It started with a friendly question between coworkers. /Film writer Bill Bria asked me when the last time was that I watched “Beetlejuice.” Considering the sequel film “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” is now in theaters (read our review here), I’ve been doing a deep dive back into all things “Beetlejuice,” including rewatches of the original film and the animated series currently available on Tubi (but hard to find almost anywhere else). But Mr. Bria’s inquiry was more specific than wanting to know how practical effects were pulled off or remembering one-liners. Knowing that I am our glorious publication’s resident wrestling aficionado, he asked me a question that then haunted me for hours until I could find the answer: “What wrestling match is playing on the TV when the Maitlands (Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis) try to scare a passed-out Delia Deetz (Catherine O’Hara) by dressing like sheet ghosts?

I’m sure that this very thought has also kept … dozens of other people up at night, and because I couldn’t just have this question dangled in front of me like a $100 bill on a fishing pole taunting me to know the answer. Armed with some grainy, blurry footage on a CRT TV in the background of a movie released two years before I was born, I was on a mission.

We know that the Deetz family moves from New York City to somewhere in “the sticks,” aka Winter River, Connecticut. For those unaware, Connecticut is the home headquarters of WWE (formerly WWF), so Delia is probably just watching a match from the biggest company in the world, right? WRONG. Not only is Delia not watching a match current to the time period — which would have included huge names like Hulk Hogan, Macho Man Randy Savage, Rowdy Roddy Piper, and Andre the Giant — she’s not even watching wrestling from the New York region.

Delia Deetz loves some Los Angeles wrestling, apparently!
Warner Bros.
The footage of the wrestling match isn’t in super great quality, but the biggest clue is that the mat in the ring is almost a baby blue color. A few promotions boasted blue rings, including the USWA out of Memphis and NWA Hollywood Wrestling in Los Angeles. While it isn’t out of the realm of possibility that director Tim Burton could get his hands on some wrestling footage from Memphis, it’s more logical to assume that he’d pull from resources from his own backyard. Burton grew up in Burbank, California and cut his teeth working for various studios in Southern California.

So I turned my eye to NWA Hollywood Wrestling, which held matches at the old Grand Olympic Auditorium (which is now a Korean-American Church). I started looking for images of the wrestling ring and came across this article from Sports Illustrated by sports journalist Richard Hoffer that featured vintage photos of the venue. There was no doubt in my mind — this was the correct ring and the correct spot. Delia is watching a match filmed at this venue. Considering NWA Hollywood Wrestling was sold to WWF in 1982, Delia has to be watching something from before then, and given the look of the wrestlers and members of the audience, it looked to be the early 1980s.

So now the question was figuring out who is in the match. When the Maitlands first enter Delia’s bedroom, there’s a very clear image of someone laying on the mat while a Claw (not unlike The Iron Claw) covers their face. In the wide shots, the person who was hit with the Claw is wearing green trunks and green lined boots, while a referee is wearing all red. That’s enough visual goodness for me to start scrubbing through footage online, which is exactly what I did.

The Whip vs. Ron ‘Spoiler’ Starr at the Olympic Auditorium

Warner Bros./NWA Hollywood
Despite the age of the footage in question, there is a shocking amount of wrestling from the Grand Olympic Auditorium currently available on YouTube. I went through a few playlists of matches, scrubbing through until I saw a man wearing all red in the ring like this referee, with Jimmy Lennon Jr. as the ring announcer. Thanks to some absolute hero on YouTube, a video titled “Wrestling From Olympic Auditorium 1982 1983 [sic]” featured over 30 minutes of wrestling action. After scrubbing through that video, I found the match. Billed from Long Beach, a wrestler in green trunks named The Whip against New Orleans’ own, The Spoiler Ron Starr.

About 10 minutes into the match, Starr gets The Whip on the match, and he unleashes on him … THE CLAW. I paused the clip, I went back to “Beetlejuice” for a side-by-side comparison, and I had my answer. This is the exact match Delia had playing in the background when the Maitlands failed to scare her as sheet ghosts. But the weirdness doesn’t stop there. Starr is seemingly is about to win the match shortly after this move, but before they cut back to the close-up, the footage cuts to black. If you look at “Beetlejuice,” you know that at one point, a man in white pants and a white shirt interferes with the end of the match before Delia turns off the TV. This is the end of that match, and this footage on YouTube does not show these final moments. Is this YouTube video the remaining footage of what was chopped up to be used in “Beetlejuice” all those years ago?

That answer remains to be seen, but at least we now all know that Delia Deetz is not just a sexy art freak with an incredible sense of fashion and interior design. She’s also a wrestling fan.

Read More: https://www.slashfilm.com/782496/the-20-most-underrated-disney-movies-you-need-to-see/