1997 was the year...I had been writing for several different newsletter for acouple of years. I was very critical of indy wrestling because alot of tapes of indy groups I saw, well, pretty much sucked. New Jersey at the time really sucked with different groups all looking the same since the same guys worked for these groups. It looked like the promoters just threw oatmaeal at a wall when it came to their ideas and hoped most of it would stick. it didn't and it showed.
My friend Dave Barker knew this, he read what I wrote and saw the tapes I got(You'd be surprised how many promoters would send me tapes to try and prove my theory wrong after reading the things I wrote). But he went ahead and did it anyway. he bought me a ticket as a birthday present to a sow of the Alantic Wrestling Federation. At the time it was owned by former WWF jobber Sivano Sousa and former WWF referee Fred Sparta(before they had a falling out and Sparta formed WWA New England). This show was in Manchester, N.H. and featured Rick Martel, who had been released by the McMahon family's company. I saw the flyer that came with the ticket and Dave knew I was a big Martel fan from when he was AWA world champion. So, I'm like "hmmm, if it's horrible like all the indy tapes I've seen, I can slam an indy group that's right in my own backyard so to speak, if it's good, I'm fucked, lol".
Manchester is about 45 minutes away from Rochester, so we got there early, stood in line, had a bag with recent and current issues of the newsletters I wrote for. I had a misson. I was going to meet the promoter of the show and tell him I'm going to review this show. pretty Ballsy but at least he was going to know up front.
After dave and I got in the building and found our ringside seats. I started looking for everything that could possibly go wrong. lots of empty seats, place is wee small, are the ropes tight, anything to set my mood so i could get what i wanted....little by little..it all went to shit on what I had hoped for in terms of things being wrong.
all the seats filled up. I reached up and felt the ropes, they were tight. food was actually good at this place (st. Cecila's Hall), and then I asked to meet the promoter. Sousa comes out, I introduce myself and inform him what I'll be doing. First thing he says is, "Do you know how many people come in here and claim to write for someone"? I without batting an eye said, "sure, but how many can back it up in 30 seconds"? he was taken aback by that and when I handed him a small stack of newsletters. he knew I got him. With him, at intermission time was when he treated me much different(found out later from the late Steve Bradley that sousa went into the locker room downstairs, read alot of what I wrote and knew what I said was legit).
Now as for the show itself? totally fucked me over on my opinions of indy wrestling, LOL! From the moment Manager Chris Grande came out w/ Cowbody Jim Cote and started working the crowd, going back and forth with me(he had no clue who I was) as I went thru every cowboy gimmick I could think of and said, "you're no terry Funk, you're no black bart, you're no big bad bobby duncum". grande hated it that I went thru all them cowboy gimmicks and it worked, fan interaction, I was hoping to see it and that was the start.
the matches were very good, I got into what the storylines were. saw legend walter 'killer'Kowalski and was able to meet him. the whole feel was like, an old time wrestling promotion. the 11 year old fan that still (to this day) lives in me, came oput at this show.Kidd USA vs Luis Ortiz was by far one of the best technical matches I had seen on an indy show in years. Matt Bloom(Giant Benard in Japan, prince alberet ion WWE), was getting his start as well in this group.
During intermission Dave could tell I was acting different, I told him I actually had to write a "good" column praising this group. and I did. he and I bought tickets that night to the next show the following month.
next month we're in line, sousa and Sparta come out, I meet Sparta for the first time and hand Sousa the new newsletter with my review of the last show in it. This show had King Kong Bundy on it and I was like a kid in a candy store.
During intermission Bundy was signing autographs and I wanted to know an answer to a question that he could answer. I had a theory on why he was called "boom Boom Bundy" in the AWA(cause Bruiser Brody was named King kong brody because dick the bruiser was the local legend in the midwest, where I grew up, and now have come back to). So I did what became a long running joke between Dave and I since dave was what you could call a "Mark", didn't know much of the inside stuff of wrestling and I was getting him up to speed. So I set Dave up. I asked Bundy the question and added first, "Ny friend dave here saw this tape with you in...".and my theory was correct. Bundy looked at me and said "you're from chicago, what the hell you doing in New Hampshire"? lol. dave loved the fact I would set him up like that because one...it helped bring him up to the same level I was in the conversation,. two...I didn't want him to be left out because this was all happening because he bought that first ticket...and three..it was the right thing to do.
AWF ran a show in Somersworth, NH(next town over from Rochester), it was a mix AWF and another group that ran fly by night..gave Sousa and Sparta the new issues of the sheets(would up doing an interview with Sousa and acouple days later, an 'in' I had at wrestling world magazine(thanks to free tape plugs there) helped get an article i wrote on AWF printed, along with a pic of me and steve Bradley. This...was when things changed..in a way I wasn't expecting.
Sousa comes up to me and asks if I knew anyone who had a camcorder..I pointed to Dave..he had one. Sousa asks me if we'd be interested in taping the shows he does(and he gave me permission to sell them, he knew I was going to do it so really if they're filmed with a camcorder how can you stop me). I said sure..run it past dave cause he won't believe me. Sousa said that for now on we didn't have to pay to get in, and we could just walk into the building when we arrived..I'm like "holy shit...I know what this is...I know I'm hearing this...". he went to dave, Dave's looking over Sousa's shoulder like "what the fuck"? I'm waving my hands like, "Just say yes..just say yes".
dave comes to me and says.."He just asked if I could film his shows..what the hell did you tell him"? I told Sousa that Dave has plenty of experience using his camcorder, has no problems being able to use it..yak yak yak. truth be told...Dave had only used that camcorder once, LOL! Dave looks at me and says, "what just happened" and I said, "we just got a break into the wrestling business my friend. you're in cause of the camcorder, I'm in for what I write, wherever this takes me you're going too cause you started it when you bought that ticket. it was something I kept my word on for the next 7 1/2 years, whatever indy group I worked for after AWF, I brought Dave along too, he went for the ride right along with me..That...was how I got into the wrestling business
The first night we were setting up the camcorder dave was nervous as hell, can't blame the guy at all, I just kept saying "whatever Sousa tells you to film, just do it his way". I had given Sousa advance copies of the issue of wrestling world with the article on his AWF a few days beforehand(wasn't ahppy because I didn't go thru "the process of asking him if I could do it, but he realized I just gave his little federation world wide exposure in that magazine, and it was done for free, so he stopped bitching, lol). As I'm uncoiling an extension cord I feel this huge hand hit my shoulders. I look up and it's Matt Bloom. "and we just thought you were some local guy from this town who had a big mouth, little did we know...thank you". That's what he said, and it started a long line of guys coming out to thank me and tell me I'm a breath of fresh air with my yelling at the bad guys, getting chants going for the good guys, etc etc. I had a freakin bad cold and somehow I sailed my voice at a loll in the crowd at Cowboy Jim Cote after he ran down how bad NH is, I yelled "If you don't like it, leave it". That popped the crowd and it was little things like that, that was appreciated by the workers.
Some funny stuff I encountered while working for the Atlantic Wrestling Federation.
Met Jimmy Snuka literally as I walked out the front door of St. Ceclia's Hall to have a cigarette. He was coming up the stairs, looked at me and said "them things are gonna kill ya brother".
AWF ran in Nashua, NH (right in the heart of rival territory), I was starting to go thru my divorce and many were wondering when i was going to let my anger out..well. thanks to "the Graduate" Tim McNeany, it happened. he and his manager Chris Grande were in the ring, and Chris said "you fans better watch out, or he might go home with your ol lady"...I just went off, and in a way blew the whole promo because I said the stuff you'd least expect to hear that.. "I yelled "he can have my wife, she's such a fucking bitch, he'll be doing me a favor by taking her, now I can save money and stop buying aspirin for all the freakin headaches she gives me".
That...was not the response they were hoping for, LOL! McNeany stands there with mic in hand, shocked! he's trying not to laugh as I'm rambling on about how bad by (now ex)wife is and offered to give him her number. needless to say they did finish the promo and Chris Grande said he was 'gonna get even" with me for that.
He did, 2 matches later when Bundy came out, he and i had words and then he went into the ring and publicly bashed the shit out of me, lol. During intermission I go to the back and when I walked in Bundy said to me they were all wopndering who the loudmouth offering his wife up was. They all said I finally started letting the anger out, lol. hey, what better way than at a wrestling show, right? Funny how that same exwife offered to help when I locally promoted acouple shows in my area a few months later for the WWA New Engfland. But that wil be for another time and page, as I'm focusing this page on the AWF.
At a "Night of Legends" show in Haverhill, Mass. I got jabbed by Snuka, Bundy, and the wild samoans for wearing an old dusty rhodes t-shirt I had bought at a Great American bash show in Chicago(in 1987). they ran out of four horsemen shirts and besides, Dusty is still one of my faves in the ring. some of the things he has done out of it...never mind.
The good times with the AWF were coming to an end. Sparta and Sousa had a falling out. Sparta had told me he was going to start up his own company and I should consider jumping. Steve bradley was making the move as Sparta still had ties to the WWF(E) and he saw it as a way to possibly get in there(which he did under their developmental deal). I myself wanted to bring a show to the rochester area (you can read about that on another page here on this site), and when i asked acouple of the guys, they all told me that Sparta would be the one I should work with on it. Sousa likes to use telemarketers for the most part to sell tickets. I always thought if you get the building, get a local place to sell tickets, actively promote the hell out of it, you'll get people to come. Especially in an area like rochester since shows don't normally come to that area of the state.
Steve Bradley came up to me one night when I had to film the show at St. Cecila's Hall. he wanted to know how I could get him a tape of the footage I had on him so he can make a tape for the WWF. I knew the tension he and Sousa were having since Bradley was jumping, and sousa knew I was offered to jump too. Since AWF was running a show two weeks from this particular nioght, in the same building, I told Steve I'd find a way of getting him what he needed. I wanted to see him succeed and make it big so why should i deny him footage that could possibly help him? he offered to pay for the tape, etc etc. and I set it up for him, almost 2 hours of promos angles and matches. That footage along with whatever he had, helped get him into the WWF thanks to Jim Cornette. The night I had the tape Sousa knew something was going on with Steve and I, we were a bit "too talkative", but he didn't figure it out until he and I saw each other at an EWA show in Lawerence, Mass. I didn't want Steve to get any more heat than he was already getting, and I know Sousa was giving me grief about giving footage to anyone who asked. i didn't giove, they offered to buy it, lol. Anyway iot was a tense night and I basicly told steve to leave the money for the tape somewhere in his car, have someone tell me where. I was told, I went out during intermission to have a cig, walked across the street to the parking lot, and did a switcheroo. took the envelope with the money, left the tape, went to my car just to make it look like I was looking for something, then went back into the hall.
It was after that that I made the jump to WWA. I basicly asked Fred Sparta what the chances of him having a show in my area were compared to Sousa's. He said "You get us a town, and a date, with a suitable building, we'll do a show there". he explained that he didn't use telemarketers, he did it the way I thought it should be done and that if I get the town, building, etc. that I'd be doing the leg work to get it all set up, and would be paid for it. So...if you read my other page here where the article "So, You wanna Be a Promoter Huh" is at. You know what happened next.
I tried leaving Sousa on good terms, for all I've heard about him, bad and good, he was the one who gave me that first break. So anything that happened after was because of him, and because Dave Barker bought me that one ticket. for 7 1/2 years that was the gift, that I found ways to have keep on giving.
Next will be my time in the WWA New England.
