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'Eric Gargiulo Interview'
By P.Staniforth 2003
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Wow.What else has anyone said after watching CZW? It has to be said, whether high flying or hardcore is your style of choice; CZW offers the best of both to the viewer. A cult following, wrestlers who give their all just for the entertainment of the fan - And here I have the commentator of this company, one of the top 3 in the business in my personal opinion; Eric Gargiulo.
PETER) : Hi Eric, and thank you for your time. How did you first get into the wrestling business?
ERIC) : I guess you could say my first real "in" as far as the business goes, was as a trainee of Jim Kettner's and the ECWA. That was in 1994. I wrestled for about eight months anywhere that would have me. I would wrestle for everything from "free" to a piece of Fried Chicken lol.
PETER) : That's the attitude of the indy worker though. Have boots, will travel; and doing it for the love of it. What is it like being commentator for such a cutting edge promotion like CZW?
ERIC) : I have to pinch myself every show because I cannot believe how lucky I am. Honestly, when I was approached with the idea of working for CZW; I did not know what CZW was about. I went to a show to check them out, "The Pyramid of Hell," and I was immediately hooked. I am an old school wrestling fan and I had been completely disinterested in wrestling at that point. There was something special about CZW that I could see even back than. I get a lot of praise and attention for my announcing, which is very flattering. However, I owe it all to CZW. I do not think anyone could dispute the passion for CZW that comes out in my announcing. That is not a worked passion and it is 100% legit. I am such a huge CZW fan, that I would probably be a paying customer if I was not working there. We all say that working for CZW brings out the best in all of us. The bar is set much higher than your average indy promotion. You don't come to CZW anymore to "break in" to the business. Over the last three years I have had several offers from comeptitive offers to quit CZW and work exclusively for them. I have had everything promised to me from more money, to more exposure for myself, etc. However, I am very selfless and I have never been one for the spotlight. Being a part of something special like CZW is enough for me. I would like to think that my announcing has contributed even a little to the success of the company. Back to what I was saying about offers to leave CZW for somewhere else. The question I always ask myself is, whether this company that is making the offer will be further ahead in six-12 months than CZW. I always come back with the same answer, which is no. Everytime I have had to make that decision, I have been right. I have never in my life seen a company grow with our budget grow the way we have over my tenure with CZW. It is incredible to be honest with you, and I am so lucky to be here.
PETER) : You know, in honesty that's kind of the same way I feel about writing about wrestling. I love it, the enthusiasm never leaves; and I'm really grateful for the opportunity for it. As someone who's there for all the shows, what do you feel have been the best moments so far in CZW; and also your favourite moments?
ERIC) : Well, my favorite match I have ever called hands down was Lobo-Zandig from Deja VU. There was just something special in the air that night and a lot of it had to do with the fans. The emotion and intensity during that match was the most unbelievable experience of my announcing career. Mt favroite moment would have to have been watching the crowd pile in at Cage of Death 3. To see over 1,000 people almost start a riot in the streets just to see our show was very hunbling. It was an incredible sense of accomplishment for the entire company. As far as my favorite show, it would have to have been last Saturday's Best of the Best 2003. Best of the Best challenges me as a live commentator. I broke into announcing both the hardest and best way, which is doing shows live from start to finish. I prefer to call the action live, but other companies prefer the announcing done in post. Calling a tournament for over four hours is both challenging and exciting to me. I was totally pumped at the end of the night and could have went for another hour. It is also very rewarding watching your friends in CZW advance, like Sonjay and B Boy did last Saturday. High Stakes was another memorable match for me. It was the first time I had ever called a 60 minute match. Again, coming from the old school I grew up on 60 minute draws. The match itself was such a leap forward for CZW and all of the guys involved. I have never seen a 60 plus minute match worked at that pace. As far as talent who have had memorable matches, I think I would have to say everyone. I think since our first show in Viking Hall, guys like the Backseat Boyz, Lobo, WB, Zandig, Messiah, H8 Club, the Briscoes, Ruckus, Z Barr, Nick Berk, Adam Flash, Sonjay, and so on have all advanced another level on the ladder of success. The best part about our tenure at Viking Hall is we aren't making a name for ourselves off of past stars in that building. We learned from our mistake immediately after the Cage Of Death. When you go to a CZW show, the CZW boys are the stars and the outside talent are more like special guests.
PETER) : Who do you feel are the the MVP's so to speak in the promotion? And who do you feel will be in the future?
ERIC) : That is a great question. I honestly feel like CZW has been a team effort. It has never been about egos and nobody has ever bitched or complained about doing a job. I think anytime the guys have been given the ball they have scored with it. For a while, I think Justice Pain was an MVP. He got the ball rolling, establishing credibility for our title and world title matches. As time went a long, I think Trent Acid has become the ace of our company. Nick Gage is another guy who from day one has been at the top. Actually, I think Lobo was the MVP in CZW when he was there. It is so hard to be a heel these days, and even harder to be a drawing heel. For 16 months, Lobo and Zandig drew as the top feud in CZW. That is almost unheard of today in this sport. Lobo was never about himself, and risked permenant injury everytime he went out there and performed. He is incredibly inspiring and will go down as the CZW MVP in my book. Zandig is another guy who I would put in that category. His body is pretty much shot, but he has stepped up whenever he needed too. I have seen him go out there and save some shows singlehandedly in the past. Zandig may not be your typical Benoit/Angle type worker, but he knows his talents and gets every last drop he can out of them. In the future, I think Messiah, Nick Mondo, Sonjay, Ruckus, Johnny Kashmere, B Boy, and Ric Blade are possible MVPs.
PETER) : Seeing the death matches and such live and close up, does it worry you that things might go wrong during it? It must be a real adrenalin buzz to be this close to that kind of action, but worrying as you're bound to have a closeness with some of those involved.
ERIC) : Absolutely. Not only that, but having a friendship with guys like Zandig, Nate Hatred, Nick Gage, Nick Mondo, WB, and Lobo makes it harder. I feel for these guys as their friend, but also have a great amount of confidence in them. There is an art to the death match, and they are well trained in that art. That kind of training does prevent injury less than someone who is not trained. It is an incredible adrenaline rush, however I prefer the junior heavyweight style to the death match style. I get more of an adrenaline rush watching the Best of the Best. That is just me, and my personal taste in CZW.
PETER) : That's the beauty of CZW, both sides of the coin. This writer sits on the fence, and loves both. What do you feel is the future for CZW? And also, the future of wrestling as a whole?
ERIC) : Two very different questions. The cool thing about CZW is that ever since I have been there, CZW has moved forward. Even better is that CZW takes baby steps. You have to crawl before you walk in this business. You see a lot of start up companies that want to do syndicated tv or even PPVs before their first show. Of those companies, I have never seen one success story from the bunch. PPV definitely has a place for CZW in my opinion. I think wrestling fans are dying for an alternative and we can give them everything. CZW gives the fans a show, from death matches, to high flying, to strong style, to angles, to promos. I think all a fan needs to do is see one video and they would be hooked. We have started expanding our television in Europe over the last few months. I think an international tour would be a great idea before the end of the year. I also think you will see more live shows around the States in 2003 from CZW. Again, this is nothing that will happen overnight. We will handle each move with the proper attention and once we feel it is safe, we will move on to the next move. Wrestling on the other hand needs an alternative quickly. Fans are becoming less and less interested in the WWE. Without competition the WWE has become almost unwatchable. WWE house shows are dying. Television and PPV are down. Vince will never go out of business, so we will always have wrestling. But the business overall needs a jolt in a big way and immediately.
PETER) : This is the thing that has destroyed most indy promotions, dreams that wont come true straight away and are hurried so it all burns out. CZW obviously have a sensible game plan. How do you feel about the other indy promotions out there?
ERIC) : I enjoy some of them a great deal. I am a big fan of NWA Wildside for one. I think everyone needs to work together to a point. Once you let your guard down and become too cooperative with another company, you allow yourself to be hit. That one hit could be a knock out punch. I think there are some real good companies out there and than you have the bottom barrel companies. I am proud to say that I have never seen another company with an overall product better than a CZW show. A better match, sure but an overall presentation from start to finish, no.
PETER) : Who are your favourite wrestlers to watch outside of CZW? And who, in an ideal world would you sign for CZW?
ERIC) : Well, I would love to see CZW bring in Raven for an extended period of time. He is such a genius and I think his character would fit in CZW like a glove. I would like to see CZW bring in some of the Mexican luchadors. I enjoy watching Kurt Angle a lot. I love the Rock, I think he is a genius at psychology inside of the ring. I will always be HBK and Ric Flair marks. I like Rey Misterio, Jr. a lot. He brings something new to every match, which is very cool. The Hardy Boyz are always fun to watch, because you can sense their passion almost instantly. I was just talking to Steve Corino earlier today and telling him how much I loved his match with Joey Matthews. I really enjoy watching Steve Corino wrestle. What an underrated talent. I like Brian Kendrick, Chris Daniels is another fun guy to watch. I am quickly becoming a big AJ Styles fan.
PETER) : The thing that has made me feel good about that last question, is you've brought up how many people that I absolutely love to watch and really respect. I grew up a Flair, then a HBK mark; and now Kendrick, Angle, Daniels and Styles are in my top 10 of people to watch today. So, from there - The WWE. What are your thoughts, and if one day the opportunity came along; would you entertain going there? Or would loyalty to CZW over rule?
ERIC ) : I am 100% loyal to CZW, but I am also no fool. I do not believe in blind loyalty in pro wrestling. It is a business after all. I grew up a WWE fan and will always be a WWE fan. The intrigue to me is watching a Wrestlemania and imagining the opportunity to feed off of the passion of 60,000 people through my announcing. Also, the idea of having an audience of millions of people listening to my announcing on a Thursday or Monday night is also very appealing. Knowing Zandig as well as I do, as long as the offer was right he would call me a fool for not taking it. That is the kind of boss and mentor he is to me. I think someone like myself could really add a fresh feel to the WWE product, especially now. I can tell you this though and I mean it from the bottom of my heart. If my career ended in CZW, the same place it begun, I would consider myself the luckiest guy in the world. I could not even imagine working somewhere else and than watching CZW on a pay per view with another announcer. It would be like watching your ex wife having sex with another guy.
PETER) : Final question : Due to wanting an alternative to the WWE, CZW has a large following; rather like ECW used to - in my home country, England. Any message for all the fans out there?
ERIC) : For all of you fans looking for an alternative, your alternative is about to arrive. CZW Fake You TV will begin airing shortly in the United Kingdom and Ireland. A tour would likely follow, should the television show be successful. Do everyone a favor, and support CZW. Tell your friends and neighbors, watch the television shows, let the station know you enjoy CZW, and spread the word. Should CZW come out to your part of town, come see the show. It will be the best money you would have ever spent on a live event. We look forward to our attempt in filling your void left by ECW.
PETER) : Well, all that's left is to thank you sincerely for being that alternative; and also to thank you for your time in this interview. I know it's a very busy schedule, and it's appreciated.
*(all feedback to peterstaniforth@aol.com)*
