I get an email from Chris Venom, (Picture above)he and I met at an EWA show just kept in contact thru emails because he liked the sheets I wrote for, tapes, etc etc. He emails me asking me if I'm going to be in Portland on a particular saturday night. of course, it's an EWA show. so that day comes I show up and as I'm setting my crap up he comes up and after taliking about other stuff, he asks me what I'm doing week from tomarrow, far as I knew nothing. he starts telling me about this group called NCW that runs in Mass. not big shows, young guy runs it, and could possibly come and do a write up to hype his little company up.
I was getting close to that burn out feeling I explained in my story about the EWA so in a way, the last thing I wanted was to go some show I never heard of. But part of me thought why not, either that or sit at home, run tapes all day, take a chance on the mood swinging bipolar g/f who's 'new' meds weren't working and all she needed to do was twist her head around like Linda Blair in the exorcist and I'd be complete with the emotional freak show of a relationship.
So I asked about it being a 'conflict" because some promoters as you know, aren't so great about you going to another company's show(Believe me, I know from going to a Sousa's Night of Legend's show while working for WWA New England, even though guys who worked WWA were on it, I still got alot of heat for going..I'll add that to the random stories I'll be doing...).But come to find out one of the EWA's owners was going and actually suggested to Chris to ask me if I could come do a write up. alot of EWA's guys worked for this NCW along with other local guys from the area. so no conflict.
The guy who ran this NCW was at the Portland show so after I said I'd come Chris introduces me to the guy, he sees my tapes and actually bought acouple. He said I could set up a table and sell tapes at his show too.. he watched how I did the "plant" deal on the show and during intermission asked me if I could do the same thing on his show.."Already know I'm gonna do it, I do that at any show I'm at" I tell him. I'm at any wrestling show I yell my head off, always did since I was age 11 and went to Bob Luce and AWA shows in Chicago, you gonna shut this mouth up? yeah ok...lol.
So after asking where is this show gonna be at he says Natick, Mass. I asked him "where the fuck is Natick Mass at", He replies "next to Framingham", of course I have no f'n clue where that is either so me being me, said "Let me rephrase the question then, where the fuck is framingham, mass at"?, lol. Wound up using the trusty old mapquest and knowing Boston had contruction on route1 which was so fucked up..change the zig zag way thru every couple days so it was never the same, much like their 'big dig", one big fuck up. I saw I could take a longer way around boston via I-495. what looked on the map to be longer..was actually better because my 87 mustang may have only been a 4 cylinder turbo but after a thorough tune up,and adding octane booster and stp gas treatment every gas fill up, it felt like a rocket going down the highway. Plus, no tolls to pay.
So the day comes and I grab my stuff, made sure before this day that there wasn't gonna be ANY..kind of conflict with me going to this show. there wasn't and the overall opinion was many were happy I was willing to come down there. Get my crap, put my Steve Earle tapes in the car, and after a fill up, and stock up on cigs, I'm off, down route 125 which was a familiar route I took when i went to Manchester for Sousa's AWF, made the stop at what was my "usual' place, a gas station w/ a dunkin donuts in it in the city of Epping. so I got my caffiene jolt(coffee black with tons of sugar), went thru Kingston Plastiow and into Haverhill,Mass to get on 495 and what I thought would be a forever drive around Boston to get to Framingham was alot shorter than I thought, then again, 495 is kind of like a race track, you go the speed limit you're going too slow, unless you got state trooper near you, lol.
Get to Framingham and that's when the fun started with directions. People in Mass. are called "massholes" for a reason. (one time trying to get directions froma gas attendent to East Tauton when i was in Tauton was like talking to a wall). all the directions I got just took me all around Framingham. finally just going down a one way street the wrong way I found myself in Natick. and I only realized it cause I passed the builting this show was in four times and finally recognized one of the EWA guys. Chris comes out and after we shake hands I told him, "Man I'm gonna kick your ass" and told him about trying to get directions which showed me more of Framingham than I ever wanted to see.
I walked in, talked with members of the tag team The Damned, larry Huntley and the guys from NCW started buzzing with "he's here". I heard it and started looking around behind me, I looked at Chris and said "Who's here, these guys got a big name on the show"? Chris smiled and siad "You're here, they've read your stuiff". My first thought and sentence out of my mouth was "I'm not Wade Keller you know".
I explained what I do when I sit and watch matches, how I say whatever comes to my mind first and I look for little things to make cracks about..The owner said they had a kid who's a manager and the kid said I wuldn't be able to get a reaction out of him during his promo. I smiled and said "I hope he isn't willing to put money on that statement". I took a seat and did what I usually did, find the things that could go wrong. it was a very small building and one wall was way too close to the ring as was evident during one match when Tim Kilgore dived thru the ropes and really hit his head against that wall. it was like watching a car crash about to happen. small crowd but I don't know what 'promoting' went into getting the show announced in that area and I didn't want to know as it would've annoyed me, knowing that I've done the 'promoting' of a show and have it draw so my opinion of people not getting off their asses would've came into play.
The show itself wasn't bad. it was thumbs in the middle but they gave a real good effort and for the most part I remembered they got over with the paying crowd, which is the point. That kid manager? he came to the ring for his promo wearing a white suit and these goofy ass gym shoes..So he was trying his hardest to ignore me and he finally said "I'm gonna ignore YOU", and I said "You obviously ignored your wardrobe person too". he turns and yells "What do you mean" and I said, "Where'd youyou get that suit, from a funeral director"?,His face turned as red as a stop sign, lol. then i said, "and them shoes that don't match your suit, come from the goodwill store around the corner"? The fans cracked up and he threatned to come out ofg the ring, etc etc.
During intermission I went in the back and I heard the kid, "you didn't tell me he was gonna make fun of my clothes", and Matt,who's a member of The Damned said, "We never know what he's gonna say, he never tells us you have to learn to 'work' withit".
I remember selling just about all my tapes so overall it was a good day, I sent in the results to the observer and I did do a write up for the show. The fact they didn't phone it in for a small crowd I was happy about. I never did go to another one as I would up putting in my notice to EWA about leaving soon after that, which all things considered what I know now, was a good thing.
