“M-Dogg 20” Matt Cross is quite simply “The Innovator of Aerial Insanity”. Through his natural athleticism, and skills learned from being an AAU Junior Olympic Gymnastics Champion in his youth, Cross has crafted a unique style next to impossible to replicate or recreate. Cross’ breathtaking performances, chiseled physique, and one-of-a-kind charisma have led to him becoming one of the most well-traveled athletes in all of professional wrestling today, including stops in Japan for Pro Wrestling NOAH, Europe for NWE, and everywhere from Hawaii to Egypt along the way. Through all the chaos, M-Dogg also remains one of the elite stars of Pro Wrestling Ohio, airing Sunday nights at 10:00 on Sports Time Ohio (official television network of MLB’s Cleveland Indians) throughout much of the Unites States, where he became the first-ever PWO Champion in the summer of 2008, and has waged wars with the region’s best ever since.

Now, M-Dogg’s international career hits a new plateau with the official signing of M-Dogg 20 Matt Cross for the upcoming Australian “Hulkamania” tour headlined by, who else, “The Immortal” Hulk Hogan. Hogan has quickly once again become the most talked-about name in professional wrestling due to his recent signing with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, but before he returns to US soil, Hogan intends to make major waves throughout Australia. The tour is headlined by a match featuring arguably the two most iconic figures in the sport’s history as Hogan goes one-on-one with 16-time World Champion “Nature Boy” Ric Flair in Flair’s first official match since his retirement at WrestleMania 24.

The entire card for the tour is stacked top-to-bottom with other names such as PWO alumnus Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake, The Nasty Boys, Paul London, Lacey Von Erich, and the men formerly known as Mr. Kennedy, Rikishi, Umaga, Val Venis, and many others, and PWO is proud to see one of its own join such a star-studded line-up.

Pro Wrestling Ohio wishes all the best to Matt Cross as he spends the latter-half of November down under, proudly representing PWO with some of professional wrestling’s all time greats!

–

Pro Wrestling Ohio is a regional independent professional wrestling organization headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. Since opening its doors in October 2007, PWO has been televised via the Sports Time Ohio network, official television home of the Cleveland Indians, available in over 4 million homes via basic cable and available nationwide via select sports packages on both DirecTV and Dish Network. PWO utilizes the most exciting and talented professional wrestlers in the region today, with names such as “M-Dogg 20” Matt Cross, Jason Bane, Johnny Gargano, Portia Perez, N8 Mattson and Mike Tolar. PWO also works closely with various causes, having helped raise funds & awareness for such groups as the Cops & Kids program, Wrestler‘s Rescue, and variety of other groups that aid worthy causes and communities. Pro Wrestling Ohio holds live events on a routine basis in suburban Cleveland, Ohio. For more information on PWO, please visit www.pwowrestling.com or e-mail prowrestlingohio@yahoo.com

AS I SEE IT
Bob Magee
Pro Wrestling: Between the Sheets
PWBTS.com

With Halloween over, the countdown to the Holidays begins.

Expect ads for toys and the newest electronic stuff to come soon…just after the Election Day ads end (not soon enough).

So it’s also time for me to call on wrestling promoters (and fans who see notices of these shows) to send me their Holiday related charity events, whether collections of canned food, Toys for Tots toy collections or other charity benefits. Send these to me at this address.

The holiday events I’ve been made aware of are:

First, the Toys for Tots Holiday Show at the Tri-State Wrestling Alliance return to action on December 5 at Saint Matthew’s Baptist Church, Route 322/Glassboro Road in Williamstown, NJ. The show will be collecting toys for Toys for Tots at the show. Those making a donation will receive raffle tickets for a prize drawing later in the evening.

Insanity Pro Wrestling is doing its yearly Salvation Army benefit at the The Fountain Square Salvation Army Corps, 1337 S Shelby Street, Indianapolis, IN 46203. Doors Open at 6:00 pm/7:00 pm belltime. Admission $7.. Fans are asked to bring in 3 non perishable food Items or a new unopened toy and get in for only $5..

If you’d like to make a direct donation to the Marine Toys for Tots foundation, you can go to this link.

Moving on…

As most of you know, PWBTS, the flagship site of this column, features lots of coverage of independent wrestling. As someone who happily shills independent wrestling promotions whenever possible, one of the things that’s the most maddening to me is the way independent promotions seems to have no sense about the basic sorts of things that they need to do to promote their product.

I’d like to offer some observations as to some of those things I think that promotions need to do to publicize their product online.
I realize that some people may find some of the suggestions listed below to be painfully obvious, but trust me…they aren’t. All too many independent promoters don’t use some or all of these ideas. I’ve seen all too many cases where promoters don’t…well…promote… and crowds suffer accordingly.

But that’s not all.

If you want something even more amazing…consider this: Devin Cutting, who submits a ton of independent wrestling news to PWBTS and many other websites…has actually been told by a handful of independent promoters to remove the items he’s placed online….with the comment by the promoters that “they can do it by themselves”. That misguided handful of promoters should consider going to their locker rooms at the end of the night, and ask their workers if they enjoy working in front of 50 people, and not getting paid… all because their promoter decided he could “do it all by himself”.

You don’t need to attend the Wharton School of Business to know that the most important thing, no matter whether you’re running wrestling shows or selling hamburgers… is to advertise, advertise, advertise. If wrestling websites are ready to help you do so…you’ve lost nothing, spent nothing…and quite possibly gained a lot. Better yet, you can promote your own company online as well.

Along with the usual (and necessary) grunt work of getting up posters, handing out flyers, as well as getting sponsors to defer the cost of your show, and help sell tickets for you… all of which are necessary no matter what kind of fan base you have, the most cost-effective way to promote your shows is online.

Here’s some of the things that can be done…that don’t cost much, and can potentially help a lot.

First, does your company have a website? If not, why not? it’s one of the easiest ways to promote your product to fans. A website doesn’t require technical genius to put up and keep current. Basic ones also aren’t expensive. Most internet service providers. allow you to post a personal/hobby page, which could serve as your promotion’s page. Do a MySpace page. Use social networking sites as well….there are only dozens of them around…and even the least computer-savvy people seem to scan them.

If you want to spend a bit more money, you can also buy a domain name like mine at PWBTS.com, and pay a basic monthly fee to have it hosted. What should that website consist of? If nothing else, it should use intelligible English. Use spell check. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE use spell check, and ask someone to check it for grammar and spelling mistakes before you send it out. While website owners know you want to push your show…lay off releases sent in all caps and with a dozen exclamation points. Every match is a great one (or you’d like potential fans to think so…we get the point).

After you do all that, just write it simply with items such as these:

Tell fans when your upcoming shows are…far enough in advance to let them make plans, so they don’t attend a nearby competitor’s show instead.

Tell fans where the shows are, and how to get to the shows. The locations of your shows should be listed on your website, with directions from nearby areas, using local landmarks and major highways. You can also use Yahoo Maps, Google maps, Expedia or Mapquest to illustrate where you’re running a show.

It also would be nice to include mass transit directions if you live in an area where mass transit connections exist to your venue. You can find these directions easily enough on your local transit agency’s website, then post them in your shills.

Other things to do are:

Tell fans who is on the show and tell fans your current storyline behind key matches, so fans feel there’s a reason to come to see them. Do it AHEAD OF TIME…not just days before the show.

Tell the fans what your tickets cost, and where they can get them. If you have standard ticket costs, list them. If you have remote ticket locations (local merchants that sell tickets for you), list them and where the merchants are located. If you have an e-mail address, hotline, or ticket phone line (local numbers or tollfree 800/877/888 numbers are preferable), list those as well.

If possible, have a part of your website devoted to online ticket orders. Some promotions, depending on which venues they run, may have to utilize Ticketmaster.com, Tickets.com, or other regional ticket brokers. If that’s the case, you obviously have no problem. Let Ticketmaster do the work. But be sure to post a direct order link for your show, as opposed to just a generic link to Ticketmaster.com. Trust me, Ticketmaster has made it hard sometimes to find an indy show if you’re just looking blindly.

For the rest of you, check out Ring of Honor’s online ticket reservations site as a way you can use your website to sell tickets to your show. Both allow ticket orders online. Some sites will accept credit/debit cards. Others use PayPal or similar systems. Find out which works best for your promotion’s needs and your budget.

Then, sell your merchandise.

Let’s face it, if you’re an independent promoter, you need every revenue stream that there is….or in English, you need any way you can to make a dime. Some promotions are small enough that the wrestlers just sell gimmicks at the shows. But others can also do so on their website. Promotions can also use tape dealers like Smart Mark Video to sell and tape their shows; or use Highspots.com to sell tapes and a variety of other merchandise.

Those are just some very basic suggestions for what you can include on a basic website, and some examples of how some independent promotions do those very things.

Now, does your promotion send out press releases before a show, or results afterwards to websites like PWBTS…or the Wrestling Observer…or to online wrestling newsgroups?

If not, why not?

First, press releases. They don’t have to look like something out of Northwestern University’s School of Journalism.

But let me suggest a few dos and don’ts. It’s not necessary to capitalize everything…or use exclamation points and asterisks throughout the release you send to a website. We know you want people to come to the show, so write an intelligent sounding release that makes both your company and the show you’re promoting look good….in something approaching English, please.

You might even learn a bit of basic HTML so people can just cut and paste the items into our posting script and get it up on our websites. It makes things LOTS easier when posting your releases. Some promotions do…and it makes life a LOT easier for us.

Second, as I’ve said above…PLEASE use spellcheck.

The things you need to include are largely the things we’ve discussed above… namely to: Tell fans when the show is, where the show is, how to get to the show, who is on the show, how much tickets cost, and where they can get them.

Again, any basic business course would tell you that a business must make it as easy as possible for a customer to give you their money.

But you’d be surprised at the e-mails I receive that don’t provide each of those items. You’d also be surprised at the way some of those e-mails are written. To be blunt, I get some press releases that look like a pre-schooler wrote them.

Again, press releases don’t need to look like something out of Northwestern University’s School of Journalism…but it would be nice if they had correct spelling and at least reasonably good grammar. That’s why Bill Gates put spell check and grammar check in the various versions of Windows.

I’ve gotten promotional shills for shows that I had to literally spend 15 minutes re-writing in order to post them at PWBTS. I’ve refused to run shills for certain independents, because I’d asked the promotions time after time to check them before sending them to me, because they were written so poorly that the companies should have been embarrassed to send them out in public.
Remember that your press release/shill is how a new fan sees you. If your press release is professionally written (or at least semi-literate), that new fan is more likely to read it, and their money is more likely to come your way.

Send it to widely distributed mailing lists of upcoming shows supplied to websites such as Devin Cutting, as well as newsgroups .

Post them on any one of the million wrestling related message boards that are out there, to regional wrestling websites, such as Socaluncensored.com and Michigan Indy Wrestling that cover a variety of independent promotions in their area.
Send releases to the mainstream press, such as your local daily or weekly newspaper. See if that newspaper has a weekly wrestling column. Newspapers like the Chicago Sun-Times, Miami Herald, New York Daily News, the Dallas News, and Charleston Post and Courier (just to name a few) have such columns. They’ll often run shills for your show. Mainstream coverage is a Godsend for your promotion. Again, remember the rules I listed above….use spell check and provide basic information.
If your local newspaper is a smaller weekly or daily, send it to whoever runs a section for community events, particularly if the event is to benefit a local charity, church, or community group. That’s always a good hook.

Send them to your local TV station or cable system, especially if the event is to benefit a local charity or community group.
Put together a e-mailing list of regular contacts and send it out to them to plug each and every show you run.

Consider paid advertising on certain sites. Use the major websites or those that cover either your region in particular or independent wrestling in general to advertise your product.

Get your fans to put together an e-Street Team….fans that know how to write fairly well, or provide them with the information to send yourself. Have them talk you up on message boards, websites, and newsgroups.

Make being a fan of your company not just a fun evening, but a responsibility. ECW was the first known example of a company that understood this. Fans all but MADE mainstream wrestling publications pay attention to ECW. Those fans were ECW’s best asset, because they felt obligated to let people know about the product. These days, Ring of Honor has benefited from the very same kind of dedication from its fans, who seem to feel obligated to do it.

Now, let’s talk about sending out results, including accurate crowd counts.

It’s important to realize that most online news sources based crowd counts on what they receive via e-mail, and don’t have staff to send on to your show. Thus, if someone sending results to a newsletter or website didn’t like the show, or has a grudge against your promotion, they may low-ball you with a ridiculously low crowd count, and make you look bad. Send out your own information…and, as strange as this may sound for wrestling… tell the truth. Provide websites and newsletters with ridiculously high crowd count, and you’ll be called on it.

Send them out…to everyone.

I appreciate the ones sent seemingly to just my site. But major sites like WrestlingObserver.com or PWinsider.com get more hits in an hour then PWBTS does in a week. A newsletter like The Wrestling Observer gets at least as many readers on a weekend than I get page views in 2 weeks. The Observer’s reputation is also far more well-known and respected by wrestling fans than PWBTS or this column will ever be in my wildest dreams or fantasies. Therefore, giving me information to publicize their product is a good thing, but it’d be far better if they also did the same for PWinsider.com, Pro Wrestling.net, 1wrestling.com, Wrestling Observer, or the Torch.

Promoting means just that…promoting. Sending out shills for your show is one way. Sending out results…and the shill for the next show in the same e-mail is promoting. Also… if they attend your shows, spend some time talking to the reviewer and try to get them to shill your shows. Unfortunately, some promoters seem to subscribe to the Old School of Wrestling Website Interaction…namely, that online reporters and sheetwriters are better off dead, or are “parasites” and “scum” and ignore them. Call me stupid…but if someone’s going to help me advertise my product for free…I’d kiss up to them in a New York minute.

Independent promotions that are able to do so should spend some time with the Dave Meltzers, Wade Kellers, and Mike Johnsons of the world, and develop relationships with them so as to get fair reviews for their product and encourage new people to come to shows.

Again, send your results….that night or the next morning to wrestling websites. Give a basic outline of who went over, major storylines that were advanced, how well you drew (especially if the crowd was good for your promotion), and a reminder of when your next show is happening. If you had a good show and drew a good crowd, make a point to get the word out…that’s advertising, too.

I’m not a graduate of the Wharton School of Business. I’m just one more mark sitting in the seats, who just wants to see independent wrestling succeed….at a time when the economy sucks…and when wrestling fans AGAIN need alternatives….badly.

Until next time….

If you have comments or questions, or if you’d like to add the AS I SEE IT column to your website, or if you’d like to add advertising on PWBTS.com (the flagship website of this column), e-mail me at the address above.

 (Lake Grove, NY) – A local mall became an impromptu meeting place of wrestling icons when female superstar Awesome Kong joined Hulk Hogan during a book signing.

Awesome Kong, multiple-time Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Women’s Knockout Champion and former National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) World Women’s Champion, appeared with former WWE and WCW World Champion Hogan at a book signing in Lake Grove on Tuesday, adding her larger-than-life, big time support to the publicity of Hogan’s “My Life Outside the Ring,” recently published.

When Hogan saw the world champion wrestler arrive at the Barnes and Noble bookstore in the Smith Haven Mall, he pointed to her and proclaimed, “I’m a BIG fan of yours!”

The two megastars then posed together, spoke, and then it was Awesome Kong’s turn to talk—specifically about Hogan signing with TNA, announced Tuesday in New York City.

“I’m very excited to have Hulk join me at TNA,” she said about the wrestling and entertainment empire that airs its shows on Spike TV.

Awesome Kong is widely recognized within the industry as a wrestler with huge star power and overwhelming tenacity and ferocity.

“This is a great day for me, and a great day for TNA,” Awesome Kong said about both appearing at the book signing and Hogan being brought into the fold.

The crowd at the book signing was awestruck and riveted as they watched the two high octane stars talk and share some private moments while photographers snapped pictures frantically.

Awesome Kong, a world champion wrestler and superstar in TNA, NWA, and American Wrestling Association (AWA) wrestling, is one of the most dynamic personalities in the sport today.

Pro wrestling and entertainment observers believe that not only is Awesome Kong among the most scintillating figures in the sport today, but that she is likely to maintain that status well into the future.

###

ABOUT AWESOME KONG

Awesome Kong is a professional wrestler who is currently working for Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling, SHIMMER, National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and various independent promotions in the United States and Japan. She is a multiple-time TNA Women’s Knockout Champion and former NWA World Women’s Champion. She has also been a World Champion in AWA Superstars of Wrestling and All Japan Women’s Pro-Wrestling.

ABOUT ECLECTIC MEDIA PRODUCTIONS

Eclectic Media Productions was formed in 2007 by Shannon Rose. Our mission is to provide our clients with the best in Public Relations.

Our clients have appeared in Time Magazine, Sports Illustrated, Daily Variety, Howard Stern Show, CNN, FOX NEWS, TMZ, The Insider, and others.

Our motto is “Your One Stop to Take You to the Top!”

http://mediaproductions.tv

 
The event opened with Bill Apter disguised as a grandma who escorted Terry into the room and told stories about when they first met, Japan and how by dressing as a “grandma”, he had finally gotten even with Terry for things that happened years ago while Apter was singing Karioke (sp?).
 
Next up was comedian Ryan Mahar who opened the show and started what seemed to be an overload of jokes about Missy Hyatt’s sexual prowess, Terry Funk’s many retirements and  how Terry had also done movies and started with such luminaries as Sylverster Stallone, Patrick Swaize (sp?) and more. Then he went around the room throwing “shots” against almost every wrestler in attendance.
 
Next up was New Jack, who delivered story after story about his relationship with Terry Funk including the fact that Paul Heyman kept him off the first PPV and yet delivered a 28 minute tribute to him before the PPV. He then went on to talk about certain incidents that happened over the years including Mass Transit and through it all thanked Terry Funk for helping him when he was with Smokey Mountain and other territories.
 
Next was King Kong Bundy who started off with comedy before talking about he and Funk being in Texas and delivered some funny stories about getting started with the Funk Family.
 
Next up was Kevin Von Erich who told people he was not funny but delivered some great stories about the Funk and Von Erich family and telling people that as a kid, he used to hang with Terry and one day, while gigging for frogs, Terry steered him toward a 10 foot hold in the pond where Terry laughed while Kevin tried to tred water.
 
Next up was another comedian Sean Morton (who tried but rather than give a tribute to Terry, wound up almost getting attacked for shoots on New Jack). Security as well as Mick Foley handled the matter and it was quicky resolved without an issue.
 
After that was Florida Championship Wrestling’s Mike Graham, who like Kevin Von Erich, had some great stories about growing up with the Funk Family. Mike told the crowd right up front he was not very funny, but was indeed very entertaining to the crowd.
 
The leader of the 4 Horsemen, JJ Dillon went to the podium and told people that while everyone remembers him as a manager, he was indeed a wrestler who had been taught a lot by Terry Funk and brought up stories about Florida, Georgia and other territories.
 
Next up was Kevin Sullivan who told stories about ECW, WCW, Florida Championship Wrestling, Japan and more. Kevin Sullivan is a master story-teller and had the full attendion of everyone in the room.
 
After that, we had Dennis Stamp head to the podium who proceeded to tell what a great humanitarian Terry was, giving his time to children and those who were sick and showed the selflessness side of Terry Funk, that had tears in many eyes in the room.

Not to be outdone was Superstar Billy Graham who told stories about the different territories and how proud he was to call the Funks, not just Terry but Dorry Jr. & Sr. as well as friends and family. Graham mentioned how much time Micealangelo put into working on the Sisteen Chappen, dedicating 7 years of his life to the project and told Funk that he had his own dedication and presented a drawing of Terry (among his many retirements…that joke never got old).
 
After another comedian, Matt Bridgestone (with a so-so imitation of Randy Savage including presenting a Slim Jim to Terry Funk), it was time to let Missy Hyatt get her revenge on everyone and told stories about each and everyone who had attacked her during the night. Then she went and told a nice story about Terry and that he was one of the true gentlemen of wrestling.

Finally we had Mick Foley who told everyone about stories in Japan, WWE, ECW (November to Remember), and how he wanted to know how Terry could punch and make it look so good (the truth be told, according to Mick Foley is that the punches were real, which is why they looked so good).
 
After everyone had thier say, Terry Funk took the microphone and thanked everyone for coming to see him and showed an award presented to him earlier in the day. He also showed off the painting by Superstar Graham and went and told some remarkable stories about working with each and every wrestler in the room). He then talked about what the business has become today and not keeping it old school and keeping the business safe.
 
This is just a short synopsis of the Ring Roast 2 and the tape is available for ordering by contacting info@kayfabecommentaries.com

AS I SEE IT
Bob Magee
Pro Wrestling: Between the Sheets
PWBTS.com

Back on October 27, 2000, I wrote a column that had nothing whatsoever to do with wrestling, but was a lot more important.

Longtime readers might remember this one:

‘ Yup….this is going to be another one of those columns where we don’t talk about subjects like the reason why WCW’s booking sucks these days. So if you want to go to one of those columns written by people who occasionally throw in some wrestling news and opinion in between their links to porn sites in order to get hits, have fun.

I’m not your cup of tea this week.

Instead, I want to talk about something serious that has nothing whatever to do with wrestling.
Let me start by saying that I’m always for practical ways to do good things. It’s the reason that we use some of the strategies that we use with Wrestling Fans Against Censorship. We try to do something good by doing what works most effectively and easily, while involving others. So I’m for things practical…

But at the same time, one of my favorite comic strips is Tom Batiuk’s ‘Funky Winkerbean’. So when the strip began a storyline on breast cancer back in January 1999, I stood up and took notice as I read the strip on the way into work on the subway, or with my Sunday breakfast. It explored the storyline of character ‘Lisa Moore’, who after getting tackled in a football game with friends, felt discomfort, and later did a breast self-examination. She then discovered that she had breast cancer. The last few mornings while reading before my subway stop, I noticed a series of strips that had ‘Lisa’ talking with other members of her breast cancer support group.

Then this morning, when I read the press release from BusinessWire about this project that follows this introduction, I figured it fit my philosophy of doing something good by doing what works, effectively and easily, and especially involving others. I figured I’d like to give over the column this week to share this with all of you.
Concurrently with this being Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a book called ‘Lisa’s Story’ has been made of the strips that involve the ‘Lisa Moore’ storyline in the ‘Funky Winkerbean’ strip, with sales benefiting the National Alliance of Breast Cancer Organizations. You can order this book from Amazon.com through this direct order link.

Even though I’m male, I find this to be important, because many of my best friends are women. My fellow school counselor I share my office with for eight hours a day is a woman. So are many of the students I serve. For that matter, so are many of my friends, my mom, and many other important folks in my life.
I’ve also known women who’ve fought the battle against breast cancer. So I find the issue important enough to ask you to take a few minutes and read the information below. For any of the women reading this, I’d also like to suggest that you consider getting a mammogram, as well as practice breast self-examination. NABCO, as well as many local women’s and medical organizations can help you get both. For those that have women in their lives that they love, help encourage them to do so, too. To help you encourage women to do this, those who wish to do so can even sign up with an e-mail reminder service sponsored by NABCO; and ten months after your last clinical breast exam or mammogram, NABCO will send you an e-mail message, reminding you to schedule your next exam.

For additional breast cancer information, contact NABCO toll free at (888) 80-NABCO, or if living in the New York metropolitan area, call Christiana Evers at (212) 889-0606, ext. 3006. You can also get breast cancer information by visiting NABCO online at their website.

For those of you men (and women) who feel uncomfortable hearing about this subject, and who think it’s stupid for someone writing a ‘wrestling column’ to be talking about it…think about how much more ’stupid’ it will be if someone you love dies, simply because she didn’t take the time to be safe.”

That was back in 2000.

Since then, I’ve mentioned the breast cancer charity work of PWBTS writer and UK indy wrestling promoter Peter Staniforth and his significant other and promoted it on PWBTS.com.

Breast cancer has affected wrestling as well. The wrestling business saw Marianna Komlos, who worked together from 1999 with boyfriend Charles Warrington, die of breast cancer in 2004. Better known is the death of Jeff Jarrett’s wife, who died of breast cancer died May 23, 2007 at the age of 37 after a recurrence of breast cancer
As for the Lisa Moore breast cancer story, it wasn’t dropped by King Features and Tom Batiuk; including a storyline arc involving Les Moore and Lisa working to have a child, and the possible risk factor for a recurrence of her breast cancer due to increased estrogen levels. They eventually had a child named Summer.

Beginning in March 2006, Tom Batiuk took the Lisa Moore saga farther, by having ‘Lisa Moore’ suffer a recurrence of her breast cancer, a recurrence that she did not recover from…all the way through a 20 month storyline that saw her character die on October 4 in a gut-wrenching journey of pain, loss and acceptance as the strip went through the last month of Lisa Moore’s life, including her reconcilitation with her birth son who she gave up for adoption in the strip’s earlier days.

To read the strips over that final arc, go to this link, then read through the subsequent strips.

Those strips would have been difficult enough to read under any circumstances.

Then, only days before my own 50th birthday, my own mother received a diagnosis of breast cancer. She went through a full regime of one type of chemotherapy, and is midway through another. The tumor, caught at an early stage, has responded well to the chemotherapy; but watching her suffere through chemotherapy’s effects, and the other drugs she had to take as part of her regime were particularly painful to watch.

Batiuk, who is himself a cancer survivor, used the aforementioned 2000 ‘Lisa’s Story’ book to raise money for breast cancer. Now he and King Features syndicate will donate all royalties from a book called ‘Lisa’s Story: The Other Shoe’ (published by Kent State University Press to the University Hospitals Ireland Cancer Center in Cleveland, OH and a fund to be called ‘Lisa’s Legacy Fund for Cancer Research and Education, named in honor of Batiuk’s character and her subsequent story.

The University Hospitals Ireland Cancer Center is one of only 40 comprehensive National Institutes of Health cancer centers in the United States; and has been. operating for nineteen years. The Center is a leading center for patient care, cancer research, and community education about cancer care. 100% of the donations to Lisa’s Legacy Fund will go to cancer research and education at Ireland Cancer Center.

The Center is involved in ongoing research including breast cancer vaccine reasearch, as well as research toward a blood test for colon cancer, breakthrough chemotherapy and radiation treatments for all types of cancer. Ireland Cancer Center is one of only eight cancer centers in the country to have access to a pipeline of new drugs through the National Cancer Institute for early phase clinical trials.

‘Lisa’s Story: The Other Shoe’ includes the initial 1999 storyline arc, and 2007’s strips about the return of ‘Lisa’s’ disease, as well as needed resource material about breast cancer.

To read about Lisa’s Legacy Fund, go to this link.
To donate to the Fund, go to this link.

Until next time….

If you have comments or questions, or if you’d like to add the AS I SEE IT column to your website, or if you’d like to add advertising on PWBTS.com (the flagship website of this column), e-mail me at the address above.

OWW Radio is privileged to welcome this week’s featured guest, “The Best There Is, The Best There Was, And The Best There Ever Will Be” Bret “The Hitman” Hart!

Also this week, Nick and Aaron discuss the latest news from the world of pro wrestling, as well as the TNA Bound for Glory PPV.

Subscribe to the show and be apart of OWW Radio anytime with automatic downloads straight to you. Nick, Dave, Aaron, Scott and more every week on iTunes. Search “OWW Radio” and subscribe.

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            By joining the Official Wrestlers Rescue Street Team, you will be helping us spread the word of our causes all over the world. You will also be lending a hand in creating a much-needed awareness to the pains our squared circle entertainers have endured, while keeping us on the edge of our seats nightly. Posting flyers at local events, banners on message boards and websites, visiting events to inform the fans, entertainers, and promoters, which all sums up to be a network for the Wrestlers Rescue cause. You will also have the unique opportunity to earn Wrestlers Rescue items, including a free cruise!

What Is a Street Team?
A street team is a group of volunteers, who commit to help spread the word of Wrestlers Rescue’s cause and promote specific events/campaigns. By joining the Wrestlers Rescue Street Team, you have a direct opportunity to ensure that our voice is heard by as many people as possible.

What does a Wrestlers Rescue Street Team Member do?
Specific duties include but are not limited to the following:
Post Wrestlers Rescue News Around The Internet
Hand Out Flyers At Wrestling Events In Your Area
Volunteer At A Wrestlers Rescue Event In Your Area

How Can I Join?
To join the Wrestlers Rescue Street Team, visit www.wrestlersrescue.org

Posted by Goldenboy79 on OWW Genesis.

6 Years on: Remembering Mike ‘Hawk’ Hegstrand

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As the only team to win the AWA, NWA, WWF and All Japan tag titles, the Road Warriors- Animal & Hawk, were the highest drawing and biggest earning tandem in wrestling history. Along with Hulk Hogan, the Warriors helped to popularise the juiced up muscleman look that 75% of big name wrestlers had by the late 1980s. During their peak years from 1984-89, the Road Warriors were an awesome duo, destroying opponents with power moves, and had a huge following in the US & Japan who loved their no-selling, kick-ass ring styles and unique image. But for Hawk, his success and excessive lifestyle caught up with him in the end. The years of steroid and drug use (especially Cocaine) ended his ride for good on October 18th 2003 suffering a massive heart attack.

Mike Hegstrand was born on January 26th 1957, and made his pro wrestling debut in 1983 under the name Crusher Von Haig in Vancouver, Canada….. his stint north of the border was a short one, returning home to Minneapolis, Minnesota, his bigbreak was just around the corner. Mike and his pal Joe ‘Animal’ Laurinatis (who had also tried his hand at wrestling) were spotted by trainer Ed Sharkey whilst working as bouncers. Sharkeys gym would also give rise to such names as Rick Rude, Barry Darsow and Scott ‘Nikita Koloff’ Simpson.

It was Ole Anderson who can be credited with putting Mike & Joe together as a team, christening them Hawk & Animal: The Road Warriors, (influenced by the Mad Max movies), and the pair got over quickly in Andersons Georgia territory, with their leather attire, face paint, bizarre haircuts and destructive power offence. The spectacular finisher, Doomsday Device, clothesline from the top rope- off Animals shoulders was born, as was Hawks longstanding ‘Ohhhh What a Rush’ catchphrase.

The Warriors were guided onscreen by Paul Ellering, who later became their real life business manager, and skills at the bargaining table made the trio very wealthy men in the 80s. The Warriors were pushed with the oldest trick in the book, working short squash matches to mask their inexperience, in which their opponents would take major bumps to make them look devastating. The duo looked like unstoppable monsters who never lost clean, and no-sold their opponents offence. Hawk would even no-sell a piledriver (a sure finisher in the 80s) which drew large pops from the crowd, because no-one else was allowed to do it! Though they were supposed to be heels, the fans adored them, though less could be said of their babyface opponents who resented their popularity, selective selling and pushes without having paid their dues.

Worldwide fame and fortune also allowed Hawk to develop a huge ego, he and Animal were well known for bragging about their deafening crowd pops, to others in the dressing room, and Hawks outspoken nature got him into real life scraps with Randy Savage and Charles ‘Cold Scorpio’ Skaggs.

Nevertheless, the tandem left Georgia after 4 tag reigns, and were in such high demand, they juggled dates with the AWA, and JCP (in the times when promotions cooperated with each other). They hammered old timers Crusher & Baron Von Raschke for the AWA tag straps, and even when it was time to lose them 13 months later, outside interference was required, so not to damage their indestructible aura. The pair (with Ellering) debuted in Japan in spring 1985, earning a huge $10000 per week, (later upped to $16000) and (of course), won their matches in rapid order.

The Road Warriors then settled in JCP, and became prominent faces in the company. They won the first Crockett Cup in 1986, lifted the 6man tag belts (with Dusty Rhodes) and became so valuable to JCP, were offered $500,000 per annum contracts apiece, partly to dissuade them from jumping ship to Vince McMahons WWF. With the exception of Hogan Flair & Andre, it was more money that anyone else was making in pro wrestling at the time.

The Warriors were made to wait till late 1988 to land the NWA tag titles, as booker Dusty Rhodes liked to cast them as challengers (in typical Dusty Screwjob finishes), but by the time they defeated Stan Lane & Bobby Eaton to land the tag prize, Dusty had turned them heel (in a memorable spike attack on Dustys eye). However the heel turn was a mistake, the fans still loved them…. So they were turned face again after four months. After dropping the belts to Steve Williams & Mike Rotunda (in another screwjob finish to protect their aura) the duo meandered from one meaningless fued to the next….. had the pair seen better days? …. Jim Herd certainly thought so, and asked the Warriors to take a major paycut when their contracts were up for renewal. So offended at the offer presented, Animal & Hawk told Herd to stick it and negotiated a move to the WWF.

Known as the Legion of Doom (Vince didn’t want to confuse the Road Warriors with his WWF champion ‘Ultimate Warrior’) a fued with Demolition was the logical one to start with (Vince created a carbon copy Road Warriors tandem when he failed to sign the real thing years prior) though the fued came too late….. when original ‘Demo’ Ax was phased out with health problems, replaced by the inadequate Brian ‘Crush’ Adams…….and the ‘Real Deal’ swatted the pale imitators with ease.

Hawk & Animal made short work of Power & Glory at Wrestlemania 7, and downed the Nasty Boy for the WWF tag straps at the next PPV, Summerslam ’91. Though this completed the set of AWA/WWF/NWA tag titles (the only team to ever do so) , the Warriors were a slower, more ponderous team in the WWF. After dropping the Tag straps to Money Inc in early ’92, the pair returned at Wrestlemania 8 with Paul Ellering in tow ….. sadly the WWF creative team thought it was a good idea to align them with a Ventriloquists dummy (Rocko), which Hawk destested….. after a triumphant victory at Summerslam 92 in London, a disillusioned Hawk (whose outspoken attitude sourced his relations with Vince from day one) quit the WWF. Animal was understandably furious…. but was to take a wrestling hiatus to tend to nagging injuries, whilst Hawk toured Japan again.

Failing to find the same success without each other, the duo returned to WCW in January 1996 for a forgettable 4 months….. (leaving after a pay dispute with Eric Bischoff), returning for (yet) another run in Japan. Though Hawk left on bad terms in 1992, business was business (and a push from Bret Hart) the Road Warriors were brought back to the WWF in February 1997.

Many now saw the Roadies as being past their sell by date, yet they adapted to WWEs modern brawling style with commendable matches in a Chicago street match at WM13, a decent Summerslam match with the (abysmal) Godwinns, and featured in the breathtaking 10man tag finale at Canadian Stampede. They were rewarded with a 2nd WWF Tag reign in the autumn…. But were not impressed at dropping the belts a month later to Billy Gunn & Road Dogg (then seen as solo jobbers). Hawks tough guy aura was also broken when the ‘the New Age Outlaws’ shaved off his trademark Mohawk hair….. Hawk had never seemed more mortal.

The Roadies were repackaged with a new look and push (not that it ever changed much) at Wrestlemania 14 under the management of Sunny in a partnership that didn’t last…. nor did an attempt to fued them with Paul Ellering (who was looking after 4th rate Road Warriors impersonators D.O.A). The WWF were clearly running out of ideas for the ageing tag legends…. Vince Russo provided the kiss of death with the ‘Hawk is an alcoholic’ storyline (teasing Hawks real life struggle to battle the booze). For the first time a new LOD member (Droz) was brought in, though this made Hawk feel even worse…. Culminating in a storyline where Droz supposedly pushed a ‘Suicidal’ Hawk off the Titantron tower. A Hawk vs Droz fued seemed imminent, yet Hawk (who hated the angle and Russo) refused to take it further…. Resulting in LOD being removed off WWE screens for several months. They were given their pink slips in April 1999 when the Federation had its annual spring cleaning.

Living off their past accomplishments, the Roadies worked the Indie circuit….. Animal soon resurfaced in WCW at Sin 2001, Hawk was rumoured to follow, but WCW soon folded and the reunion never happened. The duo returned to the Indies, appeared for TNA and even Ted Dibiase religious promotion…… though their performances had slipped alarmingly, not helped by Hawks deteoriating health (he suffered a minor heart attack in 2000 and was later diagnosed with Hepatitis C). But Hawk continued to wrestle…. He had to…. Having blown a lot of his money during the good times. On May 12th 2003 LOD were given a surprise tryout in a loss to Kane & RVD… management were not impressed with their performance, nor were they happy that Hawk no-sold RVDs 5star Frog splash (old habbits never die).

During his career, Hawk was a hard-living Wildman who overdosed several times. He made an attempt to get clean towards the end… but it was too late. Feeling unwell, Hawk had decided to take a nap after spending the day packing and shifting boxes for a move to his new house. When his wife Dale discovered him hours later, he was dead. He was only 46. Like many of his peers, Rick Rude, Davey Boy Smith, Brian Pillman, Terry Gordy, Curt Hening… Mike Hegstrands body finally succumbed to the excesses he indulged in for most of his adult life.

Its been 6 years now since Hawk passed away, though his, and the Road Warriors legend lives on, the most successful tag team in wrestling history and likely to remain so.

Mike Hegstrand 1957-2003

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WRESTLING IN THE CANADIAN WEST is a celebration of more than 100 years of professional wrestling in western Canada.   Recognizing the efforts of promoters and wrestlers alike, the histories of the titles, Canadian wrestling trivia, and stories from the wrestlers who traversed the territory, this book offers a thorough insight into the legacy of the sport in one of the continent’s most oft-forgotten regions.

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“Wrestling In The Canadian West accurately describes what it was like for those of us who travelled the roads on a daily basis in this unique and spectacular area of professional wrestling history. The author clearly illustrates how the business over the years has now come around full circle, as he is living it himself, and dealing with the same trials and tribulations wrestling’s pioneers faced in this area more than a hundred years ago.”
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Remember Gino Carabello? “No.” How about Brian Mackney? “Still nothing.” S.D. Jones? “Oh… I think I heard a murmur from the back of the room. What about Steve Lombardi? A few more hands…

What do those names have in common” Well, these men are some of the jobbers who could be found at WWF events back in the glory days of the nineteen eighties. “Jobber” is professional wrestling slang for, to put it bluntly, the loser. It’s more poetic origin is in reference to the fact that a “jobber” is not so much a wrestling superstar as he is a worker (just doing his “job”).

The reason some of you nodded when you saw the name Steve Lombardi (a.k.a: The Brooklyn Brawler), but looked blankly at the screen while reading Carabello’s name, is that some jobbers of the eighties (and earlier) had a slightly elevated status. For example, the Face (good guy; fan favorite) S.D. Jones would usually do some damage do his opponent before taking the fall, unlike the unfortunate Mackney who essentially played the role of practice dummy.

S.D. Jones and Steve Lombardi always offered more competition than did Gino Carabello and Brian Mackney. In fact, like many jobbers, Jones had briefly been a big name star, tag-teaming with “Mr. U.S.A.” Tony Atlas.

In the years just prior to and following WrestleMania (back before they were numbered), WWF on television consisted almost exclusively of Jobber matches. That is to say, big name heroes and villains like The Junkyard Dog, Tito Santana, Roddy Piper and The Iron Sheik would take on has-beens and never-were’s like Rene Goulet, Frank Marconi, Jose Luis Rivera and Bob Marcus. The program would sometimes end with a more prestigious match, but more often it would be one of the more capable jobbers closing the show in a match with a superstar.

What was the point of these walkover matches, and why did we put up with them” Well, it made many of us crave the major events that much more. We’d watch, for example, the highly-skilled tag-team The Killer Bees demolish Mr. X and Les Thornton on the same show that the ruthless Hart Foundation wiped out Scott McGhee and Rick McGraw and realize we HAD to see the Bees take on the Foundation live at the next main event in our state/province.

To be honest, some of my favorite wrestlers were the jobbers. Hamilton, Ontario’s “Iron” Mike Sharpe is definitely in my all-time top five. He was a tall, loud, Heel (bad guy; rule-breaker) who insisted that he was “Canada’s Greatest Athlete!” Sharpe was a jobber who I actually watched win a match once at a live show when I was a kid. Of course, this is one of the reasons I’ve always liked him.

Yes, jobbers occasionally won matches. Obviously, this was almost always a victory over another, lesser, jobber. However, once in a blue moon, a jobber would get one up on a big name superstar. The first incident of this that I can remember was when the Face jobber Ron Dee had a decision reversed in his favor over “Terrible” Terry Funk. Funk had defeated Dee with a sleeperhold – his finisher at the time – and then proceeded to “brand” poor Ron with the branding iron he brought with him to ringside. This was normal procedure for Terry, but for some reason after this particular match, he decided to then beat the hell out of Dee. The referee tried to stop Funk, threatening a decision reversal, then eventually followed through with his threat. I was thirteen years old at the time, and thought this was incredibly cool (I felt really good for Ron: “Right on! One for the little guy!”).

A much more famous example of a jobber pulling an upset over a big name wrestler is when “The Kid”, a WWF jobber in the early nineties, pinned big-name star Razor Ramon (Scott Hall) and earned himself the name “1-2-3 Kid”. Sean Waltman has since gone on to considerable success as Syxx and X-Pac.

Speaking of jobbers in the nineties, by that time, the definition was beginning to change a little. The “punching bag” level of jobbing, where the loser would often make no successful attack at all during the entire match, was fading away. Since nineteen ninety-five, even if you know who the winner is going to be, you can usually be pretty sure there will be something of a fight first.

Gino Carabello and Brian Mackney couldn’t give us that much, but you know something” A part of me still kinda misses them…

by Derek K. ..

Steve H. wrote: I miss them too! Back in the days when I was a young fan getting into wrestling – and I still believed it was all real, I used to love the rare segments of a match when the jobber would unload a few punches, bounce a top-name superstar off the ropes, then miss a dropkick or clothesline and continue getting pounded! To make jobbers seem totally useless – I once recall a WCW match pitting Big Van Vader against two no-names in a handicap match. It was as good as over as soon as the bell rung, and I don’t remember a tag being made – but I seem to remember Powerbombs were dished out and Vader pinned both limp bodies simultainiously within minutes. And you’re right – it built up Vader’s heat and made me look forward to the day He’d have to fight someone like Sting. It was great to believe that one of these guys would one day steal a win over a big star and have their hand raised. And how I cheered when the cocky Ramon did the job for X-Pac Waltman…

Kilo Charlie wrote: Growing up in North Carolina I don’t recall much of the WWF matches, but I do have fond memories of the NWA Saturday night program. My favorite jobbers of the time were the Mulkeys. Every weekend you could tune in the see Bill or Randy get the snot beat out of them by Nikita Koloff, Magnum T.A., Arn Anderson, or any of the other stars at the time. There is nothing like seeing the blonde mullet’d Randy or Bill take a Russian Sickle and flip like a ragdoll. I do remember watching the one win they had against the Gladiators. Ah the memories!

Brian Folan wrote: Nice article, always good to see a testament to the unsung heroes of the business. Those guys went out and took their lumps every night, with no recognition. Coincidentally, I was watching SummerSlam ‘95 the other day (not sure why) and I saw jobber-extraordinaire Barry Horowitz take on Chris Candido (as “Skip”). The angle was that Horowitz had scored a win over Skip with some interference, then outlasted him in the re-match, for a time-limit draw. Skip was supposed to put this jobber away once and for all, but instead it was Horowitz picking up his only ever PPV win (I believe). Other than the Razor/HBK Ladder re-Match, this was probably the best worked match of the night, and it just goes to show that the best workers aren’t always the guys at the top of the card.

Tom Daley (S.D Jones’ #1 Fan!) wrote: Derek my man, you’ve just became my favourite columnist! Thank you for writing this article to pay tribute to those who “counted the lights” for us, so very often. I still hold dear in my heart, WM I, KKB VS. S.D @ MSG! The best “9″ seconds of my life!

James Redd wrote: Yes, I fondly remember those days when we would rest on Saturday afternoons instead of playing so that we could last long enough to see SNME and finally get to see the stars vs. the stars. I also believed it was all “real” at the time and remember “Iron” Mike and the Brooklyn Brawler (though I suspected something was up with them because jobbers never had nicknames). I also seem to remember the WWF debut of Shane Douglas, the first jobber I ever saw win a match (vs. I forget who). He then received a small push but (I think) soon left to take care of his father. Those were the days!

Martin Krezalek wrote: How can you forget about Tiger Chung Lee? Also, I would argue that there was actually a 3 tiered jobber hierarchy with top tier jobbers who actually did more than get the upper hand before losing. These guys were given character roles and were actually elevated to semi-star status for short periods of time before returning back to earth as stepping stones. I’m talking about Leaping Lanny Poffo, The Rebel Dick Slater, Paul Roma, Outback Jack, Corporal Kirschner. Can you think of anyone else”

Dave wrote: Thanks for the great article, Derek. It is about time that the Barry O’s of the wrestling world got a pat on the back from someone besides themselves. ;-)
Martin Krezalek’s feedback about a 3 tiered jobber hierarchy makes sense to me. I would suggest Hillbilly Jim, Uncle Elmer and Cousin Luke be added to the list. The had a somewhat elevated status, but in the end the were jobbers in the matches that pitted them against worthy opponents.

Eddie in SC. wrote: One of my favorite columns, ever. Took me back to my younger days. Growing up watching the NWA, I was always hoping that one of my favorite “upper tier” babyface jobbers (like a Johnny Ace, for example) could somehow pull out a victory against a top name heel. It rarely, if ever, happened, but there was always that chance. Thanks again for the memories…

Eric Conner wrote: The joy of rooting for “jobbers” (whom my dad would call PALOOKAS) was that every week, you came to know them and their own unique lack of skills. After all, during 80s wrestling, these jobbers took up just as much air time as the stars. I probably watched Jose Luis Rivera get put to sleep more than I saw the Cobra Clutch or Boston Crab. My best friend Ross and I would even come up with imaginary cards pitting one jobber against another. Would the hard head of SD Jones be enough to take down the unpredictable Rene Goulet” Then one day, the DREAM JOBBER BATTLE happened. FRANKIE WILLIAMS VS SALVATORE BELLOMO. (For those who do not remember these two warriors, imagine being able to watch Michael Jordan take on Wilt Chamberlain… or Muhammad Ali vs Mike Tyson) — But my eyes did not deceive me. The match we had imagined… no, that we had prayed for years to happen…. was a reality. And though we predicted this match would end with a tap-out at the opening handshake, it actually went on for several awe-inspiring minutes. In the end, Bellomo proved to the be the King of the Jobbers with a remarkably graceful sunset flip. Cut to years later. I no longer am an avid wrestling fan. But I got convinced to attend a live taping of Raw. And lo and behold, before the cameras rolled, there was a jobber with green leggings putting a new star over. He got pummeled so badly that the ref had to walk him back to the dressing room. It was glorious. And sadly, I didn’t even catch his name. Steve something.

Eric Connor wrote: The joy of rooting for “jobbers” (or, as my dad affectionately called them, PALOOKAS) was that each week, you came to know their own unique lack of skills. During the heyday of 80s wrestling, jobbers occupied as much air time as the stars. I probably watched Jose Luis Rivera tap out more often than I saw any of the champions. My best friend Ross and I even concocted imaginary cards pitting one jobber against another. Would SD Jones’s pulverizing headbutt be enough to take down the unpredictable Rene Goulet” Then one day, the DREAM JOBBER BATTLE happened. FRANKIE WILLIAMS VS SALVATORE BELLOMO. For those who do not remember these two warriors, imagine being able to watch Michael Jordan take on Wilt Chamberlain or Muhammad Ali vs Mike Tyson. After years of prayer, Frankie vs Sal was a reality. And though we predicted this match would end with a tap-out at the opening handshake, it actually went on for several awe-inspiring minutes. In the end, Bellomo proved to the be the King of the Jobbers with a remarkably graceful sunset flip. Years later, I attended a live taping of RAW. I thought that the Iron Mike Sharpes, Mr. X’s and Mulkeymanias were long gone. But lo and behold, before the cameras rolled, they announced a Jobber. Wearing green leggings and a mullet, this grappler spent several painful minutes putting a new star over. He got pummeled so badly that the ref had to walk him back to the dressing room. It was glorious. And sadly, I didn’t even catch his name. Steve something. Such is the life of the Jobber.

Harvey McCarthy wrote: I was surfing the net when the name “SD Jones” popped in my head. I found his wikipedia entry which linked your article. It has to be one of the best wrestling articles that I have read in years. I too remember the Mr. X, SD Jones, and Jerry Allens of the wrestling world. Even though I don’t consider him a jobber, Lanny Poffo was also a stable for many years on WWF Superstars. He was always called upon to put someone over until they packaged him as the Genius. I don’t think wrestling fans today appreciate what we had in the 1980s. I remember when Jim Powers and Paul Roma were repackaged into winners. They had a reverse decision over the Harts with the help of Mr. T. It was the start of the Young Stallions. Unfortunately, those two men didn’t get along and Vince broke them up. How about when PJ Walker pinned Mike Rotundo on Raw? He became Aldo Montoya not long afterwards. The fact that the “upset” could happen kept us tuned in through out all the other squash matches. Eventually, wrestling switched from pure jobbers to guys that promotions, especially WCW, wanted to bury. Tom Zenk is the best example of someone who many fans consider a jobber because of the way his career ended. He was brought into WCW to be a star. According to online interviews, he was supposed to have been a top five babyface. In the end, he was used to make other guys look good. Ironically, like Lanny Poffo in the WWF, they both started at the top of the card, but ended at the bottom when the bookers changed. Zenk, like Poffo, made good money but their careers stalled when they became “Jobbers to the Stars.” Oddly enough, like SD Jones and Iron Mike Sharpe, they had huge fan followings. Now, wrestling seems to be the same guys recycled over and over again. Why would I care that John Cena is going to face Shawn Michaels at Summer Slam, for example, when they have wrestled 20 times on TV already this year?

Ken Becker wrote:
I just read the article on Jobbers of the 80’s, and WOW! So many great names. I always loved Iron Mike Sharpe. He had that forearm problem/broken arm for 5 years. And he almost always used it to hide a foreign object. His attitude was incredible. And few people know he trained Mike Bucci aka Nova (ECW) aka Simon Dean (WWE). Mike Sharpe would often team with another Canadian jobber by the name of Johnny K9. One of my best friends always immitated his arms crossed in the air. The then WWF also had the great Jose Luis Rivera. A jobber, yes. But if I am not mistaken, he did hold the then WWF 6 man tag titles with Tito Santana and Pedro Morales. NWA/WCW had some wonderful jobbers, too. Agent Steele aka Brad Anderson, son of Gene Anderson (YES of the Minnesota Wrecking Crew Gene and Ole Andersons), The State Patrol of Sgt Buddy Lee Parker and Lt. James Earl Wright, Jumping Joey Maggs, and the VERY popular, but jobbing none the less Brad Armstrong (Brad James), son of Bullet Bob, brother of Road Dog/BG James: Brian, Steve and Scott Armstrong. Brad wrestled as Candyman Brad Armstrong, Badstreet (a masked Freebird), and Arachnaman. He also did a stint as part of Master P’s No Limit Soldiers, and who could forget “Buzzkill”, a blatant ripoff of his brother’s Road Dog gimmick in WWE? Really? That many forgot it?? Brad was a second generation, very talented wrestler. But he remained a mid-card jobber most of his career. Let us celebrate those who got over the “Superstars.” Without them, wrestling in the 80’s would have been a lot less enjoyable.