Two "Wars", Merc Stories and MORE!

Shane Madison has a good blog entry listing ten things he hates to see on an indy show.

Check it out: http://www.meccaholic.blogspot.com/

I'll add a couple to the list:

- When all the matches on a show look the same to the point of having the same finishes and same sequence of moves. That was something I criticised on a couple of RME shows last year.

- When guys repeatedly do the pre-match Larry Z-like stalling tactics. This often happens when the guys know the match will suck and are trying to drag out the time without actually having to wrestle.

- When guys have been around a while and still have no clue how to cut a promo. I realise some guys just won't have the promo skills as others do but the ability to talk and convey issues to the crowd is important.

- When guys rip off signature moves or blow finishers of other guys on the same show, especially when those guys are in higher profile matches. It's difficult enough for indy guys on local shows to get over without having other local guys cherry pick their spots. It makes everyone look bad.

- When their is no rhyme or reason for anything to be happening on the show or when an event is poorly produced by bad bookers. Again, using RME as an example, the shows of theirs I have seen suffered due to this. There are reasons why certain matches and segments should happen in certain spots on the show but that is something the booking team in RME have not yet grasped.

I am sure there are many, many more.


I suppose I should comment on the "War on Marks" that Shane Madison, Chi Chi Cruz and a few others are engaging in. This all erupted as a result of an older, terribly out of shape, untrained "wrestler" named Omar repeatedly getting in the ring. He recently inherited some money and purchased his own ring to ensure he would be able to continue working.

I can certainly respect and appreciate the opinion of those who speak out against guys like Omar. He absolutely has no place in a wrestling ring. But I disagree on the methods utilized here. Madison and Cruz attended Omar's first wrestling event, sitting in the crowd. Omar apparently tried to attack Madison in the crowd and was restrained by Ernie Todd. Danny Duggan, who wrestled on the show, pulled Omar's pants down as did Madison. Cheech slapped Omar and then cut a promo on the mic. Either this is one of the worst worked shoots ever or another sad example that as good as wrestling can be in Winnipeg, it can be very, very, very bad.

Omar was totally wrong for going after Madison, who was sitting as a fan, in the crowd. But both Madison and Cheech were wrong for getting involved in the show. If Cheech was wrestling and a "a fan" slapped him, he'd kill him. There have been examples of fans hitting the ring and they are usually met with several stiff shots. But when the boys are demonstrating to the fans that it's okay to interject themselves into the shows, how can we blame them when they do it? To any legit fans at this show, they would not have understand that Madison and Cheech were against Omar's actions, especially if they were observed coming and going from the locker room area. It would seem that Madison and Cheech were involved in the show and thus, endorsing what occurred at the event.

We've all seen examples of backyard wrestling and while we all agree it's wrong, we mostly ignore it, rather than give the kids the attention they crave and are unwilling to train for. Ignore Omar and he will eventually go away. Getting worked into taking part in his show is only going to endorse it and create interest in seeing it.

Omar appears to be a lost cause. Where Madison and Cheech could do more good would be questioning the legitimate talent that appeared on the show as to why they accepted the booking. If you don't want Omar in the business, don't help him. There is a serious lack of pride in this city amongst far too many of the boys. I've been criticised in the past for requiring a certain level of commitment to PCW events by the guys I booked - can anyone blame me now?

So, I agree with the "war" in theory, but differ in practice.


RCW "re-launches" in Winnipeg today and promoter Wayne Stanton has declared the event to be the first shot in a war on RME. It amazes me that Wayne could make the decision to have this event and two weeks later he puts together a show that on paper looks better than anything RME has done in the past five years while RME cant even make good on their promise to run Winnipeg after teasing it for about seven months.

On a related topic, former RME booker Ryan Price was a guest on The Squared Circle last week. He offered quite a bit of insight into RME and his own reasons for leaving the company. It's easy for RME to try and dismiss my opinion or the opinion of other intelligent people like Wayne and Mike Davidson, but I wonder how they deflect the opinion of one of their own guys like Price. He summed it up well when he simply said there were too many cooks in the kitchen at RME and the lack of depth on the roster hurt them.

I know RME will make some announcements eventually, though they will likely not be anything beyond the hand full of out of town shows they do every summer. Today was supposed to be the launch of their new Winnipeg venue after many months of promising to deliver. The reasons RME gave their roster for not doing the show:

Wanting venues that:

- are expected to turn everyone a profit
- Are attractive to fans
- Are a decent capacity
- We can establish a long-term agreement with it so that we can build through stability

Cut the bullshit! Just be honest and say "hey, it fell through". Anyone on the RME roster who believes that Angus has been negotiating for seven months is an idiot. I'd love to see the venue that is naive enough to guarantee RME a profit and a long term deal. If you want a profit, you have to draw fans. To draw fans, you have to produce good shows. To produce good shows, you need good talent and good booking...oh, I think we've found the problem!

An interesting side note to remember as RCW "relaunched" today, when RME started back in, I believe, 2003, they had one stated goal - to "show Ernie and Wayne how it's done". In their defense they didn't really specify what "it" was, but presumably, it was a successful wrestling endeavour. Well, Ernie is far more successful than anyone else in Manitoba at producing financially profitable out of town shows and Wayne has shown he can put together an in-town show superior to RME.

I'd wish RCW luck, but it's RME that needs it more.


- Third place and rising in my hockey pool. Rawskillz has started to make his move, rising to seventh place.

- I'm officially cheering for Hillary Clinton in the US Presidential race.

- Interesting idea: Eliminate federal income tax in favour of increased consumption taxes.


http://www.premierchampionshipwrestling.com/ has been updated. Check back soon for a major announcement concerning our event in Morden.


There seems to be some interest in Zack Mercury as indicated by the comments on my previous blog. By popular demand, here are a couple of Merc-related PCW stories.

Most people know Merc was the first person every fired by PCW back in 2001. In December of that year, we had our first official PCW meeting. John Nguyen, Mike Davidson and myself met with the prospective crew at the Holiday Inn Astoria to explain our vision for the promotion and invite them all to take part. After most of the meeting, John asked for a show of hands as to who was "in". There were a few people who did not raise their hands.

Mike continued to make his pitch and John again asked for a show of hands. This time everyone but Merc indicated their commitment to the project. Merc asked for some time to consider the offer. John replied that he wanted a crew that understood the vision and was 100% committed right now so he refused to let Merc think about it. They discussed the matter for a few more minutes before Merc reluctantly agreed that he was "in".

As part of the meeting, Mike distributed information packages to each person indicating what their guaranteed pay per show would be. There were two pay options that differed by $5. Two of the boys were offered more based on increased responsibilities.

The next day, Mike received an e-mail at the office from Merc. He disagreed with the offer made to him, comparing himself to the guy sitting beside him at the meeting and taking exception to the fact that person was offered $5 more. I believe that person was Donnie Dicaprio. Merc felt he deserved more than Dicaprio and attempted to explain why. Mike exchanged replies with Merc and I believe he had agreed to give Merc's concerns some thought.

John was consulted and immediately instructed Mike to fire Merc. John was insulted that Merc was trying to negotiate and offended at his methods, especially in criticising Dicaprio. I think Mike would have salvaged the deal with Merc but John was totally opposed.

I remember being disappointed as I thought Merc could have been developed into a positive contributor to the crew. To argue over $5 because you think you're better than the guy beside you is a revealing character trait.

Some time later, probably in late 2003 or early 2004, I exchanged e-mails with Merc about him coming into PCW. I found the negotiations quite frustrating as, again, the issue of compensation became a sticking point. Also, before he would agree to join the crew, Merc wanted me to explain in detail exactly how I intended to book him. I gave him a general idea of where I saw him fitting in, but he wanted specifics. It just wasn't worth it.

I still like Merc and to this day, I'd be perfectly happy to work with him. I like a challenge.