I was actually going to wait a few more days to write this because I feel I still have so much more to think about. The demand, however, to know what’s going on in EPIC is now higher than I ever thought it would be (the site was almost overloaded yesterday, from what I was told – five times more than what we average) and the stories that are beginning to circulate are becoming more and more ludicrous. While, as of THIS writing (the night of 11.20.02), I have no CLEAR end result to all I’ve been thinking, let’s at least START to get into this, okay?
First off, my apologies
I apologize to ALL of the wrestlers who showed up on Sunday ready to work, but couldn’t because there was no show to work on. I have yet to speak to a lot of you one-on-one (I’ve started the calls tonight) but you can expect it to happen some time within the next few days, as there are many calls to make. A VERY special apology to Ultimo Dragon, Condotti Shuji, Second Doi and the entire Toryumon company, as they were completely disrespected in EVERY way possible by myself and myself ONLY! I wouldn’t wish my position right now on anyone (well, almost anyone). EPIC came off looking WORSE than even a backyard fed. To think, we had one of the greatest wrestlers in the WORLD at our show, and all he could do was stand in a parking lot, watching a carnival of confusion dance around him. The degree of shame that I feel is overwhelming and it is a blow that we will NOT easily recover from (if at all) in terms of Japanese coverage/relationships. My former business partner, Excalibur, recently wrote his own column on the matter (which can be read by clicking here) and stated it best when he wrote, “What occurred this past Sunday is in no way indicative of the entire Southern California Wrestling scene, and I would certainly hope that you would not judge the wrestlers and promoters of SoCal for the actions of one man.”
Of course, he means me. And he’s right. More on Excalibur’s piece later, though.
I apologize to the fans, especially those who came from so far away and had such high expectations for a show that would’ve been incredible. We had a lot planned that night, including unannounced surprises like Ruckus (will he EVER get a break?), Adam Flash, the Ballard Brothers, and more. You are continuing to speak your minds in the amount of hate mail I’m receiving and I’m reading you all loud and clear. By all means, keep it coming, as I deserve to hear it. It does nothing but help me make whatever decision I may have to make.
So what the FUCK happened?
I was taught something a long time ago when working on an Indy film that has always resonated with me (but has obviously never fully REGISTERED with me, as you will soon see): When it comes to matters of the “entertainment” industry, do NOT play with your own money! It’s a lesson that can be applied to even pro wrestling; the logic being that if you cannot get someone WITH money interested in your product, how can you be sure that you have a product WORTH pushing? While keeping that in mind, please read the following, as well.
I love the way that the term “Money Mark” has been thrown around recently. I’m not a rich man at all. I never claimed to be. The fictional stories of me having deep pockets have always left me envious of, well, the fictional ME! I wish I were that guy that everyone claims has millions at his disposal. If I didn’t have to rely on others for certain things, we probably wouldn’t have ANY problems with venues, videos, bounced checks, etc. So where/how does the term “Money” apply to me? Oh wait…it must be because I PAY wrestlers well; at least better than they’re being paid anywhere else. Yeah, I realize that’s probably a pretty SHITTY thing to do (and yes, that IS sarcasm, folks). Messiah once called me the worst wrestling Promoter ever because I actually seemed to CARE about paying the guys what I thought they were worth. He told me to become an asshole, don’t give a shit about the boys, and THEN I would be a real Promoter. He meant it in a half-joking way but I definitely understand where he was coming from.
It’s unfortunate that, in the eyes of so many, I can now be considered a Promoter, as many now feel like I don’t give a shit about them.
And “Mark”? Don’t make me laugh. What is a mark anyway? Well, a wrestling mark can easily be meant as someone who pays money to see/be involved with wrestling. Like it or not, folks, we’re ALL marks. If you LIKE wrestling, you’re a mark. Workers are marks, too. Some, like Excalibur, are marks for themselves. Sabu once told me he’s a mark for Jimmy Snuka. But the term used in a NEGATIVE way essentially means a person easily “starstruck” by the business and those who work in it. The comic book equivalent is that of a “Fanboy”. But you know what? When the Sandman approached me about jumping ship from XPW to EPIC before “International Collision”, I turned him down. When Juventud Guerrera asked Martin Marin about working an EPIC show, I politely declined the offer. When everyone from Konnan to Kronik to the Road Warriors made inquiries about working for EPIC, I always said “no thank you” and left it at that. Hardly the actions of a “Mark”, in my opinion.
Okaaaayy. And your point is…?
When it comes to EPIC, I’ve not always played with other people’s money, but I’ve tried to. I was NOT the one who covered the payment of the El Rey Theater for the June 16th show. I DID pay for the Legion Hall shows, however. I also pay for the tape costs, t-shirt costs, 8×10 costs, and similar things of that nature. The show venue prices I try to negotiate with others to handle, usually sponsors (I thank Valley Ball for absorbing most of the the El Rey costs, for example). I now regret doing business that way, though, as it has been a huge recurring problem for us in the past few months. Well, ONE of our problems. I’m not sure what other alternative there is, however, aside from finding a venue that we would run in every month consistently, which isn’t as easy as it would seem. Wrestling carries a stigma with it that many venues aren’t prepared to deal with. Or I could just use my own money (what I have tied up in my 401K and other investments) and REALLY break that ol’ “do not play with your own money” rule! More on THAT later, however.
Securing the Venue
A FRIEND of mine (not a business partner or company) agreed to absorb the costs of renting the Los Angeles Entertainment Center. We wanted a really nice venue to run in for this show because of its importance. All he asked for was at LEAST half of the costs BACK at the gate. The rest would be something that I would eventually pay off to him on the side. I’ve known this guy for over 24 years (since we were in the 7th grade together) and I would’ve trusted him with my life. When I didn’t hear from him a few weeks before the event, I began to worry. It wasn’t like him to leave me hanging. Then again, although he HAD done me favors before, he had never been asked to do something of this magnitude. Not being a wrestling fan/believer, I guess he never really took it that seriously, after all. As of today/tonight, I still have not been able to reach him.
But on Wednesday the 13th…
He called me from Las Vegas and said he’d bring the payment, in full, to the Valley Ball/EPIC party on Friday night because he was going to be out of town until then. The venue was getting antsy and I couldn’t blame them. I spoke to Susan at the LAEC and she said she would still hold the date.
Friday night at the Valley Ball…
When my “friend” didn’t show up at the Friday night Valley Ball/EPIC party, I knew I was in trouble. I hadn’t spoke to him since Wednesday and the show was right around the corner. When I talked to Susan at the LAEC, she said that as long as I got there TONIGHT, it would be okay and the date would be taken care of. When that didn’t happen, I went into full-blown panic mode. I left a message with an LAEC personnel member late Friday night, telling him to let Susan know that the money had fallen through BUT I was in the process of getting it from elsewhere and that IF it would NOT be good enough, to PLEASE call me back ASAP so I could MOVE the show, if needed.
Saturday the 16th
I made as many calls as I could to come up with the entire venue payment, but ultimately, could only come up with almost HALF. To be safe, though, I found a few other venue options that we could switch to at the last minute, if needed. I even went so far as to put a $500 deposit down on another beautiful (albeit much smaller) venue IN CASE we needed to go that route (a deposit I subsequently lost). It was now late Saturday night and I must’ve been crazy, because…
When I woke up on Sunday morning…
I came to the decision that NOBODY was going to be willing to drive into another city to see a wrestling show, especially when they could just go back home and watch a WWE PPV. The second venue I had obtained last night (and placed a deposit on) was about 30 miles away from the LAEC. In addition, the person who agreed to lend me half of the venue costs last night decided that wrestling wasn’t really a “smart” thing to invest in and pulled it away from me at around 10:00am as I was out the door to go pick it up. BUT the LAEC had NOT called me back yet so I figured that MAYBE I could get there, talk to them, and try to arrange some kind of deal. To all those who are now yelling at me for NOT just canceling the show THEN, I’m telling you – I honestly thought it was STILL salvageable! I mean, C’MON! Messiah’s return! Ultimo Dragon! It HAD to happen! Worse case scenario, I would just relocate the show to another venue/park/parking lot a few blocks away. Yes, I now had NO money to bargain with but, to be honest, I’ve never let that kind of thing stop me before! We got to the LAEC and were informed that the show would NOT be happening there, NO MATTER WHAT! I offered everything I could, including my car, all in hopes of JUST DOING THE SHOW! When it was painfully obvious that the show would NOT happen there, David Getz (who met me there) and I began our search throughout the area, hitting up parks, lots, hotel conference rooms, the Los Angeles Convention Center, warehouses, etc. all the while making cell phone calls and, to my surprise, actually finding someone else who would pay for whatever we found, within reason.
Okay…
So now we had venue money. All we needed was a venue. On a Sunday. At the last minute. Yeah, right. We TRIED, though. Dave and I were so driven and determined to find SOMETHING but, as you can see, were unsuccessful in doing so.
When we arrived back at the LAEC…
I was given the option of going to either the Legion Hall or the Anaheim Marketplace. The Legion Hall was closed and getting a hold of Legion Hall Larry is sometimes a tough thing on a Sunday. I left a message anyway. It was around 3:30/4:00pm and I examined my options:
1) The Marketplace – ugh. No disrespect to the Marketplace but…it’s the Marketplace. Everyone else was up for it, though, and I was DEFINITELY the minority of the bunch. Simply put, I did NOT want to go to the Marketplace. I would rather have cancelled the show. The ONLY people who agreed with me were Messiah and Hailey. Hell, the LAST place Messiah wanted to make his big “return” was at a Swap Meet! I felt like there would be NOBODY, outside of maybe 30 or so people, who would’ve made the transition/drive anyway. If it were a “normal” show, that would’ve been one thing, but it was supposed to be SPECIAL! The Marketplace wasn’t/isn’t SPECIAL! To those who don’t understand what I mean by that, I’m sorry. I really don’t mean it disrespectfully but I understand if it comes off that way.
2) Move the show to Monday the 18th – This was something that I actually wanted to do more than anyone else. I figured I could get the Legion Hall on Monday since nobody ever uses it then (although, granted, it wasn’t guaranteed). I asked around and everyone seemed less than thrilled about it, stating that nobody would show up. I reiterated that practically nobody would show up to Anaheim tonight either! Besides, a number of workers wouldn’t be leaving until Tuesday, so it was actually something doable if we really wanted it bad enough.
3) Cancel the show – This seemed like, unfortunately, the way it was going to go by 4:00pm. Sorry, but that’s how I felt. Maybe it’s because I was tired of looking around all day and just felt defeated. Maybe it’s because I was just fed up. I don’t know.
And you chose…?
We chose to go to the Marketplace. I felt that, although it was something I did NOT want to do, the majority had spoken. We told everyone to head on down there and the show would start at 8:00pm! We also FOOLISHLY thought that Martin would be able to get the place without any problem. He had not arrived at the LAEC venue yet so we were not 100% sure of what the outcome would be but C’MON! It’s MARTIN, right? Shit, he runs that place! If anyone can do it, he can! Alas, after he arrived and was briefed about the scenario, he couldn’t. And it wasn’t from lack of trying, either, ’cause he TRIED! It just wasn’t going to happen. Not that night.
So…
Night came. I apologized to the guys who remained there as best I could. It was REALLY hard looking at all of those faces. I felt like I wanted to die. What really hurt me, though, were the looks I received in return from people who, before all of this, claimed to be my friends. As if last night’s disaster was something I WANTED to happen! Let’s get this straight so there is NO confusion: I FUCKED THIS NIGHT UP! ME! But the looks of sheer fucking hatred I was receiving, despite having done everything I could to try and SAVE the show, let me know real quick that those who I THOUGHT were with me, weren’t anymore. I was alone now, and it was only going to get much, much worse.
TO BE CONTINUED
