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Remembering Mike Graham

Michael Gossett, best known professionally as Mike Graham, the son of late Championship Wrestling from Florida promoter Eddie Graham, passed away Friday, October 19th, at the age of 61. He was in Daytona, Florida for a motorcycle gathering with his wife and was found deceased.

Graham, a tremendously gifted in-ring performer from a technical standpoint, was trained by Hiro Matsuda, Boris Malenko and his father in the early 1970s and had a long run as a babyface in the Florida territory but made appearances for the WWF, AWA and other promotions as well. He had won just about every championship there was in the old Florida territory and had several stints as the AWA Light Heavyweight champion.

Graham closed out his regular in-ring career in the early 1990s for WCW before becoming a road agent for the company and was off and on with WCW as a trainer and producer until the company closed in 2001.

Graham was also involved in several start-up companies in the 1980s and 1990s, often trying to recapture the magic of the old Florida territory, most notably with PWF in Florida, which featured Dusty Rhodes returning to the State as its top star following his run as booker for Crockett Promotions, as well as talents like Dustin Rhodes, Big Steel Man (Fred "Typhoon" Ottman), and others. He was also involved in Rhodes' Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling and Jimmy Hart's XWF.

Graham, a staple in the Florida wrestling scene for his entire life, still appeared occasionally on legends events promoted by WrestleReunion and similar promotions and appeared on several of the early Legends of Wrestling roundtable discussion shows produced by WWE's 24/7 Video on Demand channel. He accepted his father's posthumous WWE Hall of Fame induction over Wrestlemania 24 weekend, showcasing a large photo he was giving WWE of an old NWA convention gathering of promoters. Mike was also involved in the training of a number of talents who broke in during the 1980s and 1990s.

I was working for CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING FROM FLORIDA, when Mike's Father Eddie, passed away in 1985. Thanks to PWInsider for this information. An excellent biography and obituary is available at SLAM WRESTLING as well. You may access that site by clicking on this link: SLAM WRESTLING - Mike Graham Story .

Be Blessed.
~Percy
www.PercyPringle.com

Fantastic weekend.... Almost.

A busy but outstanding weekend, beginning on Friday, October 12th, with PRO WRESTLING SYNDICATE in Rahway, NJ. I managed Vader for the first time in over a decade. He wrestled my good friend Rikishi. I just had a blast seeing everybody. It was a pleasure having good 'ol Dr. Tom Prichard riding with me, we got to spend some quality time together, and catch up on so much of our lives. I thank EXTREME AUTOGRAPHS for making it all possible for me.

Yours truly "hamming it up" with Armando Estrada, Jimmy Hart, and Slick, at THE LEGENDS OF THE RING in Monroe, NJ on Saturday, Oct. 13th.

You just don't know how many yards I had to cut to buy these guy's magazines back in the day, Bill Apter, and George Napolitano. I don't know if I've ever seen a photo of them together. But here they are with me and "The Mouth Of The South" Jimmy Hart.

Jimmy and myself visiting with The Blue Meanie. Been too long! You just have to understand that I have just as much fun as the fans do at these events. If I only had the energy Jimmy Hart has, I tell him that all the time. What a true legend and dear friend.

With Scotty Too Hotty, and Grandmaster Sexxy. I won't tell you how long I've known Scott, just been so long since I've seen both of them. So happy that we still have Brian's Dad, "The King" Jerry Lawler with us, what a close call that was. It's impossible for me to list everybody's names, I couldn't remember them all if I tried. I'm just so blessed to still be doing what I do, and part of my boyhood dreams after almost 40-years.

What a trio.

The only disappointment was one of the most horrible travel days I have had in recent memories was yesterday, Sunday, October 14th. I missed the 100th episode taping of CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING FROM HOLLYWOOD. But, it's water under the bridge now. No sense in whining about something I had absolutely no control over. I just apologize to all the fans, but I tried my best to get there. It wasn't meant to be.

I hope you all had a great weekend, and a good week ahead.

Be Blessed.
~Percy
www.PercyPringle.com