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00:00In the golden age of professional wrestling, when the wrestling business was protected and the passionate fans still believed, the world of the squared circle was divided into territories.
00:11What you're about to hear are the stories of those fabled days from the road and the ring, told by the legends who live them.
00:19This is Dwayne Rock Johnson, and these are Tales from the Territories.
00:30For almost 30 years, championship wrestling from Florida was one of the most respected territories in the N.W.A.
00:37If you said you started in Florida, you had automatic respect.
00:42Owned and operated by veteran Graff Loretty Graham, the C.W.F. was a place where a promising young wrestler would get trained, get some experience in the ring, and go on to become one of the biggest and most famous names in the history of the business.
00:56Most of the boys had an athletic background.
00:58We had unbelievable talent.
01:01From the Dusty Rhodes, to the Briscoes, to a very young, very green Hulk Hogan.
01:08Little did we know what kind of superstar he was going to become.
01:11With a weekly TV show taped at Tampa Sportatorium, Eddie Graham was a true pioneer, whose insight brought some of the wildest angles in pro wrestling history to the Sunshine State.
01:23Florida, without a doubt, was the hottest territory on the planet.
01:27In a territory where legends were born.
01:30History was made.
01:32And only the strong survived.
01:34When you came into Florida, a lot more was expected from you, especially an All-American and an Olympian like Bob.
01:45At 238 pounds, Bob Roof.
01:48And my brother, myself.
01:51Terry Briscoe catches the figure for a leg lock and Jack Briscoe after Terry Buck.
01:55Jack was such a star.
01:58I don't think any technical wrestler could have replaced Jack.
02:02No.
02:02He does, brings him back to the gamut.
02:04Look at that beautiful roll.
02:06Briscoe and a beautiful roll up on the...
02:07The whole Florida territory was built on wrestling.
02:10Wrestling, yes.
02:11Full-arm drag and twist by Kevin Sullivan on Brian Blair.
02:14Blair's going to reverse that situation.
02:15Steve, I know you formed a really tight bond with not only Mike Graham, but Eddie Graham, the promoter and the boss there.
02:23How did that all evolve?
02:25You know, Eddie Graham was so significant in my wrestling history because he started me, but he also filled in.
02:32And he was like a dad to me.
02:34At one point in my life, you know, my dad was gone.
02:40When Vietnam started, I was 13 years old.
02:43I was in junior high.
02:44I was going into the ninth grade that year.
02:46Dad was at the very beginning of the Vietnam conflict when he was captured.
02:51He's a POW in Vietnam.
02:53In about the 10th grade, I met Mike Graham.
02:57And me and Mike really hit it off.
02:59I mean, you know, he was a fun guy.
03:01We got in trouble and went to the office all the time.
03:04But he started inviting me to come to his house and work out.
03:08So I go over to the house and meet Mike's dad.
03:12Professional athlete, wrestling champion, helper of the youth of Florida.
03:16It's my pleasure to introduce Eddie Graham.
03:19He was the most creative guy, I believe, in the business.
03:24Eddie was known for really deep personal angles.
03:28When I was born up in them Tennessee mountains, brother, if you didn't have heart and desire, you were finished to begin with.
03:33Have you ever seen a show where everything's black and white and there's all of a sudden somebody's in Technicolor?
03:38Eddie was like the person in Technicolor, the blonde hair, colorful clothes and everything.
03:45Eddie was bigger in life to me.
03:47I watched wrestling religiously Saturday and Sunday.
03:51And Eddie Graham was like the man in the state of Florida.
03:54And Eddie took almost a sympathy thing towards me as not having a dad.
04:01So Eddie kind of took me under his wing.
04:04He gave me some opportunities.
04:05He was introducing me into the business slowly by just having me picking guys up that would fly in like Cowboy Bill Watts, the Funks, taking them to the matches and everything.
04:16The one thing that I saw kind of curved me away from the business was the violence.
04:27During the days of kayfabe, Eddie Graham was determined to protect his territory's secrets.
04:33Graham expected his top stars to be not just performers, but enforcers.
04:38Eddie tough guys who were arrogant enough to think that they could hang in the CWF ring often learned the hard way to show that they thought was fake and sometimes be very real.
04:50It was violent in that sport of Torium.
04:53Me and Mike were there because we were hanging out together and Eddie's inviting me down there.
04:58I watched guys really get beat up bad.
05:01I can remember the first time I saw the sugar hold and I'm pretty sure it was you, Bob, that was putting it on him.
05:08I'm watching and I can't figure out what's happening.
05:10But once that arm came up over and you hit down on him, that's when you started putting the pressure on him.
05:17I see the guy's nose start bleeding.
05:19And then I see a little bit of blood coming out of the eyes.
05:22I can remember the guy got out of the ring.
05:28He took off running.
05:29And then there was only two doors in that front.
05:33Eddie had chains around him.
05:35And what it was set up for was to block you to leave.
05:40He turned around and there's Eddie.
05:42And he's going, no, no, I'm done, I'm done.
05:45And Eddie grabbed him and just started, boom!
05:49Eddie starts punching him.
05:51And Eddie's punching him and he's punching him.
05:54And the guy goes down and I'll never forget this.
05:56He starts going, oh, God, oh, God, please, please.
06:01And then he goes, I'm not God, motherfucker, I'm Eddie Graham.
06:07It was so bad.
06:09My stomach, I got upset to my stomach.
06:13Eddie was busting him.
06:15Because if you just stretch him and you don't mark him in any way.
06:19And he goes to the bar and they said, well, how was your workout?
06:21I went down and I found it was all fake.
06:23So I decided not to do it.
06:25But they go down there and they got a broken wrist.
06:27You can't hide that.
06:29So that was the reason Eddie was busting.
06:31There was a famous video on YouTube of you stretching a guy, for lack of better words,
06:38and teaching him what our business is all about.
06:44This guy, the one you see me stretching, comes in saying the business is all fake.
06:48And he finds out this guy is down there exposing the business.
06:52That's when he has me work out with the guy.
06:54He told me to break the guy's leg.
06:56He wanted me to hurt him.
06:56I had put four or five submission holds on him.
07:04I kept telling the guy, get out of here.
07:06This guy wants me to kill you.
07:08He wouldn't leave.
07:09So I had the guy in one where you hook guy's leg, like figure four in his leg.
07:15And then you reach down, you grab his toe.
07:17He can't move.
07:19You can break his ankle.
07:21You can break his knee.
07:22You can break the tibia and the fibula.
07:24If you'll go hard enough, you can break the femur.
07:26And dislocate the hip.
07:28With that one move, you can cripple it first.
07:31I let go of it.
07:32I couldn't do it.
07:33I couldn't break the guy's leg.
07:35The men who lined up to get stretched in the ring weren't always untalented lugs.
07:39Sometimes they surprised the pros, proved themselves, taking a beating, coming back for more.
07:46Men like the golden-haired Adonis, Terry Bollea,
07:49who would soon become a household name, leading an army of Hulkamaniacs.
07:56I would always look out in the audience.
07:58I'd look out third or fourth row.
08:01And there was this one guy there that just became a fixture on Tuesday night.
08:05And he stood out, full head of hair, bleach blonde.
08:08You could just see how he would get into the match.
08:13We'd ask, who is this big guy?
08:15Brian said, that's Terry Bollea.
08:17He loves the business, and he plays in a rock and roll band at a spot called The Other Place.
08:22So one night, Jack and I get back from a show early.
08:25Imagine this, we want a cold beer afterwards.
08:28So we go over to The Other Place.
08:29You guys drink?
08:30No, not on working nights.
08:32Yeah, right.
08:32All the old days ended with Y, you know, that old joke.
08:35So we walk into this other place.
08:38Just imagine the scene.
08:41Here's a six-foot-eight, whatever Terry was at the time, had that long bleach hair.
08:45He's sitting up there in these damn platform shoes, holding this little bass guitar, which looked like a toothpick.
08:52He's cranking them out, and the people get with him.
08:55He's the star of the band, even though he's not the lead guy.
08:58So this little girl that's waiting at our bar, we start talking to her, of course.
09:03We ask her about Terry.
09:04Oh, he's a big wrestling fan.
09:06He'd love to meet you guys.
09:07He goes every week, you know.
09:09So she sets up a little meeting, so we go backstage after, sound like a groupie here, going backstage.
09:14We go backstage and meet him.
09:21He said, yeah, I've talked to my grandma, talked to Brian Blair.
09:24I love your business.
09:25I'd like to get in it one day.
09:26Do you think there's any spot for me?
09:29So we set up a meeting for him to come down.
09:32From Yokohama, Japan, Hiro Matsuda.
09:36The future Hulkster has the bad luck to be put in the ring opposite veteran Hiro Matsuda,
09:41one of the most feared wrestlers in Florida territory.
09:46Okay, Matsuda, he's going to take you in there.
09:48He's going to work you a little bit and see what you got.
09:51Terry's a big, strong bull.
09:53He was a hell of an athlete, even though he wasn't an athlete.
09:56Terry still had that coordination, and he had that natural man strength.
10:01He was a good baseball player.
10:02Yeah, he's a great baseball player and a good bowler.
10:04I think he's all the same baseball player.
10:06He's a good bowler.
10:07He played putt-putt like unreal.
10:12So anyway, so he goes in there, and Terry's giving a little resistance.
10:16Somebody starts giving you resistance.
10:18Of course, you're going to step up your game a little bit.
10:20So we see Matsuda, he's working on the leg, and all of a sudden, he drops down to the ankle.
10:26He grabs the old ankle lock on it, and you can see that ankle starting to go in positions
10:31that you know that that ankle's not supposed to go.
10:34All of a sudden, you hear a pop.
10:36Oh, gosh.
10:37And you hear a groan from Hogan, not a holler or anything, a groan.
10:43And Matsuda's pushing him down.
10:46Terry gets closer to the rope, and Matsuda lets go of the hole.
10:50Terry rolls out.
10:51Terry goes, but wait on the ankle.
10:53Nothing he can do.
10:54He falls to the ground.
10:55So Jack and I go over.
10:57We help him unlace his shoe.
10:58He didn't have boots.
10:59He had tennis shoes on.
11:01Right.
11:01And we took his shoe off, and all of a sudden, that ankle's turning blue already.
11:05And it's already the size of basketball.
11:07So we know he can't go back in there.
11:09So Matsuda comes over and game over.
11:12You know, workout's over with.
11:14He's done his damage.
11:15So we think this is the end of Terry Bollett.
11:18Right.
11:18So they go and get him, you gentlemen.
11:19There's no broken bones.
11:21So Terry comes back to the sportatorium and actually wants some more.
11:26Really?
11:26And everybody took a look at it.
11:27No.
11:28You know, come back.
11:29Come back in a couple of days.
11:30And give Terry credit.
11:32Terry called every day, wanting to know when he could come back.
11:36Wow.
11:36The very next week, Terry went back in the gym.
11:39And when we saw Terry getting in there and giving it everything he had, in the back of our minds, man, this kid's not a quitter.
11:46Right, right.
11:47We got something here.
11:48The greatest professional athlete in the world today.
11:51Look at this.
11:52He's behind the guard.
11:54Little did we know what kind of superstar he was going to become.
11:58He took it right over the top.
12:00Anywhere in the world he could go, they'd know, oh, Hogan, oh, Hogan.
12:05Here's something about that.
12:07What if Hogan never came back?
12:09Would the business be what it is today?
12:12It's a great question.
12:13That's a great question.
12:18Steve's dad was a literal hero.
12:21He was a two-time prisoner of war.
12:23And then he actually went to Korea, I guess it was.
12:26Was it Korea?
12:27I'm sorry.
12:28Vietnam.
12:28Vietnam, Vietnam.
12:29But he wound up in a Korean prison, right?
12:32No.
12:32Oh, man.
12:34What was the second prison?
12:36No, you're making a fool of yourself, man.
12:38No, what was the second prison?
12:39Vietnam.
12:40Vietnam.
12:40No, World War II.
12:43In World War II, he wasn't fighting him right now.
12:44Steve, I'm sorry.
12:45I'm sorry I invited him.
12:48In World War II, he was a co-pilot on a B-17, and he was shot down in a battle called the
12:55Bloody 100.
12:57He was held captive in a German prison camp for nine months.
13:02The end of the war came.
13:04The Russians liberated him, and he came out.
13:07I was 13 years old, just a little kid.
13:09My dad was shipped over to Vietnam.
13:12I was coming home from school one day, and as I came to the house, I saw all these military
13:18cars in the front yard.
13:20I come running in the house.
13:21I see my mom in the kitchen, and she's holding this picture, and she shows it to me, and there's
13:27my dad.
13:29She goes, your dad's been captured.
13:31He's a prisoner in Hanoi.
13:33Wow.
13:33Over that period that he was a POW, Eddie started filling in a little bit for my dad.
13:42About the time I was 19, Eddie was constantly interested in me getting in the wrestling
13:47business, but I was going to go to college and finish because my mom wanted me to go to
13:51college.
13:51The only thing I did in college was get hooked on steroids, and I've gone from 165 pounds
13:58to 240, and I come home from Mike's wedding, and Eddie approaches me, and he says, you know,
14:04you put on a lot of size.
14:06You think you should wrestle?
14:07And I'd already tried school, and I just didn't have any interest in anything, so I remember
14:15going in for my first workout, and because that I was like part of the family, I thought
14:21I was going to get special treatment.
14:23I went through squats with Matsuda, and we'd do them to a deck of cards.
14:29Flip over the card, you did the number of squats.
14:32Then we'd do neck bridges.
14:33Then we'd do push-ups, and then we'd get in the ring and wrestle.
14:36I'd have mat burns on my forehead.
14:39My elbows had mat burns.
14:41It looked like I'd been in a car accident.
14:44When I'd come home, my mom would look at me, and she said to me, I remember one time she
14:49said, honey, I thought wrestling was fake.
14:53And I remember saying to my mom, I thought it was too.
14:58The day that Steve Kern had his first professional match was the day that his father arrived back
15:05in Florida after being a prisoner of war in Vietnam for seven and a half years.
15:10When the end of the war came, I just started wrestling.
15:14When dad came home, I was 21.
15:16The way they emptied out Hanoi Hilton was by longevity.
15:21Whoever was one of the longest prisoners went on the first planes out.
15:25Of course, Pop went on the first plane out.
15:27And the colonel that was our aide, he says, this is the first plane to land with POWs.
15:32There's a lot of press.
15:33There's a lot of people out there.
15:35When your dad gets off that airplane, when he comes to the car, I want you to get out,
15:40shake hands with your dad or hug him or whatever, and open the door for your mom.
15:44I said, fine.
15:45We're like the third car in the line.
15:50A couple POWs get off.
15:52Now we see dad coming through the door of the airplane.
15:56And that spotlight and the camera lights and everything were on him.
15:59Boom!
15:59I get out the door and start running towards my dad.
16:04Now I got air police chasing me.
16:07I got security running at me.
16:10I run right through all of the people, blow them out of the way.
16:13I grabbed him in my arms, and I'm crying like a baby.
16:17I pick him up.
16:20And my dad's going, is that you, son?
16:23Is that you?
16:24He's going, damn, you're big.
16:26He goes, put me down, son.
16:29Put me down, and I can walk.
16:33I can't even describe what an emotion it was to realize all the things that he had gone through
16:40and he had survived, and there he was.
16:43See, son, I guess that's the basic difference between you and me.
16:50You look up to your father as a hero and with a great deal of respect.
16:56But as a former service man, I look upon any man who allows himself to get captured and
17:01spend eight years in a sense of a world map as a disgrace.
17:04Every wrestling promoter knows that the key to putting butts in seats is to establish feuds
17:12and rivalries that keep the crowds coming back for more.
17:16The key to a good feud is to take a good guy and a bad guy and milk the bad blood between
17:21them until the audience wants to see a fight.
17:23When it came time for Steve Kern and Bob Roop to mix it up, Kern had an idea that struck
17:29close to home.
17:30And the result was perhaps the greatest feud in the history of the territory.
17:35One of the most personal angles I think that was ever done was between you and Olympian
17:42Bob Roop.
17:43You want to kind of take us through that angle?
17:46I felt like that if there was a possibility to pull Dad into the scene because that he had
17:52national press, he had anything to get a step ahead in wrestling.
17:56Did Eddie ask you to do that?
17:58No, Eddie was gone.
17:59Okay.
18:00Eddie would have never gone for the angle.
18:02Eddie was in Australia for some reason.
18:05He went to Australia to buy Australia.
18:07That controlling percentage.
18:09Yeah, and he was gone for about three, four months.
18:13That was why we got away with it realistically because Eddie would have never gone for the
18:17angle.
18:17He wouldn't have gone for it because it was too serious.
18:19Right.
18:20It was too deep, too hot.
18:22First I went to my dad.
18:23I said, would you be opposed to if we used you as a centerpiece and I get into a feud
18:29with another guy?
18:30My dad was so humble.
18:32He said, anything that helps you out, no problem.
18:34He said, I don't care about any of that.
18:36That's all history.
18:37People know what happened.
18:38So I went to Bob and I knew Bob was an intelligent guy and knew how to formulate stuff.
18:44And so maybe you could pick it up from there.
18:46Man, I was so grateful that Steve came to me with this angle because I knew that this is
18:51like once in a lifetime thing.
18:54I mean, how many times are you going to get like that?
18:57It was set up so beautiful.
18:59They played a tape of your dad coming home.
19:02And I used the fact that I was a veteran.
19:05I spent three years in the service.
19:07I said, to me, a man who's attacked you twice now.
19:13You know, a guy like that, I don't consider him a hero.
19:17I consider him a coward.
19:20I didn't wait for a cue.
19:23He called my dad a coward.
19:25I went out and that door was so flimsy, I ripped it off going out.
19:29As I made that turn, I ran right into the damn camera right there because I couldn't turn
19:37fast enough.
19:39Yeah, and it wobbled, which is great.
19:41I mean, it looked like this can't possibly be pre-planned.
19:47The emotion and the adrenaline and all that was going through me, the only thing in my
19:53mind was just beat the shit out of Bob.
19:58And I just kept going and I kept hammering him, hammering him.
20:03He beat the absolute dog shit out of me and I ran.
20:07The fact that he is so emotionally involved and upset sold it like a million dollars.
20:14You couldn't do this angle today.
20:16No script writer could get the emotion that he carried with him from the time he was 13
20:24to 21.
20:26Nobody could do what Bob did, the credibility of an Olympic champion and in the service.
20:35It's real and it's personal.
20:36Yeah, and people at home say, this guy's way over the line.
20:40Yes.
20:41Way over the line.
20:42It was the hottest angle I ever saw as a wrestling fan.
20:45I mean, it was hotter than hot.
20:47Bob Roof, I wanted to kill him.
20:49I just wanted to jump through the TV screen.
20:51I remember I was so angry.
20:54When Eddie came back, I remember him going, that might have been a little too far.
20:59Even for him to say, did we go too far?
21:03That tells you how hot that angle was.
21:06By the time I got to the dressing room, Jody Hamilton is the booker.
21:09And Jody Hamilton walked up to me and said, buh-bye.
21:12If you don't have some weapons, you better be getting some.
21:16When my girlfriend talked about people plotting to come and find my house, then I realized the serious circumstances.
21:25In what must be considered one of the hottest angles in the history of wrestling, Bob Roof accuses Steve Kern's father, a two-time prisoner of war, of being a coward, leading to deadly repercussions that spill out far beyond the boundaries of kayfabe.
21:46This angle, maybe the hottest angle in the history of the business, you got two months out of it.
21:53We had great matches.
21:55We had every kind of match you could possibly have.
21:58Bob said to me one time in the ring, look at the audience.
22:02Almost all of the men that were in the audience and a few of the women had military uniforms to show the sport.
22:10I mean, you know, I worried about Bob a few times, but somebody could shoot him.
22:13I didn't go out in public for six months except to go to work.
22:18My girlfriend was working at the military base, McDowell.
22:21She was a waitress.
22:22She came home and she said, what have you done?
22:24I said, what do you mean?
22:26She said, I was serving beers to these guys.
22:31And they're talking about finding out where you live and taking one of those anti-tanks, your days, those great big things that will blow up a tank, and throwing it through the living room window.
22:41She said, what did you do?
22:44I did have an incident one time.
22:46We were working on a small oratory.
22:48I mean, there was a parking outside.
22:49There was a guy with a military petite jacket on, and I walked by him, and I hear this click.
23:00I turn around, and you've got that .45 caliber pistol aimed at my head.
23:06He said, I ought to blow your head off.
23:08I mean, you know, you've got to think, quick, what are my choices?
23:12Attack him? No.
23:13Beg? No.
23:15My only choice is to turn around and walk away,
23:17and hopefully this guy won't shoot me in the back.
23:20He's a military guy, and so hopefully he's going to have some kind of honor or personal decency.
23:25He won't shoot me in the back.
23:28But was I scared? Yes.
23:31So after that, I was just very cautious.
23:33I sometimes go to shows early,
23:35and I had my shotgun and my .357 Magnum sitting there on the seat with me,
23:39although it was life-threatening.
23:43I was so grateful because we went from AAA to the major leagues as talent.
23:52The angles that we've worked, we talked about Steve and Bob's angle,
23:56but probably the most intriguing, and people are talking about still to this day,
24:00is when Kevin Sullivan came in and you created that army of darkness.
24:08When longtime babyface Kevin Sullivan decided to change up his gimmick,
24:13he set out to do it in the most shocking way possible.
24:15Not just by turning heel, but by becoming evil.
24:19In the midst of a satanic panic that was sweeping America,
24:23It exists, and it's flourishing.
24:26Sullivan recruited like-minded wrestlers into one of the darkest,
24:30strangest, and most controversial factions of all time.
24:35A cult-like gang that he called the Army of Darkness.
24:40I came in as a misunderstood babyface.
24:43I'm going to go out here and give 150%.
24:46If you don't want to be my friend, that's fine,
24:48because I'm going to be your friend.
24:50Florida title was up, and I wrestled Barry Windham on television.
24:54A very dangerous-
24:55I kicked him in the face and covered him and grabbed the belt.
24:57I can't believe it.
24:59Oh, my God.
25:00What is he doing?
25:02Mike Graham was the special announcer at Gordon.
25:05Mike is screaming,
25:07You're not the same guy. You're not the same guy.
25:09I said, You're just jealous you don't have this.
25:11In fact, I'm going to give it to you.
25:13And I hit him so stiff.
25:15Oh!
25:16What's the matter with you?
25:18So now, there's this quandary.
25:21Is he good? Is he bad?
25:23And then every week, we progress.
25:25Amphisonic.
25:26Yeah.
25:27Steve sends in an interview and says,
25:29Watch out for Kevin Sullivan.
25:31He's not the same man he used to be.
25:32I can tell you as a fact.
25:33Then I started doing the eyes.
25:35I'd be doing an interview, and I'm chibbering.
25:38And they shot me to the 3-0-0 and fed me the cosmic cookie.
25:44And Gordon played it so straight.
25:47Yeah.
25:48I don't know what to say about this man.
25:50He was right.
25:52He could have killed it by making a face.
25:55Mr. Sullivan, there has been a lot of comments that you seem to be slipping farther and farther over the edge.
26:01The story was, I was building, it'd be like a cult.
26:06Bob was the first one.
26:08Bob Roof has retired from life.
26:11Now you're looking at, may I see.
26:15Mark came in.
26:16It took a lot of people.
26:23She came to me on her own accord.
26:26Slapped by me and touched by the golden palm.
26:31We shaved Luna's head to match Bob.
26:35Like it was the Frankenstein monster getting the bride of Frankenstein.
26:39People at home, they'd say, no girl's going to do this.
26:43I'm glad he's with that.
26:45That's how we kind of developed it.
26:47We kind of lived the gimmick, right?
26:49You know, we wore robes everywhere.
26:51Did you go into a grocery store?
26:53Yeah, I went into the grocery store.
26:55We used to go shopping.
26:55With the robes on?
26:56Yeah.
26:58And you've got to remember, we're playing in Florida.
27:03People said, this can't be all right.
27:07Because people actually bought into that this was a real cult.
27:10It's surprising that Eddie went for it.
27:17Because, you know, that was really, not Florida.
27:22It was a completely different animal than they saw.
27:25At one point, Dusty was the booker of the territory.
27:32And I was booked against Blackjack Mulligan.
27:35And he said, Dusty, what do you want done?
27:37And Dusty pushed the envelope as far as it could be pushed.
27:40Well, it's gone out into the street.
27:43At this point in time, it has obviously gotten out of control.
27:52I know what you're trying to do, Rhodes.
27:54He's got something in that camera.
27:56Some of the most creative angles in the Florida territory
27:59were dreamt up by the iconic Dusty Rhodes,
28:02the book shows for Graham.
28:03A wrestling genius with an incredible mind for the business.
28:06It was Rhodes, who first pitched the idea for a match
28:10between Kevin Sullivan and Blackjack Mulligan
28:12that was so unusual, it became known as the one-week fight.
28:18Dusty was the biggest attraction in the state of Florida.
28:20We all know that.
28:22When Dusty Rhodes was on the card, the buildings were sold out.
28:26What was the idea that Dusty had for you and Blackjack Mulligan?
28:29Well, I'm wrestling Blackjack.
28:31And you know how big Blackjack was.
28:35He was 6'8", 6'9", 320.
28:38Throws me out of the ring.
28:40We start fighting on the floor.
28:43Next thing, he comes out of the door, I jump on him.
28:46We're in the lobby fighting.
28:49And we didn't stop.
28:53Jack throws me through the door.
28:55Now we're fighting in front of the building.
28:58We go down the ramp.
29:01People are following us.
29:03He's beating the shit out of me.
29:06We're fighting on the street.
29:08But we went down half a mile.
29:11The people are still following us.
29:13So the police were pushing the people back in.
29:16So the next week, the match is starting.
29:21About five minutes into the first match,
29:24here comes Jack and I through the front door.
29:26The next week?
29:28The next week, I still get dirt all over me.
29:31Jack throws me in the ring.
29:33The other match stops.
29:35He beats me to death.
29:37Security pulls us apart and I limp off into the dressing room.
29:42And Dusty says,
29:43The people thought you were fighting all week.
29:47Were you smart enough to have the same tights on as you had the week before?
29:50Yes, I did because it was the only pair of tights I had.
29:54And what's crazy, that wasn't even television.
29:56That was just for the house show.
29:57Yeah, yeah.
29:57Brian, you have a very memorable rib that we pulled on you back on Highway 60 at Stucky's.
30:04I can't believe you brought that up.
30:07Anyway, this is like my first week in the business.
30:10And this whole first week had been nothing but ribs.
30:12And it was like really getting to me.
30:14I couldn't believe it.
30:15And especially Pat Patterson driving me nuts.
30:17Now they're going to see a real wrestler.
30:20The one and the only Pat Patterson.
30:23Legendary Canadian wrestler Pat Patterson was renowned for both his skills in the ring
30:28and his brilliant wrestling mind.
30:30This is Vince McMahon along with wrestling great Pat Patterson.
30:33After hanging up his boots, Patterson became Vince McMahon's right-hand man,
30:38earning a reputation as one of the architects of today's WWE.
30:42In his younger days, however, Pat was known not only for his wrestling prowess,
30:46but also for the outrageousness of his backstage ribs.
30:53We're leaving West Palm Beach.
30:56We're in Gerald's Lincoln, Versailles.
30:58Driving along, country music's playing.
31:01And all of a sudden, we hear honk, honk, honk, honk.
31:05To the right of us, we look.
31:08Pat Patterson's driving his brand new town car.
31:11And Pat's boyfriend, Louis, is wounding us out of the moonroof.
31:16Gerald says, you know, some paper, these guys are always effing with you, man.
31:21Jack said, yeah, you got to get them back.
31:23And I said, well, what can I do?
31:25We'll pull over like we're peeing.
31:27You get in the trunk of the car.
31:30I'll make sure they're right behind us at the toll booth at Yeehaw Junction.
31:35And when they pass us up, we'll pop the trunk.
31:40And I want you to moon them good.
31:41I said, oh, that's great.
31:43I loved it.
31:43I said, oh, I'm going to get this son of a gun.
31:46So I'm in the trunk.
31:47Music's playing really loud, and they're talking to me.
31:51And I'm hearing, can you breathe?
31:55Turn the music down.
31:56I can't hear you.
31:56Can you breathe?
31:59Yeah, I can breathe.
32:00Hold on.
32:02I feel the car stop.
32:05Okay, they're right behind us, guys.
32:07They're right behind us.
32:08Gerald starts to count.
32:09One, two, three.
32:20Boom, that trunk pops open.
32:22And I grab my butt, and I'm shaking my butt, spreading my butt.
32:25And all of a sudden, I hear the horn going, ha, ha.
32:29I can't figure out why he's beating the horn.
32:32Ha.
32:33And I turn around.
32:34And they had backed into the picture window of the Sucky's restaurant.
32:38And it's full of people.
32:40I mean, full of people.
32:41And ha, they won't let off the horn.
32:43Ha, ha.
32:45I turn around.
32:46I duck down.
32:47I don't know what to do.
32:48And I'm thinking, oh, my gosh.
32:49How am I going to get out of here?
32:50And I said, I've got to make a break.
32:52So I go to get out of the trunk.
32:54I forget my pants are at my ankles.
32:56So I fell down onto the concrete behind the car.
33:00So they get more than a moon.
33:01And I'm trying to grab my pants.
33:04I look over, and I could see Patterson, Mephisto, and Dondero all laughing at me.
33:09And I'm going halfway across the parking lot.
33:12And they take off and leave me there.
33:16That was the most embarrassing time of my life.
33:19And the next TV, Gordon Sully goes, the people of Yeehaw Junction would like to thank Ryan
33:27Blair for his public appearance.
33:29I can't believe you got in the trunk.
33:32I do not trust these guys.
33:33I can't either.
33:34I can't believe I got in the trunk either.
33:36But I guess you'll, you know, you're trying to impress your brothers, your friends.
33:40You want to be one of the boys.
33:42And golly, that was rough.
33:44Eddie Graham focused his energy on building his promotion into one of the most respected
33:55in the business.
33:56And he built it not only on the blood, sweat, and backs of his wrestlers, but also on his
34:03own unwavering love and dedication to his community.
34:06The leadership that you give to young people all over this state.
34:09But vices have a way of rearing their ugly heads at the worst moment when Graham wasn't
34:14immune.
34:15A recovering alcoholic, he had managed to lay down the bottle for 13 years.
34:20But there was a devil still inside him.
34:23And that devil wanted out.
34:25Eddie only had like a fifth grade education.
34:27But he became a pilot.
34:29He became a boat captain.
34:31And he had the tightest territory I ever saw.
34:36Eddie was doing good things for the community.
34:39It was like his work with the youth in Tampa, right?
34:42Right.
34:43All the goods that he did.
34:45But Eddie had the angel on one of his shoulders and the devil on the other.
34:51And the angel was easier to get along than the devil was, that's for sure.
34:56When Eddie was sober, he was this guy we're talking about.
34:59Yeah.
34:59When he started drinking, he was just...
35:01He was a monster.
35:02I can remember Mike and Kevin and myself were in the back on Eddie's boat.
35:09He had a $100,000 boat.
35:11And we were doing this new thing with beer that we had seen.
35:14And it was called shooting a beer.
35:17People know it now.
35:18But you take a beer with the top still on it.
35:20And you put a can hole in the bottom.
35:22You put it up to your mouth.
35:24You pop the top.
35:25And it goes down your throat like 100 miles an hour.
35:27So Eddie's watching me and Kevin.
35:30And he said, let me try that.
35:31Oh, no.
35:32You know, he comes over and he pops one.
35:35And pretty soon he's popping another one.
35:38Now, me and Kevin are looking at each other.
35:40Like that.
35:41But he just went, boom, right off the deep end.
35:44From there, my whole life, I'd never seen him drink.
35:47And I knew he was a rehabilitated alcoholic.
35:51He didn't drink for 13 years.
35:54He was crystal clear when he was drinking.
35:58It was another thing.
36:00I mean, wasn't your brother on the plane when he had landed in the interstate?
36:03Land on the freeway, yeah.
36:04Yeah.
36:04That's where I can come in.
36:08My dad, when he came home, actually flew on a trip with us.
36:12Yeah.
36:12And he said, you know, Eddie's a really good pilot.
36:15He really is focused on what he's doing.
36:16He gets all of his stuff right and everything.
36:18So I felt secure.
36:19When Eddie started drinking, and he would drink before he would come to the airport where
36:24his plane was at, we flew to Melbourne, Florida.
36:28Now, Eddie had an eight-track tape player in his plane.
36:32And he played this country music.
36:35And I'll never forget the song that he kept playing over and over again.
36:38I can tell you the name of it.
36:39I can too.
36:40If you lay down the bottle, will you lay back down beside me?
36:43I must have heard this stupid song a million times, but I'm not going to tell him to change
36:47it, right?
36:47So we pick up his girlfriend, we go to Melbourne.
36:50Eddie didn't go to the matches with me and Mike.
36:54Mike Graham and Steve Kern.
36:55Me and Mike come back.
36:57Now, Eddie, up until now, you're thinking as a real classy guy, a real sports legend and
37:04everything, he's in the lobby, and he's making out with his girlfriend.
37:10I mean, he's like really tugging her, and I'm looking at Mike, and I'm going, man, your
37:14dad got off the deep end.
37:16And Mike's going, yeah, he's crazy.
37:19But Eddie was gone.
37:21I don't know if they went to eat dinner, or if he just went to a bar with her or whatever.
37:25We get to the airport, but he's stumbling as he's coming to the plane.
37:30Well, he got on the plane.
37:32He gets in the front seat.
37:33His girlfriend gets in the front seat.
37:34We're leaving from Melbourne.
37:36Eddie don't call the tower.
37:38He just plugs in the 8-track tape.
37:41Doesn't put his headset on.
37:44We taxi out like a drug plane, and he just takes off.
37:48And I'm looking at Mike.
37:50I said, man, your dad didn't call the tower.
37:52Mike said, no, don't worry about it.
37:54And all of a sudden, Disney World is right straight in front of us, and they're doing their close-of-the-night fireworks display.
38:03Oh, gosh.
38:04Well, I thought he was going to show his girlfriend the fireworks display from the air.
38:15But that's not what he does.
38:17He turns around in the plane, and he goes, hey, Kurt, this is like your old man in Vietnam.
38:24Watch this shit.
38:25Oh, gosh.
38:26Eddie goes right toward Disney World.
38:29He dive bombs.
38:31He does a wider attack into the firework display.
38:37And I'm thinking, man, this plane is going to blow up.
38:53With his girlfriend, his son, and his buddy Steve Kern along for the ride,
38:58a very inebriated Eddie Graham risks the lives of one and all by steering his plane straight into the exploding heart of the fireworks show at Disney World.
39:08And I've got a grip on the seat like we're going to go down for sure.
39:12And I'm yelling at Mike, and Mike's going, dad, dad, you can't do this.
39:15Dad, dad.
39:16But we did it.
39:18Eight track tape players blasting.
39:21And he starts flying to the music.
39:23Now we're flying like this and like this and like this.
39:26We get to Tampa International Airport.
39:32You all know how busy it is, and it's like airlines everywhere.
39:36Eddie just comes on an approach from the south on a big runway, and he hadn't called the tower or nothing.
39:43So I'm looking down at the runway and everything, and he seems like he's going to land it okay.
39:46And as we're coming down, I'm looking straight through the cockpit, and I see a monster airline landing on the same runway as us at the other end of that runway coming right straight at us.
39:58And when Eddie's wheels touched the ground, I said, Mike, look, look.
40:03Now Mike reached up and grabs his dad.
40:04He goes, Dad, there's an airliner.
40:07And Eddie goes, ah, hell, an airliner.
40:09And he cuts across the grass.
40:11When he cuts across the grass, we're surrounded.
40:15Police cars, FFA cars, all kinds of security from the airport.
40:20So Eddie says, I got this.
40:24Oh, no.
40:25Eddie goes, open the door.
40:26So I open the door, but I don't put the steps down.
40:29And as he puts his foot through the back door, his legs split.
40:34And he takes a tremendous bump on the runway right there, right?
40:38And his pants split all the way from the crotch up his back.
40:43And he's going, ah, ah.
40:46And he's overdoing it to me.
40:47I'm going, man, that looks really phony, that right there.
40:49But I said to Mike, I said, man, your dad's going to jail.
40:53But all of those guys that were there to get us, all of a sudden came to his aid.
41:00And they were going, Eddie, Eddie, are you all right?
41:02Are you all right?
41:04He gets up and he's going, ah, where am I?
41:08Ah, you're not killer Carl Cox.
41:11And I'm going, I can't believe these guys are listening to this.
41:15And the one guy says, no, Eddie, you're in Tampa.
41:17Tampa, Tampa, I was just in the ring with killer Carl Cox in Melbourne and he hit me with a chair.
41:23How did I get to Tampa?
41:26When I got out of that plane, I kissed that ground and I'm thinking, oh, my God, that was the closest I'd ever come to death with him.
41:32But from that time forward, it just got progressively worse.
41:36Somebody who had it so in control, had everything, the whole world working the way he wanted it.
41:43Now everything's off its axis and just spinning out of control.
41:47It's a shame, though, at the end, he'd lost everybody.
41:51Yeah.
41:51You know, he'd lost Jack, right?
41:53He'd lost Jack and myself.
41:54Yeah, he'd lost me.
41:55He'd lost Dusty, he'd lost Steve, he'd lost you.
41:58Yeah, he'd lost his home.
41:59He'd lost everybody.
42:00To me, it was sad.
42:03I saw that he was a wrestler and it broke his heart because his whole love and passion was being in the ring in front of an audience.
42:11And it was taken out from under him by age.
42:13And, you know, the alcohol was just as crutchy turned to.
42:17And I know alcoholism is a disease, so I didn't blame him for it.
42:22But the thing that kicked me was the way he ended his life, so.
42:27Nothing means more to an athlete than to know that he hasn't been forgotten by the public.
42:34You know, we're sitting there and Eddie grabbed through all his demons.
42:38There isn't any better man to train under.
42:40Our usefulness in the business was just prospered thanks to Eddie.
42:44We were able to take Eddie's knowledge and pass it along to the other territories that we went to.
42:48Right.
42:49So his tree kept on growing.
42:51Decades after the territory was dead and gone, a member of CWF's alumni was given the opportunity to continue the legacy that had been built by Eddie Graham.
43:02Vince asked me, where do you want to put the developmental, which was the farm league for the WWE?
43:08I said, Florida.
43:10If you look at the big picture, it's all based on my background with you guys, with championship wrestling in Florida.
43:18And it ran right straight into FCW.
43:22To this day, now NXT is in Orlando.
43:25So it really meant something that the developmental stayed in Florida.
43:29Florida is a great wrestling state.
43:31And even though championship wrestling from Florida is gone, I'm grateful to sit here and all of us reminisce because it's history.
43:39I couldn't have asked to be in a better territory.
43:43I feel so blessed.
43:44Championship wrestling from Florida with Gordon Soley.
43:46We hope that you'll join us next week at the same time.
43:50Until then, Gordon Soley saying so long.
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