One of Plant City’s past attractions could spice things up in future Florida Strawberry Festivals.
I went to visit Plant City legend Al Berry late last week to talk about the Florida Strawberry Festival’s past and heard some great stories. I wasn’t expecting to hear much about athletic ventures there, but I was pleasantly surprised to hear stories about professional wrestling.
Anyone who’s been reading this column for a while knows how much I love wrestling, even though match results are often predetermined and people think it’s fake and whatever. I don’t care about any of that — for me, it’s the perfect mix of athletics and entertainment. It sounds like that was the case for Plant Citians back in the day, too, based on what Al told me. When I left, a thought popped into my head: “Wouldn’t it be great to see some matches at the festival?”
For those of you who don’t know, Plant City used to host cards back in the “Wild West” days of wrestling territories. The Plant City Armory was something of a hotspot around here. Legendary announcer Gordon Solie — an acquaintance of Al’s — used to call the matches on the WPLA radio station. Al also told me the festival used to host matches back in the day, and that people around here loved to go watch the good guys take on the bad guys.
I think the nature of wrestling would make it a perfect addition to the festival these days, even if the landscape of the sport has changed. I don’t think we’d see crowds get as riled up as they used to in the 1970s and 80s, when less was known about the business as a whole and the bad guys would often find themselves physically threatened by angry fans after winning dirty. But that’s fine — the more family-friendly it is, the more it fits with the festival.
I’ve long said one of the most fun assignments I’ve ever had was covering a Gentlemen’s Quest-sponsored card several years ago at the Trinkle Center at Hillsborough Community College. The matches were solid and the crowd, heavily made up of Marshall Middle School families, was into it. Some people might go in thinking it’s going to be lame, but I believe anybody can get hooked when a match is flowing well and the performers are charismatic enough.
Between the surfing pets, magic shows and everything else you can find on a stroll around the grounds, there’s something there for pretty much everyone. I can’t think of a better addition to that than pro wrestling.
