Posted on by bdamage1
Robert Segedy
I can still recall the first time that I had tuned into Georgia Championship Wrestling and heard the voice that would forever be associated with the sport of professional wrestling. We had just recently started to receive cable in our area in Pennsylvania and after being raised on the questionable antics of the WWWF, I was hungry to witness some of the action from elsewhere. One Saturday afternoon I was switching around the dial when I happened upon Championship Wrestling on the Superstation WTBS. I immediately took notice of the difference in products. Not only was I seeing wrestler’s that I had only read about in the various Apter magazines, but the entire product was delivered as a realistic creation including the unmistakable sound of the lead announcer. It was, of course, the inimitable Gordon Solie. I recall being impressed as Solie called the matches and sometime later in the program, they showed some clips from a match in an arena. Talk about a breath of fresh air! Suddenly wrestling seemed completely legitimate and believable. Needless to say, I was hooked.
Gordon Solie was originally born as Francis Jonard Labiak, later changed to Jonard Pierre Sjoblom. He was born on January 26, 1929, and lived until he was 71 years of age, July 27, 2000. Solie was often referred to as the “Walter Cronkite of Professional Wrestling announcers.” He was employed by Georgia Championship Wrestling, Championship Wrestling from Florida, USA Championship Wrestling, Continental Wrestling, and World Championship Wrestling.
Solie had started as a ring announcer emceeing weekly shows in the Tampa Bay area. His mentor’s included John Heath, Eddie Graham, and Don Curtis. He eventually moved into the broadcast booth and became the lead announcer for CWF’s Saturday morning television shows; a spot that he would occupy for the next quarter century. Solie commented on many matches featuring some of pro wrestling’s biggest names: Dusty Rhodes, the Brisco Brothers, and Dory Funk Jr. Solie rose to national prominence when Superstation WTBS started broadcasting pro wrestling from Atlanta, Georgia.
Much of Solie’s fame stems from the gravelly sound of his voice when he called the in-ring action. Also, he never talked down about the action that he was witnessing, adding an air of authority to the action in the ring. He is often credited with noting when a wrestler was bleeding as “wearing a crimson mask.” He also was noted for calling a suplex as a “su-play.” His signature sign off was “So long from the Sunshine State” if he was working in Florida.
Solie often stayed out of any in-ring angles, but one time in Georgia, he was attacked by the Magnificent Muraco, and Solie’s broadcasting partner Roddy Piper interceded and saved Solie, thus turning Piper from a notorious heel into a babyface.
According to wrestling lore, Solie had requested that wrestler’s place him in various holds so that he could better understand the hold and reliably broadcast the details. He also refused to learn a wrestler or manager’s real name because he didn’t want to make a mistake and wrongly misidentify the person he was interviewing.
“Eddie Graham, his mentor, would never make him privy to what was going on as far as what was going to happen on TV….so he really had to call it. Solie was out there, ‘the crimson mask’, the whole thing. He made up great cliches that will live forever.” –Dusty Rhodes
A sleeper hold wasn’t a sleeper hold until Solie renamed it. “The hold is pinching the carotid artery, limiting blood flow to the brain” is how Solie would describe it.
Solie was no stranger to Jim Crockett Promotions, the company that would eventually be purchased by Turner Broadcasting in 1988, and later was re-branded as World Championship Wrestling. In the early 1980’s, Solie did commentary for Crockett’s Starrcade shows in 1983 and 1984. In 1989, Solie officially joined WCW, working with Jim Ross and Jim Crockett on various shows including World Championship Wrestling, Power Hour, and Clash of Champions. Solie not only hosted the WCW induction ceremony for it’s Hall of Fame, but he was inducted into the WCW Hall of Fame in 1995.
A book was published entitled The Solie Chronicles in the late 2000’s, written by Scott Teal and Solie’s daughter Pamela Solie Allyn. It was published by Crowbar Press.
Following his retirement from the sport, Solie had started to dislike the product, saying it was a ‘damn shame’ that wrestlers had turned into ‘roid freaks and lamented the lack of respect for the history of the business.’
Solie was posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in the Class of 2008; he was inducted by Jim Ross. Solie had once been asked to join the WWF, but he declined the offer because he didn’t want to wear a tuxedo.
In closing I still believe that Solie was one of the greatest announcers in professional wrestling. Many of his broadcasts from Florida still are available on YouTube and I urge readers to seek them out so that they can listen to “the Dean of Wrestling.”