Shane Dynasty was the best...

Okay smart asses... it has been 3 days since my weekly blog and I promised a shorter daily blog in addition to my weekly. I forgot to tell you weekend days don't count as days.

I have received many e-mails asking about Gabe and him trying to look at me and they just can't believe it. Okay, here is living proof...



After looking at this picture, I now understand how people thought he was my younger brother. Damn, I looked older in this picture from 8 years ago than I do now. No wonder every young woman wants to be with this successful older gent. Gabe looks older now than he did 8 years ago. I guess dealing with idiots takes its toll. I used to take the abuse from the idiots and it was wear and tear. Now he takes the abuse with the idiots and he has aged. The idiots kind-of like me now.

When I re-read the weekly blog and read the section on old-APW, something came to mind I just had to blog about. We have been very gifted when it comes to managers and refs. They don't get much press because of the talent our wrestlers posess. But, we have always been gifted in that department.


REFS
Most of these refs were trained by our first ever ref, Max Marquez. He was good until an accident and illness along with the normal getting older took over.

J. J. Perez - He first broke in as a ref with APW and later became a star wrestler. People forget how good a ref that guy was because of how good a wrestler he is today

Vinny Massarro - I don't know he would have been the star in APW he became if not doing the ref thing while going through the training.

Jimmy Ripp - He never became a star wrestler but later became a star manager and had more heat than almost any manager. They certainly wanted to kill him many times when he was a manager.

David Taub - David later became a manager also and had lots of heat as a manager primarily because he was a nerd ref who later, when least expected, became a heel ref and screwed one of the more popular APW wrestlers.

We even had guys like Will Cuevas and a few others that never wrestled but were damn good managers. If I am forgetting any names, post your comments on who they might have been. Matt Fischer was a very good ref. I think he might have made his pro debut later as a wrestler but it didn't last long.


MANAGERS
David Taub - I mentioned him earlier above and he had heat as a manager after the angle with him as a heel ref.

Jimmy Ripp - Again, he had lots of heat as a manager. The fun part was watching teen age fans at the house shows wanting to beat Ripp up and who knows, they probably could have. Ripp was a solid ref but more solid as a manager.

Nathanial Sweete - Many probably don't go back far enough but Nate Rulez debuted as a manager. He was Vinny Massarro's manager when Vinny was the gigollo. He was very good and had lots of heat and knew his role as a manager and filled in quite nicely while he was getting his wrestling training.

Shane Dynasty - By far, hands down, the most valuable ref and/or manager we ever had. In the wrestling business, the key to being a ref and/or a manager, especially in the big leagues was your value outside the squared circle. While managing Maxx Justice, Shane had lots of heat and he was one of the best on the mic. He could articulate but his real strength came when he took over the APW souvenir program. He did such an awesome job and got compensated very little for it especially when you compare the quality of the program. I really never had the chance to say thanks as many times as I would have liked to and should have. I don't think anyone I know could come up with the kind of program he used to come up with. He relocated and we cut back on house shows and he now wrestles in SPW. I may not be a huge fan of his wrestling ability and you all know I am not a huge fan of the SPW product. They have to many wrestlers who don't belong in a wrestling ring but I will always love and respect Shane Dynasty. He always did what he was asked and always kept his mouth shut in the locker room and with management but let his mouth run during promos cause he was damn good at them. I only remember blowing up at him one time and that was when he showed up to a show 10 minutes before bell time. It made it difficult to sell the programs and it was such a waste because of how good he was at the program. He kept up with the story lines. He did what a booker is supposed to do and that was to garnish interest in the product and sell the product. My job as booker was made so much easier with his quality souvenir program. I felt like decking a fan one time in support of Shane Dynasty and his program. We never made money with the programs. By the time we paid Shane for production labor, printing the programs, we had about $250 to $300 in the program. We rarely sold more than 75. We sold them for a $1. I didn't even have the heart to sell them for that amount because of the quality. A fan walked up to buy one while I was standing near the merch table and he asked how much. The gal said a buck and he threw the program back down and said, that is too damn much. I nearly came unglued as I had to resist saying something stupid to him. He was what I call an "IDIOT". I thought he was insulting APW and insulting Shane Dynasty and the quality of the program. Trust me, Shane should have been paid much, much more for the quality of that program he produced. The pictures weren't always the greatest but I am not sure that was even his fault. We threw many of these away. They really are collectors items. Every Indy promotion should be so lucky to have a guy like Shane design and print the souvenir program and be the guy in charge of content. I swear, sometimes I would go braindead with booking and read one of his programs and steal ideas from what he wrote in articles, stories, columns etc... I used to think he was great with creating fictional names of writers for each article, column or section and it was Shane for every one of them. I used to look forward to getting home after a show so I could read the program from cover to cover. That is right, I never edited his work because I had that much trust in his work.

I miss you Shane and hope you and your family are doing well. I hope you realize how valued you were in APW and it is something we probably would never do today but your program was awesome and I couldn't have told you that enough. Stop by and say hello sometime.

I'd also love to see more people make comments on these blogs and especially, when these type of topics come up about the olden days. I love hearing your thoughts about some of the guys and some of the stuff we did back then.

Where are the Idiots this week?

I am still trying to figure this BLOG thing out. Mr. Bossman wants me to blog more often so here is what I will be doing. I am going to attempt to blog daily with short thoughts about anything and everything in my life including but not limited to pro wrestling. Approximately, once every week or two, I will post a longer blog and pick my WRESTLING PERSONALITY of the week and my IDIOT of the week. Since I haven't blogged in 2 weeks, I will deliver the lenghty blog this time. Thanks for reading!...

WRESTLING PERSONALITY OF THE WEEK



No, not the Undertaker. Gabe Ramirez! Today marks the 11th anniversary from the time Gabe Ramirez attended his first APW show. He has worked hard behind the scenes into becoming a knowledgeable old-school insider. He has done it all. He has been everything from a rebel of a wrestling fan, the 1st Ultimate Gym Warrior. He forced our hands and we had to bring him behind the scenes as Head of Security so he wouldn't disrupt our operation and give Deadrich a heart attack. He has had a variety of duties and has run the Guerrilla room, been matchmaker, promoted live wrestling events as a local promoter, graphic designer and helped out with the website, designed wrestler portfolios to arm himself with tools to book graduates in Mexico, Japan, Puerto Rico and now Portugal. He has certainly opened doors and holds down a position that enables the Boot Camp to offer what no other training school can offer. Oh - I almost forgot - he has become as hated as myself but only because the idiots cannot do what he does and wish they could. Their chances are slim and none because they just don't have his talent or personality. Enough on this asshole, he is getting more press than I do. I'll never forget him for wearing the Denny's shirt at a house show and acting like he was me. People were asking if he were my younger brother. Now they as me if he is my older brother or father, LOL.

IDIOT OF THE WEEK
The people who made the decision to let the guy below participate in the sport of Pro Wrestling. Vince wasn't kidding when he said, "We are not pro wrestling. We are competing with Barnum & Bailey and Walt Disney and Ice Capades". No kidding!



WOMEN WRESTLING


When Jason Deadrich and Gabe Ramirez came up with an off-shoot of KING OF INDIES, who would have known the success it would bring to womens wrestling. With the exposure and success of ChickFight came Shimmer and now the very strong womens division is something it never was. Unfortunately, WWE is still tied into contracts with Playboy magazine for centerfolds once a year or whatever the deal calls for and most of these talented women will never see a WWE locker room. Fortunately for them though, with ChickFight and Shimmer, they are staying busy as they seem booked almost every Friday and Saturday night somewhere in the world. That is more than I can say for the top Indy male wrestlers in the U.S. These talented women are also now being seen in a different light. I have always enjoyed women wrestling since my exposure to it in the late 60's. I always looked at the women as a T & A show and it was the sole reason they were brought in to the territories when pro wrestling was regionalized. Moolah always had the girls booked in pairs or foursomes throughout the U.S. and took her cut but the women were not perceived as women athletes. They are now. The reason they won't ever see WWE is because they don't have the right look. Vince is into women who have the model look. To be a good wrestling talent that understands how to get over, you must have grown up with pro wrestling in your early years and that goes for men and women. These bimbos they use today are good for one thing only. Actually, I don't even think they are good for that as I hate fondling plastic but tip your hat to WWE, they make money with them and that is what business is about.

I tip my hat to people like Jason Deadrich and Dave Prasak who have promoted women wrestling to what it is today. While on the topic, congratulations go out to APW Boot Camp graduate Sara Del Rey for becoming the first womens champion in Shimmer. I know some people might say it is the politics card with ROH and it probably is but you have to admit she has some in-ring ability and hopefully, she can add some of the other elements that it takes to become an excellent wrestler. She certainly has some of the tools.

BOOT CAMP TESTING
Boot camp testing is coming up at the end of the month. I usually look forward to this time because it shows me where everyone stands. Our trainers score the tests but that is only a measuring tool to compare how they stand with their peers. I can usually tell just by watching if they have learned their fundamentals. We just don't test them in the ring on skill but also give them written tests. They will be studying their handouts in the next 2 weeks and getting lots of open gym time in. They don't pass the test with flying colors, they don't move on to Semi-Pro and a step closer to their pro debuts. I am sure they will do well as they look really good at practice. This is a srong group of guys and I am impressed. Good Luck guys!

ON THE ROAD


Kafu goes back to Puerto Rico this week and will return in time to attend the weekend shows coming up in Santa Maria and Bakersfield. Both shows have the minis and some great wrestling action. We always have a great time in the Santa Barbara area. Something about the water, Partying college students, good looking women and good, clean air. This is Billy Blade territory so beware of the free strip club admissions and limo rides. Last time we had these freebies, it cost me an arm and a leg and I didn't even participate in the Robert Thompson fund-raiser and still went broke.

MMA
Brock Lesnar won his first match and was paid well to do it ($500,000 plus training expenses). This guy is a stud. He has done pretty much anything he has wanted to with his athleticism. Don't even tell me he didn't prove anything in Football becuase he got cut from the Vikings. First off, he tried out for his home team and could have gone to Europe to play ball but chose not to. I am convinced had he gone to Europe, he would have made the NFL in a year or two. Will he eventually fight Kurt Angle? What about my buddy Daniel Puder? Some might say Puder is out of his league. He certainly lacks the size to compete with Brock but he too seems to be a stud in his own way. Where are you Puder? We haven't heard from you in a while.

MISS THE OLD APW DAYS




The other day I purchased an Elton John live concert DVD and put on my Bose headphones and had a great time. As the concert got deeper, some of the songs got me thinking about the old APW days. I thought about the old Gym Wars, the old road trips, the wrestling talent that was deep. Boy were we spoiled back then. People used to think it was marketing when I would say Steve Rizzono was our 8th best wrestler on the roster and when WWE signed Vic and Crash, they were only our 5th and 6th best wrestlers. I wasn't marketing, it was the truth! Steve Rizzono had talent that nobody else could see but me. I thought I utilized the talent best. Just like when ECW guys went to WWE, they didn't know what to do with the guys. WWE couldn't get out of them what Paul E could. That is because Paul knew their strenthgs and weaknesses. I started thinking about some of the great matches and angles. I started thinking about the guys hoping Boom Boom Comini was doing good with his daughter. Tough to raise a daughter. Not many have come back to APW, some by our choice and some by their choice. I can't say I miss Boom Boom the asshole who went around tweaking everyones nipples in the locker room but I miss Boom Boom the person. That guy had talent. He was basically a jobber but we got lots of mileage out of him. I miss Maxx Justice wanting to throw people off balconeys. I remember when he beeled the kid from L.A. and Jesse Hernandez school "Kirk the APW Clown". I wasn't sure the kid was going to come down from the beel or back drop or monkey flip. What about the run WestSide Playaz had! Not often you can get two runs out of one name. Jay Smooth, Kuame Kamoze and Rick Turner were awesome and had lots of heel heat. Rick Turner is a Highway Patrolman now. You think he pulls the mirror out instead of the ticket book? Then Robert Thompson and Boyce LeGrande w/Icebox. What a run they had. There was so much electricity in the building when their music played and the whole house would dance in the stands. You won't see anything like that today in Indy wrestling. I don't know how to tell you how we did it or how they did it, it was MAGIC! I remember Tony Jones german suplexing Vic Grimes on the floor at Pinole Valley High or Terra Nova High. I remember the fans rushing the guard rails during a match when Crash Holly appeared on stage with a scale and his hat on backwards. I could go on and on but instead I'll tell you what we are planning sometime this year. We are going to tear down the ring, put up the big screen and dig out some of the more memorable wrestling footage and have a reunion. We will try to invite some of the wrestlers from that era to attend and we'll see if we can't feed everyone in attendance. It is on the agenda!

NOTES


Cheerleader Melissa has revamped her website and I must say it looks awesome. Much, much cleaner and entertaining. I hope she blogs some and tells us some of the behind the scenes chatter these women wrestlers have. We all know what the boys talk about and they sometimes talk shit. You think the women talk shit also? I sat and had Sushi tonight and two married women were having dinner together and talking about who they would sleep with and who they wouldn't. It made for interesting conversation. I know Melissa has some good stories to tell... Speaking of blogs to check out, go to www.clickwrestle.com and check out Behind-the-Scenes blog. It is very entertaining and I try to check it out often... Boot Camp signed up 7 students in the first 4 days of June. The record for a month is 10 in September 2000 during the Beyond the Mat days. Let's see what we can do about shattering the record... Jon Andersen is doing great with his private training.

IDIOTS


I actually have nothing to say about the Idiots this week. They are behaving and being more humble. Maybe they are reading the blogs and getting a clue...