Some Thoughts From Up High

It’s pretty rare for AAW to run shows on back-to-back weeks, but under two very different circumstances, the promotion ran two huge shows. I had the unique opportunity to see both in two different ways. I brought a couple casual wrestling fans to Scars and Stripes to enjoy the show more as a fan than the senior editor for PWP. As far as August 2 goes, we’ll get to that later.

My expectations for Scars and Stripes were pretty low. Given Ring of Honor and Dragon Gate USA were both running shows, the talent roster was depleted. For AAW, this also meant no Eddie Kingston versus Silas Young. Instead, Kingston wrestled Rhino in the main event. I’m not going to say this was  a bad match, but it was a bit slower paced than what we’ve come to expect out of AAW. They started off hot and heavy but really slowed the pace down in the middle of the match. At least Kingston won clean to set up the grudge match for down the road.

The thing that disappointed me was the Bourbon Street crowd. I understand the desire to run a bigger venue which is also a bar and a prime location. Unfortunately, the attendance for that show has to be a disappointment as they didn’t seem to draw much better than they would for a Berwyn show. The crowd has also never brought a lot of energy to these events. Even though they were into the Marek Brave/Christian Rose match, this was their peak. The crowd was pretty dead for a lot of the action and didn’t add much to the show.

The most shocking aspect of this show had to be Marek Brave wrestling Christian Rose. My expectations were low, but they delivered a violent classic which will be remembered as the moment Rose became a big-time player in AAW. I was super impressed with both guys as they maimed each other… with a purpose. Nigel McGuinness would have hated this match as there was blood and one chair shot to the head. I’m still not enthused about the idea of either being in a modern professional wrestling ring, but both guys certainly worked hard to tell a story in a non-sanctioned. Some people would question why the first match in this series would be held under these circumstances, but Brave has been banned from AAW competition for four years. My two critiques are five minutes should have been cut to make what they did even more effective and to give this a more proper ending. Rose is someone AAW is going to build around, and who knows how many more appearances Brave is going to make. Brave did cut an excellent promo to set up the ending and a potential rematch. There are a lot of wrestlers who can perform in the ring, but Rose’s character work and promos will separate him from the rest of the pack and get him a job in WWE within the next 18-24 months.

I’m going to provide a full DVD review talking about all of the matches in great detail, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t dreading Carlito stepping into an AAW ring. He actually seemed to have his working shoes on as he bumped around and made Keith Walker look like a monster. Walker is also getting into the best shape of his life for some upcoming bodybuilding competitions. It wasn’t a mat classic, but it was good enough. I think a lot of people were surprised by the quality of the match, most especially me. Great work by both men.

The match I went into the night most looking forward to was the tag team title match. I was not disappointed with the quality, but I loathed the botched finish. It made what should have been a great moment for Marion Fontaine and Louis Lyndon and turned it into a “What the hell just happened” moment. I’m not sure who’s to blame, but the match felt less special because of what happened. I am happy I.A. had a good run and that a solid team is taking their place.

I’ll talk about everything else, including my thoughts on Jacobs/Cannon vs. Monster Mafia in my DVD review. Speaking of everything else, I was asked at 5:30 the night of the Super Summer Sizzler Charity Spectacular to commentate a couple of matches that night. I knew there was a possibility this could happen earlier in the week, but I hadn’t received word until two hours before show time. I guess that’s how wrestling works. I have a policy of not reviewing shows I commentate for, but I would like to offer some thoughts on the show and my experience as an announcer.

Most importantly, AAW raised over two thousand dollars for the Jimmy Durante Children’s Fund. At the end of the night, this is what matters most. To be able to give my time, and for a lot of the wrestlers to do the same, made for a positive night. I think we can all be negative about the world of professional wrestling at times, but last night certainly provided an opportunity for positivity all the way around. When you watch the show, you’re not going to see a ton of four star matches, and you’re not going to see a lot of the usual crew, but you’ll see a lot of guys fighting for spots and the chance to be added as full-time roster members.

I’ve had the chance to call matches for so many of the guys who’ve been on the show thanks to my Pro Wrestling Collision duties. I called most of the matches with Derek St. Holmes, who could not have been more gracious with his time. Particularly in the first two matches, St. Holmes carried me as I worked my way into a rhythm. By the four way, most of nerves were relieved and I was able to settle down into calling the action. Regardless, I cannot thank him enough for being an outstanding mentor last night. And even though I called the action last night, I was only keeping Phil Colvin’s seat warm. Phil and Derek are the best in the business at what they do, and I’m excited to continue hearing them call all the action for AAW.

As far as the in-ring action goes, I’m hopeful Jeff O’Shea is alright after being destroyed by Keith Walker. Everyone in the four way seemed particularly  interested in future employment with the company. Trik Davis has never been my favorite wrestler in the world, but he looked outstanding in the match. It’ll be interesting to see if Reed Bentley and Alex Castle get brought back because they’ve certainly shown a lot of what they can in other places across the Midwest.

I got the chance to call a couple matches with Dave Prazak. In the back of my mind, I prepared a line to use during intermission. When I introduced Prazak I said, “My goal is not be the worst broadcast partner you’ve ever worked with.” I’m not going to spoil what he said, but you can guess who he made reference to. When Prazak left before the Travis Banks/Christian Rose match, I was left to my own devices for a few minutes. So if you’ve wanted to hear Jerome call a bunch of moves and try to call a match by himself, at least until Jordan McEntyre bailed me out, then this is the show for you!

I think it goes without saying, but calling Shane Hollister/Prince Ali was a real pleasure and a damn fine match. Ali has been making waves all through the Midwest, and it’s a bit surprising to think he’s never been a bigger part of the independent scene. Major props to these guys for having a great AAW main event on a charity show where they didn’t necessarily need  to deliver.

Obviously, AAW is not a perfect wrestling company, but I think the last two weeks have shown they can still put on quality shows even when some of their roster isn’t on shows. And it goes without saying, but announcing for AAW was one of the more surreal experiences I’ve ever had as a fan and the senior editor of this website. Four years ago, I never would have seen this coming. It was a pleasure and I cannot thank Danny Daniels enough for the opportunity.

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(Originally was going to post this in our first newsletter, but we’re still working out the kinks, and it may not happen for quite some time.)

What I am doing with this column is writing about something I swore to myself I wouldn’t touch. Given the nature of this newsletter and the fact I’m not directly using site space for what I’m about to say, I feel much better discussing my thoughts on what’s been going with AIW recently. Full disclosure: PWP has had a very positive relationship with the promotion since early 2010 thanks to Drew Cordeiro, who was booking for them at the time. Even after Drew left, we’ve had good rapports with both Chandler Biggins and John Thorne. I say this because unconsciously or not, my opinions on them may be clouded.

Here to me is one of the hallmarks and responsibilities we have as wrestling bloggers or online personalities. I am always very careful not to refer to myself as a journalist. My purpose is not to break news or build up a network of sources so I can have the most inside website of all time. I don’t have the time or inclination to provide that level of content. Guys like Mike Johnson and Jason Powell do a far better job hitting on some of the more important aspects of independent wrestling news. However, just because I’m not a journalist doesn’t mean there is no culpability on my part. I firmly believe in not trying to take cheap shots at wrestlers’ personal lives or bringing what I personally think of them as people into my reviews. Let me say this. There are certain wrestlers who I personally don’t like whose matches I’ve reviewed and given very high ratings. There are also wrestlers who I have met and talked with whose matches I’ve buried and make extremely negative comments about.

Weeks ago I tweeted, “review the art, not the artist.” My main purpose is to really flesh this point out. What does it mean to review the art, not the artist? Take for example someone who I even hesitate to mention, but I want to provide examples of both sides. Larry Dallas comes across as a jerk on Twitter and every cliché I could ever think about from someone who lives in the New York/New Jersey area. But when it comes to seeing him perform in Dragon Gate USA, what he says on Twitter and how he really is basically is irrelevant to watching a show or not. Pro wrestling tows the line between real and fiction moreso than a lot of other art forms because who are wrestling characters if not exaggerated versions of themselves. I bury Larry Dallas, not because he’s a bad person, but because I don’t feel he adds anything to the shows he’s on and in fact steals heat from people he manages. If you don’t buy that argument, I advise you to look at the DG USA careers of Caleb Konley and Scott Reed. Dallas and the whole Scene were a wretched aspect of the company, but again, my discussion of him in a review only comes because of what he does on a show.

On the other hand is Jay Briscoe. This is someone I’ve admired for the last seven years, ever since I became an independent wrestling fan. He’d bled buckets and sacrificed himself for the betterment of Ring of Honor. Some of not just my favorite Ring of Honor matches of all-time but my favorite wrestling matches have involved Jay Briscoe. The truth is I don’t know him as a person, but when he sent those controversial tweets after Delaware legalized gay marriage, I’d be lying if I didn’t say I felt personal anger. Our belief systems on the issue of gay marriage and gun control seem to be fundamentally different. At the time I wrote and implied if I were Ring of Honor, I would have strongly considered firing Jay Briscoe. The bottom line is I’m not Ring of Honor, and I think the situation was handled fairly well once they got up and moving. But how do I then review his matches? Simple. The same way I always do. Jay Briscoe’s views on gay marriage and gun control have nothing to do with the art form of professional wrestling. If I made the statement, “I’m boycotting Ring of Honor because of what Jay Briscoe said,” then I’m operating on a slippery slope.

By saying I’m not going to support Ring of Honor because of the actions, I’m also hurting the other wrestlers in the promotion and essentially saying that because I disagree with someone, I shouldn’t engage with them in anyway. Just for the record everyone, this is why nothing is getting done in Congress right now, because there is a lack of communication and engagement on both parties. Very simply, my role as a wrestling reviewer is to talk about the art and whether I feel Ring of Honor is worth watching because of that. Two years prior to Jay Briscoe’s latest Twitter debacle, Sinclair Broadcasting bought the promotion. If you look at their Wikipedia page or Google the political causes they support, I bet you will find major disagreements with how they conduct themselves. If you want to not support Ring of Honor because they employed Jay Briscoe, then why were you supporting them the previous two years given Sinclair Broadcasting’s controversial stances on a number of issues. For me, if I were to stop watching Ring of Honor, it would be because I thought the product wasn’t worth my money or time.

Before moving on into the main reason I’m actually writing this column, there is a major difference between letting people’s lives affect your viewing of the company and the numerous technical issues that have plagued their iPPVs. Not being able to see a show and then being ignored by a company is a perfectly worthwhile reason to not support a company because it’s affecting how you view the art and flat-out wasting your time. Pro wrestling is not a charity. There are a lot of reasons to not support a company. I just don’t feel a person’s belief system or the way they conduct themselves (as long as they haven’t committed a crime. Discussing Nick Gage and Chris Benoit would be completely different columns).

Now we get to John Thorne. A few bloggers and podcasters are not happy with AIW, some specifically with Thorne. I’m not getting into details nor am I calling anyone out. Whether I personally condone everything he says or his behavior is pointless to my enjoyment of AIW. If I think the J.T. Lightning tournament or Absolution VII were great shows, then I’m going to tell you. Those shows are worth 30 bucks for the whole package. The wrestlers worked very hard, and John Thorne is not even an on-air personality. On the other hand, if I were in charge of AIW or worked in management, I probably wouldn’t engage with other wrestlers who I feel had done wrong by me because it’s a pointless conversation and only makes me look petty. I would think twice before I posted pictures and said certain things because of how I could be perceived. But I’m speaking in this case as an individual. As a wrestling FAN, my want to support the product and wrestlers outweighs (by a very large margin) anything that’s been said by Thorne or Biggins which I disagree with.

Consumers certainly have the right to support whichever wrestling companies they want for whatever reasons they want. Bloggers and podcasters also have the right to say whatever they want about John Thorne’s Twitter account because it is technically public. However, by giving him attention, the people ready to burn him at the stake have probably rallied AIW fans even more and made them want to spend more money on the product. Not to mention he’s picked up around 50 followers anyway. So in an attempt to get on a soapbox and rant about the evils of AIW, you’ve galvanized their supporters.

It is certainly possible new potential fans could be scared away by what they see and hear from bloggers. Ultimately the only way to determine if this is the case is through seeing DVD/MP4/VOD sales on Smart Mark Video or the live attendance. If people are going take what is said so seriously, I’m not sure how long they would last anyway as fans of AIW given it’s R-rated nature.

Speaking of that R-rated nature, let’s talk about the difference between being a federation for adults and being family friendly. One of the great tragedies of Chikara’s death is the lack of a company where adults can take their kids and not hear a lot of swear words or witness bloody violence. There should absolutely be more family friendly promotions in the United States because I think it opens up the audience significantly. That being said, I would never ask AAW or AIW to change their identities to serve the whims of former Chikara fans. They have the right as a business to decide how they want to run their wrestling company. Do I think there should be age restrictions on shows? Part of me thinks so, but it’s also on the parents to research what their child is consuming as entertainment. Also, do I necessarily agree with everything said or some of the language? Not always but if I were to disengage from everything that offended me, I’d up sitting in a white room watching PBS all day. And honestly, that Downton Abbey can get a little saucy too, so I might end up with no television at all.

To me, when I talk about supporting and reviewing the art, that means talking about the things which affect your view of the art of professional wrestling. A wrestler’s political party or religious belief system does not mean I’m going to view an entire company or what a person does in the ring. As far as I’m concerned, Jay Briscoe can still have great matches that I can enjoy. A person’s art can reflect them as as person, but it is ultimately an expression of who they are, not who they actually are. More importantly, the idea that we should not engage with people we disagree with is fundamentally wrong. There is value to everyone’s opinion, regardless of how stupid or ignorant we think that might be. Through discussion, we are better able to get our viewpoints across and if we can have positive, productive conversations, independent wrestling becomes a better place.

I am as guilty as anyone of not living up everything I’ve stated in the column. There are things I’ve done and said, even as the person in charge of Pro Wrestling Ponderings, that make me a hypocrite. In thinking about the last few months, even the last year, I’ve realized the best way to truly get away from something you find repulsive is to ignore it? Don’t like Highspots doing Kickstarter? Don’t like the cover of Rolling Stone? Don’t like the Westboro Church. Don’t talk about it. I’m not saying we need to go back to the childlike wonder of saying, “If you ignore them, they’ll go away,” but not giving something you dislike attention is the best possible decision one can make.

Just to conclude this rambling mess, I think there is a way to engage with people privately through e-mail. I know it’s called SOCIAL media for a reason, but Twitter is not the best place to have in-depth conversations. Sometimes what gets people in trouble even more than a dumb thing they say is them trying to defend it or flaming the conversation because 140 characters does not allow for deep conversation. I think every organization should be responsible and really consider what they want to represent with every decision they make and how they choose to conduct themselves through social media. Yes, we all have the right to say what we want, but by showing discretion, I won’t be subjected to silly blogs or nebulous podcasts about nonsense. I still write and podcast for PWP because I like talking about wrestling shows and companies. There are more than enough issues to discuss without needing to delve into people’s personal lives. If it affects what’s happening on the show, maybe it’s more fair game. I’ve laid out what I believe are my responsibilities are as a reviewer and someone within the wrestling media. I’m not sure how others feel, but all I want is to not only make independent wrestling better with this column, but maybe the wrestling media too.