When Dusty Rhodes beat King Curtis for the Florida heavyweight title at the Miami Beach Convention Center...

When NWA champ Harley Race battled WWWF champ Superstar Billy Graham to a draw in a best two-of-three fall match in a mega card at the Orange Bowl...

Seeing Andre the Giant battle NWA champ Harley Race...

Watching the Midnight Rider...

Being fortunate to listen to legendary announcer Gordon Solie each and every Saturday on TV...

Jim Varsallone
Miami Herald
St. Petersburg Times

Here goes with my memories of Florida wrestling:

--Jack Brisco with the figure four on Dory Funk, Jr. ...about 30 seconds left in the time limit...and Junior is trying to hang on to his world title.

--Waking up and reading the Miami Herald one morning and seeing that Bobby Shane was dead and Buddy Colt would never wrestle again.  In fell swoop two of my favorite heels ever were gone.

--Don Muraco reversing the figure four on Jack Brisco.  I know that sounds really hokey, but Gordon Solie played it up so huge that it made Don Muraco a star.

--Monday nights at the West Palm Bch Auditorium.  Even then going to Miami was a life threatening adventure, which made WPB the safer alternative.  And the wrestling was just as wild.

--Eric Embry exposes the Iron Sheik on TV.  "Gordon Solie the man is not from Syria.  He's from 'I-RAN'."

--Funk's vs. Brisco's.  Never got old.  The guys did, but the feud didn't.

--David Von Erich as a heel.  God he was so great in the role.   One of my all-time favorite interviews was to set up a match between he & a young Butch Reed. "Ya know, I see all the women in the audience and they’re just lusting after my body. My beautiful body.  I mean, my body is natural.  Look at Butch Reed.  I mean, anybody can take steroids and look good."

--Kevin Sullivan begins his heel turn.  "Who is 'Nevic Navillus?"

--Dusty when he was white-hot.  "The man of the hour...the tower of power...too sweet too be sour...the dealer....the American Dreeeeaaaaammmm...Dusty Rhodes! The announcer in WPB gave Big Dusty an intro almost as long as Sandman's.

--"Eddie Graham throws the hardest punch in wrestling.  Which reminds me, Eddie asks that you support your Florida Sheriff's Boys Ranch."

--Watching Barry Windham grow into a star.

And finally...the real reason we watched CWF.  Gordon.  One word.   So many memories.  RIP.

JEFF BOWDREN

The Greatest Feud I Ever Saw:

Johnny Valentine and Red Bastien.

By Crimson Mask

(Originally published on WrestlingClassics.com)

1967, maybe early '68:

Valentine had been running roughshod for months. He'd won the Florida title from The Great Malenko (both heels, VERY odd) his first DAY in CWF, and he's repelled the challenges of face after face: Sailor Art Thomas, Joe Scarpa (later Chief Jay Strongbow), Jose Lothario...even EDDIE GRAHAM!!!

EVEN LOU THESZ!!!!!!

Saturday morning: Championship Wrestling from Florida. Next to Gordon Solie at the table, a new face (in both senses): Red Bastien. We knew him from the magazines as a tag team wrestler.

They're pals: Gordon's glad to see him, but Red cuts it short: he's here for a reason.

They play a tape of a TV match from San Francisco: Valentine vs. Bastien, winner to get a shot at...was it Ray Stevens or Bobo Brazil?...for the US title (West Coast version) at the Cow Palace at the next big card.

Bastien is nothing short of awesome (forget the brown-singlet-and-dopey-mustache version from AWA later) : he can mat wrestle, he can fly. Work rate and cardio for days. TREMENDOUS balance and coordination. A precursor of Dynamite Kid and Chris Benoit...

...but it's still looking like Valentine is going to walk through everything in his considerable arsenal and wear him down. We've been seeing him do it to everybody...

...BUT SUDDENLY BASTIEN NAILS A STIFF DROPKICK! A CRADLE! ONE...TWO...THREE!

After the match, Valentine fronts him...a tense moment...and shakes his hand. The commentators mention 'sportsmanship'.

Bastien gets the title shot. He turns to exit the ring...

...and Valentine Sunday-punches him from behind, and commences one of the most convincing beatings you could ever see. Blood is bubbling out of Bastien's mouth (first time I ever saw that one!). They stretcher him out. Valentine knocks him off the stretcher...

...back to CWF:

RED BASTIEN: "...I spent last CHRISTMAS in the HOSPITAL, Gordie...while Johnny Valentine went on to headline main events all over the country..."

Red Bastien has come to Florida for revenge.

Before I pick it back up, the after-match beat down in the San Fran TV match was SO well-worked, it (as has been commented on many times about Valentine's work) FORCED a suspension of disbelief. Even though you KNEW, that little voice in your head was saying, "Hey, THIS one could be on the level." The internal-bleeding gimmick being fresh to me at the time didn't hurt, either...and Red Bastien SOLD it like he was trying to move tanning booths in Rio de Janeiro.

...Red Bastien is in Florida to avenge the horrible beating he got from Johnny Valentine.

Now the buildup starts. You've seen it a million times. The same basic plot they're still using today...Eddie Graham just had this innately better sense of theater, and how much of it to do with action and how much with promos, it seems. The challenger and the champion cross paths. The challenger seems to get the best of every confrontation---doesn't matter which one's the heel, only thing that changes is who's chasing and who's running. Run-ins...opposite teams in tag matches, the challenger pins the champ for the win...non-title matches, the challenger wins...

...the tension rises...

Finally:

Valentine has no way out.

A Florida title defense against Red Bastien on Championship Wrestling from Florida, one fall, TV time limit...but unlike today, the match starts at the BEGINNING of the show.

It's not like the San Fran match...that one was just professional-stakes, a title shot. This time, it's PERSONAL. Emotionally charged from the first bell...

...but then on the other hand, it IS like the San Fran match. Bastien's still hitting Valentine with everything in the book, winning the exchanges, except this match is stiffer, more passionately worked...

...but Valentine keeps coming, methodical and tireless. He's like Frankenstein, or The Terminator...you keep shooting pieces of him off, but it doesn't faze him. He starts taking over. Bastien's losing steam. Valentine's starting to close the show. He whips Bastien into the ropes. He's got an elbow smash locked and loaded...

...Bastein slips the strike and goes behind...

...AND LOCKS IN THE SLEEPER HOLD.

He's never used the Sleeper Hold before.

Valentine resists...but he goes down...and out.

The match has gone about forty-five minutes.

Red Bastien has been the one to finally take the Florida title from Johnny Valentine.

(But don't start thinking the story's over...)

...Johnny Valentine wants his title back.

Red Bastien wants his pound of flesh. He's got no problem with rematches...

...and Bastien's getting his pound of flesh. Valentine just can't get past the Sleeper Hold. He hasn't beaten Bastien clean ONCE, going all the way back to the San Francisco match...

Johnny Valentine's getting frustrated. This means he becomes colder and more methodical and begins squashing every opponent, EXCEPT BASTIEN, in a minute or less.

...the tension rises...

...and finally we've got another title showdown on Championship Wrestling from Florida. Again, TV time, one fall, the match begins at the top of the show.

This time it's Valentine who takes over immediately...

...but Bastien refuses to be put away, and after being pounded down, on the defensive, he EXPLODES...

...can even Johnny Valentine weather this storm of offense? He gets Bastien's back, reaches down from his greatly superior height, hooks an arm around Bastien's head and neck...

...AND GORDON SOLIE FOR MAYBE THE ONLY TIME EVER ALMOST BLOWS IT:

GORDON SOLIE: "...Valentine gets behind hi---...WAIT! Wait a MINUTE!!! What is he---..."

Johnny Valentine takes a rear chin lock.

GORDON SOLIE: "...no...thought I SAW something there..."

Does Gordon make the save? I guess...

...because when, with TV time almost expired, JOHNNY VALENTINE hooks the Sleeper Hold on RED BASTIEN...

...and Bastien resists...but goes down...and out...

...it's still a surprise.

After all, we've never seen Johnny Valentine use the Sleeper Hold before.

Johnny Valentine has his title back. And as if things weren't bad enough before, he's got another finisher in his arsenal.

Red Bastien still wants his pound of flesh.

He keeps challenging Valentine...

...but Red just can't get past the Sleeper Hold.

There's the story. Beginning, middle, end.

Greatest Feud I Ever Saw.

                               Florida Memories
                                                     by David Williamson

    I moved down to the Clearwater Beach area of Florida in late 1982, from Birmingham. Very quickly I was watching wrestling on TV (got tired of Dusty REAL FAST!!), and by the last few weeks of '82, I started attending the weekly Tampa cards at the historic Fort Homer Hesterly Armory, site of where Dory Funk Jr. took the NWA World Title   from veteran Gene Kiniski in early 1969. The Armory was kind of like a wrestling "shrine" to an old-time wrestling fan like myself. I was SO pleased to be able to attend cards there, finally, after hearing about & reading about it for years.
       One particular card there that I attended sticks out for me. Funny, though, I don't recall the undercard, just the main event. It was Ric Flair defending the world title against young Barry Windham, who had
become a favorite of mine since my arrival in Florida.
       Before I talk about that match, let me say that the old Hesterly
Armory had such great wrestling "atmosphere", just a super feel about it on Tuesday nights. Not a classic building by any standards, but come Tuesday night, and the fans packed it on a regular basis, and  it just "oozed" wrestling charm & charisma. Most of the fans seemed to be the weekly regulars, & overall it was a very friendly crowd whenever I made the drive over to Tampa to attend. They drew a large contingent of Cubans, who really LOVED their wrestling, & they were quite vocal, & great supporters of the "good guys", especially Dusty Rhodes & Barry Windham! The Cuban young ladies were (for the most part) very attractive & appealing, & I used to envy Barry Windham, who had them hanging all over him every week, before & after the cards. What a lucky guy!!
      The parking outside at the Armory was free then, but, it was
"every man for himself", & could be a hassle, & a "major jam" after the cards were over, if you didn't get away from there quickly. The first thing most fans did upon entering the Armory was buy a copy of the latest weekly Florida program, the Grapevine, put out by Jerry Prater, who'd been connected to the promotion for years. The Grapevine was a very good mix of photos, articles on the Fla. wrestling scene, and that night's lineup listed, plus misc. info put in there. A great buy for just $1.00 every week, & Prater did the weekly bulletins in Florida for a long time.
       Can't recall the whole card that night, but, wrestlers in the area then were Dusty, Barry, Ron Bass (as a babyface then), the Kangaroos (Don Kent & Johnny Hefferman), King Kong Mosca, Terry Allen (before his "Magnum T.A." days), Scott McGhee, Kevin Sullivan, Jake "The Snake" Roberts, manager J.J. Dillon, Brian Blair, & several others. It was Tuesday night, Jan. 4th, 1983, & I was ready to see a classic matchup between world champ Ric Flair & the young, but, very impressive Barry Windham.
        Well, to make it short it WAS a CLASSIC, and is STILL (in my
mind) probably THE BEST singles match that I've ever witnessed, either attending live, or one that I've watched on TV or videotape. And folks, I'm fifty, and that's me speaking after being a faithful fan of over 35 years of watching pro wrestling bouts. I've seen a LOT of matches over those years, & that Jan. 4th, 1983 Tampa Flair-Windham bout remains my all-time #1 favorite!
      Both Ric & Barry were in top shape, & wrestling form that night, &
they had the fans packed into the Armory in the "palms of their hands" , using great ring psychology to pull those fans (yeah, me too!) up & down out of their seats (I was up in the bleachers, but, still had a very good view),  the crowd was roaring from delight over a mix of superb mat work, chain wrestling, & rugged slugfests, hard chops, & brawling in the ring, & out on the floor. Both Ric & Barry ended up pretty bloody in this encounter, & they both took quite a physical toll on their bodies-it was a ROUGH match!!
       There were a number of close 2 count calls by the ref (Bill Alphonso I want to say, but, not sure on that--my memory isn't perfect
on some of this), but, neither man could execute the final move on his
opponent for the desired 3 count.

     Finally, after a grueling 45 minutes of almost non-stop action, both Flair & Windham were ignoring the referee & kept pounding on each other, both weary & bloody from this "warlike" matchup, but, refusing to give in to the other, just wanting to get at their opponent, & cause more damage to them. It stopped being a wrestling match for a world title, & became a FIGHT, to try & injure each other as best as they could. After the referee was repeatedly ignored, and thrown aside by both Ric & Barry, the official finally had enough, & had the bell rung. The fans were screaming like crazy at all the hot action , & were NOT happy about the ref stopping the match, & neither were Windham or Flair, as they continued slugging & chopping each other, though they were both very bloody, and obviously exhausted. But, it ended in a double disq., at around the 45 minute mark, & finally both wrestlers separated, & staggered back to their respective dressing rooms. The fans stood & cheered & clapped as they were leaving the ringside area, as we all knew that we had witnessed two excellent grapplers giving their all in a long, & brutal affair.
     Truly a mat classic, & I was so glad to of been there to see it in
person. Definitely two of the all-time mat "warriors", showing the fans
how to do it RIGHT!! It was  almost 19 years ago, but, I can still close
my eyes, think back, & I'm in the Fort Homer Hesterly Armory,  amongst 4 to 5,000 captivated fans, witnessing a ring classic. It doesn't get any better than that!
---------The End--------