HAPPY NEW YEAR 2009
Jake The Snake Roberts, 9/12/08
I arrived at the building during the VIP deal where Jake apparently began drinking. I came in through the back door, but had to walk around to the front to send someone on a run to the store to grab a DV tape for me. Jake was out front, and seemed like he was a little slurred when I spoke to him, but I have worked with Jake alot recently, and sometimes when your tired from the road, your voice takes a toll and your tired as hell, I know, so I thought nothing much about it, and went on my way. (Not to mention the fact I have been on several shows with Jake since his return from his WWE paid rehab last December, and it really seemed like Jake turned the corner this time.)
The night went on, my match was on third, so I did my thing, then was hanging out back near the locker rooms until the semi-main event, where I headed up to the top seating area, so I could get a good look at the match, which had 5 of the 6 guys involved that I trained, or helped teach. I was excited, the crowd was huge, which was a big deal for Firestorm, which has spent the last 10 months trying to find its way as a promotion. Firestorm has tried alot of different things to draw fans, to mixed and sometimes frustrating results, and all involved worked very hard on the new venue, the staging and production, which was very top notch, and on getting people in the building to see what great performers we have on our roster.So imagine the excitement in the locker room with between 5-600 hot fans packed into the building, and ready to have a great time, and Jake even gave a speech in the locker room to that effect, about how big this was and what a great opportunity it was for Firestorm Pro Wrestling, and everyone went out there and busted their ass to make sure those people came back.
So, back to the semi-main, for the Firestorm Title. I was watching the match, watching how the crowd reacted to everything, and got a phone call about halfway through. I stepped outside to talk on the phone, and missed about 5-10 mins of the match, which i was told afterwards was where Jake made an unplanned spectacle of himself, and the boys in the ring who were just going all out in this match were suddenly relegated to bystanders as Jake got to the commentary table and made quite a few lewd comments, including calling one of my trainees a "N-----", who told me afterwards only restrained himself out of respect for me and Ray Rowe, who are training him, and the promoter, JC. Not jokingly, either, just called him a big "N-----". On the mic. Nice. I come back in and watch the last 15 mins of the match, and one of the security guys fills me in on what I just missed, so I darted back to the locker room to figure out exactly what was going on. At this point, I have no idea what condition Jake is in, as he spent most of the night wasted, passed out, or attempting to get his opponent, JT Lightning, to score him some crack. Before I continue, I would like to comment right there on criticism of why Jake was allowed to even perform in this state. To understand that, first realize that the promoter booked Jake around a year ago against me and he was in similar condition, yet was able to be led through some semblance of a match (which was hurtful to me as a lifelong wrestling fan before getting in the business, and knowing the legacy of Jake and what he can do when his heads on right, and seeing how little care he had for the fans who still thought of him as he once was, the wrestler he was responsible for keeping safe and the people paying his bills), as well as the fact his agent was apprised of the situation and insisted Jake could do what he had to do.Hell, everyone knows Jake always worked messed up in the past, and could do enough to get by, its a running joke in the business. I usually dont side with promoters because they mostly suck and lie to everyone who works for them (not all, there are very good promoters out there, just not enough, lol), but in this case JC was truly damned either way. Had he not sent Jake out to the ring, with ALL of the publicity being centered around Jake The Snake, he was concerned about the appearance of false advertising, which I can assure you would have happened to him had he gone that route, he definitely has a bulls eye on him from people who dislike him. Whatever, he outdrew anyone around by working his ass off promoting the show, and until you walk in a mans shoes, you cant understand why he does what he does, so Im sure JC mostly didnt want to screw this show up.
Ok, so I am now back to the back, while they take a 5 minute intermission to try and assess this situation, and sell some concessions. I walk up to JT, who tells me how fried Jake is by this point, and hes gonna do what he can with him. JT went out there with every intention of getting whatever he could out of Jake, as evidenced by his working with him when he finally got to the ring. To protect himself, JT discussed the match with JC and decided that if Jake is going, cool have a great match, but should this not work, he was getting out of there and not allowing himself to get hurt. That is what ended up happening, JT tried and couldnt get a drop (bad pun, I know) out of Jake, so when Jake fell over, he simply covered him and got the hell out of dodge. I was in the back talking with Ray Rowe about his match, when I saw what was going on in the ring through the curtain. I look at Ray and said, this isnt going right, JT is pinning Jake right now about 30 secs into the match. Ray thought I was joking til he heard the bell. I looked right at Ray before the words could get out of his mouth, I emptied my pockets (Im in street clothes and sandals at this point), and said Im gonna get JT out of there before he kills Jake, and Ill take a quick DDT to cover this up and get the people home happy. Ray and JC are screaming Go Go Go, so there I went.
JT is on the stage as you see me come out to make sure he isnt gonna kill Jake (which he easily could have done, people are giving him hell for taking advantage of Jake, and god knows JT and I have never been best friends, but I was shocked he didnt just kick the shit out of Jake instead of getting out of there, if he really wanted to create an internet controversy he could have) and JT kind of looked at me like, this is bullshit, what are you doing out here. I told JT when your done, Im gonna try to get these people out of here with a ddt, and JT said his peace and left. I looked at Jake and told him to turn around, told him exactly why I was there and what I was going to do. He said hed kill me if I came in the ring. Now Im getting pissed, for many reasons Ill get to in a minute, and I yelled at him to turn the hell around and knock off the shit, lets fix this and be done, and we can argue in the back (Reasoning with a drunken drug addict=bad idea, lol), he again said hed kill me, I said so be it, and headed in the ring as Jake turned around. Notice, he fed me his back, so I think maybe Jake knows where Im going and will appreciate this after he realizes what went down. I jumped him from behind, I begged and pleaded with him to just DDT me, I even short arm reversed myself into a ddt, and Jake still wouldnt cooperate at this point. He just walked to the corner, and proceeded to make me, and every wrestler who worked all night look retarded as he decided to become "The Thinker" (famous statue, if u dont know the reference, google it) in the corner. I got really hot, because now he was not only shitting on everyone, and all the work earlier in the night where guys actually sold, and all the fans, and everything that went into this show, but he was making me look like an ass, and Im the only one out there thinking about Jake. Wrestlers are pissed, fans are throwing stuff, and I figure if I can help Jake get out of this, it wouldnt become anywhere near as bad as it became as far as press. Then he wants to fight, which as I said earlier would have been very easy, Im no tough guy beating up on people (cough-Ray Rowe-cough), but I could have dropped Jake just as easily as JT. Hell, Im pretty sure Hannah Montana would have taken Jake out at this point. But I was very pissed at his no-selling and killing my heat and credibility with every second that went by, so i went and got a chair, I figure if hes not gonna sell, then he could no sell a chair shot, if you know what Im saying. Thats my moment of anger, I admit, and you see on the video as I slide in with the chair, Ray Rowe must have seen this from the back, as he runs out and pulls me out of the ring and holds me back. Then Jake waits until after Im held out of the ring to lean through the ropes and call me back in to fight, which really pissed me off mainly because I was out there to help him. So while there is chaos on the outside of the ring, as JT made his way back out in case, hell I dont even know why, I just saw him back by me, lol, and people are pissed off and were ending the show with the way wrong kind of heat. I grabbed the mic while security removed Jake from the ring while he was flashing his penis at a crowd half filled with children, which really made me sick, and JC was looking like a boy who just got his brand new bike stolen on Christmas Day out of his yard, and with good reason. So I grabbed the stick and said something like "Fuck this guy, forget it, these wrestlers rocked the house, lets hear it for Firestorm," and got a nice little Firestorm chant going to end the drama.
Or Not.
We get to the back, which is what leads to the next video out there with me and Jake outside the building. Wrestlers are trying to get Jake under control, as he is way more out of it by this point then even during the above debacle if you can believe that, and he is walking around going after random people wanting to fight. There must have been 15 wrestlers circling the Snake Wagon, lol, and I was still out in the ring, so when I come back, Im right in the middle of the deal. We get outside, where Jakes calls me unprofessional for shooting on him during the match, probably having me and JT confused by this point I think, but whatever, he pulls that crap where he says it as hes walking away. That re-set me off, for everything that already happened, plus unlike JT who didnt even work with him on this night (rightfully so), I have worked with him all screwed up and did everything in my power to send the crowd home that night thinking he was still Jake the Snake. I try to help the guy because I respect his legacy, even though I know what he really is nowadays. Not only that, but everyone in wrestling knows Jakes past, what he was before the drugs and booze took his gifts away from him, and what he went through over the various years of rehab. I was a huge fan of Jake Roberts, and study alot of his work in his prime from both WWF and Mid South/Georgia stuff because when he was on, Jake was really one of the greats.I truly thought, like most others that he was finally ready to take his life back, as he went to WWE sponsored rehab last December and got out clean and sober, and supposedly the old Jake was back. I, as a wrestler, fan and just out of human nature, was pulling for him like anyone else and the first few months out of rehab, we did several shows together and he was straight and working hard. It was a really great thing to see, I heard Vince was even watching him on the indies, to bring him into creative if he really had himself together. So, you have to understand that I was dissappointed severely in Jake, combined with the hard work we had put into the last year of Firestorm to get to this successful night, plus watching my own credibility get shit all over in the ring, When he called me unprofessional, thats where the other video starts, as I cut a scathing promo on him, and some people have a problem with that. Oh well. I refuse to apologize for anything, Jake has demons, but guess what, so does just about every wrestler, in one way or the other, the only reason Jake does what he does is because people enable him, make excuses for him, or simply mark out for him because hes a "legend". Any wrestler who would try the shit that Jake pulled would have gotten alot worse, prolly beat up at the least, i guarantee it, and 99% would never be booked again.ANYWHERE, EVER, NO QUESTIONS ASKED.CAREER OVER. Not Jake, hell be back next weekend drunk or high at another show, because someone will mark out for him and his legacy, and the cycle continues. But the same people who enable him, the same fans and wrestling people who stick up for this crap or defend his "demons" while they have a drink with Jake and laugh at his drunken antics will put on their memorial shows, their tribute shows, they will get themselves over with "I loved Jake" promos and feel good about themselves for honoring Jake after he meets what will be his inevitable tragic death if someone doesnt get him out of this business until he is truly well, or else not at all. I truly think wrestling will always lead to Jakes relapses, because its been a part of his abuse for so long, its almost like a guy who gets a weekend pass from jail and is away from the warden, so he breaks every law he can while hes out, knowing hell be back in jail on Monday. I have heard some people didnt like that I cut a promo on Jake around the fans, "exposing" the business. Bro, not many stick up for this business like I do, or try to protect kayfabe like I do, which almost feels futile in todays crap-ass world of indy wrestling (not all of it, there are some great indy feds, but nowhere near as many as the ones that ruin our business). How anyone figures I exposed anything after Jakes nonsense is simply someone who is either a mark for Jake or doesnt like myself, JT, JC, Ray Rowe, Firestorm, whatever. I hope that Jake sees that video of our deal and says, Damn even that kid is on my shit, hell even if it pisses him off, I dont care maybe that will work, whatever gets through to Jake. I did what I had to do to make my point to Jake, and guess what, any fans watching at least left knowing Jake did what he did, and it wasnt ok with the wrestlers, either, which hopefully shows them that this isnt what any of us at Firestorm are about. People who werent there have all their stupid comments, and hey to each his own, anyone with a problem can let me know when they see me, but unless you were there, you dont know shit. Every wrestler left in the building after this, and every fan who witnessed it went out of their way to thank me for sticking up either for Firestorm, for wrestling in general, or for the fans, so I accomplished what I wanted to. Period. Jake Roberts has my phone number, and i am easy to reach, i will gladly talk to Jake again about any of this, and whatever happens happens. I think afterwards, and after viewing the video, Jake will realize I really was looking out for him, and it just got all blown up from there. If not, like I said, I hope he gets pissed, goes to rehab, gets clean (again) and comes out ready to kick my ass, Ill be fine with that. Hell, this stuff is all over, from AOL to TMZ and every acronym in between, so anyone who wants to book me and Jake, hit me up, Im down for whatever, hell lets bring in JT and make some money off this shit. Business is Business. I have never been a tough guy, or a shooter, whatever you want to call it, but I wont back down when I feel I am right. Also, Some people commented like who is JT, who is J-Rocc to do what they did, they are nobody, how dare they. Wrong, how dare Jake choose to drink 25 shots of vodka knowing he was there to perform, how dare Jake pull his dick out in front of a truckload of kids, and how dare Jake try to say he was "drugged" at the show. Has this mystery person been following Jake around for 25 years, druggin him everywhere he goes? Did they send him on live PPV at that legends thing drunk as hell? Oh, they must have been the ones who sent him to rehab what 10, 11 times in his life too right? I am outraged they would even say something like that, Jake drank himself stupid, took whatever pills or god know what else he did, and knew what he was doing the whole time. He is a 53 year old man, for christs sake. NO ONE, NO ONE drugged Jake Roberts, except Jake Roberts, and anyone dumb enough to believe that, im wasting my breath talking to anyways. If someone in any locker room I was in would do something like that to Jake or anyone, I can guarantee you they would be taken care of, and taken out of wrestling, at least as far as myself and any one of my friends in this business goes, and if I ever found out that something like that did happen to Jake, I would put it right here public for all to see, but i wont, because its the dumbest thing I have ever heard. His assistant lady is yet another reason we will be mourning Jake Roberts sooner, rather than later.
Im not judging anyone, but before you pass judgment on me or JT, think about what other people would have done to Jake, think about the Mike Levy deal in IWA MS, or New Jack and Mass Transit and imagine if people (working or shooting) with the mindset of getting over at someones physical expense (Not accusing IWA, just pointing out you never know what youll get on the indies) got their hands on Jake last Friday night in his condition. Hell, they would have beat his ass and prolly pissed on what was left of him, just for a few extra dvd sales.
I did what I felt I had to do, and I will deal with whatever fallout there may be, but I havent gotten any heat yet, 95% of the people who see/saw this know what the deal is, most that have some comments dont like me anyways, so Im not missing out on anything,lol. After the video was out, i called my mentor Tracy Smothers, told him my story and asked him if I had anything to apologize for, because I would if I did in a second. Tracy watched the video, and said I was in the right, and thats good enough for me. Anyone that seriously wants to talk about it, just ask me, and ill tell you exactly what i just said here, I understand that you might not understand, but you couldnt unless you found yourself in the middle of it.
Plain and simple, I hope someone through all this finally gets through to Jake. Before its too late.
Give it up one Time!
TMZ Coverage:
http://www.tmz.com/tmz_main_video?titleid=1794987209
You Tube #1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmRTg6l_A2A
You Tube # 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYIpIMg8nu4
Firestorm Pro, Philly shows, Mr. Snake...
Quick Update
A few updates to the site, new dates added to the schedule, results are updated, and the biggest news, check out the Train with J-Rocc page, as Firestorm Pro and CAPW have merged their training together and are debuting a new school/facility, and all the information is now on this site, for everyone who has been asking me where the training be at, LOL. Catch you all at the matches, and keep giving it up one time!
Quick Update - New Videos Added 7/7/08
Back to the Future!...Err, Past...Err, Aw Who Cares!
Welcome back, all to another edition of J-Rocc actually updates his website twice in one year! I am your host, The Big Daddy of Promotional Destruction himself, J-Rizzle. Always wanted to type that ever since Brian "RoadDogg" James called me that a few years ago, and dammit I did! Anyways, I guess I should start where everyone else starts with me lately, whats up with the knee? For those of you who dont know, on May 31 at a Rampage Wrestling show in Erie, PA I was in my third match of the night, the finals of their 1st Heavyweight title tourney against a young guy with a good future named Bill Collier. The ring they used was a little shaky that night, and somehow, about 2 minutes into this thing I took a biel out of the corner and upon landing, felt my right meniscus pop instantly. Anyone who has torn the meniscus knows it smarts for a minute, then numbs up and you can usually finish the match until your adrenaline slows down, and its also not a very long healing process. So I started getting the knee going and getting back into this match, and Bill went to press slam me over his head. As I raked his eyes and landed on my feet, I felt the worst feeling I have ever felt, as if a razor blade just slid right down the side of my knee, and then I felt the burn as the ligament rolled back up onto itself. I have done alot of things to myself wrestling over the years, but this pain was the worst. If you get the DVD and watch the match, as much as I try to be cool and go on (Which patting myself on the back, I continued to finish the match as best I could for about 15 mins after getting hurt, cuz dammit I have a job to do, and after waiting through a 3 hour tournament, those people deserved more than a BS 4 min main event, and I only had to dump a few things I had planned near the end because the pain got unbearable by that point), it became obvious near the end of the match I was hurt much worse than usual. After sludging my way back to Cleveland, I couldnt even drive my partner in crime Shane Taylor home, so he dropped me off and took my car home. The next morning I couldnt get out of bed at all. I called the homeboy Shane Taylor and asked him to please accompany me to the emergency room, which he very sweetly did. We found out there that I had a torn meniscus, and they sent me home on crutches with an immobilizer, some pain pills, and an appointment with my PCP. I went to my doc on Tues, got the MRI on Friday (Thank God I am one of the smart wrestlers with good health insurance) and found out even sweeter news, I had also torn my MCL, which is the inside stabilizing ligament of your knee. I was sent to a very good orthapedic surgeon, who doubles as one of the Cleveland Indians medical people as well, and he told me i basically had a 60-40 chance of avoiding surgery, and sent me to the Cleveland Clinic rehab staff, who also work on the Indians, Cavs, and Browns, which is very comforting. I have been doing 3 days a week there for the last 3 weeks, and there has been significant improvement over that time. I am off the crutches and out of the immobilizer, now I have a sweet metal brace going, and a cane to get up and down steps. All of the regular movements, walking, etc have become alot better, and now I am working on trying to recover the athletic movements: steps, squatting, kneeling, running and jumping etc. I have my first matches back scheduled for the 19th of July, which basically gives me 3 more weeks to see how it goes. If I do end up not healing totally right, then I will be forced to have surgery and be out about 3 months after that. In that worst case scenario, I would be finishing up my commitments through the IWC match with myself and Jason Bane vs Ray Rowe and TNA World Champion Samoa Joe, and then get it done. In all honesty, though, the doc thinks I dont even need to plan on that, so thats the deal. I am dying to get back to work, Ill tell you that much! Speaking of back to work, I will be returning to Cleveland All-Pro wrestling for the first time in 5 years on July 19th (hence the title of this update), for their big 15th anniversary spectacular, which should be very interesting to say the least. And then of course, there is the big match in IWC on Aug. 2 with Joe and Rowe coming up as well, and possibly the WWE tapings coming to Cleveland depending of course on my injury, so alot of big things coming up, hope to see you all there, and one last note, Thank You to everyone who has called, emailed or said a kind word at the shows. This injury and peoples reactions to it have shown me that maybe I have done right by this business, and maybe people appreciate that work I have done, and the things I have sacrificed to do so. Thats what makes it worth it. Til next year, I mean next update, LOL, keep giving it up one time, homeys!
Give It Up One Time For An Actual Update!!!! April 16, 2008
October 3, 2007
December 23, 2006
August 21, 2006
Hello, all and I apologize for the lack of updates, but I have had a ton of things going on, and I promise that this update will more than make up for that. I have sat around quiet about alot of things for quite some time because I figure why even acknowledge the bs morons spout, but what the hell, I decided that I need to get a few things aired out.There will be no worked post today, no quasi-shoot, this will definitely be one of the most straight-up posts I have ever put on this site. First off, for those of you that don't know, I made my debut for the AIW this past weekend. Alot of you don't know or care about the history of all these promotions in Cleveland, but to make a long story short, a few years back the former "backyard" wrestling group in Cleveland, EFW, decided to recruit Lou Marconi to train them all so they can start being legit in the business. Somewhere in that process, they started to hate each other (gotta love wrestling) and split off to form two separate new promotions, Extreme War and AIW. I proudly and loyally worked for Extreme War, and main evented every one of their events against the likes of Fabulous John McChesney, AJ Styles, Tommy Dreamer, M-Dogg 20, Sterling James Keenan, Mick Foley and others. They promoted me as their top heel, and I worked as hard as I could for them during their run. I also very publicly stated that I had no interest in ever working for the AIW group. That is very true, and I meant it at the time. All I knew of them at the time was they ran at a bar in the flats, used all of my trainees on their roster, and had Chandler Biggins involved, who really annoyed the hell out of me for no particular reason. Regardless, they were competition of the promotion I worked for, and I am a big believer that you can only work one promotion full time in a territory at a time, or else you water down your worth. I also heard alot of things regarding the AIW I didn't like, so really it was a non issue to even consider them. Extreme War ran its last show in early December, 2005, and dropped out of promoting shows. Now, since we are being honest here, I actually had my first conversation with the AIW office back in late January about making a surprise appearance, and my trainees Deviant, Perry Greene, Jay Violence among others were strongly pushing the idea of coming in. I really considered it, and asked them for a few days to think about it, however I decided against it. Life goes on. Around that time, I really had an itch to get the NEPW promotion back up and running, but with Ed Edwards mother and father passing as well as personal issues in his marriage, he was unable to promote, which is why NEPW closed up shop to begin with. A member of the Extreme War office approached me at the time interested in my plans for promoting and agreed to finance this venture, and the return of NEPW was underway. I proceeded to book the best talent roster I could, using alot of my personal friends and connections. Now this wasn't like I had a money mark and was blatantly spending money without regard, as I feel I put together a very reasonable and effective advertising campaign to begin 6 weeks before the event, covering print and television ads throughout the entire northeast half of the state. Eddie Edwards, against his better judgement, allowed me to use the NEPW name as well. Well, the man behind the show proceeded to slice a great ad campaign down to some flyers, and two airings of a 30 sec. commercial on TNA Impact, only in the Painesville city limits, that ran the thursday 3 days before and saturday the night before the actual event. I believe he thought this was the old EFW, where you draw because the young guys on the roster sell all the tickets, and was highly depending on my trainees to sell all the tickets. Regardless, the show drew 40 people and was a disaster, and yet I was incredibly proud of my friends, because none of them mailed it in and they put on a hell of a show for me. After the show, I was told there was no money to pay the talent, so I huddled everyone up and they were promised by the promoter to be sent their money in the mail ASAP. Being my personal friends, that was good enough for them. Their phones have yet to ring, and mailboxes remain empty to this day 3 months later. Really, I guess it was simply a matter of two people with entirely different ideas on how to promote wrestling. That is done and over with, and the boys know the deal, but with all the rumors, I wanted to explain that, as I would never knowingly have entered into that situation, and led others into it as well. (Totally side note, for all the smart marks out there, it was not to be the return of Extreme War, within two shows, EW would have been dead and NEPW would have stood tall, that was the angle as it was booked, it was simply the return of NEPW, the "invasion" was a way to recharge the NEPW brand name to the fans) This is going to go alot of different directions, but they all come together to tell the same story. While all this was happening, I began my tag team with Ray Rowe in IWC. Ray and I always got along well, but since we started teaming, we really became close. Ray always travels to IWC with JC, who is the shoot owner of AIW, and a man I had never met. I talked with him for a few months, and he had a very slanted opinion of me to begin with, but eventually it became a mutual "You are nothing like what I heard about you" type deal, and before long Ray and I began talking about me ending up in AIW. It had actually been in the works for quite some time, but due to scheduling conflicts I wasn't available to debut for them until September. Things worked out where I ended up able to start a month early, so began the J-Rocc reign of terror in AIW last Saturday. I look forward to busting my ass and doing whatever I can do to help the AIW reach their potential, in and out of the ring. Now, throughout this post about Cleveland wrestling, I have not yet uttered the initials CAPW. Ah, I save the best for last always. This is a personal issue of mine that I need to address for no ones sake but my own, because it bothers the shit out of me. Nothing I am saying here is being started by me, I am simply responding to comments already made, for anyone looking to instigate things, I would just like the truth to be out there. There was a rumor, being further pushed on various message boards and even in locker rooms, that I COULDN'T wrestle in Cleveland because I was blackballed by a certain promoter. That is a bold face lie! Listen, I have my personal process I think about whenever I work for someone, and unlike alot of people who just whore themselves out for the work, I am picky about where I wrestle, and after almost 10 years I feel that I have earned that right. Take this to the bank, especially with his TV situation, JT Lightning would have me back on his shows in a heartbeat if he could, because he knows what I bring to his show, his words previously not mine. I made a conscious decision during my last Cleveland All-Pro run to quit CAPW, because I will not work for someone I feel uncomfortable with and do not trust. Simple as that. I was booked in a main angle with JT, and decided to leave on my terms and I will tell you why. Everytime I have worked for CAPW, I have given my all there, like I will for any promotion I work for. JT and I had a hot, hot feud for 8 months that was to culminate in a steel cage match, where I would put the owner of the company over and make him look sweet like a good employee does. JT decided to swerve me during the set up angle and shoot make it a loser leaves town for a year match. I said ok, he is the boss. Day of the match, I figured he was messing with me, but it became clear it was my last day. Now, if this was a planned angle I had agreed to then its all good and I have no bitch, but he just decided on the fly to do this in front of the people. Instead of moping or going half ass, I not only busted my ass, but when coming up with a finish, JT decided to use some run-ins to, in his words, "keep me strong when i lose". I looked him in the eye and said " Am I really leaving for a year?". When he said that I was, I said then forget the BS finish, put me in a submission and I will tap out clean in the middle, to put you over as strong as possible on my way out, because its not like it hurts me as I am leaving. Regardless what anyone thinks of me as a person, all who have worked with me will tell you I always put what is best for business in front of my personal wishes. I did this, and like an idiot actually thought it meant something to JT, but it didn't, he reveled in living up to the first stipulation they have ever actually followed through with in the storyline-empty booking world of CAPW. A year later JT wanted to bring me back, and one thing I need to work on is holding grudges, because by this point i already knew I had no interest in working with JT anymore. Then he decides to bring me in as his tag team partner of all the dumb things, and marked out for the whiny wrestlers in his locker room who don't care for me, as they complained that he brought me back. Hey guys, work a little harder and maybe you'll be the guy who gets booked simply because he can work and not because he sells tickets or kisses ass. Anyways after one show of walking on eggshells in his locker room so as not to make anyone angry with me, ROTFL, I decided that my pride is worth more than this, plus he had already proven to be untrustable.Any worker who completely gives themselves to the match and becomes totally in the moment, it is very easy to injure them since they are not prepared for it, and plus the way I work if I am worried or not trusting my opponent, the match sucks. I woke up the morning of the next show sick as hell, legit. But be clear, I have wrestled with broken ribs, bone spurs in the elbow,and many other injuries and pain so bad I couldn't see straight, so had I wanted to I probably could have dragged myself out of bed and worked his show, albeit not very well, but instead I decided to email him and let him know I wasn't in the condition to wrestle. In typical JT fashion, he tells me it is ok, don't worry about it, at least I let him know early in the day, I still have the email. Then he goes out and tries to cut a promo ripping me down on his show, and he told everyone he was coming to my house to beat me up. We've done this dance before, I have yet to see him at my door. I actually saw JT 2 weeks later at a show expecting fireworks, and instead nothing, he acted totally cool with me, which is the way of the wrestling world. JT Lightning since then has become a non entity in my world, because he just doesn't bother me anymore, no matter how many times he tells Chuck Blaze not to book me, lol. I surpassed JT in this business a long time ago and it bothers him deeper than anything else in wrestling. I owe JT Lightning, though, because without him, i wouldn't have become the trainer I did, I simply remembered how I was trained and made sure I treated people the opposite. I have never seen a trainer in this business have more people that he trained leave and despise him, and bury him to everyone. JT doesn't even know just how far that goes with some of his guys, even some of the ones that are still there. I said when the NEPW school opened up that I would never let that happen, and worked very hard to always have the respect of my trainees, and teach them this business the right way. I am very proud of my trainees, and would put them up against anyones guys, anywhere. Fabulous John McChesney, Deviant, Cut Throat Crew, Jay Violence, Starless and Ryan Miller. Fab is one of the best workers in the country today, Deviant will be in WWE by the end of the year, the pirates are one of the best tag teams in the state, and Jay Violence is flatly the best cruiserweight in OH, the only "flippy kid" who can outwork anyone without leaving his feet. I believe I prepare talent for success in this business beyond the local indy promotion or what they can do for me. Back on point, I never couldn't wrestle in Cleveland, I chose not to ever work for CAPW again (and unlike some things, that can go to the bank, i would quit wrestling if that was my only option), and at the time I was working for EW, so I chose not to work for AIW. Regardless what was publicly said. I am sure the AIW staff would agree that since EW went under, it was simply a matter of working things out, and I believe they felt I would never work there anyways, so why even bother. I owe it to my trainees and Ray Rowe for really pushing it over the top. OK, the point of this entire update: One of the things that bothers me is everytime I get to know someone or hang with them in the business, the conversation is usually ended with something like this: "Man, you are nothing like what I heard about you from so and so (usually the same so and so, lol)". That is bull, that certain jealous people have made it their life work to destroy my reputation. Yes, I have done things I would go back and change, we all have, but I stand on the things I believe. I am outspoken and opinionated, and alot of times that gets me heat. I don't care, I can never and will never go along to get along, not on the indys. I consider myself very lucky in my career, as I have gotten opportunities most guys haven't, and have seen alot. I have also seen the big picture, and it extends outside the borders of Cleveland,OH in case you weren't sure. I will not let some indy nazi try to play God at my expense, and would rather not wrestle than do that, which I think I have shown. IWC, as i have said, is simply the best indy fed going on the east coast, and I have been there now for two years this month. The exposure, the learning experiences, and the boys in that back cant be matched anywhere else, and I am proud to say I work there to anyone that will ask. IWC to me is my home promotion. They took care of me, groomed me, and have given me a place to grow and improve and I can never pay that back to them. Nothing that happened around Cleveland during the last 2 years has made me regret a single decision I have made, and in fact the stories the boys tell me only strengthens my resolve in that regard. I love this business and am passionate about it to no end, and wont apologize for it. As I said, I have my beliefs and I will stick to them. Anyone who has a problem with me or what i am saying, my phone number is simple to get if you don't have it, as is my schedule, find me and I will gladly tell you the same thing. I am no tough guy, no shooter, nobody's bad ass, I am a PROFESSIONAL wrestler and simply want to be treated with the respect with which I treat others. Right now, between IWC, UWC, PWC, and now AIW, along with my college schedule I am busy as i need to be right now and completely happy with my career path. I am expecting my second child in February and it is quite possible in March when I graduate with my broadcasting degree, I might be moving out of OH, depending on which market I can get my own radio show on. If or when that happens, guess what, my wrestling bag has wheels and i will simply continue on somewhere else, and build my name in another territory.(SideNote: Anyone who digs great alternative rock, commercial free, you can check out my internet radio show every Mon-Wed-Fri from 4-6 PM ET at http://alternative.beonair.com/ Listen to the show as I guarantee to J-Rocc you out, take your requests and have a few wrestling guests on air from time to time) Basically, that is two years worth of dirty laundry dropped in your laps edited for time, do with it as you wish, as i said earlier, I wrote this for me. All I ask is that if I did you wrong in the past, let me know. Find me, tell me and I have no problem being a man and apologizing if I was wrong. If you don't know me, but don't like me, that is bullshit, find me and get to know me, I bet you'll find a different person than you expect. The only difference between me and most guys, is I will say what i feel without caring how it will affect my career, because if you really have a career in wrestling, no local promoter can end it, or ever really have any impact on it, unless you let them. There is so much great talent out here that just needs to be seen and get out and see the big picture, Cleveland wrestling could be untouchable, but some people wont allow it, because if all the good wrestlers were together in one place, where would everyone else fit on the show? Oh yea, they wouldn't. I have made mistakes in my life, mistakes in my marriage, and mistakes in my career, but the great thing about life is no one is perfect and you can always change, you can always fix things, you just have to stand up like a man and work it out. I will make sure that the legacy I leave is the one I choose, not the one jealousy chooses for me, remember that, before I have to call Tracy Smothers to commit ultra mega mass homicide on everyone! Everybody Dies!
Meanwhile, the schedule is updated, new links added and my voicemail is already blown up. Give it up one time for that!
