Opera and wrestling: WRAL building has a hidden history

Did you know that professional wrestlers used to share dressing rooms with WRAL news anchors?

Wahoo McDaniel and Ric Flair would film promos and actually wrestle in what is now the WRAL-TV news set in the 1970s and 80s.

This week on the WRAL Out and About podcast, we talk with photographer Jay Jennings, who has been here at the station since the early 1980s. Jay fills us in on some of Capitol Broadcasting Company history, including an opera house that used to call WRAL home!

Capitol Broadcasting Company founder A.J. Fletcher started the Grass Roots Opera Company in 1948. The group eventually became the National Opera Company. An auditorium was built adjacent to the WRAL studio building to house their performances. The auditorium was later converted to the WRAL newsroom.