I am amazed sometimes at the booking on independent shows. In the last week I have heard that someone, who in the last year was a WWE performer on RAW, that was brought in for two different events and was asked to put someone over who has no major exposure. It has been my experience that the casual fan, who is in a secondary market looking to come to an Indy show, responds when they see people they consider TV stars. I do not understand the logic of bringing in a “star” to be jobbed out to someone who more than likely will get nowhere in this business. If you want to bring the star in for numerous events and you are trying to run some program than obviously “business” can and should be done as needed.
In the Indy circuit it is tough to run programs and angles and make money without TV. I have seen it done before. I was lucky enough to be a part of it in Lenoir, NC. The promoter for those shows was a guy named Tony Hunter who was running CCW Carolina Championship Wrestling. He had the best Indy shows going month after month in two thousand and three and two thousand and four. He started with Ricky Morton and Greg Valentine his first show had about four hundred people. He built things up to an eventual cage match with those two guys that was guest referred by Tully Blanchard. The show was close to a sellout. The following year he had full houses all the time and the fire marshal threatening to shut him down. This was all done with a small advertising budget and NO TV.
I can remember being in the ring in my role as commissioner setting up a return match with the Rock and Roll Express vs. the Condrey and Eaton version of The Midnight Express. I was set to announce a Texas Tornado Match. The people were screaming for a cage like nothing I have heard in a long time on an Indy show. I wasn’t sure what to do and Robert Gibson looked at me and said "what’s wrong"? I said they want a cage and he asked me what the return was and I said a Texas Tornado match. I actually called the promoter from the ring on my cell and told him what was happening. I was really afraid we would kill the town but I had to be sure we could get a cage. I got Tony Hunter on the phone and he said to run with it so I called for the Steel Cage and the place came unglued. I was a baby face commissioner for this company.
The shows got better and better but Tony Hunter became a victim of his own success and tried to grow beyond his means. It was a shame to see all that hard work go down the tubes in one night. He got to where he was by giving the fans what they expected and wanted to see. He didn’t ask stars and legends to come in and be jobbed out to local talent. He used local talent as they should be used. He didn’t try to push too many (non TV stars) down people’s throats. He lost it all with a big house and a great card but very poor business decisions.
You will find that people are looking for stars to do what they do on television. In the case of the young man who was asked to put over guys that haven’t yet made it to the big time. It would have been nice to see Chris Masters work with some competent person who put him over with the full nelson. All these promoters have done is book a star and remove his credibility. I have not been a huge fan of Chris Masters, but I can tell you this, after the two reports that I got about him this past week, I would be happy to use him on a future event if I ever promote again.
I was going to end this week’s article here but I have to comment on the recent remarks made by Jim Ross regarding Corey Maclin settling his lawsuit with the WWE. I could not believe that someone as intelligent and as well spoken as Jim Ross could have made such comments. He indicated in his blog that Vince McMahon settled the lawsuit because it was frivolous and had no basis just to get rid of the lawsuit.
I can tell you for one, the lawsuit was in no way frivolous. I was involved in this event beginning to end. Believe me Corey Maclin had a case and a strong one at that. If WWE had done what Jim Ross suggested and settled because they thought the lawsuit was a joke, why in the world would a well respected employee of the company make a statement which would encourage every slow leak in the world to sue WWE to get an easy pay off.
I do not know what Corey received from WWE, but in my humble opinion, he was entitled to whatever the difference was between the money brought in at the gate and what a sellout would have been. I find it interesting that Ross indicated that the show wouldn’t have done great if not sell out business. You have the King of Memphis Jerry Lawler and the Immortal Hulk Hogan. They had all the footage they needed and proper promotion along with sponsors. The whole community was totally behind this event. I personally was thrilled to be booked on the show to see Lawler vs. Hogan. I think that this was an opportunity to come out one more time for their long time hero Jerry Lawler.
I didn’t understand the remarks that Ross made about Lawler also thinking the lawsuit was ridiculous. What would you expect Lawler to say? The whole incident was his fault. He put both his partner and his company in very poor positions. He lost a chance to make a lot of money personally on this event since he was self promoting it. If you were Jerry Lawler, the lawsuit was a no win situation for you. All of this trouble was caused for one reason and one reason only because Jerry Lawler felt it was better to ask for forgiveness rather than permission.
I have dealt with Lawler enough to understand his comments. But I was shocked by Jim Ross. This is a case of backing your friend blindly and with little to no facts. I was told when this suit was first filed that I was out of my mind and that Corey would not get a dime. I believe those comments were made by people with little or no facts. I can also tell you that suits like this one do not get settled this quickly for no reason. The idea that Vince McMahon would back down from anyone and not defend his company from someone trying to sue it with no basis is absurd at best. You will never see Vince McMahon not protect his company and his brand with every breath he has in him. I won’t get into anymore specifics other than to say that WWE knew what they were up against and settled and got out.
The picture from this week’s article is of Bruno Sammartino along with Lour Ferrigno and Marty Lazzaro a very close and personal friend of Bruno Sammartino. It was taken during a trip to the West Coast within the last few years
This has been a piece of my mind
