Death of the Territories by Tim Hornbaker

Author:Tim Hornbaker
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: ECW Press
Published: 2018-09-17T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

The Only Game in Town

Heading into 1985, the territorial system was at its weakest point in decades, and only a handful of promoters were maintaining a level of competitiveness with McMahon. Elsewhere, it was just a matter of survival. The Florida territory had seen its share of turmoil, but was one of the strongest affiliates of the NWA, and remained a viable force under the leadership of Eddie Graham. Like many other old-time promoters, Graham hated how the business was changing and was defending two of his cities (Miami and Jacksonville) from WWF aggression. But a number of his stars had left for more profitable opportunities, Dusty Rhodes among them, and a combination of factors, some personal and some business, left Graham deeply depressed. Six days after his 55th birthday, on January 21, 1985, Graham died from self-inflicted wounds. The news couldn’t have been sadder to the wrestling community and the scores of people he’d either influenced or helped through his extensive philanthropy. “There’s never been a man better known or better liked in this industry, worldwide,” Jack Adkisson told a reporter for the Orlando Sentinel.233 Mike Graham did his utmost to follow in his father’s footsteps. “I loved my dad and he was my best friend until the day he died,” Mike said in a 2004 article. “Everyone in the industry respected my father.”234 With Graham’s death, Championship Wrestling from Florida passed into the hands of trusted veterans Hiro Matsuda and Duke Keomuka, and the region maintained its fundamental strengths.

The Freebirds reunited in Florida in January 1985 as fan favorites but turned heel two months later to feud with Mike Graham, Bugsy McGraw, and Brian Blair. Blair, a native of Tampa and a protégé of Graham and Matsuda, had spent nine months in the WWF the year before but never got above the undercard. He captured both the Florida and Southern heavyweight championships during the first half of 1985. Another homegrown talent, Hercules Hernandez, a powerlifter with immense might, also won both of Florida’s main singles belts, going over Blair in May and Hector Guerrero in June. Hernandez’s time in the Florida promotion was cut short after a backstage fight with booker Wahoo McDaniel in July, and he was dismissed.

McDaniel’s jump to Florida came after a lengthy tour of the Mid-Atlantic region for the Crockett Family. In June 1984, he turned heel and, on October 7, won his fifth and last United States heavyweight championship. He reigned until March 23, 1985, when he lost the strap to up-and-comer Magnum T.A. in Charlotte. McDaniel and Ricky Steamboat were big losses for Crockett, but JCP was being revitalized by the work of Magnum T.A., Tully Blanchard, and Nikita Koloff. Arn Anderson arrived from the Southeast territory and formed a successful tag team with his “relative” Ole Anderson, and with Dusty Rhodes and Ric Flair added to the bill, Crockett was flying high once again. Ole Anderson’s full-time position in the company was interesting, coming as a result of Crockett buying Ole’s Championship Wrestling from Georgia upstart group.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.