Evaluate the effectiveness of the marketing and promotional strategies used by the Wild Women of Wrestling promoters.

The marketing and promotional strategies of Wild Women of Wrestling (WWOW) promoters had mixed effectiveness. Craig Cohen's business acumen was evident as he financed the initial setup and promotional materials like flyers, posters, and T-shirts, providing a solid foundation for outreach . The choice of the name "Wild Women of Wrestling" (WWOW) was strategic, aiming to leverage the popularity of similar successful promotions like GLOW and POWW, though it faced legal challenges requiring brand protection through trademark threats . The promotional landscape at that time was challenging, with territories closely guarded by established wrestling promotions, limiting new ventures' access to prime venues and broadcasting networks . Despite creative branding and some successful legal maneuvers to secure sponsorship deals, such as one with a topless car wash company, the ability to sustain long-term success was undermined by ownership changes and the competitive wrestling environment which often saw smaller promotions being overshadowed by more established entities . Overall, while the initial strategies demonstrated creativity and opportunism, structural challenges in the wrestling industry limited WWOW's long-term viability.

How did Hiro overcome the adversities he faced while trying to make a name for himself in professional wrestling in the U.S.?

Hiro overcame adversities in his wrestling career in the U.S. by leveraging his network and skills. Initially, he refuted the idea of needing to join sumo wrestling as a prerequisite to success in pro wrestling, choosing to make a name for himself independently, a decision he resolutely pursued by relocating to Peru via family connections and later to Mexico, where he gained significant recognition . In Mexico, he impressed the respected wrestler Gory Guerrero with his skills, earning the nickname "Todo Pistolero" for his ability to "shoot" with anyone, which boosted his reputation . In the U.S., Hiro formed important alliances, such as with Duke Keomuka, who guided him and helped secure opportunities to work with prominent promoters . In Florida, his determination led him to significant victories, including the NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship, establishing him as a formidable wrestler . Training under Karl Gotch also refined his skills and discipline significantly, enhancing his in-ring performance and resilience . These steps, combined with his ability to network and seize opportunities across various territories, enabled Hiro to establish a successful wrestling career in the U.S.

In what ways did Hiro's journey and relationships demonstrate the interconnectedness of the wrestling world during his era?

Hiro's journey in the wrestling world reflects the interconnectedness of the industry through his relationships and the influence of key figures across various territories. Initially inspired by Rikidōzan, a national hero in Japan, Hiro's entry into wrestling began with connections to Japanese mentors, showcasing early international involvement . His transition to the U.S. wrestling scene included working for promoters like Morris Sigel in Texas and making a name under Duke Keomuka's guidance in Missouri, illustrating collaboration within the American territories . In Oklahoma, he trained with and gained respect from renowned wrestlers like Danny Hodge, further cementing his connections . Hiro's success in Florida, alongside figures like Eddie Graham, and his interaction with Lou Thesz and Karl Gotch, shows how personal and professional relationships fostered recognition and opportunities across different regions . This network was a hallmark of wrestling in that era, where mutual respect and shared experiences among wrestlers and promoters facilitated cross-territory collaborations and individual growth.

Analyze how personal relationships and trust influenced business operations and decisions among wrestling promoters in this era.

In this era, personal relationships and trust were fundamental to business operations among wrestling promoters. For instance, Craig chose to collaborate with his best friend, trusting in their mutual understanding and shared vision while forgoing formal contracts . Similarly, Dennis Coralluzzo's significant contributions to the NWA and his established relationships with other members allowed him to initially negotiate extensions for dues payment despite financial shortcomings . Even when handling Dennis's membership issues, networking and advocacy within the organization showed how trust and relationships influenced business decisions, demonstrating the critical interplay between professional operations and personal dynamics in wrestling promotion .

Evaluate the strategic actions taken by Dennis Coralluzzo to maintain his membership in the NWA despite financial challenges.

To maintain his membership in the NWA despite financial challenges, Dennis Coralluzzo attempted several strategic actions. He showed a lack of intention to repay the money he owed, implying a belief that the NWA board was bluffing about expelling him . When faced with potential membership termination, Dennis strategically transferred the NWA membership of a Pennsylvania-based entity, NWA-2000, to his son Marc, although there were accusations that it was Dennis who was running the shows under Marc’s membership . He aimed to leverage the sympathy of the situation around his mother’s passing to influence perceptions, but this did not prevent the termination of his membership . Dennis demonstrated resilience by assembling an alternative wrestling coalition with trusted associates like Jim Kettner, following his membership termination . Despite his expulsion, Dennis attempted to uphold his wrestling ventures through these maneuvers and alliances.

How did the strategic use of gimmicks and character personas affect the reception of the Wild Women of Wrestling show by the audience?

The strategic use of gimmicks and character personas in the Wild Women of Wrestling show significantly influenced its reception by the audience. Drawing parallels from successful entities like the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling in the 1980s, the creators of Wild Women of Wrestling crafted a distinct identity that paralleled previous successful women's wrestling promotions . This approach not only captured the attention of audiences seeking entertainment but also leveraged the dramatic and character-driven aspects prevalent in professional wrestling. By successfully differentiating themselves with unique personas and creative storylines, they ensured their shows resonated with fans who were familiar with similar entertainment formats . Additionally, these strategies aligned well with broader wrestling tactics where character and showmanship are central to audience engagement . Overall, the adoption of these creative elements helped cultivate a dedicated fanbase and invigorate interest in women’s wrestling.

Discuss the ethical considerations involved in the decision-making process regarding Dennis Coralluzzo's NWA membership termination.

Ethical considerations in the decision regarding Dennis Coralluzzo's NWA membership termination revolve around balancing personal relationships and organizational integrity. Despite Dennis's significant contributions to the NWA and his initial role in the organization, his failure to meet financial obligations and refusal to make payments jeopardized his status. The ethics of maintaining trust and accountability were challenged when Dennis continuously defaulted on payments despite given opportunities and deadlines, which were reinforced with personal pleas from his colleagues . The situation was further complicated by personal circumstances, such as the death of Dennis's mother, which raised questions about the timing and sensitivity of the termination decision . Additionally, the ethical dilemma of loyalty versus organizational rules was evident, with some board members advocating for leniency due to Dennis's past contributions, while others emphasized strict adherence to bylaws requiring payment of dues . This decision also led to public criticism and negative perceptions of those enforcing the termination, highlighting the challenge of handling business ethics publicly . Ultimately, the choice was made to preserve the organization's financial integrity and enforce its rules, even in the face of adverse personal implications .

What impact did Rikidōzan's death have on Hiro's career trajectory and personal goals?

Rikidōzan's death profoundly impacted Hiro's career trajectory and personal goals. Hiro was in the midst of training to prove his wrestling prowess by facing Rikidōzan when he received news of Rikidōzan's passing, leading to a loss of focus and heart since the opportunity for personal validation was lost . Despite this setback, Hiro redirected his determination towards achieving success in his own right, becoming a notable presence in American wrestling, eventually becoming the first Japanese-born NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion .

What challenges did the organizers face during the debut of the Wild Women of Wrestling show, and how did they address them?

The organizers faced significant challenges with brand protection and competing uses of the Wild Women of Wrestling name. They had to deal with unauthorized uses including apartment wrestling videos and a topless car wash service using their name. They addressed these issues by actively protecting their brand through legal threats and managed to stop all unauthorized use of their brand, even securing a financial settlement from the car wash company . Additionally, starting a promotion in an era dominated by major wrestling organizations posed its own set of challenges, as they had to navigate a landscape where new promotions often struggled to establish themselves amid the existing giants like WWF and JCP ."}

How did the partnership with Mizlou influence the Wild Women of Wrestling's approach to television production?

The partnership with Mizlou influenced the Wild Women of Wrestling's approach to television production by offering them a potential syndication deal which added legitimacy and a higher profile to their broadcast efforts. Mizlou, a premier sports production company with a significant network of affiliates, offered to syndicate the program contingent on the high quality of the initial shows . This partnership was pivotal as Mizlou had the infrastructure to distribute programming nationwide using a system of landlines and microwave towers, which was essential in the pre-satellite television era . Thus, the partnership necessitated WWOW to focus on producing quality content that would meet Mizlou's standards, ultimately elevating their production values and providing a clearer path to national exposure .

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Published by ecw press
2120 Queen Street East, Suite 200, Toronto, Ontario, Canada m4e 1e2
416.694.3348 / [email protected]
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any process electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise
without the prior written permission of the copyright owners and ecw press.
The Times They Are A-Changin copyright 1963;
renewed 1991 Special Rider Music. All rights resserved.
International copyright secured. Reprinted by permission.
library and archives canada cataloguing in publication
Brody, Howard, 1960Swimming with piranhas : surviving the politics of professional
wrestling / Howard T. Brody.
isbn 978-1-55022-867-0
1. Brody, Howard, 1960-. 2. National Wrestling AllianceBiography.
3. Wrestling. 4. Wrestling promotersUnited StatesBiography. I. Title.
gv1196.b77a3 2009

796.812092

Editor: Michael Holmes

Cover design: David Gee
Typesetting: Mary Bowness
Printing: Thomson-Shore 1 2 3

c2008-907566-8

printed and bound in the united states

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Foreword xi
Introduction xiii
1. WHERE HAVE YOU WRESTLED? 1
2. POLITICAL SCIENCE 101 12
3. THERES NO SUBSTITUTE FOR EXPERIENCE 30
4. CHANGING TIMES 62
5. EUREKA! 79
6. WOW! NO, WWOW! 100
7. FLIGHT OF THE BUMBLEBEE 126
8. RUNNING ON EMPTY 148

9. RIDING THE ROLLER COASTER 167

10. 1994 196
11. THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE DOWNRIGHT SCARY 222
12. JOURNEY OF A RING WARRIOR 246
13. KING OF THE CARNIES 278
14. HAIL TO THE CHIEF 301
15. LIFE AFTER THE NWA 372
16. AGAINST ALL ODDS 399
17. FINAL THOUGHTS 409

It is often said we learn something new every day. With that I am dedicating this
book to all the teachers who have been a part of my life, whether they were my
educators, mentors, friends, lovers or family members. The life lessons you provided cannot be found in any textbook. Your examples cannot be shown in any
addendum. Your return on investment cannot be measured by any bank account
balance. To those of you who contributed to who I am, whether you are still
physically with us or only participate in spirit, thank you for guiding me through
this existence that is called life. And as I continue on my journey forward, may
you always remind me not only what the difference is between right and left, but
what the difference is between right and wrong.

Acknowledgments
I wish to thank the following people for their help and contributions in making
Swimming with Piranhas all that I envisioned it to be. While some allowed me the
opportunity to pursue my vision, most provided a special insight and perspective
to what I was writing the missing pieces that enabled me to fill in many of the
gaps identified during my roller-coaster journey in the industry we call professional wrestling. They are:
Bob Adelfson; Bob and Pam Allyn; Rick Bassman; Howard Baum; Bill Behrens;
Larry Brannon (a.k.a. Vito DeNucci), Dr. Michael Brannon (a.k.a. Dr. Red
Roberts), Donald Bucci (a.k.a. Donnie B); Craig Cohen; Marc Coralluzzo;
Sal Corrente; Dan Druckman; Lenny Duge; Rob Feinstein; Kathy Fitzpatrick;
David Gee; Callie Gladman of the Bob Dylan Music Company; Sheldon
Goldberg; Sandy Gordon; Tod Gordon; David Heath; Jerry Jarrett; Mike
Johnson of pwinsider.com; Paul Jones; Wade Keller of the Pro Wrestling Torch;
Judy Kojima and family; Dr. Mike Lano; Phyllis Lee; Rick Lindsey; Howard
Lipkint; David Marquez; Alex Marvez; Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer;
John Molinaro; Gino Moore; Dr. Lino Morris; George Napolitano; Ron Niemi;
Rick Otazu; Bill Otten; Betty Owen; David E. Porto; Greg Price; Bob Roop; Jim
Ross; Fred Rubenstein; Rob Russen; Kim and Wylie Sacks (a.k.a. Penelope
Paradise and Steve Collins); Bruno Sammartino; Mario Savoldi; Rick Sawick;
Shelly Schermer; Max Seki; Robin Smith (a.k.a. Rockin Robin); Dianne
Southern; Bob Syers; Chris Tipton (a.k.a. Chris Nelson); Bob Trobich; James
Walsh of WrestlingEpicenter.com; Jason Westmoreland; the late, great Gary
Williams (a.k.a. Playboy Gary Hart); and Marty Yesberg. Very special thanks go
to my editor, Michael Holmes of ECW Press, for putting up with me over a twoyear period, and to my good friend Jimmy Cornette, for taking the time to read the
630-page unedited version of this book and for penning its foreword.

bill otten

Foreword

Perseverance? Persistence? Pugnacity? Or plumb nuts?

These are all words that can be used to describe, if not indict, Howard T. Brodys
indomitable spirit throughout his long and often frustrating journey in professional
wrestling. In the 15 years I have known him, he has shown the same enthusiasm,
sometimes bordering on glee, for every deal he has pitched me or participated in
with me, whether it be a six-figure overseas tv deal or an nwa event in Voorhees,
New Jersey. Howard genuinely loves being involved in the business of wrestling.
Now that Ive read his very candid (and incredibly detailed) autobiography, if Id
known how many mishaps hed had for each success, Id have thought he was even
crazier than the rest of us for wanting to be a part of this wacky industry.
Howard has dealt with most of the movers and shakers in the world of wrestling,
from Vince McMahon to Antonio Inoki to Dennis Coralluzzo. He has flown around
the globe several times over, syndicating wrestling television or promoting foreign

tours. He even appeared on Raw in his alter-ego of NWA President Howard

Brody of Tampa, Florida. Sometimes, as you will see from this book, he remembered to bring his clothes.
But for all his achievements, Howard isnt afraid to tell you about the misfires,
and at some points you truly understand the old wrestlers allusions to the business
as a drug, or mistress, if it made someone put up with this level of frustration.
Howard is probably the only promoter in history to lose a deal because of the fall
of communism!
I have always loved the performing or creative sides of wrestling and mostly
loathed the business side. Howard Brody has not only concentrated on the business side for 25 years, but carved out his own niche in it. He has persevered through
many crises to establish himself in several facets of our sport promoter, syndicator, talent agent and done it with a smile (mostly). No matter what he says
now, he will always have an eye open for a good deal in the wrestling business.
Once youve been nwa president, the disease is incurable!
I loved this book and cant wait to read Howards cousin Todds book too!
Jim Cornette

from howard t. brodys personal collection

Introduction

Professional wrestling is my mistress. For more than 25 years Ive been chasing
after her like some out of reach dream. Every so often I catch her, and we have
an affair. It usually lasts just a short period of time, and then I swear her off forever but in the back of my mind, I wait patiently for my opportunity to be
with her again.
But Im not the only one whos been enticed by her.
To those of us who have been involved with her, she is an intoxicating lady with
an inexplicable quality that makes us addicted to her. Unfortunately, the fix can
sometimes be fatal. I suppose she is to us as a mermaid is to an old sea dog; she
beckons us from afar, and if we get too close without the right frame of mind, it
can cost us dearly.
I only call her a lady because as the late, great Hiro Matsuda once told me, if
you treat her right, she will give you everything you could ever want. Mistreat her,
and she will make your life miserable.

SWIMMING WITH PIRANHAS

So what is it about this crazy business that we find attractive? Why are we drawn
to an industry filled with carnivores individuals who would backstab their own
mothers for a dollar and sometimes not even that much? Why do we risk our reallife relationships with the ones we love in order to be a player in an industry
predicated on a fantasy? What the heck is it about pro wrestling that, despite all the
warnings, all the horror stories, all the ugliness, hypnotizes us into staying and
trying to succeed when others have failed?
To paraphrase an old proverb, the answer lies within.
By now youre probably asking yourself, What makes you, Howard Brody, such
an expert on pro wrestling? Well, thats a great question.
Although Ive never wrestled a match in my life, Im proud to say Ive been
involved with almost every aspect of the business. I started as a fan, crossed the line
as a wrestling magazine writer and photographer and then crossed the line again as
a promoter. Ive produced wrestling television and radio shows, traveled the world
thanks to the business and have been involved with some of the most colorful and
influential people in wrestling history.
Little did I know that when I attended my first card at Madison Square Garden
at age 13 to see Pedro Morales wrestle Larry The Axe Henning, I would appear
on World Wrestling Federation (wwf) television 25 years later before millions of
people.
Little did I know that when I attended my first National Wrestling Alliance card
at age 15, I would one day be president of the nwa and help save it from fading into
oblivion.
Little did I know that when I wrote my first article for the WWF Magazine in
1985, I would help pen Dusty: Reflections of an American Dream, Dusty Rhodess
biography, 20 years later and then be tasked to write this book.
And little did I know that I would one day cross the line from wrestling
observer to active participant and count Matsuda, Rhodes, Jim Cornette and the
greatest announcer in wrestling history, the late Gordon Solie, among my close,
personal friends.
Little did I know . . .
The phrase speaks volumes because, despite arguments to the contrary, not
everyone in the wrestling business knows it all. Paul Heyman doesnt know it all.
Eric Bischoff doesnt know it all. As much as I love him, Dusty doesnt know it
all. Hell, even Vincent Kennedy McMahon himself doesnt know it all.
As for me . . . certainly not!
What I do know, however, and what I have learned from the wrestling business

INTRODUCTION

and the people in it, I will share with you, giving you a unique look into this
industry from a perspective much different than anything that has been written
before.
To put everyones mind at ease, this is not meant to be my autobiography
who, aside from my family, would want to read that? However, it will read like one
because the vast majority of this book will include my life experiences, as these are
the encounters and events that have shaped me into the person I am and have
brought me to this point in time. It is these life events and the lessons I learned
along the way that have enabled me to tell this story the way it needs to be told,
mapping out an atlas that describes how to safely navigate the dark waters of pro
wrestling politics. Simply put, Im hoping others will learn from my mistakes
and there are plenty of them in order to avoid the dangers that silently lurk,
waiting for their victims.
I dont know who coined the phrase swimming with sharks as it pertains to
lawyers, but lawyers have got nothing on those who inhabit the piranha-infested
waters of pro wrestling. All it takes is one small cut and someone in the industry
will eat you alive. If youre lucky enough to survive the first assault, theres always
another waiting in the darkness to take a bigger bite out of your ass. Lucky for me,
Ive got a big ass. But those of us with big asses sometimes just make bigger targets.
So, secure your goggles, take a deep breath and when we hit the water, stay close
behind. Because just when the water seems to be the calmest chomp!
Follow me . . .

ONE

from howard t. brodys personal collection

WHERE HAVE
YOU WRESTLED?

With Johnny Ace (left) and Dory Funk Jr. (right) at an Alachua County
Fair show in Gainesville

It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.

E.E. Cummings ()

Sometime in late 1982 I dont remember the exact month or date I met the
Dean of pro wrestling announcers, Gordon Solie, for the first time. It wasnt
exactly a stellar meeting. At the time I was attending the University of Florida in
Gainesville, and to me, like many fans of the old Championship Wrestling from
Florida territory, Solie was wrestling.
I drove to the old Tampa Sportatorium at 106 North Albany Avenue seeking a

SWIMMING WITH PIRANHAS

public relations job with the Florida office. I do remember that it was on a
Wednesday morning because thats when they filmed for tv. After being escorted
inside and invited to watch from behind the scenes, I waited for nearly three hours
after filming was done before Gordon was able to see me. The meeting lasted only
a few minutes, and after reviewing my then skeletal rsum, Gordons advice was
to stay in school then look him up when I graduated.
Not exactly what I wanted to hear. But I took his suggestion and reluctantly
drove back to Gainesville.
It was an interesting day, to say the least. Perhaps the most interesting part,
however, was when I first arrived at the office. At 10 a.m. I was met in the lobby
by none other than former NWA World Heavyweight Champion Dory Funk Jr.
He was the booker back then.
Can I help you? he asked.
Im here for a job, I said as I handed him my rsum.
He scanned the eight-and-a-half by eleven sheet of paper and then darted his
eyes back toward me. Where have you wrestled? he asked, perplexed at not seeing
any wrestling credentials anywhere on the paper.
Didnt he know? Why back in the summer of 77 I had made my pro debut at
the tender age of 17 . . . well, sort of.
Hold everything! Didnt you say in the introduction, I never wrestled a match
in my life?
Thats true. But in pro wrestling people lie all the time. People pretend to be
something or someone they are not. For decades those in the industry lived and died
by the code of kayfabe, something that has since been broken into a million pieces.
Simply put, kayfabe is the act of acting. When a wrestler broke kayfabe, he was
no longer pretending to be the character that he was in the wrestling world and was
just being himself. Back in the day, the unwritten rule was that in order to prevent
the business from being exposed for what it was, people in the industry never broke
kayfabe when they were around people who werent in it.
So was I a wrestler or wasnt I?
For as far back as I can remember, pro wrestling was a part of my life. Growing
up in Brooklyn, New York, I remember watching guys like Karl Gotch, Rene
Goulet, Gorilla Monsoon, Haystacks Calhoun and Crusher Verdu on our old
black-and-white Zenith television. You had to get the rabbit ears just right to get
channel 47 out of Newark, New Jersey. Many times my older brother Brian and I
watched the show through a screen full of snow. It used to drive my dad out of his
mind, and he used to ask, How can you watch this phony crap? Needless to say,
he was not a fan.

TWO

courtesy daisy wei hawkins

POLITICAL SCIENCE 101

PWIs iconic front man, Bill Apter

In politics, nothing is contemptible.

Benjamin Disraeli ()

know what I was expecting, but it wasnt that. Nevertheless, you could tell it was
an office that belonged to someone who had worked very hard to get where they
were. The one thing that still sticks out in my mind was that there was a whiteboard sitting on an easel. One side had a list of wrestlers who were coming in to
the company, and on the other side was a list of those who were leaving. On the
in side I remember Junkyard Dog and the Fabulous Freebirds.
As we sat down, she gave me the skinny on the company and how they had got
to where they were selling the Cape Cod Coliseum, buying the company from
her father-in-law and his partners, changing the wrestling organization name from
the World Wide Wrestling Federation to the World Wrestling Federation, etc.
When the conversation made its way back to the reason I was there, she reiterated
how much she liked my work and then surprised me by telling me she remembered
the editorial I had written about the stadium in South Florida.
Without beating around the bush, Linda came right out and made me an offer
of $15,000 a year plus the cost of moving my wife and me to Connecticut. I knew
it was not a lot of money to start, especially for that part of the country, but I also
knew it would be a foot in the door that could materialize into something much
bigger. I figured with Sharon working too we could easily make it work. When I
told her I would be willing to start for that amount, she told me what my responsibilities would be and what would be expected of me over the coming months.
The way she was talking, the job was mine.
She then gave me a quick lesson in both Titan Sports and Wrestling 101. She
explained that Vince ran the wrestling side while she ran the business side. She also
explained that those who worked for them were like family and those who were
loyal were rewarded. She then explained that pro wrestling was not choreographed,
as people think, but rather is predetermined, or, in simpler terms, they know in
advance who will win and lose ah ha, I knew it! She then told me I could expect
to hear the phrases babyfaces and heels, which were wrestling lingo for good guys
and bad guys; it was the first time I had ever heard those terms. I was soaking
things up like a sponge.
Linda then took me around the office to meet some of the people I would be
working with. One of the things I recall was that she showed me a cold storage
room that I think she referred to as the vault. In it, she explained, they kept their
footage of past shows. Last but not least, Linda showed me on a map some of the
towns in the vicinity where I should consider living, since rents in Greenwich itself
were a bit too high for what my salary would be. In all, she spent about an hour
interviewing me.
There was one final step in the interview process, and I was home free. Linda

POLITICAL SCIENCE 101

wanted me to meet someone named Robert DeBord. Although he was considered

the magazines associate publisher, I believe Robert J. DeBord was actually its distribution director and, to the best of my knowledge, was also the head of Titans
marketing department at the time. Like many at Titan who wore a multitude of
hats, DeBord also had an on-air role of sorts, as he had been the host of an interview segment titled Victory Corner on one of their television shows. His on-air
claim to fame, however, was that he had introduced Roddy Piper for the very first
installment of Pipers Pit, which of course became a mainstay of the wwfs
Championship Wrestling tv show in the 80s. Fortunately for the fans of the wwf,
DeBords on-air persona did not last; he was about as charismatic as drying paint.
So there I sat in DeBords office, and for 30 minutes he didnt say a word to me.
I asked him if there was anything hed like to know about me or my background,
and his response was Nope. I couldnt understand why he wasnt asking me questions about my experience or abilities; I would be working with the man in the
near future. Since I had never met him before, he didnt know a thing about me
except what was on my rsum and I found it odd that he didnt give me any type
of acknowledgment. Trying to break the silence, I asked him simple questions
about the magazines circulation, its paper stock and some other things I had
learned about in school. Half the questions he couldnt answer, and what he did
answer was vague at best. I thought maybe he was just a yes-man, going along with
whatever Linda said. Whatever the reason, giving me the cold shoulder was simply
not cool (no pun intended).
Before I knew it, the time had come for me to leave and get back to the airport
for my flight home. I said my goodbyes, and as Dishonest Abe drove me back to
LaGuardia, I left Greenwich with a truckload of confidence that I would soon be
working for Titan Sports.
To top off a very fulfilling day, I was driven back to the airport not in Lindas
Buick, but in Andre the Giants limousine. This time it was I who was the talkative one, asking the driver about the different areas to live in, what the traffic flow
was like to Greenwich and questions of that nature. When he dropped me off, he
said something to the effect that he would see me soon and wished me a safe flight.
The plane ride home seemed to take forever, and when I finally arrived in Fort
Lauderdale, Sharon and I went out for a late celebratory dinner.
Then the waiting began.
A few days passed, and I was expecting a call from Linda at any time, telling me
when I would be expected in Connecticut. I was working for my brother Arnies
company to pick up some extra money, as some of the bills were piling up, when
I got a call from Sharon. She told me Linda McMahon had called looking for me.

SWIMMING WITH PIRANHAS

I asked my brother if I could use the phone in his private office, and with Titans
number now memorized, I placed the call, anxious to find out when I would start.
Linda got on the phone and told me that she had enjoyed meeting with me and
thought I would make a great addition to their team. She then dropped the bomb
that they had decided to go with someone a bit older and more experienced than
me. Linda was up front and said a person named Ed Ricciuti would be getting the
position, and as an established writer with several books and hundreds of magazine
articles to his credit, there was no way they could pass up on the opportunity to
have him as part of their company. Although the words she was using sounded different, what I heard was that there was no way I could compete against his
experience. While that might have been true and a quick visit to edwardricciuti
.com or a simple Google search on the Internet will confirm that even today Ed
remains a prolific writer I felt in my heart that, regardless of his experience,
there was no way he could ever have the same passion I had for wrestling.
What was a bit strange about the conversation, as I recall, was that Linda said
she still wanted me to write for their magazine because she felt I had a fresh
approach. I was devastated because I wanted that job so badly, but under the
watchful eye of someone who got the job I coveted, for a short period of time I
wrote articles for WWF Magazine.
Years later, after Ed left the wwf and while I was working with Hiro Matsuda
on a project called Ring Warriors, we had a discussion about starting a Ring
Warriors magazine. During our conversation I learned that it was Eds friend
Robert DeBord who had helped him get the editorial position at Titan. It took
almost 15 years to learn why I got snubbed in DeBords office that afternoon in
Connecticut. It really had nothing to do with me. It was the first time I was the
unsuspecting victim of wrestlings office politics.
I held a grudge for many years, but in reading Eds rsum what hes written
and accomplished over the years there really was no way for me to compete.
Linda McMahon made the right choice. Even so, Ive often wondered what would
have happened if DeBord would have given me a fair shake. While it will always
sting that a different kind of wrestling politics played a role in keeping me from
working for Titan Sports, I suppose Linda felt my passion and love for wrestling
was simply not enough to accomplish what she felt they needed to do as a company.
Sure I was disappointed, but at least this time the door was left open for me to
have some involvement in the business, albeit on a very small scale. If I wanted to
continue pursuing something in wrestling, I could not let disappointment turn

POLITICAL SCIENCE 101

into complete discouragement no matter what happened. And I was about to be

tested again: later that year I received another blow to my already black-and-blue
ego.
While walking through the aisles at Waldenbooks I was enraged to see The
Pictorial History of Wrestling: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly by Bert Randolph
Sugar and George Napolitano.
Holy crap, that son of a bitch stole my idea!
George Napolitano, a so-called respected wrestling journalist, had stabbed me
in the back. What kind of person shoots a writer down and then turns around and
hooks up with a boxing historian who doesnt know jack about wrestling to
steal his idea? It was a very poor version of my idea but it was still my idea.
Not only had I been undermined at Titan, but now this. And to make matters
worse, I had no legal recourse since the copyright was held by Sugar even though
the text had Georges style and signature all over it.
I hated Napolitano for a very long time. But just as I realized the anger over not
getting the Titan job was a waste of positive energy, while I will never forget what
George did, I have long since forgiven him. As it turned out, I would actually find
myself doing business with George about 15 years later, while I was president of the
nwa.
In retrospect, the personal conflicts and disappointments were just starting for
me. However without those setbacks, who would I be today and what would I have
learned about this crazy business and, more importantly, life?
Some of these lessons, although clich, were all too clear: follow your gut, dont
count your chickens before they hatch, only share your ideas with those you
absolutely trust unless you have legally protected yourself. Other mistakes would
be repeated over the years before the lessons were learned.
Follow these models, and hopefully the piranhas wont get you. Ignore them
and I guarantee that others will fill their bellies with a nice chunk of your hide.
A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of his opportunities, and an optimist is one who
makes opportunities of his difficulties.
Harry S. Truman ()

THREE

courtesy greg price

THERES NO
SUBSTITUTE FOR EXPERIENCE

Nature Boy Ric Flair was a lot more cordial at the 2008 NWA Legends
Convention than when we first crossed paths

By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; second, by
imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is bitterest.
Confucius ( BC BC)

When it comes to teaching, the adage Theres no substitute for experience just
might be the most overstated clich. But theres a darn good reason. Its true!
As infants and toddlers we learn that we must crawl before we can walk and
walk before we can run. We learn that the older we get, the less effective crying
becomes, and so we begin to use the word please. And somewhere along the way

THERES NO SUBSTITUTE FOR EXPERIENCE

Yes. Im shooting for Gold Belt magazine, I responded.

Whats your name? he asked.
He had seen me shooting at ringside before, so I wondered what was wrong.
Howard Brody, I replied.
Well, Howard, do you think we just allow anybody to shoot in our arenas?
What benefit do you bring to Jim Crockett Promotions?
I stared at him blankly.
I asked you a question, he said, demanding an answer.
Well, Ric, I began.
He cut me off. You dont know me well enough to call me Ric. I asked you a
question. If we allow you to shoot ringside, what benefit do we get out of it?
Well, you get magazine exposure, I responded. Meanwhile I looked over at
Frances, who was listening to all of this with a somewhat knowing look on her face,
but one that said dont count on me for help.
Dont look at her, he said. I didnt ask her the question. I asked you. He
then pressed me, Dont you think we help you sell more magazines and put more
money in your pocket? Dont you think we help you more than you help us? I
couldnt understand why he was acting like this. Before I could answer him, he
said, Take your stuff and get the hell out of here. I dont want to see you back here
again. Flair then turned around and walked away.
Before I could do anything, Danny walked up to me and asked, What the hell
was that all about? What did you do?
Frances finally opened her mouth: He didnt do anything. Rics in one of his
moods because he got ripped off by a taxi driver. She then turned to me, The
best thing you can do is stay out of his way tonight. Ill have a talk with him later.
It was finally time for the main event, and as I always did, I headed to ringside
to wait for the performers. But before I even made it out of the back, I saw Flair
emerge from the dressing room and, taking one look at me, turn right around and
go back inside. A minute later Danny came up to me. You cant shoot ringside
tonight, he said.
Why not? I asked.
Flair wont come out if youre at ringside. Im sorry. Youll have to shoot from
the floor.
If I was going to shoot from the floor, I might as well have not been there at all.
I left the arena pretty upset, but I would get over it.
The nwa was back the following Wednesday night, this time at the Miami
Beach Convention Center. It would be Flair against Chief Wahoo McDaniel in the
main event. I got to the building early, and whos the first person who comes

SWIMMING WITH PIRANHAS

SWIMMING WITH PIRANHAS

Ok, I said, I promise.

[F]or the first time in my life, I realized that the old nwa was really a syndicate an old worn out syndicate, but a real syndicate nevertheless. Eddie
Einhorn had called all us godfathers together for a sit-down to discuss how
we could rid ourselves of the dreaded Vince McMahon, who had broken
the Trust and dared to compete in our sacred territories.
Someone from St. Louis you know those people have always been
gangsters suggested we just take Vince out. Eddie Graham screamed at
the guy to shut the fuck up because the room had not been checked for
government bugs. I dont recall the morality issue coming up about killing
Vince, just being overheard.
Einhorn then pitched us [the idea of ] working together, for Gods sake, for
the common good. What a crazy idea wrestling people working
together. Before any discussion could take place, a hotel executive knocked
on the door and advised Einhorn that Vince was on the phone and said it
was urgent. Several voices suggested that Vince should have sex with himself. I spoke up and said I was curious as to what Vince had to say. Graham
agreed, so Einhorn took the call.
When Einhorn returned he advised the group of Vinces comments.
McMahon said, Eddie, youre from the world of baseball and you dont
understand wrestling and never will understand it but you really should
listen to me because I do understand wrestling. Wrestling people cant and
will never work together. Democracy doesnt work in our business.
Corporate structure will work in baseball, but it will not work in wrestling.
The only system that can be successful in wrestling is a dictatorship and
you couldnt get the people in that room to elect a den mother for a night.
Get out of this business before you embarrass yourself.
Somebody, in a very accusing voice asked, Is that all the bastard said?
You were on the phone a long time.
Einhorn replied, As a matter of fact he said none of you guys would
ever trust me, an outsider, because none of you trusted yourselves. At this
point, the silence was painful. Einhorn continued: Vince went on to tell
me that he knew wrestling looked like a simple business and he was sure
that I felt that because I was successful in other businesses, that I felt I could
run a wrestling company. Vince went on to warn me, Im a third generation wrestling promoter and this is the most difficult business in the world.
It looks so easy and that is the trap door because it makes money angels get
in and they dont get out until their tapped out. Eddie, dont get tapped out
get out!

CHANGING TIMES

At the time, none of us knew if Vince really said what Einhorn

reported to us. However, it worked. We agreed that Graham and I would
be bookers and we would do the tapes in my towns of Memphis and
Louisville. We taped eight weeks of television, ran them in New York and
had a sellout house at the Meadowlands. But how wise Vince McMahons
vision turned out to be.
Watts pulled out before the show started that night. Crockett pulled
out the next morning. Gagne pulled out with all the gate receipts and tried
to carry on with Einhorn and without the group. Vince kicked every nwa
promoter out of business except me down in Memphis.
Many years later, Vince confirmed his call to Einhorn, although he
could not recall the content of his conversation.

Almost a month later McMahon struck back at the heart of the failed coalition,
and if they werent paranoid enough before, they were about to be pushed over the
edge. On Saturday, July 14, 1984, Black Saturday, the wwf debuted on tbs,
pulling what was described as a death shroud over Georgia Championship
Wrestling (gcw), an institution with millions of fans. With McMahon having tv
clearances on both tbs and usa, he suddenly seemed poised to dominate the
wrestling world.
At the urging of local Georgia promoters, who were growing frustrated with
Ole Anderson, majority stockholders Jack and Jerry Brisco sold their stake in gcw
to McMahon for a reported $900,000 plus guaranteed jobs. Promoter Paul Jones,
not to be confused with the wrestler of the same name, sold his stock too, and
McMahon then had controlling interest in the company. Jim Barnett, who was also
a partner in gcw, initially did not want to go along with the deal as he didnt want
to go against people he had been doing business with, some of who he considered
close friends. He once confided to another promoter that he didnt want to deal
with the devil. But, realizing he would end up with nothing if he didnt, he
worked out a deal for himself that in essence guaranteed he, too, would have a job
at Titan. McMahon promptly closed down gcw and took over the companys tv
contract, getting the tbs time slot.
Within days of Black Saturday, the tbs switchboard was jammed with thousands of phone calls from upset viewers. Some fans started a national campaign to
get gcw reinstated. Shortly thereafter the tbs mail room was flooded with thousands of cards and letters demanding they kick the wwf off the air.
When McMahon got word of the complaints, he responded in an Atlanta
Journal Constitution article, saying, Well show those complainers the difference

SWIMMING WITH PIRANHAS

between a major league and a minor league production, given time.

But time would not be on McMahons side.
As the complaints poured in, tbs decided to listen to its viewers, and two weeks
after the wwf debut, the station granted a 7:30 a.m. time slot to Oles new upstart
group, Championship Wrestling from Georgia. Gordon Solie was back doing the
play-by-play, and Southern-style wrestling was back on tbs. Everybody seemed
happy except Vince.
Had he finally bitten off more than he could chew? Had Vinces ego finally got
the best of him? In hindsight it appears McMahon flinched and revealed a chink
in his armor-plated pocketbook.
Outraged that he had just paid almost a million dollars to secure airtime on tbs
only to see them give a potential competitor a time slot, McMahon broke his
promise to produce a separate weekly tv program for tbs. Instead of taping shows
at tbss studios as agreed, McMahon began airing tapes of his other syndicated
wwf programs. But that created another issue for McMahon: programmers
wouldnt swallow the fact that viewers could watch almost identical wwf shows on
either the USA Network or through syndication.
The once promising relationship between Turner and McMahon further fell
apart when tbs, upset over the wwfs ratings, which were much lower than what
gcw had been averaging, gave a one-hour Sunday evening time slot to Bill Wattss
Mid South Wrestling. Hosted by a young Jim Ross, Mid South Wrestling was
drawing better ratings than the wwf by its second week.
Although the wwf had produced two taped shows each week for Turner, World
Championship Wrestling and The Best of World Championship Wrestling which
had a combined audience of 3.5 million homes and ranked second and third among
cable tv shows McMahon and Turner realized they could no longer work
together and reached an agreement that would get McMahon out of his tbs obligations. In a complex transaction, McMahon essentially sold the rights to his time
on tbs to Jim Crockett Jr. for one million dollars, thus ending one of the most
tumultuous business relationships in wrestling lore and laying the foundation for
the bitter wcwwwf promotional war of the 90s. At the time of the split,
McMahon also claimed that Turner actually tried to buy the wwf.
For McMahon, the sale to Crockett helped him finance future WrestleManias
extravaganzas that during the first few years grossed more than $12 million each,
between live gate receipts, pay-per-view and closed-circuit revenues and the sale of
WrestleMania-related merchandise.
But the deal was not without collateral damage. As part of the agreement,
Crockett would have exclusivity on tbs, which meant Watts lost his Sunday time

photo by howard t. brody

CHANGING TIMES

slot and Ole had to forfeit his Saturday

morning spot on the network. While
Watts would sell out to Crockett, Ole
eventually worked a deal out with
Crockett to go back to work for him.
The ensuing war between
McMahon and Crockett had many
casualties. Although many smaller promoters hoped for miracles, they were
swallowed up by the larger lions of the
business. These men of courage who
had tried to make a go of it on their
own became part of the overall conglomeration of promoters working for
larger companies. The offices of the
once thriving territorial system fell like
dominos.
In roughly what amounts to a
Despite being a former wwwf champion, The
seven-year period, the entire face of
Russian Bear Ivan Koloff stayed loyal to Crockett
during the nwa-wwf war
professional wrestling changed. As the
old guard of the territories closed, new
promotions began to spring up in their place, but more often than not they were
underfinanced and didnt seem to have the same allure to fans. They closed almost
as fast as they opened.
Nelson Royal opened up a small group in the Carolinas. Mike Graham, Steve
Keirn and Gordon Solie opened a new group in Florida that Dusty Rhodes later
bought. Sometimes the same players were involved, but they couldnt recapture the
magic of their past glory. Such was the case when Jim Crockett Jr. opened an office
in Texas. After he went belly up he went into the ice cream parlor business. I still
have a hard time picturing the onetime most powerful man in the nwa asking
patrons, One scoop or two?
Eventually one of the last of the old promoters Don Owens in Portland
closed up shop, leaving Jerry Jarrett in Memphis as the sole survivor. The systematic office closings by the established groups and ultimate death of the territorial
system is what allowed the new breed of promoters to emerge as the 80s came to
a close and the 90s began.
The independent groups those not affiliated with the older, established nwa
or awa organizations began to appear, and in some cases they actually flourished

SWIMMING WITH PIRANHAS

for a short time. Among the countless groups was one run by Rob Russen in
Florida, one run by Jody Hamilton in Georgia and the group that was truly the
predecessor to ecw, Herb Abrams uwf.
It seemed inevitable that when the last shot was fired and all the smoke cleared,
that only two promotional powerhouses left standing the wwf and jcp
would slug it out for control of the wrestling universe. And while we all know how
that war ended, it was the annihilation of the old territory system that created the
need for shows to be brought to the small towns, which had been abandoned by
the major groups. That is what really opened the industry up for the horde of independent promoters who would soon follow . . . me included.
Being privileged to watch these events unfold as they did was quite a learning
experience, although I never realized it at the time. Looking back at what some of
the industrys biggest players did and failed to do, it never ceases to amaze me that
some promoters who go into business today dont have a clue about the wrestling
business, yet they think they will succeed on a grand scale. What Vince said to
Einhorn about the trapdoor is true.
Being in the right place at the right time with the right product gives you an
opportunity to succeed, but it doesnt guarantee success. For me, it was the emergence of these indie groups combined with the failure of the Gorgeous Ladies of
Wrestling (glow) in the late 80s that enabled my business partner, Craig, and I to
gamble and enter the pro wrestling promotional foray with the Wild Women of
Wrestling wwow!

In the business world, the rearview mirror is always clearer than the windshield.
Warren Buffet ()

FIVE

from howard t. brodys personal collection

EUREKA!

With Craig Cohen (center) and Dana Taylor (right) in Orlando at a

jcp/nwa event

I will prepare and some day my chance will come.

Abraham Lincoln ()

During the waning days of Championship Wrestling from Florida, Craig Cohen
and I would take periodic road trips across the Sunshine State to see shows, especially after Jim Crockett Promotions took over. Sometimes just the two of us
would go, other times there would be a parade of different people, like Dana
Taylor, who did some ring announcing for the nwa in South Florida, Bruce
Owens, who periodically refereed, and Howard Baum, whose father had once run
a small organization in opposition to the Florida office.

SWIMMING WITH PIRANHAS

and all I could say was Hey, how you doing? I pressed 1 again, the doors closed
and I got the hell out of there as fast as I could.
That was a year-and-a-half before this particular night, and I was psyched
because Gordon had told me that Dusty wanted to personally thank me for
helping out. Suddenly Dusty made his appearance from the stairwell.
Hello Dusty, how are you? I said, extending my hand.
He walked right past me, looked into the arena to see how the crowd was, then
turned around, walked past me a second time and went back downstairs to the third
floor. He didnt even acknowledge me. I was pissed off. I called Gordon the next day,
and it felt like the Mike Graham and Dan Fisher fiasco all over again. However, I
did learn that night from talking to Dustys front man Randy Roberts, who was
one of his investors that Dusty would soon be heading to the wwf.
The Bull of the Woods. Ulvalde Slim. The Midnight Rider. Virgil Reily
Runnels Jr. The Son of a Plumber. The American Dream. The Common Man. No
matter what you call him, Dusty Rhodes remains one of the most charismatic personalities to ever grace our business. How many people in this business can claim
to have a series of match endings named after him? The so-called Dusty Finish.
Without a doubt, Dusty is the most imitated man in wrestling dressing rooms,
although some would argue Hulk Hogan is right up there, brother. The mere mention of his name brings a lisping imitation, if you weeeelll.
I wouldnt cross paths with Rhodes again until 1998, when I called to invite him
to the nwas 50th anniversary celebration in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. He finally
spoke to me but I was promptly turned down. We didnt speak again until 2000,
when I began running shows at the Fort Homer W. Hesterly Armory in Tampa,
the building that he used to book and that many people believe he built. I contacted him to work with me, and he said no. He felt I would fail miserably, and
eventually he would just walk into the building himself to take it over. He was
wrong. But, hell, at least he was honest about his intentions. I got the upturned
nose from the obnoxious, egomaniacal American Dream.
There was a positive experience that came out of that Miami show at the Knight
Center, however. Penelope Paradise, who Craig and I knew from Malenkos school,
was booked to wrestle Wendi Richter. Penelope introduced us to Luna Vachon,
who was there because her then live-in boyfriend, Dick Slater, was also on the card.
We found out that Luna and Slater lived locally, in Pompano Beach. Craig and I
had already begun to plan our womens wrestling promotion and when we were left
alone for a few minutes we tried to come up with a way to get Luna involved.
Why dont we ask her to be our booker? I suggested.
Thats a great idea, was Craigs response.

SWIMMING WITH PIRANHAS

He immediately moved forward and spoke to Luna about the prospect. Before
the end of the night, she was on board.
The only problem was how to tell Phyllis that she was not the booker wed
led her to believe she would be. Craig and I decided to cross that bridge at a later
date. Although Craig had already started the process, we hadnt even planned our
first show. Craig still had plenty of corporate details to work out. Since I had no
money to invest, it was going to be Craigs company, and I would get a share of any
money made based on sweat equity. Since he was my best friend, we never needed
paperwork our words were our bond.
With pretty much everything in line, we went back to Tampa to finalize things
with Malenko and Phyllis.
As usual we got into Tampa on Friday night, but instead of doing the strip club
rounds, Craig and I spent the evening going over our plan and meeting up with
Danny Miller to get his advice. Danny was the veteran promoter in Florida, and if
we couldnt learn something from him, we couldnt learn anything from anyone.
The next morning we learned from the good professor that the school would
be running one of their local shows that afternoon at an auto dealership in the city
of Lake Wales, about an hour away. We would finally get to see a Malenko show
firsthand, and it would give us a great opportunity to see how things operated on
a small scale.
After each match there would be a 10- to 15-minute break to give the car
salesmen a chance to mingle with the crowd. The afternoon was supposed to be
about selling cars, not wrestling. For the dealership, wrestling was just a way to get
potential patrons onto the lot, but one glance at the crowd and you knew they
didnt give a damn about the autos; they wanted to see bodyslams and dropkicks.
Like every true indie show, it was filled with young men and women who were
chasing their dream. Because we had seen these same workers practicing at the
school earlier in the day, it was interesting to watch them polish their ring skills in
front of a live audience.
Like most sold shows, Malenko made a deal with the auto dealership to get a
deposit up front and the balance of his money at the end. He was responsible for delivering six matches, but between the fourth and fifth match dark clouds rolled in, and
just after the fifth match concluded, the skies opened up with heavy rain. While probably 99 percent of promoters would have called it a day, the auto dealer wasnt letting
Malenko off the hook, and if he wanted to be paid his balance the last match had to
go on. So in the makeshift locker room, when Malenko explained what was going on,
a couple of volunteers stepped forward to ensure the show would be complete.
The last match of the day ended up being a mixed tag team bout with two of

EUREKA!

the male workers going up against a male and female team . . . during a heavy thunderstorm. As the fans watched the match through the showroom windows, the
wrestlers looked like they were having a blast. It was like watching four kids at a
water park. I dont even recall if they had a referee with them or not. The match
ended, and the four wrestlers came inside to a round of applause, their faces still
beaming from the fun. Malenko and Phyllis hugged each of them as they came
through the glass door.
In hindsight it was a stupid move for the workers, the auto dealer and Malenko
himself. One of the workers could have got hurt or struck by lightning. But from
the inside looking out, this was indie wrestling in its purest form and a step up
from todays backyard wrestling because the workers did it for the love of it. I
looked at their faces, and the smiles told the story. It was really no different from
when I was a kid playing touch football in Brooklyn with my friends we played
whether it was raining, snowing, sleeting, and we always had fun.
If Craig and I were to have half the fun that those four wrestlers had out in that
rainstorm, we were going to be in for one hell of a time.
I only recall two of the wrestlers who worked in that downpour. One was a
worker by the name of Mary Ray, the Biker Babe. She was a short, kind of stocky
gal with short yellow hair, a chipped tooth and a redneck personality. The other
was this young, lanky kid with no muscle definition and semi-short, curly hair.
Although he was only 17 at the time, he looked more like a 14-year-old, especially
when he grinned from ear to ear. The kid would go on to have a stellar career under
a variety of names the Lightning Kid, the 1-2-3 Kid, Syxx, 6-Pac and X-Pac
among them. Of course, the kid was none other than future wwf, wcw and tna
star Sean Waltman.
After the show, Malenko and Phyllis took all the wrestlers out to Pizza Hut on
the way back to Tampa. Craig and I sat off to the side taking everything in,
watching the group bond as a family.
Are you ready? Craig asked. I knew exactly what he meant.
I had made the jump from fan to being on the fringe of the business, and now I
was about to make the jump that would take me directly inside. Even though I thought
I had learned much already, it was nothing compared to what was yet to come.
Im ready, I told Craig. Im ready!
The only limit of our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.
Franklin D. Roosevelt ()

six

courtesy howard baum, hardwayart.com

WOW! NO, WWOW!

Former wwf ladies champion Wendi Richter joins wwow

Now, we go to school!
Ric Flair ()

SWIMMING WITH PIRANHAS

might have still been a bit of a mark, but from this day forward, nobody could ever
take away the fact that we ran our very own wrestling show.
Although Luna was our booker she would have wrestled too but was on
crutches at the time, recovering from knee surgery and Phyllis would help get
the girls for our first show, Craig and I were determined to put our own creative
stamp on the product now that we were starting to think about television. We both
believed that, in order to hide some of the shortcomings of the workers, we needed
to create distractions and confusion, sort of how a magician uses misdirection to
make his illusions more believable. For us, it was giving every worker a gimmick
and pairing the more experienced girls with those who were greener. We even created a manager and named him Famous Amos, after the king of chocolate chip
cookies. William Blue, who frequently drove some of the out of town wrestlers
around South Florida when they came to town, took on the gimmick and made it
work. It worked so well that he generated a ton of heat from the crowd, and at one
point they stole his bag of chocolate chip cookies and began passing it around
among themselves.
Because the club had a low ceiling, the event was held in their parking lot.
Unfortunately, before the eight-girl over-the-top-rope battle royal main event
could take place, the local police showed up and shut us down. While they claimed
the club had failed to get the proper permit to hold the outside event, I think it
had nothing to do with getting a permit and everything to do with the lifestyle of
the owners and their patrons. Theres no doubt in my mind that if J.J.s had been
any other type of establishment, the show would have continued without a hitch.
We moved inside and thats when it got really interesting.
One of our referees, Joe Popejoy, insisted that a female patron was hitting on
him between the matches, not realizing she was actually a transvestite, and Phyllis
was visibly upset about being usurped by Luna in calling the finishes. Craig and I
wanted both of them involved, but we knew it was going to be a challenge. Aside
from putting up with Phylliss bruised ego, several of the local male wrestlers had
showed up to gawk, which made most of the people in the dressing room a bit
uneasy. Some of the boys were there to help Rusty Brooks with the ring, but others
showed up unannounced and uninvited.
One of the workers who showed up was somebody I would become very
friendly with a few years later Steve Collins (real name Wylie Sacks), whose
moniker at the time was the Party Animal. Steve was visibly drunk throughout the
afternoon, and he hadnt come to the show alone. He brought his then girlfriend
Liza with him, a big, buxom blonde who worked as a stripper.
Craig, Luna, Penelope Paradise and I were huddled in a corner of the dressing

photo by howard t. brody

WOW! NO, WWOW!

WOW! NO, WWOW!

self-absorption and ultimately giving me his blessing, Arnie stepped away.

Shortly thereafter we signed our shareholders agreement, and on October 30,
1989, the articles of incorporation were filed with the state of Florida for the creation of Ladies Major League Wrestling, Inc. We were back on the road to putting
a television show together. One of the provisions in the shareholders agreement
was that I was to receive a modest salary as long as business was being conducted
it was a stipulation that Arnie had insisted be included when he originally negotiated with the investors.
With the money raised it was time to get busy, and after cutting a deal with
Craig to license the wwow name for the tv show and hiring him to help with promoting the live event, we did everything to cut as many corners as we could.
One major cost-cutting option came about after a meeting with Mario Savoldi.
Mario, who owned and operated icw and had a pretty decent station lineup in
place at the time, offered to produce our show, syndicate it, distribute it and even
book talent for it after I shared with him how much we had raised to produce the
show. And wouldnt you know it, the price he was going to charge us was the exact
amount that we had raised. The only difference was, Mario promised to deliver 13
episodes instead of four.
At the time Mario was partnered with Howard Rapp, one of the principals of
Charles Rapp Enterprises, a New Yorkbased entertainment planning organization
that was founded in 1935 by Howards uncle, Charlie Rapp. They had stroke in setting up live events, and Charlie had made his mark by developing new talent and
booking shows for more than a hundred resort hotels in the Catskills. Charlie was
credited with helping to develop the Borscht Belt early careers of people like
Milton Berle and Jackie Mason. Howard had joined the company full time in 1969,
after having worked every summer since his 13th birthday. After Charlies death in
1974, Howard and another worker, Arnold Graham, had taken charge, and
together they brought the company into the modern era, helping to develop the
careers of new talent, such as Ray Romano, Jerry Seinfeld, Rodney Dangerfield and
Jay Leno. They were also credited with bringing first time appearances in the
Catskill Mountains area for such stars as George Burns and Bob Hope. Howard
had helped Mario get into the buildings where he shot his television show, and he
would now do the same for wwow.
While on the surface it sounded like a good deal, we knew that if we moved forward wed be losing many of the things that we were trying to accomplish,
including the two we felt were absolutely necessary for us to be successful an
arena look and quality talent. Luna understood the vision we had of creating a
product and brand that would blend the wwfs larger-than-life characterizations

SWIMMING WITH PIRANHAS

with the Japanese style of ladies wrestling, which is something Mario not only disagreed with but never really understood. We wanted to bring legitimacy to ladies
wrestling and erase the ridicule that had been established by glow and, to a lesser
degree, mud wrestling.
Even though I had provided a letter of intent to Mario, we never got to the contract stage, and after I realized I would be compromising too much, including what
was promised to the investors, some of the talent who we had already spoken to
and those who would be selling the advertising, the deal was called off. To say
Mario was pissed off would be an understatement, and he threatened legal action.
The investors supported my decision, however, and after I told Mario where he
could stick his threats, we moved forward with the plans that were previously in
place. I was upset that things with Mario had deteriorated because he was one of
the people who had helped open the door to the business for me, and there I was
betraying him to some degree, at least thats how I felt at the time. But I knew I
had a responsibility to my business partners first, and by this point I wasnt about
to be bullied not by him or anybody else.
By the time we were ready to pull it all together, it was after the first of the year.
With Friday, March 23, 1990, as the date we were scheduled to shoot television and
the 2,000-seat War Memorial Auditorium set as our venue, we could have used an
entire staff of people to complete everything on our to-do list. But when it came
down to actually getting things done, it was really a two-person endeavor. There
was me, and there was Craig.
After we had identified the talent we wanted to book for the four hours of television, we got Luna to start making the phone calls to get the best prices she
could. Not wanting to alienate Phyllis Lee, although she was more or less out of
the project at this point, we let her book some of the undercard talent. In hindsight, it was a big mistake to have Luna negotiate prices for us. Being one of the
girls herself, she wasnt about to take the side of the office over that of her friends.
It was an expensive lesson, and the talent made out very well.
Meanwhile, Craig was given the job of ensuring we had a full house for television. Knowing we were more concerned with having fans in the seats than
generating box office receipts, he had a brilliant idea on how we could fill the
stands and get a ton of free advertising. First, we decided to make the tickets dirt
cheap three dollars each so anybody and everybody who wanted to attend
could. Second, Khambrel Marshall, the sports director at the local abc affiliate,
who Craig was friendly with, had a pet charity in town called Kids in Crisis, which
helped neglected and abused children. Craig thought that if we donated the entire
box office gate to Khambrels charity, in exchange he would help with publicity for

photo by howard t. brody

WOW! NO, WWOW!

Luna Vachon poses between Khambrel Marshall (left) and Rick Shaw (right) during the taping of a wwow psa

the event. After Craig pitched the idea, Khambrel couldnt do enough to ensure all
of South Florida knew about the event. We were able to get charity rates for the
Miami Herald and the Fort Lauderdale News and Sun-Sentinel newspapers and
radio spots. Thanks to Khambrel, Rick Shaw, the program director at waxy 105.9
fm and a local radio icon also got involved to publicize the event, and we even shot
a public service announcement with the two of them and Luna to promote the
show; it got plenty of airplay.
Still in a cost cutting mode but not to the extent that it would jeopardize our
production values, I was able to work out deals to get many of the ancillary costs
offset through corporate sponsorships. Hotel rooms, limousine service, tuxedo
rentals for the on-air talent and support staff were all secured in exchange for promotional consideration when the show would broadcast. In addition, through my
brother Martys travel agency, I was able to get Eastern Airlines to come on board
as a promotional partner, as they provided all of our airline tickets, with the exception of a round-trip out of Los Angeles for Lisa Moretti (a.k.a. Ivory, Nina Ferrari,
Tina Ferrari, Tina Moretti, et al), for around $100 or $150 per ticket.
Our talent roster was starting to shape up, even though we had a couple of hiccups Misty Blue Simmes and her stable of Kat LaRoux, Linda Dallas and others
passed on our invitation to participate but we still had to choose a broadcasting

SWIMMING WITH PIRANHAS

team. I knew exactly who I wanted to call the play-by-play and who I wanted to
be the color commentator. If we were going to put this brand forward as the legitimate product we wanted it to be, we needed a no-nonsense duo. I called on
Gordon Solie to call the action.
Without hesitation Gordon said yes, and even though he had just started back
with wcw, there was nothing in his contract to prevent him from doing our show
too. With the Dean on board I knew it was going to be easier to get the other half
of my dream team, wrestlings Living Legend Bruno Sammartino. Bruno had
recently left the wwf, and I felt his name, together with Gordons, would give us
instant recognition with both wrestling fans and television stations. Bruno, however, wasnt easily sold on the prospect of wwow, and it took some serious
convincing on my part to get him on board. Like many of the old-timers, Bruno
didnt particularly care for ladys wrestling, and he looked on it in much the same
way many look on midget wrestling, as a special attraction only. He questioned
whether or not the girls could carry a 60-minute show beyond any initial sex appeal
and further questioned if we had the level of talent to not only provide enough of
a variety of matches but to execute and sustain angles. While the sex appeal
would be a bit of a challenge, I gave him my word that the presentation would be
first class and said that it was up to him and Gordon, as the storytellers, to help get
the product and workers across to the audience. Bruno and I agreed on terms, and
wrestlings announcing dream team was all set.
The final element for our production team was a director, and it couldnt be just
anyone. We needed someone who had the experience with wrestling and knew
how to work a multi-camera shoot. While Jim Haney at Media Productions suggested we use the director that did Global, Gordon and Hiro both suggested David
Togie, the longtime director for Championship Wrestling from Florida. When I
contacted Dave and told him what we were trying to accomplish production-wise,
meaning we needed to take the $20,000 we set aside for production and make it
look like $100,000, it took him all of about 10 minutes to tell me how we he would
execute that vision. Aside from working out a few minor details, he was on board.
Everything was taking shape nicely. Mike Predmest even helped off set some
upfront costs by bringing us a sponsor called AES Alarms, which specialized in
emergency medical systems. For $5,000 we agreed to put the aes name and logo
on our mat and give them an opening brought to you in part by spot in the show.
We were starting to hit our stride.
Then a few weeks before the shoot, we had a bomb dropped on us. Two, actually. First, we learned through the grapevine (telephone, telegraph, tell-a-wrestler)
that there was another ladies wrestling group setting up to shoot television out of

WOW! NO, WWOW!

Laughlin, Nevada. The lpwa (Ladies Professional Wrestling Association), led by

Tor Berg and his business partner Leonard Grau, were supposedly well financed
and were going to put out a show similar to ours. That did not bode well for our
plan to be the only all-girls show offered to television stations. Then, as if that news
wasnt bad enough, Gordon dropped the news that Jim Herd, the then executive
vice president of wcw, would not let him be on camera for a group that could
potentially be considered their competition. Gordon suggested I give Herd a call
to try to work something out. Not surprisingly, Jim Herd took my call, and, despite
my trying to persuade him otherwise, there was no way he was going to let Gordon
appear. Although I did manage to convince him we were not going to be a threat
to wcw, he finally admitted that he was mostly concerned with viewers thinking
wwow was a part of wcw if Gordon was involved. He argued it was for that reason,
and that reason alone, that he did not want Gordon to appear on our program.
Our conversation ended with me inviting him to come to our taping he
accepted but never showed up.
Now what? Where were we going to get a new play-by-play person on such
short notice? We needed someone who could provide credibility and have good onair chemistry with Bruno. When I called Bruno to tell him the bad news about
Gordon being pulled from the show by wcw, he suggested a friend of his from
Pittsburgh who had a great deal of experience calling wrestling, Bill Cardille.
Cardille, a local Pittsburgh weatherman, was best known in the area as Chilly
Billy Cardilly, or simply Chilly Billy, having earned his famous nickname by
hosting the local Chiller Theater television show for 20 years. Joe Flaherty, a
Pittsburgh native, acknowledged the show as influencing behind sctvs Monster
Chiller Horror Theatre and his popular Count Floyd character. George
Romero, another native of the Steel City, cast Bill as a field reporter in Night of the
Living Dead. But I knew Cardille, not as Chilly Billy or a field reporter but as the
host of the old wwwf tv shows in the days before Vince McMahon Jr. took over
the microphone. To this day I remember Bill calling a match in 1971 or 72 in which
one of the young babyfaces was making his comeback on Dick The Bulldog
Brower, and Cardille got so excited and so pumped at the unlikely offensive attack
that he shouted, Hey, hey, hey . . . alright! Not exactly your classic play-by-play
performance, but the inflection and excitement of that call has stayed with me ever
since. When I told Craig that Cardille would be filling in for Gordon, I think he
was more excited about Chilly Billy coming on board than he was about Bruno.
Being from Philly and remembering Cardille from the old Keystone Wrestling
Club and Studio Wrestling, Craig recalled nearly all of Bills one-liners and even
wrote them on index cards for him so he could use them when calling wwow.

courtesy howard baum, hardwayart.com

SWIMMING WITH PIRANHAS

As crunch time approached I should have

been on cloud nine, but Id
become a nervous wreck. I
felt I was losing more and
more of my grip on the
creative side of the project.
Each time I came up with
an idea, Luna would kibosh
it, claiming I shouldnt
change anyones gimmick
because they were already
established. The fact was,
apart from a handful of the
girls, nobody would know
who the workers were.
Only Wendi Richter,
Candi Devine, Lelani Kai,
Judy Martin, Peggy Lee
Leather, Tina Moretti and
perhaps Luna herself were
Bruno Sammartino and Bill Cardille get ready to announce the Wild
known commodities. AlWomen of Wrestling
though Bambi (Selina
Major) and Malia Hosaka
would have long careers and are still active on the independent circuit, at the time
they were still relative unknowns. So when I came up with the idea to turn
Penelope Paradise and Heidi Lee Morgan into Crystal and Alexa Barrington, a
takeoff of the characters Krystle and Alexis Carrington from the tv show Dynasty,
I got nothing but grief. The same thing went for another tag team that we put
under masks mostly to cover their faces because makeup just wouldnt be
enough. I wanted to call a black-hooded tag team the Fallen Angels, but Luna
argued that Nancy Sullivan was the Fallen Angel and we would be stealing her
name, even though Nancy hadnt done that gimmick in a dogs age. I caved in and
ended up naming the girls Specter and Banshee and calling them the Mystiques,
which was a name I thought appropriate since it sounded a lot like mistake, and
that would be my own private protest over not calling them what I wanted to.
Luna and I also butted heads over having a male wrestler pose as a female wrestler
on the show. The 1988 Olympic Games were still fresh in peoples minds, and there

WOW! NO, WWOW!

had been an incident involving East German female athletes who tested positive
for an abundance of testosterone. Some of the comedians of the day said they were
actually men. I wanted to have a male wrestler who could somewhat pass as a
female wrestler, who, no matter what he did, could never win a match. The thing
that would have made it work would be that everyone would have known 100 percent it was a male, with him and his manager in a constant state of denial. Despite
the fact that the young and lanky Sean Waltman was willing to do the gimmick for
us kind of a twist on Ronnie Garvins Miss Atlanta Lively gimmick, in which
he dressed in drag to knock out Ric Flair and that Luna had originally liked the
idea and had convinced Sean to do it for us, when push came to shove, Luna
thought the concept poked too much fun at the girls and actually threatened to
quit if we moved forward with the idea. My fourth and final clash with Luna over
talent had to do with reprising William Blues Famous Amos character that we had
created for the show at J.J.s. Luna claimed he was not available, and instead she
suggested we use this indie manager from Central Florida who did a knockoff of
Ernie Roths character as Abdullah Farouk Jr. I later learned that she had not even
attempted to contact Blue and had only booked Farouk because he was booking
indie shows in Central Florida and had promised her a few paydays. Luna was
playing the politics game very well.
The Saturday before our taping, wcw decided to run a show in the area at one
of the local colleges. While it ticked us off that they would purposely run the same
week as us, we didnt let it consume us. They did their thing, and we did ours, and
in the days preceding the show there wasnt a place in South Florida where you didnt
see or hear something about what we were doing. The weekend before the show,
while wcw was busy drawing 600 people, we were busy promoting. Craig had
arranged for a plane to fly over Fort Lauderdale Beach pulling a banner to promote
our event. He also put together a street team, in the days before people had even
heard of the term, and blanketed the Fort Lauderdale strip from one end to the other
with flyers and posters. On the day before the arena shoot, while I was running
around town with Dave Togie and Luna shooting vignettes of some of the girls for
tv, Craig arranged to get the rest of the girls on various radio and television shows
around town. And on the day of the shoot, both the Herald and Sun-Sentinel ran features on us. Simply put, Craig had done a phenomenal job of leveraging a huge
network of friends and personal contacts to execute a wellmapped out promotional
plan. Craig had learned about promoting by working with Danny Miller and Frank
Boscia at Championship Wrestling from Florida. By sitting back and watching how
they operated not only seeing what worked but what was a waste of time and
energy he really became a student of the art.

SWIMMING WITH PIRANHAS

All we had to do now was have our event, and we would be ready for the next
phase of marketing wwow.
This will sound strange, but the taping was in many ways anticlimactic. To me
it was everything leading up to the event that was important I thought the show
would essentially run itself. While I was nervous beforehand, once we got
underway I couldnt afford to be strung out. I was pulled in so many directions by
so many people that I never even got the chance to put on my tuxedo. I ran around
from one place to another dealing with the production company, our investors, the
building management and talent issues.
Another mounting problem was that Dave Togie took it upon himself to wear
too many hats. Aside from being the director, he was also trying to coordinate
arena music and talent queues. The few times I actually got a chance to look at a
monitor backstage and saw a production flaw, when I asked him about it, he
responded that we would clean it up in postproduction. That was not a good sign,
but who was I to question someone with that much experience? The show didnt
run itself, and there were huge gaps in everything from the length and timing of
the matches to the preparation for the announcers and some of the other things
Bruno had voiced concerns about.
While Luna might have been around the wrestling business all her life, it was
apparent she didnt have enough experience to book a project like this. Its one
thing to come up with finishes for six or seven matches at a small house show, but
she didnt have the skill set necessary to coordinate 24 matches for four hours of
groundbreaking television and provide the detail and perspective necessary to
ensure match variety, what the workers should and shouldnt do during their
matches and what the announcers should talk and not talk about. I know she did
the best she could, but unfortunately neither Craig nor I recognized her flaws until
after the fact because we were too green ourselves. We would have been much
better served by having someone like Bob Roop, Larry Malenko or even Dick
Slater take on the role for us.
Backstage was a madhouse. We were shorthanded, and that created a bit of a
problem when getting the girls into their standby positions and ready for their
next match. Sharon joined the production team as a floor manager, working the
area considered the Gorilla position (named for Gorilla Monsoon, who had that
role in wwf for many years). Half the time the girls didnt go out when they were
supposed to because either they werent listening to Sharon, or they simply werent
where they were supposed to be. Instead of being ready, most of the time they were
either changing their outfits or having their hair or makeup done. We actually had
an area set up for the girls with professional hairstylists and makeup artists. The

WOW! NO, WWOW!

place reeked of hairspray.

Aside from the craziness, two of the things I remember most are Craig coming
to me right before we opened the doors to sell tickets and telling me fans were lined
up nearly around the block and the late Nature Boy Buddy Rogers showing up
unannounced and uninvited.
Rogers, who lived in the area, came by to check out our operation, and when
he saw our setup he approached us, saying he would like to be involved. What was
most interesting was that there was still a great deal of heat between him and
Bruno, 27 years after their famed Madison Square Garden match. Although Bruno
remained cordial toward Rogers out of respect for me, the more Rogers spoke to
him, the more frustrated and angrier I could see him getting. I could see he wanted
to say something, but he bit his lip. Bill Otten, who was shooting for the Japanese
wrestling magazine Baseball Sha that night, saw the two of them together and
snapped their photo; I believe it was the first public pic of them together since that
night at msg. When Bill Cardille told me that Bruno cant stand him, I immediately intervened and told Buddy that Bruno had to get ready for the show and that
I needed him. Buddy apologized for tying him up, and as Bruno and I walked away
from the former champ, Bruno only mustered an annoyed Boy, oh boy . . . A
short time afterward Rogers left the building, and when I asked Bruno what he
thought about Rogers joining us, perhaps as a manager, he told me point blank
that if Rogers were going to be involved he wouldnt be.
The night was like one long, nonstop roller-coaster ride you scream and yell
while youre riding through the twists and turns as it scares the hell out of you, but
when you finally come to a complete stop, after youve had a chance to catch your
breath and realize just how much fun the ride actually was, the first thing you want
to do is get right back in line.
So there I was, standing on the stage of the now empty War Memorial Auditorium, and as I watched the ring being taken down and the production people
packing everything up, all I could think about was doing this again. Despite all the
little problems, despite all the big problems, despite all the stress, all I wanted to
do was take another wrestling roller-coaster ride.
Craig and I waited for the last of the production staff to leave, and then finally
it was just the two of us. It had been one hell of a night, and Craig was so pumped
he didnt want to change out of his tuxedo. My twin brother from a different
mother and I hugged triumphantly. We had accomplished what so many others
had set out to do, but only a handful had actually delivered. We knew there was
still a lot of work ahead to make womens wrestling viable, but for now we were
like conquering Roman soldiers.

courtesy howard baum, hardwayart.com

SWIMMING WITH PIRANHAS

We became so cocky
that over time we began
to embellish how successful the night actually
was. Although we drew a
little more than 800
paying customers, by
giving away another 100
or so tickets to our
investors, the charity,
local celebrities, family
members and friends, we
legitimately
outdrew
wcw that week by nearly
300 people and that
was a hell of an achievement. However, it wasnt
good enough for us. For
years Craig and I padded
Future wwe star Ivory (Lisa Moretti), poses with photographer Howard that number, first telling
Baum
people we drew 1,100 that
night, and then after a
while it became 1,200. Eventually I think we topped it off at around 1,500 or 1,600,
until the inflated number became part of our own urban legend. Nothing was
going to bring us down.
I had one final business thing to do for the night, and afterward Craig and I
would go for a celebratory Grand Slam breakfast at Dennys. While nearly everybody had got their pay envelope, for some reason Lisa Moretti hadnt, so Craig and
I double-backed to the hotel where all the girls were staying. Not knowing offhand
what room she was in, Craig stayed in the car while I hunted her down. Most of
the girls were hanging around outside their rooms and thanked me for having them
involved and treating them well. Once pointed to Lisas room, my knock was met
with a come on in. My eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. Lisa was in this
unbelievably revealing baby blue nightie that left absolutely nothing to my imagination. I was mesmerized by the sight, and for the first time in nearly seven years
of marriage, I thought about cheating on my wife. Not that Lisa was offering, but
to paraphrase a line from former President Jimmy Carter, that night I truly had lust
in my heart. Thinking the better of it, I gave Lisa her money and got out of there

WOW! NO, WWOW!

FLIGHT OF THE BUMBLEBEE

But then there were the dark stories. Some claim that part of the money Herb
received found its way to Lardners personal bank account as a form of payola. I
find that absurd, considering Lardner had a great reputation in the industry and
would have been risking his career for an amount that was probably nowhere near
what he made annually. Others claim that Herb provided a stream of hookers and
drugs to the network executives to get the deal, and while he might have been
notorious for having those vices himself, I cant see Lardner endangering his career
with something so risky. And then theres the nepotism argument. While Abrams
and Lardner were not related, somehow Lonnie Lardner, a local Los Angeles news
anchor and Michael Lardners sister, conducted interviews on several uwf shows. I
again highly doubt Lardner would put his career in peril for a small payday for his
sibling; I think Herb was saying thank you to Michael for giving him the shot on
the network.
While it might make for a more interesting story to say that Herb got on television through a variety of unscrupulous means, the truth is that Herb was simply
a better salesman than Rob. And, for that matter, almost anyone else I met in the
business. When he first started the uwf, he promised the network he would deliver
a product that had well-known names, top-of-the-line production values and compelling story lines, and thats exactly what he gave them in the beginning.
It seemed that if I wanted to get wwow on SportsChannel I was going to have
to work out something with the new guy on the block. But before I was willing to
travel down that road, there were two other options that needed to be considered.
The first involved an unlikely trip to an unlikely location with an unlikely customer.
Sometime around June, I sent Luna off to Japan with Jake the Snake Robertss
half sister Robin Smith (Rockin Robin), thanks to the effort of Hiro Matsuda.
Meanwhile, Larry Tarnofsky a veteran concert promoter and stage producer
who was a longtime friend of Ratner and had been hired by ctn to develop its live
entertainment arm made arrangements for us to do a series of live events in the
Soviet Union. It was hard to figure out how we could realize hard dollars from the
deal since the Russian ruble was not traded on the international monetary
exchange, but we were set for an early 1991 tour with shows throughout Russia and
Georgia. Because actual dollars were few and far between, we needed the Soviet
government to barter with us, paying us with something that could easily be cashed
out. Through a contact in Tbilisi, Georgia, Tarnofsky arranged for the Soviet government to pay us about $300,000 in Aeroflot airline tickets. I was then able to
make arrangements with a multinational bartering company based in New York,
the owner of which I had met working at SpyTech, to pay us a little more than

courtesy howard baum, hardwayart.com

SWIMMING WITH PIRANHAS

$100,000 cash for the tickets. All

set to finalize the deal now that we
had a way to realize hard dollars
out of it, a funny thing happened
on the way to the contract
signing. By late June, quicker
than you could say Nikita Koloff,
the winds of democracy were
sweeping across Europe. When
Georgia declared its independence
in October, we officially received
word that our tour was canceled.
As odd as it seemed, the end of
the Cold War brought an end to
any chance of us doing business in
the U.S.S.R.
The second option, which on
the surface didnt seem as impossible as putting together a tour of
the Soviet Union, was actually
Peggy Lee Leather Irish whips Rockin Robin into the ropes
even more improbable. It
during a match in Florida
involved a pretty influential executive at Turner Broadcasting.
Ray Bennett, who was instrumental in Ted Turners acquisition of the MetroGoldwyn-Mayer film library, was a personal friend of Captain Courageous. He also
happened to sit on the ctn board of directors. While Bennetts strategic appointment to the ctn board was primarily to position Club Theatre so they could secure
a contract to convert the mgm film library to high definition, Ron thought perhaps
Ray could leverage his personal relationship with Turner to get us a spot on tbs.
Although I knew it was highly unlikely, Ratner thought it was worth a shot. Ron
and I sat down with Ray Bennett, who told us he would see what he could do.
After the meeting, Ron assured me that if anyone could pull off a move like this it
was Ray.
Not long after our meeting, Ray was instructed by Turner to sit down with tbs
executive Bill Shaw, who, in addition to running TBS Sports, was in charge of
wrestling operations. Reporting to Shaw were people like wcw president Jim Herd,
who Id already had bad dealings with, and wcw vice president Bob Dhue, who also
ran the Atlanta Omni for Turner. According to Ray, Turner and Shaw liked the

FLIGHT OF THE BUMBLEBEE

notion of a female wrestling show and believed it could garner good ratings in a
late-night time slot. However, before anything could happen, Shaw had to run the
idea by his wrestling people. Although Herd would go along with whatever corporate suits like Shaw suggested, once the project was put in front of the likes of
Dusty, Ole Anderson and others of the old wrestling guard, it was quickly squashed.
Having run out of options and with nothing to lose, I finally called Bruno, and
he put me in contact with Herb. While I dont remember how that first conversation went, I imagine it was positive enough, as Herb flew in from L.A. to meet with
me to discuss creating a relationship between the lmlw and the uwf.
When he walked off the plane, he carried himself as though he was the most
important person arriving, but the thing that I remember most about meeting
Herb that first time was his snakeskin cowboy boots.
Although short in stature, about five foot five and small-framed, Herb carried
himself as though he owned his surroundings. While I could suggest he suffered
from a Napoleon complex, Herb was very mindful of that perception and, for the
most part, hid it well. Even so, I could not help noticing those cowboy boots. It
looked as though the boots wore him rather than the other way around.
To those who knew him, Herb was a character and a mark for the big-name
wrestlers. He treated his top guys very well, often paying them two or three times
more than they were actually worth, while the undercard guys sometimes didnt get
paid at all. He also took care of his entourage. But while Herb could be a stand-up
guy, he seemed to enjoy taking advantage of people, especially those with who he
had established a friendship. Herb would leverage camaraderie and connive the
unsuspecting target into doing something for him based on a grandiose promise.
With Herb, familiarity could breed contempt and friendship could become a
double-edged sword.
As we drove from the airport to Media Productions for our meeting, Herb
asked me about Dave Meltzer. I admitted I read and subscribed to his newsletter
and had talked to hi