The wrestling writer experience.
I must admit I have a
dream job in many ways. As a wrestling fan for over 30 years I never
for one moment thought I would be in a position where I not only get
to see my heroes wrestle, but also get to physically meet them.
During the recent TNA
Maximum Impact tour live show in Dublin, Ireland I had the thought
that maybe it was about time I shared my back stage and insider
experiences with our readers here.
My wrestling writing
career started about seven years ago now. A simple email and DVD
review were all it took to get my foot in the door. Since then I have
many hundreds of articles/reviews and interview pieces for numerous
websites/columns and I am extremely proud of them all.
Even before I first put
pen to paper, I was one of those young men who spent Saturday
afternoons watching the bets of British Wrestling talent on ITV. I
also found myself drawn to US promotion WCW, which was broadcast late
at night and also on various Sky channels. Of course Sky in the 1980s
also offered us the hugely popular WWE (then WWF) and there my story
begins.
Maybe it is something
underlying in me as a person, but I always seem to root for the
underdog and as such, even though I watched the WWF avidly and
purchased their Videos (yes I am that old). I did however spend an
awful lot of time sourcing WCW/NWA videos and I soon got into rising
promotion ECW too.
Over the years I was
fortunate enough to see both WCW and WWF shows live in Belfast and
Dublin and see such stars as Shawn Michaels, Randy Savage, British
Bulldog, Sting, Lex Luger, Diesel, Bret Hart, Catcus Jack and many
others in action. I now look back on these times fondly and know that
my enthusiasm back then was what drove me to get to the position I am
in today.
In those good old days,
I was more than happy to maybe get to shake a wrestlers hand or nab a
sneaky autograph. I did once get to meet WWE/WWF legend 'Rowdy' Roddy
Piper at a record signing as well.
But it was not until I
began monitoring the upcoming company TNA in the early 2000's that my
life would change forever.
Since the company was
small and yet to make its mark many wrestling writers gave it a miss.
Which left me an opportunity to grab and it is one that I will never
regret.
As TNA grew so did my
coverage of it. With each PPV event the promotion gained more
respect. Along the way the company mixed some veteran performers with
home grown stars and it was a privilege to be able to write about it
all as it unfolded.
Backstage wise I have a
few stories to tell. There is the infamous one where I personally was
barred from interacting with a certain (big name) company's talent in
any way at all. This was due to my coverage of their rival. So
imagine my glee when that particular company saw their touring roster
stranded in my home town for days (due to an ash cloud) and I was
able to capitalise on the interview opportunities the situation
created. I am now back in that companies favour by the way.
Meeting your heroes can
always be a double edged sword. After all we love them the way we see
them on stage or screen and don't want to ever think they are any
different in real life. Fortunately I have never really found any
wrestler to be any different than I expected. Many of them have been
so nice and friendly that I felt even closer to them (whether they
were face or heel).
My first real backstage
experience was during the first TNA tour. I made the trip to
Liverpool to join a few key wrestling writers I worked with (and
still do). I had no real expectations back then. I knew it was
perhaps my coverage of the company that had helped elevate it in fans
minds. But I was after all just a simple wrestling from Belfast and I
was a very small fish in a big pond.
Well firstly once we
(the writers) hooked up and finally met in person. As many will know
much writing work is done online and as such you can go years without
meeting a colleague. Secondly we headed to a very posh hotel and
there we met TNA President Dixie Carter. Dixie is a lovely person and
one that every roster member I have spoke to has no bad words to
speak of. I also met her husband Serge too.
After exchanging
pleasantries and a few ideas about UK talent that TNA may be
interested in (at that time it was Nick Aldis and Pac). FYI Nick was
signed soon after and is now Magnus. We were then taken to the arena
and I got to witness my first backstage experience. In my first few
moments I was introduced to a man mountain of a man called Chris. He
was very softly spoken and friendly. He also turned out to be the
un-masked Abyss. Abyss was a scary character back then and I was
amazed that Chris was so nice and respectful to a bunch of journo's.
During our walk around
the empty arena we met and chatted to many roster members. I was even
fortunate enough to take part in my first wrestling one-on-one
interview that day. My interview subject was legendary referee Earl
Hebner.
We were of course told
to allow the wrestlers a chance to rest, relax, work out and eat
prior to the show. Something which you always adhere to folks. The
term Kayfabe in wrestling is one of high meaning you know. It means
that the fans should never see the wrestlers interact personally and
to a degree not see you out of character. I for one did not mind
this.
On a trivia note here,
this was back when TNA utilised the wonderful six-sided ring and I
for one wish they still did use it.
The venue in Liverpool
(Playhouse) was an old theatre and was perfect for the TNA product
(which today as then is more suited to an intimate venue, in my
opinion). I even ended up sitting in one of the raised boxes with
Dixie (whilst I reviewed the show).
Since then I have of
course interviewed (via phone and in person over 30 wrestlers) and
along the way I have learnt one vital thing, that is to not actually
prepare for the interview. The reason being as long as you know the
current storyline, you can wing it from there.
Over the subsequent
years I have been very fortunate to have been able to continually get
backstage access to TNA UK tour shows. In Dublin I almost became a
wrestling mark, when one of my all time heroes Ric Flair walked out
from the 'wrestler only' area and talked to me. This was a dream come
true for me. Luckily I do have photographic record of it too. During
this live show I met TNA founder Jeff Jarrett, D Lo Brown, Dixie,
Mickie James, Tara, Matt Morgan and many others. I was also fortunate
enough to be given interview access to (ECW legend) Rob Van Dam and
Knockout Madison Rayne.
This was the tour where
Flair decided to cause problems for TNA and ended up being left
behind in Dublin. I now wish to clarify that, even though I was
drinking with the roster in their Dublin hotel that very night I was
not responsible for Flair's actions (lol).
What is nice is that my
work promoting TNA has seen me gain a level of respect from not only
them, but companies they work with. I have been able to review TNA
new DVD releases and much more because of my coverage of the company.
I have also been able to amass a wonderful study full of signed
pictures and other merchandise. All of which I treasure and am amazed
at possessing.
So what am I getting
at? Well the wrestling world is a weird one, wrestlers can be good or
bad. Smart fans know that the guys in the ring beating each other
black and blue may be real good friends and yet they still do it. Us
fans love it, writers like me savour the industry and some
wonderfully talented sports men and women strive to be a part of it.
I guess if you are
still reading now I have you for the long haul here. Recent years
have seen me being able to interview many of my all-time heroes and
gain some level of respect as a wrestling writer.
Now to bring us back
full circle I must say this. In 2012 I ventured to Manchester for a
TNA live show. My reason was twofold, this year the company decided
to miss Ireland off the tour and I also simply had to see Hulk Hogan
and Sting both wrestle.
Roll along to 2013 and
TNA came back to Ireland. So of course I was right up there with the
journo's to maybe get a wee bit of interview time with a TNA wrestler
of two. The one thing I have begun to realise is that what I take for
granted now is so special to a wrestling fan. So since 2008 I have
ensured I take a non-journalist person with me to each wresting show
I attend. They are now my eyes and ears (as perhaps the multiple
backstage passes I have had may blemish my memories).
January 2013 saw
perhaps my best TNA/wrestling back stage experience. Within the
first minute I saw two Knockouts chilling out. My
interviewing/writing partner (Kate McMichael) and I then saw (heel
group Ace's & 8's main man) Devon sitting on his lap top. He was
courteous and so nice to speak to. We then walked into the main back
stage area, here we saw the majority of the TNA roster all chilling
out. Olympic Gold Medalist Kurt Angle was one of the first to rise
and shake my hand. I had of course interviewed Kurt when he was
hoping to participate in the 2012 Olympic Games. Mr Angle was
wonderful here, he also by his kindness allowed 'Cowboy' James Storm
to stand up and chat too. This was after all Kate's wrestling hero,
so this meeting did indeed so down a 'Storm'.
Along the way we also
met and chatted to Rob Van Dam (who I interviewed during the last
Irish tour for TNA).
Once in the allocated
interview space we were surprised to learn that we would be in the
position of chatting to four top TNA grappler's.
Over the next hour we
got to talk to Miss Tessmacher, Chavo Guerrero, Bully Ray and Kurt
Angle. Three of the four were wonderful, the other was, as we now
know from experience out to wind up the interviewer(but funnily
enough not the girls). That is not to say that I (well we) did not
enjoy our interview time. You our loyal readers will be seeing those
interviews here very soon.
What TNA do over their
rivals is bring a personal touch to proceedings. If you are ever
fortuate enough to be backstage at a TNA show you will be made to
feel welcome. This was perfectly highlighted by Kurt Angle, when he
took it upon himself to bring James Storm upstairs to meet Kate
(something that Kurt had no reason to do if he did not want it) .
Storm subsequently arrived and we all had a brief chat and got
pictures taken.
This however was not
the end of or night, after all the matches had yet to start and I had
hoped to catch up with Dixie Carter too.
Upon returning to the
arena we were informed that Sting would be replacing World Champion
Jeff Hardy on the tour and we also got to meet the lovely Ms Carter
again too. I was also stunned to learn that Dixie could set up a
short meeting between us and my hero Sting.
This meeting has
already been covered here and for once I did become a real fan and
fluff some words when talking to Sting. The man was all I expected him to be and so much more.
I guess the reason for
writing this is to give you the reader an insight into the wild and
wacky world we wrestling writers live is. It is down to loyal readers
such as yourselves that allow us to do it and we are unbelievably
thankful.
By Phil Allely
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