by Gerry Strauss
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Hey people, Gerry Strauss back at you once again with the second edition of "7 Deadly questions".
This time, our subject/target is Matthew Hendrickson, self-proclaimed CEO for the wrestling company known as the IWS, who are best known for holding a card in the minor- league baseball stadium in Atlantic City this past August which boasted such superstars as the Legion of Doom and the Great Muta. Matt himself has come across as a controversial figure of sorts, as rumors of financial indiscretions and bounced checks abound.
As a matter of personal disclosure, I find it necessary to state that I myself have had past preliminary dealings with Mr. Hendrickson regarding working for the IWS, but never actually did anything for them. While I will withhold my personal opinions regarding Mr. Hendrickson and the validity of his statements, I invite you to read this interview, and feel free to draw your own conclusions. (Also, these are not OUR typos, rather, Matthew actually IS using all of those exclamation points, and does refer to himself in the third person) Also, any comments about this interview, suggestions for the future, or anything else under the sun, email me at djg4evr@aol.com, ok? OK!
1) Matt, you appear to have virtually appeared out of thin air in the wrestling world. Before we get into the whole IWS thing, why dont you let us know exactly what your history is in the wrestling business, step- by-step, both as a wrestler and a businessman?
David L Davis, Sr. was a big part of Georgia Championship wrestling. in the late 70's & 80's Davis would do promotions overseas in Japan, England, Germany many wrestling superstars from AWA, NWA, and the old ICW. Davis would be responsible for doing shows overseas and he would split the profits with the wrestling company that he was working with! For example if Mr. Davis used Wahoo Mcdaniel overseas for his promotion he would have to pay NWA a fee plus commisions. Mr. Davis would do the same three shows back to back in a certain area like the egg dome in Japan and it would be a sell out night after night. Mr. Davis died in March of 2002 due to lung cancer. He passed the business on to Matthew Hendrickson who was an independent wrestler at the time and his son in law to be.
Matthew Hendrickson. Matthew Hendrickson took over the business but unfortunatly
all of the money that was generated by Mr. Davis would go to his estate
and then to his family. Matt Hendrickson asked his good friend Joe Laurinitias
to help him with the operating company. Wrestlefest 2002 was already booked
but Matt Hendrickson had to raise alot of money to help make this show
a success. And it was unfortunate that out of 33 wrestling superstars
Matt Hendrickson had only enough money to pay 23 of them! The 13 wrestlers
were a little bitter but still wrestled for
Matt Hendrickson anyway! Matt Hendrickson also agreed to give them all
a split with the payperview to make up the difference. writers for wrestling
magazines and internet sites printed alot of negativity toward Matt Hendrickson
stating that he had cheated the wrestlers that was the farthest thing
from the truth! Mr. Hendrickson was also cheated out of the gate money
from the stadium where the event was being held that night! The
next day after the show Mr. Davis's daughter Dolores put up $60,000 of
her own money to help pay 23 of the 33 wrestlers! Mr. Hendrickson was
not expierienced enough at running a wrestling company at this level!
After the wrestlefest even Mr. Hendrickson lost alot of credibility. Wrestlers
no longer wanted to work for him. But Road Warrior Animal explained to
everyone that Matt was not a crook and that he was cheated money. Many
wrestlers than came to the support of Matt and welcomed him back in to
the world of wrestling. Mr. Hendrickson thanks Jimmy Snuka, the Road Warriors,
Tatanka and Kevin Sullivan for helping him keep the IWS together. Matt
Hendrickson continues to operate the IWS and their payperview
show will air in December.
2)Explain to us the premise of the IWS, who owns it, and anything else
you can tell us about the organization itself and how it runs.
The IWS is now owned by Matthew Hendrickson, Dolores DiGangi and Dave Davis, Jr. Road Warrior Animal is the Vice President of the company and every wrestler has a percent of the business. It is no longer just me Animal makes up for 75% of the businesses success!
3) The names of both members of the Legion of Doom have been bounced around as major parts of your company on the business side...what exactly IS their roles, and how can you explain the fact that they don't mention this undertaking in any of their recent interviews?
The Road Warriors are the Champions but they have to creative control with there own matches. The reason that the Road Warriors never mention the IWS is because they want it to be a surprise to wrestling fans around the world! BAM the Road Warriors are back! Plus until the IWS payperview airs the IWS is considered an Independent and the Road Warriors have already won the belts but they do not want the fans to know that because it would give away the ending to the PPV show!
4) Over the summer of 2002, the IWS held a pretty large scale show at
a minor league baseball stadium in Atlantic City. This show was said to
be entertaining, with a wide array of names involved ranging from Crowbar
to Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Bam Bam Bigelow, to the Great Muta. Having Muta
there was a true rarity, as he does not compete much in the US anymore.
In short, it would appear to the naked eye that this first time
endeavor carried an EXTREMELY expensive bankroll, based on paydays, stadium
rentals, plus transportation costs. All reports say that the show drew
a decent crowd, but nowhere close to a sellout. My question is: How profitable
or unprofitable was the summer show, and do you regret going so large
scale so quick?
I do regret that I had to be responsible for $300,000 dollars just to get the show up & running! I do regret booking wrestlers and not being able to pay them! I do regret giving the IWS bad press after Mr. Davis had made it such a great name! Even though it was not well known in the USA it was well known in Japan,Puerto Rica, Germany and England! It was my first show as the new IWS owner and I failed! I felt that I let Mr. Davis down and every wrestler but when I look back on it I did not fail because I did not have Mr. Davis's money to operate this show! I raised $300,000 in less than a month through corporate sponsorship. I found out who my real friends were because when thing went sour they all split! I earned the respect and trust back from every wrestler. I know 3 wrestlers wanted to rip my head off Cyborg,Sabu and Jimmy Snuka but once they understood what happend they left my head attached to my body! Wrestlefest 2002 costed me $437,000 dollars and in return I made nothing! I am thankfull that the wrestlers are all with me once again. IWS is back and it is way bigger and way better! We will be bringing to the table new names like White Lion and Tatzuma as well as great names of past like the Road Warriors, Hulk Hogan, Goldberg, Tatanka, Kevin Sullivan, Ultimate Warrior, Sting and Macho man Randy Savage! Believe me they are all going to be a big part of the IWS!
5) Besides show reports, several reports following the show indicated a plethora of personnel problems: Nonpayments, bounced checks, etc. involving some of the workers such as Sabu. What was the true situation, and has it been rectified?
This was already answered in the last question.
6) Tatzuma, White Lion, and the Russian Giant are some of the international
"superstars" that are heavily promoted as such by your website
and other advertising. However, these are not familiar names to even the
most ardent international wrestling fan, and your information about them
points to no real stints in any of the major promotions overseas, leading
one to think that they are simply manufactured gimmicks designed to fool
the
unknowledgable ticketbuyer. To rebut, What ARE these guys backgrounds,
and where have they competed? Please be as specific as possible.
Tatzuma-has wrestled for All Japan! He fought many great battles with Muta! Tatzuma wears a hood when he wrestlers in Japan & Puerto Rica! I will not reveal his identity or his ring name bacause that would not be fair to our company' or companys overseas that are promoting his gimmick! And besides that he would probably beat the crap out of me!
Russian Giant- Russian Giant wrestles for IWS in England! Russian Giant is new to the business but his size and strengths makes up for his lack of skills! Russian Giant does not speak english, and he really is from Russia!
White Lion- I can reveal White Lions identity because he did not wear his mask at wrestlefest! White Lion, Bei Sai is All Japans Feng Yun Chen!
7) Finally, there have been claims of TV and Pay per view in the future...what's the status on that, who will be airing IWS stuff, when will it be on, and how can readers get in touch for more info?
IWS has already aired shows in England, Japan and Puerto Rica. We drew a 6.3 rating in Puerto Rica a few months ago which is not bad even though the XWF drew a rating of 8.6! Unfortunatly due to politics in Puerto Rica we were pulled from the network due to our rival based company!
*Nore from Gerry: For the record, you can check out the IWS on the web
at IWSwrestling.net, and a quick glimpse offers no real evidence to support
that there is any interbational presence or shows run by this company
overseas, nor is there any record of TV anywhere.
Gerry has been working with a variety of quality independents in the tri-state area for a couple of years as a commentator, interviewer, and/or ring announcer. He lists companies like PCW, PTW, IHPW, 3PW, KAPOW, and SmartMark video as among those who have given him valued opportunities to contribute, and now, in an effort to try something different, has come up with a unique spin on interviews.
Previous Columns:
Billy Reil
