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NWA Florida
Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF) was the corporate and brand name of the Tampa, Florida wrestling office existing from 1961, when Eddie Graham first bought into the promotion, until 1987, when it closed down. It is also referred to as ''Florida Championship Wrestling''. When Mike Graham tried a return to promoting, the rights to the name had been acquired by an outside party, forcing him to use another name, ''Florida Championship Wrestling''. History Founding The original owner and promoter was "Cowboy" Clarence Preston Luttrall, a former journeyman heel wrestler who once fought a widely publicized boxing match, resulting from a wrestling angle, with a forty-something Jack Dempsey. Luttrall opened the office in 1949, and Eddie Graham bought into the promotion in 1961, then took over completely in 1971 due to the declining health of Luttrall. The office was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance during the entire CWF era, Eddie Graham serving two terms as NWA pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tampa, Florida
Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the county seat of Hillsborough County, Florida, Hillsborough County. With an estimated population of 403,364 in 2023, Tampa is the List of United States cities by population, 49th-most populous city in the country and the List of municipalities in Florida, third-most populous city in Florida after Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville and Miami. Tampa was founded as a military center in the 19th century, with the establishment of Fort Brooke. The cigar industry was brought to Tampa by Vicente Martinez Ybor, Vincente Martinez Ybor, after whom Ybor City is named. Tampa was reincorporated as a city in 1887 following the American Civil War, Civil War. Tampa's economy is driven by tourism, health care, finance, insurance, technology, construction ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bobby Shane
Robert Lee Schoenberger (August 25, 1945 – February 20, 1975), better known as Bobby Shane, who also wrestled as Bobby Schoen and as The Challenger, was an American professional wrestler known for his time in NWA Florida in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was a well-known "heel" in the National Wrestling Alliance and considered a future wrestling star at the time of his death. Professional wrestling career The son of St. Louis referee Gus Schoenberger, he started his career in the American Wrestling Association in Minnesota. Eventually winning titles in the Mid-west and Hawaii. By 1968 he went to Georgia where he became popular. In 1970, he was the masked Challenger teaming up with The Professional winning the NWA Georgia Tag Teams titles in a tournament. Later that year he defeated Nick Bockwinkel for the NWA Georgia Television Championship. In 1971 he moved to the NWA's Florida territory where he became a big name. He won the Florida Southern Heavyweight Championship ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gerald Brisco
Floyd Gerald "Jerry" Brisco (born September 19, 1946) is an American retired professional wrestler. Brisco is best known for his time in the wrestling promotion WWE, where he was a backstage producer, and, during the 1990s, an on-screen character, working alongside Pat Patterson as the "stooges" for the Mr. McMahon character (portrayed by former WWE CEO and Chairman Vince McMahon). He was most recently a WWE talent scout where he focused on exclusively recruiting amateur wrestlers into the company. Debuting in 1969, Brisco wrestled for multiple National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) territories throughout the 1970s and early-1980s, in particular Championship Wrestling from Florida and Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, winning dozens of championships. Throughout his career, he teamed with his elder brother Jack as The Brisco Brothers. After retiring in 1985, Brisco moved into a backstage role with the World Wrestling Federation (now WWE). He had a late career resurgence betw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jack Brisco
Freddie Joe "Jack" Brisco (September 21, 1941 – February 1, 2010) was an American amateur wrestler and professional wrestler. As an amateur for Oklahoma State, Brisco was two-time All-American and won the NCAA Division I national championship. He turned pro shortly after and performed for various territories of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), becoming a two-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion, and multi-time NWA World Tag Team Champion with his brother Gerald Brisco. Brisco is considered one of the greatest wrestlers of his era. Legendary champion Lou Thesz described him as "one of the toughest and most highly skilled wrestlers of the last 50 years". Don Leo Jonathan called him "probably the greatest champion of the 20th century." In the late 1970s, the Brisco brothers discovered Terry Bollea, the future wrestling legend best known as Hulk Hogan, whom they introduced to Hiro Matsuda for training. Amateur wrestling career Brisco was raised in Blackwell, Oklahoma, wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dory Funk Jr
Dorrance Earnest Funk (born February 3, 1941), known professionally as Dory Funk Jr., is an American professional wrestler and wrestling trainer. The son of Dory Funk (Dorrance Wilhelm Funk) and brother of Terry Funk, he was the promoter of the Amarillo, Texas-based Western States Sports promotion. Funk held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship once. He is the second-longest reigning NWA World Heavyweight Champion of all time after Lou Thesz. He held the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship once and the CWA World Heavyweight Championship (Memphis), CWA World Heavyweight Championship once. He is a 2009 WWE Hall of Fame inductee. Funk works for All Japan Pro Wrestling as the Pacific Wrestling Federation (PWF) chairman and runs the Funking Conservatory, a List of professional wrestling terms#S, professional wrestling school. Professional wrestling career Training With a background in amateur wrestling and American football, football, Funk's career in professional wrestlin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Terry Funk
Terrance Dee Funk (June 30, 1944 – August 23, 2023) was an American professional wrestler and actor. Widely considered one of the most influential and greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Funk was known for the longevity of his career – which spanned more than 50 years and included multiple short-lived retirements – and the influential hardcore wrestling style he pioneered in the latter part of his career. Over the course of his career, Funk wrestled for numerous major promotions, among them All Japan Pro Wrestling, Extreme Championship Wrestling, the International Wrestling Association of Japan, Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, the United States Wrestling Association, World Championship Wrestling, the World Wrestling Federation and multiple National Wrestling Alliance territories including Big Time Wrestling, Championship Wrestling from Florida, Georgia Championship Wrestling and Stampede Wrestling. He was the promoter of the Amarillo-based Western State ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wahoo McDaniel
Edward Hugh McDaniel (June 19, 1938 – April 18, 2002) was an American professional football player and professional wrestler better known by his ring name Wahoo McDaniel. He is notable for having held the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship five times. McDaniel was a major star in the American Wrestling Association and prominent National Wrestling Alliance affiliated promotions such as Championship Wrestling from Florida, Georgia Championship Wrestling, NWA Big Time Wrestling and, most notably, Jim Crockett Promotions. McDaniel is often compared to his contemporary, Chief Jay Strongbow, due to both portraying similar Native American gimmicks. Early life McDaniel was born in the small town of Bernice, Louisiana, in 1938. His family was Choctaw-Chickasaw, and he was a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. His father Hugh, worked in the oil industry and moved to several towns before settling down in Midland, Texas. He attended Midland High School, where he was a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chief Jay Strongbow
Luke Joseph Scarpa (October 4, 1928 – April 3, 2012) was an American professional wrestler and WWE Hall of Famer who was best known by the ring name Chief Jay Strongbow. Much like his contemporary Wahoo McDaniel, he portrayed a Native American wrestler, who wore a war bonnet to the ring and would "go on the warpath" when the fans started cheering him against an opponent. In reality (and unlike McDaniel, who was an actual Choctaw-Chickasaw Native-American), Scarpa was an Italian-American who much like actor Iron Eyes Cody portrayed an Indian to stand out more. His best accomplishments are in WWF where he was a four-time World Tag-Team Champion. Professional wrestling career National Wrestling Alliance (1947–1970) Scarpa's wrestling career began in 1947, under his real name. He was trained by second generation Native American wrestler Chief Don Eagle. He was a standout in the Georgia and Florida territories of the National Wrestling Alliance throughout the 1950s and 1960s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bob Orton Jr
Robert Keith Orton Jr. (born November 10, 1950), known by his ring name "Cowboy" Bob Orton, is an American semi-retired professional wrestler. He is a son of professional wrestler Bob Orton Sr., the brother of professional wrestler Barry Orton, and the father of professional wrestler Randy Orton. He is best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), including his involvement in the main event of the inaugural WrestleMania. He has also wrestled for several promotions in the United States, Japan, and other countries. Professional wrestling career Championship Wrestling from Florida (1972–1980) In 1972, Orton began his career in Championship Wrestling from Florida, initially as a referee for promoter Eddie Graham. Early in his career, he wrestled as part of tag teams with Bob Roop and Mr. Wrestling II, with whom he won the NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship on June 9, 1973. Orton was one of the first wrestlers to use the superplex as his finishing move. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bob Orton
Robert Keith Orton Sr. (July 21, 1925 – July 16, 2006) was an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. The patriarch of the Orton wrestling family, his two sons Bob Orton Jr. and Barry Orton, and grandson Randy Orton, have all wrestled professionally. To distinguish between him and his son, he is also known as Bob Orton Sr. Bob Orton Sr. was often referred to by his nickname "The Big O". Professional wrestling career Orton was a two-time holder of the Florida version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship (Florida version), NWA World Tag Team Championship with tag team partner Eddie Graham in 1966. He also innovated the pedigree as he captured several other Professional wrestling championship, titles in various National Wrestling Alliance's (NWA) territories with it, including the NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (Florida version), Florida and NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (Georgia version), Georgia versions of the NWA Southern Heavyweight Champion ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johnny Valentine
John Theodore Wisniski (September 22, 1928 – April 24, 2001), better known by his ring name Johnny Valentine, was an American professional wrestler with a career spanning almost three decades. He has been inducted into four halls of fame for his achievements in wrestling. Wisniski is the father of professional wrestler Greg "The Hammer" Valentine. He held numerous regional titles, including the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship. He had long running rivalries with Bobo Brazil, Pat O'Connor, Buddy Rogers, Antonio Rocca, Lou Thesz, Harley Race, The Sheik, Wahoo McDaniel, Fritz von Erich, Bruno Sammartino, Johnny Powers, Antonio Inoki, Jack Brisco, and Jerry Brisco. He alternated between being a villain and a hero (babyface) during the Golden Era in the 1940s through 1960s of wrestling. In 1975, he was injured in a plane crash; he suffered a broken back and was forced to retire from wrestling. He worked briefly as a manager before retiring altogether. He ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boris Malenko
Lawrence J. Simon (June 28, 1933 – September 1, 1994), better known by the ring name Boris Malenko ( rus, Бори́с Маленко́, p=bɐˈrʲis mɐˈlʲenkə), was an American professional wrestler and professional wrestling trainer. He is best known for his appearances with Championship Wrestling from Florida and Big Time Wrestling in the 1960s and 1970s as a Russian heel. He was the father of professional wrestlers Joe and Dean Malenko. Early life Simon was born in Newark, New Jersey and raised in Irvington, New Jersey. As a teenager, Simon competed at amateur wrestling in YMCAs. Before becoming a professional wrestler, he worked as a truck driver in the Garment District in New York City. Professional wrestling career Simon made his professional debut in 1955 as "Larry Simon", wrestling in the Eastern United States. In 1957, he joined the Dallas, Texas-based promotion Big Time Wrestling under the ring name "Crusher Duggan", winning the NWA Texas Heavyweight Champio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
