Money and "Honor"
What's to say or write about the Rob Feinstein situation that hasn't already been said or written?
Plenty.
Last Saturday's Ring of "Honor" show in Elizabeth, NJ, was a prime example of the mindset of most wrestlers and fans in this country- a huge crowd, no one voicing a negative opinion, and people supporting someone who was caught red-handed trying to hook up with a 14 year old boy.
Spin it, whine about it, debate it as much as you want- it's a fact. Anyone who thinks otherwise or expects anyone to think otherwise is just a fool. Rob Feinstein is still a part of RF Video and Ring of Honor. Any jackass can draw up a paper saying he isn't, but anyone with a brain would realize that Feinstein isn't about to run off and leave something he built up and something he's made and continues to make a lot of money from, no matter what the situation. He's too stupid, and way too arrogant.
The stupidity you can find right in the chat log and "sting" that was featured on the Perverted Justice Web site. (http://perverted-justice.com/index.php?archive=RFWrestling) No one with half a brain needs to be told that trolling for 14 year old boys on the Internet and in chat rooms goes beyond stupidity and straight into depravity. But Rob, knowing that it's just wrong and sick to do such a thing, practically acknowledges so in the log- and then goes ahead and does it anyway. His way of deciphering if it's a 14 year old was to have MTV played in the background? Having seen Yankee games, HBO, One Life to Live, Jerry Springer, and yes, MTV, played at all hours in several police stations, it's safe to say that this method of weeding out police involvement is dim-witted at best and borderline retarded at worst. That kind of stupidity certainly explains the stupid decisions and idiotic press releases that were sent out by his company in the days to follow- but it doesn't excuse the arrogance.
No, the arrogance was shown in Rob's initial release stating that he was "stepping down" from Ring of Honor due to "allegations." Looking at the actual evidence, a.k.a. him running away from the "sting" camera, the chat logs, and the phone logs, all verified, but no charges. Yet. But he announces his "departure" from a business that's netted him a small fortune over just allegations? Bullshit- people accused of murder don't just pack up and leave if they're not even charged of something. OJ Simpson was seen everywhere from golf courses to bar mitzvahs- and he went to trial. And the conceited assumption that things would be resolved? How? What could resolve the fact that, ignoring all the evidence, a 30+ year old Rob Feinstein showed up at a house to hang out with a 14 year old boy?
Rob unfortunately wasn't alone in his arrogance. Gabe Sapolsky, a.k.a. the guy who used to sell programs at ECW shows, which shows his real experience in the business, decided to chime in on the situation- in a chat room, of all places!- the same night Rob's vacant face was vidcapped all over the Internet. Gabe's initial concern and reaction to the news? Hoping that Ring of Honor can get past this "obstacle"- like they were involved in a track meet. This was the first indication of what Gabe Sapolsky, Doug Gentry, and Rob Feinstein, not to mention everyone else working the show on March 13th, cared about- making sure they continued to make money. Or at least enough to get their bills paid from the 13th. How responsible of them.
Subsequent releases followed, fooling no one except the people looking for any reason to be fooled. Any reason was fine, just so they could continue to support a deviant like Rob Feinstein- a guy who drives a $70,000 Lexus to hook up with 14 year old boys he's trolled in chat rooms. Wrestlers began sending out unnecessary releases, wrongly assuming that their opinions on the situation mattered, taking advantage of a horrible occurrence just to get their name out there one more time. The day any rational human being relies on the rantings of CM Punk to base their decision to attend any show is the day before the end of the world. Note the emphasis on "rational." But, of course, many people used his self-serving take on things as their excuse to keep supporting Ring of Honor and Rob Feinstein.
Punk wasn't alone, either. He was followed by wrestlers who really should know better, like Christopher Daniels, who recently became a father (!!), Allison Danger- a prime example of an opinion no one was asking for, and AJ Styles, a self proclaimed Born Again Christian who's managed to contradict his own beliefs time and time again. If you want to believe AJ Styles has high moral values, pick up a tape of him wrestling in XPW for porn king Rob Black and be proven otherwise. Then again, anyone who truly has high moral values normally has nothing to do with the professional wrestling business.
Why would any of the above workers, along with several others, feel a need to make a statement that would now automatically associate them with the whole Feinstein situation? If you hear the sound of a cash register, then you've got your answer. Money talks, especially when you're getting double what you normally get. Right, boys? What are your actual limits when it comes to wrestling for promoters? Does the promoter need to be shown actually murdering someone before you actually have some sense of judgment?
CM Punk is supposedly the "trainer" for Ring of Honor, which is almost a sick joke in and of itself. Who's he training? ROH workers are not usually green rookies in need of training. But whatever job title CM Punk has, it was enough for him to move halfway across the country to do it. Perhaps that's why his first reaction upon hearing the news about Rob Feinstein was to call Rob "selfish." To paraphrase someone on the Death Valley Driver message boards who came up with it first- Yeah, that's exactly what everyone thinks of when they think of a guy who wants to hook up with a 14 year old boy- how selfish. Hope the job's paying a LOT of money, for all it's worth now.
No matter what happens, no wrestler that works for Ring of Honor would really be affected if the fed shut down. The "big" names especially, like CM Punk and Christopher Daniels, have dozens of gigs to choose from where they could find a steady, continued stream of income. Their grandiose statements of being satisfied that Rob Feinstein was no longer involved with RF Video or Ring of Honor are just laughable. This was their excuse to keep working for Ring of Honor, and most importantly, to work the show in Elizabeth on March 13th. Big money.
After all, that was the whole focus of everyone involved- just get to the show on the 13th. Whatever it takes, Heaven forbid that show gets canceled. Forget the fact that the guy whose initials make the name RF Video was just seen on television running for his wrecked life towards his Lexus. Make sure that the show goes on. No one involved with ROH was concerned with anything else. All the "proofs" of transfer of ownership to Doug are just preposterous. You may remember Doug as the guy who films every event and, as the new CEO/Emperor/Head Nutbar/Whatever he wants to call himself, cemented his high stature in the company by filming at ringside on March 13th. Anyone that believes any of these "stock transfers" happened may still believe in the Easter Bunny.
Without getting into the specifics of what a private company can do or what they are required to do, expecting anyone to believe that Rob Feinstein just up and walked away from his little empire is just egotistical delusion. People using these statements as crutches to pacify their bruised psyches enough that they can attend a fucking wrestling show are stupid and hopeless beyond belief.
Believing that a wrestling company needs your moral support is fanboy fantasy at its height. Hearing that platitude spouted by wrestlers like CM Punk, Christopher Daniels, AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Dan Maff, and Loc, among others, is just pitiful. If Jersey All Pro, NWA Wildside, NYWC, even the ECWA, fell off the face of the Earth tomorrow, wrestlers would still find avenues of work. People would still find shows to attend. But you don't and won't hear this kind of "keep coming no matter what" stupidity from the other feds mentioned. "No matter what," they aren't so blatantly and obviously concerned with getting your money. They get it because they earn it- not because they're reduced to begging for it.
Any decent lawyer involved even remotely with Rob Feinstein or Ring of Honor probably would have shot his clients to shut them up. There is no excuse for the parade of moronic statements, interviews, and press releases that came from the Ring of Honor camp over the past two weeks. Thankfully, a few workers saw through this parade of bullshit and walked away as fast as their feet could carry them. It's no surprise that Roddy Piper and Bobby Heenan, two veterans of the business, backed out of their ROH commitments. It was rather telling that of all the people involved, that two with the most experience in wrestling saw the potential nightmare of publicity that would follow and wisely backed off. Too bad they couldn't impart their wisdom on the indy workers in Ring of Honor- and they certainly would have fallen on deaf ears talking to Dusty Will Bleed for Food Rhodes, who immediately replaced Piper at the Q&A on the 13th. After seeing Dusty embarrass himself and the business in 3PW two and a half years ago, it didn't seem possible that he could prostitute and degrade himself further, but here you go.
It's also a shame they couldn't have influenced the people that paid money to see the show last Saturday, either. It's one thing to go to the show expecting a train wreck, but would you want to see a train wreck that involved little kids? Don't discount the analogy- if Perverted Justice wasn't involved, Rob Feinstein would have found someone else and been on his way over to hook up with an actual 14 year old boy. The only difference this time around is that he got caught.
Would that have made a difference to the 1,000 or so people who showed up last Saturday? Especially the ones who didn't show up for the proverbial train wreck? What's their excuse? Are people that dumb that they believe Rob's no longer involved, or do they just not care? Neither answer is going to be a good one. Are people that desperate for a show to see? That can't be the case- this area is overwhelmed with feds running shows. Do they think they're part of something special? Does that really need an answer? Who in their right or wrong mind would want to be associated with Ring of Honor now? Next time someone mentions "smart" fans, remind yourself that about 1,000 of these "smart" fans plunked down about 20 bucks each ten days after they found out Rob Feinstein was trying to satisfy his Aaron Carter fetish.
And forget anyone who felt a "responsibility" to be there. If you're not in the fed, you ain't getting paid. So toadying up to Ring of Honor isn't going to get you a thing. Based on their well thought out press releases, the fine folks involved with Ring of Honor certainly couldn't care less if you supported them through your Web site or business- only that you bring your wallet with you. Just get their bills paid, you morons, get their "smart" people there, and write a nice recap. It'll sure benefit you in the long run- or for at least a few weeks until the rest of the world wises up and forces these enablers and scumbags to shut down.
All of the Ring of Honor lackey's talk about "honor" and "purity" means nothing when their owner is spending his time and company money trying to troll for underage boys. What a bunch of hypocrites- anyone with a shred of decency would have canceled the show, no matter what they owed. Hopefully it was all worth it since they managed to actually run their big, huge, wonderful, terrific 2nd anniversary show celebrating all the tenets of Ring of Honor that really don't exist.
And make no mistake about it- if you are supporting Ring of Honor, you
are supporting Rob Feinstein.
If you are supporting RF Video, you are supporting Rob Feinstein.
Have fun looking in the mirror.
Complaints, comments, questions?? Email Jim
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The comments and statements
do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Brett Schwan and the Wrestling
Clothesline (although many times, he comes damn close! Please feel free
to e-mail HIM with any comments, questions, complaints, etc.
Jim has been watching wrestling for over 20 years and has followed and reported on indy wrestling for over 6 years. He's also a fan of the New York Giants, New York Yankees, St. John's Red Storm basketball, Alabama Crimson Tide football, and the New Jersey Devils, but please don't hold that against him.
Contact Jim at BilJim2@hotmail.com
