Post by Chaz Matrix on Jan 12, 2007 17:13:06 GMT -5
by chris nelson
"STATE OF THE FORMER UNION ADDRESS" 1-12-07
due to popular demand, here is my first edition of the address. in the old days, i used to talk about things that concerned florida wrestling and florida wrestlers. here it goes again, a few years later and hopefully a few years wiser.
i started wrestling at 16 years old. when i graduated at 17, i went out on the road to try to get work. one of my first stops was the sportatorium in tampa. i went with buddy valentine to that famous building one tuesday night. i met billy mac, frankie reyes and a new ron neimi. i was told to come back next week and they would work me. i cam beck the next week and wrestled the "lord of discipline", and i got paid $10.00. i was there every tuesday night after that until the place closed down. people like myslef and neimi were there. jeff bradley, bill payne, the southern possee. what we did back then was go to every show we could, call every promoter that we could to get work. it worked, we wrestled almost every night at one point. what neimi was always good at was getting his face out there. ron got us in our first magazine together. ron helped get alot of people alot of places, including himself. the reason i am saying all this is because i was talking to a kid this weekend. he could not figure out why he doesn't get booked. he said, " i have a website and everything, but i don't get booked". i asked him how many promoters he called for bookings, he said none. i asked him how many shows he went to for work, he said none. i then told him that he was an idiot to think that people were just going to call him out of the blue for bookings. you have to go out there and get the bookings. beat down the doors of every show in florida if you want to work. call every promoter if you want to work. he said that his website gets alot of traffic. maybe that is his mom marking out for him 50 times a day, i don't know. then i remembered me and ron neimi and other guys riding the roads day after day after day, show after show after show to do what we love to do. if you want to be a wrestler and you are serious about it, you have to promote yourself endlessly to make it. youmay not make any money at it, but that is a choice you have to make if you want to be involved in this business. i worked 2 jobs to support my wrestling habit. i never slept because i was working or wrestling. eventually i made enough money being a wrestler that i did not have to work, just wrestle. it is possible to do, but you have to dedicate your life to doing it. i have always been passionate about this business. at times i have hated it, but i have always been passionate about it. my wife does not understand why i love it so much. howard brody once referred to wrestling as "this mistress we call wrestling". to me, wrestling has always been my love and my life. i find it hard to deal with the fact that i should not wrestle anymore. i have retired a million times and come back again. why you ask....because it is in my blood. a grizzled vet once told me young in my career that once it gets in your blood, you can never get it out. i now understand what he means. i was laying in bed about 3 weeks ago watching raw and i looked at my wife and said, "i want one more t.v. match, just one". she told me that i was crazy and to go to sleep. she is the one who has to live with me when i am being an asshole because i am in so much pain due to my back. i have 3 crushed disks and my doctor told me to NEVER get in the ring again, but still i want 1 more t.v. match. it's addicting, this thing we call wrestling. i was talking to my partner, vito denucci, and he is ready to take a few bookings here and there because he misses it too. he said,"we'll do a few shows, here and there...it'll be great. we'll be divorced, but it'll be great, just like old times". at what point in your wrestling career do you finally walk away for good? i have problems doing things normal people do. it is hard for me because of my severe back problems. i am constantly on vicodin for the pain. not to get high, but because i hurt every day. i want to be a wrestler, i want to entertain the crowd and get laughs or boos, but God, it really has a price tag on it. over the years the injuries and the bumps have added up and taken their toll on my body. that is what i tell young kids i talk to today. be careful when you work, and try not to take too many stupid bumps. chasyn rance took a bump from lo ki and homicide at the kings of the ring tournament that almost killed him. in my opinion, they did not protect him at all. he could have been paralysed for the rest of his life due to one bump. i told him that i was concerned for his saftey. i am concerned for the saftey of anyone who gets in the ring to work. notonly can you reallly get fucked by one move, but over the years you can really be add up alot of damage. my advise is choose your "big bumps" very carefully. protect yourself and revise your working style with the future in mind. don't end up in a wheelchair if you can avoid it. i took 5 powerbombs from big van vader. he was a jerk who liked to rough people up. would i change working him? not at all, it was an experience. i just wish his finishing move was a small package instead.
another topic near and dear to my heart would be ring rats. when i started wrestling there were tons of women who love to sleep with multiple wrestlers at the same time. my question, where did they all go? some of my best stories involve women i met at wrestling matches. these stories have been told and re-told for many years. alot of wrestlers shared in these stories with me because they were involved themselves. now you cannot find a ring rat to save your life. they have all disapeared. i am hoping that someone can shed some light on this subject for me. maybe they are still around and i just can't find them, i don't know. i used to get laid all the time. they may have been fat, skinny, ugly, pretty, 1 legged, zit faced, small titted, large assed ladies....but i still got laid. for every hot chick i nailed, there were 10 that were hidious. my point is that there are no ring rats left. the concept has been erased from existence. not that i am looking for rats, i am happily married and all, i would just like to know that some of the boys somewhere are getting laid. i do believe that rats are still alive and well in the states of georgia and tennessee. i have heard of rat sightings in those areas. someone, please give me an update on the rat situation.
last but not least for this installment, i would like to review a few locker room rules that i think have vanished over the years. if you are a rookie.....introduce yourself to everybody in the locker room. it is your job to come up to everyone, not for them to come up to you. when you arrive at a show, shake everyone's hand. wrestler, ring crew, referee....everybody. do the same as you are leaving the arena. it is common courtesy and people will remember that you did that. i can't believe some of the new guys at some of the shows i go to. in the old days if you did not do it, you would get your ass beat for real. secondly, find a veteran in this business and talk to them. take time out to ask questions, be curious about the old days. most vets are more than happy to tell you like it was, and you will learn alot in the process. i spent an hour with "cowboy" ron bass a few months ago just talking about the business today and how it was yesterday. i learned so much in an hour just by doing that. if you are a rookie, try to ride to a show with a vet. you can share a road trip together and learn so much about wrestling and life. the key to the future is in the past. thank a vet for paving the way for you in this business. their hard work made wrestling what it is today. it is up to you, the new wrestlers, to keep it going. help keep professional wrestling alive. pave the way to the future remembering the past. give respect and get respect. most of all, BE SAFE!!!
thank you for your time. i have enjoyed this and i hope you have too. i am looking forward to seeing everyone at the AWF show next thursday...the FLORIDA GAUNTLET. see you there!
ccn
"STATE OF THE FORMER UNION ADDRESS" 1-12-07
due to popular demand, here is my first edition of the address. in the old days, i used to talk about things that concerned florida wrestling and florida wrestlers. here it goes again, a few years later and hopefully a few years wiser.
i started wrestling at 16 years old. when i graduated at 17, i went out on the road to try to get work. one of my first stops was the sportatorium in tampa. i went with buddy valentine to that famous building one tuesday night. i met billy mac, frankie reyes and a new ron neimi. i was told to come back next week and they would work me. i cam beck the next week and wrestled the "lord of discipline", and i got paid $10.00. i was there every tuesday night after that until the place closed down. people like myslef and neimi were there. jeff bradley, bill payne, the southern possee. what we did back then was go to every show we could, call every promoter that we could to get work. it worked, we wrestled almost every night at one point. what neimi was always good at was getting his face out there. ron got us in our first magazine together. ron helped get alot of people alot of places, including himself. the reason i am saying all this is because i was talking to a kid this weekend. he could not figure out why he doesn't get booked. he said, " i have a website and everything, but i don't get booked". i asked him how many promoters he called for bookings, he said none. i asked him how many shows he went to for work, he said none. i then told him that he was an idiot to think that people were just going to call him out of the blue for bookings. you have to go out there and get the bookings. beat down the doors of every show in florida if you want to work. call every promoter if you want to work. he said that his website gets alot of traffic. maybe that is his mom marking out for him 50 times a day, i don't know. then i remembered me and ron neimi and other guys riding the roads day after day after day, show after show after show to do what we love to do. if you want to be a wrestler and you are serious about it, you have to promote yourself endlessly to make it. youmay not make any money at it, but that is a choice you have to make if you want to be involved in this business. i worked 2 jobs to support my wrestling habit. i never slept because i was working or wrestling. eventually i made enough money being a wrestler that i did not have to work, just wrestle. it is possible to do, but you have to dedicate your life to doing it. i have always been passionate about this business. at times i have hated it, but i have always been passionate about it. my wife does not understand why i love it so much. howard brody once referred to wrestling as "this mistress we call wrestling". to me, wrestling has always been my love and my life. i find it hard to deal with the fact that i should not wrestle anymore. i have retired a million times and come back again. why you ask....because it is in my blood. a grizzled vet once told me young in my career that once it gets in your blood, you can never get it out. i now understand what he means. i was laying in bed about 3 weeks ago watching raw and i looked at my wife and said, "i want one more t.v. match, just one". she told me that i was crazy and to go to sleep. she is the one who has to live with me when i am being an asshole because i am in so much pain due to my back. i have 3 crushed disks and my doctor told me to NEVER get in the ring again, but still i want 1 more t.v. match. it's addicting, this thing we call wrestling. i was talking to my partner, vito denucci, and he is ready to take a few bookings here and there because he misses it too. he said,"we'll do a few shows, here and there...it'll be great. we'll be divorced, but it'll be great, just like old times". at what point in your wrestling career do you finally walk away for good? i have problems doing things normal people do. it is hard for me because of my severe back problems. i am constantly on vicodin for the pain. not to get high, but because i hurt every day. i want to be a wrestler, i want to entertain the crowd and get laughs or boos, but God, it really has a price tag on it. over the years the injuries and the bumps have added up and taken their toll on my body. that is what i tell young kids i talk to today. be careful when you work, and try not to take too many stupid bumps. chasyn rance took a bump from lo ki and homicide at the kings of the ring tournament that almost killed him. in my opinion, they did not protect him at all. he could have been paralysed for the rest of his life due to one bump. i told him that i was concerned for his saftey. i am concerned for the saftey of anyone who gets in the ring to work. notonly can you reallly get fucked by one move, but over the years you can really be add up alot of damage. my advise is choose your "big bumps" very carefully. protect yourself and revise your working style with the future in mind. don't end up in a wheelchair if you can avoid it. i took 5 powerbombs from big van vader. he was a jerk who liked to rough people up. would i change working him? not at all, it was an experience. i just wish his finishing move was a small package instead.
another topic near and dear to my heart would be ring rats. when i started wrestling there were tons of women who love to sleep with multiple wrestlers at the same time. my question, where did they all go? some of my best stories involve women i met at wrestling matches. these stories have been told and re-told for many years. alot of wrestlers shared in these stories with me because they were involved themselves. now you cannot find a ring rat to save your life. they have all disapeared. i am hoping that someone can shed some light on this subject for me. maybe they are still around and i just can't find them, i don't know. i used to get laid all the time. they may have been fat, skinny, ugly, pretty, 1 legged, zit faced, small titted, large assed ladies....but i still got laid. for every hot chick i nailed, there were 10 that were hidious. my point is that there are no ring rats left. the concept has been erased from existence. not that i am looking for rats, i am happily married and all, i would just like to know that some of the boys somewhere are getting laid. i do believe that rats are still alive and well in the states of georgia and tennessee. i have heard of rat sightings in those areas. someone, please give me an update on the rat situation.
last but not least for this installment, i would like to review a few locker room rules that i think have vanished over the years. if you are a rookie.....introduce yourself to everybody in the locker room. it is your job to come up to everyone, not for them to come up to you. when you arrive at a show, shake everyone's hand. wrestler, ring crew, referee....everybody. do the same as you are leaving the arena. it is common courtesy and people will remember that you did that. i can't believe some of the new guys at some of the shows i go to. in the old days if you did not do it, you would get your ass beat for real. secondly, find a veteran in this business and talk to them. take time out to ask questions, be curious about the old days. most vets are more than happy to tell you like it was, and you will learn alot in the process. i spent an hour with "cowboy" ron bass a few months ago just talking about the business today and how it was yesterday. i learned so much in an hour just by doing that. if you are a rookie, try to ride to a show with a vet. you can share a road trip together and learn so much about wrestling and life. the key to the future is in the past. thank a vet for paving the way for you in this business. their hard work made wrestling what it is today. it is up to you, the new wrestlers, to keep it going. help keep professional wrestling alive. pave the way to the future remembering the past. give respect and get respect. most of all, BE SAFE!!!
thank you for your time. i have enjoyed this and i hope you have too. i am looking forward to seeing everyone at the AWF show next thursday...the FLORIDA GAUNTLET. see you there!
ccn