• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Ric Flair on the radio?

H

HHalland

I heard that there is a wrestling show in the Internet somewhere. And I was also told that "Nature Boy" Ric Flair has his own show? Is that true? When I had an office in Jacksonville, we would love to watch NWA wrestling action with Mr. Gordon Solie. It was my understanding that most of those wrestlers were in Tampa. Did they really drive from town to town in a Ford Van and wrestle everywhere? Where did they film the wrestling show? What were their real names? I know that Hacksaw Jim Dugan was his real name and that he had it changed on his drivers license. What about Pak Song the Korean Claw, and Dusty Rhodes, and some kid named Windham. There was the "House of Windham" and the Hart Foundation with Gary Hart. What happened to these guys, and will they be on Ric Flairs radio show? Is there a website to got to for all of this?

I remember hearing wrestling results on the radio, and the lady who did them seemed to know the wrestlers personally. My friend Bill thinks that she might have known them REAL well..if you catch my drift here.

thank you

howard.
 
Gordon Solie died years ago; they used to film those Championship Wrestling from Florida shows at the sportatorium in Tampa.

Gary Hart managed Pak Song - song died years ago; hart about two or three weeks ago. I think you mean the "House of Humperdink," Sir Oliver Humperdink was a manager and the 'house' was his stable of wrestlers. Back in the 70s wrestlers either came from tampa or minnesota......the windham you are referring to is Barry Windham - his father was blackjack mulligan. i believe barry is working for the WWE in some capacity.

back in those days wrestlers often traveled from town to town by car. For example, monday night was orlando, tuesday west palm, wednesday miami, thursday jacksonville and so on........

hope this helps.....
 
Did Gary Hart own WYND in Sarasota at any time?
 
Back in the early 60's a couple with last name Hart owned WYND when it was country, and I think they were the ones who switched it to Surf Row Radio.
Later Lowell W. (Bud) Paxon owned it while was there in the early 70's...

Anyone else with a better memory ???
 
golly thanks for all your help on this. It was crossing my mind as we were driving to new mexico this week, and we were wondering..Thank you for everything. That web site is great. Wow I forgot about sir oliver humperdink. Was he really a "sir" or did he just make that part up?

thank you

howard
 
I also remember doing the ring announcing and time keeping for Coach John Heath, himself a wrestler and promoter in the Sarasota area... He was also the Athletic Director and head football coach @ Cardinal Mooney High in Sarasota... I used to get paid $75.00 a night and a dozen comp tickets to the matches... whew... the old ladies in the front rows were the worse... more profanity, loudest yellers... Going to the matches and just watching the crowds was better than staying home and watching All in the Family... What a hoot...

Pac Song... and Eddie Graham got into it one time before the match and John failed to tell me about it in advance... damn near got killed myself... I asked john after WHY he didn't tell me... he said it looked more real and he knew it would if I didn't know... Told him I might need some additional insurance in the future...

It was a great experience to say the least...

later...

walt
 
flwfg said:
Back in the early 60's a couple with last name Hart owned WYND when it was country, and I think they were the ones who switched it to Surf Row Radio.
Later Lowell W. (Bud) Paxon owned it while was there in the early 70's...

Anyone else with a better memory ???
Click to expand...

I went to Dwain Glenn's 1st Phone Mill in 1968..Stayed at some old coot' named Ed's Motel at 1400 N. Trail for 6 weeks and WYND was rock..That was the summer of 68!
 
Humperdink's real name is john sutton; he is still alive although battling health problems.

John Heath was a coach at cardinal mooney in sarasota. i believe the football stadium has his name on it.
 
When I did mornings for a time at the old 1250/WDAE Eva Jones was the newscaster who would do the wrestling reports on Wednesday mornings..The wrestlers would usually gather at Doc's Imperial Room on Hillsboro and Habana for a few "toonces" anfter the Tuesday night matches. Mary Ruth Austin did the wrestling report when I moved to the original Magic 96, then W-Lite 95.7..those were the days..of what I can remember of it..

Speaking of Pak Song..his specialty hold was the "Korean Claw..we got word from the Hillsboro County Sheriff that he put the "Korean Claw" on a portable color TV set in the "Grants" on Gandy Blvd and tried to make off with it without paying for it. Bad Pak Song...bad bad Pak Song. r.i.p.

Remember Erik the Red? Wasn't he hit by a car on the Howard Frankland? Man those poor guys had a lot of stuff happen to them. And what was the name of the "associate" that Gordon Solie had..his name was Buddy (something) He always called him the "..tough, but fair minded..." I loved that show..I heard Ch 44 had to recruit people from the plasma center to sit in the audience at the sportatorium where they taped that show..and had to give away free hot dogs. True? Where's Tedd Webb to weigh in on all this fun?
 
wow, good memory. Eric the Red and Pak Song were tag-team champions at the time of his death. Sonny King was his manager......i was a junior in high school and had just seen Eric/Pak and Sonny wrestle against former Freebird Jimmy Garvin and some jabroni at the Orlando Sports Stadium about four days before Gordon announced that he got hit by a car.....I found these references in a wrestling website.

The next afternoon, November 8, at the television tapings in Tampa, Eric & Song defeated Jimmy Garvin and Prince Tonga. That evening, at the Miami Jai-Alai Fronton, in front of an announced crowd of 3,622, Eric and Song beat Rhodes and Mike Graham by disqualification. It would be the last match that Eric would ever wrestle. Flying back to the Tampa International Airport later that night, Eric’s car stalled on West Hillsborough Boulevard in the Town ‘N Country area. After telephoning for help, Eric tried to cross the median but was struck by a vehicle headed east in the outside lane. Eric was thrown into the air and his head struck the windshield of the car. He was taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital suffering severe brain damage as well as numerous broken bones and remained comatose until he passed away November 16, 1978. No charges were filed against the driver. Eric, who was thirty-four years old, left behind a son, Jim Hansen.

“Eric The Red, whose full name was Eric Hansen, passed away on Thursday, November 16, just one week after being struck by an automobile while crossing a Tampa street in the early morning hours. Eric never regained consciousness after being hit, his condition worsening steadily despite all efforts to help him. The sport of wrestling has lost a formidable athlete. While Eric did not enjoy a great deal of personal popularity, he was feared and respected by opponents and his public alike. Like his Nordic ancestors, he asked no quarter and he granted none. Eric The Red will be remembered for his fierce competitive spirit and his absolute lack of fear when facing opponents—a fitting tribute to a Viking warrior.”
 
Wasn't Solie's partner later on, Buddy Colt ?... He, Playboy Gary Hart and someone else were injured in a plane crash in Tampa Bay weren't they??... The third one may have died...then they both went into management... Colt is still here in business in the Tampa Bay area as well as the Briscoe brothers I believe....
I remember too that Jerry Brisco was some honorary rat @ rat week at Manatee Community College back in 1971 (Back when they had such a thing) ... spent the day on campus making the rounds...
 
colt did partner on the air with solie. That plane crash resulted in the death of bobby shane. Mike McCord, who later became Austin Idol, was also injured in the crash.
 
Okay, it seems we all got way off subject, but for old "Tampans" like myself, this thread has brought back memories. I know the wrestling was occasionally taped at the Sportatorium but some of the shows were also recorded at (believe it or not) Channel 3. It was during one of these tapings, I met Gordon Solie, a true gentleman. (Didn't Gordon have his start in radio?) Also, as a sidebar, while at 570 WHNZ, we did local reaction to the "Wrestling Secrets Revealed" TV Show. Was a great chance to interview the Brisco Brothers and again, Gordon Solie. Curious, were any of the Fort Homer Hesterly Armory matches recorded for TV or covered on the radio? And one other item: Gordon sometimes had Barbara Clary as his co-host. I nearly fell over, when as a year 12 senior at Chamberlain HS, she was a substitute teacher for one of my classes.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom