Posted on by bdamage1
Brian Damage
There have been many legendary venues in the history of professional wrestling. Many of which, no longer exist. Time can be cruel that way, especially when it comes to pro wrestling. As the years go by, some of these classic venues get torn down and replaced as if history did not happen there. It happened with places like the Dallas Sportatorium, the Atlanta Omni, Sunnyside Garden just to name a few. The Mid South Coliseum has been teetering on the brink of being torn down for a number of years as well. The latest to face extinction is the old Tampa Sportatorium in Tampa, Florida that may soon meet the wrecking ball.
The Tampa Sportatorium was the home of Deep South Sports Incorporated owned and operated by Eddie Graham. The Sportatorium housed Championship Wrestling from Florida tapings. The very small venue held around 50 or so fans, was not air conditioned despite the sweltering heat of Florida and according to Eddie Graham…was held together by the termites hold each other’s hands. Despite that, the Tampa Sportatorium had wrestling legend after legend walk on through that facility. Names such as Gordon Solie, Dusty Rhodes, Jack Brisco, Gary Hart and countless others.
The same place that had wrestling matches, also transformed into a training facility run by Hiro Matsuda. This was the site where a young Terry Bollea trained and eventually became one of the biggest stars in all of pro wrestling…Hulk Hogan. From 1965 until 1987, so many great matches and classic interviews took place inside. The walls were supposedly painted black to give the allusion of the Sportatorium being bigger than it actually was. Pictures and autographs from wrestling stars of yesteryear hung up on those very same walls.
Since Championship Wrestling from Florida folded, the Tampa Sportatorium has changed owners a few times and hasn’t seen a wrestling match since the late 80’s. It has been renovated inside and changed into a Jewish recreation Center and was once a piano conservatory. Through all the changes, it has still been a destination for wrestlers and fans to stop by and visit from time to time. A development company based out of St. Louis, Missouri has bought the property and plans to demolish the old wrestling stomping grounds to make room for condos and some stores.
There are some hoping that the building can be deemed a historical landmark…but reality is that probably won’t happen. If everything goes through as planned…demolition of the once Tampa Sportatorium could happen as early as 2025. The Tampa Sportatorium was once the hottest ticket in all of the Tampa, Florida area during the 1970’s. There were no Buccaneers or Lightning that existed back then and professional wrestlers were treated like royalty. While it would be nice for the building to somehow survive and be preserved as a pseudo pro wrestling memorial, it looks as if it will become just another faded memory. As Gordon Solie always used to say…“So Long From The Sunshine State.”