10 Years of New England Championship Wrestling

On August 7 & 8, New England Championship Wrestling, the promotion I founded and currently operate with 3 fantastic partners and the help of numerous others, celebrates it's 10 year anniversary with a 2 night spectacular you can learn more about at http://www.necwwrestling.com/.

This post is not about hyping these events, although it may additionally serve that purpose.  This post is about its title "10 Years of New England Championship Wrestling."

NECW has run consistent live events for a decade.  It has produced weekly original television distributed via the Internet for more years than there has been a You Tube or a Hulu and was the first to do so.  It is currently producing original weekly television that can be seen throughout New England on Comcast Video On Demand - another first in the industry.

On Saturday, August 12, 2000, I stood in front of a group of young men in a former arcade in Wethersfield, CT and told them, "This company is about making you guys the stars.  I live and die with you guys."

At the time, that was a radical statement.  The conventional wisdom at the time was that TV stars drew the fans, and if you didn't have those stars, you weren't going to make it.  In fact, I remember after our 3rd event, which took place at the old Good Time Emporium in Somerville, MA, our then ring announcer sat me down, looked at me and said, "If you don't start booking the big names, you'll be out of business in six months."

Keeping that promise was not easy.  It took years before people started to believe that "local wrestling" was a viable way to conduct business.  It still isn't easy.  But today, when I call the matches for TV and see young men and women who are bound together by a near irrational love of pro wrestling and the burning desire to make it in this profession, and the audiences, no matter how large or small, touched by their in-ring stuggles, I continue to be inspired and priviledged to have had a hand in making those dreams into reality.

The list of athletes that have benefitted from the stage NECW has provided over the years is a long and impressive one.  Whether they worked for one night, a few months or a numerous years, all had a part to play in the history and legacy of New England Championship Wrestling.  Whether they were local or made the trip to our area from across the U.S. or overseas, they sought NECW out because it provided that stage that gave them credibitlity and exposure.

Some of NECW's alumni include, John Cena, Beth Phoenix, Trinity, Doug Williams, Sumie Sakai, "Die Hard" Eddie Edwards, "Prince" Fergal Devitt, Nikki Roxx, Mercedes Martinez, Antonio Thomas, Rebecca Knox, Jonny Storm, Jody Fleisch, The All Knighters, and many, many, many more.

The local stories are often the most compelling.  When NECW decided to seriously promote women's wrestling and created the Wordl Women's Wrestling brand, Nikki Roxx, tapped to be the company's first champion appeared in every major local newspaper on radio and TV, garnering more press than any other wrestler - male or female - in New England wrestling history.  It was a springboard to a tryout in WWE and a run in TNA.

Speaking of women's wrestling, this Sunday the World Women's Wrestling brand returns with a very unique main event - WWW Champion, Mistress Belmont vs. Alexxis Neveah for the title in a steel cage.  These two women have improved so much since they started with us to the point that they are two of the best women in pro wrestling bar none.

Next weekend, as we celebrate 10 years and embark on our second decade, I hope you will make it down and share this extraordinary promotion and experience with us.  I can say with every confidence that New England Championship Wrestling takes a backseat to nothing and no one.  It has absoultely made an impact on this sport we call professional wrestling.  If you've followed us at all, come back and you'll remember why.  If you've never been to NECW live before, come down and be a part of a very special event and a very special group of people.

Thanks for reading and thanks for your support.

Happy 4th of July! Random Thoughts on NECW, WWE, TNA, Lesnar/UFC, Heyman

Hope everyone is having a great 4th of July weekend.  We are overdue for an update and there's lots to cover, so let's get to it.

We are getting closer and closer to a huge milestone for New England Championship Wrestling - our 10th anniversary.  We are cerebrating with a huge 3 night spectacular with a banquet on Friday, August 6, the main Bash 10 event on Saturday, August 7 and a combination World Women's Wrestling event and NECW TV taping on Saturday, August 8 at 1 PM.  Everything takes place in Quincy.  All the details, as well as a tremendous 3 event discount package, can be found at http://www.necwwrestling.com/.

If you are a wrestling fan, you really don't want to miss NECW live.  We're back in Quincy this coming Saturday night and the action of late in the company is on a par with anything we have ever done.

If I have one frustration, it is that I believe NECW is the single most underrated wrestling promotion in the country.  We made a choice to specialize in local wrestling.  Maybe some people think that isn't sexy enough, but I would put this company up against anything out there and I believe those who haven't seen it would absolutely find it worth their time and money.

I am lucky that I get the best the seat in the house to call the matches for TV and home video and having watched wrestling for as long as I have, I can confidently say that if I weren't involved in putting this on, I would be following everything and buying tickets.

Not only do I think its great wrestling, its a great value too.  With tickets normally well under $20, you can't go wrong, especially if you have a family and want to bring your kids out for a great night of action and fun.

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I want to apologize to our fans in New England who had to wait until later in the week to see the latest episode of New England Championship Wrestling on Comcast On Demand.   Comcast has technical issues on their end and the show did not get up correctly until Friday.  The shows aired as scheduled online, and all previous shows are available on Vimeo.

If you have Comcast On Demand, live in New England, and aren't seeing NECW on your menu, or if there are technical issues with the show, please e-mail me directly at NECWOffice@aol.com, because I want to know.

I'd also like to hear your thoughts on our On Demand series.  This is another innovation for NECW, as there has never been another original wrestling program made available in this way. 

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WWE has been raising eyebrows with the NXT program and the rookie invasion dominating RAW.  The company sees the need to elevate young stars and this is an ideal vehicle to do it.

Whatever criticisms I have read about the way the company has presented this, I applaud them for the effort and find a lot to be interested in.

Pro wrestling is a talent driven business.  To keep people interested, stars have to be made.  Talent needs to be developed and brought to the top of the roster effectively.

With MMA siphoning off some of the best young fighting talents, pro wrestling in general and WWE specifically, needs to address how to recruit top athletes and develop them.  We are in an age when the territory system no longer exists and instead we have "developmental."   I am happy to see that Jim Ross will be back involved in the developmental area, because of the top stars in the company today, Ross recruited most of them.

I want to see WWE, as well as TNA succeed.  As someone in the business of professional wrestling, when the top players do well, that interest trickles down.  What is good for WWE & TNA is good for NECW, ROH, etc.

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TNA has been struggling of late after the aborted move to Monday nights.  There are rumors of Paul Heyman being courted to be the "savior" and frankly, pro wrestling needs a mind like Paul Heyman's actively working in it.

Heyman was in Brock Lesnar's training group at UFC 116 last night, and I happened to see a video interview with him.  Heyman claimed his days in pro wrestling are over and that he's got a couple of book projects and other things going on in addition to his Heyman Hustle website.

Do I think Paul Heyman is done with pro wrestling?  No.  Do I think he'll be picked up by TNA?  I would say that for Paul to jump in there, he would have to have a very lucrative deal, one where he would be able to execute his concepts fully.  Control is a tough thing for any company to give up, so we'll see what happens.  If anyone could make TNA more competitive, it would be Heyman.

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Amazon Video Recommendation

Andy Kaufman's run in Memphis Wrestling was so far ahead of its time.  "I'm From Hollywood" chronicles the story of Andy run vs. Jerry "The King" Lawler in a feud that changed pro wrestling forever.

This is a DVD you'll want to watch again and again.  An absolute 5 star classic!

More thoughts later in the week!

P.W. Why?: Does Anyone Read Pro Wrestling Illustrated Anymore?

Last Thursday, on my way to doing the Mouthpiece Wrestling Show, I stopped off at a Barnes & Noble to kill a little time and wait out a brief thunderstorm.  As the skies opened up, I gravitated to the magazine section to see what, if any wrestling magazines were on sale.

A little over 10 years ago, there were at least a half dozen pro wrestling titles available on every major newsstand.  Apart from the Pro Wrestling Illustrated family of magazines (PWI, The Wrestler, Inside Wrestling) you had WOW, the Starlog titles, Wrestling's Main Event and some others. Back in the 70's, titles like The Ring's Wrestling, The Big Book of Wrestling and Wrestling Revue populated local newsstands and were prized collectables of kids like me all around the country.

Today, you have WWE Magazine and PWI. That's it.

There are people who will tell you that these are changing times, that printed media is a dinosaur and how everyone gets their information from the Internet or TV.  I won't argue that trend, but I look at newsstands today and I see just as many titles as I ever did.  Most are glossier, many are thinner, but they are still there.

Back to Barnes & Noble last Thursday.  Browsing through their huge selection of magazines, I saw the latest issue of Pro Wrestling Illustrated - the "State of the Game" issue.

I flipped open to the article called "The State of Independent Wrestling."  It talked about Ring of Honor (on national TV and touring around the country, so that's hardly an independent), DGUSA, Jersey All Pro Wrestling and something called EVOLVE.  And that was it.

Ugh.  It was as though wrestling did not exist beyond the NY, NJ, PA area.

I thought to myself, "How crappy is this?  This is so not thorough.  Why would anyone bother to read this?"

A couple of months ago, we got an e-mail asking us to send in pictures and profiles for the annual PWI 500, an issue where the top 500 wrestlers in the business are listed.  Every promotion around the country PWI has an e-mail address for gets solicited for this and we're happy to send in names, photos and bio information.

But why does it stop there?  Why is it that PWI has such a narrow focus?  Is it a lack of resources?

Back in the territory days, promoters would pay to fly in a Bill Apter, who would take photos of the big shows, write stories about the top stars in a given territory and highlight certain talent.   While WWE has its own magazine and doesn't need PWI to expose its talent, WWE still dominates PWI content as it should.  But shouldn't there be more coverage or more avenues for coverage for the significant independent companies around the country?

Any wrestling fan can get all the latest news for free on any number of wrestling news sites.  The internet has done more to usurp the importance of the newsstand wrestling magazine than anything else.  PWI has allowed itself to be pretty irrelevant by not embracing the online world.

I think there is still a value to the newsstand wrestling magazine, but not if its going to focus only on a few companies.

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Amazon DVD Deal

If you've never seen the 5 disc Wrestling Gold box set chock full of great 70's and 80's matches, you owe it to yourself to get this set.

10 hours of old school wrestling for less than $15?  Yes inded.  This is the best wrestling DVD bargain out there.

This DVD set is special because the bouts are presented with not only the original commentary, but also with a special alternate commentary track featuring Dave Meltzer and Jim Cornette, who give great background and stories about the matches and the territories and what was going on in the business at the time.

You owe to yourself to add this to your collection and the price is most definitely right.

IRON 8 Thoughts & more

Last night's NECW event was a great night of action and entertainment in Somerset, MA for the 7th annual edition of the IRON 8 Championship. Fans were treated to a live performance by the great local band Tester, whose "King of the World" was the official song of the IRON 8. If you haven't checked this band out, they are pretty damned awesome and "King of the World" has hit written all over it - check it out at http://www.tester13.com.

Hats off to producer/director Bryan Nadeau for putting that together. NECW and the local music scene are a great fit, especially considering the media assets NECW brings to the table.

As for the wrestling end of the evening, it was a phenomenal card and kudos to every athlete who participated.

This year's IRON 8 was marked by several injuries prior to the event taking place, which caused numerous changes to the line up. There was a certain flavor missing this year, but when it came to bell to bell action and intrigue, this one was hard to beat.

Full results will be available soon on the NECW website, but congratulations to Handsome Johnny who won this year's tournament in dramatic fashion. The result leaves a lot of unanswered questions regarding The Handsome One and his protetge, "Sensational" Scott Levesque, but there is no question that Handsome Johnny elevated his game in NECW last night.

The night also featured a phenomenal Triple Crown Championship Match that saw "The Real Deal" Brandon Locke and NECW Television Champion, "The Heat" Kris Pyro take each other to the absolute limit in a match that I would consider an all time classic in NECW. While Pyro showed he has the goods to be a top dog by any measure, Locke is a superb athlete and in my no-so-humble opinion, the Triple Crown has elevated Locke to his peak as a performer. I watched this match and got that same vibe I would get watching a classing NWA World Title defense by Harley Race or Ric Flair.

When this one comes out on DVD, I would get it for that title match alone.

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This summer New England Championship Wrestling will celebrate its 10th anniversary. In our business, that is a very significant milestone and plans are afoot to celebrate in a big way.

Stay tuned.

Mania/Holiday/Spring Thoughts, NECW in Carver, MA This Saturday, Mouthpiece Update and more

I hope everyone had a great Easter or Passover, whichever you celebrate. It looks like spring is finally making itself present and that is a very good thing.

I watched WrestleMania at the home of super fan, fellow wrestling collector and NECW devotee, Jay DeChellis last weekend. Joe Matterazzo and I, along with another of the NECW faithful, Jerry Lane, enjoyed the PPV event, in particular the Undertaker-Michaels bout.

While I hate to see the industry lose a great talent, Shawn Michael's farewell speech on Raw was touching and hit the points perfectly. I hope Shawn keeps his word and stays out of the ring, unlike Ric Flair.

I am as big a Flair fan as anyone, but frankly, I think Flair really damaged his legacy with his return. And while I understand that financial necessity was involved, it is going to be hard for fans to take any wrestler's retirement seriously after Flair returned to the ring after last year's ultimate send off.

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New England Championship Wrestling comes to Carver High School in Carver, MA, which is on the way to Cape Cod, this coming Saturday night, April 10 at 7 PM. The event is called "A Fight for Alex" and for all you long time fans, it does not involve any real or imagined friend of Killer Karl Kox.

Alex is Alex Wawryzniak, a 3 1/2 year old child suffering from brain cancer. His grandfather is Bill "Buzz" Lopez, a former area wrestling manager who did a brieft stint with NECW doing interviews for our Internet TV show. Pro wrestling is very much "family" to those involved in it. And when one of our family is in a time of need, we respond.

I hope that if you are at all close to the area, you will see fit to join us that night for a great event and a great cause.

Head on over to http://www.NECWwrestling.com for all the details, including how to order tickets.

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There will be a major announcement concerning Thge Mouthpiece Fight Block, the three fight talk shows on Boston's 1510 the Zone, later this week.

We have a lot of loyal listeners who have followed the show no matter how many times we've changed time slots over the past 21 months, and I want to thank all of you profusely for your support.

This week, we will be live from our studios on Thursday night, April 8 at 7 PM EST, as we will be pre-empted from our now usual Saturday night slot due to Red Sox baseball.

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New England Championship Wrestling on Comcast On Demand continues to perform well both on TV and online.

This week's edition is an exceptional episode featuring a first-ever World Women's Wrestling Title vs. Hair Match, between champion Alexxis Neveah and challenger, Mistress Belmont, managed by Sean Gorman. If Belmont loses, BOTH she and Gorman lose their hair. It's a tremendous match up, and I can tell you that the next few weeks of New England Championship Wrestling are "must see" episodes.

Check it out at http://www.NECWwrestling.com

GENESIS 9, Mouthpiece Moving & Random Thoughts

Last weekend's GENESIS 9 from New England Championship Wrestling was the first NECW event I have ever missed due to some kind of 48 hour virus. I thought I was going to need a trip to the emergency room at one point, but thankfully that was not the case and I am back to 100%.

I'm told the event was really terrific, and if you missed it, it will be available on DVD on March 20th both online and at all of our NECW live events.

The highlight of the night was the crowning, in very controversial fashion, of a new NECW Triple Crown Champion in "The Real Deal" Brandon Locke, dethroning Max Bauer, who held that title for a record 23 months. In this day and age, to hold a pro wrestling championship for that length of time is quite the achievement. Locke has all the tools to carry the ball splendidly. I don't expect Bauer to exit the title picture easily, as frankly he was robbed in Pembroke, MA. He knows the culprit and has a rematch clause to boot.

For all the results, visit http://www.necwwrestling.com/.

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The Mouthpiece Wrestling Show, which I host along with Joe Matterazzo and Mike Johnson, has been doing a lot of moving around lately, due to some of the sports currently aired on the WWZN 1510 The Zone in Boston.

To be honest, I can't count how many times the show has changed time slots, but thanks to the miracle of podcasting, we have kept a loyal audience and the numbers in that regard have been healthy and steady.

The show is also part of a 3 hour "fight block" combined with a Mouthpiece MMA show and the original Mouthpiece show - the Mouthpiece Boxing Show, hosted by station GM, Anthony Pepe. The Fight Block, which was Pepe's concept, has been gaining steam this year and sponsor interest has been building.

In order to preserve the integrity of the 3 show block, we're moving to a more permanent time slot on Saturday nights from 9 PM to midnight, starting March 20th. Mouthpiece Wrestling will kick things off at 9, followed by MMA, then Boxing.

The best news is that there will be more of an opportunity to be live with the move. We will still be doing our monthly live shows from the world famous Golden Banana Gentlemen's Club on Route 1 in Peabody, MA and our next live show there will be this Thursday, March 11 starting at 7 PM. You are welcome, and in fact, encouraged, to come out in person and check us out live, along with the gorgeous dancers. Live from the Golden Banana is usually a wild night of radio, but even better experienced in person .

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New England Championship Wrestling is into its 3rd month on Comcast On Demand in New England and is doing quite well so far. Numbers are encouraging, both in terms of viewership of the shows and live attendance. Fan feedback has been great.

There has been a lot of speculation as to why the shows are not airing on Comcast SportsNet as was the original intention. We did announce some technical problems with the first few episodes, but during that time, CSN informed us that they could not live up to the originally contracted Friday afternoon time slot for the term of the contract. Moving the show to the On Demand platform was a mutual decision made in the best interests of our company and our fans.

This is the first time a weekly pro wrestling show has been distributed in this manner and is another pioneering effort by NECW, similar to when NECW began offering weekly original wrestling programming via the Internet more than 5 years ago, long before there was a You Tube or a Hulu.

NECW is now available to roughly 2.2 million Comcast subscribers in portions of 5 of the 6 New England states. For those that are not Comcast subscribers, the shows are being made available online through our website, so pretty much anyone who wants to see it can see it in some way.

One of the hallmarks of NECW has been thinking outside the box and using new school devices to push the old school foundations of our product. Like all pioneering efforts, there are bumps in the road and fixes to be made along the way, but make no mistake about this, New England Championship Wrestling on Comcast On Demand has been a success so far and we are only scratching the surface of its potential.

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Speaking of NECW on Comcast On Demand, I have been very impressed with some of the newer talent we have been featuring. Names like Vinnie Marseglia, Julian Starr, Biff Busick and Marco Mac, along with others may not be familiar to NECW fans, but these are kids who have brought a lot to the table, even in efforts where they didn't walk away with a "W."

There is a pretty healthy pool of wrestling talent in the area and all the more reason to watch every week.

I was sad to hear of the passing of the Poffo Family patriarch, Angelo Poffo the other day. Apparently, he had been ill for some time and my deepsent sympathies go out to his family and friends.

I met Angelo on a few occasions and he was always nice to me, thanks to our mutual friend, Phyllis Lee.

Poffo was famous for a lot of things in wrestling - other than his offspring Lanny Poffo and "Macho Man" Randy Savage. Poffo once set a record for most sit up performed by a human being at one time in 6,033. In fact, he would wear that number on the back of his ring attire in later years.

Poffo, when he managed his sons in later years, was known as 'The Miser" as he was also famous for being, shall we say, tight with a buck. Mr. Poffo did indeed live that gimmick, and it served him well in his later years.

Again, my deepest sympathies to his family and friends.

RIP Georgiann Makropoulos

It's a sad day in pro wrestling as we mourn the loss of Georgiann Makropoulos, who passed away from a heart attack yesterday at the age of 67.

Prior to the advent of wrestling insider newsletters and the Internet, there were newsstand magazines and their were fan clubs set up for wrestlers by some of the more diehard fans. Georgiann Makropoulus was the queen of wrestling fan clubs, having been founder and president of the fan clubs for Buddy Rogers and, most notably, Bruno Sammartino.

She went on to write for numerous wrestling magazines and, later started her own newsletter, "The Wrestling Chatterbox" which continuously published until her passing. As the online medium developed, she wrote for Bob Ryder's 1wrestling.com, and later and most recently for Wrestling Collectables' wrestlingfigs.com web site.

Georgiann was freinds with many of the top stars in the business. She and Bruno Sammartino were as close as family. Anyone who met Georgiann was instantly struck by her kindness and willingness to befriend anyone who was a wrestling fan.

She was involved in the business from the late 50's and transcended eras, never losing her passion for pro wrestling, in spite of all the changes to it in this last generation. I first met her in the 70's here in Boston at the old Garden, but didn't really get to know her until I started publishing the Mat Marketplace newsletter in the early 90's. She was always ready to help with anything if asked.

While she was first and foremost a fan, she was known for brokering deals for wrestlers with both big and small promotions, and looking out for autograph signing opportunities for her friends. I don't know anyone who ever said anything negative about her, and that is a rare thing in such an ego intensive business.

Georgiann was truly one of a kind. Her passing is the true end of an era. The most apt statement was one I read from someone on Facebook, saying she was a treasure to our business that can never be replaced.

Post BIRTHDAY BASH 9 Shockwaves Continue as NECW Announces TV Deal

It's been just over 2 weeks since NECW's 9th anniversary show, BIRTHDAY BASH 9: RAGE IN A CAGE and the announcement that NECW will premiere a weekly one-hour TV show on Comcast SportsNet New England starting in January 2010.

While the announcement and the huge implications of it dominates the public and not so public discourse on the event, let's not lose sight of the fact that it was one hell of a wrestling event in front of a great crowd.

The NECW roster was at its best, perhaps energized and inspired by the TV announcement. That announcement was kept secret from the roster and crew until a pre-show meeting at 5:30 PM that night.

The main event was a tremendous cage match between NECW Triple Crown Champion, "The Enforcer" Max Bauer and "The Golden Greek" Alex Arion, which saw Bauer retain the title in a thrilling battle with former Triple Crown Champion, D.C. Dillinger as the special guest referee.

Alexxis Nevaeh regained the World Women's Wrestling Championship over "The Portuguese Princess" Ariel in a match that can best be described as a clinic.

"The Heat" Kris Pyro defeated "Superstar" Ryan Matthews to become the new NECW Television Champion in a fantasic opening bout.

All the results can be found at www.necwwrestling.com.

But results only tell a portion of the story of this particular night.

Wrestling, like any other form of sports or entertainment, is a field of dreams and dreamers. Independent wrestling, in particular, is a place populated by those who have a dream to become stars. Some fulfill that dream in front of small crowds in armories and halls of all shapes and sizes and are content and satisfied that they journeyed the road less traveled. Others are intent on following that road to a bigger destination. And while everyone in our business dreams of being a star on TV, not everyone will make it.

The Quincy Armory at 5:30 PM EST on Saturday night, Auguest 8 was a collection of all types of dreams and all types of dreamers. There were some who have wrestled on Monday Night Raw. There were some who have wrestled in Japan, Mexico, Europe, Puerto Rico, Memphis, Louisville, Canada and on and on. There were some who perform at a stellar level, even though they've been told they aren't big enough, tall enough, jacked up enough, etc.

In introducing the video that was shot in the studios of Comcast SportsNet officially announcing our TV deal, I told them all that in 5 minues their lives were about to change. As the video played, I watched the faces change. Expressions that ranged from bug-eyed, jaw-dropped shock to childlike excitement to tears of joy from grown adults appeared before me. When the video ended, all were on their feet cheering.

I am used to people looking down at what New England Championship Wrestling is and does. I'd been told countless times that it was never going to survive, never going to work, never going to be anything other than a little operation than put on shows in front of a few hundred people. I never listened to any of them.

By 5:45 PM on Augsut 8, 2009, the roster, crew and staff of New England Championship Wrestling saw that they now had something everyone in our business hopes for and dreams of - a real chance.

This week's NECW TV, which you can watch by clicking here, shows how the announcement was made to the audience. What the clip doesn't accurately convey is the emotion of the fans. After the announcement was made and at intermission, I was literally mobbed by people who wanted to offer their congratulations. One fan told Joe Matterazzo that it was like they got a TV deal too, and they did.

Since that night, I've received literally hundreds of well-wishes from fans, family, friends and associates. I haven't been able to scratch the surface of responding to them all, but please know that mere vocabulary can't convey the depth of my gratitude.

The shockwaves have yet to settle down since August 8th. Naturally, there's been a boo bird or two, criticizing our announcement and predicting the same doom and gloom for NECW that's been predicted for much of the past 9 years. You'd think they'd get it by now.

The NECW team looks forward to the coming months as we build toward our television debut. I would not miss our next event - the 1st Annual NECW TAG TEAM CLASSIC - which takes place on Saturday night, September 19th. Go to www.NECWwrestling.com for tickets and info. You'll be hearing more as the weeks and months go forward.

Thank you again for your support.

Pre-BIRTHDAY BASH 9 Notes, Mouthpiece Milestone

Wow, I can't believe it's been so long between posts!

It's been a very busy time here for all of us in New England Championship Wrestling, as we get set to celebrate our 9th anniversary this Saturday night in Quincy at the Armory.

Those of you who are regular fans get to see the great action and the great production and presentation. What you don't see is the greatest team in this end of the industry putting their hearts and souls into delivering these great events, DVD's and TV broadcasts. The real joy of promoting wrestling is not what I do myself, but the company that helps me to do it. Tomorrow night is their night and it will be a very special occasion for all of us.

9 years of promoting wrestling is a milestone for certain. When you come to NECW's BIRTHDAY BASH 9 tomorrow night, I promise you an event that will be talked about for some time to come. I look forward to seeing you there and thank you for your support.

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Speaking of milestones, The Mouthpiece Wrestling Show is now in its second year on WWZN 1510 The Zone in Boston.

We are now on Saturday afternoons from 4 to 5 PM as the third hour in a three hour "fight block" with the Mouthpiece Boxing Show at 2 PM and the Mouthpiece MMA Show at 3 PM. If you are a fight fan, this is great listening.

I have had a blast with Joe Matterazzo and Mike Johnson hosting the shows and talking to so many great stars and personalities in the world of pro wrestling. Thankfully, fans have responded with over 20,000 podcast subscribers listening to the show in addition to over the air and Internet streaming listeners.

The move to Saturdays has forced us to pre-tape the shows, but very soon we'll be going live once a month, which will allow us to take phone calls and perhaps see some of you in person as we take the show on the road.

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I'll have more at the end of the weekend with BASH 9 thoughts and big news.

R.I.P. Ted Tanabe

I was deeply saddened to hear that Japanese pro wrestling referee, Ted Tanabe, died suddenly yesterday from a heart attack suffered during a show for Osaka Pro Wrestling. Tanabe was just 46 years old.

Tanabe may be best known to American fans as the referee for Michinoku Pro Wrestling who officiated the great 6 man tag match at ECW's first pay per view, Barely Legal in April 1997. I was closely involved in Michinoku appearing at that pay per view and had the chance to get to know Tanabe a little bit during that period of time.

My first time meeting Ted Tanabe was in February 1997, when Michinoku Pro Wrestling owner and star, The Great Sasuke, brought a group of wrestlers to Boston to appear on an ECW TV Taping and a Century Wrestling Alliance show (the late Tony Rumble's company and the pre-cursor of NWA New England) headlined by then WCW booker, Kevin Sullivan. A deal was going to be made on this trip for the Michinoku stars to appear on the Barley Legal PPV for ECW with myself playing middle man.

Tanabe was more than just a referee for Michinoku at that time. He was clearly the guy who kept track of the boys, most of whom were young stars equivalent to the upper end of their American counterparts on the independent scene.

Ted Tanabe looked something like a Japanese version of Lou Costello - jovial, and obviously a huge wrestling fan. When I met him, I was told he had promoted independent shows in Japan and was also a referee for FMW and Battlearts, as well as Michinoku.

When they were in Boston before, Tanabe expressed an interest in American wrestling magazines, buying up whatever he could find on the newsstands. I brought him a number of magazines I had, as well as some old programs.

When I saw him again in Phildadelphia just prior to the Barely Legal PPV, he produced a whole pile of things for me, including old Japanese magazines, posters, trading cards and other assorted goodies. I reciprocated with bag full of things I’d brought to give to him.

My favorite memory of Ted Tanabe would be at Boston's Logan Airport when the Michinoku crew were going back to Japan after the February trip. It was time to say goodbye and the young boys did not know whether to bow, shake hands or what. Ted looked at them, looked back at me and then threw his arms around mem gave me a hug and thanked me. All the others lined up and follwed suit, including the great veteran Gran Hamada.

My deepest sympathies to his family and friends. Ted Tanabe was a good man and a person who made an impact on the business he truly loved.

Post IRON 8 Notes, Dr. Death Steve Williams, RIP Mitsuhara Misawa

So we are now just a little more than two weeks removed from NECW's 6th Annual IRON 8 Championship. I am still waiting for my feet to once again touch the ground.

The biggest and most important reason that I promote professional wrestling is that I am a fan. I flat out love this.

As a wrestling promotion, we believe that we know what it good and have a vision for how to present professional wrestling that suits our particular circumstance. To say that we have an old school mentality would be an apt description, although we have brought numerous innovations to our business that are absolutely "new school."

Whatever NECW (or any other company for that matter) does, it can never turn back the clock and make wrestling "like it was." The best we can do is to stand on tradition and build smartly on that foundation.

It was only fitting that we had Harley Race as our special guest this past Saturday night. No one epitomizes the values of "old school" like Harley Race, one of the greatest world champions ever and a true iron man in the annals of wrestling history.

The IRON 8 event was, in my not-so-humble opinion, the greatest NECW event ever presented. It struck the perfect balance of action, storytelling, comedy and drama. All the talent on the event did phenomenal work in front of an enthusiastic and appreciative audience - an audience that included Harley Race.

If you watch the current episode of NECW TV (click here to watch it), you will hear Harley Race himself praise the IRON 8 and its participants. He told us after the show that we were the best independent promotion he's ever seen. And folks, praise doesn't come higher than that.

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This week's Mouthpiece Wrestling Show had "Dr. Death" Steve Williams as our special guest. The story of what Steve Willams has accomplished and the battle with throat cancer he endured and eventually won, is compelling radio to be sure.

I'm still waiting for the mp3 file, but when it is online it will be in our Mouthpiece Wrestling Show archive, that you can access by clicking here. All the past shows are online, and we've had some great ones.

Wrestlers Rescue is currently holding a raffle to raisde money for a hands-free voice box for "Dr. Death." Go to www.wrestlersrescue.org and buy some raffle tickets. You could win an autographed cowboy hat from WWE Hall of Famer, Jim Ross. I believe they also have a number of items for sale on eBay that you collectors may find interesting.

Wrestlers Rescue had a table at our IRON 8 event, and they have been invited to have a continued presence with NECW at our live events. I hope to be able to do more with this very worthy organization in the future.

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Mitsuhara Misawa died tragically in the ring yesterday in Hiroshima, Japan. He was just shy of his 47th birthday.

Misawa was truly one of the greatest stars in the history of pro wrestling, and it's a shame that American fans did not get to see more of this gifted athlete.

Misawa, who made his fame in All Japan Pro Wrestling after becoming a national amateur champion in high school, was President of Pro Wrestling NOAH, the company that continued the traditions of classic All Japan after the death of All Japan founder Shohei "Giant" Baba.

I never had the opportunity to meet Misawa, but former NECW star "Die Hard" Eddie Edwards, who toured for NOAH, always spoke of him with great reverence. If you followed his matches, particularly in the 90's, his talent spoke for itself.

The fact that the death was so public makes this tragedy even more monumental. My condolences to the family and friends of Mitsuhara Misawa, the staff and talent roster of Pro Wrestling NOAH and the legion of fans who loved this incomparable talent.

This Year's IRON 8: A Can't Miss Night of Professional Wrestling

On Saturday night, May 30th, NECW will present the 6th Annual IRON 8 Championship, an event that has a lot of personal meaning for me. The event takes place in the hallowed halls of the Armory in Quincy, and I fully expect that this year's IRON 8 will be a landmark event for New England Championship Wrestling.

The IRON 8 has become a defining event for NECW - a signature of the company. That's because it is that rare occurance in professional wrestling - an original twist on an overused idea.

Years ago, Jim Kettner's East Coast Wrestling Association in Delaware created an event called the Super 8. It was an 8 man elimination tournament featuring the best talent on the independent circuit. It became the Super Bowl of independent wrestling - the one event everyone in the industry, at least on this level, looked up to as a "state of the art" event. In fact, the Super 8 was such a success that the 8 man elimination tournament became somewhat of an independent wrestling cliche.

In 2003, I was looking for something that would become the "Super 8" of NECW - an event that was unique to the promotion and to the wrestling scene here in New England. That year, in August, on NECW's 3rd Anniversary, NECW booker and former WWE announcer, Kevin Kelly, came up with a rather unique main event. It was Maverick Wild, then the NECW Heavyweight Champion, defending the title in a 4 way, 45 minute Iron Man match against, not one, but the three top contenders for his title - "Brutal" Bob Evans, "The Golden Greek" Alex Arion and Antonio "The Promise" Thomas. The match was an all time classic in NECW history and such a compelling athletic display, that the bell immediately went off in my head, that this kind of match could be the culmination of a tournament and exactly the kind of signature event I had been searching for. Thus, the IRON 8 was born.

The first two years of the tournament saw the IRON 8 held as a two consecutive night event. While the first year had a tremendous field, including British stars, Doug Williams (currently in TNA) and Paul Tyrrell (a terrific worker from England, who gets nowhere near the pub he should), the two night format spread the audience out and took away from the effectiveness of the event.

In 2006, after the merger of NECW & PWF, the IRON 8 became a one night event and really came into it's own. The audiences have grown steadily for the IRON 8, to where last year's tournament was the most successful in the series.

The IRON 8 is described as "the ultimate test of skill, stamina and strategy." It consists of an opening round where the 8 competitors face off in a series of single matches. The winners earn the right to proceed to the second round, which is the IRON 8 final - a 4 way, 45 minute iron man match with the man scoring the most pinfalls or submissions in 45 minutes becoming that year's IRON 8 Champion. To win, you have to have the ability to wrestle for an hour over the two matches. It is presented more like an athletic event and, in fact, the IRON 8 is the true showcase of how great the talent is in New England. While not all competitors are local each year, this year, everyone is either currently local or has had local ties, such as Kenny Doane, who grew up in Worcester before siging with WWE. Kenny was also a former 2 time PWF Tag Team Champion as well.

This year, the winner will receive the trophy from the legendary 8 time former NWA World Heavyweight Champion, WWE & WCW Hall of Famer, Harley Race. Race is a true iron man of pro wrestling. One of the game's greatest athletes in his prime, Race wrestled 60 minute matches against the best talent in the world on a nightly basis, so who would understand the challenge of the IRON 8 better than Harley Race?

Kenny Doane, Antonio Thomas, Slyck Wagner Brown, "The Heat" Kris Pyro, "The Real Deal" Brandon Locke, Maverick Wild, "The Natural" Scott Osbourne and Davey Loomis are this year's entrants. Athletically, this is one of the best fields ever in an IRON 8. It will be a night that futher establishes the fact that New England talent does not have to take a back seat to any other part of the country. It is also a tribute to the business that Harley Race did so proud - the business of professional wrestling, not sports entertainment.

We also have an additonal feature match on the card - a special mixed tag team grudge match, pitting NECW Triple Crown Champion, "The Enforcer" Max Bauer and Alexxis Nevaeh against "The Golden Greek" Alex Arion and Mistress Belmont, with Sean Gorman in their corner. Each one of these individuals is a great talent. Max Bauer has become the most popular champion in the history of the promotion, a title once held by his arch nemesis and opponent in this match, Alex Arion. Alexxis Nevaeh and Mistress Belmont have both blossomed as talents since coming into the NECW/World Women's Wrestling fold. These are two teams with some deep personal issues between them. Add manager, Sean Gorman to the mix and the question becomes not whether this situation is going to explode, but how fast and how big.

Whenever we do anything here in NECW, I always ask myself one question: "Honestly, would you buy a ticket to see this?" If I can't answer yes, something is very wrong. Not only is the answer yes in this case, but if I were just a fan, I would be the first in line to get a ticket to the IRON 8 this year.

We are blessed with a fantastic crew of athletes, ring crew and creative staff who have poured their hearts into this event on Saturday night, May 30th. Let's face it, pro wrestling is not exactly what you'd call an honored or respected profession in the minds of the general public. The IRON 8 is one night where everyone involved undeniable earns respect.

If you are at all accessible to the area, please join us for this extraordinary event. We have a live radio broadcast that will be taking place prior to the IRON 8 event from 4 to 6 PM on WWZN, 1510 The Zone, as a special 2 hour edition of The Mouthpiece Wrestling Show, so you'll want to be there early to meet Harley Race and to see a truly great night of professional wrestling.

For tickets and information, visit www.NECWwrestling.com. Thank you for reading this. Thank you for your support. I look forward to seeing you there.

Integrity, New Mouthpiece Wrestling Radio Time, IRON 8 & More

Pro wrestling has never been considering a hallowed ground for good citizenship and exemplary behavior. In fact, quite the opposite. The carny mentality the was the very foundation of what became the art of professional wrestling often bred the kind of chicanery and skullduggery that have become the stuff of legend amongst those of us who study the history of this business.

But history teaches another lesson too and one that is often overlooked.

Some of the greatest promoters of all time had one common trait - intergrity. In this world of showmen, conmen, hucksters, tricksters, scammers and the like, there were men who carried themselves with class and dignity. Men like the late Sam Munchnik and Paul Boesch, whose word and handshake were as good as a stone tablet engraving. These were men who were above the idea of cheating their boys, their colleagues or their customers. They were men who earned the respect of their communities and were revered figures in their respective territories.

Too many times, I see small time "promoters" delight in the idea of screwing someone. Our business is too public and too transparent to get away with that kind of thing for very long, if at all. Those who embrace that standard of behavior are generally doomed to be undone by it.

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The Mouthpiece Wrestling Show moved to a new day and time this past week. Last Wednesday's show with Jim Cornette, was our last live broadcast in the 5 to 6 PM Wednesday time slot on WWZN Boston 151o The Zone.

Last Wednesday's show was repeated in the show's new time slot, Saturday afternoons from 4 to 5 PM. The Mouthpiece Wrestling Show is the 3rd hour of a new 3 hour "fight block" on the station, with The Mouthpiece Boxing Show at 2 PM and Mouthpiece MMA at 3 PM. Our shows will be pre-taped, except for rare occassions, but I am excited about the 3 hour block, which was our general manager's original concept.

This Saturday we'll have former WWE star, Kenny Doane, the former Kenny Dykstra and Kenny of The Spirit Squad, whs is also participating in this year's NECW IRON 8 Championship on 5/30 in Quincy. This should be a great interview, as Kenny has a very interesting story to tell.

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Speaking of the IRON 8, we announced about 2 weeks back that 8 time former NWA World Champion and WWE & WCW Hall of Famer, Harley Race, would be on hand to present the trophy to this year's IRON 8 winner. Who better than Harley Race, one of wrestling's true iron men, to be on hand for this unique event.

Check out all the details at www.NECWwrestling.com.

Catching Up: MARCH BADNESS Notes, WrestleMania 25 Thoughts & more!

With so much going on in Goldberg-land, I've barely had time to think, let alone blog. One thing about promoting wrestling, there is always something to do and always something left undone.

Last night's WrestleMania was a good show with a phenomenal Undertaker-Michaels match that ranks among the greatest WrestleMania matches of all time. When you realize that those two men are probably double the average age of the rest of the WWE roster, it makes their level of excellence that much more amazing.

I have a lot to say about the Chris Jericho-Legends-Mickey Rourke segment. This was a huge letdown on a lot of levels. Roddy Piper and Jimmy Snuka should not have been in the ring. It was sad to see two great stars portrayed as washed up has-beens. Ricky Steamboat made an excellent accounting of himself, and looking back, it would have been better if it was just Steamboat, with Flair in his corner, vs. Jericho. Mickey Rourke brought nothing to this. There was no build up for him, no emotional investment. I've heard the term "SportsCenter moment" with regard to Rourke's appearance. The time could have been used better on something else.

I'll have more on the subject this week on The Mouthpiece Wrestling Show, Wednesday at 5 PM EST on WWZN Boston, 1510 The Zone. We'll be recapping the show, getting your thoughts and opinions and getting some first hand reports from folks who were there for the WWE events, as well as some of the other wrestling events taking place in Houston that weekend.

NECW's MARCH BADNESS (yeah I know Roy Jones Jr. ripped that name off from us, as we have used it for years) is in the books and was another great night of action in front of another great crowd in Quincy, MA.

NECW has been doing great business of late, which I attribute to a number of different factors - great booking and creative effort, great talent and great promotion and marketing would be a few of the reasons. I think the current economy plays a role too, as NECW is a far more affordable option than mainstream major league franchise sports and is a more family friendly option as well.

MARCH BADNESS saw the return of Sean Gorman, shockingly aligning himself with "The Golden Greek" Alex Arion. There are also new tag team champions in NECW, as The Crown Jewels, you should pardon the expression, upended PRIDE to take the titles.

Antonio Thomas had a great match with NECW Triple Crown Champion, Max Bauer, and if it were not for the interference of Alex Arion, that title could have changed hands as well.

By the way, I think the Bauer-Arion bout at GENESIS 8 was in the same league as anything on this year's WrestleMania. I am looking forward to the rematch between those two taking place at NECW's SPRING BREAKDOWN on Saturday night, April 18 in Quincy at the Armory.

All the results are up at the newly redesigned NECW website - www.NECWwrestling.com. We've gotten a lot of positive feedback on the new site, which was the brainchild of Brian Wilkins. This is a project that took a long time to implement, but the results are outstanding and there will be more features added in the coming weeks.

I'll more thoughts later this week.

GENESIS 8 Thoughts, Dan Severn, Gagne Tragedy & more

I don't think my feet have quite touched the ground yet from this past weekend's GENESIS 8 event in Quincy, MA. A sold-out, standing room only crowd witnessed one of the greatest NECW events ever presented in the near 9 year history of the promotion.

My humble thanks to all those who made it down to the Armory in Quincy, MA for the event. For those who did not, a DVD will be released as soon as we can get it together.

The main event bout between NECW Triple Crown Champion, "The Enforcer"Max Bauer and "The Golden Greek" Alex Arion was the best NECW title match ever presented. Both men were phenomenal, giving all time career performances. As the "net marks" say, this was a "match of the year" candidate, a ***** match and all that other stuff. The fans in attendance were riveted to the action, and it was a privilege to sit ringside and call the match live.

And yes folks, if you missed it, this event will be released on DVD in the near future.

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Today's Mouthpiece Wrestling Show featured UFC Hall of Famer and former NWA World Heavyweight Champion, Dan "The Beast" Severn. This is was one of the most fun interviews we've done. Tim O'Connor from the new Mouthpiece MMA Show on 1510 The Zone joined us as we discussed both pro wrestling and MMA with Severn.

This show was a blast and Severn was a phenomenal guest. Check it out by clicking here.

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The heartbreaking story of Verne Gagne and his attack on an elderly roommate, who later died, is a real tragedy.

Verne Gagne was a true wrestling auteur - promoter, producer, businessman, elite athlete, trainer and top star - who made an indelible impact on pro wrestling. He was a man of class and generosity and I will always fondly remember my conversations with him at some of the Cauliflower Alley Club events from years back.

Verne Gagne does not deserve to leave this world without the dignity of his mental faculties. My heart goes out to his family and friends.

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NECW will begin to offer its fans the ability to charge tickets by phone for upcoming events. We're pleased to be able to offer this convenience and hope it is taken advantage of. In addition to producing great events at reasonable prices, we want to make the experience of getting a ticket in advance easier.

By the way, at Saturday night's GENESIS 8, we sold a record number of advance tickets for the March 21 event. Once again, thanks to all who have supported us.

Weekend Words: Super Bowl Thoughts, Fairplay, NECW TV, T.J. Richter, Another Funzie Onezie & more

Super Bowl weekend is here, and while I am not what you would call a big football fan, one can't help but get caught up in the hoopla. Of course, here in New England, a Pats-less Super Bowl means a lot less local media buzz than otherwise. As for a prediction, I like Cinderella stories and the Cardinals are the closest thing to it this year.

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If you missed Wednesday's Mouthpiece Wrestling Show with reality TV star and former TNA star, Jonny Fairplay, I urge you to give that a listen, as it was one of our best shows. Fairplay, who was once Roddy Piper's personal assistant, brings a whole lot of insight to this interview.

Before this aired, I heard from a lot of people how they didn't like him and what a poor choice for a guest. Well, I guess we're leaving bootprints on a lot of backsides, because this was really good.

You can check it out in the Mouthpiece Wrestling archive, as well as any of our previous shows, by clicking here.

By the way, according to today's stats, The Mouthpiece Wrestling Show now boasts over 15,000 podcast subscribers. That would be in addition to those listening on the radio station live or on the live stream. Those numbers are pretty impressive to me.

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Also impressive is this week's NECW TV. It features a great fatal four way match featuring "The Talent" T.J. Richter, "The Natural" Scott Osbourne, "The Heat" Kris Pyro and Makoto. While these types of matches can often turn into train wrecks, this was a great action-packed bout with some interesting developments after the bell.

In addition, there is some great footage of the benefit event we were part of with the Lowell Devils hockey team, including a chat with former WWE star, Christopher Nowinski, whose Sports Legacy Group received a portion of the proceeds. Chris is an eloquent speaker and a compelling advocate for concussion research.

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"The Talent" T.J. Richter is often derided by fans, and perhaps deservedly so, as he is (as Jim Ross would say) a true antagonist. Recently, I read a message board post from a local low level promoter, who dumped on Richter, claiming he wasn't properly trained, etc. While I take this with a grain of salt, as the source is a wannabe competitor who can't draw in the same league as NECW, even with "big names," I want to go on record as saying that the nickname "The Talent" indeed apt in this case. You may not care for his personality, and much of that is by design, but I have never seen Richter have a bad match and he has been a key contributor to NECW and prior to that, PWF.

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In one of my previous blogs, I spoke in depth about "funzie-onezies" - individuals with no experience in the business of pro wrestling who decide to become promoters, because they have deluded themselves into thinking that just because you watch wrestling, are a big fan, and read the Internet or subscribe to the Observer or Torch, that you can rent a ring, a building, get a bunch of guys together and be a wrestling promoter.

Well, I guess you CAN do that, but it never works. Apologies if I sound like a broken record, but this is a highly skilled profession, and if you truly respect pro wrestling, you will endeavor to start from the bottom and pay your dues, and in the process learn exactly what it is you are trying to do. I have seen so many of these individuals with good intentions lose large sums of money and damage the business they purport to love, simply because they found out the hard way that you can buy people's services, you can rent equipment and you can call yourself a wrestling promoter, but experience, expertise and respect have to be earned.

To the fledgling "promoter," who actually wrote to me for advice, let me answer you publicly right here: You are in over your head and you should have walked away after your first cancellation. You don't have the background or experience to do this the right way. Save yourself the pain, blues and agony you are certain to endure otherwise. You say this is your dream. Dreams are for sleeping. Wake up and get a clue.

Late Night Musings

It's almost 2:30 am, still wound up from a meeting of the NECW ownership. I wish I could tell you all about that, but what happens in North Providence, stays in North Providence.

I'm sorry I missed the Royal Rumble on PPV Sunday, as I was here at home working on segments for the next edition of NECW TV, which should be up on line within the next day or so. The Rumble was always one of my favorite WWE events, and the reports I read made it sound like this was a pretty darn good one. Hopefully, someone I know taped it for my later consumption.

I'm looking forward to Jonny Fairplay appearing on The Mouthpiece Wrestling Show this Wednesday. He's a pretty interesting character with a lot to say on the subject of pro wrestling.

Last week's show with Mickey Grant was a way too short hour, and I will be setting a return visit with the former World Class TV director soon. Check out his great documentary on the life of Gentleman Chris Adams at http://www.gentlemanschoice.tv/. This is one of the best wrestling documentaries out there and I highly recommend it. You can watch it online for an $8 fee, or buy the DVD.

NECW's next event is a big one in GENESIS 8. This is one worth going out of your way to see, with a big double main event, featuring Bauer and Arion for the Triple Crown and a huge tag title match with PRIDE defending against ECW Originals, The Blue Meanie and Mikey Whipwreck, who will be making his final New England appearance before hanging up his boots for good. That alone is a newsworthy event and worth going out of your way to see. I will write more on that subject at a later date. Head on over to http://www.necwwrestling.com/ and grab tickets now as we expect a great crowd on hand for this one.

I find it really interesting how Vince McMahon has done a complete 180 degree turn on the movie "The Wrestler." All reports were that McMahon hated the film and didn't even want it advertised on WWE programming. But ever since Mickey Rourke won the Golden Globe for Best Actor and received an Oscar nomination, WWE is not only on the Wrestler bandwagon, but Mickey Rourke is now appearing at WrestleMania. Speaking of which, if you haven't seen the movie, do so. It is a great, great film.

Enough for now, I'll have more soon.

The Devils Made Us Do It!

Some of the stars of NECW, specifically Max Bauer, Handsome Johnny and Sammi Lane, joined me and Joe Matterazzo, Matt and Kyle Storm and J.P. Griffin at the Lowell Devils game vs. the Springfield Falcons at the Tsongas Arena in Lowell, MA this past Monday for an autograph session during the game.

A portion of the proceeds of Monday's game went to former WWE star, Christopher Nowinski's Sports Legacy Group, which promotes research and education on the sports concussion crisis. Chris, who was forced to retire from pro wrestling due to post-concussion syndrome, has become the leading voice for change in all sports regarding the issue of concussions and head injuries. I have a lot of personal admiration for Chris, who is championing a very important cause. If you love wrestling, or any other sport, and you love and respect the athletes who participate, you should be supporting the Sports Legacy Institute. Check out www.sportslegacy.org for more information.

The Devils organization really welcomed us, as well as the Tsongas Arena staff. We had a lot of autograph traffic during the game and it was great to meet all the fans in Lowell.

I am proud to say that the NECW talent, most of whom had never done a "meet and greet" event quite like this, all represented the promotion and themselves perfectly. This was a unique opportunity for these young stars to experience the concept of being more than just a local wrestler, but a local sports figure as well.

Mike Harold of the Lowell Devils contacted me months back about participating and helping to promote the event. Mike is a first-class guy and there was not a moment's hesitation on our part in terms of getting involved. I applaud the Devils as a sports franshise for standing behind this great cause and it was an honor to be associated with all the great people involved, including the Devils mascot, The Devil Dawg. The Devils, who are an AHL team, are a great take in for a hockey fan and an affordable experience for families. Check out www.lowelldevilshockey.com for more info on the Devils and to purchase tickets. We look forward to working with the Devils again in the future.

You will see footage from last Monday's event on the next NECW TV, and that will be a must-see episode.

"The Wrestler" Thoughts

I finally had the chance to see "The Wrestler" this week. I really have to separate my feelings about the movie into two distinct categories: How I liked it as a movie and how I liked it as someone in the wrestling business.

As a movie, and ultimately that's how it should be judged, it is a brilliant film, well written, well directed, perfectly detailed and brilliantly performed, particularly by Mickey Rourke. In fact, if Rourke does not win the Oscar for Best Actor, everyone in the wrestling community should serve up a beating to the Academy voters.

The parallells between Rourke's Randy "The Ram" Robinson's character and Cassidy, the stripper he is attracted to, are interesting and compelling. Both are "workers" in different ways. And while Randy copes better with the love he gets from wrestling and being Randy The Ram, Cassidy walks the fine line of peforming to seek the approval of her audience, while looking to retreat to the "real world" outside the strip club.

Both professions have a profound effect on their participants. And while I could give you a dissertation on how and why, I will spare you the psycho-babble and leave it by saying that there is real truth in that aspect of the movie.

Mickey Rourke truly becomes "one of the boys." It is a performance that simply surpasses brilliant. He is everything that underside of 80's pro wrestling is about. It is no wonder that Roddy Piper cried after seeing the film. I saw a lot of old friends in that performance myself who are no longer here to share this with.

"The Wrestler" is an absolute must-see movie and a brilliant piece of film making.

That said, my reaction as a wrestling promoter was a bit different.

There is a great big bundle of truth in much of what "The Wrestler" portrays as the world of independent wrestling. As someone who tries hard to elevate the independent wrestling promotion to the level of being a family-friendly, mainstream acceptable endeavor, I cringed at the thought that people might think all independent wrestling is like this.

I questioned the inclusion of certain things in the movie. For instance, and Mick Foley pointed this out as well, you would never see someone openly peddling drugs in a locker room. Outside, maybe. In a car, maybe. But in the locker room, where everyone is around and eyes and ears pry? Never.

I also found fault with the hardcore stuff. If you've been around wrestling long enough, especially 80's veterans, the vast majority want to do less in a match and not more. It would have been more realistic if Randy had to be talked into the match, maybe demanding more pay, then suffering the heart attack as a consequence.

I can forgive those things as plot devices and chalk them up to dramatic license. But geez, I watched and said to myself, this isn't going to make our jobs promoting wrestling any easier. I can understand why Vince McMahon hated it for that reason.

It almost made me want to do a movie called 'The Promoter."

Myself, Matt West and Kellan Thomas all of NECW were listed in the credits of the movie, along with many others in the wrestling community that helped the producers with the film. My good friend, Evan Ginzburg has been involved with this project for 6 years and to see him get an Associate Producer credit and to see how well the movie turned out made me feel good for him and everyone else involved.

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It is 2009, and I wish you all a very happy, healthy and prosperous New year. 2008 was a tough one for a lot of people, and I am hoping 2009 is a brighter one for all.

Holiday Thoughts & Wishes

It's time to bring the best out in our nature and wish each other happy holidays and a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.

2008 was not the easiest of years and with a faltering economy and uncertainty in the lives of most Americans, the season comes with a dark cloud over many whose jobs and ways of life may be in jeapordized by conditions they have no control over.

This holiday season, I wish you the happiness of being here to enjoy the season, the blessing of loved ones to share it with and the gift of good health to continue this wonderful journey we call life.

I look forward to a great 2009 and look forward to sharing it with you.

Happy holidays!