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Setting The Final Act 

A wise person once said, "All good things must come to an end". A truer statement was never uttered as it came to be true in 1987 for Championship Wrestling from Florida. As 1987 dawned no one likely expected that the promotion would not last the year. However the writing was certainly on the wall. Bit by bit over the previous few years, a series of events had gradually weakened the promotion. In early 1984 the WWF expanded nationally and changed the face of the industry. Whereas once CWF had a monopoly in Florida, now a competitor's TV and house shows provided opposition in the area. In the late summer of 1984 Dusty Rhodes departed to work fulltime for Jim Crockett Promotions. For a decade plus Dusty had not only been the top star in Florida, but one of the biggest starts in all of professional wrestling. His departure left a gaping hole at the top of the card that was impossible to fill. On top of his star power at the gate, behind the scenes Dusty Rhodes was booker and despite later criticism of his work in JCP and WCW, there was no denying that Dusty did a fine job in Florida. Thus his departure left two big vacancies, not to mention the fact that three other CWF stars, Blackjack Mulligan, Barry Windham, and Mike Rotundo all followed him to JCP (although those three would all move to the WWF in short order).

The next major blow came in early 1985 with the suicide of Eddie Graham. Since the early 1960's Eddie Graham had been Championship Wrestling from Florida's guiding light, first as a top wrestling star and then of course as its gifted promoter. Under Graham's careful guidance CWF set the standard of being the best regional promotion in the country. His death meant more than just losing head of business. It was the loss of the face, image, and binding force of the promotion. Hiro Matsuda and Duke Keomuka stepped in as promoters, but they could never fill his shoes. The promotion tried to hold its own in 1985 and 1986, but the gates fell and the talent level simply didn't match past standards. The two top stars in 1986 were Barry Windham and Lex Luger, initially as enemies, then as partners. Barry was nearing the apex of his talents and departed for the greater money and exposure of JCP in November of 1986. As 1987 began Lex Luger was working through his departure notice. With its last major name prepared to leave, Championship Wrestling from Florida stood at the brink.

Getting By With Veteran Experience

With most of the major stars of professional wrestling increasingly concentrated in the WWF and JCP, Championship Wrestling from Florida had to take what it could get to a great extent in early 1987. If that meant bringing in some older names or short-term veterans, then so be it. Rocky Johnson, who had primarily wrestled in Hawaii since leaving the WWF in 1984, came in for a brief time. Bruiser Brody came in to work programs with Lex Luger and Bad News Allen. Nomadic Brody was only in for a short time. He was booking World Class and was letting some time pass between dropping a loser leaves town match there and returning under a mask as Red River Jack. Kareem Muhammad was a veteran who had received a big push over the past year, lately as a singles wrestler. Still he seemed a bit lost outside of the now defunct Zambuie Express tag team with former partner Elijah Akeem.

Kevin Sullivan came back for the first time since early 1986 to take the reigns as booker and top heel. Kevin had most recently been wrestling and booking for Continental Championship Wrestling in Alabama, Eastern Tennessee, and the Florida panhandle. Veteran Chris Colt, one of pro wrestling all time characters, had been with Continental as well. It seems that Sullivan was Colt's connection to getting booked in Florida in March 1987 right before JCP took over (more of which later). However Colt appears to have not even appeared on TV and whether or not he actually fulfilled his bookings remains a mystery. These bookings appear to represent the end of Colt's long and well traveled career. He does not appear to have wrestled again afterwards and is said to have died, although this has never been 100% confirmed. Even Detroit legend The Sheik came in for some shots in early 1987. Another prominent veteran was Bad News Allen. As Allen Coage he won a bronze medal in judo at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. As a wrestler he had mostly worked for New Japan and for Stampede out of Calgary apart from some early appearances in the prelim ranks for the WWWF. Sporting a bit of a paunch and a then unfashionable shaved head, Bad News Allen's appearance belied his talent as a wrestler and his reputation as one of the legitimately tough men of the industry. He would gain a huge push prior to the arrival of Jim Crockett Promotions.

The Youngsters Lend a Hand

Not everyone was a veteran. Many of the stars of Championship Wrestling from Florida were rookies or veterans with only a few years of experience. The promotion was forced to use these wrestlers, for better or worse, in prominent positions when just a few years earlier these wrestlers would have had to toil in the lower part of the card. Kendall Windham had been wrestling in Florida since 1985 and could hold his own in the ring, but was still far too slender for many fans to take seriously as a top contender. Ron Simmons was muscular and athletic was well known from his days as a Florida State football star. Ron feuded with Kareem Muhammad and even held the Florida Title for a time before losing the strap to Bad News Allen on January 20, 1987 in Tampa. However Ron was a rookie with only a few months of experience and while he was learning quickly, he still had much more to learn. Dewey Forte possessed a body builder's physique and was a personable if not charismatic babyface, but was very green. Vic Steamboat was the younger brother of Ricky Steamboat. Vic had talent, but lacked size. His biggest handicap however was really the fact that Ricky was at the peak of his WWF stardom and just months short of his famous match with Randy Savage at Wrestlemania III. There was no way for Vic to escape that sort of shadow. He'd always seem like the less talented younger brother no matter how hard he tried. Ed "The Bull" Gantner was a heel with the sort of ripped physique that was becoming increasingly the norm by 1987. He was a slightly smaller version of Lex Luger in basic appearance and was a prominent member of Sir Oliver Humperdink's stable.

Of much greater promise was a pair of cocky youngsters by the name of Chris Champion and Sean Royal. After making strides during their rookie year of 1986, they came together at year's end to form a heel tag team known as The New Breed. Wearing colorful tights and wild hairstyles and dubiously claiming to be time travelers from the year 2002, they backed up their wild gimmick and odd appearance with arrogant and humor laced interviews and energetic and entertaining matches. Chris Champion was as sarcastic as they came while Sean Royal wasn't afraid to cut loose with a biting imitation of a hated foe. They claimed the revived Florida Tag Team Title (replacing the retired United States Tag Team Title) on Christmas night 1986 in Tampa by winning a tournament final over Kendall Windham and Vic Steamboat.

The New Breed soon had a pair of worthy challengers in the Southern Boys, Tracy Smothers and Steve Armstrong. Steve Armstrong had arrived from Continental as 1986 closed and originally was pushed as a babyface singles wrestler. Steve had talent without a doubt, but didn't click in that role. When Tracy Smothers arrived from Memphis at the start of 1987, he and Steve were put together as a team and made a brilliant pairing. As good old boys who liked stock car racing, country music, hunting and fishing, and riding in their pick up trucks, The Southern Boys quickly scored a following. Wearing Confederate army jackets and hats and waving the Confederate battle flag would gain criticism today, but was still acceptable enough in pro wrestling circles back in 1987. The Southern Boys claimed the belts in Sarasota on February 21, 1987. This was fortuitous not only for Steve and Tracy but for The New Breed as well. When Jim Corckett Promotions took over CWF, the Breed's talent and charisma and freedom from a championship program in Florida earned them an almost instant call up to the main JCP circuit.

Would Be Savior Scott Hall

With Lex Luger and Barry Windham gone to JCP, CWF needed a new top babyface. With no real candidates on hand, the promotion had to look outside its borders for a new face. It found it in Scott Hall. Hall had a muscular build (much more so than during his WWF and WCW heyday of the 1990s) and mustachioed look that recalled Tom Selleck. He looked like a superstar and many fans would recognize him from his run during 1985 and 1986 in the AWA where he was heavily pushed and gained exposure both via that promotion's TV show on ESPN and via many photos and articles in the wrestling magazines. Hall was given a huge push from minute one. A contract signing was shown with the claim that Hall was highest paid wrestler in the world. From late January right into early March Hall won squashes with ease on TV even defeating as many as two or three wrestlers at once in handicap matches. The promotion wanted to position Hall in a feud against The House of Humperdink and Oliver even hired new managerial ally Paul E. Dangerously to bring in a massive heel named Tombstone to take out Hall. Despite this prominent push, Hall just didn't get over. He had little charisma, certainly nothing along the lines of later in his career, and fans didn't take to him. On top of that Hall lacked the wrestling skill that Florida fans expected from their main event stars. Luger didn't either, but had a look and aura that overcame that barrier in ways that Hall couldn't. As JCP stepped in, it was clear that Scott Hall had flopped as the lead babyface both in the ring and at the gate.

At The Top Of The Card

Many wrestlers would find themselves interconnected during the early part of the year by the departing Lex Luger and the fight to fill the void he left behind. Bad News Allen, who began the year as Bahamas Titleholder, chased a bounty placed on Luger by Sir Oliver Humperdink whose stable prominently featured Ed Gantner and Kareem Muhammad as well as the returning Kevin Sullivan. Hump also utilized Bruiser Brody as a bounty hunter and in this capacity Brody had an infamous cage match with Lex Luger in Fort Lauderdale. During the bout Brody started throwing stiff shots even by his standards and refused to sell for Lex. Referee Bill Alfonso told Lex to get out of Dodge and Lex complied without delay. This incident has been painted as everything from the office putting a hit on Luger so to speak or just Brody throwing his weight around. Whatever the case there can be no argument that this farcical match did CWF no favors at the gate in Fort Lauderdale at a time when it needed all the favors it could get.

Back to the feud, Sullivan, Brody, and Bad News all pursued Luger and Hump's reward. Kevin Sullivan won the Southern Title from Lex in Daytona on January 16, 1987. Brody faced Luger around the circuit, as did Bad News. Eventually Luger left Florida after being brutalized in a two on one attack by Brody and Bad News. Sir Oliver Humperdink claimed victory. Brody and Bad News wanted their money. Sir Oliver obliged, but didn't exactly split the money up fairly, giving an overwhelming majority to Bruiser Brody and condescending to Bad News as if he was a fool. This didn't please Bad News Allen to put it mildly. He turned babyface and vowed to make Sir Oliver Humperdink's life a living hell. With Brody on his way back to Texas, the first line of defense for Hump was Kevin Sullivan. Sullivan and Bad News engaged in some just brutal battles during the late winter of 1987. Both guys enjoyed a good brawl and loved to work stiff. It really seemed like the territory had finally found a money making angle relative to the state of the promotion at the time.

With Sullivan the Southern Champion and that title pushed as the main singles championship in Florida at that time, it became the focus of their feud. Bad News Allen pinned Sullivan in Fort Lauderdale on January 31, 1987 to win the belt and to thus simultaneously hold the Southern, Florida, and Bahamas Championships. Sullivan regained the title in that same city on February 18, 1987. The feud would climax in Daytona at the Ocean Center on March 15, 1987 in a steel cage match. Kevin Sullivan dubbed the match and thus the card itself as Thunderdome, the name inspired by the movie "Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome". Sullivan would maniacally chant a line from the film "Two Men Enter! One Man Leaves!" in his promos. Bad News Allen didn't cut a typical babyface promo. He just made it clear that he was coming to fight and coming to win what he rightfully thought belonged to him. It would stand to reason that Bad News would triumphantly win the bout and the feud, but instead Sullivan won and retained the Southern Title. With that, Bad News Allen returned the Stampede and the whole feud was never mentioned again. This was more than a matter of booker Sullivan using his power to elevate himself. A new owner had taken over the promotion and didn't have a place for Bad News Allen in its plans.

Jim Crockett Promotions Arrives

The beginning of March 1987 saw Jim Crockett Promotions purchase Championship Wrestling from Florida. For Hiro Matsuda and Duke Keomuka it was the best option. The wrestling world had changed and the territorial promotion was going the way of the dinosaur. Better to sell out and leave with money than to see the business fail and leave with nothing. Jim Crockett Promotions was had for decades covered Carolinas and Virginia during the 1970s and 1980s under the banner of Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling. In early 1985 it added Georgia to its promotional reach and soon began to tour in cities around the nation that it had not previously covered. The aim of JCP was to form a nationwide promotion to battle head to head with the WWF. As a part of that plan, CWF was purchased.

JCP made all sorts of changes. The Southern Title was "retired" by Kevin Sullivan and the Bahamas Title last held by Bad News Allen was abandoned. Now only the Florida Title and Florida Tag Team Title remained although JCP's titles were defended frequently. The NWA World Title appeared more often, but usually it was JCP rather than CWF wrestlers getting the shots. As it had with the Central States territory in a promotional agreement that ended just before JCP entered Florida, JCP would produce Florida's TV programming and distribute it nationwide via its syndication arm The Wrestling Network. On top of that Sir Oliver Humperdink was named as host of the B show Southern Professional Wrestling, one of the few times that a heel has ever hosted a major wrestling program without a babyface counterpart. In other developments JCP stars would appear in the main events and upper midcard bouts of CWF cards and JCP stars, especially Dusty Rhodes, but also Ric Flair, Tully Blanchard, The Rock n Roll Express, and others, regularly appeared on Florida's TV shows. Even when a big event was held, the Florida wrestlers were down the card instead of on top. On May 9, 1987 the promotion held the Eddie Graham Memorial at the Bayfront Center in St. Petersburg. Yet the top two bouts, Ric Flair vs. Dusty Rhodes and Manny Fernandez and Rick Rude vs. The Road Warriors, featured JCP rather than CWF stars. When The Orange Bowl in Miami hosted The Great American Bash on July 31, 1987, the Wargames II with the Horsemen and War Machine vs. Dusty Rhodes, Nikita Koloff, The Road Warriors, and Paul Ellering was the focus. If CWF stars were treated as second rate in comparison to JCP stars on a big show, how could they draw on their own merits?

Meanwhile right from the arrival of JCP, many of the wrestlers on the existing crew were shown the door. In their place to fill out the CWF roster came JCP undercard and midcard wrestlers, many fresh from the Central States promotion. Out went Steamboat, Muhammad, Forte, and others, while strangely familiar face Kendall Windham was moved to the main JCP circuit on essentially a regular basis. Scott Hall had flopped and was moved down the card until leaving entirely by May. In came Bill Dundee as a heel wrestler and as a manager guiding the Mod Squad who claimed the Florida Tag Team Title from The Southern Boys at the Thunderdome card in Daytona. Dundee also guided The Barbarian. Shaska Whatley came aboard as a heel foe for Ron Simmons. Jimmy Valiant, Mitch Snow, and Teijho Khan arrived as well and other wrestlers from JCP's lower reaches would filter in and out during the year. Bugsy McGraw came in during the summer (not via JCP's main circuit) and often teamed with Valiant. Wahoo McDaniel who was heavily pushed in Florida as recently as 1985 was supposed to come in, but headed for the AWA instead. Even Bill and Randy Mulkey came in! Undoubtedly Mike Rotunda had the biggest impact among the JCP imports as a babyface singles wrestler. Dory Funk Jr. was another familiar returning star who did not return via JCP and entered CWF directly.

One Team Folds And Another One Reopens And Still More Hit The Scene

On the tag team scene Steve Keirn and Mike Graham reunited as a duo for the first time since the early 1980s. This was not the actual plan. Mike was supposed to be used in singles competition. Steve was supposed to team with Stan Lane as The Fabulous Ones. The Fabs had worked in Memphis during the early part of the year. Then Stan arrived in Florida in March while Steve took some time away from the ring to tend to some private business interests. The plan was to go back to fulltime wrestling as The Fabulous Ones in April. However before that could happen Stan was drafted to team with Bobby Eaton as The Midnight Express, replacing the departed Dennis Condrey. With Lane gone, Keirn instead reformed his team with Mike Graham. They were given a push right to the Mod Squad's Florida Tag Team Title. Bill Dundee had already returned to Memphis. The Mod Squad would head North to the main JCP circuit, clearing the path for the returning Sheepherders, who would take on Johnny Ace as flag bearer, to take the spot as top heel tag team. With help from Ace's New Zealand flag pole, The Sheepherders claimed the Florida Tag Team Title from Keirn and Graham in Tampa at the USF Sun Dome on June 23, 1987 and both teams would regularly battle during that summer. Another team on the scene was The Cuban Connection. They mostly were in the low midcard and consisted of David Sierra and Ricky Santana. The promotion didn't seem to know what to do with them as they bounced between being babyfaces and heels without any angles in a manner that is too frequent today, but unheard of at the time.

Mike Rotunda; Florida Heavyweight Champion

When Jim Crockett Promotions took over Championship Wrestling from Florida, Mike Rotunda, newly arrived from the WWF, was installed as Florida Champion almost from the get go. It was a good choice on the surface. Mike was a talented scientific wrestler, at the time a career babyface, and was well known to Florida fans via his run in the promotion in 1987. Mike initially claimed the Florida Title on March 15, 1987 at the Thunderdome card in Daytona defeating Ed Gantner who had been given the title by his manager Sir Oliver Humperdink. Mike's run with the belt was quickly halted by NWA officials who ruled that Humperdink had no authority to give Gantner the championship. A match was ordered with the actual champ Humperdink defending against Rotunda inside a steel cage match for April 18, 1987 in Lakeland. Mike won with ease and claimed the title at last.

Now Mike was due to face more legitimate contenders. While the likes of The Barbarian and Bill Dundee received title shots, the first major contender to emerge was Kevin Sullivan. Sullivan and Rotunda made a good pairing and faced each other frequently in April and May of 1987. Their highest profile bout was at the Eddie Graham Memorial, but that bout as did many in CWF during 1987, suffered from being pushed to the midcard by the presence of JCP stars on the card. Rotundo and Sullivan would be pushed on TV as the top feud, but then fans would get to the arena and find the bout placed as the 5^th out of 8 on the card.

With Sullivan dispatched, Dory Funk Jr. became the top challenger heading into the latter part of June and into July. Mike and Dory had some very good matches and while Dory never actually claimed the belt, he did score a pin over Mike on Championship Wrestling from Florida that was overturned due to interference by Kevin Sullivan. Into August Dory's challenge was getting a bit stale, so into the breach stepped Terry Funk, back in Florida for the first time since the early 1980s. Terry was still as good as ever in the ring, but the territory had been thoroughly dismantled by this point and the bouts were just not put in a position to draw.

During the final stages of the promotion Mike Rotunda also defended the belt often against Ivan Koloff, including at the Bash card at The Orange Bowl. To emphasize just how much the promotion was just shell encasing the greater body of Jim Crockett Promotions, Ivan was just a JCP interloper, mixing Florida appearances with bookings on the main JCP circuit and what remained of the UWF. In late July of 1987 when Ivan began to gain title shots, his manager Paul Jones reminded Gordon Solie about a famous angle from Florida Wrestling's past. He of course was referring to the angle back in 1972 when Jones threw the Florida Heavyweight Title belt off of Gandy Bridge into Tampa Bay. Jones seemed to be intimating that the Florida Title belt would suffer a similar fate if Ivan won the championship. Alas nothing came of it and Ivan and Mike just did their best in the ring using the USA vs. USSR rivalry and the value of the title as the focal point of their bouts rather than any specific angle. These bouts went on, with Dory Funk Jr. still getting title shots, right up until the promotion was dissolved in October of 1987.

It probably seems as if Mike Rotunda was a weak champion. Really he was not. He did everything he could to get the title over as something valuable and himself as a champion worthy of that title. The problem was that Jim Crockett Promotions had weakened the entire Championship Wrestling from Florida brand to the point that Mike was blocked from elevation. Mike was a champion who did not receive top quality angles and was placed in the middle of the card, behind the likes of Flair, Rhodes, and The Road Warriors. He was just never going to be as over as a champion who was pushed as the top overall star and who had the main events. This flawed booking was what hurt Mike more than anything he did himself.

Hitting A Dead End With Ed Gantner

As was mentioned earlier, Ed "The Bull" Gantner had the look of a star and it made sense that Championship Wrestling from Florida would try to make him one. Things started off in 1987 with Gantner getting a massive push as one of Florida's lead heels. He also had his phantom run with the Florida Title. This run was used ultimately as a springboard to a babyface turn. Sir Oliver Humperdink blamed Gantner for getting him stuck in a cage match with Mike Rotundo by "losing" the title. Gantner would have no part of Hump's claims and broke with the House of Humperdink by attacking Hump and getting attacked by his former stablemates. Hump then put a bounty on Gantner, which served to make Ed seem important. After all, who would place a bounty on an insignificant nobody? At the Eddie Graham Memorial, Gantner teamed with no less than Barry Windham to defeat Dory Funk Jr. and The Tahitian Prince Samu. Ed was clearly being groomed for the babyface spot once held by Luger and that Scott Hall had failed so dismally in. Yet despite a hot May and June, by July Gantner's push had evaporated. Soon he vanished from Florida and the wrestling scene entirely.

Kevin Sullivan Loses His Mind

If there is one thing from the JCP era CWF that fans remember well, it is undoubtedly the bizarre angle that involved Kevin Sullivan slipping into insanity. It all started around May of 1987 with Sullivan claiming that he had headaches and that he was hearing voices. Sullivan's tenuous mental state soon degenerated further with Kevin wandering through matches screaming in a disoriented fashion and delivering strange interviews speaking of past events as if they were current and claiming that someone in a brown Ford LTD had been following him. Sir Oliver Humperdink and the rest of his stable viewed Kevin's behavior first with concern and trepidation, but eventually came to see Sullivan as a liability. The House of Humperdink took action at the USF Sun Dome on June 23, 1987 during a big TV taping. Kevin Sullivan was wrestling Ed Gantner in an attempt to win the still outstanding bounty that Hump had placed on The Bull. Sir Oliver and Dory Funk Jr. ran in to join the attack, but when Sir Oliver prepared to toss a fireball at Gantner, he instead burned Kevin Sullivan. Hump and Dory made it very clear that this was no accident. They had burned Kevin on purpose, no longer able to tolerate his insane behavior.

Undoubtedly the other main enemy of the House of Humperdink during the summer of 1987 was Blackjack Mulligan. However Mulligan found a new and unexpected ally. With Dory and Hump double teaming Mulligan in Orlando at the Eddie Graham Sports Stadium, a brown Ford LTD drove up and out stepped Kevin Sullivan, who cleaned house. The House of Humperdink tried again, attacking Blackjack in Tampa at The Sportatorium. Hump's main men Dory Funk Jr. and Samu The Tahitian Prince teamed up with satellite HOH members Teijho Khan and Incubus to beat up Blackjack and send a message to him and anyone who would side with him. Sullivan stepped to the challenge again, helping Mulligan clean house and run off the heels. The two men thus decided to form a team and delivered some very memorable promos with down-home Blackjack Mulligan reacting to Sullivan like he was the lovable, but crazy uncle you kept in the basement when company called. Meanwhile Sullivan rambled along speaking such nonsense as suggesting that Barry and Kendall Windham might become wrestlers when they grew up.

This odd couple soon got what it wanted in the form of tag team bouts against Dory Jr. and Sir Oliver. Hump of course had to be tricked into agreeing to the matches, many of which were in steel cages to prevent him from fleeing. The pattern of most of these bouts was for Dory to do the wrestling while Oliver cowered on the apron. Eventually of course Hump would be forced into the ring where Sullivan and Mulligan would exact revenge and render Hump a bloody mess. The highest profile match of this feud and a bout that would essentially be a capstone to the angle was Kevin Sullivan defeating Dory Funk Jr. in a Texas Death Match at the Great American Bash card at the Orange Bowl on Friday July 31, 1987. Hump took a pretty good beating in this bout as well. Sir Oliver then left Florida for the WWF, ending this feud more or less.

It was not the end of the Mulligan-Sullivan duo however. They turned their attention to the Florida Tag Team Champions The Sheepherders as August donned. Wanting the belts and hating the anti-American statements of Luke Williams and Butch Miller, Sullivan and Mulligan went after the champs, even kidnapping their flag bearer Johnny Ace with help from Bugsy McGraw and ransoming him for a title shot. The Sheepherders made the deal, but then tried to take out Mulligan in an attack. Unfortunately this feud didn't really reach full stride, let alone a logical and satisfying conclusion because Blackjack Mulligan departed the rapidly disintegrating territory before September began. Kevin Sullivan returned to singles competition while The Sheepherders departed the territory to move to the JCP owned UWF after dropping the tag belts to Steve Keirn and Mike Graham at the Bayfront Center in St. Petersburg on August 29, 1987.

The End of the Road

By September and October Championship Wrestling from Florida was just not the same promotion anymore. Gordon Solie had left ending one era straight up. Steve Keirn now called the action on CWF. The B show, Southern Professional Wrestling, was cancelled. Meanwhile the promotion hit the smaller towns less and less and used fewer and fewer wrestlers on its shows in the bigger cities in favor of JCP talent. On the babyface side Mike Rotundo, Kevin Sullivan, and Bugsy McGraw competed as singles wrestlers. Ron Simmons was mainly based in the UWF by this time, but still hit some shots in Florida. Dory Funk Jr., Teijho Khan, Incubus, and The Black Assassin were the main heels. Incubus was an obese masked wrestler. Most fans remember him better from his infamous stint as Mighty Wilbur. Black Assassin was JCP TV enhancement guy Bill Tabb with a Road Warrior gimmick. Terry Funk and Ivan Koloff also made some appearances. Steve Keirn and Mike Graham were the top babyface tag team and battled mainly with The Mighty Yankees. Mighty Yankee I was Jerry Grey and Bob Cook was Mighty Yankee II. They were two decent wrestlers who might have been bigger stars in a different era, under different circumstances. By this time they were former prelim wrestlers wearing masks in a dying promotion. The Mighty Yankees claimed the Florida Tag Team Title from Keirn and Graham on September 8, 1987 in Tampa. Besides these two teams, two more were on hand. The Cuban Connection was still on the scene as babyfaces and Hiro Matsuda managed a young heel team known as the Samurai Warriors.

On October 17, 1987 Steve Keirn and Mike Graham regained the Florida Tag Team Title from The Mighty Yankees in Lakeland. This title change proved to be the final act in the history of the great promotion known as Championship Wrestling from Florida. By the end of October the promotion was done. The tapings at the Sportatorium in Tampa ended. No more shows were booked for the smaller towns and the larger towns would only get JCP based wrestlers as there was no local promotion anymore. The only thing that remained was the TV show, Championship Wrestling from Florida. Even that title was a bit of a misnomer. The show was actually JCP's long running NWA Pro Wrestling, but with different opening credits labeling it CWF. Meanwhile the commentary from Bob Caudle and Jim Ross was dropped out and instead Jack Gregory provided commentary directed at Florida residents. He referenced upcoming house shows in Florida and mentioned local towns and fans in passing. The show also had interviews aimed at the Florida market, especially pushing a cage match between Dusty Rhodes and Dick Murdoch in Lakeland during January. JCP wanted to make Florida fans think that their promotion still existed. By the end of that month, even this hollow shell of Championship Wrestling from Florida ceased to air, replaced by NWA Pro Wrestling and World Wide Wrestling depending on the market.

It was an ignominious end. Championship Wrestling from Florida was gone, leaving with a whimper rather than a bang. But then that is how it goes in wrestling. It isn't like a popular TV show with a grand finale episode and a sense of closure. Instead we watch a slow decline, hoping against hope and reality that the good times will return until one day the promotion is gone. Yet despite the sad and bitter end that came in 1987, nothing can take away the good memories of Brisco, Graham, the Funks, Dusty, Colt, Assassin, and others. And as long as we have those memories, then Championship Wrestling from Florida will never truly die.

- Max Levy

© Copyright 2004-2006, Barry Rose,