In the early 1920s, Jack Ross was a leading South Florida wrestler. On July 19, 1921 at the Park Theatre in Miami, Charlie Cutler beat Frank Hockmann in two-of-three-falls, winning what a local newspaper called "one of the most thrilling wrestling matches ever witnessed in Miami." Cutler was a former claimant to the American heavyweight championship and Hockmann (Hockman) was billed as the Champion of Belgium. Shows during this time-frame were promoted by "Doc" Cannon. Promoter Ed Douglass went to Havana, Cuba on Saturday, March 25, 1922 to arrange several matches, including one involving former World Heavyweight Champion Charlie Cutler. "Ye Old Sport' was a sportswriter for the Miami Herald in the early 1920s. On Friday, March 31, 1922, in his column, "Facts for Fans," he wrote: "Fleas on a dog in August are no more numerous than the claimants of titles in the wrestling game." A former promoter in Miami and now a restaurant owner in Atlanta, Ed Douglass was "severely" injured when he was hit by a car on Sunday, December 25, 1932 in Coral Gables. 47 year old Douglass suffered a serious concussion and lacerations, and the Miami Herald reported that he was in semiconscious condition. He'd come to the city the week earlier because of the death of his mother, Laura C. Douglass. Douglass returned to Miami in January 1935 (Miami Herald, 1/11/1935) and planned to run the Florida East Coast Railway's daily racetrack train to Hialeah Park. Al Ritchie promoted Miami beginning in 1941, stopped for his service during the war, and returned to stage wrestling shows until the early 1960s. He was involved with a wrestling war against Pat Malone in 1948. His real name was Ernest A. Ricci and he was born around 1912. He also promoted at Lake Worth and Fort Lauderdale. In the summer of 1948, Dave White opened the Causeway Arena at 1325 NE Bayshore Place, and planned for boxing and wrestling events. On the wrestling side, shows would be staged by Pat Malone. The facility had between 5,000-6,000 seating. By June 1951, a Miami newspaper (6/19/51, Miami Daily News) claimed that Causeway had "long since been overrun with beetles and termites." During the wrestling run at the facility, the Miami Daily News reported that Gorgeous George drew a 22,500 house there on March 8, 1949. However, this has to be a misprint, as the Arena held a much less capacity. Also, if true, it probably would have made national news and would've been one of George's largest houses in his career. According to a letter from Willie Gilzenberg to Jack Pfefer dated March 15, 1962, Al Ritchie had problems with Florida booking agent Cowboy Luttrall and Eddie Graham. Gilzenberg wrote: "As for Al Ritchie and his dealings with the Cowboy – it is only an Al Ritchie that Cowboy would dare do this too. Eddie Graham grabbed Ritchie one day and choked him – Cowboy is always displaying a knife – that’s why I cannot fit in with either of them." Buck Weaver, former wrestler and football star at the University of Indiana, was the matchmaker at the Bayfront Park Auditorium in Miami in 1951. In August 1956, Charley Wheeler was elected president of the National Wrestling Association during a meeting at the Delano Hotel. Wheeler had been a member of the Miami Beach Boxing Commission for more than 20 years. A new Miami Beach Athletic Commission was appointed to serve for two years beginning in September 1961. Edward Lassman was the Chairman, Fred Aaronson was the Vice Chairman, and the other members included Morris Klein, Frank Cohn, and Robert Eisenman. Around 1987, wrestling ceased at the Miami Beach Convention Center, and it marked the end of an era. The following year, World Championship Wrestling began running programs at the Knight Center. At one point around 1991-'92, because of poor attendance, WCW stopped running wrestling in South Florida. There was some consideration in February 1991 to holding a PPV at the Convention Center, but because of bad camera angles, the decision was scrapped. Corporations: Chris Dundee Enterprises, Inc. Incorporated: February 25, 1969 Address: 2031 N. Bay Road, Miami Beach, FL Registered Agent: Chris Dundee Directors: Chris Dundee, Suzanne Dundee Involuntarily Dissolved: October 13, 1989 Research by Tim Hornbaker |
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