Why do some many pro-wrestlers live in Tampa, FL?

[AAP]

I see that the late Hercules Hernandez lived there.

But why? What is the appeal to Tampa? It is sort of a Midwest town. Nothing to do there. Very boring. Golf courses, but not much else.

Just think of how many of the other wrestlers (who died) that resided there. Hawk of LOD, etc..

 

[Moderate_THIS]

I see that the late Hercules Hernandez lived there.

But why? What is the appeal to Tampa? It is sort of a Midwest town. Nothing to do there. Very boring. Golf courses, but not much else.

Just think of how many of the other wrestlers (who died) that resided there. Hawk of LOD, etc..

My aunt lived in Vero Beach and styled the Red Rooster's hair. I think wrestlers live all over south/central Florida, wasn't aware of any Tampa connection, though.

 

[AAP]

My aunt lived in Vero Beach and styled the Red Rooster's hair. I think wrestlers live all over south/central Florida, wasn't aware of any Tampa connection, though.

'

The Warlord is the only one I can think of in FTL. I don't know of any in Miami. (Rock?)

 

[AAP]

I went to find a pic of him... found a link with a LOT of old photos... click on the month and scroll down..

http://images.search.yahoo.com/sear...e.com/evergreen/December.htm&type=&no=3&tt=14

 

[hamstershaver]

its because they have the best hockey team on the planet there

 

[XBiker]

its because they have the best hockey team on the planet there

 

[AAP]

About time you made an appearance again round these parts.

 

[from zero]

The Warlord

Dude. He was badass.

 

[sawastea]

Cheap land/property...No state income tax...Beautiful weather...Great golf courses...Many of them travel 300+ days of the year so they're really never at home, anyway

 

[AAP]

Dude. He was badass.

I would love to know the real story on WTF happened to him.

Back in the Powers Of Pain days... man he was a monster. Remember when they challenged the Road Warriors to a benchpress competition and were blowing up 500 lbs like it was nothing.

 

[Delinquent]

I know there are a couple wrestlers that live in a town called Apopka where I grew up. (just outside of Orlando) I know for a fact Billy Gunn lives there and I'm not sure of the other names. I do know a few of them opened a little bar there.

 

[from zero]

King Kong Bundy has a wrestling school 20 minutes away from me.
Jimmy Snuka used to live around here.
Bam Bam Bigelow is up in Asbury Park, I think.

NJ is the place to be for 80s has-beens.

Back in the Powers Of Pain days... man he was a monster. Remember when they challenged the Road Warriors to a benchpress competition and were blowing up 500 lbs like it was nothing.

I remember they did something like that on Prime Time Wrestling. The Warlord was a monster.

 

[avenirup]

Cheap land/property...No state income tax...Beautiful weather...Great golf courses...Many of them travel 300+ days of the year so they're really never at home, anyway

I agree...last I heard, Hulk Hogan lives there as well.

 

[AAP]

I agree...last I heard, Hulk Hogan lives there as well.

Yeah, Brutus Beefcake, Jimmy Hart has residences there too. A couple more that died recently were from the area. I want to say Rude and Henning, but not 100% sure.

 

[avenirup]

Yeah, Brutus Beefcake, Jimmy Hart has residences there too. A couple more that died recently were from the area. I want to say Rude and Henning, but not 100% sure.

Hening yes, Rude no....About the Warlord (real name is Terry Szopinski) he was in a car accident in the mid 90's (1996 I believe) and stopped being active in the pro wrestling. A few years later he returned and still does a few dates per year, mostly in Florida. I saw him in 1999 when I first started writing and he is not as jacked as he was 10 years ago but still looks decent.

 

[saint808]

warlord was strong as fuck... but kinda blew in the ring. animal also was one the strongest guys to ever wrestle.

 

[AAP]

Hening yes, Rude no....About the Warlord (real name is Terry Szopinski) he was in a car accident in the mid 90's (1996 I believe) and stopped being active in the pro wrestling. A few years later he returned and still does a few dates per year, mostly in Florida. I saw him in 1999 when I first started writing and he is not as jacked as he was 10 years ago but still looks decent.

I read a newspaper article (non wrestling publication) last year or so that the Warlord was forbidden to EVER go on tv again. Apparently he had some kind of legal troubles as he committed a no-no (they didn't say what) and he is only allowed to wrestle in non-televised events. That is why the WWE has shown no interest in him. He still has good mobility in the ring and such, even going back to using his old shoulder block from the top rope move. He wrestles against/with Kevin Sullivan and a few other 80 stars down here at the War Museum.

He said in the interview when he was with NWA/WCW he enjoyed that the most as his health was much better then. It was only after he went to the WWF that Vince split up the Powers of Pain which was one of the most popular tag teams then (they debuted as baby faces) that he saw there were some politics involved much worse than in NWA/WCW. He said the team was split up as not to threaten the veterans of the tag team scene. He said that he was also encouraged to add as much bulk as he possibly could. Which made him much blockier and slower. He said that initially, he had been promised the role in that Hogan movie if he could bulk up larger. He went on to state that he felt this was a sham because it filming and casting was continously delayed and delayed until the black guy was cast in the role of Zeus. He alluded to being disappointed with being promised this and then frozen out with no explanation as the reason why he fell upon the path that lead up to the unfortunate circumstances he deals with now.

He now mostly earns a living as a bouncer here in FTL and sometimes (on call) in South Beach. He said that all the wrestling training and continuous pounding he took in the ring becomes a useless asset when encountering a Cuban with a rusty knife. (his exact words)

 

[FISHTALES]

bubba love sponge was always talking and hanging out with wrestlers there, I think hogan lives there too.

 

[avenirup]

I read a newspaper article (non wrestling publication) last year or so that the Warlord was forbidden to EVER go on tv again. Apparently he had some kind of legal troubles as he committed a no-no (they didn't say what) and he is only allowed to wrestle in non-televised events. That is why the WWE has shown no interest in him. He still has good mobility in the ring and such, even going back to using his old shoulder block from the top rope move. He wrestles against/with Kevin Sullivan and a few other 80 stars down here at the War Museum.

He said in the interview when he was with NWA/WCW he enjoyed that the most as his health was much better then. It was only after he went to the WWF that Vince split up the Powers of Pain which was one of the most popular tag teams then (they debuted as baby faces) that he saw there were some politics involved much worse than in NWA/WCW. He said the team was split up as not to threaten the veterans of the tag team scene.

He cannot be forbiden to ever go on TV. That is either made up or totally false. WWE has no interest because he is too old and really never got over as a singles wrestler. When he was in the Powers of Pain he was slightly over but never as a singles wrestler. Today, he could not keep up with the guys who are in the WWE like Benoit, Angle, Michaels, etc, etc...Like with all business - there are politics. In the late 80's it was more so in the WWE (then WWF) and in the 90's it was more so in WCW. But there have and always will be politics in wrestling. The Powers of Pain were split up because there was simply nothing left for them to do and Vince wanted to see what they could do own there own. Out of the two, The Barbarian was the more successful. Warlord was impressive looking and had a slightly successful run with the Powers of Pain in the late 80's, very early 90's but really that was about it.

 

[hamstershaver]

yes hogan and macho man both live in clearwater

 

[Y_lifter]

Its the same thing with Circus people...

Maybe there's a correlation here..

 

[strongsmartsexy]

Its the same thing with Circus people...

Maybe there's a correlation here..

 

[mekannik]

Its the same thing with Circus people...

Maybe there's a correlation here..

Small hands.

Smell like sauerkraut. Mmmmmmmmmmm...... sauerkraut.

 

[AAP]

I read a newspaper article (non wrestling publication) last year or so that the Warlord was forbidden to EVER go on tv again. Apparently he had some kind of legal troubles as he committed a no-no (they didn't say what) and he is only allowed to wrestle in non-televised events. That is why the WWE has shown no interest in him. He still has good mobility in the ring and such, even going back to using his old shoulder block from the top rope move. He wrestles against/with Kevin Sullivan and a few other 80 stars down here at the War Museum.

He said in the interview when he was with NWA/WCW he enjoyed that the most as his health was much better then. It was only after he went to the WWF that Vince split up the Powers of Pain which was one of the most popular tag teams then (they debuted as baby faces) that he saw there were some politics involved much worse than in NWA/WCW. He said the team was split up as not to threaten the veterans of the tag team scene.

He cannot be forbiden to ever go on TV. That is either made up or totally false. WWE has no interest because he is too old and really never got over as a singles wrestler. When he was in the Powers of Pain he was slightly over but never as a singles wrestler. Today, he could not keep up with the guys who are in the WWE like Benoit, Angle, Michaels, etc, etc...Like with all business - there are politics. In the late 80's it was more so in the WWE (then WWF) and in the 90's it was more so in WCW. But there have and always will be politics in wrestling. The Powers of Pain were split up because there was simply nothing left for them to do and Vince wanted to see what they could do own there own. Out of the two, The Barbarian was the more successful. Warlord was impressive looking and had a slightly successful run with the Powers of Pain in the late 80's, very early 90's but really that was about it.

No joke. The interview specifically spelled out how he stated that he was not allowed to appear on television ever again. He said that was why he never pursued opportunities in the WCW again or ECW. He even alluded to the fact that he was unable to travel outside the U.S. for opportunities in Japan or Mexico.

I am going to try to find that article. It was done in the The City Link newspaper down here. They show cased Backyard wrestling and then had an interview with him the next week.

 

[avenirup]

No joke. The interview specifically spelled out how he stated that he was not allowed to appear on television ever again. He said that was why he never pursued opportunities in the WCW again or ECW. He even alluded to the fact that he was unable to travel outside the U.S. for opportunities in Japan or Mexico.

I am going to try to find that article. It was done in the The City Link newspaper down here. They show cased Backyard wrestling and then had an interview with him the next week.

I totally believe you about the article. I am just saying that somethings that were written may not have been the total truth. Hulk Hogan has the same problem, he goes on Bubba the love Sponge and fabricates a lot of things.

 

[powerforward]

the majority of the wcw shows in the mid 90's were taped in orlando, so that may have something to do with so many guys living in tampa.

 

[ct2272]

Tampa is definitely the place for wrestlers or at least Florida.

Tampa (and surrounding parts) has:
Macho Man Randy Savage
Hulk Hogan
Jimmy Hart
B. Brian Blair
Brutus Beefcake
The Big Show
Hawk
Dirty Dick Slater

Chris Jericho I believe lives in Orlando.
Edge (can someone confirm) lives in Tampa.
Scott Hall lives around Orlando.
The Rock still lives in Davie, FL which is a little west of FTL.
The Warlord trains at Mike Ashley's gym off of Powerline and Sample Rd in Pompano.

At one point I thought Scott Steiner was recovering from a neck injury in Sebastian, FL but of course that might have been an angle (he may still live in Atlanta). I also heard Kevin Nash lived in Daytona for a bit.

 

[Freaky Gear God]

no income tax, nice location

 

[dzulboy]

'

The Warlord is the only one I can think of in FTL. I don't know of any in Miami. (Rock?)

rock is from bethlehem PA

 

[bigdaddyhammer]

I can assure you, being former friend and partners of Edge, Christian, Jericho, Storm and many other Cnadian wrestling talent, that the main reason is the lack of state tax. Being Canadian, they already get dinged enough here.
As far as Warlord goes, I was always a fan of the monsters like Warlord, Road Warriors, Ultimate Warrior, etc... He was so jakked at on time that the cameramen and guys in the tv truck were told to avoid getting back shots of him, as his acne was so bad, they could in no way avoid the steroid allegation...LOL

 

[cenapunk]

World Wrestling Entertainment® is proud to announce the formation of Florida Championship Wrestling, a new training center for future WWE Superstars. The official developmental territory is scheduled to be fully operational by December 2007.

“Florida Championship Wrestling will serve as a training ground for the WWE Superstars and Divas of the future,” said John Laurinaitis, Senior Vice President, Talent Relations. “FCW is building a top-notch facility in the heart of Tampa Bay that has the capacity to groom our vast crop of rising Superstars.”

FCW’s training facility is being expanded to 10,000 square feet, and will include a 300-seat arena. The rejuvenated training facility will also host a weekly show in front of a live audience to be broadcast for regional television. Currently, the facility operates with four rings in which it trains 35 contracted athletes. WWE plans to increase that number to more than 60 in the near future.

WWE has contracted with WWE Legend and former Superstar Steve Keirn to operate the territory. WWE trainer Tom Prichard will oversee all talent training.

 

[ta2ooz]

I was just bout to say that, that theres a well known training school were they broaden and improve their skills together etc there in tampa

 

[AztecWarrior]

That's right. They have the training in FL. It use to be Ohio Valley before, but now TNA uses them.

 

[AztecWarrior]

AAP you went old school on use. HAHa. Remember tony roma? He teamed with hernadez back in the day. Great tag team. He quit the wwf to pursue a pro boxing career.