Meet my Family

PRO WRESTLING HERO OF THE WEEK

ROBERT THOMPSON

If I had blogged in the 90's, Robert Thompson would have been my pro wrestling hero of the week many times. He recently had a very good match teaming with Kafu so I have to give him his accolades.

Last blog, I introduced myself. I now want to introduce my family. I am so proud of each and every one of them.


ROBERT THOMPSON
I could write an entire blog about Robert Thompson. I know J.J. Perez uses the moniker Mr. APW but my oldest son, Robert Thompson is the REAL MR. APW. My very first paying student in 1991. He had just lost his father. Probably one of the top 5 graduates in the history of APW Boot Camp. Probably the best trainer in the history of APW. In 2001, when many wrestler graduates and students being swayed to join PWI, Robert remained loyal in spite of the threats made that he would go down with APW if he didn't leave APW and join PWI. Was involved in some of the greatest matches in APW history against Michael Modest and then later with tag-team partner Boyce LeGrande as the West Side Playaz 2000. The playaz might have been the greatest tag-team in APW history. Many fans wanted to rename the famous garage to "Bombers House". I remember his tag-team matches with Matt Hyson (AKA Spike Dudley) as a partner. I could go on and on about my oldest son. I could have avoided telling you all of the above and you would have still understood my love for my oldest son if you just knew this. On two separate occasions, he was offered to join ECW as New Jack's partner and turned down both offers because it was more important to raise his daughter than it was to realize his childhood dream of earning a living in pro wrestling. That says it all!


JASON DEADRICH
I don't think APW would still be here without this son being born in 1997. This is the guy that took the website out of my hands and developed it into one of the better websites in all of pro wrestling. He added the online application. Without the online applications, there is no business. Even the greatest salesman/recruiter needs leads. The phone calls to create stronger leads cannot be made without the online application. There is never a Boot Camp student signed without these online applications. I love the wrestling promotion as everyone else does and he has played a huge part in that division as well but the APW BOOT CAMP still remains the largest revenue generator in APW. Jason also took the production which in 1995 and 1996 was already pretty strong and one of the strongest in Indy wrestling, to a higher level. Jason took that production to an entire different level. Sure, we had great wrestling and great booking but pro wrestling had changed in the mid 90's and production was as large a part of pro wrestling as anything else. I still feel deep in my heart that there is no Indy promotion out there that can put on the quality live show that APW puts on. It is all done on a shoestring budget. Jason was behind the creation of ClickWrestle and has provided the wrestling community with online footage at affordable prices for the last several years. One of his greatest accomplishments in pro wrestling has to be ChickFight. After running King of Indies in 2001, I had no desire to promote pro wrestling any longer. I wouldn't have minded doing a Queen of Indies either separately or in conjunction with King of Indies. I hope this inspired Jason because he finally did a ChickFight tournament. Jason has done with ChickFight what I wanted to do with King of Indies but never did. He took it Internationally and now has television and it continues to grow. I seriously don't think there would be a Shimmer today without ChickFight. Jason has accomplished quite a bit in pro wrestling in the short 10 years he has been involved. He is a Board of Director of Cauliflower Alley Club and I appreciate his involvement in CAC because I am a huge fan of them because without those legends, I would have never had the inspiration to start APW back in 1991. I owe them! Cheap plug but if you are not a member of this organization, you need to be. The fees are only $25 annual and $300 for a lifetime membership and you should attend the banquet every year in Las Vegas. The 2008 banquet will be a good one. APW has always been heavily involved and especially with the training seminars and this coming years seminars are going to be the best with many legend guest speakers. Go check them out at www.caulifloweralleyclub.org . Back to one of my older sons and wiser sons, Jason Deadrich. I am so proud of all his accomplishments in APW and with his own company Black Pants Production. In 2002, I was ready to allow APW to die with all that took place with PWI but there were 4 people among many others that stood out and would not allow APW to die. They were Robert Thompson, Jason Deadrich, Gabe Ramirez and Shannon Ramirez and I will forever be grateful to them. Jason takes lots of heat on the message boards along with Gabe and I still get my fair share but that is always the sign of success and Jason certainly has enjoyed more success in his baby finger with pro wrestling that most of the Idiots on the message boards would dream of.


GABE RAMIREZ
Many refuse to believe Gabe is my son. Sometimes, I wonder. I sometimes think he is my twin brother but I look a few years older than him so I know that isn't possible. Gabe was one of the largest pains in the ass when he first attended a gym wars show in 1996. Jason and I used to have meetings of the minds trying to figure out what to do with the guy. We named him Ultimate Gym Warrior and it only seemed to make matters worse. He now started to develop relationships with some of the wrestlers. We finally came up with a good idea. If you can't beat them, join them so we offered him a position as Head of Security with APW. At least he was on our team now. Gabe made sure to shadow me and it seemed he was around the gym 24/7. These were the days when he wasn't married and had lots of spare time on his hands. He would attend late night meetings. Sometimes, he wouldn't say much because he remembered the old line, "Keep your mouth shut, your ears open and absorb like a sponge". Gabe and I became close because he was a socializer. He was always forcing me to attend strip clubs with him. I used to think the guy had a machine in his home that produced phony $1 bills. That is all I remember about him at the clubs is he passed them out like candy. When I tell him this, he always denies it and claims "How would you know, you fell asleep". If I fell asleep at the strip club, that either tells you the seriousness of my sleep apnea or tells you the quality girls they had at this particular strip club. Gabe would always hold get-togethers and bar-b-q's. I swear, I could go to his house and spend 4 hours and have the funnest time doing nothing but telling stories and bullshitting and eating. Nobody can bar-b-q like this guy. His carne asada w/corn tortillas and a squeeze of lemon are out of this world. Gabe soon began to master everything thown at him in APW. When someone masters something, it is the greatest thing in a company. It allows you to move everyone up. When Gabe mastered something, I would tell Jason it was time for him to move on to something bigger and better and we would move Gabe into the Jason responsibility and find someone that could handle Gabe's job. That would also be Gabe's job to find someone to replace him and train him and you don't know how tough that can be. Gabe has done it all. His greatest accomplishments in APW have been to handle the boys. That is a difficult job. He has somehow mastered it. He is the guy that keeps the communication line open with the wrestlers. Not just APW wrestlers but outside wrestlers we look to bring in. Part of that job entails getting the guys booked on other shows to allow them the exposure and experience necessary to move up to a higher level. Gabe has opened doors in Japan, Mexico, Puerto Rico and other Indies in the U.S. Gabe has been very successful with that responsibility. I always measure success by where the wrestlers go and the chatter the idiots on the message boards create. When they begin to bad-mouth you, it only means you are doing something in the wrestling business they always dreamed of doing but either didn't have the know how to do it or the balls to do it. They are couch potato wrestling fans who can only achieve by hiding behind a computer. So Gabe is an asshole. Big deal, while you may think he is an asshole, he is doing something you only dream of doing but can't. Think about the success he has had. Wrestlers have been booked in Japan. Sure, they make the excuse that some have paid their way to Japan. Some have. Some have not. You do what you have to do to get to the next level and get exposure. If that means paying for an airfare while the promotion pays for the hotel and payoff, then so be it. It all washes out. Earlier this year, 4 wrestlers went on tour in Portugal and were paid very well, got free food, hotel, and airfare and made a good enough showing, they are wanted back again with more wrestlers this time. What Gabe did was open a door for the wrestlers, more wrestlers and the promotion. He opened a door for Kafu in Puerto Rico. That has caused bookers like Bushwacker Luke to have some very nice things to say about Kafu. People forget that guys like Luke are still very high on the Vince McMahon list. WWE keeps a close eye on Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico is very good experience and was almost a requirement for every wrestlers to go through to eventually get full-time jobs in the top territories in pro wrestling during the 70's and 80's. Gabe opened doors in Mexico and several APW wrestlers had regular gigs in Mexico for a period of time. Their expenses were paid for on those trips but nobody on a message board mentions that because it is positive. They can only dwell on the negative and the booking where they had to pay their own airfare. I'd like to know how many California Indy wrestlers have these same opportunities. Strike that! I want to know how many Indy wrestlers in the U.S. have those opportunities? Gabe has also been a very good match maker. You think matchmaking is easy? Some people can't match make. I'll never forget TC Martin running his promotion in Sacramento and booking Sabu VS. Dan Severn. Talk about style clash!? Gabe has been a very valuable piece of the overall success of APW and helped us keep the doors open for 16 years now. Can you believe we are in our 17th year of business, WOW! He also started a couple of business from it that are doing very well. For Indy wrestlers reading this and are wondering where their next portfolio comes from, you don't have to look any further. www.onestopwrestlingshop.com is the answer to all your pro wrestling needs. It is a great website for fans to pick up DVD's and other wrestling merchandise but it is also a website where wrestlers can get their portfolio's including resumes, videos and pictures done. They can also order gear. Top quality gear. I am very proud of the job one of my older sons, Gabe Ramirez has done and I wake up every day praying "Thank God for Gabe Ramirez because there might be an APW without him". Hate him all you want, I love him as a business associate and as a father and friend.

SHANNON RAMIREZ
One of my few daughters. The first lady of APW. She was pretty shy when she first came around APW. She has learned most facets of the pro wrestling industry when it comes to running a live event and has done it all including, ticket sales, merchandise, running the floor and being in charge of the students and security, etc... etc... etc... There were a couple of females around APW who had the opportunity to move into the management level of APW and Shannon took the ball and ran with it. She coordinates the ordering of extra chairs for Gym Wars events. She coordinates the annual Christmas Party/Awards Banquet. That is not an easy task especially when you consider there is a building to rent, food to order, trophies to order and hotel for those that drink too much and want to stay near the festivities. She has helped Gabe tremendously when it comes to running Pixel Perfect and the One Stop Wrestle Shop. I can't think of anything she hasn't done. I wish she learned more about pro wrestling so she could get involved with creative booking and matchmaking. There really isn't anything she doesn't do. She has been known to be rough on people but deservedly so including myself when it comes to having one too many Capacino Blasts. She sometimes is the sister I never had but that is only because I always try to act 20 years younger than I really am. She has been more like a daughter to me.

As you can see this blog was a long time coming and is a long read already so I must save the remainder of my family including, wrestlers, trainers, students, volunteers etc... for another post.

I'll try to come up with another blog in the very near future and certainly before the Christmas holidays are upon us. Again, as always, thanks for reading!

Meet my Family... and Me

PRO WRESTLING HERO OF THE WEEK
My son, KAFU
"Hardest working student in APW BOOT CAMP history!"

I have a new concept to my blogs I want to introduce. I want to have weekly guest bloggers and have the APW fans guess who they might be. They will tell you a little about their week behind-the-scenes in pro wrestling and in their personal life and have you guess in the comments who the guest blogger might be. It might be fun and at the same time will let you get to know my family members. I will be soliciting the wrestlers this coming weekend and hopefully, throughout the holidays, we will have guest bloggers. In the meantime, I thought I would introduce you to myself and some of my family members. Some of this information is on my personal my-space page. I don't know how the long the blog will be so if it gets too long, I'll break it up into a 2 part blog. For the holidays, I will continue to pick a PRO WRESTLING HERO but I will not pick my IDIOT OF THE WEEK unless the idiot has really earned it. It will be my way of saying HAPPY HOLIDAYS to the idiots.

THE BEGINNING OF MY OBSESSION WITH PRO WRESTLING
I was born in 1954. At age 7, I was introduced to pro wrestling by my dad who was a former boxer who fought in Fall River Mass as "Kid Boston". He introduced me to pro wrestling by purchasing "Ring Magazine" which was a boxing magazine with a small section in the back for pro wrestling. I was hooked. I convinced him to show me more magazines and he soon introduced me to "Wrestling Review". I loved that magazine because it had color centerfold pinups of the pro wrestlers. My mom began to dislike my dad for purchasing me this magazine because I was taping them to my bedroom wall and when I took one off to replace it with another, the paint would peel. I promised my mother I would put the new one up over the old one cause my dad could not paint because the smell made him sick. I used to think my dad was working my mom so as not to have to paint until I got older and also became sick with the smell of paint. My father passed away at age 9. I have so much respect for my mother. She refused to remarry. She worked two jobs to provide for me as a single mother and didn't speak a word of English as she was born in Portugal. I always miss her during the holidays! I continued with my pro wrestling obsession by attending wrestling matches with my uncle and cousin. Eventually, my uncle lost his wife to diabetes and his son in a head-on collision with a drunk driver and I took my uncle into my home in 1985 and we became very close. We played in pool tournaments together on the weekends and he showed me how to play poker. He was one of those smart old-timers. I'll never forget when he got followed home one night from playing cards. He always kept his gambling bankroll in one pocket and his pocket change for buses and haircuts in the other pocket. He was held up at our doorstep one night. I'll never forget him telling me the story. I wanted him to call the police but he insisted on telling me the story first.


"This son of a b**ch puts a gun in my side and says give me your money. I reach into my spare change pocket and hand him $32. The dumb bastard goes running. He was so stupid. He should have checked my other pocket, I had $1,600 in it because I made a score last night playing cards"

UNCLE AL
Some of the APW wrestlers and students got to meet my uncle. Sara Del Rey and Bryan Danielson used to get a kick out of my uncle and we celebrated his birthday with a surprise birthday party that many of the students attended and I don't remember why but we all wore masks. Bryan and Sara were kind enough to prepare the birthday cake with candles that would not go out when you blow on them. Great rib on my uncle. To this day I don't know what happened and I have no proof but I think Melissa Anderson's dad, Doug Anderson, who really liked my uncle, changed the rib and had something to do with it because he loved ribs. He wrestled himself in the 80's and was very familiar with ribs. I think he replaced the candles with ones that blow up and the birthday cake caught on fire but Bryan and Sara were able to put it out and eventually serve some cake. I hope you enjoy some of the pictures below.




In 2002, Bryan Danielson and Sara Del Rey prepare the birthday cake for my uncle's 87th birthday - a surprise birthday party


FIRE!!!


When he came out of his bedroom, he was greeted by APW students in masks singing Happy Birthday... Guess who the students are? Guess who the trainer is?

That same uncle took me to pro wrestling at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton. My cousin used to show me 8mm silent footage of the Cow Palace shows. I used to beg him to go but he said he'd take me when I got older. I used to tell myself when I got older and learned some of the moves, I would put my cousin in a figure four leg lock (I learned it from Bearcat Wright. Bearcat was 6'9" and everyone was convinced he would beat Ray Stevens for the U.S. title) to get even for him not taking me to the Cow Palace at age 9 and 10 in 1963 and 1964 which was the Ray Stevens VS. Pepper Gomez era. My first show in Pleasanton involved the Mighty Midgets. It was Cowboy Lang and Little Beaver VS. Sky Low Low and Fuzzy Cupid. I didn't go to the Cow Palace until 1970 which is when I started to attend all the pro wrestling events in the regional promotion Roy Shire promoted in. That was about the time Mr. Paul DeMarco (wrestler who trained Oliver John) was defending his U.S. Title against the Rock's grandfather, Peter Maivia. They were causing riots because many Samoans were moving to San Francisco and Peter had a huge following and of the 12,000 fans at the Cow Palace for these title matches, at least 3,000 were Samoan. They were ready to riot and the Security wore riot shields! Quick story, I'll never forget the time some fan took a sucker punch at Harley Race. The riot shields went down over their faces and they started swinging the billy clubs to get Harley back to the locker room. My friend and I were standing in the back because his mom knew the head of security. We watched these security cops get brutal with the guy that sucker punched Harley. The next thing surprised us - Harley tells the cops,

"You are being too brutal with this guy, please let him go"

I am thinking, what a cool guy Harley is, he isn't really a tough guy or a heel. The moment security let go of the guy, Harley beats the crap out of the guy. He punches and kicks the guy until he is down. He then spits on him while swearing at him - WOW! I am sure he remembers and I always say I am gonna ask him at the CAC Banquet but I always have this fear that he is going to deny it ever happened and beat the crap out of me. Harley was a true tough guy in this business both in and out of the ring and he deserved being NWA World Heavyweight Champion.

FIGHTING AS A KID
All my friends knew of my pro wrestling obsession. Heck, when I used to get into fights, they'd stop the fights and reschedule them for another day because the older teenagers wanted me to come dressed like a pro wrestler since they knew I didn't fight but wrestled whenever I got into a fight. One of my favorite wrestlers was Chief Big Heart. He always wore an Indian Headdress and came to the ring with a vest and trunks. So, I wore high top tennis shoes, swimming trunks a vest and I had an Indian Headdress I made my mom buy me. I am sure you know the next part. Since I didn't fight and I wrestled, my head would take a pounding as I was trying to do a single leg shoot take down. When I took enough of a pounding to the head and begin to get a headache, I would break away and do the Indian War dance. Every Indian wrestler did them when I was growing up. The teenagers got a big kick out of this so I played it up. I would then wrestle the guy I was fighting to the ground and eventually get him in a "Bow and Arrow". The teenagers used to instigate the fights just to see which wrestler I would come to fight as next. One time, I was actually getting the crap beat out of me when they broke up the fight and scheduled the fight for 4 pm on a Friday. Good thing, they stopped it when they did. For one, I was getting the crap beat out of me and secondly, I wanted to wrestle as BearCat Wright. I had just seen him wrestle on television and I wanted the opportunity to do the cat walk for my comeback and get the guy in a figure four leglock. You think I wasn't obsessed with pro wrestling? I almost snapped the guys ankle. Even today, I teach the guys how to shoot it on. Nobody knows the proper way of applying the hold today, not even Ric Flair. BearCat Wright and "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers knew how to properly apply the hold. I have put the hold on students and made them tap out. I finally had to give up fighting because of the Shiek. I came to fight as him one day. When the guy started pounding on my head, I went into the famous Shiek trance where he stared into the sky while drooling at the mouth and nothing hurt this wrestler when he went into a trance. Well, I finally had enough of that because the trance didn't really work in real life and my head was hurting. My head hurt for days after that fight. After that fight, I gave up the fighting thing.

PRO WRESTLING and HIGH SCHOOL
I graduated from high school with honors and I am a lifetime member of the California Scholarship Federation. You must have a 3.5 GPA throughout high school to qualify and must have taken College Prep courses such as Chem Study which is a more complex Chemistry involving more math. I wasn't a smart guy and had to work hard for my grades. I hung out with the smart guys so I could learn from them. Heck, I wasn't even smart to the wrestling business back then, let alone smart. Little did I know that I would eventually be a smart guy and add CARNY to my Portuguese as other languages that I speak. Of course, I got straight A's in Spanish and spoke broken English. I split my time hanging out with the smart students and jocks because I played basketball. The wrestling coach would always try to convince me to come out for the team but when I would tell him I was playing basketball, he would ask me if we thought we could win 3 games that year (3 out of 14). Of course, the wrestling team went to the state championships every single year. In 1968, when they had the racial riots and the blacks fought the Green Berets (Latinos), the wrestling coach would send the wrestlers to the parking lot to kick everyones ass.

In 1972, I met the Rock's dad, Rocky Johnson and became really obsessed with pro wrestling. He didn't know I was smart and I didn't let on because I figured I'd learn more when they tried to avoid business conversations with me present by speaking carny. Meanwhile, I spoke better carny than some of the boys and was learning the business quickly. The ride might have been rough, I may have taken a rib or two but my education in pro wrestling came quickly and I considered myself a lucky teenager. I almost gave away that I was smart. I would ride to the shows with Rocky in his car and he'd be blasting country and western with his cowboy hat on. When we got to the arena, he'd take off the cowboy hat and pull the country and western 8 track tape (remember those?) and put in Jr. Walker and the All Stars and play "Shotgun". The work was evident and the transition had taken place. He was now Rocky "Soulman" Johnson.

Good thing I had a 4.0 going into my senior year because grades declined after meeting Rocky. I didn't even play Varsity basketball my senior year. I was too busy traveling the circuit. Much to my mothers dismay, I traveled the circuit with Rocky and the boys. That is how I learned pro wrestling - sitting in the middle of two big guys in the back seat of a car while they all spoke carny. I went to college and after 5 quarters of analytical calculus and geometry, I dropped out of college to hustle pool in bars, pool halls and pursue pro wrestling. Little did I know I had no chance in the business because of my lack of body. I tried lifting and eating right and taking the supplements but I refused to take dyanabol (a steroid). It didn't help that I was on the lazy side and had a lack of genetics. They all contributed to me not building a body and becoming a pro wrestler. Things haven't changed much today other than the doors opened for the little guy but you still have to have a very good look for television.

I PAID MY DUES
I paid my dues including babysitting the Rock when he was 2 but he never mentions me in the Hayward part of his book, LOL. Rocky had a replica of the U.S. Championship belt on the wall and at 19, I was brave enough to take it off the wall take my shirt off, put the strap on and pose in front of the mirror. Can you imagine if him and his wife, Ata came home early from dinner and dancing and found me without my shirt on and with the belt on. She liked me and would have thought it was cute, Rocky would have flipped. I used to play cribbage with them and Dewey's Godfather and his wife all of the time. I also used to go take care of the horses with Rocky all the of the time. The stables were on Industrial Blvd - very close to the APW BOOT CAMP.

ROCKY JOHNSON RIBS
One time, Rocky told me to get on the horse. When I said no, he called me a pu**y and said,

"How the hell can you be a pro wrestler when you won't even get on a horse".

Good point... So I got on the horse with no idea a rib was coming. As I have my right leg in the stirrup and am about to kick my left leg over, he hits the horse in the ass with a two by four and off I go. Not Bay Meadows but Industrial Blvd. I decide to not go for the rough ride and get off the horse and scrape my elbows to the point of blood, the hardway. I must admit it was a funny site watching a 252 pound grown man with muscles run after the horse. What wasn't funny was him saying as he was running,

"If anything happens to the horse, I am gonna kick your fu**ing ass"

I am sitting there wiping the blood off. I close my eyes to regain normal breathing and picture Rocky giving me the beel with two dropkicks and finishing me off with the Boston Crab. There were many more ribs that I enjoyed. A great rib on him would have been to really juice deep and scare the crap out of him when he finally returned with the horse. I'll never forget the time at the horse auction, he convinced Manny Cruz (Jose Gonzales - the alleged killer of Bruiser Brody) to bid on a bum horse with injuries for $700 and Cruz was the highest bidder. He was pissed at Rocky. Good thing he was green at the time. Had this been Puerto Rico and many years later, who knows what might have happened.

GAVE UP MY DREAM
I finally gave up my dream of pro wrestling, used my numbers aptitude to secure a job in accounting starting at $800 per month and worked my way to a $50k+ annual salary after 10 years with the company. I couldn't go much further without the degree. Any young children reading this, remember. Cody, you listening? College education works wonders. Therefore, when the company got bought out in 1989, I waited for an offer from the new company. They offered me to go to Canada but I chose to stay here. I didn't know what to do other than sell my house until the following year when I opened Pacific Coast Sports in 1991.

MY MOTHER CALLS ME A BUM
My mother never liked Rocky Johnson and let him know that when he would come to our house. One time, Ric Thompson came to the house and she chewed him out thinking he was Rocky, LOL. Poor Ric. She thought Rocky was taking my mind off college and brainwashing me with pro wrestling. The brainwash took place from age 7 through 17 not when I met Rocky at age 18. In 1991, when I opened the training school, I went from making $52k a year and wearing suits and ties to wearing cut offs, jogging outfits, flip flops and tennis shoes and only making $20k a year and she thought I was on drugs. I was in in heaven making less money. I had always wanted to be involved with pro wrestling and was having fun. Money didn't matter. I had made good money for several years and had most material things I wanted from it including a house, new car, season tickets to Warrior games and trips to NBA All Star weekends. Why not have some fun with my new job? I was burned out with accounting after 10 years and needed a break.

The same uncle from above and a friend helped me de-rust my first pro wrestling ring. It was an old NWA 20 x 20 wrestling ring that I bought in Atlanta, Georgia. It cost me more to ship the ring than it did to buy it. I got lucky with the business. We ran television commercials of Buddy Rose and a cocktail waitress from the card room as a valet with my business partners daughter as another valet. We ran them on WWF Monday night programming and now that I look back, they were cheesy but it was the first television commercial I produced and I was proud of it. Besides, it produced 14 sign-ups in a 5 week period of airing the commercial and we generated more revenue in 5 weeks than the entire capital used to start the business. It got Woody Farmer's attention as they tried to tie up our phone lines (we had 3 in the early days) when the commercial ran so they couldn't get through to us and we were standing by live just like the infomercials you see on television today with a huge staff of 3 answering the phones, LOL. Woody probably knew nothing about it but his secretary was the leader of the prank. Later on, business was bad until Spike Dudley got to ECW in 1996 and then APW sort of took off. APW has never grown to what I invisioned but then again, I was the only guy with a wrestling school that earned a living solely from the training school. Most school owners had day jobs and did the school as a night-time hobby. APW signed up a record number of students in 2000 when the movie Beyond the Mat came out. Roland Alexander is a nobody in this business and they wouldn't even know who I am if it weren't for that movie. Even today, I see people in the stores who'll walk up to me swearing they know me from somewhere but they can't peg it and then it hits them and they say, APW, you were in the movie "Beyond the Mat". We chat and I realize they live in Hayward and never knew about the school or Gym Wars until that movie and still haven't attended a show. We did many live shows in the early days of APW. I can't even tell you how we did what we did back then. Those were the days when I had energey and I would awaken at 10 am, hit the phones till 4 pm marketing lining up fund-raisers for live events and then go to the gym and oversee the training while squeezing 2 hours of phone marketing for Boot Camp. I'd then work at the gym until 3 am or 4 am. Those were long days. I did that until my mother died in 1998 and it has been one big blur since. My sons Jason Deadrich, Gabe Ramirez and his wife Shannon Ramirez have been the backbone of the company since then. They have done everything with the exception of Boot Camp and I thank them. In 1998, Jason suggested we call the company All Pro Wrestling and rename the "Superstars Pro Wrestling Training Camp" to "APW Boot Camp" and I think it was a smart move. It is tough handling Boot Camp with my health complications today but somehow, APW has survived and has entered our 17th year of business.

MY INTERESTS
My interests have never been a good thing. Nothing one enjoys in life is any good for you. I have been obsessed with many things in life including, pro wrestling, sports, food, gambling and music and not necessarily in that order. I have attended some great music concerts over the years and have seen Huey Lewis and the News, Rolling Stones, Marvin Gaye. I used to attend the Jazz Festivals at the Oakland Coliseum when Friday evening was Jazz and Blues while Saturday was Soul. There would be 5 or 6 bands each night. It was great. Heck, this year alone, I have seen Lynnard Skynard, O'Jays, Lionel Richie, Stevie Wonder and I saw Diana Ross this past weekend. I have been a Raider season ticket holder (the good ole Kenny Stabler days - I gave Playboy Buddy Rose the New England game cause he was good friends with Russ Francis who played tight end for the Patriots before becoming a S.F. 49er. Russ's dad Ed used to promote pro wrestling as a region in the state of Hawaii), Oakland A's season ticket holder and attended many games in 1968 as a teenager when the A's moved here from Kansas City in the Catfish Hunter and Reggie Jackson days (A's Hall of Famers). Of course, I have been a Golden State Warrior season ticket holder for many years and was in attendance when Sleepy Floyd scored 29 points in the 4th quarter and 51 for the game in a playoff game versus the Lakers. Speaking of the Lakers, I refuse to take Ramirez to a Laker game this year because he chears for them and they usually blow out Golden State. Ronnie Lott and Keena Turner, S.F. 49ers from their Champiohsip years, rode in my Lincoln Mercury Town Car rent-a-car from the airport to the hotel for the 1987 NBA All Star game in Houston Texas. Of course, that would never have happened had my secretary not gotten into a conversation with them about Michigan State Football on the plane. Funny how rich athletes will bum a ride from the airport to avoid spending the money on a car rental. Pro Wrestlers are the same although they don't make the money the NFL or NBA or Major League Baseball players make. To show you how spoiled I am with basketball, I paid $500 per ticket for the Slam Dunk Saturday with the Old-Timers game at the Summit and $750 per ticket for the All Star game on Sunday at the Astrodome through a ticket broker. I sat in the 7th and 10th rows respectfully and had Thomas "Hit Man" Hearns, Patti LaBelle, Roberto Duran just to name a few celebrities, sitting above me at both games. Those were some good times in my life but nothing beats being around family. I wish I had time to tell you about the food side of me. I love nice restaurants and used to eat in them all the time in the 70's and 80's. Now, I look forward to a good bar-b-q with BBQ Chef Ramirez when he hosts for all the boys and our family to attend. I love kids! I love watching Gabe's daughter Gianna get up on the ring or Pudge interrupt a ringside meeting with his announcement of Mr. Kennedy. I will tell you more about my grandson and granddaughter in my next blog.

I am a huge fan of sitting in the sports book in Vegas and betting a game and watching it while sipping a Capucino Blast (I am working you - I have never had a blast in Vegas but Shannon once found me a place at the Riviera that came close). I am a huge fan of poker. As I get older and have watched more poker on television and my game has gotten better. I am a low ball player and was a damn good one until this thing called Texas Hold'em came along. Almost everyone I know went through a transition of losing money at the game. I have won more money than I have lost but have not been a top-notch player because I don't take it serious enough. I use it to get away from pro wrestling, the stresses of life and like to relax while playing the game. If I am $300 winner in the 1st 30 minutes, I don't get up and hit the window because I just got there. The longer you play at the tables, the worse it is because you lose time and time is money and eventually, the house gets all the money the longer you play. I now take a more serious approach and have tightened up my game and I have only booked 3 losers in the last 3 months of playing. It is very competitive and almost everyone is playing these days since the television boom of poker on television. Nick Aragon where are you? Let's go play!

POPULARITY/UNPOPULARITY
Some people hate me, some people love me but most of the people respect me and know who I am although I am not a household name. So, I am proud of the fact people in pro wrestling respect me and especially those at the lower level. Well almost everyone. There was some SoCal wrestler who reached out to shake my hand in Bakersfield and called me dude. Some of the people at the major league lever have been known to have a problem with me but not because of anything I have done to them. This business has a way of changing some people once they get to the top. Most people that have a problem with me either owe me money or or have made more money in the business than I ever have but yet they are broke so they have a problem with someone that has never wrestled but yet is making money in the business. The wrestling business can be funny in that way. I don't really hold any grudges although I refuse to help anyone that has stiffed me of any money. I also refuse to help anyone that chose a different path but come to you later realizing that many successful have come from APW. I don't begrudge anyone that shows passion and wants to learn. I believe I am a teacher and I believe someone has to pass knowledge. One of the thing that gripes me about legends is to hear them complain about the way the industry is today but they do nothing to change it other than complain. This is no longer the business that I wanted to be a part of as a young kid but at the same time I am humbled by the fact I have earned a living from it for 16 years which is longer than I earned a good living as an accountant.

FAMILY
I never had much of a family so the people I surrounded myself are considered family since my mother and uncle were the only family I had. Since I never married and never had children, I figured I would adopt a family of adopted children from pro wrestling.

NEXT BLOG
In my next blog, which I promise to make before the weekend, I will introduce you to my family. It is large family and it consists of sons and daughters and grandsons and granddaughters. I will introduce you to my oldest son, Robert Thompson, my hardest working son, Kafu, my son that looks like me and is so much like me, Gabe Ramirez. You will meet my daughter in-law Shannon Ramirez my grandchildren, Shacara, Gianna and Pudge. My "Never have a minute to spare - I love Apple Computers" workaholic son, Jason Deadrich. I will even introduce you to a son that is getting ready to move out on his own. That is always an exciting time because I do have adopted sons that live with me sometimes and when a son grows up and moves out, that means another one or two move in. With the January 2008 Boot Camp around the corner, I have adopted two new sons. My new son Alex from New Mexico and new adopted son Roy from Bakersfield are preparing to move in. Like I said, it is a huge family and I don't know where I'd be without them and I want to write a paragraph about each. I can't tell you too much about them because they might be guest bloggers in the coming holiday weeks and I don't want to give away who the guest bloggers are once they blog.

Don't trust me when I say I'll blog again before the weekend because I never keep my promises on blogs but I will try to blog before the weekend because if I don't it won't happen until Sunday or Monday because GYM WARS is SATURDAY 11/10. During the pro camp Saturday, I will be talking to several of the APW wrestlers and/or students and telling you about them.

Before I close this blog, I must report, I am now doing blasts only every other day which is an improvement. I am doing 20 minutes of cardio twice a day and walking a mile each session. My sugars have dropped so there is still hope for me and I am hoping to eliminate all my diabetic complications that have come into my life in the last month or two. Although when my sugars were 88 yesterday, I almost had a stroke from excitement of my sugars being so low.

WARNING!
If anyone picks a fight with me, I am not going to yell and scream but will come home and put on my Indian Headdress and come down to the gym and get in the ring with them. Don't piss me off because I might do the War dance and put you in the bow and arrow. Until my next blog, enjoy your family, I know I enjoy and love mine!

WRESTLE FAN FEST

PRO WRESTLING HERO OF THE WEEK
BRYAN DANIELSON




IDIOT OF THE WEEK or "A for EFFORT??


WrestleFanFest
This weekend was a roller coaster of emotions for me attending the WrestleFanFest. For those that know me, you know I can be a human emotional roller coaster. I can laugh, I can be happy, I can be angry and I can cry. I think I did a little of each this weekend and I'll explain them to you as well as the APW involvement with WrestleFanFest.

BEGINNING
Our Involvement with WrestleFan Fest
From the very beginning (back in March or April), we were asked to get involved with this show and help out with the wrestling and the production. There were behind-the-scenes stuff that just didn't permit us to commit to any of it. First off, without talking to us first, they put our logo up on their website and declared us as a sponsor. We had them remove the sponsor. Black Pants Production produced a nice, clean website for them and they chose not to utilize the services. It was done out of good faith to show we were on board. Many of us were very skeptical. I was not happy after being told I had made a prank phone call to Chris's uncle to say something about Kirk White. Shades of Jasmin St. Clair and the BTW outdoor show and my problems with her and Blue Meanie and Kirk. NEVER HAPPENED! Neither incident!

Several months later, we were asked to visit the Cow Palace and check out the venue and talk about the setup and production. As you well know, the production at APW shows has been awesome at all of our live events whether it was Kezar, King City, one of the many fund-raisers, King of Indies and Gym Wars. I think you get the picture. We were told Friday evening would host an MMA PPV event and on Saturday a pro major pro wrestling show. We were hoping somewhere during the 3 days, we could do another King of Indies or even a ChickFight. There was an $80,000 budget for production. At this point, I thought they were in over their heads but Chris Salisbury indicated he had financial partners and lots of marketing and sponsors. My guess is they might have had a $250k to $300k budget. Even with sponsors, it would be tough to produce enough ticket revenue because the San Francisco Bay Area has not been supportive of pro wrestling since the Roy Shire days although WWE still can draw in San Jose but they are weak in S.F. and Oakland and have not done the major venues in those cities for quite some time now. I thought it would have been costly just to produce a production budget. Several weeks prior to the event, we were asked to handle the locker room. If individuals from APW wanted to do that, they were welcome but I personally did not want to go near the locker room. Too many egos and I had a fear that if payoffs could not be produced for the boys, lots of the heat would go on us. They made other arrangements with someone else to man the locker room and I feel they did an outstanding job considering the turmoil. Chris called a week prior to the event and asked if we were going to take advantage of having a FREE vendor booth for Boot Camp and told us CAC would be there with a booth. I figured we might as well set up a booth for Boot Camp literature. We wanted to wait and see. Heck, even a proposal for production can be a very costly thing that Black Pants Production decided against going forward with. A couple of weeks prior to the event, even though we had decided not to be a sponsor and not handle anything, they were asking if we were at least going to take advantage of the FREE OFFER to have a VENDOR BOOTH. Heck, we weren't even sure we wanted to do that and advertise Boot Camp. You can never get enough marketing but the Boot Camp had been on a very nice 9 month run with sign-ups and it wasn't mandatory we be there but what if this event was a huge success, we could miss the boat. I personally, didn't commit to anything during that weekend. We purposely didn't schedule Gym Wars that weekend. I told all the APW wrestlers it would be smart not to make plans that weekend in case the opportunity came up to be on one of the many wrestling shows they were planning. This would be a great opportunity to showcase a wrestler's ability. Still, I hesitated on taking the FREE BOOTH because of all the negative comments on the IDIOT BOARD. As the weekend came upon us, it looked like they might pull this event off without having to cancel it.

WEEK OF BIG EVENT
As I said earlier, the week prior to the event, we were offered to run the locker room. I have enough problems dealing with the egos that exist at an Indy level. The last thing I want is booking a MUTA vs. ULTIMO DRAGON match. We turned it down. Heck, I sure wouldn't want to be the booker giving everyone their pay or NOT! Who knows if money would even be there. Even if a handsome fee was involved, I think I would have passed. Even though it never got to the money stage, I can guess there wasn't much pay involved for the position. Heck, King of Indies was a huge success other than financially and it was very well organized throughout and we found that to be a huge undertaking. Jason and Gabe were on top of everything leading up to the show and during the actual weekend because I wanted to spend as much time with the Legends. I sure didn't want the Legend wrestlers hating on me. There seemed to be at least 50 of them, maybe more. I seem to have enough people hating me (only on stupid IDIOT message boards though) At the last minute I put together whatever was needed to do the FREE BOOTH. Melissa Anderson was booked to wrestle TNA's Womens Champion, Gail Kim and Tracy Brooks. What an opportunity and I wanted to be there to witness it. I didn't care much for the legends matches other than Muta and Dragon because it involved older wrestlers who have seen their best days in the wrestling business and I didn't want to see them at this stage. Besides, that era was not my favorite pro wrestling era - from 1984 on. I have great respect for everyone that was involved but not my cup of tea. I really wasn't excited to see the AWA show but I was very much looking forward to seeing the ROH show. I had no intentions of attending the MMA show.

THE EVENT - THE WEEKEND
When we got there Friday afternoon, I was impressed. We had a booth with tables and nice blue drapes for the tables. There were many vendors there selling anything from t-shirts to DVD's to memorabilia. They had a wrestling ring and a six sided octagon set up in the exhibition hall. There was also an autograph/picture section that went across the entire back of the building. The ring looked good in the Cow Palace arena and there was a huge stage just the way we had recommended with huge sponsor signage from an energy drink company. When Roy Shire ran the Cow Palace from 1961 to 1980, there was a huge platform riser that the wrestling ring sat on. Not only was the ring on this riser but the first two rows of VIP Ringside was on the riser although the side closest to the dressing rooms had a press table in front of their row of chairs right up against the ring while the other 3 sides had some space between the ring and the 1st row so wrestlers could land. The ring announcer, time keeper, doctor and the print press and television press sat there along with special guests from the wrestlers. Yes, I sat there from time to time because I used to babysit the Rock and that was the least Rocky Johnson could do for me. (yeah I know, here goes the Rock story again - you'll hear it till I die) I don't know if Roy Shire built that platform or if it belonged to the Cow Palace but that was missing for this weekend events. I looked up and noticed a huge grid of lights that did their job of only lighting up the ring and the first two rows. All footage shot at this event should not have any fans visible or rows of empty seats visible past row 3. There was roughly 500 for the Friday Legends show and around 350 for the ROH show. The MMA show was cancelled but might have had even less fans than any of the wrestling shows. That I don't understand.

FRIDAY NIGHT LEGEND SHOW
The show was very well organized and everything was smooth sailing with the exception of lack of fans and lack of money to pay those promised to be paid. Jay Cohen was the #1 assistant for Chris Salisbury. He approached me in the locker room and told me there was an AWA Legends reunion on Sunday in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and that is the reason only 2 AWA wrestlers showed up. He tried to tell me if I knew how to run the wrestling business and make stars, I would bring APW wrestlers on Saturday and Sunday and have them in the booth because that is how you build names. He said they could then wrestle on Sunday. He said the budget was tight and there was no budget! I laughed and told him wrestlers names are built through television. Only because I knew the reason there was no AWA wrestlers was because of lack of pay in advance or lack of flights. The two guys who were there were really good dudes and could work. I liked them. I was against the APW guys wrestling on Sunday but Gabe made a great point and said no everyone has an opportunity to wrestle in the Internationally famous Cow Palace and you never know who might be watching. Gabe made a great decision because the wrestlers were happy to do it and everyone had good matches and Jeckles and Dylan Drake might have been the show stealer although I tend to be partial, LOL.

APW BOOT CAMP BOOTH
The APW BOOT CAMP booth went well. We had many fans come up and say hello. Many recognized me from Beyond the Mat. I always get the same question at these types of events - "What ever happened to the 2 guys in the movie with you, did they ever make it". I don't give them details but I explain a little to them about what they have each done since the movie. Many talk about the great APW live shows and ask when we are returning to Kezar or Terra Nova High School in Pacifica. Some tell me they attend GYM WARS in Hayward on a regular basis. I recognize some and others not. For those that have never been, I try to recruit them to attend but tell them to be prepared to be hooked. The fun part about these things is saying hello to everyone you haven't seen in ages or avoiding the ones you dislike. Okay here goes:

THE GOOD

1. BLUE MEANIE - Yes, we talk. We made up at a UPW show years ago. He is no longer with Jasmine St. Clair but tells me he now knows I had nothing to do with her getting pulled at the BTW show. As good as he looked at one time, the Blue Meanie that was over in ECW is the Blue Meanie you see now. He had a funny entertaining match with Al Snow as his partner. I never knew this but Al Snow actually trained Blue Meanie. You see, you never stop learning in this business. Yes, HEAD was in attendance and he was over like a million dollars!

2. CHAVO GUERRERRO SR. - It took a while for him to recognize me but when he finally did, we shared a nice hug and smile. When I was young, we used to round up the arena rats and get the boys and have a huge party at my house on Cow Palace weekend. I'd always figure out a way to get the house to myself. Chavo was drawing huge money at the time in L.A. with Roddy Piper. We are standing around drinking beer at one of these parties before any of the girls had gotten there and he turns to me and my friend and says, "I know why you guys invite the boys to these parties. You wouldn't be able to get with the girls without us". My response was "Chavo, I know you draw big money in L.A. with Piper wrestling for Mike LaBelle but this is Roy Shire territory and you are still working your way up here and if you look around the room, you'll notice you ain't drawing shit so we must have invited the wrong wrestlers". He laughed although inside, he might have been pissed but he was cool because he depended on me to get him to the airport. He actually remembered that story this weekend because I had to get up with only 2 hours sleep and get him to the airport for a 7 am flight to L.A By the way, what a thrill it had to be for APW's Chicano Flame to be in the Indy Battle Royal with him. I am glad that took place because Chicano Flame is a good guy and Chavo had to be a childhood idol of his.

3. DAWNA MARIE: I had met her in 1999 at a PCW Blaine DeSantis promotion in Philadelphia. Christopher Daniels, Michael Modest and Tony Jones were booked on the card. That was the night I first took my shirt off and challenged Lou Albano. Hell, I stole the gimmick of taking the shirt off from Lou - he was the originator. Even if his belly isn't bigger than mine, it is certainly older! Anyhow, Marie was a sweetheart and was dating Lance Diamond at the time in Phily. That was the night BilJim kept avoiding me because I kept acting like I was gonna punch his lights out. I would have never done such a thing on another promoters show although I felt like it this past weekend. Marie is no longer with Diamond but they are still very close friends. She has a beautiful child age 2 and is doing very well for herself. She wants to get involved again with pro wrestling and has some modeling thing going on as well and has an agent. I wished her well. I hadn't run into her in 8 years.

MORE FAMILIAR FACES
Of course, in 2002 when we had to start from scratch, I have met many great young wrestlers who have made their way through APW and I have Gabe Ramirez and Jason Deadrich to thank for that because I may have not ever booked these guys but they are very talented and I hope they someday make some money in the business and I hope to someday see them again in APW. Many of them came up to the booth to give me a hug and shake my hand. I hope I don't forget any of them:

T. J. Perkins - Really good kid who I hope succeeds. He is one tremendous technical wrestler. I wish he had more size. This kid can flat-out wrestle and is very good!

Rocky Romero - Another good kid we have used for some time now. We debuted him in King City. He has toured Japan and wrestles for NWA PRO. I hope he someday makes some money in the game. I keep harping on King of Indies but many of those guys have made money and earned a living. It is always nice, even if we don't train them it is nice to know we had the eye for their talent and used them and it is so much fun when you get to see them make it.

Chris Hero - When we brought him into Kezar for a 3 way with MPT and JJ Perez, I was disappointed in his match and ability but Jason was very high on Chris. I can see how after the Sunday ROH show. Hero is very good and is a tremendous athlete and can work and entertain a crowd. He has a new look, a better body and better wrestling wear and has a manager who fits well with what he does. His match was very entertaining and my favorite match other than the Bryan Danielson match.

Delirious: It was nice to have him recognize me in the lobby and shake my hand. I hardly had a chance to talk to him or watch his match when he appeared in Kezar. The guy is full of energy and seems to be an athlete but something is missing and I can't figure out what. Nice guy who if he continues to work hard might go far.

Claudio (I won't try to spell his last name) - He also had a very impressive match. My 3rd favorite match. I already knew he could wrestle. In his match at Gym Wars with MPT, it seemed like he could work and I was impressed but I saw so much more last night. Some fans are complaining that he cut his hair. I can go either way and actually think the short hair gives him a good look. I really like the way the fans react to him and his interaction with them. I'd like to bring him in again but the ROH fans are so much more educated to what he does than the APW fans that he will probably always be more entertaining to the ROH fans.

Brent Albright - Another guy that this money hungry carny taught for FREE. He came recommended by Modest and Morgan because of his physique. He was from Oklahoma and had relocated to train with APW. He was then having some girlfriend problems and relocated back to Oklahoma. He called later looking to get booked in Pro Wrestling Noah but Modest didn't feel he would fit in with Noah and I didn't either. Looks like ROH might give him a push. For those that don't know, this 1999 APW BOOT CAMP graduate briefly appeared in WWE as Gunner Scott on Smackdown.

The most enjoyable to see:

4. BRYAN DANIELSON: We talked the longest at the booth and then again after the ROH show. He was our Head Trainer for 8 months back in 2002. He lived with me for the entire 8 months and as much as I hated to lose him as a trainer, I recommended he go to the Inoki Dojo because I felt it would open doors for him. I remember him as a simple guy. I am glad I was able to provide him the opportunity to train our students and learn the APW methods while putting some money away and enabling him to make that relocation to Los Angeles happen. He truly isn't in this business for the money because between Steven Regal and the guy who trained him, Shawn Michaels, I am sure he can go to WWE anytime he is ready to make serious money. Bryan wants to have fun while he can and he loves to wrestle and wrestle he did Sunday night. Him and Airies had a match that was one of the better I have seen in a very long time. I was also very impressed with Airies. They had chemistry. Sometimes we all get so busy, we lose touch and I had lost touch with Dragon. I even had a fear there might be some heat as sometimes the heat comes out of nowhere but I don't think that is the case. He smiled the whole time we talked. He was the one that brought a tear to my eye after his match. I didn't even train the guy but I lived with him and he was our trainer with Robert Thompson for 8 months and I watched him closely. He is a serious student of the game and that is why he is on top and will always be on top. The guy eats right, lifts right, does his cardio and watches tons of footage. I remember one time him asking me into his bedroom to watch some footage and I swear, he must have had 200 VHS tapes stacked against the walls. He told me to say hello to Robert Thompson and they were good together and people don't realize how special they had it during the time period in 2002 when they were both Co-Head Trainers. They got along really well. Gabe Ramirez has wanted to bring him in for the longest time now but we just can't get the schedules to mesh and I am sure finding him a very good opponent is important since J. J. Perez is still on the injured list. I wouldn't even be against bringing him into a Gym Wars but if we did that, we'd never announce it. It would be a total surprise like A.J. Styles a few years ago. I whispered in his ear last night after his match that he was the Karl Gotch of this modern era and it brought a smile to his face. Great to see him again and hasn't lost a beat in the ring and has actually improved his game.

THE BAD
There was some sissy there that I tried to avoid because this guy posted more crap on message boards about APW and after all these years, I still have some anger in me about him. The more I saw him during the weekend, the more I wanted to beat his ass. I had to somehow get it out of my system but I know better than to deck a lawyer or wrestle a lawyer to the ground. Therefore, I went up to him respectfully and shook his hand and told him what an honor it was to see him again and how I wanted to beat his ass. I kept hoping he'd hit me or at least squeeze my hand back stiffly. I'm glad I did it and it is now out of my system and I have probably put some closure on it. If I were to have a SUPER IDIOT AWARD, he would win it in a landslide!

I even ran into someone who still owed me for an $80 ring bell going back to 1999. I think he finally realized what getting stiffed is all about because I don't think he got paid for his services of renting the ring to WrestleFanFest. Can you imagine, they wanted to rent my ring and I almost choked at the offer. I would have really choked when I got the stiffola (is that a word?)

Overall, I am glad I enjoyed the weekend. It was very tiring but it was well worthwhile. I know there has to be many angry vendors. I know there has to be many angry fans. I know there has to be many angry wrestlers. For those wrestlers that are a big enough name to demand their pay up-front, they made out and they went out of their way to please the fans. For those that aren't a big enough name but demand half up-front and the other half on arrival, they might have gotten stiffed and they still went out of their way to please the fans and you have to tip your hats to them. I know some were saying TNA all got paid but that isn't necessarily true. Some are under lucrative contracts that keep them booked on the weekend doing Indies as well as the TNA bookings and TNA gets their fees up-front and gives the wrestlers a small piece of the booking. There are other TNA wrestlers that are not under any such contract and book themselves out and keep all the money and TNA doesn't get any, they might have gotten the stiffola (I love that word right now). The vendors couldn't sell enough because of lack of fans and many fans paid some steep prices for some nice VIP packages and some of those were not delivered and I feel for them.


THE UGLY
Shane Kody and I spoke for the first time in 16 years. We actually had a conversation that lasted over 10 minutes and I have to say it made me feel good. I never knew the guy talked. Can you imagine him being a local Indy Icon and us never speaking. I used to fear he disliked me and would wack me with his chain or cowbell so I never go around this guy. His dad Woody Farmer wrestled for Roy Shire in the 70's and was known as a Strongman. Actually, Shane is much uglier in his wrestling gear than he is wheeling his father around in a wheelchair.

MORE GOOD
I personally can't say anything bad about the promotion or Chris Salisbury because APW never got the stiffola. But, they sure tried to give us the ole stiffola. APW got a free booth. I got to again see some old acquaintances. Melissa Anderson got in the ring with some great TNA talent and to the best of my knowledge got paid. Lastly, some APW wrestlers got to wrestle in the Cow Palace, an arena with great pro wrestling history. For the AWA show, they were short on some talent because the AWA was having a huge reunion in Milwaukee on Sunday or was that the Jay Cohen story so the APW wrestlers could make a name for themselves, LOL. APW had Chicano Flame in the 2nd match which was a decent match. The semi-main event might have stolen the show when the rookies Dylan Drake and Jeckles the Jester tangled in the squared circle and it was a match that impressed the likes of Larry Zabysco (sp). I thought it was Dylan Drakes best match to date and one of Jeckles top 3 as he has only had one bad match since making his pro debut. I thought the Main Event tag-team match was very good that included Tito Aquino and Brian Cage vs EGO with Nathan Rulez and Derek Sanders. You can thank the people at www.ClickWrestle.com and www.Onestopwrestleshop.com who were kind enough and fast enough to already have a link up for the Jeckles match on our message boards. Thanks to Shannon Ramirez and one of our students Jody Kristofferson for their help in the booth. Jody also helped put the ring back up Saturday night after they had torn down the Octagon. Speaking of the ring, I understand Highspots did some sort of barter for their ring in return for booth space and sponsorship but that ring was not in good shape and I can only be thankful that none of the wrestlers got hurt. That seems the second time I have seen a problem with their rings. Their rings seem great because they go up so fast and tear down so fast but the craftsmanship might leave something to be desired. I know some welding on a pole had to be done before an APW show in Bakersfield and OneStop got stuck with the bill. Thanks to Marcus Mac for his help as ring announcer for the Friday night Legends show. He did a very good job in the house that Ray Stevens built. I understand Melissa was very popular at the autograph table as well and we thank her for her appearances. Thanks to Gabe Ramirez for his help on Sunday booking the APW matches.

THE FINISH
In closing one has to wonder what would have happened had APW been more involved with this event. It still may have been a financial disaster but one thing for sure, it would have been a much more organized event from autograph sessions to photos, to the wrestling although Dave Marquez from NWA Pro did an outstanding job with the legends show and I can't begin to tell you how rough a job that had to have been in a locker room that had angry wrestlers not being paid.

QUESTIONS
What will WrestleFanFest have done to Northern California Pro Wrestling? What will have it done to Pro Wrestling in general. Why aren't wrestling fans more supportive in California of pro wrestling? California fans were very supportive in the 60's and 70's. There were commercials, there were posters, there were sponsors. Did they still make money because of budget cutbacks? Did they lose money? Will the authorities come down on the promoters? Will this enhance the chances of pro wrestling being once again regulated? When you combine, the drug and alcohol problems that exist and have caused many deaths with shady promoters, what will this do to the industry? What will it do to the autograph business. There are still some very reputable Fan Fest promoters that make money and do it honorably with good intentions and are very organized. Kirk White always does a great job with his Fan Fests and he doesn't bit off more than he can chew. Was this an innocent mistake or was there intent to fraud? Only time will tell.

THANKS
I personally thank Chris for the opportunities presented to APW whether we took advantage of them or not. I don't know whether we should be flattered by the opportunities presented to us or be offended that maybe we would have been taken advantage of had we participated more than we did. I hope everything turns out for the best for everyone that was hurt by this event.

BEST TIME TO BE A PRO WRESTLER and STUDENT

IDIOT OF THE WEEK
Kristina McGraw



PRO WRESTLER OF THE WEEK
Scotty Aboot


IDIOT OF THE WEEK
I think this might have been right up there with the midget idiot from BTW and it was a huge landslide. Let me explain to you my feelings about Kristina McGraw. Early on in her Boot Camp days, this broad wanted to be a pro wrestler. I became very good friends with her. I used to share Blasts with her as she is a big-time coffee drinker and we did the Starbucks thing and spent an hour together on those ocassions. One day, she confesses to me she no longer wants to be a pro wrestler but would like to take up reffing. I begin to think,

"ok, she is starting to think straight"

Don't get me wrong - I have always been impressed with the intelligence of McGraw. She is a very bright person that can articulate. Have you ever met a bright person who is very intelligent but a complete airhead. That is McGraw. Don't believe me. This young lady quit a very well paying administrative assistant position to go work at a Starbucks because she likes coffee. I really liked Kristina but didn't always agree with some of the bad decisions she makes in life. This past week, she made another airhead decision. I had lots of respect for McGraw when she became a referee. She became a damn good one too. She eventually became the Senior Official in APW and deservedly so. She earned it! She worked hard! Then her brain went dead the night of the APW AWARDS BANQUET. She had a few drinks. APW had rented for people to crash instead of having them drive home that night. You know, the kind of hotel room only Derek Sanders would appreciate. We wanted to give the key to someone that could be responsible but we felt Kristina was a little intoxicated and not that person. This decision insulted her. This night was the night her world turned inside out. She chose to drive home, which wasn't the greatest decision. She then resigns from APW as Senior Official. Commissioner Gabe Ramirez names Tom Castor, new APW Senior Official. Kristina McGraw finally realizes she misses APW and wants to return. Unfortunately, many things had changed with the referees and Tom Castor had did a great job of training some of our Beginner students to be refs. Kristina didn't take it too well when she was told she had to return on the bottom because our Referee list had grown and the new refs were doing a great job. APW students Matt Carlos and Mario Camacho began officiating and doing a very respectable job. We then signed up a new student to our referee camp, Sparky Ballard a 2nd cousin to the famous Ballard Brothers, Shane and Shannon.

As much as we have all loved Kristina McGraw and welcomed her return, she was going to have to earn her way back to the top as "Senior Official". I told you earlier this is one intelligent broad and she is no idiot. She doesn't belong on my idiot list just because she makes bad decisions. Obviously, Krisina began plotting how she could get back to the top in APW.

In 2004, I was forced to miss my first ever CAC Awards Banquet. Of course, this was the year McGraw decides to entertain all the boys by taking her top down at a strip club and I miss it. Little did I know that she would do anything to get to the top. I never considered Kristina this kind of woman. Well, when she tore off her APW official referee jersey to unveil a "CHEAP RENO SLUT" t-shirt, after making a quick 3 count to award Adam Thornstowe the APW UNIVERSAL CHAMPIONSHIP BELT, it was all starting to make sense as I sat upstairs in the balcony and saw this with my own eyes but was too stunned to know what to do other than sit and stare. My good friend, Kristina McGraw, had turned her back on APW and threw her loyalty out the window. At that moment, she said screw the fans! The fans aren't exactly rushing to join the Adam Thornstowe and Reno Scum fan clubs and I don't think Kristina will give them reason to become fan club members. Kristina probably thinks she is above most APW fans and not just the females but the males too.


"Kristina, I never thought you would stoop so low and become part of the scum but then again, I never got to see you in Las Vegas when you removed your top and I never knew you did those things so easily."

I don't know what Gabe Ramirez is going to do about Kristina. I still really care for her as a person but I just feel she is continuing on a path where she makes poor choices and decisions. Don't tell me she is moving to Reno to work at the local Starbucks there. Don't tell me she prefers to hang with RENO SCUM instead of her family at APW and all the great fans of APW. Again, I don't know what Gabe is going to allow her to do. I don't think he is going to allow her to referee although I could be wrong. I just wanted to let her know that I do miss having blasts together, I regret the night in Vegas I missed. No, not because I wanted to see her breasts but because that should have been the night I could have seen the sign that she would do whatever she had to do to get ahead in the sport of pro wrestling. SAD... VERY SAD!


PRO WRESTLING HERO OF THE WEEK
I wanted to touch on Scotty Aboot and end this blog with a positive note. Scotty has been working hard on his body. He is dieting properly, hitting the weight room and spending as much time in the ring and preparing for the new JANUARY 2008 CAMP. Scotty will be instructing the JANUARY 2008 CAMP. This guy has the right attitude! He moved from up north to the San Francisco Bay Area to concentrate on his career and help APW. He even enrolled in a community college to learn to speak conversational Japanese. That will sure help when he eventually tours Japan. Heck, he doesn't even care whether he wins or loses in the ring. He understands that at this level, it isn't about winning or losing but it is about learning and entertaining the APW fans. Entertain he has. The guy now comes to the ring singing and dancing and entertains the fans. His record is one win and one loss since he started that but he is two for two with the entertaining of the fans. At least I have been entertained. I hope all the fans get behind Scotty Aboot because he is busting his ass and doing all the right things. I love it when I see the fans joining in and signing with Aboot. The fans seem to know the words. I think as he begins to learn the fans music choices and sings songs fans know the words to, the fans will support him by rising to their feet and joining him in song and dance and party with him. No doubt, when Scotty Aboot comes to the ring now, he comes to entertain the fans and learn and get better at his craft and he doesn't care if he wins or loses. I think in the long run, he will be successful with this attitude and you'll see him win more matches than he loses because of that attitude. I am not only looking forward to him instructing the new beginners class in January 2008 but I am looking forward to each and every match just to see which song he sings and if the fans know the words and if the fans get up and dance with him. I think every time Scotty steps onto that stage, it is going to eventually be ONE HUGE, HAPPY PARTY!


GOOD TIME TO BE A WRESTLER AND/OR STUDENT
With the eyes of Congress on pro wrestling because of steroids, drugs, alcohol and concussions, this might be the greatest time to become a pro wrestler. For one, if the industry begins to crack down on the above, there will be lots of suspensions and firings. The industry and its wrestlers are already not very skilled and very stale. Major promotions in the U.S. will begin to look at the talent development systems and be looking to hire new talent that is not on steroids, not drinkers, not drug users and not cancers in a locker room. They will be looking to guys that are more company guys and don't have that big ego and all they care about is themselves and not the fans they entertain or the company they are contracted with. As long as Congress and the government and the media stay on top of this, you will begin to see good things. For those that read the Wrestling Observer online or subscribe to it, you already know that WWE has sent out a letter to former WWE talent offering them services to clean up their drug and/or alcohol act. This is a good thing. Trust me, WWE has the money to do all of that. They have the money for drug testing. They need to take a serious look at drugs and alcohol because they might be doing more damage than the steroids. The concussions and road schedule might be doing more damage. When they talk about a list of 50 wrestlers who have died in the last several years, I don't think you'll find 3 wrestlers on that list who didn't drink, didn't do drugs and didn't have a concussion at one time in their pro wrestling career and all they did was steroids. Steroids is not the issue and I don't say that because I condone them. I truly believe when you look at the tough road schedule and combine that with the concussions because wrestlers are not learning their craft of complex sport and complex performing art, that is a problem. When you combine peer pressure and being on the road away from your family, many turn to dangerous drugs and drinking. When you combine all of that with someone that may or many not be using steroids, that is where you have a problem. When wrestlers are cutting back on the painkillers and mixing it with alcohol because painkillers are expensive and tough to get when you don't have prescriptions. Hell, it seems many are getting prescriptions from dirty doctors trying to make more than they already make. The era I grew up with, all the boys drank beer. Hardly any of the wrestlers drank hard liquor but those that did were very few. A large percentage smoked pot but none of them did cocaine, exxtasy or stuff like SOMA. The wrestlers took care of their bodies. I am sure many of them did steroids but in moderation. They did stuff like dyanabol but didn't have 10 times the testosterone like Chris Benoit had at the time of his death.

Pay attention of you are an Indy pro wrestler or a pro wrestling student or someone considering joining a pro wrestling training school. The talent pools are in great danger right now and the industry desperately need pro wrestlers that don't drink heavily, don't do the dangerous drugs, don't put huge amounts of steroids in their bodies (if any at all). They are looking for pro wrestlers that work hard in the ring at their craft, learn from the proper schools that can teach you not the fly-by-nights that have no clue because they weren't properly trained themselves. The industry is looking for young guys and gals that understand how to entertain the fans and understand loyalty to a pro wrestling company and understand that being a pro wrestler is no different than any other job. Do what your boss asks and don't ask questions or try to make changes. I can understand once you get to the Rock's level or Stone Cold's level but until then, just keep your mouth shut, do your job and work hard at being the best you can possibly be while remaining healthy. Pro Wrestling is not one big party, it is an opportunity to earn a lucrative living doing something we all have passion for and all love, PRO WRESTLING. Take advantage of what I am saying and go for it and you too, can make it!

Thanks for taking the time in reading my blog and please support APW and its affiliates and friends. Now is a great time to join the Boot Camp. Now is a great time to attend a GYM WARS. Now is a great time to go to www.clickwrestle.com and show your support by purchasing some online footage. Now is the time to visit www.onestopwrestle.shop for all your merchandising needs whether you are a fan or a student. Don't forget Onestop caters to both. If you are a young student and were trained right, I am sure you understand the importance of a portfolio to market yourself, now you just need OneStop to produce for you. If you are a fan, that is where you can pick up your your merchandise. Don't forget to also support ChickFight. ChickFight now has television. Make sure to check your local television stations to see if it airs in your area. ChickFight can also be viewed by visiting MAVTV. I believe the program airs 5 times a week.

Again, thanks for reading and I'll be blogging very soon again...

Let's set the record straight

PRO WRESTLING HEROS OF THE WEEK
King of Indies participants



IDIOT OF THE WEEK
Bill Belichick


This weeks blog will be about setting the record straight on a few things including me posting on message boards, I could give a damn about SoCal wrestling, King of Indies and an important announcement at the end of this blog....

POSTING ON BOARDS
I don't post on any message boards other the the APW Message Boards. I frequent the idiot boards (NorCal) and am amused at some of the posts made and realize for the most part there are nothing but idiots there.

SO CAL SUCKS
I don't care about SoCal wrestling! Never have never will unless it has something to do with APW wrestling or APW wrestlers and/or graduates. So Cal is so overrated it isn't funny. Their training schools are about as bad as the Nor Cal training schools. There are some that live there, that have wrestled there that I have a tremendous respect for. I think most are in TNA today. Wrestlers like Christopher Daniels, Samoa Joe and Frankie Kazarian are wrestlers I have the most respect for. I don't recall where Samoa Joe did his training but trust me, that guy never got good until he went to Japan. I congratulate Samoa Joe for all his achievements since King of Indies 2001. He has risen to the top in the industry. I will always remember sitting ringside in Japan with one of the Pro Wrestling Noah owners Mr. Nagata. He was not too please when Samoa Joe came up to me and shook my hand out of respect because Joe was with Zero One at the time. Mr. Nagata said something to me regarding that and I told him, "Joe is a true friend regardless of the politics of Japan". I now notice he is booked in October for Noah. I wish him the best. Joe has always been cool with me. He was one of the few who got a kick out of me chewing out midget wrestler Cheezy in Calistoga in 2002.

There isn't much to SoCal wrestling!


KING OF INDIES
Many of the King of Indies wrestlers have gone on to have success. I guess you could say I had a good eye for talent in 2001 and made few mistakes in that tournament although I made some, trust me. What a talented group. When you think of the list, they were as follows:

1. Vinny Massarro - never made it but has nobody to blame but himself. He was lazy and never built a body. He certainly had the ability in the ring and had a heck of a match with Low Ki (Senshi in TNA)

2. Frankie Kazarian - I have always liked Frankie. Please keep in mind, Frankie was trained by legend Killer Kowalski. Frankie has worked hard to get to where he is and is a tremendous athlete. He deserves his spot in TNA and had we done King of Indies in 2002, my bet is he would have gotten out of the 1st round.

3. Doug Williams - great European wrestler. He could have very easily gone to the Semi-Finals or Finals in that tournament. He continues to enjoy success in Europe and Pro Wrestling Noah and is a class guy.

4. American Dragon - probably one of the best mat wrestlers to come along in the 90's. His career could have gone further if he so had chosen to go further. WWE probably never realized the wrestler this guy was. A real student of the game!

5. Christopher Daniels - King of Indies 2000 winner. He was not trained in SoCal either. He was trained in the midwest. One huge talent and athlete. Very gymnastically inclined. His only weakness is wanting to be a heel but I always told him he had too much ability, agility and athleticism to be anything but a crowd pleaser. Fans want to cheer this guy not boo him. Deserves every bit of success he is having in TNA and everywhere else he goes.

6. Super Dragon - went to Japan but kind of blew his chance. Not a bad wrestler. Not a bad high-flyer. Attitude was his struggle. He had problems in the King of Indies locker room but how that changes once he got involved with PWG. Everyone seemed to forgive and forget. He is stiff in the ring which I like but would not have survived the 70's where the complex performing art was an important skill. He is tailor made for Japan but might have blown his chance. I'll never forget Ron Rivera bringing him to Gym Wars in 97 and me telling Ron not to ever bring that guy again. He worked hard and improved his game.

7. Spanky - Became a teenage idol in Zero One and you all know what he has done in WWE. Has lots of natural charisma. Signed up for the APW BOOT CAMP then tried to work me when he found out Shawn Michaels had a school in Texas and changed his mind. I kept his deposit but later returned it to him when he came to wrestle for us and lived at my house for 10 days in 2002. If you can curtail his crazy creativeness, he is very solid fundamentally. To this day, Nick Bockwinkle still talks about his match with American Dragon in the opening round of King of Indies. Solid match!

8. Scoot Andrews - To this day, I can't pinpoint what he lacked. You would think he would have been a sure thing. "The Black Nature Boy". He had charisma and boy could that guy talk and do an interview. If Vince could see him talk, he would hire this guy on that alone. He seemed fundamentally sound, solid body but short. A real class guy from Florida who deserved to make it. If anyone knew history and remembered "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers, WWE or TNA could do something with this guy. Look at what they have done with Jay Lethal.

9. Senshi - Low Ki has struggled with attitude problems from time to time. Good thing he has people going to bat for him. I am impressed with how far he has gone and how he developed his character because he may not have been well trained. He could have easily lost to Samoa Joe in the semi-finals of King of Indies but made an impressive showing in the Finals with American Dragon. Has been to All Japan, Zero One, Pro Wrestling Noah and now TNA. Very intense in the ring and it probably has gone a long way in getting him where he is today. Very believable in the ring.

10. A. J. Styles - This guy can fly. I was sold when watching him in WCW and that is why I put him in the King of Indies. I would have never thought the guy could wrestle until we brought him for a surprise appearance at a Halloween Hell Gym Wars a few years back. He wrestled J. J. Perez in what I thought was a 5 star match. He deserves everything he gets from TNA because he is that good. I love his role with Christian Cage. He has great facials although I know he is left handed and was not trained right because I caught him twice in the last few weeks going through the middle rope the wrong way. He goes through just like a left hander would. But, this guy is very, very good and has come a long way, even since King of Indies where he made a very impressive showing.

11. Bison Smith - Bison did what he had to do to keep his spot doing Noah tours although if Misawa and Noah like him, he would have continued even had he ruffled the feathers of the PWI guys. Not a bad big guy. Not too many big guys can wrestle in our industry and he does good and I have seen him in some good matches in Noah. He did our best as Masked Destroyer and could have had an impressive King of Indies. I will always try to remember him for something other than the worked knee injury. I like Bison and wish him continued success in Puerto Rico and Pro Wrestling Noah.

12. Jardi Frantz - Injuries played a factor in his not going anywhere. Plus, he always struggled understanding the important parts of the wrestling industry. If he could do something simple as get his wardrobe right after all these years, he'd probably have made some progress. His persistence of being a spot wrestler also didn't help. What is amazing is the guy is one of the better mat wrestlers to ever come through our doors.

13. Donovan Morgan - He had lots of heart but he was fortunate to ride the coattails of Michael Modest because without that, I am not sure he would have gone anywhere although he had an impressive tryout match with Modest when Misawa visited our gym.

14. Adam Pearce - I wish he would have made the booking meeting to understand the tournament was not about faces and heels. It would have been interesting to see what he could have done in a Japanese setting. My guess is he has no idea how to wrestle unless he is an old-school heel.

15. Tony Jones - Tony had great NCAA credentials and I wish he could have had the body and made a better transition to pro wrestling. Had he done that, he could have done something in the wrestling business. I don't know how far he could have gone but I believe he could have gone far. He always had good tryouts in WWE and had a great tryout with Bison Smith for Misawa at our dojo. His body always held him back. Many don't know this but he might have had some great success in Japan if he chose to. He had a great opportunity with BattleArts and even instructed at the dojo. My guess is he could have gone far in Japan but chose not to.

16. Samoa Joe - Glad to see someone finally used this guy and used him the right way. I was always surprised when he would only get part-time bookings in Japan with Zero One. I always thought he deserved more. Funny, had we done 2002 King of Indies, he was right up there for contention for the finals. Of course I wish he would get his body in better shape but they have made it work with the way he is. I am glad he has been getting pushed. He is a good guy and deserves it.


I don't know if I ever mentioned this but APW was about to start a Career Management division. We wanted to take a small percentage of graduates we booked in Japan and we wanted to take a larger percentage of non-graduates. We sent Misawa a letter highlighting many of the names above and telling them which we thought were the better ones and we included footage of King of Indies. What caused the big stink with Modest and Morgan was that we were trying to get Lo Ki, American Dragon, Spanky, A. J. Styles, Samoa Joe, Frankie Kazarian etc... into Pro Wrestling Noah. They had a fear that it would jeopardize their positions in Noah. It would have made APW grow and gotten some of the better Indy wrestlers earning a living much sooner than turned out. I truly believe Noah lost out on a great opportunity. But nobody can blame Misawa for sticking with Modest and PWI. Afterall, hadn't Misawa done to Baba's wife and All Japan what Modest and Morgan did to APW? I look back now and it still brings a smile to my face because I know we were on the right track although it never panned out.

I am so happy to see the guys have the success they have gotten. They are all very talented. All APW was trying to do with King of Indies was launch a new division, make a buck and get some of the talented Indy guys earning a living in pro wrestling and you certainly can't blame APW for that.


IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT
I don't know how many of you follow the NFL. The coach of the New England Patriots, Bill Belichick has had much success with his team and is known as one of the greater coaches ever in the NFL. I have lost track of the number of world titles they have won. He has been caught cheating and trying to learn what the opposition is doing by spying. He was fined $500,000 and the team was fined $250,000 and they lost a future first round draft pick which is not a good thing either. Supposedly, he had a camera aimed at opposing defensive coordinators with the hope of learning their defensive schemes. That is illegal in the NFL.

I wanted to rest everyone's minds. I cannot afford $500,000 fines nor can I afford to lose a future student so I have decided I will not be spying on other training schools in Northern or Southern California. I will not be attending any Indy show in California that doesn't have APW wrestlers booked on them. I will only attend Indy shows that I endorse such as PCW. Okay, you might catch me at a BTW show because it is local and I sometimes crave a hot dog on a Friday night. I promise not to spy on other training schools to see what we can learn to implement at the APW BOOT CAMP. Even if the state athletic commission continues not to regulate pro wrestling, I will make sure I regulate the spying from APW. I will not allow myself or anyone affiliated with APW to break the rules and spy on other training school or Indy shows for the purpose of learning and stealing something from them.

Until next time, thanks for reading my blog...