10 WWE Wrestlers Who Wrestled For Tiny Crowds in a Tampa Warehouse on Dale Mabry

Author Geno

January 17th, 2021 3:16 PM

Last night, it was announced that WrestleMania has been moved to Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. Of course, Tampa was supposed to host World Wrestling Entertainment’s big event last year but we got that visit from our friend COVID-19. An impressive number of the wrestlers you’ll see Saturday, April 10 and Sunday, April 11 got their start learning the ropes at Florida Championship Wrestling. FCW hosted small events 6 miles south on Dale Mabry at a little warehouse that’s now occupied by a children’s play area. WWE sent prospects to FCW in Tampa to get trained by wrestling legends like “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes. The impact that FCW had is evident when you see how the students became WWE superstars. These 10 WrestleMania competitors all performed for a tiny crowd of about 50 fans at that little warehouse on Dale Mabry for a $5 ticket. Popcorn was $1. And this wasn’t even 10 years ago!

• Drew McIntyre

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  He's a WWE champ now. But not even 10 years ago, you could see him at that Dale Mabry warehouse for $5!

• Seth Rollins

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  He got his wrestling name from Henry Rollins. Seth is one of the biggest success stories of former FCW wrestlers who trained in Tampa. But he says in the special that he was really getting discouraged and was starting to wonder if he'd ever get the call up to the big time in WWE.

• Roman Reigns

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  Part of a big wrestling family, Reigns was just one of "The Shield" members who trained on Dale Mabry.
• Sheamus

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  The wrestlers say they weren''t too crazy about training in the sweltering Tampa heat. They say in the special that the trainers rarely turned the air conditioning on.

• The Bella Twins

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  They said they had it tough breaking in to wrestling as they were initially dismissed as models and not real wrestlers who could compete.

• Daniel Bryan

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  Like Rollins, he expressed frustration on how long it took to get out of Tampa and on to the main WWE roster. His patience paid off as he became a champion just a few short years later.
• Bray Wyatt

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  In the special, they talk a lot about second generation wrestlers who trained in Tampa. Wyatt is the son of '80s wrestling star "IRS" Mike Rotundo. In the FCW special, they show his early interview acting skills. He was a natural from day 1.

• Big E

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  That guy in the middle? He's a Tampa guy! Look for him and other members of New Day at Ray Jay.

• Charlotte Flair

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  Daughter of "Nature Boy" Ric Flair,she had a quite different look back in her Tampa days.
• Natalya

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  Daughter of Tampa's Jim "the Anvil" Neidhart, she tells some great stories in the special about how when they acquired the Dale Mabry gym, they were taking over a food storage warehouse and she'd often sit on boxes of canned food during wrestling practices.

• Naomi

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  More known as a product of the NXT system in Orlando, but apparently she also trained in Tampa.

• Bayley

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  Just one of the many female stars who started in Tampa. She chose the spelling "Bayley" because she's from the Bay. (San Francisco Bay though, not Tampa Bay.)
• Paige

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  Although she's no longer an active wrestler due to injuries, Paige was trained here in Tampa.

• Corey Graves

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  He's now on the WWE announce team since his wrestling career was cut short.

• Dusty Rhodes

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  Many of the wrestlers profiled about their time in Tampa remarked how much the legendary Dusty Rhodes helped them develop their wrestling characters. We lost Dusty a few years ago.

FCW eventually closed up shop when WWE opened their new training center in Orlando.  NXT is clearly a next level version of the learning environment Florida Championship Wrestling created.  The warehouse on Dale Mabry near Gandy is now filled with bounce houses.

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Author Geno

Category:

• Trending in Florida

Tags:

Florida Championship Wrestling,Now Trending,Pro Wrestling,Tampa,WrestleMania,WWE