Gabe Sapolsky blogs

Subject: Gabe Sapolsky blogs Tue Feb 10, 2009 12:03 am

Quote :: As you know by now Ring Of Honor is starting on HDnet. I have to admit that the news has filled me with mixed emotions. I am very happy that this deal must mean strong health for the company and it will now have a chance to reach the new audience that it needs. However, it would have been nice to personally have the opportunity to be a part of it, spread the ROH word and share in this time. Fortunately, I just finished reading "The War Of Art" by Steven Pressfield and it has put everything in perspective. Once again my paradigm has shifted.

The self-pity I feel is nothing more than Resistance (Pressfield spells Resistance with a capitol "R" to show that it is an entity) that is keeping me from fulfilling my potential for whatever lays ahead. Resistance comes in many forms. It has defeated me before by costing me my ROH job. Now I know what I'm facing. According to Pressfield's book, I treated the job mostly as a pro, but also let some amateurish tendencies soil everything. I have now identified what they are and they will not interfere in any future endeavor. It's amazing how much you can learn even if you think you are set in your ways.

It is ironic that I'm more ready now than ever for the next big thing (whatever that might be). All the reading and reflecting I have done has completely refreshed me and given me a new way of thinking. I haven't been this healthy mentally since, well since ROH began. However, it is also ironic that if I was never fired that I wouldn't have read squat and would have never taken a breath. As a result the stress at this point would have put me on the edge, if not over it. Ah, life is full of ironies.

Ok, enough of my self-realizations. You want to hear about some wrestling, right? Well, there are some questions I have been asked over and over again throughout the years and especially now. "What is your favorite show?" and "What is your favorite match?" are the two most frequently asked questions when it comes to ROH. I have never really given an answer to either. Now that I've reached a stage where I can begin to look back on some of the good times the answers to those questions are becoming clear.

I was lucky enough to have the privilege of attending the first 204 shows in Ring Of Honor history. There were a handful of occasions I left the show angry from a poorly booked event. There were countless instances I left satisfied and happy. There were many times I thought I just witnessed "the best show ever." Out of all that it is impossible to pick a favorite card. Absolutely impossible. Hold on, I'm not ducking the question.

I will say now that I'm reaching the point where I can look back at the body of work and there is one time period that I take just a little extra pride in. Maybe I can't pick one show as a favorite, but there is a small grouping that emit a special glow from my bookcase of DVDs.

The period was also the most difficult in ROH history. I will just say it was a horrible time in my life. ROH was on it's deathbed. Attacks were coming from all directions. We were bleeding and the sharks were feasting. We were trying to push our head upward through the water to get a quick gasp of air while the sharks lunged in to pull, bite and tear. The attack was relentless. It didn't stop. There was never a moment to rest, but the same thought would come into my head everyday; "not like this. We aren't going out like this."

Everyone on the roster approached the shows with this attitude. We weren't going to lose. We were more determined than ever. "Indy stars" like CM Punk, Samoa Joe, Homicide became men when they put the company on their backs. Colt Cabana, Jay & Mark Briscoe, BJ Whitmer and Dan Maff stepped up to become the heart of ROH. Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat lent us his credibility. The Carnage Crew provided stability. Young, hungry talent like Jay Lethal, Nigel McGuinness, Matt Sydal, Jimmy Rave, Jimmy Jacobs, John Walters and Delirious started to make real impressions. Then Alex Shelley, Austin Aries, Roderick Strong and Jack Evans saved the day as Generation Next. I was filled with fire and inspiration. The result is my favorite stretch of shows. I'm talking about April 23rd, 2004 "Reborn: Stage One" to July 17th, 2004 "Reborn: Completion."

So there you go. I can't pick a favorite event out of the 204 I booked. In fact, a top 50 would probably be interchangeable. However, I can confidentially state that was our most glorious time. Here are some memories from each show:

"Reborn: Stage One"- Several weeks earlier I had left a closed door meeting with Jeff and Jerry Jarrett at the Nashville Fairgrounds (this is one story I'm saving). I had learned that all the TNA talent, including our new Pure Champion AJ Styles, were pulled from ROH without a chance to even write them out of storylines. We needed new, hot talent fast. We needed SOMETHING hot fast. It was time to take some chances and try to create a buzz on the in ring product. We had to be "reborn" and that meant change and evolution. It became an opportunity to take the product to new places. Step one was ending a World Title main event with a fireball and DQ. This was unheard of in ROH at this time. We followed up the DQ with the first wild high spot brawl in ROH history, which paid off things that happened throughout the card. The crowd loved it. ROH had a new vibe of excitement. We were able to reinvent ourselves, which opened up more possibilities. I might have gone back to the high spot brawl well too many times, but they were always a crowd pleaser and fun to book. I'll always remember walking over to Loc, who was peering out of the curtain watching Rocky Romero & Ricky Reyes tear it up in their debut against The Briscoes. The crowd was going nuts at the intensity of the four athletes in the ring. "This makes all the crap worth it," I said to Loc as he nodded in a greement.

"Reborn: Stage Two"- This was playing it safe in a potentially lucrative market. We set up a surefire happy ending to the big Chicago debut as CM Punk & Colt Cabana won the tag belts in their hometown. The opening angle very simply set up the babyfaces and heels with a nice full circle payoff at the end of the night. The Chicago market was made. We had conquered new territory and established another enthusiastic homebase. I've had so many great memories through the ROH and ECW years in Chicago. I love it there. By the way, I did take the "Reborn" title from the Slayer song. We were approaching everything with that ferocity and it served to remind me of the task at hand. Never let up.

"Round Robin Challenge III"- Ok, this is not the greatest show ever, but it had one of my all-time live moments. My favorite part of Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat's feud against CM Punk was that Steamboat would show up in better shape with each passing weekend, eager to do more physically. Punk and I were sure we would get Steamboat to wrestle. However, the story got back to me that Steamboat was actually close to doing the match when Ric Flair told him not to waste his return in something as small as ROH. I will proudly say that this was a damn fine feud with a satisfying ending for never having an actual match. Anyway, this leads to one of the truly great ROH live moments. A show long storyline led to the crowd exploding in the sweltering building when Steamboat performed his legendary flying body press on Punk. You had to be there.

"Generation Next"- If the Generation Next angle had failed it was over. I really believe that. We needed new stars in a hurry. We were in Philadelphia. This is where the buzz comes from. Philadelphia made ROH's reputation and it could destroy it. Alex Shelley, Austin Aries, Roderick Strong and Jack Evans came together in an angle that they perfectly executed. I remember nervously saying to my lovely wife as the show opening theme hit "if this doesn't work we are done." Then after the opening angle I went confidently over to her and said we were good with a big smile on my face. I worked very closely with Alex Shelley leading up to this event. We went over all the promos and angles in great detail. He grabbed the material and made it his own. You could tell that he never doubted himself for a second. He knew this was the opportunity he had worked for his entire life. His attitude said that there was no way he would let it fail. He grabbed the ball firmly and scored a touchdown on the mic. It is such a joy to put in the work and see someone rise to the occasion the way Shelley did that night. If you watch my "Book Of Secrets" DVD you know that I had a similar plan for two members of the current roster.

"World Title Classic"- This was the night that CM Punk and Samoa Joe showed the poise and maturity of true world champions. They demanded the ball on this night. I had little doubt they would pull it off, but I still put the wild Ultimate Endurance match as the main event just in case the crowd wasn't ready for an hour and it ended flat. I also wanted to put the hour on a little earlier and not after a crazy match. I was sure that Joe and Punk would pull it off. They had the drive, ability and attitude. The risk was that the crowd wouldn't have the attention span for 60 minutes since we had never had a one hour draw yet. The crowd was more than ready. Punk and Joe did what we all knew they would. "Fuck Anyone That Tries To Stop Us" was the battle cry of ROH's resurgence and resilience. I was standing alone in the back of the building when Punk said those words over the mic. I couldn't help but let go an emotional scream like I was at a Pantera show. It was a moment. I'll also never forget sneaking up next to GregH in the front row at about the 20 or 30 minute mark and saying "we have something special developing here." He diverted his attention from the match for just a split second to smile and nod. It was a great feeling.

"Survival Of The Fittest"- Bryan Danielson. He proved why I consider him the #1 guy in ROH history. Austin Aries. This was his night to become a star and he made himself. TNA stars who? I'll never forget Aries backstage after the match. His chin was split wide open, but he never showed any pain. He actually seemed happy. He had to know that he just broke out as a main eventer. His path to the World Title started this night. The crowd's reaction when Colt Cabana pinned Samoa Joe was also pretty cool and a nice moment in time.

"Reborn: Completion"- I was debating on whether to call this "Reborn: Completion" or "Reborn: Finished" so I asked CM Punk what he liked better. "Completion is much more positive," Punk replied and he was right. This also summed up how things were going at this point. Everything was much more positive. One day in a book or shoot interview I will explain a theory that Paul Heyman taught me, which resulted in one of the most purely exciting moments in ROH history when Low Ki made his return to complete ROH. One of my favorite images in ROH history is comparing the hard camera shot from this show and then our return to the RexPlex for "Glory By Honor III" just a couple of months later. Just look at the difference in the bleachers and you'll see what I'm talking about.

At the time I was too wrapped up in the struggle for survival to really enjoy this grouping of shows. There were plenty of great moments at the live events, but overall it was a painful, dismal period in my life. Now it is a pleasure to look back and think about these cards, which led to the Punk vs. Joe series, Bryan vs. Aries for 76 minutes, both "Death Before Dishonor" cards, Mick Foley, The Midnight Express, Jushin Liger and so much more culminating when Aries hit that 450 on Joe. It was an epic year. Just about everyone who worked for ROH, attended a show or gave their support can take pride in this remarkable time period.

I really hope one day I am able to go back and watch all the shows in order and write down notes as the memories return. Right now The MLB Network is dominating too much of my TV time. In the meantime, I'm still taking questions and answering critiques on the "Gabe's Book Of Secrets" DVD available at www.KayfabeCommentaries.com now. The initial blog where I took questions is now up over 80 comments. Thanks! You can leave any you have in the comments section of this blog. Please remember that I'm only answering questions based off of stuff on the DVD. Thank you very much.

Now I have done a little thought about the greatest match in ROH history during my regime. I have always avoided the answer by saying that I couldn't pick one. Now I realize that a single particular bout is just a hair above the others, only the slightest hair though. I will write about it in my next blog. Thanks for reading!!!

Subject: Re: Gabe Sapolsky blogs Tue Feb 10, 2009 12:06 am

Sabu, JT Smith, Chris Benoit and ECW "Bloodfeast"

Quote :: You can still leave any questions, thoughts and critiques you have of the "Gabe's Book Of Secrets" DVD in the comments section of this blog or my previous blog. The DVD is now on sale at www.KayfabeCommentaries.com. I have received a tremendous amount of positive response. Thank you to everyone that has purchased it. I guess you can now call this the DVD that ROH doesn't want you to see. They have decided not to sell it, despite the success of my Guest Booker DVD. Scandalous! Just kidding, I understand. Thank you for the compliment. Now to the main attraction....

I found some of my old writings recently from back in the original ECW days. They brought back a lot of memories of what seems like another lifetime ago. I've been lucky enough to be able to witness some incredible pro wrestling moments over the years. I mean truly special happenings. Right at the forefront of them is something that happened in front of only about 150 people in the early days of ECW, before people outside of Philadelphia realized a new evolution of pro wrestling was developing.

It was October of 1993 and we were set for the first of two weekend shows at the newly discovered ECW Arena. It was significant because it was Paul Heyman's first ECW shows without having to clean up anything from the old booking regime. Heyman knew he had to make an immediate impact and set the tone. A new booker should be ready to go, put his signature right on the product and make a statement (mine was putting Danielson vs. Ki vs. Daniels on as the main event instead of Eddie Guerrero vs. Super Crazy and the entire Code Of Honor thing). Heyman booked Sabu, who had a growing reputation from FMW in Japan, to make that statement. He put him in a position to shine on cards with matches like Terry Funk vs. Jimmy Snuka in a Steel Cage and Terry Funk, Abdullah The Butcher & JT Smith vs Kevin Sullivan, Don Muraco & Jimmy Snuka.

Everything changed the moment Sabu was first unleashed from the straps of the gurney on night one of "Bloodfeast." I'll never forget the adrenaline inducing moment of uncontrolled mayhem, danger and excitement when Sabu exploded into a section of half filled seats and started throwing chairs in every direction. In fact, you can see current Channel 10 Philadelphia sports anchor John Clark caught right in the middle of this tornado. The legend of Sabu started to grow at that moment. Within a few months word of mouth about ECW spread and the crowds skyrocketed from a few hundred to sellout after sellout.

As ECW gained success in the ECW Arena in 1994, it looked to branch out. This led us to a night in Hamburg, PA at the historic Fieldhouse, which was home to many old school WWF TV tapings. One of the main attractions on this night was a dream match pitting Cactus Jack vs. Sabu (other bouts included Chris Benoit vs. a furry Taz and Public Enemy in a crazy brawl vs. Axl & Ian Rotten). To this day Sabu vs. Cactus remains one of the most insane spectacles I have ever seen. I'll never forget the moment Sabu flew through the air and crashed into the top of the steel guardrail with his ribcage taking the entire blow. Sabu somehow combined complete recklesses with total grace to make his matches more engaging than a fiery car crash.

Sabu immediately came up clutching his ribs in agony. A buzz suddenly rushed through the crowd wondering if Sabu could even continue. As Sabu heaved for air everyone's thoughts turned to just how badly he was injured. We soon got our answer when Sabu returned to form and continued the match. The entire crowd stood in disbelief and amazement. Sabu was a hero. The intensity of the spectacle skyrocketed when Sabu took a real glass beer bottle and smashed it over Foley's skull, resulting in a small but powerful thud. However, the stunt didn't go as planned and the bottle didn't break. Sabu hit Cactus Jack once again. Another deep thud and still the bottle was intact. Sabu would repeat the act several times until the bottle shattered over Foley's unprotected head into a small puddle of glass. The crowd was in an excited state of shock. The reaction made these two heroes into emerging legends.

I rushed to the locker room to see what remains were left of these warriors. Sabu was in obvious pain, clutching his ribs. However, he insisted that this wasn't a serious injury and it was something that he would shake off. Cactus Jack seemed in better shape while he was talking about how the bottle wouldn't break. Both men seemed very happy with their efforts and sacrifices in the ring. I wondered how they endured what must have been extreme pain.

I tried to get some answers in one of my rare phone conversations with Sabu. Being the entrepreneur I was at the time (and boy has that side of me slept dormant for far too long) I had arranged a deal with Sabu to produce his fan club, a couple of videotape releases and the crown jewel to me- his first tee-shirt (anyone have the white one with him moonsaulting or the "Pure Violence" drawing of his face?). At just 21-years-old this was a dream come true. Every so often Sabu would check in with me to see how things were going. This time I decided to try to find out exactly what made him tick and do the things that he did.

Sabu can be a very funny and witty guy if he likes you. He can also be cold as ice if you get on his bad side or are a stranger. I never knew Sabu well. I did always find him to be a good person, but you had to earn his trust, respect and friendship. It didn't come easily.

"How do you take that kind of pain," I asked Sabu on the phone in my basement apartment in South Philly. I would only stay there for three months until the elderly Italian couple that lived upstairs decided they didn't like having tenants.

"What do you mean?" Sabu returned in his monotone, dry voice.

I was afraid that I was going to insult him as I searched for my next words. Before I could speak Sabu blurted out, "Do you mean if I'm a pain freak and like the pain?"

"Yeah, I guess" I responded as I thought that I was on the verge of a breakthrough.

"No, I'm not," Sabu said. "I don't enjoy the pain. It is just something I have to live with."

I was beginning to realize just how much these guys go through. I would get a huge dose of reality a couple of years later driving back from a kickass ECW event at the Lost Battalion Hall in Queens, NY.

JT Smith is one of the finest people I have ever been fortunate to know in life. I was overjoyed to hear from him the other day after what must be a couple of years. We started talking about some of the old times and it reminded me of that night in NYC. JT was the Tommy Dreamer in Tod Gordon's ECW before Tommy Dreamer arrived. He jumped off scaffolds and was the first to take the leap out of the Eagles Nest at the dingy ECW Arena. He was Philadelphia's top babyface stemming from the days of the TWA (where I saw my first life changing indy show that included JT delivering the most insane dive of the night).

JT was kind enough to take pity on me since I had little money and no car. He was my ride to ECW shows so I could sell programs. JT was getting over with his Italian gimmick and it proved to be very popular in New York. The 90-minute drive was hampered by a huge snowstorm, but our anticipation was high for a live crowd in Queens. The show became known as "The Big Apple Blizzard Blast" and featured matches like Rey Misterio Jr. vs. Juventud Guerrero, Eliminators vs. Cactus Jack & Mikey Whipwreck, Tommy Dreamer & Shane Douglas vs. Raven & Stevie Richards and JT Smith vs. Buh Buh Ray Dudley.

The fairly new Dudley act was getting over at the time and Paul Heyman wanted to continue their push. He decided to add D-Von Dudley to the group on this night. It was a huge opportunity for the young and inexperience D-Von. He knew it was his one shot to make an impression. He accomplished that by destroying a folding chair over the head of JT Smith. The packed house "oohhhh'ed" and "aaahhh'ed" along with everyone in the locker room watching on the monitor as D-Von hammered down chairshot after chairshot, using basically every part of the steel instrument. JT, being young and wanting everything to get over, didn't protect himself and just absorbed all those blows as the crowd grew louder and louder. I had seen JT get concussions before (sometime I'll tell the Kevin Sullivan story), but this was on another level.

JT was a tough guy. He did his best to try to put on a brave face on and not show any pain in the locker room. We said our goodbyes and left through the snow, but it was obvious something was wrong. I asked JT if he wanted me to drive. He still insisted he was fine. He soon found out he couldn't handle the wheel and we pulled over so I could get us home. I remember him talking about the ringing that remained in his head two weeks after the show.

Up until the horrific acts of Chris Benoit people would say that the actions of Sabu, Mick Foley and JT Smith showed how much they loved the fans and the professional wrestling business. It was THE most effective way to get over. While it is impossible to justify what Benoit did, at least some good came of it. Now the wrestlers are much smarter. They are much more aware of what their body can take and the long term effects. The same can be said for the fans and critics. Before Chris Benoit's atrocities most would praise Foley and Smith for their sacrifices. Now that same majority would decry it. A lot has changed since about 150 fans watched the start of a revolution at "Bloodfeast" and you can say that this new evolution is a good one.

"Gnaw your teeth into fangs, only to have them lash out at yourself
For what they forever have done to you
All that was alive and spontaneous
Fading under the crests of imbalance"

-Neurosis "Raze The Stray"

Subject: Re: Gabe Sapolsky blogs Tue Feb 10, 2009 12:10 am

"The Wrestler" Blog & What Hit Home About The Movie

Quote :: I finally saw "The Wrestler" and no movie, documentary or show has even been this authentic in capturing the unreal world of independent wrestling. I'm not sure if that's such a good thing.

In this blog I'll give some thoughts on the movie including two things that I haven't seen discussed much that gave me goose bumps. I'll also give some background on Ring Of Honor's involvement, why this movie won't accomplish what ROH hopes it will and how I totally inadvertently screwed a current ROH star out of his part in the movie

First off, "Gabe's Book Of Secrets" DVD is out now at KayfabeCommentaries.com. I will respond to your reaction, critiques, criticisms and questions about the content of the DVD on this Myspace in future blogs. I look forward to your thoughts on what actually happened in ROH compared to my now fictional booking plans and vision. Let me tell you things in reality are much different than what I had on paper in my now fantasy world. One thing I am happy about is that the guys at Kayfabe Commentaries said that this DVD has so much information on my plans, theories, philosophies and thoughts on booking ROH that the viewer will have to watch it several times to digest everything and to make sure not to miss any important points. Plus, my eyes are soooo sexy on the cover. You can order it here:http://www.kayfabecommentaries.com/DVD_SP_Sapols ky.html

When I think of quality wrestling documentaries/movies only three immediately come to mind. They are "Beyond The Mat" (which I still watch once a year for the glimpse of Paul Heyman's incredible speech to the locker room before the "Barely Legal" PPV), "Wrestling With Shadows" (which I haven't seen in years) and my all-time favorite "I Like To Hurt People" with The Original Sheik. Ok, there is one more. "Body Slam" with Roddy Piper has always been a guilty pleasure. I might be missing something, but that is what comes to mind right now and yes, I have opted not to include "Ready To Rumble" on the list.

I received an email out of the blue one day from Evan Ginzburg asking on the down low if ROH would be interested participating in a new Darren Aronofsky movie. Always in search of exposure the answer was a resounding yes. ROH owner Cary Silkin took over at that point and made the deal happen.

At the time my only knowledge of Aronofsky was that he made "Pi" on what little money he raised himself and it became a critically acclaimed cult hit. I have a great deal of respect for that. I rushed out to Best Buy and bought the Darren Aronofsky Collection of "Pi" and "Requiem For A Dream" to do some research. "Requiem For A Dream" instantly became my favorite movie of all time that I will never watch again.

Ok, I did watch "Requiem For A Dream" twice just to see if I would feel the same way again afterwards. I did. Each time I literally felt sick for several days because of the depressing, disturbing world that Aronofsky brought to reality. I can't think of any other movie, show or anything that has made me feel that way. It was brilliant and powerful. Aronofsky was immediately at the top of my short list of role models and influences. He went outside the lines and created something in his vision without fear. People either "got" and respected it or absolutely hated it because it wasn't their thing. To me that is true art. I always hoped some of that would come out in my booking. If something strongly connects with an audience because it captures them that deeply while a group of people hate it because it is not the norm they expect then you have accomplished something. Aronofsky has done that. So needless to say I was beyond excited to see Aronofsky work in the ROH environment. Little did I figure that my interaction with Aronofsky would cost one of my favorite talents a role in the movie

WARNING: The next paragraph contains spoilers for "The Wrestler":

I'm not going to go into an in depth review because there are plenty of those on the net. Simply, all the accolades the movie has received are very well earned. There are a few items you can nitpick if you want to be a bitch, but the only scene that made me feel like I was watching a fictional movie was the drug purchase scene in the locker room. I can say that I have never seen anything like that in any locker room and I have been in some crazy locker rooms (EDIT: I was just informed that this was in a weight lifters locker room at a gym so my criticism no longer applies). There are two things that jump out to me as absolutely nailing the unique and peculiar world of pro wrestling on the head. The first one is the scene after Rourke cuts his thumb at the deli and retreats to his van saying that he's Randy and not Robin. This is one of the oddest dynamics that only exists in the wrestling world. People's characters and real life identities become somewhat morphed and the line can become blurred. I received a very personal card from a wrestler during a rough time saying how much I have meant to him and his career. He signed it with his work name. Only in wrestling. I went to see a childhood friend of mine, who is an actor, in a play a couple of months ago. It would be absolutely ridiculous for me to greet him by the name of his character after the show. This is not the case in the one-of-a-kind world of wrestling. "The Wrestler" does an amazing job exploring the real name/stage name dynamic of both Rourke's character and Tomei's stripper character. The other eye opening thing to me that actually gave me chills was Randy's response to the promoter about his heart attack. I believe that he told the promoter that he was only overcome by the heat and hid the fact that he had a heart attack. Later, when Tomei confronted him about it right before his final moments, Rourke responded like he was perfectly fine saying that his heart was still "ticking." This completely captures the "don't worry about tomorrow, take it today" attitude of a lot of wrestlers who don't want to admit they are injured. I don't know if I've come across anything like the heart condition that Randy "The Ram" had, but there are plenty of times over the past 14 years that wrestlers have downplayed injuries to me or even tried to ignore that they exist. Things have been better since the findings after the Chris Benoit abomination, but it is still there.

Now there are other factors at work when it comes to injuries. In fact, there are many, many factors. I will touch on them in my next blog, give an example of a time a wrestler wanted to work, but subtly told me to pull him from a show and I might finally write what I have wanted to about what I call "The Chris Benoit Factor" in my next blog. This is all very explosive and complex. You can definitely lose sleep over it.

Back to the actual filming of "The Wrestler" at ROH's "Double Feature" weekend last March. We knew it would be an unusual and potentially trying live environment since we had to accommodate the filming schedule. After all, the movie people were so impressed with what they saw at our Manhattan Center show a couple of months earlier that they gave ROH the grand finale, wrote ROH into the script and promised a lengthy scene. I had a lot of worries about the live show after I heard numerous complaints from fans after the movie filmed a scene at the CZW show. Some people even reported to me that the movie looked like a disaster with fake blood and a corny scene with Rourke and Necro Butcher (and this scene turned out to be anything but corny). However, I knew in the end it would be worth it. The philosophy going into Dover, NJ was that we would give the fans a couple of fun shows that didn't really go overboard. They would also be part of the movie taping. So, we figured they would get their money's worth. We would then take both shows and put it on one DVD so the fans got some value there and a chance to see their favorites wrestle twice. When the filming began at the building a few days before the actual shows I began to get complaints from the wrestlers that the movie looked bad and the taping sucked. I told everyone that we had to grin, bear it, accept it and weather the storm because in the end the payoff would be great. After all, Aronofsky is a true artist and he wasn't about to produce any crap. This movie was going to be something the wrestling world has never seen before since it would be Aronofsky's vision. So now that I've watched it was the payoff there?

As an outsider to ROH now it wasn't easy to watch that final scene, so maybe I'm biased. When it comes to exposure ROH could not ask for more of it. The logo and website address are prominent, every wrestling fan will eventually see this movie and who knows where else clips of Rourke in a ROH ring will surface. However, is all exposure good exposure? Pro wrestling is never portrayed as cool or hip in the movie. It is presented as a sad, old subculture filled with human wastes and misfits that only share camaraderie with each other. Hey, maybe that is exactly what indy wrestling is, but I still love it. Well, most of it. Meanwhile, ROH isn't promoted as innovators with the next generation of stars that display an athletic, cutting edge style. Instead, it is the home of the washed up heart attack victim and fast-talking used car salesmen. It is not exactly the type of thing mainstream fans or sponsors will flock to. So what is my verdict? Basically, the movie will do just about nothing positive or negative for the wrestling business. Maybe a few film buffs and art school students that worship Aronofsky will catch a local indy show so they can live the experience Aronofsky portrayed, but the fans that are already wrestling fans will remain while the ones that see the movie for other reasons won't suddenly jump on the bandwagon. Maybe some diehard WWE fans will discover ROH or CZW, but I believe the impact on business will end up being minimal. Anyway, that's not a fact, just my assessment and I could be right or wrong. I do believe that Necro Butcher should be able to capitalize on his exposure as he makes the biggest impression of any wrestler or promotion

Now let's go back to March. The day of filming saw Larry Sweeney show up looking sharp with a blazing white suit and a slick, new, super carny hairdo. Everyone was told beforehand that shooting could occur at anytime and that anyone could end up in the movie if they happen to be in the background at the right time. I complimented Sweeney thinking that he was just trying to standout in case he got in a scene. As it turns out, Aronofsky had selected Sweeney to have Bobby Cruise's role as ring announcer for the movie.

Aronofsky and I were discussing the shooting schedule and some other minor details a few minutes before belltime on the first night when Sweeney was called over to us. Aronofsky began to say something about Sweeney being at ringside for the entire show when I butted in on instinct without thinking and said, "Sweeney will get heat out there, he's a manager."

Aronofsky, with enthusiasm fueled by creative adrenaline that can only come from the pressure of making your vision into a reality combined with the intense atmosphere of a live event, blurted out with the confidence of a 20 year wrestling veteran: "HEAT! HEAT! We can't have him getting heat!"

Aronofsky's eyes widened as his excitement grew. I knew how he felt. There are few things as rewarding, challenging and thrilling as solving a new problem on the fly with the clock ticking. A split-second later I turned to Sweeney and his face told an opposite story. He looked like I just killed his new, beloved puppy. I pointed Aronofsky to Bobby Cruise so Bobby owes me one and I will continue to apologize to Sweeney (should I call him by his real name here?) for as long as I know him.

Subject: Re: Gabe Sapolsky blogs Tue Feb 10, 2009 5:31 pm

Do you know if ROH is on any British channels, or is coming to British channel soon?

» Gabe Sapolsky blogs on Bryan Danielson...
» JR Blogs: Bret Hart's Return, Tommy Dreamer Done, Austin Update
» JR Blogs Backlash and he's not happy!
» Rob Van Dam Blogs About Monday's iMPACT! vs. RAW Battle
» Jim Ross Blogs: Jack Swagger, The HOF, Titles