Mike Graham

**Michael Gossett** (September 22, 1951 – October 19, 2012), better known as **Mike Graham**, was an American professional wrestler. He was the son of Eddie Graham.

## Professional wrestling career

**Michael Gossett** started wrestling in 1972 in his father's Championship Wrestling from Florida, which was a National Wrestling Alliance territory. He was trained by his father, Boris Malenko and Hiro Matsuda.

He teamed with his father upon his arrival but also formed a successful team with Kevin Sullivan. Sullivan eventually turned on him to form his "Satanic cult", The Army of Darkness. Graham then teamed with Steve Keirn and Barry Windham to feud with them and to capture several tag team titles over the years.

In 1981, Graham wrestled in the American Wrestling Association and feuded with Buck Zumhofe over the AWA Light Heavyweight Championship over the next two years. Graham headed back to Florida in 1983.

He started teaming with Keirn again in the late 1980s and wrestled in the NWA's Jim Crockett Promotions with Keirn briefly around this time. He then went back to the AWA in 1988 where he won the Light Heavyweight Title again.

In 1989, he went back to Florida to the newly renamed Florida Championship Wrestling and teamed briefly with Dustin Rhodes.

By 1990, Graham was an infrequent in-ring competitor and he became a road agent for World Championship Wrestling. Along with Paul Orndorff, Pez Whatley and DeWayne Bruce, Graham worked as a trainer in WCW as part of the WCW Power Plant. At Slamboree 1993, Mike represented his father when he was inducted into the WCW Hall of Fame.

   In the early 2000s, Graham was a road agent for the short-lived Xcitement Wrestling Federation and for Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling, and later in his career, he made occasional appearances for the revived Florida Championship Wrestling.

Mike Graham worked with World Wrestling Entertainment in early 2006 on a DVD about Dusty Rhodes, which was released on June 6, 2006. He has appeared on WWE 24/7's Legends of Wrestling series as part of a panel which discussed famous pro wrestlers of the 1980s. He hosted classic episodes of Championship Wrestling from Florida on WWE 24/7 Classics.

Graham's father was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2008. Mike represented his late father at the ceremony and the following night at WrestleMania XXIV.

## Death

On October 19, 2012, Graham was found dead by his wife of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head at their residence in Daytona Beach, Florida during Biketoberfest. His father and son had committed suicide in similar manners on January 21, 1985, and December 14, 2010, (some sources state the 15th) respectively. He was 61 years old. At the time of Mike’s death, he was wearing his son’s old work boots, and also frequently threatened committing suicide to his wife. He was also intoxicated, and according to his toxicology report, Graham's blood-alcohol concentration was at 0.259.

Graham suffered business misfortunes years prior to his death, and a restaurant he owned in Florida closed in 2011 after about two years of operation.

He and his wife were also involved in real estate, which took a beating in Florida during the recession. His friends also claimed that he had struggled with the death of his son Steven. A celebration of life for Graham was held in Largo, Florida, where nearly 500 people, including a number of retired professional wrestlers, attended.