
"I wanted to work for Ted Turner," he said.
It took a few years to get there. His first job was doing audio for a nightly sports show on a local station. It put him in the room with people like University of Georgia football coach Vince Dooley and famed gymnastics coach Bela Karolyi.
"My dad always told me, 'There's no one better than you, and you're no better than anybody else,'" Pruitt said. " I wasn't intimidated. Everybody's human. We're all the same."
Pruitt started working with Turner Broadcasting in 1990. Two years earlier, Turner acquired Crockett Promotions, and it was renamed World Championship Wrestling. When Pruitt first started interacting with professional wrestlers, he saw the opportunity to put his storytelling skills to use. Instead of interviewing athletes as an objective observer, he could help the wrestlers shape their on-camera image.
"I started writing lines for them, suggesting things to make them better on camera," he said. "One of the skills I have is helping people get better on camera."
Eric Bischoff, who Pruitt called one of the best producers ever, asked him to produce segments to introduce nWo, giving him simple instructions - "Just make it look cool."
Pruitt borrowed from a surprising source to do just that. The black-and-white photography and the quick cutting was inspired by the commercials for Paul Mitchell hair care projects. Because the nWo wrestlers were supposed to renegade outsiders, Pruitt said the WCW shouldn't use any of its regular announcers. It had to be a voice wrestling fans didn't know.
The voice he had in mind belonged to a popular DJ on an Atlanta radio station. When he impersonated the voice, Pruitt's bosses told him, "You're here. You do it."
It was Pruitt's voice that fans heard saying, "The following announcement has been paid for by the New World Order," when those B&W propaganda-style clips interrupted WCW telecasts.
Decades later, when fans find out his connection to that part of wrestling history, they ask him to do the voice. He's been told that hearing it immediately transports fans back to their childhoods. He also encounters the occasional skeptic who doesn't believe it's him, even after he does the voice.
After leaving Turner broadcasting, Pruitt worked at BET on shows starring Steve Harvey and Mo'nique, CNN International and the Gospel Music Channel.
He currently does video production for a large defense contractor, but wrestling remains a part of his story. Pruitt has a podcast, "Neal Pruitt's Secrets of WCW Nitro," where he and co-host Guy Evans share stories about that era, and he's been a guest on many others.
He also achieved his dream of not only working for Turner Broadcasting, but working directly with Ted Turner during his time there.
"I wrote a script or two for him and got to direct him," Pruitt said. "Ted is very charismatic. In real life he's like what you saw on TV. He is a great communicator."
Pruitt, who was a Tribune Chronicle newspaper carrier in the mid-'70s, still has family in the area, including his mother, Irene, who lives with his younger brother Keith and his family. In addition to seeing family, Pruitt listed Hot Dog Shoppe, Sunrise Inn and the Greek-fried chicken at Buena Vista Cafe as must-visit stops.
He credited a supportive family and community, Leavittsburg Community Church and educators like LaBrae band director Bernie Edenfield for helping prepare him for the life he's led.
"What I've done for a living, I've been so fortunate," Pruitt said. "God has blessed me over and over. I got to see things you couldn't buy a ticket to with my video camera. I'm so appreciative I got to live my lifelong dream."