Back to the Territories: Florida with Jim Cornette and Kevin Sullivan

[@captainthrall]

This was one of the best BTTT DVDs... these guys get along great, and they have a ton of stories

[@virgyvirgil]

kevin sullivan is the coolest old man in existence. could listen to him for hours

[@85futureshock]

Florida with guys like Kevin, Terry Funk and Dusty, was the original ECW. They had matches like Barbed Wire and Hardcore rules that got them thrown out of towns. Kevin, Mark Lewin and his crew were the template for Raven's Flock and the Wyatt Family.

[@stephenbianchi7141]

I've recently been bouncing around this theory that everything in rasslin' goes back to Memphis... Like, everything-everything. As a native Fla-rid-yin, I find this very interesting even if it's a flaw in my theory.

[@matthewreis8639]

brody

[@frankbonini7085]

@Stephen Bianchi Memphis Begat FMW, & FMW Begat ECW & Then Some (CZW, XPW, IWA Japan/Puerto Rico/Mid-South/East Coast/Deep South, etc.)

[@Jberm0o0]

That map with the Cornette face is too good 😂😂😂😂😂

[@flamethrowerflufsalisbury]

I went to a show when I was 5 or 6 in FL in 82. We went backstage, Kevin walked over to me & screams "I hate kids!" I ran out of there screaming, lol.

[@scarletspeed7]

Definitely need to watch this one!

[@nellbowie7986]

I could listen to Corny and Sullivan all day tell stories

[@jimmyface71]

Two of my favorites shooting the breeze and telling stories? Sold!!!

[@nellbowie7986]

I could listen to these two talk all day

[@stangboy88]

Kevin is looking good. Glad to see that, this looks very enjoyable.

[@kaltblut]

+stangboy88 he looks like a skinny midget

[@stephenbianchi7141]

Yeah not on a ton of opiates in this one.

[@leftyonedonny]

I was living in Florida in 1985 and CWF was on fire.

[@saraleigh6777]

WOW very clean language and shoot from the hip honest talk plus Kevin Sullivans Baastonian accent made this clip GREAT. I grew up on AWA and Corny w/ greg Gagne was pretty awesome Gott watch more of these

[@TheStuport]

Loved Territory Rassling from ALL OVER THEE USA back in the day....didn't have "social media" back then, only wrestling magazines and what you were lucky to see on TV....then cable came along we all thought we were "Into The future"....I truly miss those days too.....Cheers All

[@nujeru99]

Corny' reaction to the hanging angle is classic!😂😂

[@travisw3131]

that's the next Cornette face t shirt, damn Jim Cornette could cash in on some serious money having three or four different shirts with different faces of his on it.

[@jtmurdock]

I hope like hell they do one of these on World Class Championship Wrestling out of Dallas and they do it with Kevin Von Erich. That needs to be a thing so badly.

[@ReinEngel]

Kevin is slowly turning into Frank Reynolds.

[@stevejorfi9086]

Florida was It in the 70's the greatest wrestling territory. All due to the mind of the great Eddie Graham and with Gordon Solie announcing it was lightning in a bottle.

[@billybadtoes]

i think that it's amazing how much Jim knows about the history of pro wrestling and it's from watching him with the midnight Express that i learned that it was alot more fun to b a heel than a baby face unless of course u found yourself in one of those small towns where everyone took it way to serious and as Jim says u packed ur bags before the match and left them at the back door so u could get out of the building fast and out of town even faster

[@RyuBlack93]

The Gamesmaster Kevin Sullivan... so many questions... so many questions.

[@patrickperalta59]

I like that story of Eddie Graham and Vince SR talking about Backland and Kerins and the bet they made.. true to his word Vince SR made Backland. and won the bet. LOL

[@Bushmaster10MM]

As a young kid I remember sneaking to watch Championship wrestling from FLORIDA ! It was everything the wwwf wasn't. This weekly program helped cement my love of professional wrestling ! seemed like at the end of every episode, The DREAM was brawling with half the locker room ? Lol ! RIP... Gordon Solie. JB

[@SteveHolsten]

I wish they would've discussed Kevin's run in Memphis in '79 & '80 especially when he was in Jimmy Hart's First Family against Jerry Lawler.

[@brockmyers]

Is there any way they could do a Back to the Territories for Don Owen's Portland Wrestling. The biggest problem is the best guy to talk to about it would've been Roddy Piper. But I still feel it would be a great episode for this series.

[@yehudafinkelstein7504]

Lots of guys from Portland are dead, notably Piper, Bryan Adams, and Playboy Buddy Rose. Portland was a great territory.

[@rodneybrimer5171]

I was 11 when I moved with Mom to central Florida. I arrived in time to witness the start of the slow week to week transformation of Kevin to a heel. It was brilliant and entertaining. They could never do that in todays world. People today want things to happen immediately. We didn’t realize it then but territory style wrestling just seemed more believable. The WWF may have taken wrestling to new heights but damn I preferred the territories. I guess because that’s what I grew up with. I remember when Billy Jack Haynes came to CWF. Moved back to Bama and few months later Billy Jack was coming to WWF. I honestly thought he was the next big thing. Still a fan. Haynes was believable and over in Florida.

[@averageo2343]

RIP Blackjack

[@blacquesjacques7239]

VJM was intent on entering into business with Inoki who had a rep for acting shady . He wanted a champ that couldn't be shot on . Didn't work .

[@bonlouis8808]

Corny's interview style is leaps and bounds ahead of the shit on WWE network. The territories were more than just geographic locations they represented the cultural differences across the States now all that is left is a homogenized and sterilized husk of what wrestling used to be. To make a comic book reference the reason why DC and Marvel are so successful isn't because of the main guys like Batman and Iron Man but because of the vast canon they draw from; no character, writer or era is the same yet it all still co-exists. Wrestling would've remained successful if there was at least the illusion of competition or distinction between promotions. Even if Vince still only operated out of the North East he would've been loaded, and would've had other promoters do his work for him in producing newer talent. Wrestlers would've had longer careers if they pissed off a promoter they could go somewhere else.

[@Ferpero]

+EmperorBubba i saw clips from that shoot interview with Corney and Percy Pringle (RIP) hilarious stories.

[@immaculateprince]

Exactly

[@SonnyBubba]

Wrestling was doomed to be consolidated into one or two national territories. Before cable TV, most fans only saw their territory’s promotion. After cable, there was intra-territory competition. Fans could see other territories, and the weaker ones were going to lose their business. Vince cashed in, but if not Vince, it would have been someone else.

[@vids2002]

I have to watch this later but the first few minutes seem good

[@roywalley4734]

I would like to see Arizona......Western States Championship Wrestling.......I was trained by C. C. Star

[@DrE2555]

am sold

[@thatpart]

All hail The Taskmaster!

[@laggerg]

+Jay Harper He was cool when I met him, he got a kick when I remembered him back during his feud with Austin Idol back in the old Georgia territory wrestling days.

[@thatpart]

***** That's really cool that you were able to meet him :)

[@laggerg]

Jay Harper Yep, that was when he was with the late John Tenta aka "Avalanche" , Ed Leslie aka the "Zodiac" WCW days.

[@TheRagev3]

two great minds

[@YogsenForfoth]

Kevin is in the ICU right now. I hope he pulls through. 😔

[@davenwatts8173]

Had to take my like back, I ain't the one to draw the task masters ire

[@ChadPlainview_]

Two great wrestling minds shooting the shit.

[@matthewp.3392]

The burning sands! Lmao!

[@TheJoec2005]

hopefully bret hart will talk about stampede wrestling soon

[@frankbonini9128]

Already Done with Lance Storm

[@patrickperalta59]

now that is how you do a feud. fight untill end of the program dissapear behind the curtin with everyone trying to pull them a part...then pick up as if you been fighting all week the fallowing week...

[@Thornus_______]

Yeah baby CWF

[@bigcav925]

what was the secret he was talking about, that Eddie Graham told him?

[@BIGMFBEN]

Maybe Eddiie wasn't his real dad?

[@Sh0ckmaster]

+chris velez It was that Eddie Graham and his wife had secretly divorced, but had stayed together for the sake of Mike and never told him. Kevin talks about it on his appearance on Jim's podcast :D

[@bigcav925]

+Sh0ckmaster Jim who podcast? link?

[@bigcav925]

+frank bonini thanks

[@Sh0ckmaster]

+chris velez It won't let me link it, but if you go to MLW's site and search for Kevin Sullivan it's on page 8. Looks like a VIP episode though, but well worth a listen.

[@johnnyskinwalker4095]

What happened to Eddie Graham.

[@hamonryeredwine1498]

+Johnny Skinwalker He commited suicide in 1985 after Dusty left for Crockett and took over half his best guys, Mike Graham commited suicide in 2009 after his son had done the same, Mike called one of his friends and said it must be his destiny as well, then shot his self with his dad''s and son's/family's pictures laid out on his office table, another sad end story in wrestling.

[@johnnyskinwalker4095]

Ham On Rye + Red Wine that's awful and sad. I had no idea. the end of the territories left bodies everywhere.

[@oldschoolfan420]

Kevin Sullivan living it up in the hoh rainforest with his main man Mick dodge. Wearing kilts, eating fish, and stealing alternators for cars.

[@baltimorez-wad7281]

oldschoolfan420 --- I hear ya on that. I literally almost shit a brick when I saw that episode the day it came out & it was Kevin Sullivan in the NW USA in the Hoh rainforest chilling with Mick Dodge !

[@matthewp.3392]

Dat Turner money $$

[@DarthDefiler]

Kevin Sullivan looks Like Frank Reynolds

[@sychophantt]

Aboota Deen!

[@paul3fun]

didn't Vince Jr. turn Kern into Skinner???

[@marmcd2003]

+frank bonini Oh well he's a trainer in NXT now.

[@marmcd2003]

Silver Surfer Thunder There's been like 4 Doinks dude, Steve Lombardi was one of them so was Steve Keirn.

[@BLewTheKake]

ids there like a membership I can get to watch all corny's stuff? like the www network?

[@BIGMFBEN]

Mike Graham.... :(

[@davidmurray6949]

Eddie probably wasn't Mike's legitimate dad and Mike found out at the funeral 🤷‍♂️.

[@nickr4837]

blackjack strikes again lel

[@mentionchrisbenoit6415]

Chris benoit

[@HereForAStorm]

Chris stole, fucked, and killed Kevin's woman. Brutal.

[@speedanchor2781]

+ronjon83 "stole" No, Nancy decided to be with Chris Benoit instead of with fat Kevin Sullivan. And when she was killed, she hasn't been "Kevin's" woman for a long time.

[@bbqman5285]

What a waste of time this was!