Tag: ecw

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For the Love of Super Genie

 

Wrestlers give their time, their money, and their bodies for our entertainment. To this day, the business that profits off their sacrifice has yet to step up and truly care for these people long term. That’s the reason so many independents are always running benefit shows. It’s also the reason the Cauliflower Alley Club exists.

Today, the boys (and the girls, and the fans) also have resources like Go Fund Me that allow people to step up immediately and help ease the financial burdens of medical problems. Right now, it’s Melissa Coates, aka Super Genie, who needs some love.

Most fans know Super Genie as Sabu’s ringside (and real life) companion, but she is also a highly accomplished bodybuilder and professional wrestler in her own right. Like many former wrestlers, who worked as independent contractors without any insurance or 401K plan, she has limited resources, and the COVID-19 forced shut down of the independent wrestling world has kept her and Sabu out of action for months. This is why a Go Fund Me was set up to help her out.

It’s the season of giving anyway, so why not spare a few dollars to help someone in need? You can click here to give on her Go Fund Me page. Or, if you prefer, you can help Melissa and Sabu by visiting Sabu’s Pro Wrestling Tees page or purchasing Sabu’s must-have autobiography from WOHW.

If Sabu or Super Genie have entertained you over the years, there’s no better way to say thank you than this. Please give if you can.

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Coming in 2021

Tracy Smothers never hesitated when asked who was his favorite opponent of all time. “Candido.” He couldn’t sing Chris Candido’s praises enough, and he lit up every time we talked about Chris. It was Tracy who said that Chris Candido should be my next book, and it was Tracy who put me in touch with his good friend Jimmy Shoulders, who in turn put me in touch with Chris’s family.

Jonny Candido and I have been working hard to put together the biography of one of the most beloved wrestlers ever to set foot in a locker room. Some call him a wrestler’s wrestler, and some argue that he was one of the most gifted men ever to set foot in the ring. You’d be hard pressed to find anyone who loved the wrestling business more. His story has a tragic ending and plenty of drama, but it’s absolutely inspiring. Chris Candido truly lived and breathed professional wrestling, and I’m very excited to announce his biography will be released in early 2021.

Chris is not the only project now in the works for next year. Hot on the heels of the Elvira Snodgrass biography, I’ve just started working with one of the toughest women ever to set foot in the squared circle. Princess Victoria was poised to be one of the top women’s stars in the WWF before her career-ending accident in 1984. She was one of the first WWF Women’s Tag Team Champions, and she worked incredible matches with Velvet McIntyre, Wendi Richter, Sherri Martel, and more.

But wrestling is only a small part of the story. Vicki Otis was a warrior long before she became a professional wrestler. She endured a horrific childhood and unimaginable abuse. She survived, escaped, and ran off to pursue her dream of becoming a professional wrestler. Vicki’s tale is inspiring in a different way than Candido’s, and it is our hope that people who have endured similar backgrounds will find inspiration in her tale.

Candido’s book is entering the home stretch, and we’re shooting for an early 2021 release. Princess Victoria is just getting under way, but I’m hopeful for an early 2021 release for that book as well.

There’s more on the table for 2021, including a few more historical biographies and a new novel that has nothing to do with wrestling, but suffice to say, we’ll be kicking 2021 off in a big way.

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Pre-order Your Copy of Tracy Smothers’ Book!

Eat Sleep Wrestle is proud to present the autobiography of the one and only, Tracy Smothers!

He’s been hired and fired from every major wrestling company. He’s wrestled all over the United States, in Mexico, and Asia. He’s held multiple tag team belts and heavyweight championships. He’s been a top guy and a jobber. He’s been a hero, a villain, and a mentor to countless young wrestlers of the last two generations. He pinned legends. He defeated cancer. And yes, he wrestled three different bears.

Few wrestlers have logged as many miles as Tracy Smothers, and even fewer have made the impact he has on today’s young stars. Now for the first time, Tracy reveals how a promising young athlete Springfield, Tennessee, who once aspired to be a high school football coach found himself at the center of a fan riot in Mexico City and a bar fight in Malaysia. He talks about the last days of the territories, the rise of the Wild Eyed Southern Boys and the Young Pistols, his star turn in Smoky Mountain, his jobbing days in WWF, life-changing concussions, the FBI in ECW, and the dance contests in the indies. You’ll hear harrowing tales about bounty hunting, delivering pizzas, and yes… going toe to toe with the legendary Ginger the Wrestling Bear.

Tracy Smothers doesn’t care if you love him. He doesn’t care if you think he sucks. He doesn’t even really care if you read his book. There’s only one thing you need to know right now. If you don’t buy this book, EVERYBODY DIES!

If you want to get a signed copy of Tracy’s book you can now pre-order one through the book shop on this our website. Books are expected in early April. That said, with the current COVID-19 situation we cannot guarantee when they will ship. Tracy and I live 2 hours apart, but we will make every effort to get together as soon as books arrive so we can ship them to everyone who pre-orders.

Click here to pre-order a signed copy.

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Pizza King of the Ring Recap

If you missed Terry Harper Presents Pizza King of the Ring Tuesday night in Jeffersonville, here’s a quick recap of some of the things you missed:

Enter Sandman! When you see a legend of the ring, there are certain things you expect to see. If it’s Mick Foley, you want Mr. Socko. If it’s Stone Cold Steve Austin, you want a Stunner. If it’s the Sandman, you simply want to see him make an entrance. Sandman milked the full duration of his entrance music, sharing beers with fans around the ArenA. By the time he reached the ring, the ECW faithful had their money’s worth. The kendo stick beat down of Nick Depp was just an added bonus.

Speaking of Nick Depp… The reigning Prince of the Deathmatches cut the promo of his life on Sandman. Depp held the crowd in the palm of his hand while he tried to convince the Sandman he had an alcohol problem. Sandman let him speak his peace. Then, as mentioned above, he broke his kendo stick over Depp’s back.

Maria is Amazing. Amazing Maria continues to prove she’s one of the best heels in independent wrestling. She had an entertaining match against the dark but charismatic Sage Sin, who was led to the ring by a fire eater and two casket-bearing ghouls. Sage walked out of the ArenA the winner. Maria was carried out in the casket.

Sudden Death Tables Match. Kevin Cordell of the Talking the Business Podcast told me to keep an eye on Jake Garvin. Kevin thinks he’s a rising star. I have to agree. He and Calvin Tankman broke four tables in their match. These guys are young, big, and athletic, and they’re only going to get better. The only thing more entertaining was watching them pick splinters out of their arms while they looked over the menu at Spinellis later in the evening.

Mama Bates to the Rescue! The intergender match took a very unexpected turn when Mama Bates, Leva Bates’ mother, leapt to her feet and tried to stop Tracy Smothers’ second Kyle Maverick from choking her daughter on the ropes. Yes, some things in wrestling are staged, but it was very clear Mama Bates was not in on any storyline; she was out to protect her daughter, who came out the winner. Side note: Leva remains one of the friendliest and most down to Earth wrestlers outside the ring.

Lio Rush is the Man. I’ve heard a great deal about Lio Rush in the last year. He exceeds the hype. Rush and Super Crazy capped the night off with a stellar bout that had everything from mat wrestling to high flying to steel chairs. Rush is a mega-star on the rise, and a class act out of the ring as well.

Bottom line: Terry Harper doesn’t promoter wrestling shows very frequently, but he has a formula that works. Harper books people he wants to see in match ups he wants to see. He pairs legends of the past with stars of today in a way that allows casual fans who only came to see guys like Sandman to discover rising stars like Lio Rush and PWF’s Tri-State Champion Tyler Matrix. A Terry Harper show is the perfect opportunity to bring your WWE-loving friends along to see names that they know and introduce them to independent wrestling at the same time. It was standing room only in the ArenA tonight, just as it was for Terry’s last show in November 2016. I can’t wait to see what he does next.

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Big show this week on Kick Out at Two

Freedom Pro Wrestling has a big show coming up, and listeners to the Kick Out at Two Podcast are reaping all the benefits!

This week on Kick Out at Two, you get not one but TWO huge names: TNA’s James Storm and ECW legend, the Blue Meanie!

This special episode is being released a day early, and if you’re in the Nashville area, you can see both of these stars and more Saturday night at Freedom Pro Wrestling.

Scroll down to see James Storm win the TNA Championship and behold the top ten moves of the Blue Meanie, then head on over to iTunes or Soundcloud and download Kick Out at Two!

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Ian on Axl

Ian Rotten shared a great story about his blood brother Axl this morning on Facebook. Sharing it here for all who are feeling the loss today.

If you’ll bear with me, I’d like to tell you all a story about my friend.

Many people never got a chance to meet Brian Knighton, because he was ALWAYS Axl Rotten. Many people forget that Axl was in WCW for about 6 weeks and he was working a feud against a guy named PN News. Axl would call me every night and let me know how things went.

One night he had a TV match against one of the guys that trained him, Joey Maggs. Joey was pretty much enhancement talent. There was a mess up in the match and Axl felt Joey had done it on purpose because, after all, Joey had trained him, so when Axl called me that particular night (remember, this is back when you had to use a payphone, hotel phone, calling cards, etc.), the call came in quite late because he waited until he got back to his room to call me.

First thing out of his mouth is, “Man, I don’t know what the f— I am doing here.” I said, “Whoa, man, slow down… what happened?” He proceeded to tell me what had occurred and by this time he was so upset he was crying, telling me how he didn’t belong there and he just wanted to come home. I told him to calm down, that he belonged there, which he told me, “I’m just a fat kid from Baltimore who done f—ed up my one shot.”
I took a deep breath, and jokingly said, “Yes, you are fat, and yes, you are a kid from Baltimore, but you are Axl F—ing Rotten and you need to remember that.”

Many times I think my friend was just a scared kid from Baltimore, living out his dream. So many times when people met him, they got Axl F—ing Rotten, but the guy underneath that guy, was a special human being who gave us all his knowledge, never took a booking fee from me, taught me how to teach our game and reminded me that sometimes this business will humble you but in the end, it is what you make it.

The human being behind the persona was a genuine person. Because of him, THIS fat kid from Baltimore got to live his dream.

When they say the bad about you, I’ll always make sure they remember the good. Thanks for being a part of my life the last 25 years. Without you, there is no me. I genuinely feel like a part of me has died today. I hate that when I have a thought or idea I wont be able to pick up the phone and ask you what you think.

I will miss you my brother. 

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RIP Axl

Very sad to read about the passing of Axl Rotten. Axl was a beloved figure in the world of hardcore and extreme wrestling and one of the great legends of ECW. He was found dead today in a hotel room in Baltimore.

My prayers are with all of Axl’s friends and family, in and out of the ring, especially those nearby at IWA Mid-South who loved him dearly. Rest in Peace.

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For the love of Jerry Lynn

Sometimes wrestlers are babyfaces outside the ring. I’ve highlighted stories of a few on this blog. Sometimes, it’s the fans that step up to do something good for someone they care about.

It’s no secret that many professional wrestlers do what they do without the benefit of insurance. They’re in a high risk profession, and save for the few who can afford it (or get it through another job), most wrestlers do not have the resources for major medical treatment. When word got out about Jerry Lynn’s medical needs this week, friends and fans responded. Big time. What a way to say thank you for a lifetime of sacrifice in the ring.

Wrestlers don’t make a lot of money. Even in the WWE, many of the stars we love struggle to pay the bills. That’s why it’s so important to hit the gimmick tables during live shows to buy a DVD, a T-shirt, or an autograph. It means as much to them as it will to you. Maybe even more.

Click to visit Jerry’s GoFundMe page.

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Louisville’s Greatest Matches: Nova vs. John Cena

Crybaby Chris Alexander told me about this match when I was working on Bluegrass Brawlers. I honestly am not sure why this story did not make it into the book, other than I simply forgot about it.

Cena was “The Prototype,” an unstoppable monster heel who had run over every challenger in OVW. Nova was the new guy, a veteran of ECW looking for a new start with OVW and the WWE. His first night at OVW, he got a shot at the champion.

Alexander was backstage that. Danny Davis walked over to him, wearing a big smile. “Hey Chris,” he said, “Do you want to know how to put a new guy over in one night? Just watch.”

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CZW presents: Young Bucks vs OI4K

I had a Bluegrass Brawlers related story I was going to post tonight, but then I saw this promo about the upcoming CZW anniversary show. The best tag team I’ve ever seen live, Ohio Is 4 Killers Jake and Dave Crist, is facing off with the best tag team in the world, the Young Bucks.

Folks, if you’ve never given indy wrestling a try, this show is worth your time and money. This match alone is worth the price of admission, be it in person or on iPPV. And hey, it’s in the ECW arena, so you know the crowd will bring it as well.

Watch, enjoy, and mark your calendar. Tell DJ Hyde I sent you!