by Gerry Strauss
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Hey people, I'm Gerry Strauss, and it's time for another edition of "Behind The Microphone". This is where I get to update y'all on where I've been, where I'm working next, and random thoughts about all of the above.
It's been awhile since my unnamed intro column, long enough that the archive isn't even on the site anymore, but in short, I live in NJ, I write "Seven Deadly Questions" (found elsewhere on this site), I do some commentating, and I do some ring announcing. All of these thing's involve microphones, hence the column's title. Everyone with me? Let's get this party started.
Going back some , on May 25th I was up in Lyndhurst, NJ at the good ol'
Knights of Columbus, for the IHPW show. For those of you familiar with
NJ indy wrestling, I'd say that IHPW (run by Pete Van Orton) is a mix
of some JCW guys, some ECWA guys, and a few others, usually with one or
two bigger names to headline. Their World Champ is "Ragin' Beast"
Bryan Wenzal, a sorely underrated performer who is also known for being
part of the "Moondogs 2000" in Afa's WXW and elsewhere. On this
night, Wenzal main evented, and was cleanly put over, by Justin Credible.
Also, Homicide and Reckless Youth had a great match, and the vacant US
title was won by Jay Lethal, who bested Josh Daniels and Rob Eckos in
a nicely executed 3 way dance. You can check out full results on IHPW.com,
and full show reports elsewhere on this site. Personally, I thought this
was the best IHPW show I've worked at (I think this is my 5th or 6th).
Since last summer and fall, I have seen many kinks in the execution of
these shows simply disappear. The shows now start much closer to the advertised
belltime, they no longer run too far past 3 hours, and they flow much
better.
Now, to be honest, I don't work on that many shows, for the most part.
Whether it's ring announcing or commentating, spots are few and far between,
and I am far from being a master of networking. However, I DO consider
myself lucky in that the promotions I work for regularly are all VERY
different from each other, as it helps me appreciate the good stuff about
each one. I'm talking about the product itself, of course, but also the
atmosphere and crowd. Now, every IHPW show I have worked has been at the
Lyndhurst K of C, so it's the same basic scene, same area, a lot of the
same people, and it is always such a trip. The only thing I have ever
been able to compare the Lyndhurst IHPW crowd to, strangely enough, is
an old school cable access show called "The Uncle Floyd Show".
Yup, Uncle Floyd, with his cheap looking in- studio comedy show and his
ugly plaid suits. NJ people, you know what I am talking about: everyone
else, take my word for it. I haven't seen that show in maybe 15 or 20
years, but I remember, even as a little kid, noticing the studio audience.
They were loud enough to be heard, sparse enough that individual voices
were distinguishable, and obnoxious enough that they could show up every
week because they loved the show so much, even as they heckled their way
through the whole thing. In other words, they were Jersey people. Same
with the IHPW crowd. They like what they like, and if they don't, you
will know about it. Nowhere else will you find fan's who are so dedicated
to their craft of heckling that they direct an ENTIRE rendition of the
"Saved By The Bell" theme song to "Sure Thing" Ryan
Wing during his match. Nowhere else will you hear such passionate support
for the inadvertant destruction of a chandelier hanging from the somewhat
low ceiling. Heck, they inexplicably chanted "Joey" at me during
my first few shows, imploring me to let out a big "Oh My God!".
I personally don't see the resemblance, although the delusional part of
me that might misconstrue their cries as a compliment is flattered.
Anyway, the next IHPW show is set for August 30 in a new location in
Boonton. Check out the site for the details, but this one is actually
going to be in a THEATER. Seat prices range based on the level you are
sitting, just like in a normal theater show, and I guess the ring will
be on stage, with the crowd all out in one direction. This might make
my job as a ring announcer much easier, but I am super- interested to
see how this set up works. Justin Credible returns, as does Homicide,
and Jonah (From Tough Enough III), Doink, Gangrel, Luna Vachon, and the
rest of the IHPW crew appear as well. Should be very cool, I just hope
there are no low chandeliers.
Jumping forward, this past weekend brought me to Toms River, NJ for the
return of Donnie B's Phoenix Championship Wrestling to it's hometown of
sorts, for a benefit show at Toms River High School East (or was it West?).
It was a shining example of the metamorphasis of the promotion in the
18 months I have been working for them. Gone was the overpriced "name"
talent, as the emphasis was much more firmly placed on homegrown guys.
Truthfully, although I don't know a heck of a lot about the business side
of things, I cannot find fault with this logic, as a bigger talent budget
no longer guarantees better ticket sales. I remember a Pine Hill show
from last year main evented by Christopher Daniels and Frank Kazarian
that drew less than a hundred people, through no fault of PCW's. Anyway,
as stated, the emphasis in PCW is now firmly on good promoting, making
new stars, and creative booking, all things that have been done quite
well.
Again, results for this show can be found elsewhere on this website, so
I will just supply a smattering of thoughts. First of all, Toms River
High West (or East?) was a beautiful school, very 90210-ish, but there
seemed to be little to no air conditioning. Now, when I first started
with PCW, I did color commentary alongside Steven Michael Payton for awhile,
moved into a short-lived career as a backstage interviewer, and somehow
landed in the middle of the ring as the ring announcer. I like ring announcing,
I really do, but there is no way around the fact that there is NO way
to be comfortable in the heat while wearing my suit. Being the dumbass
that I am, I usually choose the more professional look over comfort, and
inevitably suffer the consequences, as the stream of sweat I probably
left behind me in my walks to and from the ring would attest to. Also,
I debuted my attempt to kiss the ass of the hometown teams by shouting
out the school's "Raiders", to almost NO reacting. Ah well,
I didn't give a crap about high school sports back in the day, why should
they? The crowd wasn't huge, but they WERE vocal, and ate up everything
from opening match to the main event, new PCW champ Matt Vandal's first
title defense against Monsta Mack (a sleeper match for sure, MUCH more
fun to watch than I expected). Another match had one of the more innovative
finishes I've seen lately, as "Powerchild" Eric Justice, a babyface
so shameless and pure that even Ricky Steamboat would call him a goody-
goody, took on evil arab Tiger Khan in a flag match, one of those deals
where you have to grab your flag from the pole to win. Anyway, in a comedy
of errors between Tiger and his cornerman, "Frenchy" (the evil
frenchman, of course), Tiger found himself blinded by powder mistakenly
thrown in his eyes. as so many of his heel forefathers have experienced.
In his sudden blindness, he found himself climbing up and grabbing the
wrong flag. Thinking he won, he made his way proudly to the middle of
the ring, not noticing Justice standing right there. He regained his sight
just in time to see what he had done, let out a shocked expletive, turn
around and get powerbombed into oblivion by the biggest, most powerful
child anywhere, and the winner, Eric Justice. It was somewhat unique,
it was well executed, and it was a true crowd pleasing moment. Back to
me, I had a good time soaking up the relative positivity of the crowd,
as they were a lot warmer than the IHPW peeps, not that there's anything
wrong with that. Sure, there are some losers out there who need to spend
all night trying wayyyy too hard to shout witty insults at the workers,
but for the most part, PCW fans are families, teens, kids, and genuine
old school marks who want to cheer the good guys and boo the bad guys,
and there is nothing bad about that at all. I even signed about 8 autographs,
a new record... maybe they thought I was Joey Styles. So, long story short,
the tradition of solid PCW shows continued, the music and lighting was
superb (thanks to tech wizard Cannon), the Moxies won the tag belts, ensuring
more mob goofiness for future Phoenix endeavors, Lil Ricky AND Fat Tommy
got their heads shaved in mid- ring by special ref Donnie B, Kara Slice's
pom- poms were in full effect, and everyone went home pretty darn happy...
in other words, just another PCW show. As a side note, thanks to legend
"Luscious" Johnny Valiant for going out of his way to let me
know he thought I was doing a good job, and to Red Bull, for saving me
from total dehydration. Side note 2: HAAS Cup 2 is coming. Last year's
was one of the most impressive wrestling events of the year, and this
year, they are attempting to top THAT one. Stay tuned...
OK, enough jibber jabber. This weekend, June 21st, I'll be at doing play-by-play
for 3PW at the Electric Factory in Philly. It should be a great show,
featuring Terry Funk, Sabu, Gary Wolfe, Justin Credible, NWA World Champ
AJ Styles, Kid Kash, and more, which you can read up on at 3pwrestling.com.
If you are there, shout me out, and drop me a line at gerrystrauss@aol.com
with any comments, questions, anything you want. Til next time, the time
limit HAS expired.
