A Different Kind of ‘Rasslin Blog Site.
Usually Lady Di and I differ in our opinions, but this is one time I totally agree with what she said. Because if not for the younger guys in TNA there would be no wrestling. I applaud what the youngsters are doing and I applaud the directions they’re taking. Last but not least, I applaud Lady Di for what she said. She speaks the truth.
Patch
Sting, Booker T, Kurt Angle, Kevin Nash, and Scott Steiner are calling themselves The Main Event Mafia. They seem to think that they are the only ones who count, that they are better than the younger wrestlers, that the younger wrestlers shouldn’t even BE in wrestling. Truth be told, they are good. They did pave the way for the younger wrestlers. But excuse me, what would happen if the younger wrestlers weren’t around? These dinosaurs would become extinct one day and then what? No more wrestling, that’s what! Have you guys thought about that? Listen, as I said you are all good. But so are Samoa Joe, Eric Young, AJ Styles, Petey Williams, ODB, and all the young ones. They are the future of wrestling, and it’s about time that Sting, Booker T, Kurt Angle, Kevin Nash, and Scott Steiner got over themselves and realized it. Oh, and Booker T, since when is Texas a country? Because that’s where you’re from, baby. You are no more from Africa than I am.
And that’s just the way I see it.
Lady Di
Well, well, well, here I am one more time. Welcome one and all to the Wrestling Buzz and Plain Speaking.
This time I will be talking about both Jeff Jarrett and Sting. Sting seems to think that guys like Jay Lethal, AJ Styles, and Samoa Joe owe him something for paving the way for them, but truth be told they owe him nothing. They want to succeed on their own.
Now, for Jeff Jarrett…I admire Jeff for walking away from TNA to take care of his wife, Jill, now deceased. Not many wrestlers would have done what Jeff did. Jeff was away from TNA for over two years. Jeff simply did what he felt that he had to do.
Sting has gone around with this Crow gimmick for far too long. He has used his black baseball bat to knock people out. What’s the matter, Sting? Can’t you fight without the bat? Are you scared, Sting? Or is it the fact that you’re just too old? Are you scared that the young guys will take your spot? I think you are! But this is called passing the torch, and it should have been passed long ago.
Jeff Jarrett has made it clear that TNA was started so that guys like AJ Styles, Jay Lethal, Samoa Joe, and the ladies of TNA would have a chance to show what they are made of. A chance is what they all deserve, and a chance is what they have all worked so hard for.
Jeff Jarrett vs Sting…My money is on Jeff Jarrett.
For Plain Speaking…I am Patch Johnson, and I wish you God speed!
Hi everyone. This is Lady Di with my own tale of promoters gone wrong. Now, I haven’t been in the wrestling world for all that long personally. I have been a fan since the mid-60s, but as far as personally, I didn’t get involved until 2008. In 2007, Patch and I were spending time with a promotion that was run by the friend he mentioned in his blog that he had known for about 10 years. We were having a good time meeting all the wrestlers and workers when we met someone who worked there who was going to run his own promotion and asked us to go with him. Patch’s friend warned us not to get involved with this man, but he said he was a Christian and we decided to give him a chance. We were excited and very much looking forward to working with everyone, and for about three shows it was a lot of fun. But then the back stabbing and lies started. He wouldn’t allow anyone to talk to each other in the promotion, we were supposed to just talk to him and the few people he chose for us to talk to. He would tell us how all the wrestlers were talking trash about us, which turned out not to be true, but he warned us not to talk to the people in question and they were warned not to talk to us. We learned later that he was telling those people we were talking trash about them. Not true. We, along with several others in the promotion, realized what he was doing and walked out, but now he’s telling everyone he fired all of us. I just want to put the record straight: Mr. Promoter, you know you did not fire any of us. We all walked out on YOU. It was after that that we started talking to those you told us were doing and saying all these bad things about us and found out that you were the one who lied. You stabbed us all in the back, but why? We did everything you wanted and needed us to do, no matter what you asked. We wanted to see your promotion succeed. Yet you stabbed us in the back anyway. And then you’d turn around and use what we called the “Christian card”–by saying let’s all be Christian brothers and sisters about this and not say anything about each other, but you were the one who started talking lies about us. Well, Mr. Promoter, remember what Jesus Himself said: “Not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord will enter into the kingdom of heaven,” and again “By their fruit you will know them.” Mr. Promoter, you have rotten fruit and use unethical business practices. We can count on one hand the people who didn’t turn their backs on us in that promotion or listen to his lies. Now, however, we are working for a promoter who knows how to run a good promotion, someone who treats his workers, from the smallest to the biggest, with respect. Someone who listens to ideas and uses them! Someone who doesn’t try to sabotage your every move. Do we regret working for the bad promoter? Yes, but we do not regret the true friends we made, and had we not started working for him, we never would have met the promoter we are now working for. Everything happens for a reason, and as much as it makes me mad what the bad promoter did, we would not be where we are now had we not met that bad promoter. God truly does work everything out for the good of those who love the Lord!
God bless and see you next time!
Lady Di
The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that legendary TV producer/creator Norman Lear is teaming up with writer Aaron Blitzstein to create a new drama set in the 1970s world of professional wrestling. The show, tentatively titled “Everybody Hurts” is being produced for HBO.
According to an article in the Bismarck Tribune, men have become desensitized to abuse of women. The article points to men abusing women in the wacky world of professional wrestling to prove the point.
This evening, I was very honored to be a guest on “Evan Ginzburg’s Legends” - an Internet radio program that is described as an “eclectic mix of pro wrestling and the arts.”
The show is hosted by my good friend Evan Ginzburg and Dr. Mike Lano. It’s very interesting, I must say.
Evan is a good guy and probably one of the best wrestling historians out there. He is the publisher of the long-running newsletter “Wrestling Then & Now.” In addition, he is a publicist and talent agent.
He has also written a book called “Apartment 4B, Like in Brooklyn”. I received my copy this weekend and, from what I’ve read so far, it is very interesting. The book is made up of autobiographical short stories from Evan’s childhood in Brooklyn.
For someone like me, who grew up in a small town in Virginia, the thought of growing up in Brooklyn is about as foreign as a concept can get, but Evan’s book has some nostalgic stories that I believe anyone can relate to. I can’t wait to finish reading it and I urge you to check it out too.
LINKS
To hear the radio interview, go here.
To learn more about “Wrestling Then and Now,” go to www.wrestlingthenandnow.com
For Evan’s official website, go to www.evanginzburg.com
Hello again, everyone! Welcome back to Plain Speaking. Hope you are all well. Glad you’re with me. This time round, I’ll be talking about promoters. Y’all ready? Here we go! I have been in the wrestling biz for 11 years and have seen a lot of things done by promoters, some good, some bad, and some down right ugly.
There are some very good promoters. These are the promoters who know how to run a good show. They knnow that it takes a lot of hard work to put on a show, and they know that the wrestlers they choose to use on their show will give everything they have to make the fans happy, and it helps if a promoter says thank you every now and then. Promoters, wrestlers like to hear a thank you from time to time. They appreciate it!!!
Now for the bad promoters. These are the people who advertize that a wrestler, say like a Matt Hardy or a Shelton Benjamin, will be on their show, but the promoter has no intention of booking the wrestlers he has advertized. This happened to me years ago. I wanted to run a show, and, well, long story short, the guy who was supposed to help me messed me over royally. I have not forgotten what he did to me, but I’m not the only one that this man has done this to. Just let me say this to you, promoters: What you are doing is called false advertizing, and it hurts the business, but yet you still do it! You seriously need to get a clue!
And now, ladies and gentlemen, we have come down to the ugly promoters, and I’m not talking about looks! I’m talking about the type of promoter who tells you to your face that you cannot do your job right. The promoter who doctors the match results that you send in to their websites by using words that aren’t even in the dictionary just to make the writer look bad. Oh, it’s true. I’m talking about the type of promoter who uses painted up weight lifting belts because he is too cheap to buy his own title belts. The type of promoter who tells a wrestler that he has to wrestle in a gorilla suit. They type of promoter who ruins dreams, who destroys a seven and ten year friendship that you once had with two great wrestlers. The type of promoter who spreads vicious lies and rumors about those who do and have worked for him. Yes, it does and has happened. This is down right ugly and this type of promoting should be avoided at all costs.
For Plain Speaking, I am Patch Johnson and I wish you all God’s peace.
If you’re like me and like to surf the web from your Internet-enabled cell phone or PDA, I have good news for you. We have just completed upgrades to our website that will allow you to access it from your favorite handheld device. Simply go to http://www.wrestling-buzz.com from your device to access. There is no special URL or code. I hope that you enjoy this added feature.
Hello everyone! Welcome back to Plain Speaking. Glad you all have chosen to read this today. This time I would like to talk about three promotions that I grew up watching. By reading this you will see that my love of wrestling runs very deep.
First is the old NWA. I used to watch Ricky Steamboat, Jay Youngblood, and Jimmy “The Boogie Woogie Man” Valiant, to name a few. At six years old, I started watching them, and it was Jimmy Valiant who got me hooked on professional wrestling. Years later I went on to work many shows with Jimmy Valiant. I met Jimmy for the first time at age 14. I had the chance to ask him a lot of questions and he was great about it. He took the time to answer everything that I asked. I look up to Jimmy as a mentor. He has taught me so much about the business–the good, the bad, and the ugly, so to speak. Jimmy Valiant is one of the most caring people I have ever met in my life. He’s one of those people that will go out of his way to help someone if they need it. He’s done it for me and countless other people.
Next is World Class Championship Wrestling. I loved this promotion growing up. I watched every Saturday as The Von Erich’s feuded with The Fabulous Freebirds. Their feuds were classic. I also loved watching Gino Hernandez. He was awesome! Gino was one of those people that you just loved to hate, but in the ring there was none better. The last gentleman that I will speak of here is Skip Young. This man was all business in the ring. He had what it took to get the job done. He was a joy to watch.
The last promotion I want to talk about is Memphis. What can I say about this promotion that hasn’t already been said down through the years? People like Superstar Bill Dundee, his tag partner George Barnes, the Original Fabulous One, Jackie Fargo, and of course, Jerry Lawler. These guys loved the sport, they loved to entertain the fans, and they gave the fans something to believe in. This was the era when wrestling was real. In Memphis you didn’t see a lot of hardcore matches–you saw straight wrestling action, and it was the best!
These days were called the Glory Days of Wrestling, and I wish we could go back to that! To all of these people that I’ve mentioned, I just want to say thanks. Thanks for the memories!
Until next time, I’m Patch Johnson.