The Dean of Wrestling Announcers, Gordon Solie, was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this weekend and that's pretty cool. Eddie Graham and Jack and Jerry Brisco, and Rocky Johnson were also inducted. All are worthy. I use to watch all those guys on WTOG, Channel 44, back in the day. Every Saturday morning, sandwiched between Star Trek and Kung Fu, was Championship Wrestling from Florida.Yes, Championshipr Wrestling from Florida. Man, those were the days.
Dusty Rhodes. Harley Race. The Missouri Mauler. The Assassin. Bob Roop. Raul Mata. Joe LeDuc (I once saw him literally pick up a bus at The Civic). Blackjack Mulligan. The Briscos. Kevin Sullivan. Ronnie Garvin. Superstar Billy Graham. Nature Boy Ric Flair. Sir Oliver Humperdink. Ivan Koloff. Hiro Matsuta. Ox Baker. Steve Kiern. Jeez, the list goes on and on. You never see matches that they had in the NWA anymore. No Texas Bullrope Match. No Lumberjack match. At least none with real lumberjacks (Joe LeDuc was a fucking LUMBERJACK.).
Amidst all the chaos was the smooth commo of Gordon Solie. As I'm sure of anything, I'm sure he coined the terms "Squared circle", "Foreign object" and my personal favorite "His face is a Crimson Mask". He truly was the best.
The Leeman raises his glass to Gordon Solie, and the NWA, from back in the day. Salute.
2 comments:
DUDE! Awesome flashback to the day! I recall all chores beign done on Saturday, and then spending Saturday evening in front of the old WTOG 44 to watch RASSLIN with Gordon Solie - one of the highlights of my childhood, oneof the few times that my Dad and I bonded.
Cheryl beat me to the punch - wrestling on 44 was a big deal in our house. Our father took me to a match at the Bayfront Center when I was 8 or 9 and I remember seeing Jake the Snake, Blackjack Mulligan, Ric Flair, and others in person.
Gordon Solie is a Tampa legend...much like that scary guy who used to host the horror films on the weekends. (What was his name??)
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