Everyone is a Mark for Something

Everyone, not matter their age or gender, are what is known in the professional wrestling business as a “mark.” Whether you are a fan of LeBron James or Spongebob Square Pants and anything or anyone in between, you are a “mark.” Each of us has our own huckleberries and professional wrestling just happens to be mine.

I have been collecting pro wrestling swag since I was barely able to walk and have taken over 30,000 photos over the course of my career, I have thousands of magazines, programs, action figures, results, t-shirts and other assorted memorabilia that many may find unique as is it strange. My most prized item in my collection are the Assassin masks that were worn by Randy Culley when he was with Jody Hamilton as the famed tag team that were given to me by WWWF superstar Charlie Fulton.

Dr. Mike Lano, one of the most renowned photographers in professional wrestling has a set of “Gorgeous” George Bobby Pins that are autographed and framed along with a photo of the old Legend Stadium that were given to him by his grandfather. Even some wrestlers have a favorite piece of memorabilia including autograph photos of people they worked with, their own books which were little more than a labor of love, or ring used gear that has been signed.

One particular item that is a rarity these days are banners depicting the name and sometimes likeness of a particular wrestler. Some of the most scarce are of NWA Legend Buddy Rogers and Johnny Valentine that are worth upwards of $250 or more depending on the condition. “Irish” Johnny Griffin has a website devoted to pro boxing and pro wrestling memorabilia at www.ringmemorabilia.com and showcases a number of these banners, listing a few of them for sale. The Original Sheik banner is available for $125 right now and can only appreciate in value over the next 10-15 years.

Posters are another item that is genuinely valuable, especially from the 50s and 60s with some of the signs that adorned many arenas going for $450 or more depending on the shape and condition and the participants involved. A Dick the Bruiser v. Lou Thesz from the City Auditorium is a limited quantity item that can fetch up to $400. Many of the posters from yesteryear are very scarce and posters in good condition are even more difficult to find.

A popular item right now, especially for the old school fans are action figures. Many action figures are available in many different variations. Jakks Pacific set the standard for their line of WWE figures and that standard has been lost as Jakks lost their contract with the WWE. Mattel is now producing the WWE action figure line and in my honest opinion they are not at the level of the Jakks Pacific line. Jakks Pacific has moved on to creating UFC/MMA figures and are expected to have a line of NWA Legends before the end of the year.

Some of the rarest figures that have been produced recently include a figure of football great and pro wrestling star Ernie Ladd whose figure can garner up to $70 or more if it is new in the original packaging. The Original Sheik action figure is at $25 right now for a new figure and loose figures, depending on their wear and damage can go for the original price of $10. Many of the old school fans gobble up the legends figures, my Freebirds three pack featuring Michael Hayes, Buddy Roberts and Terry Gordy can eke up to $30 but can be found in limited quantities for as low as $15. As Roberts and Hayes continue to move on with their careers and lives, the figures will appreciate in value.

The figures, such as the Ernie Ladd, which were shipped in limited quantities, will slowly become more difficult to find and therefore increase their value. Figures of legends like Killer Kowalski can still be found for as low as $10 and are not as in-demand simply because of their production numbers and they can be found in earnest. The AWA action figures, which were some of the first made available figures and were made by Remco are getting very hard to find. Remco produced four series of the then AWA stars in 1985 and 1986 and included The Fabulous Ones (Stan Lane/Steve Keirn), Shawn Michaels, Marty Jeanetty, The High Flyers (Greg Gagne/Jim Brunzell) which are very hard to find, Stan Hansen, Nick Bockwinkle, Baron Von Raschke, Steve Regal (Indiana version of the wrestler, not the WCW wrestler) which I would like to have, and a number of others.

The Remco figures, if they are still in the original packaging can get up to $100 depending on the star and how rare the item is. Doug Somers, The Road Warriors, Buddy Rose, Paul Ellering and Adnan Al-Kassie are all very rare and difficult to find, even loose.

No matter the item or what it represents, we all “mark” for one thing or another. There is no crime in being a “mark” for anything you support or believe in whether it be a person or cause or even a favorite TV show that has not been on for 40 years. I still love to grab my “Green Acres” DVDs and waste a weekend watching what I consider one of the most underrated comedies ever. So go on, go out and buy something from someone that means something to you because you just never know what it may mean to the person who receives it after you.

As always I am Jerry Wiseman and then the bell rings.

(Editor’s Note: Special thanks to “Irish” Johnny Griffin for help with this article and thank you to Dr. Mike Lano and “Beef Stew” Lou Marconi for sharing their favorite items. Some of the information on the Remco action line came from Wikipedia.)

Update on NWA Wrestling at The Ohio State Fair

In speaking with Christina Leeds, the marketing and public relations director for the Ohio State Fair, she informed me that the contract with World Pro Wrestling was void after the group, and more specifically, promoter Jerry Grey, could not produce the event based on the terms and conditions of the contract.

When contacted Jerry Grey refused to answer any of my questions and simply brushed off the entire fiasco as being too petty to discuss.

Bill Behrens, the President of the NWA has stepped in to produce the show and will feature Scott Steiner vs. Abyss in the Main Event, as well as an NWA World Title match between champion Adam Pearce and Phil Shatter.

NWA Michigan promoter Phil Watson notified me that NWA Michigan was not promoting the event, they were acting as a liaison for the NWA in helping to get the word out, and that no NWA Michigan talent would be part of the show.

When asked why a more local promotion was not considered for the Ohio State Fair show, Miss Leeds assured me that the fair would be willing to consider any Ohio based promotion for future events, and advised that any promotion interested could contact Deborah Hochbein at d.hochbein@expo.state.oh.us

Hopefully this makes the pro wrestling event at the state fair more clear and if you are interested in attending the show on August 1, 2010 you can get tickets at www.ticketmaster.com.

As always I am Jerry Wiseman and then the bell rings.

Jerry Wiseman Looks at Ohio State Fair Wrestling

The Ohio State Fair has learned how quickly things can change in the world of professional wrestling. Wanting to showcase a pro wrestling show as part of the fair this year, the OSF contacted World Pro Wrestling based in Orlando, Florida and run by Jerry Grey to host the show on August 1. Advertising began almost immediately with Dan Severn to face Butterbean for some made up MMA title, The Honkytonk Man was to tackle Tommy Rich for another made up title and it was touted as the return of the Steiner Brothers who were going to wrestle for a made up tag team championship.

A few days after the initial announcement was made and the promotional machine started to churn, Scott Steiner allegedly spoke up and said that he had never been contacted by WPW and never agreed to do the show in August for WPW. WPW promoter Grey then contacted the OSF and said he misspoke and that he “thought” he could get the Steiner Brothers for the show and to stop using Scott Steiner’s name in any promotional materials.

Now, NWA Michigan is advertising that they will be running the show at the OSF in August instead of WPW and again, Scott Steiner’s name appears in NWA Michigan’s advertising as well as touting an NWA World Title match between Adam Pearce and the NWA National Heavyweight champion Phil Shatter.

There is no mention of the show on the NWA Michigan website as of this writing nor is there any information available on the OSF website other than there will be a pro wrestling show on August 1. As for Scott Steiner, he is in Puerto Rico at the moment and has not made any further comment about whether he will be in Ohio for this show.

Professional wrestling is making a comeback at county fairs in Ohio with WAR being part of the Auglaize County Fair again and SWI being part of the Shelby County Fair this year. With the instability and potential for fair promoters to be worked by wrestling promoters, especially since most fair shows are bought shows (a bought show is where the wrestling promoter is paid a fixed amount of money to bring in talent and run the show, it is basically prepaid), the mess with WPW, NWA Michigan and the OSF can have damaging results for legit promoters trying to run the county fairs.

I have contacted NWA Michigan as well as World Pro Wrestling and as of this writing have received no response to my inquiries about the OSF situation. Shark Boy, who is listed as appearing by NWA Michigan told me that he will be part of the show and that Steiner is indeed listed as appearing in the main event but he knows nothing more. I will keep everyone updated as warranted.

Update: I contacted the office of Bill Behrens, the President of the NWA and he informed me that he decided to take over the promotion of the show when the OSF canceled their deal with WPW promoter Jerry Grey. The press release from the NWA follows.

NWA WRESTLING AT THE OHIO STATE FAIR

The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) comes to the Ohio State Fair at the JD Equipment Coliseum on Sunday, Aug. 1 at 3 pm with a star packed, professional wrestling event.

Appearing will be former WWE/WCW/TNA star “Big Poppa Pump” Scott Steiner taking on a former NWA World Champion. Current NWA World Title Champion, Adam Pearce, will be challenged by the NWA National Champion, “The Universal Soldier” Phill Shatter. TNA’s Shark Boy will be in action against the current NWA Alabama Junior Champion and former WWE/TNA performer, Mike Posey. There will be six big matches in all.

Tickets go on sale at noon on Saturday, May 29, 2010 at all Ticketmaster locations and online at www.ticketmaster.com. Ringside seats are $15, and general admission seats are $10. Tickets purchased in advance include admission to the Ohio State Fair.

As always I am Jerry Wiseman…and then the bell rings.

Jerry Wiseman Looks at the Proposed OAC Rules

The Ohio State Athletic Commission, which oversees and regulates pugilistic sports in the state of Ohio, is considering new rules regarding the commission of professional wrestling. As the overseer of boxing, MMA and professional wrestling, the commission is proposing to change the current rules that wrestling must follow in order to produce an event.

Among the alleged changes being considered are the enactment of a surety bond consisting of $10,000 to be placed on file with the OSAC prior to an event, a 5% regulatory fee of the gross profits of the ticket sales, payable to the OSAC, mandating a physician at ringside during the course of the event as well as having an ambulance on stand-by with a minimum of two EMTs present at ringside. Adequate security personnel must also be present during the contest.

The most damaging of the new rules being considered cover blading and says that wrestlers may not deliberately cut themselves during the commission of their match. There will be no outside the barricade surrounding the ring which means no fighting in the crowd and well as no wrestler will be allowed to use foreign objects or props with the deliberate intent to lacerate (cut) him or herself or an opponent nor can animal blood or human blood or gel like substance can be used to simulate actual lacerations of a wrestler or their opponent.

If a wrestler or promoter is intent on using foreign objects or props during a wrestling match must be disclosed to the commission prior to the approval of the match and is subject to the approval of the commission. This would also include any vial, capsule or container holding any substance used to simulate blood.

A similar proposal stands before the Georgia State Athletic Commission but is being met with resistance because of the sheer chaos it would cause independent promotions and possibly shut them down. If this proposal or anything similar were to pass in Ohio, there would be fewer if any independent promotions that would be able to continue to operate due not only to the costs associated with the changes but the restrictions on how to construct a match and continue a program.

Many promotions in Ohio run on a very tight budget including Pro Wrestling Ohio, the Cleveland based and hottest indie promotion in Ohio right now but that is not to say groups like WAR Wrestling in Lima, Ohio and HWA in Cincinnati would not suffer unduly as well.

While I can understand the OSAC commission wanting to make sure the workers are well taken care of and there are other avenues that can be considered without jeopardizing the welfare of the promotion and the well-being of the wrestlers who use their weekend warrior status to help provide for their families.

Both Bernie Profato, Executive Director and Judy McCarty, Secretary of the Ohio State Athletic Commission were contacted for comment on this story but declined to comment.

If these new regulations were to pass it would be detrimental to the state of professional wrestling in Ohio. Many, if not all indie promotions would cease to exist just due to the extraordinary costs associated with these moves. A promoter must pay the commission $200 for a promoters license plus an additional $100 event fee now to run a show. The additional fees could run into the thousands of dollars and cost not only the promoter but also the fan who thrive on indie promotions because the WWE comes but once a year and TNA very rarely if at all.

If you are interested in voicing your opinion on the proposed changes to the OSAC rules and regulations regarding professional wrestling in the state of Ohio I encourage you to contact Bernie Profato at bernie.profato@aco.ohio.gov

Jimmy Hart Owes Me Thirty Minutes Of My Life Back

JIMMY HART OWES ME THIRTY MINUTES OF MY LIFE BACK:
ON “WRESTLICIOUS TAKEDOWN”
By The Reverend Rogue Six

That’s right, I said it.
Jimmy Hart, The Mouth of the South, owes me 30 minutes of my life back. Moreover, here’s why.
I’d happened to hear about a new all-female wrestling promotion that was starting up, a little something called “Wrestlicious”.
That name was all I had to go on.
I had been wondering if I’d find it on TV, and which channel, if any, would carry it. One night, while going through the channel guide, I came across it on a channel called MAVTV (an HD-only channel) which seemed to be the equivalent of SPIKE-TV. So I set the DVR to record it, and planned to watch it the next day.
The next morning, I sat down with a cup of coffee, cued the show up on the DVR, and pressed PLAY.
And what I watched for the next 30 minutes left me saying “Oh dear freaking Lord. . .”
Whatever “Wrestlicious” was supposed to be, it was nothing remotely close to a wrestling show. This was nothing more then a bad version of GLOW (and if you don’t know what I’m talking about, Google it and you’ll learn), and when I say bad, I mean BAD. There were more mind-numbingly stupid sketches then anything else, with only one wrestling match in the entire show. The match itself was decent, but the announcer seemed to have a need to constantly make puns (and lousy ones at that) with every move. I mean, I love puns as much as anyone, but c’mon, make them good ones.
After the show was over, I checked out the show’s website to see just what this new promotion was all about. All I can say is that Jimmy Hart must’ve bought up all the GLOW costumes he could get, because many of the workers tended to look a little too familiar. I’m not entirely sure just what in the blue hell he had in mind when he created this glorified train wreck of a show, but I’ll take a shot in the dark and predict that it’s not going to last very long.
Before you think me overly judgmental, I’m all for giving something brand-new a fair chance. However, when something such as this is such a gross insult to my intelligence, I find it necessary, if not my sacred duty, to say (in the words of the legendary Stone Cold Steve Austin) “OH HELL NO!”
Therefore, as I said at the start, Jimmy Hart — if, by some stroke of cosmic chance you would happen to read this — you, sir, owe me 30 minutes of my life back. Either the 30 minutes, or a night with Brooke Hogan, doesn’t matter.
But you owe me, Jimmy.
You owe me.

Until next time, as always, I am the Reverend Rogue Six, and thus endeth the sermon.

Note From WrestleOhio:We have started a thread on our forum to discuss this topic. You can find it under the Diva section or just click here – Wrestlicious forum

Nikita Allanov – I Kinda Feel Like Tony Stark

Change is coming. It is unavoidable. We can either adapt to the change, or die.

Recently, there was a storyline in the Marvel Comics Universe where change was coming, and it was in the form of forcing all super-humans to register with the government, or become outlaws. The heroes all came down on one of two sides – register and give up the way things have always been done, or go outlaw and become one of the criminals that you have always tried to keep off the streets.

Right now, the State of Ohio is on the verge of something similar regarding professional wrestling. There are too many people in this business who should not be, and they have ruined it for everyone else. Now, the Ohio Athletic Commission is on the verge of becoming a more tightly controlled state for professional wrestling.
Right now there are a handful of specific rules in place. The OAC Commissioner Bernie Profato has for years said that he does not want to waste state resources regulating professional wrestling more tightly – he wants the wrestlers and promoters to police themselves.
However, with an increasing number of the shows in the state, the number of calls that come into the OAC have increased. With promoters virtually refusing to comply with the state regulations, Profato feels the OAC is being forced into stepping up regulations to keep things under control.

So, now that the OAC is starting to address things more regularly, the flak is being pointed in the direction of the Fraternal Order of Professional Wrestlers.

The FOPW is a new organization, and it is multi-state. Since the region where the founders live and wrestle is the Ohio-Pennsylvania-West Virginia area, that is where we are initially focusing our attention. We are working on filing all the proper paperwork to become a legal non-profit entity. That takes time.

The idea behind the FOPW is to become a data base and a resource for professional wrestlers, promoters, and even fans to an extent. We want to clean up our sport by giving the legitimate participants a place to go. Pooling resources *can* lead to things like health care, negotiating power, more work, increased revenues, and so on. The idea is to get everyone together regardless of company lines, and become an advocate for what we, as a group of colleagues, believe. Nothing about the FOPW is secretive – in fact, all of the “board members” have filed their real names and addresses with the state (Pennsylvania) in order to qualify as a non-profit organization.

It is also no secret that the FOPW is still in its infant stages, and is still fleshing out what all of our long term hopes and dreams are for this sport. We are still setting goals. The infancy of our organization has not, however, changed what is going on in the State of Ohio, as far as the OAC is concerned.

Right now, the OAC requires this to become a licensed promoter: $200 fee to become a licensed promoter, and a $100 fee for an individual show license, submitted ten days prior to the event. That is it.

The FOPW asked for an received a list of the licensed promoters within the State. There are currently 20 promoters that the state has on file as licensed promoters. According to the state records, there were fifteen wrestling shows granted permits in the month of April – and five of those promoters granted show licenses were not on their list of licensed promoters. That shows a discrepancy in the OAC’s paperwork and record keeping.

The Secretary for the OAC, Judy McCarty, has admitted that they use the website WrestleOhio.com to keep track of what shows are being ran in the state. I write these columns for WrestleOhio. I know the people that run WrestleOhio – they started the website as a way to promote wrestling in Ohio, and they are nervous that the state uses a resource they created to keep tabs on promoters.

Change is coming. On April 8th, the FOPW attended the monthly OAC meeting in Youngstown. Statements made by Mr. Profato at the meeting indicated that the FOPW and Drew Corderro (the promoter of the Cleveland area’a AIW) were the first ever attendees of an OAC meeting representing professional wrestling. The audio from this meeting is available for download at this link.
www.zshare.net/download/75115675374c881e/

In looking to more stringently regulate professional wrestling, the OAC has a number of ideas on the table and are looking for feedback. These ideas include, but are not limited to: Re-instating a bond requirement, increasing license and permit fees, requiring an OAC assigned physician at events, requiring an ambulance/paramedics at the venue, establishing “no competition” zones where two events could not be held on the same date within a 50 mile radius, requiring promoters to turn in what wrestlers/matches will be on their card, and more.

The critics of the OAC are very quick to point out that the OAC has never really done anything to shut down outlaw shows, or force promoters to comply with their regulations. Admittedly, even the examples Mr. Profato gave at this meeting were not from within the last couple years, to my knowledge. Mr Profato also stated that things are a little different now, as individuals have started to go to state legislators and the Attorney General about what is going on in professional wrestling, which is forcing the OAC’s hand.

A few years ago, I wrestled a handful of shows for Rick O’Brien in Virginia. Virginia has the strictest athletic commission I ever dealt with. In fact, the commission there is under the same state agency that handles occupational safety and labor unions. This commission did not want to deal with professional wrestling at any level, so they restricted things and added regulations and fees to the point that you would have to be almost insane to try to run shows there. Eventually O’Brien quit running shows there for essentially that reason.
In Virginia, each wrestler is licensed individually, and is required to have a physical before applying for a license. In addition, promoters have to apply for a promoter’s license, and also for individual show licenses. Unlike Ohio, Virginia will deny licenses, virtually at their discretion. In Virginia, they actually send inspectors out to shows, so if an inspector is unavailable or just does not want to travel to your show, the permit is denied. They also require promoters to be bonded and have insurance. In addition, there is no blood or weapons allowed of any kind – and an inspector can stop and shut a show down at any time if it happens. Fighting outside the ring is not allowed, and there is a requirement for a ringside barrier and security appropriate to the number of fans.
Do a Google search and see how many shows there actually are in Virginia. The commission clamped down on promoters, and got rid of the problem by getting rid of indy wrestling.

Ohio is moving in this direction. While it can be stopped, everyone needs to start getting on board an complying with what the state is asking now, because the crackdown is coming if we do not.

So, there now appears to be two sides – those wanting to work with the commissions and the wrestlers to keep things as close to the way they are now as possible. The other side is the people betting that the OAC has no ability to enforce their own rules, and daring them to start shutting down shows.

Personally, I see deregulation as the solution – but it is never going to happen. Wrestling falling under the auspices of the OAC was passed by a bill in the Ohio Assembly. Deregulation would require a bill removing it from control of the OAC. Do you know who your state Assemblyman and/or Senator is? You will need to convince them to vote in favor of deregulation – that is if you can find someone to sponsor a bill for this and getting it thru committee first.

So, the approach that the FOPW has taken thus far is to gather as much information about promoters and events, and try to get everyone on board with complying with what the state is already asking of professional wrestling in Ohio.

We are Tony Stark, asking the heroes to register before things get even worse.

At the last OAC meeting, the OAC members specifically pointed to two groups that they get calls about. One in eastern Ohio that holds hardcore events, and one southwestern Ohio building that holds unlicensed events.
This past week, the OAC contacted the FOPW, asking if we knew of an event being held by the eastern Ohio promoter. The call was because they actually received a call from the venue the show was to be held at, asking if the show was a legitimate licensed event. Since the OAC did not issue an event permit for this promoter (who does have a promoters license) they told the venue they weren’t sure. When one of my partners in the FOPW contacted the promoter to let them know that the state received a call about their show, the blame was spun around and put on the FOPW for “snitching” to the state. However, it turns out that it was a disgruntled associate of the promoter who called the venue, and prompted them to call the state.

Change is coming. The FOPW is trying to give wrestlers and promoters a voice in this change. We cannot do this without hearing from wrestlers and promoters about what they want. All we are trying to do is get everyone organized. The state does not keep careful records of who is licensed and who is not. The Attorney General is starting to look into sales tax on gate receipts. Promoters and wrestlers are hedging their bets that the OAC still is not going to do anything.

There was only one event permit issued by the OAC for Saturday April 24th. Ring of Honor, which ran a show in Ohio on Friday April 23rd, was not a legal show. What does it say about the power of the OAC that ROH can run an illegal show in Ohio? What if one of the biggest wrestling promotions in the United States had been shut down by the OAC? All that it takes to shut down a show is for the OAC to get a phone call, Mr. Profato to call the Highway Patrol, and for the police to come to the event and arrest the promoter.

A perfect storm is brewing. Personally, I do not want to see any state become a regulatory state similar to Virginia. I understand that deregulation is nearly impossible. So, wrestlers and promoters – what should we be doing if you do not like what we are currently doing? Give us your feedback!

Note From Wrestle Ohio: We are starting a thread on the WO forum, under General Discussion on this subject. Please feel free to discuss this column, or start a thread on any wrestling subject, here – www.wrestleohio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=419#p1310

Column – Enforce the Rules! – Nikita Allanov

It should not be hard to enforce the rules. If it is, maybe the rules should be examined, to see if they are the best fit for the situation.

The Ohio Athletic Commission, which only oversees combat sports in the State of Ohio, lumps professional wrestling in with other sports, such as boxing and mixed martial arts. If you access the OAC’s website and review their regulations involving licensing and so forth for wrestling, most regulations involving wrestling regard only collecting fees for licensing.

Unofficially, the OAC has taken the stance in recent years that the best approach to overseeing wrestling is to let the promoters regulate themselves. That is not working.

Essentially, the OAC lumps professional wrestling in with these combat sports, when in essence professional wrestling is a performance sport. Knowing it is a performance sport, they make exceptions to rules regulating the other sports where they do not necessarily apply, and leave many things open to interpretation. The bottom line however, is that the OAC receives a fee for each wrestling show held in the state by a licensed promoter.

That last sentence has a key phrase: licensed promoter. WrestleOhio.com, a website that employees of the OAC have admitted that they use as a reference tool, lists over 50 promotions running in Ohio. The OAC only has approximately 25 promoters licensed in the state. To be fair, there are good and bad promoters who are licensed, and unlicensed.

In the last few years the number of promotions running in Ohio has boomed. The boom has not, in general, led to more work for wrestlers or bigger and better attendance figures for promoters. What has happened is that small-time outlaw promotions have popped up in areas where other successful promotions hold cards, and attempt to compete. This is often done by loading up cards full of “blood and guts” type of wrestling, performed by semi-trained wrestlers. As I have said in prior columns, this hurts the wrestling business in many ways.

However, the problems generally stem from the fact that these small-time promotions are “outlaw” – meaning the people promoting the cards do not go through the state to get proper licensing. These small time promoters, however, will be the first ones to call the OAC on a legitimate promotion, hoping to cause problems. Why? Usually, because they encounter issues by being outlaw promoters. It is nearly impossible for unlicensed outlaw promoters to run shows in places like schools or publicly owned buildings. They have more trouble advertising and promoting, because they are scared the state will find out about their show and shut it down. Doubling problems for outlaws is the fact that many of them have no clue how to promote to begin with. So, essentially you are left with small time promotions that have trouble drawing paying crowds of a respectable size running in small venues.

Unable to partner with other businesses or organizations because of their outlaw status, these promotions rely on two streams for their revenue: sponsors and attendance. With most unable to draw respectable crowds, sponsorship is usually the sole stream of revenue – which means to pay for a venue, ring, production equipment, and wrestlers, there has to be significant sponsorship. Since this is not usually the case, these events often feature wrestlers who are bottom of the barrel in terms of skill and quality, rather than skilled professionals. The cards are filled with wrestlers who are willing to work for nothing in order to be on a show. This, in turn, alienates fans, who do not want to see this type of garbage.

So, often these outlaw promoters turn to the legitimate competitors in their area, and blame them for their inability to have a successful promotion. In turn, they often “report” incidents, false or not, to the OAC, with the hopes of having the competition shut down. In turn, the licensed promoters, generally, do not care about the outlaws, as their shows tend not to affect them. However, once the OAC becomes involved, legitimate promoters are then under the microscope.

If you are an outlaw promoter, what is the drawback from reporting to the state anonymously? If you are a legitimate promoter, reporting outlaws to the OAC does nothing except draw scrutiny from the OAC to your area. It appears that the OAC views a licensed promoter turning in an outlaw promoter as not in the spirit of promoters regulating themselves, which is what the OAC wants.

Currently, the scuttlebutt in the locker room is that the OAC is considering cracking down on outlaw wrestling promotions by increasing licensing fees and the number of regulations promoters must follow. Yes, the solution the State of Ohio seems to be pursuing is making things more difficult for legitimate promoters to run legally.

In general, I am against de-regulation – only because a fear of big brother watching can do wonders to keep things in line – even if no one is there. However, I am more in favor of keeping an industry alive than I am letting it die, simply because a commission would rather deal with boxing and combat sports. While I do not think that this is a “cash grab” by the commission when taken at face value, I do think that what is happening is that the OAC doesn’t want to deal with wrestling, so by increasing the fees, they are hoping to have less wrestling shows. Ask someone in Virginia or Maryland how often they have wrestling shows in those states, compared to Ohio.

If the OAC begins to implement regulations regarding what can be contained on a wrestling card or in a match, then they need to get into the business of licensing wrestlers. If the use of a chair is going to be prohibited by the OAC, then if a chair is used in a match, who are you going to sanction? If a promoter hires a referee that calls for a DQ when a chair is used, who would the state sanction? They cannot sanction the wrestler, because the wrestler does not have to be licensed by the state. How would the state know a chair was used? Are they going to start sending commission representatives to each show? If all fifty of the promotions running in Ohio were to all run the same night, that would require fifty representatives of the OAC. I do not understand how this eases the burden on the OAC.

What the OAC currently does to investigate outlaw shows, is dispatch the Ohio State Highway Patrol to a show, which in theory should shut the show down if the proper licensing is not followed. In actuality, this rarely happens.

I think that if the OAC wants to actually reduce the problems they have with professional wrestling, then they need to crack down on the outlaw shows. Big time. If a promoter is holding an outlaw card, a commissioner should show up at the venue with a State Trooper, and start handing out fines and summons to appear in front of the commission. If an outlaw promoter who cannot afford to pay his talent suddenly has to travel to Youngstown to appear for a hearing, and have the added expenses of fines, you will see outlaw shows quickly dry up. Right now, running outlaw has no risk, as the commission doesn’t really stop the shows. They just crack the whip with legitimate promoters.

In my opinion, rather than changing the rules, why doesn’t the OAC try actually enforcing the ones that they have on the books?

Column – My Lover in Naucalpan – Nikita Allanov

When I got into this wonderful sport of professional wrestling over a decade ago, I had the goal that a lot of other guys also had at the time: I wanted to work for the WWF, WCW, or ECW. As I learned more about the business (and those companies folded up) my goals changed. Over the years I have had opportunities for things, and I have been scouted by major companies both in the US and abroad. However, my goal was always just to make a living at professional wrestling. As I have grown a little older and grown up a wee bit, goals like that become less realistic. Goals change.

In this week’s column, I would like to express my love for the promotion that currently embodies what I love about wrestling. I am a professional wrestler, and this is what I watch, when I want to watch professional wrestling.

International Wrestling Revolution Group, or IWRG for short, is a lucha libre promotion based out of Naucalpan, which is a suburb of Mexico City. For lack of a better term, it is what I am calling “strong style” lucha libre.

IWRG was founded in 1996 by Adolfo Moreno, who was the promoter running Arena Naucalpan. For years Arena Naucalpan was the red-headed stepchild of the area, because UWA ran weekly cards at the 20000 seat Toreo in Naucalpan, while CMLL ran cards weekly at Arena Mexico, which seats 17000, and Arena Coliseo (which seats around 3500). After UWA folded and AAA emerged as a national touring promotion, Moreno rebranded his events in Naucalpan as IWRG. For about a decade, IWRG would work with CMLL, booking their young rookies on the under cards, while CMLL stars would often headline, helping fill the 1500 seat arena on Thursdays and Sundays.

But, a funny thing happened back in 2007 – CMLL and Mexico’s biggest star, El Hijo del Santo, had a falling out over money. CMLL did what almost seems unthinkable for a US promotion: they “blacklisted” Santo, and any of the CMLL affiliated promoters who used Santo would be cut off from all other CMLL talent. Cesar and Jorge Moreno, Adolfo’s sons who had taken over the family business, were one of the few promoters who decided to stop using CMLL talent.

Without top CMLL stars, IWRG began booking the newly independent wrestlers leaving CMLL and AAA. Beefing up the midcard and the bottom of the card were a variety of rookies (“novatos” in Mexico), who were trainees in the area.

As IWRG began to book fewer and fewer “names” on their cards, IWRG’s cards began to focus more and more on teacher-student feuds. IWRG’s roster began to consist more and more of older veterans who no longer are working on the circuit full-time, and their students, who were booked into programs with other veterans and their students. Filling out the card were indy mainstays, and a number of cast-offs and vets from the bigger companies – many of whom were decent enough wrestlers, but were not in a major company for various reasons.

Negro Navarro and Black Terry were two of the older respected veterans working and training wrestlers in IWRG who were just not out working the circuit anymore. I started paying attention to IWRG when Dr. Wagner Jr. started to appear on occasion after leaving CMLL. Around the same time, a new wrestler debuted in IWRG named Multifacetico – and was immediately pushed up the cards as an unbeatable tecnico. Quickly being put in the spotlight before he was ready, the fans quickly started trashing the young highflyer when his inexperience would show up in matches. Multifacetico then became embroiled in a brutal and bloody feud with veteran rudo Black Terry, with IWRG hoping that the fans would get behind their young star against the dastardly rudo Terry.

Instead, the die-hard Naucalpan fans got behind the rudo. Little did anyone know at the time that Terry was actually the father of Multifacetico, who was soon to be on his way to working fulltime in preliminary matches for CMLL. In addition, Negro Navarro’s sons, Los Traumas, were putting on great matches at their legendary father’s side, often opposing Black Terry, and two other veteran rudos – Dr. Cerebro and Cerebro Negro.

In addition, foreign wrestlers started making their way to IWRG. All-Japan sent Tetsuya Bushi and Kiyoshi to IWRG on learning excursions. Angelico, a Spanish wrestler discovered by Ultimo Dragon, soon appeared. Ricky Cruz appeared from WWC in Puerto Rico. American indy wrestler Gringo Loco channeled the ghosts of Art Barr and started getting major heat as a rudo. With veterans such as Canek, Los Dinamatas, Pantera, and Pirata Morgan showing up, with their novato sons at their sides, IWRG was building a different kind of roster.

IWRG had the perfect storm. The vets were wrestlers with strong mat skills, who insisted on going out and busting their asses to make their novatos look good – more than likely because they wanted the other vets to make sure their own sons looked good. The matches featured long solid falls, with a ton of unique matwork. You know, actually exchanging holds. Anyone who thinks there is no mat wrestling left in wrestling needs to watch IWRG. In addition, the vets were experienced seasoned bases for the young high flyers. This allowed the youngsters to try crazy dives and other high flying moves. The mix of foreign styles (and grizzled veterans getting their hands on rookies) led to stiff exchanges of striking often not seen in lucha. The veterans and the novatos were all pushing each other.

The Arena Naucalpan fans add to the atmosphere. With the traditional airhorns that it seems every lucha arena has, the fans get into the shows and make a lot of noise. Yet, at the same time, they would be silent during the matwork, and would applaud awesome exchanges and holds as if they were a Japanese crowd. Arena Naucalpan seems to have legitimate “smart marks” – fans that appreciate great wrestling and are going to cheer good wrestlers – either rudo or tecnico. The fans would be ridiculously hard on novatos, which forces them to train harder and get better, or face not being booked.

To top things off, Black Terry Jr., ringside photographer extraordinaire, began bringing a video camera to ringside. So, not only were great pics being uploaded to the internet, but suddenly ringside handheld footage was all over YouTube. While IWRG had television shows that would sporadically pop up on the internet in the past, the low production values didn’t flatter the in-ring product. BTJr’s handheld footage, believe it or not, comes across much better. He is so close to the action you can almost feel it. You feel the crash on dives. You can feel the pain of the holds. When a wrestler is injured, BTJr. would get up close and let you see the wrestlers being tended to at ringside. He would even follow the wrestlers to the back. We would get behind-the-scenes footage of wrestlers getting stitched up.

IWRG gives me the same type of vibe that I got when I first discovered ECW back in 1996. It is something that is different, but at the same time traditional. IWRG has found a perfect blend of traditional lucha libre, US indy wrestling, and different international styles. Rather than a melting pot, IWRG seems to be a stew where many different things come together – and the broth is traditional lucha libre. You will see classic European style mat wrestling. You will see crazy lucha highflying. You will see bloody weapons-filled ECW-ish brawls. You see wacky gimmicks. Stipulation matches where wrestlers lose hair and masks. You see 2/3 falls matches that last 30 minutes. You see a great product with a loyal, if small, following.

So, I have motivation again. After twelve years, I have a new goal. I want to go to Arena Naucalpan and learn at the foot of Black Terry and Negro Navarro. IWRG seems to be everything that I currently love about wrestling.

To read more about Nikita Allanov, or to leave feedback on this column, check out his official MySpace page at www.myspace.com/nikitaallanov.

Column – The Needs of Many – Nikita Allanov

Professional wrestling attracts some of the biggest pieces of shit to it in the world. The business is full of liars and cheats. Unfortunately, everyone in the sport is then painted with the same brush. Everyone’s favorite Vulcan, Mr. Spock, said it best: “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few”. However, in professional wrestling, the few ruin things for the many.

The following is one such example. In my last column, I spoke about how a colleague and myself had been working to establish a Fraternal Order of Professional Wrestlers. A “union” of sorts, but without being a labor union. Our feelings led us to research into such a foundation, because there is an abundance of scumbags in the professional wrestling business, and there is a shortage of standards.

One of the problems is the irregularities in different state athletic commissions as far as who can be a wrestling promoter, and who cannot.

On Saturday Night, February 27th, Charles Fiber, was arrested at the Wheeling Eagles Hall in Wheeling, WV. Fiber, under the name of “Jack Blaze” was promoting a wrestling event at this facility, and was taken into custody while doing an in-ring talk segment by the West Virginia State Police. The charges were related to providing false information to the authorities in regard to his status as a sex offender.

Yes, just so that there is no confusion, you did read that correctly. Fiber was a registered and convicted sex offender who was promoting wrestling shows.

From a January 10, 2010 column that appeared in the Wheeling Times-Leger promoting a wrestling event promoted by Fiber, he is quoted as saying “We hope mom and dad will bring the kids for a great evening of entertainment.” Fiber served approximately 18 months in a federal penitentiary for possessing child pornography and attempting to transfer obscene material to a minor.

The first question that one must ask is, how was a convicted child pornographer able to promote “family friendly” wrestling shows in the first place? Well, the answer is that in West Virginia, there is no athletic commission, or any other body that oversees or sanctions professional wrestling. All that you have to do in West Virginia in order to promote wrestling events is have access to a building and ring. While there are certainly pros and cons to athletic commissions in general, if there was some kind of agency requiring promoters to have a surety bond, Fiber would never have been in a position to promote shows, as his sex offender status would have prevented any reputable insurer from providing the bond.

For the purposes of full disclosure, I regularly wrestle in the Wheeling area. Although I have had encounters with Fiber before, I have never wrestled on any shows with him. In fact, I have wrestled in the Wheeling area almost exclusively for Black Diamond Wrestling, a promotion that promotes family friendly traditional wrestling events in conjunction with area schools, charities, and police organizations such as the FOP and DARE. In fact, the Wells Township Police Department has an excellent working relationship with the promotion.

Because of my familiarity and fondness for competing in the Wheeling area, this incident hurts me. Fiber and his cohorts are generally people that should not be in the business in the first place. Fiber and his longtime associate Alan Decker are two gentlemen who want to be involved with professional wrestling, both in the ring and from the business side, but have no clue what they are doing. There are a number of venues, sponsors, and other outlets that have been ruined for professional wrestling in that area because of the business practices of Fiber. Generally, these guys get enough money together to rent a ring and a venue, put on a show with largely untrained or sub par talent, and a “WWE Legend” headlining the card. In January Fiber’s company promoted a show featuring Gangrel, and Fiber was actually taken into custody while introducing Jim Neidhart on his card this past weekend.

It was no secret that Fiber was into child porn. On many area wrestling websites with gossip-based messageboards, it was brought up regularly. However, everyone appeared to look the other way – apparently it is OK to wrestle for someone aroused by pictures of naked children.

So, as Fiber was arrested on the 27th, there came media coverage of the incident. Television station WTRF in Wheeling ran a story on that evening’s news broadcast, and had details of the arrest on their website. The headline? “Sex Offender Arrested At Wheeling Wrestling Event”.

When reading the story, it is mentioned that Fiber was the alleged promoter of the event. Apparently no one can be sure exactly who the promoter was, because, you know, West Virginia doesn’t require promoters to be licensed or even registered. In addition, it was just mentioned that he was promoting a wrestling event, not the name of the organization. Do you think when a legitimate promoter, such as Black Diamond Wrestling’s Rikk Diamond, attempt to get sponsors or partners for their events, that the person watching the news that night is going to differentiate between Fiber’s smoke-and-mirrors product, which was possibly a front for coming into contact with children, and a legitimate wrestling company?

During my twelve years in the wrestling business, I have come across the fact that your average person does not differentiate between one independent wrestling promotion and another many, many times. I have been involved with shows and also heard about shows where the promoter cheated a sponsor out of money, or damaged a building, or didn’t pay someone for equipment. More often than not, if one wrestling promoter burns a venue, that venue closes its doors to all independent wrestling, not just one particular promoter. In fact, many venues in the greater Wheeling area have closed their doors to wrestling because of the actions of Fiber and Decker, who have promoted shows in various combination of the names Steel Valley Wrestling, Extreme Valley Wrestling, and Legends of Professional Wrestling. There have been bloody deathmatches in family rec centers. There has been a stabbing at a venue owned by West Virginia University. There have been bars and halls who have been shorted on money. Many of these places have closed their doors to wrestling altogether.

So, my question is this: How many of the people who saw this news report on Fiber, are going to no longer support wrestling? How many young athletes who are hungry for more matches and more ring time, are going to lose opportunities because of Fiber?

These types of people can no longer be allowed into our sport. We obviously cannot count on state agencies set-up to monitor wrestling to do that. We cannot count on local authorities. We must do this ourselves, as wrestling promoters, competitors, and fans. We can no longer support or even give credence to people that want to hurt our sport. We have to put the “professional” back into professional wrestling. Our sport is in shambles, and fixing it is more important that any one individual.

“The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few”.

To read more about Nikita Allanov, or to leave feedback on this column, check out his official MySpace page at www.myspace.com/nikitaallanov.

Column – The Brotherhood – Nikita Allanov

Professional Wrestling is not what it used to be.

Back in the old days, there was a governing body over the sport – it was the National Wrestling Alliance. The NWA was a very important tool for promoters of independent wrestling. It provided a structure to the renationalized sport, but in a mafia-esque way. NWA members were promoters that had bought into the NWA’s ideals of a territory system, and acted as barons over a territory. Although a wrestler could be blacklisted for actions against the organization’s wishes (which was illegal), the NWA provided an order to the mad world of professional wrestling.

In general, under the watch of the NWA, wrestlers were allowed to move from territory to territory, making money and moving up and down the ladder or success. A handful of wrestlers were able to “barnstorm” – meaning they were able to book their own dates regardless of territory. Select top draws such as Andre the Giant could get away with this. Most wrestlers broke into the business in one territory, and then would go to other areas as their opportunities increased, and then moved on when another money-making opportunity popped up.

Please keep in mind however, that at the same time, there was no free agency in professional sports in the United States. Baseball and football players had contracts and reserve clauses, and were bound to teams, who dictated their pay. Wrestlers were unique, in that they were able to go where they money was. As long as you honored your dates and gave notice, you could leave a territory at anytime. Wrestlers were true independent contractors.

We all know the story of how in the 1980′s, Vince McMahon and Jim Crockett Jr. both attempted to take their promotions national, and the territories went out of business (The WWF putting the territories out of business is somewhat of a half-truth). By the mid-1990s, there were two major companies in the US/Canada – McMahon’s WWF, and the company that Crockett sold off, WCW. There became a boom of independent wrestling that only increased when the wrestling boom happened. WWE and WCW programming was the king of cable, ECW attempted to go national, and a number of strong independent companies thrived.

With all of this boom, came the eventual implosion. WCW went out of business – sold to Vince McMahon. ECW went bankrupt, and the assets were bought by McMahon. And, while a number of companies have popped up, no real competition has been fostered for the WWE machine. The WWE machine, which was able to grow and expand in large part due to McMahon setting up a barnstorming national promotion that paid very little attention to the rules and regulations of state athletic commissions. McMahon made his money off of “sports entertainment”, not athletic contests.

McMahon was the first promoter to admit that wrestling matches were exhibition in nature, and not contests. He did this to avoid regulations by athletic commissions. Prior to this, promoters and wrestlers pointed to the sanctioning state athletic commissions as a way to legitimize wrestling – could wrestling matches possibly be fixed, if the state governed it? In turn, athletic commission appointments were generally cushy posts for influential people within promoting circles.

But, when the territories dried up, a funny thing happened – the athletic commissions stopped having lucrative gates from wrestling events. Rather than having gates from wrestling events every night of the week in different towns drawing a few thousand fans, suddenly WWE, at most, came to town four times a year with a live event. Athletic commissions suddenly had no source of revenue.

As independent promotions popped up in the 1990s, so did the practice of athletic commissions shutting down unlicensed outlaw wrestling shows. As the wrestling boom caused an increase in professional wrestling, so came the increase in individuals wanting to be pro wrestlers. Which was followed by people wanting to be rich wrestling promoters. Many athletic commissions suddenly had to devote resources to shutting down these shows, or stop regulating professional wrestling. Many chose another path – keep licensing fees and gate taxes to remain relevant and to acquire money, but to do as little as possible.

History will show that the regulation of wrestling as it is now in most states, is full of bureaucratic red tape. Most athletic commissions do very little to regulate promoters. Most do even less to regulate wrestlers. Most do nothing but collect taxes.

While most major sports leagues and organizations experienced their athletes uniting into labor unions throughout the 1970s, 80s and 90s, professional wrestling did not. With the collapse of a territorial system, with only one major company existing in the United States, and the lack of a labor union for wrestlers, the sport has began to crumble right before our eyes. These days, you can buy a ring, gear and everything you need to have a wrestling show on the internet. For a few hundred bucks or less, even you could promote a wrestling event.

Over the past few months, another wrestler and I have had many meaningful conversations regarding what can be done about our sport. After much discussion, we actually started researching the subject, and asking questions. Did you know the Ohio Athletic Commission keeps track of what wrestling cards are taking place within the state via WrestleOhio.com? Did you know that the Pennsylvania Athletic Commission sanctioned over 300 wrestling cards in 2009, but doesn’t have any record of how many licensed promoters operate in their state? Did you know that neither state licenses wrestlers? Over the next few days, months, and years, I am going to begin writing more and more about what we have began to call the “Brotherhood of Professional Wrestlers” – an attempt at getting something organized to regulate our sport the correct way.

If I told you ten years ago that there would be only one major wrestling promotion in the United States, you would have thought I was crazy. If I told you that UFC would be doing bigger numbers on television and pay-per-view than wrestling, you would have thought me crazy. However, it is reality. What will happen to this sport, that I and so many others love so dear, if we continue to let it be destroyed by people that should be buying tickets for events actually participating in the sport, and ruining it? No state or national commission or body or law is going to save professional wrestling. Wrestlers and promoters and the fans are going to be the ones to step up and do what is best for what we love.

For the Betterment, Education, and Future of Professional Wrestling. To provide resources, support, and affect change within the industry of professional wrestling. To advocate change within regulating bodies for fair and equal representation for those who compete within professional wrestling.

To read more about Nikita Allanov, or to leave feedback on this column, check out his official MySpace page at www.myspace.com/nikitaallanov.

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