7mm Florida footage

[ohtani's jacket]

Pepper Gomez vs. Abdullah The Butcher (July 22nd, 1975) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- this was a fun looking match. Abby is another guy who looks better in the 70s. Faster, more mobile, able to put more energy into his performances. He comes across as a fresh attraction and his matches have seemed genuinely exciting. Solie mentions that Abby is being managed by Buddy Colt, who is still recovering from the injuries he suffered in the plane crash. Good stuff.

Stan Hansen vs. Tosh Togo (May 8th, 1973) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- it's weird seeing Hansen in such good shape. Tosh Togo was an awful worker. He really was the shittiest of all the stereotypical Japanese heels. Hansen is earnest, but Togo sucks. Nothing special. 

Brass Knuckles Title Match: Rocky Johnson (c) vs. Killer Karl Kox (Title Change!) (March 14th, 1978) -- I was kind of looking forward to this, but it was just the finish. Nothing special.

N.W.A. World Tag Team Title Match: Ole & Gene Anderson (c) vs. Rocky Johnson & Tiger Conway Jr. -- It's fun watching Rock's dad do his thing. I swear you can see a bit of The Rock in him. The Andersons looked like absolute pros. Decent footage. 

19 Man Battle Royal Highlights (March 27th, 1973) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- Scrappy battle royal that was based around an angle where Buddy Colt paid Dandy Jack and the Samoans to put Ron Fuller out of wrestling. It's crazy how tall and lanky Fuller was. Match was won by Gorgeous George Jr. Nothing special.

Tony Charles vs. Jim Brooks (May 8th, 1973) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- Tony Charles looked sharp here. If we ever get access to the ITV faults, he's a guy who has a chance to shoot upwards in my estimation. Decent footage. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Gordon Solie Interviews Mike Graham (1978) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- Gordon Solie sits down with Mike Graham prior to his World's Heavyweight title shot against Race to discuss his preparation and strategy heading into the match. To Graham's credit, he gives thoughtful answers to Solie's questions and carries himself well. Good stuff.

Haystacks Calhoun & Kevin Sullivan vs. Dick Slater & Stan Vachon (1974) -- I didn't know Haystacks Calhoun still wrestled in the 70s. Solie kept trying to put Haystacks over like he was Andre the Giant. Maybe in a past life. Nothing special. 

Gordon Solie Interviews Andre The Giant (1977) -- Solie sits down with Andre and has a very respectful, serious interview. Andre is very articulate here. Good stuff.

16 Man Battle Royal (December 25th, 1973) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) (CWF) -- Solie is a little too obsessed with Battle Royals. He would have loved commentating a Royal Rumble match, I suppose. Solie talks, and talks, and talks, and we never find out who won. Don't bother.

Dusty Rhodes vs. Ali Bey (1978) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- This was a studio match during Dusty's Stardust period where he dressed up like Ric Flair a lot. I wonder if Goldust was a play on Stardust by any chance? Dusty was a different sort of worker around this period. You wouldn't recognize him if you only knew him from his Crockett days. OK footage.

Florida Tag Team Title Match: Pak Song & Mr. Uganda (c) vs. Dusty Rhodes & Jos LeDuc (11-28-78) -- a bunch of pro-wrestling bullshit. Don't bother.

Gary Hart's Army Attacks Bill Watts (January 7th, 1975) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- a bunch of pro-wrestling greatness. Do bother. Bill Watts sells this shit like a champ. 

 

[ohtani's jacket]

Dusty Rhodes & Sonny Myers vs. Pak Song, Mr. Uganda & The Missouri Mauler (November 21st, 1978) -- typically hot Dusty match. Bread and butter stuff. Decent footage.

Dusty Rhodes vs. Dick Slater (January 4th, 1975) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- Dustin Rhodes commentates over a decent looking match between his dad and Dick Slater. Not sure when this was recorded. Dusty is continuing to grow on me as a performer. Decent stuff.

U.S. Tag Team Title Match: Mike Graham & Steve Keirn (c) vs. Jack & Jerry Brisco (March 7th, 1978) -- Fabulous looking match between two very good teams. The post match sees the Briscos save Keirn and Graham from an attack from Mr. Sato & Mr. Saito, and the two teams bury the hatchet. Jack Brisco's late 70s decline appears to be greatly exaggerated. Jerry is stellar as usual. Very good footage. 

Southern Heavyweight Title Match: The Zodiak (Bob Orton Sr.) (c) vs. Tim Woods (8-12-72) -- it's kind of trippy for me seeing these guys I'm familiar with from the 50s working Florida matches in the 70s. Tim Woods rules as always. Decent footage. 

Florida Tag Team Title Match (No DQ): The Hollywood Blondes (c) vs. Eddie Graham & Mike Graham (1974) -- Eddie Graham was so awesome. This is a pier six brawl finish to a title match. Lots of blood and flailing about. Another screwy title change. The NWA must have had their hands full reviewing all of these Florida bouts and sanctioning all these rematches. Decent stuff. 

[PeteF3]

I think the PWF in '89 might have done a classic rewind match each week. I know there's footage of the Kiniski-Dory Funk NWA title change with Scott Levy antagonizing Solie with smartass commentary a la the Monsoon/Johnny Polo dynamic, and also something with Gordon & Luna Vachon, of all people.

[ohtani's jacket]

Florida Tag Team Title Match: The Hollywood Blondes (c) vs. Dusty Rhodes & Dick Slater (3-26-74) -- Slater accidently hits Dusty with a knee from the top rope, and later on, Dusty refuses to tag and walks out on Slater. Decent Funk style selling from Slater, but you know Terry would have done it better. The Hollywood Blondes seem like one of those teams that is legendary for doing the most basic heelwork possible. Decent footage.

Florida Tag Team Title Match (No DQ): Pak Song & Mr. Uganda (c) vs. Dusty Rhodes & Jos LeDuc (1978) -- There seems to have been a sea change in the Florida territory from the early 70s Jack Brisco era to the late 70s Dusty era. I can safely say that I prefer the early 70s, but then I prefer my US wrestling to be as old as it can get. I don't know which era drew more, but I can't deny that Dusty drew a shit ton of heat even in a run-of-the-mill bout like this. OK footage. 

U.S. Tag Team Title Match: Killer Karl Kox & Jim Garvin vs. Bob Roop & Dick Slater (12-05-78) -- I don't know which is stranger here, Jimmy Garvin as a young up-and-coming wrestler or Killer Karl Kox as a babyface. This was really good. All four guys were excellent in their roles here. Garvin had great fire, Kox was brilliant as the  veteran partner, and Roop and Slater were as good as I've seen them. Great footage. 

Florida Tag Team Title Tournament (December 6th, 1977) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- highlights of the tag tournament. Highlights include Rocky Johnson losing his shit against Killer Karl Kox, the tag team of Mr. Saito & Ivan Koloff, and another tremendous looking bout between the Briscoes and Graham & Keirn. The final is a bizarre piece of matchmaking as Saito & Koloff take on The Masked Marauders. Saito & Koloff win the titles in a cakewalk. Good footage. 

Bob Orton Jr. Workout Video (Championship Wrestling From Florida) (1976) -- the first half of this is film of Bob Orton Jr working out. Great if you're into that sort of thing. Then his dad talks about wanting Bob to take part in Superstars, which was a TV show that pitted top athletes against each other in a variety of challenges. I believe OJ Simpson won it the year before this clip. Bob Jr has a pronounced stammer. We see some footage of Bob running and cycling, and playing tennis. All this really accomplished was to let me know that young Bob Orton Jr was a fit guy. Don't bother. 

 

 

[ohtani's jacket]

Greg Valentine Demonstrates The Power Of His Elbow Drop (Championship Wrestling From Florida) (1976) -- footage of a young Greg Valentine breaking karate boards with his elbow drop. 

Ivan Koloff & Mr. Saito vs. Rocky Johnson & Pedro Morales (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- this is one of the longer clips from Florida. You get the sense that it covers every stage of the match. It's exactly what you'd expect from the teams involved. Koloff & Saito were interesting to watch. The heels refused to leave the ring at the end, so Andre and Ivan Putski showed up and cleared the ring. Andre beating up Masa Saito isn't something I expected to see this morning. Good footage.

Pat Patterson vs. Angelo Poffo (January 11th, 1977) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- Poffo was in his early 50s here and still in pretty good shape. Pat worked babyface. He was never the smoothest of wrestlers, but he seemed particularly sloppy here. OK footage.

Andre The Giant Wins A Battle Royal (April 16th, 1974) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- This ends up being Andre vs the Hollywood Blondes, and Andre gives the crowd their money's worth. He even does a spot that looks like something out of French catch. Worth watching as a reminder of how mobile and athletic Andre was at this point. Decent footage.

Harley Race & Bob Roop vs. Rocky Johnson & Cyclon Negro (July 8th, 1975) (CWF) -- Jeez, Roop bumped like a madman in this. Cyclon Negro had such a cool look. Black tights, taped wrists, and a thick beard. I don't always love Harley as a stooge, but he had a good reason to stooge here. Roop was excellent throughout. The story Solie spun was that Roop was hellbent on putting Rocky Johnson out of wrestling. I've been digging Roop here and there as the second guy in tags, but this is the first time I've really enjoyed him as the lead guy. I'd love to see more of this feud. Very good footage. 

 

[ohtani's jacket]

Florida Heavyweight Title Match: Bob Roop (c) vs. Dusty Rhodes (September 16th, 1975) -- Dusty was attacked before the bout by Larry Hennig and is bandaged and bleeding heavily. Roop thinks he's won the bout by default, but Dusty charges back to the ring and we get some red hot action between the two. Roop does a great job on commentary explaining why a scientific wrestler like himself is using kicks and punches. Roop's stock is definitely on the rise. Big melee at the end with Hennig, Cyclon Negro, and Rocky Johnson getting involved. Screwy finish. Classic Florida booking. I wonder how many times a title change was overturned by the NWA in the state of Florida? Very good footage.

Eddie Graham & Mike Graham & Kevin Sullivan vs. The Samoans & Don Carson (September 18th, 1973) (CWF) -- Eddie Graham is the fucking master. Look at this clip, Graham vs. two Samoans, a guy with a loaded glove, and a manager on the outside, and he just kills it. I love how Solie puts over Graham as having the hardest punch in wrestling history. Eddie Graham is fast approaching Wrestling God status. Good footage.

Florida Title Return Match: Rocky Johnson vs. Lars Anderson (November 1st, 1977) @Ft. Hesterly Armory -- Killer Karl Kox introduces himself to the crowd before the match and says something things to Rocky Johnson that draw his ire. No prizes for guessing the connotations there. Decent looking match between Johnson and Anderson. Rocky is softly spoken on commentary but does a good job getting his points across. Kox attacks Johnson at the end and gives him a brain buster on the outside. Rocky gets stretchered off, and we have ourselves a decent feud starter. Good footage.

$2,000 Silver Dollar Challenge: Dusty Rhodes vs. Lars Anderson (November 15th, 1977) -- Shenanigans as Dusty wins two bags of a thousand silver dollars. Decent footage.

Bearcat Wright vs. The Great Malenko + Bearcat Wright vs. Jack Brisco (March 28th, 1972) -- I like the concept of the Brass Knuckles championship in Florida, but Bearcat Wright isn't the greatest worker. Malenko looked like he took a decent beating. OK footage. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Danny Hodge & Jos LeDuc vs. Pak Song & Toru Tanaka (11-24-74) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- One of the potential all-time greats, Danny Hodge, does pro-wrestler-ry things like selling a stomach claw and struggling to make a hot tag. Later on, we see him as the hot tag and he clears the ring with punches. Does he look like an all-time great? Hard to say. He looks a bit like a fired up Dory Funk. OK footage.

Eddie & Mike Graham (c) vs. Bob Orton Jr. & Karl Von Steiger (January 6th, 1976) -- Eddie Graham is fucking amazing. We know how good he is as a brawler, but he's just as good as a wrestler. Watching Eddie Graham work Bob Orton Jr on the mat was a treat. We get a lot of Orton vs. Eddie & Mike Graham in this and it's great stuff. I don't think Orton Jr was ever good as the main guy leading the match, but as a secondary guy he was rock solid. Good stuff. 

Mike Graham & Steve Keirn vs. Bob Orton Jr. & Bob Orton Sr. (April 20th, 1976) (CWF) -- this is one of the longer Florida clips lasting around nine minutes. I said Orton Jr was better as the secondary guy in a match, but with Keirn subbing for Eddie Graham, he had to be the main guy here and looked great. We get plenty of Bob Jr vs. Mike Graham, and I think I'm ready to accept Mike into the fold. Bob Sr does some dastardly heel things, and the Ortons get tremendous heat. They try to break Mike Graham's leg at the end, but Steve Keirn throws himself on Graham's leg like he was Kobashi. Good stuff. 

Gordon Solie Interviews Eddie Graham & Jack Brisco (1972) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- this is the build up to a World's Heavyweight title fight between Jack Brisco & Dory Funk Jr in Greensboro. No one here was a great promo, but they gave decent soundbites. I was impressed with Solie's hair.

Cowboy Bill Watts & The Great Malenko vs. Dick Slater & Stan Vachon (February 19th, 1974) (CWF) -- this was some kind of screwy finish that was being dissected by Solie & Watts on commentary. Malenko hasn't shown us much so far, but he spends most of his time getting beaten up. For some reason, Slater was impersonating Dusty Rhodes every time he did an elbow drop. OK footage. 

 

[ohtani's jacket]

Gordon Solie Interviews Joe Scarpa Regarding The March 5th, 1968 Card At Fort Homer Hesterly Armory -- Scarpa talks about his upcoming match with Johnny Valentine. Valentine has been accusing Scarpa of using his sleeper as a chokehold. Scarpa says he could if he wanted to, but he never would. I desperately want to see this bout. The main event of the show is a 6-man cage match, which seems pretty wild for 1968.

Thunderbolt Patterson (1970) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- Thunderbolt Patterson is interested in one thing, and one thing only, money! He likes the finer things in life like Cadillacs and diamond rings. Fun promo. 

22 Man Over The Top Rope Battle Royal (June 2nd, 1973) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- a 22 Man Over the Top Rope Battle Royal would ordinarily be pretty worthless, but this one ends with Paul Jones vs. Buddy Colt! Paul says he'll gladly put up the eight grand he won from this match for a shot at Buddy's Florida title. Good stuff. 

Ernie Ladd Turns Heel On Dusty Rhodes (June 8th, 1977) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- Ernie Ladd does a fabulous job of explaining why he turned on Dusty Rhodes. Dusty does an even better job of selling it in the ring. Top segment. 

Bounty Match! Dusty Rhodes vs Giant Baba (June 25th, 1974) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- Dusty has fun commentating over the Hart Army & the Bounty Hunter, Giant Baba!, attacking him before Dusty and the babyfaces finally clear the ring. OK footage. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Dusty Rhodes vs. Ernie Ladd (July 15th, 1977) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- cool footage of the crowd gathering outside the Tallahassee Sports Stadium. The work here is pretty decent all things considered. Ladd does a good job of bumping for a man his size, and the two go back and forth the way you'd expect them to in front of a hot crowd. Shitty Florida finish. Decent footage.

Lumberjack Match! Rocky Johnson vs. Bob Roop (July 22nd, 1975) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- this continued the wars between Rocky Johnson and Bob Roop and Killer Karl Krupp and Cyclon Negro. OK footage.

Dusty Rhodes vs. Killer Karl Kox (July 25th, 1978) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- Dusty has brought Wahoo McDaniel into the territory to put an end to these 2 on 1, and 3 on 1, beatings he keeps receiving. He commentates over some house show footage of Wahoo coming to his aid against Killer Karl Fox and Buddy Wolfe. Killer Karl Kox was such a fun worker. I love his wobbly leg selling after he takes a beating. Decent footage.

N.W.A. Women's World Tag Team Title! Leilani Kai & Judy Martin (c) vs. Joyce Grable & Vicki Williams -- this looked pretty good, but unfortunately it was shot from a low angle at ringside, so it was a bit jarring at times (especially the edits.) OK footage. G

Southern Heavyweight Title Match: Dusty Rhodes (c) vs. Thunderbolt Patterson (October 2nd, 1973) -- Dusty was a really fun heel. He begs off and stooges with the same aplomb as his stylin' and profilin'. Really cool dynamic here with Thunderbolt's headbutt being treated as a potent weapon. Good footage.

[ohtani's jacket]

Jack Brisco (c) vs. Buddy Colt (October 6th, 1973) -- it doesn't get much better than Jack Brisco vs. Buddy Colt. Ha, Buddy doesn't have time to go out there and kiss babies like Jack Brisco does. It's hard for me to believe that there was anybody in North America who was better than Jack Brisco in the early 70s. Buddy complains about a fast count at the end. Then he gives Jack a beating so that he'll regret having stepped in the ring with Buddy Colt. Brilliant. Very good footage.

Ivan Koloff & Pat Patterson vs. Jack & Jerry Brisco (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- The Briscos get their asses kicked here. Pat is a mean son of a bitch and fucks Jerry's leg up with the figure four. Jack wants Patterson at the end, and I also want more. Jack isn't really known as a brawler, but there's a nice spot where he unloads on Koloff with rights and lefts. Not only is Jack an all-time great singles wrestler, but he was part of an excellent tag team as well. Good footage.

Steve Keirn vs. Bob Orton Jr. (Bob Roop interferes!) (1976) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- nice studio match between these two. Roop keeps calling Orton Jr the "new breed" of wrestler, and I have to concur that he was an absolute machine. If we were living in 1976 and posting on message boards, I have no doubt Orton Jr would be a favorite among the young posters. Botched interference from Roop. That's embarrassing. Decent footage. 

Grudge Match: Dusty Rhodes & Eddie Graham vs. Bob Roop & Bob Orton Jr. (January 27th, 1976) (CWF) -- I say this every time, but Eddie Graham is an absolute legend. His exchanges here with Bob Orton Jr. were so good. I love the heel commentary in this one. They put Eddie Graham and Dusty over every step of the way while still celebrating each other's moves and calling the babyfaces out on their illegal holds. Orton hits Graham with a beautiful piledriver to end it, and Roop loves it. Very good footage.

Jack Brisco - N.W.A. World Heavyweight Champion (1973) -- here we get some of the backstory surrounding what was happening with the NWA title in the early 70s. Dory claims he came back too early from a shoulder injury, which is the reason why Race defeated him for the title. Since Brisco has never defeated Funk in an NWA title match, Dory claims that he should be declared the world's champ or given a title shot. Worth watching. 

[Clayton Jones]

That sounds like a high quality block of footage. Fascinating stuff!

[ohtani's jacket]

Eddie Graham vs. Bad Leroy Brown (January 3rd, 1980) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- into the 80s now, and the beginning of the end for Florida wrestling. Graham looked okay here, but it's the first match where I haven't gone gaga over what a master he is. Mind you, Leroy Brown isn't much of a worker, but I think Graham was starting to show his age. OK footage. 

Bob Armstrong vs  Buddy Colt (February 10th, 1975) at the Orlando Sports Stadium (CWF) -- heated match sees an injured Bob Armstrong wearing a neck brace and valiantly defending his North American title against the opportunist Buddy Colt. This was right before the plane crash that ended Colt's in-ring career. Judging by the footage, he wasn't done yet and the world was robbed of a few more years of prime Buddy Colt. Good footage. 

Dusty Rhodes vs. Terry Funk (February 10th, 1976) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- heel champ Terry Funk vs the Dream in front of a molten crowd. Lots of bullshit in this match -- the Missouri Mauler, a ref bump, a second ref, a Dusty finish, and not a lot of Funk vs. Dusty action. We do get Dusty on commentary, though, which makes for some colorful moments. Decent footage. 

Don Muraco vs. Barry Windham (1980) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- Well, this was something. Don Muraco has a beard. Don Muraco beats the shit out of a skinny Barry Windham. They have to take Windham away on a stretcher. Muraco cuts a promo and spits everywhere. Gordon Solie stares into the camera in disgust. Interesting studio footage.

International Jr. Heavyweight Title Match: Tatsumi Fujinami (c) vs. Mike Graham (February 15th, 1980) -- hey, Fujinami in Florida! They went all out for this match with flagbearers and national anthems. Fantastic looking action, as you'd expect from 1980 Fujinami, though slanted toward Graham's offensive highlights. Eddie Graham attacks Fujinami on the outside for reasons that don't make sense. Graham gets the win. Good footage. 

[ohtani's jacket]

CWF Workout Video At The Sportatorium (1974) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- are you kidding me? Slow motion workout clips between Les Thorton, Ali Vaziri (The Iron Sheik), Danny Hodge, Bob Roop and Tony Charles with commentary from Don Curtis and Coach John Heath? This is like wrestling porn. They transition into showing the moves in actual matches, and I swear to God, Tony Charles is wrestling The Destroyer. Excellent footage.

Wild Bill Irwin Attacks Dutch Mantell In Orlando (1985) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- this was a blast. Wrestling on a shoestring budget. So much fun. 

'Hangman' Bobby Jaggers vs. Gordon Nelson (1980) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- I watched this to see Gordon Nelson work as jobber, but to my surprise, Lord Alfred Hayes sat in on commentary and cut the most wonderful promo about the dearth in cowboys from Texas. Good stuff.

Mr. Saito vs. Hector Guerrero (1980) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- Masa Saito was such a great worker. Shades of a young Eddie in Hector here. Saito ends a fun studio bout with a killer sleeper hold before the bearded Muraco cuts a promo on Dusty. I'm loving heel Muraco. Looks like Muraco was another guy who New York ruined.

Jack Brisco vs. Geoff Portz (1980) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- British great Geoff Portz goes after Jack's injured knee for a bit until Jack wins with an unconvincing inside cradle. Dusty cuts a promo about how everything is being intensified, and we the credits to the TV show where we learn who supplies Solie's wardrobe and the people who style his hair. Interesting. Not much to see here. 

Manny Fernandez vs. Raul Mata (1980) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- I didn't know that the luchador Raul Mata worked Florida. This was pretty competitive for a showcase bout. I've always had a soft spot for Manny. He cuts a promo afterward calling out three guys -- Ernie Ladd, Don Muraco, and Harley Race. I like how he had so much going on in the territory. Good stuff. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Dusty Rhodes Promo ("I played golf in the 70's!") (N.W.A. World Heavyweight Champion) (1981) -- Dusty cuts a fantastic promo on Ric FLARE! If you like Dusty's promo work then you need to check this out.

Harley Race vs. Manny Fernandez (February 9th, 1980) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- this looked like a typical touring champ match, and may have been another of those frustrating Harley Race matches if we had it in full, but as a clip I loved the way Solie and Fernandez explained the psychology behind the action. Basic stuff for most wrestling fans, I imagine, but something that's lacking in today's commentary. Good footage.

Mr. Saito (RIP) vs Terry Taylor (1980) @The Sportatorium -- Masa Saito was such a great worker. I guess nobody told him that studio matches didn't need to be this good. Saito is one of those workers where I can literally watch any match of his and enjoy it. Good stuff.

Ivan Koloff vs Hector Guererro (1980) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- another really good studio match involving another really good worker, Ivan Koloff. Koloff overwhelms poor jobber Guerrero for the victory. Good stuff. 

Dick Slater vs Raul Mata (1978) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- man, Florida studio wrestling was pretty damn good. I've read that Raul Mata had a good rep among the wrestlers in Florida. He was a guy who was happy to be wrestling regardless of where he appeared on the card. This felt like an El Dandy WCW studio match at times. I really like this type of studio wrestling. Good stuff. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Florida TV Title Match: Mr. Saito (c) vs. Barry Windham (Title Change!) (July 26th, 1980) -- a skinny Barry Windham takes on Saito at a house show. Mostly clips of Barry being valiant and scoring the upset win. Decent footage.

Mike Graham vs. Hiro Matsuda (August 11th, 1981) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) (CWF) -- I really like Hiro Matsuda. If you think about the first two decades of Japanese professional wrestlers, he has to be in the top 10. This is basically clips of Graham trying to deal with Matsuda's superior wrestling ability and it's impressive the way that the crowd are behind Graham even though it's more of a wrestling contest than a brawl. Graham sure grows on you if you watch enough of this stuff. Very good footage.

Ric Flair vs. Mr. Wrestling #2 (December 8th, 1981) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- If I'm going to watch any Flair at this point, it's probably gonna be young Flair. And the thing I'd be looking for most is new opponents. Mr. Wrestling II fits the bill. Wish we'd seen a bit more than the finish. OK footage.

Mike Graham vs. Tully Blanchard (1981) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- this was supposed to be Dory Funk Jr vs. Mike Graham, but Tully slapped Graham in the face and a match broke out between the two. Tully wasn't anywhere near as good a TV worker as he'd become later on, but it was still an excellent studio bout. I actually didn't know that Tully cut his teeth in Florida. Solie did a tremendous job of putting the whole thing over, and even Dory served as a pretty decent heel. Very good footage. 

Dory Funk Jr. vs. Steve Keirn (Funk Goes Berserk!) (1981) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- really good TV match with a killer angle afterward. If you think Dory Funk couldn't to this pro-wrestling stuff, you need to watch this. Really good footage. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Barry Windham Pins Ric Flair! (1982) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- Flair is doing a wrestling workout on television with a pair of jobbers. He gets bored and challenges Barry Windham to wrestle him. Windham gets the better of him twice, and Flair snaps and attacks him. Barry gets the pin off a flying lariat, and Flair goes suitably berserk. To be honest, I thought it would have been cooler if Windham had pinned Flair during the workout. Flair was in amazing shape in '82 and really good at the amateur stuff. Decent footage.

Dusty Rhodes vs. Dory Funk Jr. (May 12th, 1981) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- Dory vs Dusty isn't the first match-up that comes to mind when thinking of late 70s-early 80s wrestling, but this looked pretty good. Great soundbite at the end from Dusty: "I hate Terry Funk. I hate Dory Funk. I hate Daddy Funk, and I hate Mother Funk. I hate all the Funks. There has never been a doubt that I was a Funk hater." Good stuff.

Jake Roberts Breaks Barry Windham's Nose (August 25th, 1982) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- Man, it's weird seeing Jake Roberts in trunks. I didn't know that Roberts broke Windham's nose. Then again, I guess there's a lot of stuff about territory wrestling I'm unaware of. Great angle. I had no idea Jake was a great promo as early as '82. He's upset at only getting 10 minutes for his match and takes it out on Windham, who takes a terrific looking bump from a running knee lift. Great stuff. 

Taped Fist Match: 'Nitro' Eric Embry vs. Cyclon Negro (1982) @The Sportatorium -- Pretty cool TV match. Props to whoever gave Cyclon Negro and Embry the greenlight to work a taped fist match in a studio bout. Embry had some strong flurries, but Negro was much too tough for him. Good stuff. 

Bunkhouse Match: Dusty Rhodes vs. Ric Flair (June 15th, 1982) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- Flair is wrestling in a white shirt with no pants kind of like Tom Cruise in Risky Business. Dusty busts out a butterfly suplex from nowhere and wins with a Japanese guillotine. I guess Dusty got a bit serious where the NWA title was concerned. Decent footage. 

[ohtani's jacket]

The board swallowed my last post, so let's try this again...

Barry Windham vs. Jake Roberts (1982) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- Windham has his nose taped like Virgil in this one. It was pretty good while it lasted, but I wanted Jake to work over Windham's nose a bit more. I would have loved to have seen Jake DDT Windham on his nose, but I don't think Jake was doing the DDT at this point. His big move was a knee lift, which he used to collect the bounty on Windham in the last match I saw. Decent footage. Shades of Pillman/Windham.

Cowboy Ron Bass vs. Jake Roberts (1983) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- hey look, it's Outlaw Ron Bass, the man who got me hooked on professional wrestling when he raked Beefcake's face with his spur. Considering the importance the man had in my life, I've seen precious little footage of him. I'm not sure where he ranks in the pantheon of cowboy wrestlers, but he seemed like a decent hoss to me. Jake was strangely subdued in this and was mostly there to get his ass kicked. OK footage.

Kevin Sullivan & Jake Roberts vs.Terry Allen & Scott McGhee (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- I didn't know that Jake was one of Sullivan's men in Florida. This was a decent competitive squash with Allen and McGhee getting a few licks in before doing the job. Decent footage.

Barry Windham Promo On Kevin Sullivan & Jake Roberts (1982) -- Windham struggles through a promo with Dusty right by his side. I dunno what Dusty was thinking, but he placed a hand on WIndham's shoulder for support. Fans like us kind of take promos for granted, but man, awkward pure babyface promos are a nightmare if you lack confidence on the mic. Especially when you're trying to double down and act dead serious. Nothing special.

Barry Windham vs Jake Roberts (Kevin Sullivan & Angelo Mosca Attack Windham!) (1983) (CWF) -- this had some decent brawling before the interference. I wish we could get a proper length Windham/Roberts match in full. Sullivan looked like an idiot with his pink and blue hair. I thought he was supposed to be the creepy leader of a Satanic cult. Go tattoo your forehead or something. OK footage.

Brian Blair vs. Jake 'The Snake' Roberts (1982) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- Roberts and Blair went toe to toe in this one. Blair was clearly the better wrestler, but Roberts knew a few holds of his own and had plenty of ring smarts. They were given plenty of time here and had a strong showing. Blair is such an underrated worker. I guess he lacked the charisma to go far beyond the tag ranks, but it's not that difficult to imagine an alternate universe where territory wrestling doesn't die out and you still have Florida in the late 80s and early 90s with Blair as your heavyweight champion. Good footage. 

 

[ohtani's jacket]

I Quit Match: Barry Windham vs. Dick Slater (July 8th, 1984) @Eddie Graham Sports Stadium -- Windham was still a shitty talker here, but he had improved tremendously in the ring. This was closer to the '86-87 Windham I'm familiar with than the skinny ass version from the early 80s. Interesting booking too, as the face broke the heel's arm and put him out of wrestling temporarily. Good stuff.

Barry Windham vs. Harley Race (Windham Pins Race!) (1983) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- this is a fairly well known match. Just the mention of it alone immediately makes me think of John McAdam's tapes page. It's a brilliant studio match. From Race's promo at the beginning through to the ending where he takes out Windham and Rhodes, it's as good a television segment as anything Flair ever did. The match is fantastic. Both guys blade. Great finish. Tremendous post-match. This is one of the highlights of the Florida footage. All-time great stuff. 

Barry Windham vs. Yoshi Yatsu (Harley Race Blows His Top) (Championship Wrestling From Florida 1983) -- Man, Yatsu is raw here, but full of energy. This was after Windham had pinned Race. Race spends the entire bout putting Windham over, then loses his shit when Windham approaches him after the bout. I haven't heard a commentator lose it that bad since Kent Walton got fired up at the Fleet Street magazines. Good stuff.

Ric Flair: "I'm The Best Wrestler Alive Today!" (1985) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- Flair cuts a brilliant promo on Luger. “I’ve walked over better men at a bar to get to the restroom!”

Ric Flair vs. Lex Luger (June 9th, 1986) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- I love me some Flair vs Luger, but this was a pretty wild angle where Luger pinned Flair to win the first fall and was beaten up by a bunch of heels during the rest period. Windham came to ringside on crutches to help Luger, but was attacked by Outlaw Ron Bass. Luger couldn't continue the match, which would have pissed me off to no end had I been in attendance. Flair cuts a promo in the locker room afterward. OK footage. 

[ohtani's jacket]

A Statement From Terry Funk Regarding Dusty Rhodes (1981) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- Terry cuts a fun promo claiming Ed "Strangler" Lewis, Joe Strecher and Jim Londos must be rolling over in their graves at the thought of Dusty Rhodes being World Champion, and how that egg sucking dog Dusty Rhodes ought to win a double C cup brassiere. Fun stuff.

Terry Funk Promo (1979) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- Terry is wearing braids. Looks a bit like Willie Nelson. 

Terry Funk (c) vs Manny Fernandez (October 21st, 1979) (Championship Wrestling From Florida -- This is quite the video package. Manny defeats Terry for the Florida Heavyweight title in controversial fashion. Terry goes crazy backstage and loses his shit when he realizes he's being filmed. Manny is about to wrestle a studio bout when Terry interrupts the match to talk with Manny. He wants Manny to admit that he lied about calling Dusty a better athlete than Terry. Manny won't do it, so Terry beats the shit out of him and screams at him with a microphone. There were very few guys better at this sort of thing than Terry Funk. Great stuff.

Bunkhouse Match: Dusty Rhodes vs Terry Funk (July 27th, 1982) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- Dusty looks badass in a black shirt, jeans and cowboy boots with black gloves. Terry looks like he's wearing wrestling trunks over the top of long johns. This turns into a pier six involving Kendo Nagasaki, King Tonga and Dory Funk Jr. Nothing to see here.

Barbed Wire Match: Dusty Rhodes & Terry Funk vs Kendo Nagasaki & King Tonga (August 21st, 1982) -- Dusty commentates over the top of some rough looking handheld footage. I could listen to Dusty talk about his matches all day long. Good stuff. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Terry Funk and Dory Funk Jr. Collect A $1,000 Bounty (July 26th, 1981) -- a short clip of the Funks collecting a bounty on Tommy Gilbert with Terry making sure to count their money. Solie tries to paint the Funks as wealthy individuals who don't need the money.

Terry Funk Promo On Dusty Rhodes (1982) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- Terry gets upset over the things Dusty has done to him in the past and smashes his head against a steel cage. Repeatedly.

Terry Funk & Dory Funk Jr. vs Steve Keirn & Cocoa Samoa (1981) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- cool looking house show footage. It wouldn't surprise me if Solie shot this himself as he loved to shoot up close.

Terry Funk Calls Billy Jack Haynes "Totally Synthetic" (1984) -- ha, ha, this cut close to home. Classic Terry Funk.

Jack & Jerry Brisco vs Dory Funk Jr. & Terry Funk (March 27th, 1982) @Bayfront Center -- this was a fascinating period in the careers of the Funks and the Briscos as they could still go but weren't top billing anymore. We get more footage than usual and plenty of action. The Briscos tag tram work adds a lot to Jack's case for one of the Greatest of All-Time and needs to be explored more, IMO.