Mar 10

I like Kevin Durant. I really do. He is an amazing basketball player and one of the brightest future stars of the NBA.

But last week I read something that made me dislike him a little bit.

Kevin Durant has no clue when it comes to pro wrestling.

Granted, I am no pro wrestler. I’ve said that before. I’ll never step foot in the ring. But I have a lot of respect for the folks that go in rings around the world to entertain us. I can barely begin to understand how they do what they do when they do it. It is 1000% different from wrestling my brother in the living room when we were younger. There is absolutely no comparison.

That’s why reading Kevin Durant’s blog about how he wanted to jump the guardrail at a WWE and go face-to-face with the Undertaker made me lose respect for him.

wweWould the Undertaker ever think about jumping on the court during a game and running the floor with Durant and the rest of the Oklahoma City Thunder? I seriously doubt it. No matter if the Undertaker had played college, high school, or even playground hoops, I don’t think he would ever consider interrupting an NBA game.

Sadly, the desire to be a part of pro wrestling is not limited to Kevin Durant. While most people ditch their fantasies of playing in the NBA or batting clean-up for the Yankees about the time they enter the “real world”, for whatever reason many wrestling fans still cling to their dreams of being in the ring long after adulthood.

Maybe it is the fact that wrestling has a low barrier of entry. Maybe it is the fact that many small-time wrestling promoters will do whatever it takes to get a few butts in the seats. Maybe it is the fact that wrestlers are such good actors that they make what they do in the ring look easy. Whatever the reason, far too many fans feel they should be part of the show.

(Quick disclaimer before I continue: I have been accused of this by a few fans. For some people, wearing an afro, leading chants, and heckling is too intrusive on the show. Personally, I think I’m on the same level as those crazy Raider fans or the Cowgirls of Florida State.)

Now I am not saying all fan involvement is a bad thing. Some local wrestling feds in Tampa allow fans to help with ring construction and de-construction, work ticket sales, or man the video cameras. I see absolutely nothing wrong with that.

But it’s when non-wrestlers want to be more that I have a problem. In order to be part of the show a person should have enough respect for the business to go through training, to get the right gear, to dress the role, act the role, and be the role. And exhibit the same respect they would for Kevin Durant or any other professional athlete.

That brings me to the Bubba the Love Sponge / Awesome Kong situation. For those unaware, Bubba is a Central Florida shock jock who somehow had gotten involved in wrestling promotion Total Non-Stop Action (TNA). Strike one.

Bubba was then used by the company as an interviewer and on-air personality. Strike two.

Third, Bubba got in a scuffle with female wrestler Awesome Kong that may or may not have involved Bubba insulting Kong’s homeland of Haiti. Of course, being that it happened in pro wrestling, no one will admit whether it was part of a script. Strike three.

Then, in a coup de grace, not only was Bubba, a non-wrestler and a fan, involved with a wrestler in the capacity of the show, but according to Kong, he prank called her at 5:00 AM and berated her with racial insults. She is now suing AT&T for the phone records and possibly taking Bubba to court.

(Which makes me think, why not sue TNA? They were the one who made the workplace hostile. There were the ones who brought in a notorious troublemaker as an on-air personality. Maybe getting sued would force TNA to enact standards of employment for fear of having to pay continuous reparations. But, then again, that might actually bring order to the chaotic business of pro wrestling, and we can’t have that.)

Bringing storylines out of the ring is a outstanding marketing tool, if done by professionals. If two wrestlers want to say how much they hate each on a train, in a plane, in a boat, on a moat, and anywhere else you could eat green eggs and ham, that’s great. But wrestling should not include two-bit cult of personality whores like Bubba the Love Sponge.

Or other wrestling fans, such as Kevin Durant, who can’t let go of their childhood dreams.

In other news, maybe wrestlers need to join non-wrestlers in learning how not to embarrass their public image.

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Mar 05

It’s been a long time since I did an interview with a pro wrestler. So when given the opportunity, I couldn’t pass up the chance to ask local Florida wrestler AfroBoy a few questions.

AfroBoy has always been a favorite of mine, a good wrestler and a good guy with a great hair do. Unfortunately, he has been sidelined for the last few months. But despite not being in the ring, he still goes to the shows and makes his presence known to the fans.

So without further ado …

AfroboyJordi: You’ve been out for a while. What happened?

AfroBoy: Well J, I had what I thought was a minor accident. Turned out that I fractured both my leg and ankle.

J: What have done to get ready to return to the ring?

AB: I had to have surgery on the ankle which lengthened my return date. Been going through the recommended rehab.

J: When can fans expect to see you back in action?

AB: I am confident that the fans will see me back in the ring sooner than later. As for now, I am remaining present in the commentary department of WXW.

J: So how did AfroBoy end up in the Florida wrestling scene? Did you train here in FL?

AB: Yes I did train in Florida at the now defunct FXE Academy. I received training from several professionals of the sport. It assisted in producing some wrestlers making waves: Simon Sez, Mike Cruz, Bobby Fonta, and Da Biff.

(Ed note: watch AfroBoy and Da Biff take on Simon Sez and fellow local grappler Gus Money here.)

J: What would you say has been your best match?

AB: I do not know if it was my best, but a good one. My favorite match was against the British Lions. I had the privilege of tagging with Scotty 2 Hotty. It was the first time I got to main event a program.

J: What wrestlers did you admire growing up?

AB: I was a big fan of Superfly Jimmy Snuka and Flyin’ Brian Pillman. I enjoyed Macho Man, Mr Perfect, and Rick Rude. All were amazing in my eyes.

J: Who are your professional idols? What wrestlers do you look up to now?

AB: Dwayne Johnson is someone I look up to. While many question why he won’t return to the ring, I admire that he was able to walk away. His in ring work led him to another path which has been just as successful and more power to the man. I also admire Randy Orton. Another 3rd generation superstar who has been able to carve his own niche. Bound to be around for many years to come.

J: Let’s talk about the ‘fro. How long have you had it? Did you grow it just for wrestling?

AB: The ‘Fro has been on for almost four years now. June will make 3 yrs for me as a pro wrestler. I grew up watching my favorite wrestlers all with long hair. So I figured I would let mine grow out as well. Only problem is that my hair doesn’t just lay down and look fabulous. I pick it out and make it look ‘FroLicious!!!

afroboy1J: How do you maintain and take care of the ‘fro?

AB: I do keep the ‘Fro trimmed up. Once a month, I go see my lady at the salon and make sure it is touched up. Add a bit of sheen on the night of a match and Damm, that boy is fly!

J: What message do you want to send to your fans?

AB: Thank you for all the support up to this point. Many may say it, but I believe it… 2010 is going to be a big year for your friendly neighborhood AfroBoy and the Afro-Squad. Keep it Pimpin’ ! ! !

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Mar 02

While I type away furiously on a 1,000 word epic two years in the making, I wanted to post a few links pertinent to the site.

Over on YouTube, the SnowMan of Wrestling911.com posted a video of the day I met WWE Diva Tiffany.

(By the way, did you know Tiffany was a vegan? She made PETA’s list of Sexiest Vegetarians of 2009. Personally, I don’t think I could date a woman who didn’t like BBQ, even it meant ruining my chances with Kaley Cuoco, Natalie Portman, and Carrie Underwood. Sorry, ladies.)

In other news, RaysIndex pointed out that Rays pitcher James Shields is sporting the ‘fro these days. In honor of James’s admission into the ‘Squad, we shall have a ceremony with chips, dip, punch, and pie.

(Hard to believe the South Park Movie is over 10 years old. Wow. It’s like the Canadians have really rehab’ed their image. From being the birthplace of Terrance and Phillip to hosting the Olympics. I’m proud of them. And it’s good to know they have forgiven America for invading their capital city of Toronto.)

Oh, and if you want to read something actually well-written, swing on by Deadspin.com and read Will Leitch’s post on film critic Roger Ebert. It’s about a young writer and his idol.

Leitch’s story reminds me of a similar, albeit much shorter, tale from my own early writing days. When I was in college, and just starting to understand how to write, I emailed columnist Leonard Pitts in response to an article he wrote about the mother of Emmitt Till, a young black man whose death was a key point in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. I thought Pitts’s article was so well done I had to ask him how I could write like that and how maybe one day I could have my own general interest column.

Although I think his assistant sent a canned response, Mr. Pitts’s advice was some of the best I ever received – actually, it may have been the only advice I ever received on the art of writing. Anyway, here is what he wrote:

As for advice…practice your craft.  Then practice it some more.  After
you’re done with that, take a little more time and practice. This is the
only sure route to learning your craft.

There is, in other words, no trick, secret, or magic formula that will make
you good.  Unfortunately for them, most writers are very good at finding
excuses not to write.  This is because writing is not enjoyable.  As some
sage once put it: “Writing is not fun.  Having written is.”

So what is required of the would-be writer is that he or she first develop
the discipline to apply the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair and
start putting words down on the screen.  You will be awful at first, then a
little better.  In time, perhaps, you will become good.  And sometime after
that, assuming you possess the basic gifts for it, you will become great.

Time not spent writing should be spent reading.  Read constantly and
promiscuously.  Read writers whose work you admire and try to figure out how
they do what they do and what it is in their work that makes it achieve
whatever effect it does.  Read writers whose work you dislike and try to
figure out what they’re doing wrong so that you can avoid making the same
mistakes.

Also: It’s important to invest in the tools of your craft.  In making an
investment, you prove – to others and, more importantly, to yourself – that
you are serious about this thing.  To that end, you need a workspace -
doesn’t have to be fancy, but it ought to be yours and accessible to you on
a regular basis.  You need a word processor or computer; a good dictionary,
an almanac, a copy of Strunk and White’s Elements of Style, and a thesaurus.
You need a copy of Writer’s Market, which is a directory of magazine
publishers.  It lists the kind of material they’re looking for, the contact
persons and the prices they pay.  Also, get yourself a subscription to
Writer’s Digest; it’s a monthly magazine that deals with the craft of
writing, but also the business of it.  The magazine provides a great crash
course for young writers.

Finally, assuming you have any cash left over, you might want to pick up a
copy of Stephen King’s On Writing.  It’s a memoir of the craft that I found
inspirational and instructive.

I still haven’t picked up that Stephen King book yet. I might want to do that.

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Feb 08

Thoughts on sports and their different regional “flavors”:

I’ve always been interested in how different areas put their own twists on sports. A game played by the same rules can be played in totally different ways and interpreted in a completely different manner by different cultures.

But why? What is it about certain cultures that drives changes in the game?

rezball2A few years ago I noticed several articles that discussed a style of basketball being played in the American southwest by young Native Americans. Dubbed “Rezball“, it was basketball played at an extremely fast pace. According to ESPN.com,

Rezball is a smashmouth game of speed, aggression and stamina. Full-court presses and man D are applied relentlessly, but the transition game is the game. Guards often start a break after receiving the inbounds pass; set plays are rare. Rezball makes the 2007 Suns look like the 1995 Knicks. Squads with three guys taller than 6′3″ are rare, so even the short guys know how to play big, and all five positions boast guardlike handles and shooting skills. Watching the best teams will rivet you to your seat—from the way players improvise at warp speed to their sheer endurance and the dialed-in-but-carefree way they ball.

For some reason, Native Americans decided to add an extreme element of speed to their game. Granted, height is not a usual trait in Native Americans, so few teams would have the option to slow down the game by throwing the ball to a lumbering big man underneath the basket. But from what I know about Rezball, it is faster than the Philippines Basketball Association, a league known to impose height requirements to give domestic players a chance.

So why did the Native Americans tweak basketball in that way? Is running or sprinting a typical habit of the people?

On the complete opposite side of the spectrum is the southern style of professional wrestling, known in some circles as “rasslin’”. According to Wikipedia,

Rasslin’ – refers to a southern style of professional wrestling which emphasizes kayfabe and stiffness, with fewer squash matches and generally longer feuds. It was synonymous with the NWA-affiliated promotions. Rasslin’ included TV tapings at smaller venues, as compared to the larger and more well-known arenas utilized by northern U.S. promotions such as the AWA and WWF/E. The term is derived from a phonetic spelling of how the word “wrestling” sounds when spoken with a heavy Southern accent. It is also commonly used in a derogatory manner by non-Southern wrestling fans to describe that style of wrestling.”

Southernxident(To be honest, although the description is correct, I have never heard anyone in Florida refer to it as “rasslin’”. Actually, due to the mixed population in Florida, I’ve been told the state is a very difficult place to wrestle in, because transplanted fans from different parts of the country look for different things in their wrestling performances.)

I’ve been told that “southern” professional wrestling is generally slower than its northern counterparts. In the definition above, “emphasizing kayfabe” means characters and stories have more of a role in southern pro wrestling matches. In order to build those stories and develop those characters, the action must be slower. No rapid, high-flyin’, biff-bang-boom-wham-bam-slam matches. In southern wrestling, each match tells a story and it is the story that is emphasized more so than the athletic performance.

So why is wrestling different in the South? What is it about southern culture that favors deliberate storylines over fast-paced action?

Having lived in the South for over 20 years, I can attempt to answer this. For the same reason country music is generally slower, and southern accents are not as fast as northern dialects, Southerners prefer a more laid back lifestyle. People are more spread out in the south and aren’t ingrained with the urgency of northern city folks.

There is also the notion that morals are more prevalent in the South. Whereas in the North, people are all jumbled together and no one knows which way is which, in the South, there are traditional codes of conduct – such as how a gentleman or lady should act. Pro wrestling storylines feed off of these ideas. Bad guys deliberately brake the codes of conduct and good guys get in the fans’ favor by giving these villains a helpin’ of fist-flyin’ justice.

Before I end, I would like to leave you with a few questions.

Questions: Could there have been at some point different nuances in baseball? Were there slight differences in baseball strategy when the game started its growth in America? Did southerners play a slower-paced game than northerners? Was the northern game the origin of homeruns and fastballs and the south the birthplace of off-speed pitches, setting up batters, and base-to-base offense? Could there have been a difference in regional pitching psychology? Also, was there a different style of game strategy in the Negro Leagues?

The best answers may win something from me, if I can think of a cool gift.

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Jan 18

(This post is similar but opposite to my post a few weeks ago on The Effect of the New Economy on Foreign Baseball Players. Whereas that one discussed teams changing their budgets and how it is effecting the acquisition of baseball players, this post will talk about my fantasy of leaving America to compete in a professional athletic organization.)

InterKoreanGames1999I have always had a fascination with being an American-born athlete in a foreign country. Back in 2007, when I was writing for the YAYSports basketball site, I wondered if I had what it takes to play basketball in Iceland. Then, on TheSeriousTip.com in 2008, I wrote about Chris Jefferies, a former Washington University of St. Louis basketball player who was playing ball in Argentina.

Maybe if I made it on a foreign basketball team, I could ball with some of the FSU hoops players I used to watch live when I was in school, guys like Jason Rich and Isaiah Swann, both of whom are playing in Israel, or Nigel “Big Jelly” Dixon, who is hooping it up in South Korea. How cool would be to live the life of professional basketball vagabond Paul Shirley, whose book “Can I Keep My Jersey?” has been recommended to me on numerous occasions (one of these days I will read it, I promise).

(By the way, a post I wrote on Nigel Dixon’s career up to 2007 was one of my more popular early posts. What can I say? The people loved the Big Jelly.)

Not only am I not the world’s best hoopster (hoopist? hoopineer?), but according to a recent report on ESPN’s True Hoop blog, it may be tough to pay the bills while playing international basketball. Apparently, several former NBA players, to include Damon Jones, Robert “Tractor” Traylor, and Travis Best, have openly stated that they haven’t been financially compensated on a regular basis.

This experience has become a fairly common one for NBA players who have been lured to Europe with lucrative contracts. Nenad Krstic and Jannero Pargo were among the players who returned to the NBA last season after not receiving payments from their European clubs.

Since I have bills to pay, basketball might not be the best way to fulfill my international athletic dreams. Not getting paid is not my thing.

What about other sports?

Even though my tryout with the Atlanta Braves back in 2001 didn’t go as planned, I still think I have a shot at being a professional baseball player. According to baseball-links.com, there are leagues in 38 nations. Remember Brandon Fraser in The Scout or Tom Selleck in Mr. Baseball? That could be me. I could be the next Tuffy Rhodes.

(Ironic tidbit about Rhodes: although he hit 477 home runs and is an all-time superstar in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league, he is probably best known in the states for hitting only three. On his amazing opening day in 1994, off the Mets’ Dwight Gooden, Rhodes hit three homers, setting a record as the only Major League Baseball player to hit three HRs in his first three at-bats of the season. Unfortunately, he hit only 10 more in his six years in the bigs.)

Of course, if the international baseball thing doesn’t pay out – after all, if stateside teams aren’t exactly opening the coffers for a 32-year old lefty pitcher who couldn’t hit 70mph on the radar gun nine years ago, why should I expect an international team to? – I could try another venture.  As Jack Black showed in the classic cinematic masterpiece Nacho Libre, pro wrestling is quite the phenomenon outside of the US. According to the almighty Wiki, there are dozens of organizations in faraway lands such as Japan, Bolivia, Mexico, Australia, Ireland, Italy, and New Zealand.

Unfortunately, despite my pro wrestling fandom and “involvement” as a self-proclaimed superfan, I have no clue what to do in the ring. As a matter of fact, I have been in the ring a grand total of one time. A few years ago, when my curiosity into professional wrestling was slowly surfacing, I took up an invite to visit a couple of pro wrestlers during a training session. After they were done throwing each other around and exchanging grapples, they invited me into the ring.  Not only did I climb into the ring awkwardly, but everything I did was goofy. Needless to say, I got out before I got hurt.

You know, maybe I should reconsider this international athlete idea. Maybe I need to find something a little less physically demanding.

Do they play skeeball in other countries? I do like skeeball.

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Jan 16

It’s been a good fortnight. First, I was linked to on ESPN.com regarding my post on the NRA and pro sports. Then, Rays Index.com linked to my post comparing their web traffic to MetsBlog.com. Now an article I wrote on the use of Social Media in the Pro Wrestling business was published on the website Online World of Wrestling. It is the number one google search result for “indy wrestling social media” and the number five search result for “pro wrestling social media”.

Check it out: “Indy Wrestlers: Social Media & Self-Promotion“.

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Jan 14

A few weeks ago, I introduced a documentary that the fine webmaster of Wrestling911.com was doing on a recently closed wrestling organization in the Tampa area. This documentary, entitled “The Rise and Fall of PWe”, is now on YouTube.

Here are links to each chapter:

Chapter 1 – The History of Pro Wrestling Eklipse – Introduction

Chapter 2 – PWE Originals and New Talent

Chapter 3 – Leadership

Chapter 4 – The Ring

Chapter 5 – JoBob’s Fight Club

Chapter 6 – The Hybrid Championship

Chapter 7 – Josh Rayne

Chapter 8 – The Gangstas vs. The James Boys

Chapter 9 – The Irish Blood Bath

Chapter 10 – The Ultra Violent Title

Chapter 11 – The Screw Job

Chapter 12 – What Could Have Been Done Differently?

I definitely recommend taking a look at at least one of these chapters. The filmmaker did a really good job, especially being that this was his first foray into documentary making. As Darren Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler” showed, the majority of the pro wrestling business takes place far, far away from the fame and fortune of the WWE. PWe might have only been a blip on the radar, and perhaps only a few dedicated fans might have seen it from its inception, but for the wrestlers there it represented many hours of sweat, blood, and tears. This is not only the story of a failed wrestling organization, it is also the story of those performers, and it deserves to be heard.

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Dec 20

Like many forms of underground entertainment, independent professional wrestling organizations often vary in lifespan. Some are able to stay active for years, growing an impressive lineup of alumni who hopefully move on to bigger and better organizations, bringing fame and fortune to the organizations in which they started.

Most independent wrestling organizations, however, are not so fortunate. Like restaurants, they close almost as quickly as they open, becoming minor footnotes in the long history of professional wrestling.

Out the long list of these seemingly fly-by-night federations, a fortunate few are somehow able to gain a cult following. Whether due to their matches, the wrestlers involved, or even the fans, these organizations become etched in the collective consciousness of their local wrestling communities. For wrestling fans of West Central Florida area, Pro Wrestling Eklipse was one of those organizations.

Following the footsteps of more well-known stories on the creation and demise of popular pro wrestling organizations such as WCW and ECW, wrestling fan and Afro-Squad member SnowMan, webmaster of wrestling bulletin board Wrestling911.com, is assembling a documentary on Pro Wrestling Eklipse.

You can see a preview here:

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Nov 19

There was an interesting post on Deadspin.com the other day. It linked to a Forbes piece written by Monte Burke on the once-passe-but-now-reemerging phenomenon of holding up Biblical scripture signs at sporting events.

A while back, I was watching a DVD of the 1986 NLCS playoffs (Mets versus Astros) and I thought about the same thing. During that game, it was impossible to miss a John 3:16 sign in stands. I think there were roughly 3,412 of them, give or take 3,400. I was even thinking about writing a post over at ye olden site about that very phenomenon.  I had the title and everything. I was going to call it “Where have you gone John 3:16?”. Amazing, I know. It rolls off the tongue.

What I didn’t have, however, was anything more than the notion that you don’t see those signs anymore. In his article, Burke did what I wanted to do, chronicle the rise and fall (and now reemergence) of John 3:16. He found the man who started the trend (a certified nutbar named Rollen Stewart – check out this video on just how loopy he was), then he wrote about how the signs disappeared for years, but have slowly returned thanks to Tim Tebow’s fame and faith.

(Before I go any further, a word of warning: please do not associate me with Rollen Stewart just because he also had afro wig and was a charismatic fan who wore glasses and liked to do the thumbs-up sign. His afro was rainbow colored, ok?)

My one complaint about Burke’s article was that it failed to mention a sharp turn in the life of 3:16 quoting. Soon after Rollen Stewart disappeared from the limelight and was subsequently locked in the clink for three life terms, an emerging pro wrestler named Stone Cold Steve Austin created his own version of 3:16 and used it as one of his main catch phrases on his way to wrestling immortality. See here:

The timeline then goes a little something like this:

  • Rollen Stewart uses John 3:16 from 1980 to 1992
  • Stone Cold Steve Austin uses Austin 3:16 from 1996 t0 approximately 2004
  • Tim Tebow is sparking a John 3:16 revival in 2009

As you can see, it usually takes about four years after a 3:16 fad faded for it to reemerge. The way I see it, Tim Tebow can’t play forever. I’ll give him until 2020, tops. And that’s if he makes the NFL (which I think he will) and has at least a solid career (to be determined).

So therefore, in 2025 or maybe late 2024 I have to be ready. Ready to pounce with a new 3:16 theme. A “Jordi 3:16″. Or maybe an “Afro 3:16″. Or maybe “The Man 3:16″. Then there has to be a phrase that goes with it.

What do you guys think? What phrase should I use? And if I make the signs will you carry them around town in 2025?

We’re talkin’ global.

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