Championship Wrestling from 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.

## Founding

The original owner and promoter was "Cowboy" Clarence P. 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. It was worked but Cowboy took a severe beating. Cowboy opened the office in 1949, and Eddie Graham bought into the promotion in 1961 and took over completely in 1971, because of health reasons with Cowboy.

The office was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance during the entire CWF era, Eddie Graham serving two terms as NWA president, and loosely aligned before that, with other 'world' champions sometimes defending their titles. CWF became a staple in many Southern households in the 1970s and 1980s, with Dusty Rhodes arguably its most noted headliner, his babyface turn beginning in 1973 against former partner Pak Song. The promotion competed against other syndicated shows on Saturday night like The Lawrence Welk Show and Solid Gold for years.

## Life after Eddie Graham's suicide

When Eddie Graham committed suicide on Super Bowl Sunday in January 1985, due to a combination of personal and business reverses, responsibility for the office went to Hiro Matsuda and Duke Keomuka, both of whom bought in the 1960s. The other remaining owners were Mike Graham, Eddie's brother Skip Gossett, Dusty Rhodes and Buddy Colt. The promotion continued losing money and merged with Jim Crockett Promotions in February 1987. Most of the stars had gone to Jim Crockett Promotions or the WWF by that point.

## Television programs and tape library

CWF filmed and later taped its weekly TV wrestling show at the famed Sportatorium at 106 N. Albany in Tampa, Fla., in reality a small television studio with seating for a live audience of about 100 people (1/40th of the seating capacity of its Dallas counterpart), with the wrestling office and gym in the same building. Arena footage was always also used, and full arena show broadcasts began in the early '80s. CWF Spin-off shows were Championship Wrestling Superstars, Global Wrestling, North Florida Championship Wrestling, United States Class Wrestling, American Championship Wrestling and Southern Professional Wrestling.

On March 2, 2006, it was announced that the CWF library was purchased by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) for the DVD on Dusty Rhodes.

Gordon Solie was featured at the end of WWE's FCW TV Show in a tribute to CWF and himself.

## Revivals

Howard Brody started NWA Florida in 1990 and he booked for it until 2002. In 2003, Kevin Rhodes started Championship Wrestling from Florida as a member of the NWA. He occasionally has some legends of the 1980s wrestling appear in his promotion.

In 2007, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) revived the promotion as a developmental territory under the name Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW). In 2012, the promotion began operating under the WWE NXT Wrestling banner, dropping references to FCW.

On June 28, 2013, the WWE formally shut down the Florida Championship Wrestling Arena, moving all equipment and personnel to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando.

## Championships

### Revival Active

* NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship
* NWA Florida Women's Championship
* NWA Florida Junior Heavyweight Championship
* NWA Florida Southern Heavyweight Championship
* NWA Florida Tag Team Championship
* NWA Florida X Division Championship

### Defunct

* NWA Florida Brass Knuckles Championship
* NWA Florida Television Championship
* NWA Florida Bahamian Championship
* NWA World Tag Team Championship (Florida version)
* NWA Florida Southern Tag Team Championship
* NWA Florida United States Tag Team Championship
* NWA Florida Global Tag Team Championship