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!