No matter what happens with the Congressional hearings wrestling will continue to exist in this country. That is a fact I am very grateful for. I don’t know how many other topics I would have such a passion to write for. The privilege of sitting here twice a week and regularly pointing out incompetence, narcissism, arrogance and things that are just morally wrong is one that I embrace. The WWE has a perceived leader in Vince McMahon and it appears that the heir apparent is Stephanie McMahon. Keep your ears open, sooner or later, we will hear her scream “Let Them Eat Cake”. If you really think about it, isn’t the leader of the company really who ever the next big thing is? When you think back and examine the company haven’t the great CEO’s really been Bruno Sammartino, Hulk Hogan, The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin? There have been in the past, and currently are, some interim CEO’s that lead the company. All of these men truly dictate the success and direction of the company. The McMahon family benefits from the very real fact that most people have no understanding of our business. They do run a profitable company even without a CEO. They do it with an unmistakable arrogance while secretly hoping that a new CEO takes over. It will more than likely happen without a McMahon conducting an interview. The interviews are held mostly Monday nights in various cities around the world. One could almost draw a parallel to American Idol-type voting. If and when the new CEO is hired, the board of directors the people known as fans to the stockholders will spread the word about the new leader. It will bring about such a feeling of joy that Mr. McMahon could head straight back to the billionaire list. In the meantime, they manage the company some would say foolishly but yet profitable. I wonder how it feels to know that your skills have taken a company as far as it can go and the term "treading water" is all around you. In the past they have always treaded water and waited and worked around the CEO position being vacant. It is clearly taking longer to fill than in the past. It should be comforting to know that, to some extent, no matter how poorly the interim leadership performs the company can still remain profitable. The one thing people will consistently say about Vince McMahon is that he never lets anyone see him sweat. I'm sure Vince is secretly praying for the next big thing or reality has escaped him completely.
There has to be some kind of change made in the current system to bring the next big thing to the forefront. The creative team can’t do it and even if they could they are suffocated by Stephanie and what ever it is that goes on in her head. How can anyone even judge the creative teams competence? They aren’t allowed to do their job. They merely feed Stephanie what she orders and she feeds it to Vince. I wonder if they bother to wear a bib? The developmental territories have some value but I find it to be minimal. They have good people working at them and those people should continue to be involved. The Danny Davis’s and Tom Prichard’s of the world are what the youth of our business needs. There are wrestling schools out there cultivating new talent all the time. However, most individuals will never make an impression on this business but a small percentage will. If I was calling the shots, I would go back to running B shows with underneath talent headlined by some secondary angle that the company was running with some name talent. It could also be a second loop around for some A team angle. The talent attempting to make it needs to work in front of crowd day in and day out. That’s what will help them progress. How many times has a new talent come out of the developmental territory after being there a long time and we make excuses for why they still appear to be so green? There is a group of veterans out there that would love to be making a good living to go out and get these guys ready for the big show. What stops the Greg Valentine’s, Brad Armstrong’s, Pat Tanaka’s, Koko B Ware’s, Bobby Eaton’s and many others from being in a position to help these guys? As near as I can tell absolutely nothing except the chance to do it. If you want to teach young tag teams how to work how about putting them on the road with The Rock and Roll Express or The Midnight Express? If you want a young kid to have a clue let him wrestle Brad Armstrong or Bullet Bob Armstrong thirty days in a row. You think Dory Funk wouldn’t be willing to go on the road for awhile and work with someone with potential? Please wake up this is simple logic. You have money going out and getting very little in return. The worst thing that could happen is less money going out. I refuse to believe that these B shows could not at least break even. The business of pro wrestling has always been a grass roots business. Now would be a great time to get back to the people and help rebound the foundation of the business. I can see a throw back to the old day’s nostalgia is huge today in all aspects of life. How about a studio show properly produced that features some of the old school legends discussed above? There is quite a pool to pull from. The real purpose would be to cultivate the future stars of the industry and hopefully the next big thing. The countless organizations that could benefit from the fundraiser type events that wrestling companies ran in the old days are limitless. This isn’t rocket science. Developmental does not appear to be providing the solution and is costing a lot of money. Why not create something that could generate dollars instead of spending dollars. It would go along way towards showing the moral character of the up and comers. It could provide entertainment to secondary cities around the globe. It would help prepare the talent for the big show in a much more realistic way. I don’t question the attempt at creating a developmental program. On paper it seemed like a good idea. But it’s not paying off so drop it and get back to the basics.
When we were putting together WrestleReunion 1 I put each match together with a lot of thought. In booking a card like this experience tells me that there could be problems with personality’s etc that could make for matches. It could be many things so I had to clear everything with everyone ahead of time. My original vision was that we could highlight WWE and TNA in a perfect world around the retired and semi retired legends. It became apparent quickly that wasn’t going to work. So the next step was to celebrate the NWA right in Tampa, Fl. Well I decided that I would like to have an NWA Tag Team Title Match. It had to be special for the fans it had to be something they had never seen before and more than likely wouldn’t ever see again. So I contacted Bill Behrens to book the NWA Tag Team Champions. I do not recall who they were at the time, but as far as I knew, I had my title match. It became quite obvious to me, as the days and weeks went by, that who ever the champions were when I made the agreement was who I had booked. That was unacceptable to me. I stayed on top of Bill Behrens, who I could see, ultimately didn’t have the power to get this done. It was more of a Jeff Jarrett thing. Now these guys don’t really want to let me know what their plans are but I continue to make a big deal out of it. I mean, I had lined up Dory Funk Jr and Terry Funk for one last shot at the titles getting that done was no easy task itself. If you're interested, figure out how many times since the mid 90's those two have teamed up before. I would have nothing less than the best for a show that had the potential to be a one of kind event. A team called Americas Most Wanted, Chris Harris and James Storm, were the current champions as time drew near. I needed to buy these guys plane tickets and still no answers from TNA. So I went down to Universal Studios to see if I could get this settled. I didn’t leave feeling too much better but I did run into Larry Zbysko, who I added to the show, and got to talk to Dusty briefly since he was now on board for the main event. It wasn’t until several days later Jeff Jarrett called and said everything will be fine that I relaxed and got the tickets. I had been told I was lucky that AMW had the straps. People were right ... I was lucky. They were good kids who had a good match with The Funks. I know they felt honored to be in the dressing room with all those legends. I know one thing I wish that I had a tag match with The Funk Bros on every show I ever promoted or will promote. The level of respect when they walk into a ring can be felt throughout the building. In the near future I will tell you how I got Mick Foley to team with The Funks at WrestleReunion 2. I think the Godfather is right when he says "Pimpin' ain't easy".
The picture is from Charlotte, NC, sometime around 1992 I believe when Stan Lane and I used to hit the town on a regular basis. He always proved why he was a Fabulous One. Where ever we went the ladies were always following in bunches
I have to give out a pat on the back to Hornswoggle I hate that this angle even took place but I think this guy is doing all he can to work it out. I can tell you this, this guy is going to keep this up and eventually get over and merchandise will be sold.
TNA goes to two hours this week? Who is looking forward to this? I feel glad for the talent that will get some TV time but a bad product is a bad product and this is just a bad product.
This has been a Piece of my Mind
There has to be some kind of change made in the current system to bring the next big thing to the forefront. The creative team can’t do it and even if they could they are suffocated by Stephanie and what ever it is that goes on in her head. How can anyone even judge the creative teams competence? They aren’t allowed to do their job. They merely feed Stephanie what she orders and she feeds it to Vince. I wonder if they bother to wear a bib? The developmental territories have some value but I find it to be minimal. They have good people working at them and those people should continue to be involved. The Danny Davis’s and Tom Prichard’s of the world are what the youth of our business needs. There are wrestling schools out there cultivating new talent all the time. However, most individuals will never make an impression on this business but a small percentage will. If I was calling the shots, I would go back to running B shows with underneath talent headlined by some secondary angle that the company was running with some name talent. It could also be a second loop around for some A team angle. The talent attempting to make it needs to work in front of crowd day in and day out. That’s what will help them progress. How many times has a new talent come out of the developmental territory after being there a long time and we make excuses for why they still appear to be so green? There is a group of veterans out there that would love to be making a good living to go out and get these guys ready for the big show. What stops the Greg Valentine’s, Brad Armstrong’s, Pat Tanaka’s, Koko B Ware’s, Bobby Eaton’s and many others from being in a position to help these guys? As near as I can tell absolutely nothing except the chance to do it. If you want to teach young tag teams how to work how about putting them on the road with The Rock and Roll Express or The Midnight Express? If you want a young kid to have a clue let him wrestle Brad Armstrong or Bullet Bob Armstrong thirty days in a row. You think Dory Funk wouldn’t be willing to go on the road for awhile and work with someone with potential? Please wake up this is simple logic. You have money going out and getting very little in return. The worst thing that could happen is less money going out. I refuse to believe that these B shows could not at least break even. The business of pro wrestling has always been a grass roots business. Now would be a great time to get back to the people and help rebound the foundation of the business. I can see a throw back to the old day’s nostalgia is huge today in all aspects of life. How about a studio show properly produced that features some of the old school legends discussed above? There is quite a pool to pull from. The real purpose would be to cultivate the future stars of the industry and hopefully the next big thing. The countless organizations that could benefit from the fundraiser type events that wrestling companies ran in the old days are limitless. This isn’t rocket science. Developmental does not appear to be providing the solution and is costing a lot of money. Why not create something that could generate dollars instead of spending dollars. It would go along way towards showing the moral character of the up and comers. It could provide entertainment to secondary cities around the globe. It would help prepare the talent for the big show in a much more realistic way. I don’t question the attempt at creating a developmental program. On paper it seemed like a good idea. But it’s not paying off so drop it and get back to the basics.
When we were putting together WrestleReunion 1 I put each match together with a lot of thought. In booking a card like this experience tells me that there could be problems with personality’s etc that could make for matches. It could be many things so I had to clear everything with everyone ahead of time. My original vision was that we could highlight WWE and TNA in a perfect world around the retired and semi retired legends. It became apparent quickly that wasn’t going to work. So the next step was to celebrate the NWA right in Tampa, Fl. Well I decided that I would like to have an NWA Tag Team Title Match. It had to be special for the fans it had to be something they had never seen before and more than likely wouldn’t ever see again. So I contacted Bill Behrens to book the NWA Tag Team Champions. I do not recall who they were at the time, but as far as I knew, I had my title match. It became quite obvious to me, as the days and weeks went by, that who ever the champions were when I made the agreement was who I had booked. That was unacceptable to me. I stayed on top of Bill Behrens, who I could see, ultimately didn’t have the power to get this done. It was more of a Jeff Jarrett thing. Now these guys don’t really want to let me know what their plans are but I continue to make a big deal out of it. I mean, I had lined up Dory Funk Jr and Terry Funk for one last shot at the titles getting that done was no easy task itself. If you're interested, figure out how many times since the mid 90's those two have teamed up before. I would have nothing less than the best for a show that had the potential to be a one of kind event. A team called Americas Most Wanted, Chris Harris and James Storm, were the current champions as time drew near. I needed to buy these guys plane tickets and still no answers from TNA. So I went down to Universal Studios to see if I could get this settled. I didn’t leave feeling too much better but I did run into Larry Zbysko, who I added to the show, and got to talk to Dusty briefly since he was now on board for the main event. It wasn’t until several days later Jeff Jarrett called and said everything will be fine that I relaxed and got the tickets. I had been told I was lucky that AMW had the straps. People were right ... I was lucky. They were good kids who had a good match with The Funks. I know they felt honored to be in the dressing room with all those legends. I know one thing I wish that I had a tag match with The Funk Bros on every show I ever promoted or will promote. The level of respect when they walk into a ring can be felt throughout the building. In the near future I will tell you how I got Mick Foley to team with The Funks at WrestleReunion 2. I think the Godfather is right when he says "Pimpin' ain't easy".
The picture is from Charlotte, NC, sometime around 1992 I believe when Stan Lane and I used to hit the town on a regular basis. He always proved why he was a Fabulous One. Where ever we went the ladies were always following in bunches
I have to give out a pat on the back to Hornswoggle I hate that this angle even took place but I think this guy is doing all he can to work it out. I can tell you this, this guy is going to keep this up and eventually get over and merchandise will be sold.
TNA goes to two hours this week? Who is looking forward to this? I feel glad for the talent that will get some TV time but a bad product is a bad product and this is just a bad product.
This has been a Piece of my Mind
