To the layman, it would have appeared to be the worst premiere in the film career of the world’s biggest Hollywood star–Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

After all, he is accustomed to red carpeted affairs surrounded by dozens of paparazzi and hundreds of adoring fans screaming for him to show them his trademark pearly white smile as camera flashes pop all around him. On this night, however, Dwayne Johnson’s movie premiere was on the opposite end of that spectrum. A few hundred people stood around the pavilion at TradeWinds Island Resorts during the 2012 Tri-Fitness World Challenge in St. Petersburg, Florida. A projector sat atop a table and a small white movie screen was hung on a C-stand. The film was just as low budget as the theatre setup; it was cell phone footage that had been blown up a few sizes too large to fit the movie screen.

Yes, to the layman, this movie premiere appeared…well…lame. However, those who have known the world’s biggest star since he was considered Tampa’s version of Dennis the Menace as a young boy running around wrestling auditoriums in the 1970s, knew that this was one of his most meaningful films. READ MORE

The scene repeated weekly at local venues such as the Ft. Homer Hesterly Armory as professional wrestling took its rightful place among local popular attractions over the decades. While the results of the matches were pre-determined and the competition itself was scripted, the interest and enthusiasm from fans–and the punishment delivered to a wrestler’s body- was as authentic as any other entertainment option. From the founding of the Florida territory in the late 1940s to the later decades, when the familiar voice of longtime announcer Gordon Solie would convey the ringside drama to television audiences every Saturday, professional wrestling enjoyed an enthusiastic- if inelegant- popularity in Florida. Thousands would crowd venues such as the Miami Convention Center, the Lakeland Civic Center, the Jacksonville Coliseum and dozens of others.