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Using Chris' Name in Vain
By Brett Schwan
If you are not prepared to see me rant, leave now :)
Within 24 hours of Chris Candido's death promotions started
announcing "tribute" and "benefit" shows in his honor.
WITHIN 24 HOURS!! WTF is that??
Without naming the names or promotions (as they know damn well who they
are as do the readers of this site), I have come to the point where I
have to publicly vent my disgust with these people who continue to keep
the legend of wrestling promoters being scum alive and well.
Frank Goodman, promoter of UXW, knew Chris Candido and was a friend of his, his brother Johnny, and of Tammy's. If anyone had the right to run a show in Chris' honor, it was him. God knows Frank and I haven't seen eye to eye on a lot of things. However, when Frank said he was going to run a show and proceeds were going to go to Tammy and the Candido family, I had no reason (unless I'm proven wrong) that he wouldn't pull through. When Frank announced that he was having a Candido T-shirt made and that proceeds from that shirt would go to Tammy and the family, I had no reason to believe he wasn't being sincere. After all, I know for a fact that he and Chris were close. Hell, they spent enough time on the Masked Maniac Hotline making fun of, and plugging, the Wrestling Clothesline dot Schwan!
UXW aside, I was dumbfounded when the emails started pouring in from promotions across the country that suddenly were running "Candido Memorial" shows or "Candido Tribute" shows. Promotions that Chris never even worked for were now throwing his name onto their shows. Am I supposed to believe they are actually going to contribute anything to Tammy, The Candido's, or even the Chris Memorial Fund? Why would I when I doubt they even knew Chris personally?
I have sat back in shock at the wording some of these promotions have come up with to make the fans think they are doing something to truly honor Chris' memory. One of may favorites is "all proceeds after payroll is met will be given to Tammy Sytch". AFTER PAYROLL IS MET? What the hell is that? What if the payroll is not met?
Between brilliant statements like the one just mentioned and statements like "some of the proceeds" or "a portion of the proceeds", is it any wonder why wrestling promoters have a reputation for being some of the most disgusting, vile, underhanded, cheating vermin around?
My new favorite is a show where all the talent has volunteered their services. That seems like a TRUE benefit as, all the proceeds from ticket sales could go directly to the Candido family. With no "payroll" having to be met, what would prevent all ticket sales to go directly to Tammy, etc? The show has since been announced as a FREE show. WTF?! A FREE show? How the hell do you run a "benefit"show and not charge anyone to come see it? Do you expect a simple collection to raise enough money that you wouldn't be embarrassed to give it to the family?
Will the brilliance ever cease? I doubt it.
Why are these promoters rushing to throw together a less than stellar card? Why do they feel that they shouldn't put some thought into it? Why run a show on the same day that 5 or 6 other shows are running in the same area? Was Chris not worth any thought? Oh, that's right, most of you wouldn't know as you didn't even know him!!
I was lucky enough to have known Chris for over 13 years. I was proud to call him my friend and honored that he considered me one. To see his name used simply as a marketing gimmick or a way to make a quick buck disgusts me. Is it really that difficult to sit down, figure out a date/time/location for a show, put out the call to wrestlers who would like to work on such a show, advertise properly, and run a show that can actually draw a crowd, a good crop of workers and a good amount of money for Tammy and the family? Not really. Sure, it may take some time BUT, at least some thought and effort would be put into it. At least something Chris deserves would come out of it.
Unfortunately, most of today's wrestling promoters are simply in it to feed their egos and their pockets. It's a shame they have to use someone like Chris' name to entice the fans that don't know better.
On the bright side, if nothing else, at least Chris is looking down laughing his ass of at all of this.
Thanks for allowing me to vent!
- Brett
Please check out my Candido Tribute Pages. New photos, tidbits, and quotes are added regularly. Thanks!
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I've received TONS of positive feedback on my comments regarding promoter and promotions using Chris' name simply as a marketing ploy to help sell a few tickets. Only received two emails from promoters making threats and accusations. I find that the funniest as I never mentioned any names and in emailing me, they pretty much admitted guilt (or at least a guilty conscious). In fact, I won't even post them here or mention who wrote them as all those two people want are publicity. So, I'm not going to give it to them :)
The following is being reprinted with permission from Brian Butler (aka King of All Wheelchairs). It was posted on his live journal on May 6th.
Well it's been a week since the untimely unfortunate death of Chris Candido and I still don't know what to say. I'm not gonna be like everyone else and say I knew Chris because quite frankly I didn't. My only interaction with Chris was during his time in ECW as a fan. Even though during that time in his life he was fighting "demons" he never let it get too him when talking or meeting fans. He always took time to say hi and bullshit around with people. One night in particular he had come up to me after wrestling Terry Funk one night and asked me to get up so he could sit in my wheelchair because he was exhausted which I thought was funny. Other times I laughed at Chris was before the above mentioned match with Funk. Chris came to the ring in the same type trunks Funk wore and got a good laugh out of the crowd. Another time was before a match with someone I can't remember right now but anyway, Chris grabbed the mic, looked up at Paul Heyman and called him a cheap f'n jew bastard which popped the crowd. The real shame of his passing is that he had finally put the "demons" to rest and was looking great in his short time in TNA. He had put on a little weight but it did him good. To die at only 33 years of age is such a tragic thing. Out of all of the things he could have died from he passed away from what anyone of us could get; a friggin blot clot. The one's that will miss out now that he's gone (Besides his family) are the younger wrestlers coming up. They could have learned a lot from him by getting in the ring with him or just by watching his matches on tape or dvd. He could have a great match with a blowup doll. Unfortunately now that he is gone it seems like every friggin indy promotion is trying to make money off of his death by having "Memorial" shows. The man is only gone a week and I have seen at least 5 indy companies planning shows around his death. This is hypocritical. Making money off of a dead person is just plain wrong. Fans, don't go to these shows. The money is going into the pocket of the promoter. The only company that is stating the money raised from a "Memorial" show that will be given to Chris' widow Tammy Sytch (AKA Sunny) is USA Pro...
There is also a scholarship fund in his name. To donate to that the
address is The Chris Candido Scholarship Fund Bank of New York 3rd Avenue;
Washington Street Spring Lake, New Jersey 07762. Well that's all for this
week.
It's nice to see that I'm not the only one who sees this happening. It's even nicer to see that I'm not the only one speaking out about it. Thanks, Brian!
